Once the sky was fully bright, the ghost-shadow's Night Roaming ability naturally dissipated, and the main-soul consciousness returned to the true body.
Chen An stood up fervently and walked toward the open space where the patients gathered.
Ren Qing discovered that these patients were divided inside and outside into three layers; the outermost had relatively mild mutations, their appearances almost no different from ordinary people.
Those a bit further in already had bizarre changes in appearance, such as skin like a toad, constantly forming pustules, or bodies showing signs of woodification.
Gao Liang was among them; from his position, one could tell his status was not low.
The innermost patients were only three; they tilted their heads upward, muttering to themselves, as if communicating with the Longevity Immortal, their attitudes extremely respectful.
These three patients were already not young; using thick Daoist robes to cover their bodies, they sat cross-legged on stone piers.
In the world of hysteria, the stone piers resembled seven-colored lotus flowers.
The three considered themselves disciples of the Longevity Immortal, and the other patients addressed them as Senior Brother.
A stabbing pain grew in Ren Qing's mind; without the protection of the main-soul consciousness and with the Double Pupils formed by the Dream Seed closed, the hysteria grew worse.
The noise of Undying Town faded away.
He instinctively lifted his head to look at the Longevity Immortal, feeling as if everything nearby had fallen into utter silence.
The Longevity Immortal's gaze was loving, but revealed puppet-like stiffness; clearly there was no true intelligence, everything was imagination within the mind.
Its voice was deafening.
"There is the Great Beginning, there is the Great Inception, there is the Great Commencement, there is the Great Simplicity."
"The Great Beginning is when qi is unseen, the Great Inception is when qi begins, the Great Commencement is when form begins, the Great Simplicity is..."
He felt the content was somewhat familiar, it should be patchwork fragments of various techniques in his memory, seeming profound yet completely nonsensical.
Presumably each person heard something different when listening to the Longevity Immortal.
Cultivation was hysteria; even immortal arts were obtained through hysteria, yet for some reason, he felt the patients indeed emitted traces of technique-aura.
A slit opened in the Double Pupils on Ren Qing's forehead, and he walked out of the alley.
The Longevity Immortal continued reciting for a long time, but soon its figure faded; the medicinal fragrance drifting from the source clearly thinned.
A cold smile appeared on Ren Qing's lips.
It should be a mass hysteria induced by the Longevity Immortal statue, indicating someone was using this to spread medicinal fragrance in an attempt to control the patients.
Perhaps it involved the so-called "medical hall."
While thinking, Ren Qing did not slow his steps, intending to observe the town center.
Of course, in the patients' eyes, he acted utterly unrestrained, causing them to glare angrily.
Gao Liang looked interested, clearly recognizing Ren Qing and realizing he was already "crazy enough" to see the manifestation of the Longevity Immortal.
An elder hunched his back and stepped out from the crowd; his head was twice the size of a normal person, and he spoke harshly: "Where did this brainless brat come from? Why don't you kneel when seeing the three Celestial Masters?"
Ren Qing narrowed his eyes, and the ghost-shadow unintentionally flowed to the elder's feet.
The Information-flow surged.
[Zhou Yi]
[Age: Thirty-Two]
[Lifespan: One Year Thirty Days]
[Disease-Type: Hysteria, Brain Tumor]
Indeed it was hysteria.
Seeing Ren Qing unmoved, Zhou Yi suddenly erupted with a fluctuation of technique.
Ren Qing's eyebrows furrowed; he saw large amounts of moisture swirling around Zhou Yi's palm, forming bead-sized pellets of ice.
The patients looked at Ren Qing with mocking eyes, murmuring among themselves; clearly Zhou Yi held some prestige among them.
Ren Qing felt astonished.
He clearly sensed technique-aura on the other party, but this aura was unusually strange, like rootless water.
The Dream Seed on Ren Qing's forehead opened, its protection eliminating the hysteria; the medicinal fragrance turned back into foul burnt stench, and the illusion disappeared.
His own information-flow no longer showed the hysteria disease-type.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yi's face changed entirely; a shabby gourd appeared in his hand, from which he occasionally sipped, and he sprayed droplets of water onto his palm like a shaman performing ritual dance.
In such an utterly absurd scene, how could any technique be seen?
"Techniques are closely linked to hysteria, then are they illusions or actually real?"
But thinking again, if Ren Qing were in hysteria as well, then whether Zhou Yi's seemingly real technique had any actual effect was another matter.
The commotion in the town attracted the attention of nearby guarding soldiers.
They were accustomed to the morning ritual, yet each time felt a chill up their spines, and had been warned not to approach the patients.
The soldiers were about to fire warning arrows when someone noticed Chen An.
Jin Chengxiang flew into rage, grabbing a soldier beside him and shouting: "What's going on? Didn't we say no one is allowed near the patients?"
"I don't know either."
"He even took off the xiao-mask, he's probably beyond saving. Tell the brothers absolutely not to..."
Before he finished speaking, a soldier close to Chen An hurried toward him, trying to drag him back outside the town.
Jin Chengxiang urgently shouted: "Motherf, all of you, stop for me!"
The soldiers gritted their teeth and halted.
They didn't understand, patients who were easy to subdue on any other day, why was Jin Chengxiang so fearful now?
The soldier rushed into the street, and the patients immediately became agitated.
"Heavenly soldiers?!!"
"Run, it's heavenly soldiers..."
The innermost Celestial Masters waved their hands, directing many patients to obstruct, while they themselves struggled to escape the open area.
The soldier slew the blocking patients, as if entering an empty place.
In the world of hysteria.
Patients displayed all sorts of abilities, breathing fire, clashing water, summoning thunder and falling rocks; the scene was immense.
But the soldier's body emitted a faint glow, and none of the techniques the patients used could harm him in the slightest.
He reached Chen An, grabbed the mask trying to place it back on him, but Chen An firmly locked his hands.
Other soldiers attempted to fire arrows to save them, but seeing the growing patient casualties, Jin Chengxiang unexpectedly chose to retreat.
"Anzi, Anzi!!!"
The soldier called Chen An repeatedly, but the latter wore an inexplicable smile, joining the patients in removing the soldier's mask as well.
"You should witness the immortal path, behold that magnificent path of longevity..."
After inhaling the black smoke, the soldier's expression turned dazed.
Zhou Yi glanced at Ren Qing, then let out a strange laugh and raised his right arm; the water-stained palm gave a strong flick, and the temperature dropped instantly.
Specks of ice-crystals flew toward the soldier.
In the real world it was just an ordinary action; the "ice-crystals" were actually water droplets, but the soldier began convulsing madly.
His eyes turned white; his body stiffened from the cold.
"So... there really... are... immortals in this world..."
The soldier reached toward the Longevity Immortal, blood flowing from his mouth and nose, and finally lost all life.
The corpse fell to the ground.
Chen An did not care in the slightest and removed his chain armor to offer it to Zhou Yi.
Ren Qing repeatedly switched the Dream Seed; in the world of hysteria, the soldier froze into an ice sculpture, but in the real world, he died of fright.
From this it could be seen that the patients' techniques were indeed effective, but only on those with hysteria. Most soldiers were immune.
The soldiers seemed unwilling to exterminate them fully, more like intentionally sealing off the town, allowing patients to live within the Longevity Immortal statue's range.
The patients were indifferent to the corpses on the street, each forming hand-seals and returning home, and soon the town filled with chanting of Daoist texts.
The soldiers not only lost two men, but Jin Chengxiang, to prevent the spread of plague, also had to order their corpses dragged back for cremation.
Ren Qing sent the ghost-shadow ahead to the center of Undying Town, indeed discovering a shabby medical hall, inside at least twenty or thirty patients.
But the ghost-shadow could not contract hysteria; no matter how it looked, nothing seemed unusual, no different from an ordinary clinic, meaning he had to go himself.
Ren Qing intended to wait in the alley; he maintained the hysteria state, wanting to use it to understand the Longevity Forbidden Zone.
Not long after, Gao Liang came looking.
Though only half a day had passed, Gao Liang looked even thinner; he examined Ren Qing, his tone somewhat surprised.
"Truly crazy enough..."
"You actually dared to offend Zhou Yi, and you saw the ice-crystal technique, it can easily take lives. Are you afraid?"
Ren Qing asked curiously: "Aren't you afraid of offending Zhou Yi?"
"Jie-jie-jie-jie..."
White light radiated from Gao Liang's body, even driving away the darkness of the alley.
"I have mastered the Iron Armor Incantation of Vajra Indestructibility. Unless struck by the heavenly soldiers' weapons, even Celestial Masters cannot harm me."
No matter how Ren Qing observed Gao Liang, he indeed seemed to be using techniques.
"Where do your immortal arts come from?"
"Of course from the Longevity Immortal's teaching. You are merely a 'Daoist' now; once you master immortal arts, you become a 'Dao Lord', and when immortal arts reach great completion you become a 'Celestial Master'."
Gao Liang's tone was full of admiration, drool slowly flowing from the corner of his mouth.
Ren Qing felt immortal arts were more like hallucinations born from madness; rather than saying the Longevity Immortal taught them, it was more like delusional imagining.
Yet within the Longevity Forbidden Zone, they nonetheless followed some rule.
Ren Qing's thoughts shifted and he asked: "What exactly is inside the medical hall?"
"There are physicians. We mortals practicing immortal arts inevitably consume lifespan and damage yang-energy. The true method of transcendence lies within the medical hall..."
As Gao Liang spoke, his breathing grew heavy; clearly every patient's goal was the medical hall.
In their minds, the words 'medical arts' represented something far more mysterious than immortal arts, being able to treat disease and extend life was the Great Dao of longevity.
Ren Qing continued questioning about the medical hall and learned that only a small number of Celestial Masters could break through from mortal to enter it.
Gao Liang sounded somewhat proud, using a strange tone to say: "The reason Zhou Yi targeted you is because your body is the same as mine, our immortal arts are all nurturing-body methods..."
"Nurturing-body methods live far longer than other arts. You and I will certainly be able to enter the medical hall."
Ren Qing twitched at the corner of his mouth; compared to various diseases, deformity indeed brought fewer flaws and theoretically allowed a longer life.
Gao Liang spoke endlessly, hinting he could protect Ren Qing, yet his expression grew greedy: "After the Immortal Venerable grants us arts, would you be willing to explore the Great Dao together?"
He wanted to obtain the immortal art belonging to the same deformity disease-type; naturally Ren Qing agreed.
Immortal arts might very well consume lifespan; the real longevity method was likely within the medical hall. Could it be that the prerequisite for cultivation was hysteria?
Gao Liang nodded in satisfaction, then used all four limbs to leave the alley.
Ren Qing returned to the house; although unaffected by hysteria, he did not act rashly for the next few days.
He tried approaching the medical hall while in the hysteria state, but the influence from the Longevity Immortal statue was extremely strong and had to be adapted to slowly.