Ren Qing smiled somewhat awkwardly.
Only now did he learn from Muyi that the reason it had taken over twenty days was mainly because Lin Cheng had been severely injured and had not yet recovered.
It was only now that the reserve roster was confirmed.
"This reserve batch has four people in total. Once you advance to the Ghost Envoy realm and complete a full year, you will become a formal Restraint Officer."
Muyi took out a booklet and asked, "Tell me your primary cultivation technique. If any incidents related to Supernatural Remnants arise, the Restraint Officers' Hall will assign personnel based on the technique."
Without hesitation, Ren Qing replied, "Primary cultivation is The Blindless Method, current realm is Half-Corpse Realm, Double Pupils."
For such missions, there were usually at least two or three Restraint Officers along with reserves. The Double Pupiled's supportive abilities were most suited for staying on the sidelines.
"Hmm?"
Muyi was momentarily stunned.
The Blindless Method wasn't considered a rare technique within the Restraint Officers' Hall, as it had already been circulating for several years.
But Double Pupils was something she had never heard before, making her somewhat curious.
"What exactly are the abilities of the Double Pupiled?"
Ren Qing only said that his eyes could perceive more details.
As for the gradually developing soul-separation ability, he deliberately concealed it.
Muyi didn't react strangely upon hearing this. When recording it, she even gave only a brief description of the Double Pupiled aspect.
Judging from Ren Qing's performance in the Disaster-Dispelling Forbidden Zone, it was clear that his advancement to the Ghost Envoy realm wouldn't take too long.
It was better to do him a favor.
"Actually, some cultivators in the Restraint Officers' Hall stay long-term to make it easier to obtain resources."
Ren Qing couldn't help but ask, "Is there a marketplace for trading within the Restraint Officers' Hall?"
"There's a place called the Ghost Market, but it only opens on the fifteenth of each month."
Ren Qing quickly thanked her.
Muyi then said, "I don't know if Elder Song mentioned the Secret Pavilion to you. It contains records of experiences related to advancing to the Ghost Envoy realm..."
Before Muyi could finish speaking, she suddenly turned into fragments and disappeared. It turned out she was just a puppet created through a technique.
After some thought, Ren Qing decided to visit the Secret Pavilion before his advancement, but he would finish his external affairs first.
He was mainly hesitating over whether to move out of the Corpse Burners' Hall.
Before Ren Qing could make a decision, Clerk Zhao, who had heard the news, was even more anxious than him.
When Clerk Zhao learned that Ren Qing had become a reserve, his first reaction was disbelief.
He had interacted with Ren Qing a few times, but he had only thought of him as somewhat clever. Could he have already mastered immortal techniques?
Then Clerk Zhao realized this was a tremendous opportunity.
If he could keep Ren Qing, even if only nominally, he would have someone to rely on in times of trouble.
Clerk Zhao secretly went to the Corpse Burners' Hall, and the two quickly reached an agreement.
Ren Qing would not need to handle the daily affairs of the Corpse Burners' Hall.
Even if Clerk Zhao sought his help, his responsibility would only be to confirm the situation to avoid large-scale casualties among the constables.
Naturally, Ren Qing's salary increased significantly. Since that was the case, why not?
Thus, he went from being a behind-the-scenes absentee manager to an openly acknowledged one. Bo Feng could only exclaim in amazement.
The Blood Dog Gang must have also heard the news, as they began continuously delivering livestock eyeballs to the yamen.
Ren Qing accepted them all with a smile, but in reality, he was already considering whether to completely sever ties with the braised food business.
The conflicts between gangs grew increasingly fierce.
Every day, over a dozen bodies appeared in the western part of the city, some even belonging to Martial Practitioner realm cultivators.
It was clear the situation was spiraling out of control.
Ren Qing had no intention of getting involved.
He only wanted to advance to the Ghost Envoy realm as soon as possible. Unbeknownst to him, his accumulated lifespan had already exceeded ten years.
However, the trip to the Secret Pavilion was unavoidable.
Even if he forcefully advanced using the information stream, it was only right to go and take a look.
At the very least, it would help him avoid unnecessary detours.
One late night, Ren Qing retrieved the Bone Key from his abnormal stomach.
He put on a rainproof straw cloak and hat, covering his face with a black cloth.
Then, he used the Great miao blade to cut his palm. The Bone Key greedily absorbed the blood, soon becoming as smooth as jade.
Ten breaths passed in an instant, and the Bone Key turned into crimson powder.
Following Muyi's instructions, Ren Qing dipped his fingertip in the blood powder and drew the outline of a door on the wall of his room.
The smell of blood filled the air.
The bricks within the door's outline gradually turned into rotting flesh, giving the impression of something pieced together from scraps of meat.
Only after a long time did the flesh door transform into an ordinary wooden one.
But Ren Qing couldn't shake the feeling that the wood grain looked increasingly distorted, almost like twisted, deformed human faces.
Steeling himself, he stepped through, and his vision was once again swallowed by endless darkness.
This time, Ren Qing easily found the tunnel leading to the Restraint Officers' Hall. After a brief moment of weightlessness, he landed on solid ground.
He couldn't help but look around, quickly orienting himself in the pouring blood rain. He was still at the junction between the ribs and the stomach wall.
Ren Qing chipped off another Bone Key and stored it in his abnormal stomach before descending along the ribs.
Perhaps because Silver Ear's selection of reserves had concluded, the Restraint Officers' Hall now seemed slightly more populated.
Along the way, Ren Qing encountered several Restraint Officers with bizarre appearances.
One even had a mouth resembling a mosquito's proboscis, continuously sucking the blood gushing from the stomach wall.
Ren Qing avoided unnecessary contact and simply followed Song Zongwu's route toward the northwest corner of the Restraint Officers' Hall.
He wasn't worried about getting lost within the Restraint Officers' Hall.
The Secret Pavilion was relatively easy to find, as it resembled an inverted five-story pagoda, the tallest structure in the area.
It was a pity that the Ghost Market was still over half a month away from opening. Otherwise, he could have taken the opportunity to see it.
As Ren Qing moved farther from the ribs, he encountered fewer and fewer Restraint Officers.
Most Restraint Officers actually lived outside. Combined with the vast expanse of Avici Hell, the area truly occupied by Restraint Officers was quite limited.
Ren Qing wasn't in a hurry to reach the Secret Pavilion, focusing instead on tempering himself.
He swallowed beast eyes one handful after another, steadily increasing his lifespan.
When he could faintly make out the pagoda's silhouette through the mist, he quickened his pace.
After less than an hour, an ancient black pagoda came into view.
The pagoda was wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, standing like a funnel atop a mound, an utterly eerie sight.
Ren Qing approached the pagoda and pushed open the slightly ajar door with little effort. A thick cloud of dust billowed out.
The first floor contained eight bookshelves, with cobwebs filling the corners. It was clear that not many Restraint Officers visited regularly.
Ren Qing coughed a few times, choking on the dust.
Then, the sound of footsteps approached.
A Restraint Officer, noticing the unfamiliar presence, hurriedly made his way out of the Secret Pavilion.
Ren Qing instinctively glanced over, and his pupils contracted slightly.
Tu Di was now barely recognizable as human.
The signs of bestial transformation had grown even more pronounced, his body was covered in thick scales, and only his eyebrows and eyes still faintly resembled his former self.
"Cough, cough... do we know each other?"
A hoarse and rough voice sounded.
"Senior, we do not."
Ren Qing replied expressionlessly, though his peripheral vision lingered on Tu Di. He couldn't shake the feeling that this Restraint Officer was different from the one he had encountered before.
The two passed each other, and Tu Di vanished into a rain of blood.