"Ah!"
Yu Sheng’s shriek suddenly echoed through the room.
She looked as if she had been startled from a nightmare, her little face deathly pale as she stared in terror at the figure before her.
Lin Shu was also a little confused.
He had just touched her Essence Blood as usual, intending to wake the little cub and ask her some questions.
He’d done this many times before, but this time felt suddenly different.
It was as if he could take the Immortal Descendant’s life with a single thought.
"Wait a minute."
Lin Shu suddenly realized what was happening and flexed his fingers slightly.
During his Magical Combat with Xia Mingtang just moments ago, the Filthy Moon Wolf Lord in his chest had channeled a bit of Magical Power into his body.
He’d used it to break the Illusionary Immortal Technique cast by that tiger.
With a flicker of Lin Shu’s will, wisps of black energy flowed out of his body and back into the Filthy Moon Wolf Lord.
He had a good idea why this change had occurred.
Before, his Cultivation was only at the Qi Cultivation level. Even while holding her Essence Blood, he could only forcefully control Yu Sheng’s actions, not truly harm her.
But the Filthy Moon Wolf Lord’s Magical Power was genuinely at the Foundation Establishment Stage, a level higher than this prematurely-hatched little chick.
In short, he had become stronger without realizing it and had almost crushed her to death...
"Ahhh! I know you have my Essence Blood, but can you please not mess around with it? I haven’t done anything to you!"
Yu Sheng’s lips trembled, and she looked so aggrieved she was about to burst into tears.
’I’ve been behaving so well, and I still get bullied for no reason.’
"Alright, it wasn’t on purpose."
Lin Shu reached out, ruffled her hair, and sat down on the edge of the bed.
The two of them didn’t really have a deep-seated grudge. It was more of a misunderstanding stemming from the old woman.
One of them felt that since he’d taken the money, he had to see the job through.
The other felt that the old woman she’d been protecting for years, who served to hide her identity, had been killed for a bit of silver.
On top of that, this robber was trying to dismantle the Array and scare the young widow, making her both angry and afraid.
That’s what led to the conflict when they first met.
Putting that aside, Lin Shu really didn’t have a hobby of bullying little kids.
It was just that before they had spent all this time together...
...in his eyes, Yu Sheng wasn’t a child. She didn’t even count as a person.
She was a Cyan Feather monster that could go berserk at any moment, one with the ability to influence people’s minds.
And since he couldn’t even hurt her, how could he possibly let his guard down completely?
"I don’t believe you..."
Yu Sheng was fuming but didn’t dare say it aloud. She could only choke back her sobs.
A moment later, she mumbled indistinctly, "Unless you take me to eat braised pork knuckle again. The kind I can actually eat."
"Heh."
A humorless smile touched Lin Shu’s lips. He couldn’t be bothered to respond.
’This city isn’t just full of Loose Cultivators. Since Yan Jin and Gu Nanzhi both come from Immortal Sects, it’s highly likely there are others like them around.’
’Parading an Immortal Descendant through the streets... that would be asking for death.’
"Do you know about the Silver-eyed White Wolf?"
Now that he had true control over her Essence Blood, he could finally ask the questions that had been bugging him. After all, their lives were now linked.
"Never heard of it." Yu Sheng wasn’t being petulant; she genuinely didn’t know.
As an Immortal Descendant, the initial knowledge inherited in her mind only concerned her family’s history, self-defense methods, and some information on how to train disciples.
"..." Lin Shu seemed to have expected this and crisply changed the subject.
"Then what exactly is trapping Black Water City?"
"It’s either a Divine Technique or a Magical Artifact."
Yu Sheng pondered for a long time before nodding with certainty. "It’s a Magical Artifact! After all, it’s lasted for ten years. If it were a Divine Technique, maintaining it for that long without issues would require more than a Core Formation Cultivation. You’d need a Golden Core Stage Immortal Descendant at least, and to a being like that, this broken-down city is meaningless."
Her brows relaxed as she continued, "A Magical Artifact is much more convenient. You just attach a wisp of Divine Thought to it, and as long as the Spiritual Power within the artifact isn’t depleted, it can last as long as you want. If you want to be extra cautious, you just send a disciple to keep an eye on it."
"Couldn’t it be a Divine Technique that someone comes back to reinforce every now and then?" Lin Shu glanced at her.
"Impossible."
At the mention of this topic, Yu Sheng instantly forgot her earlier grievance and stood up confidently. "Because if they came here, they would definitely sense my aura and would have sent me out long ago! The Yu Family is very prestigious!"
Lin Shu looked away. He didn’t really trust this little chick’s judgment anymore.
But she was an Immortal Descendant, so her way of thinking would be closer to that of other Immortal Descendants. Her opinion still had some reference value.
’If it really is a so-called Magical Artifact...’
[Half-Life Immortal: Soul-Splitting Thousand Threads Guide: Split the soul into a myriad of threads, control Magical Treasures, and seize the minds of others.]
He slowly closed his eyes and began to feel out this newly acquired Divine Technique.
Perhaps it was because the Filthy Moon Wolf Lord was still in its juvenile stage, or maybe because he himself wasn’t very proficient with it.
Before he could even formally execute the technique, a tearing pain assaulted his entire mind.
Beads of sweat rolled down Lin Shu’s forehead. He gradually began to feel two "selves."
It was a bizarre state, as if his consciousness had been split in two, yet he had to control both halves.
CHH-CHH—
In that instant, a faint, humanoid silhouette peeled away from Lin Shu’s body.
He looked up to meet its gaze, but his view was of the long-robed figure sitting on the bed. It was as if he himself were the one floating in the air.
’A single split soul is my limit.’
Lin Shu gradually grew accustomed to the sensation, and his consciousness quickly returned to his body.
As long as he didn’t try to immerse his consciousness into this split soul, it was no different from a puppet that followed orders.
The only difference was that it was more convenient to command, and he could switch over to its perspective at any time.
Furthermore, if the split soul was dispersed by someone, it would automatically return to his main body.
’If I could really split my soul into thousands, wouldn’t I be able to control many Magical Artifacts at once?’
Lin Shu pondered this, but he quickly dismissed the stray thought.
’I don’t even know what this so-called Magical Artifact looks like. It’s too early to be thinking about that.’
But according to Yu Sheng, there was indeed a Magical Artifact trapping Black Water City, with only a wisp of the Immortal Descendant’s Divine Thought left on it.
’Could I... try to seize control of it?’
’The split soul will return to me even if it’s shattered, anyway.’
’What I need to do now is figure out what exactly is trapping Black Water City.’
’I’ll have to find some time to get some information out of Gu Nanzhi.’
"Whew."
Lin Shu retracted the Divine Technique, and the humanoid silhouette quickly merged back into him.
His Divine Soul, which had become weakened, felt full once more.
He turned his head and met a pair of sparkling eyes filled with worry.
"Did you... run into some kind of trouble?" Yu Sheng bit her lip.
The little girl stood on her tiptoes, reached out to wipe the sweat from the young man’s forehead, and then muttered, "Please, please don’t die. I haven’t lived long enough yet."
He had been going out a lot lately, and every time he returned, he was covered in the stench of blood—sometimes so thick that it made Yu Sheng’s heart palpitate.
It made it so difficult for her to fall asleep each day, and when she finally did, she’d jolt awake after twenty hours at most.
The tiny ripple of emotion that had just stirred in Lin Shu’s heart was instantly and cleanly erased by the little chick’s last sentence.
’Of course there’s trouble, but it shouldn’t be a big problem.’
The situation now was different from before.
Initially, he just had to prove that his own value was greater than that of the opera troupe and Tian Jingyuan to ensure his safety.
Now that the White Tiger Hall was involved, in Gu Nanzhi’s words, those madmen cared most about Alchemy. What he had done was undoubtedly like stabbing a thorn into their hearts.
This group would never let it go, yet they hadn’t acted directly.
’They’re most likely wary of something, so they’ve gone to ask someone to arbitrate.’
Lin Shu had the Foundation Establishment Stage Filthy Moon Wolf Lord for Body Protection, plus nearly two hundred Sin Coins he could use to replenish the young wolf’s Magical Power at any time.
While he wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could run rampant through the city, he at least had a decent ability to protect himself.
There was no need to panic too much.
Just then, Miss Yun’s voice came from outside the door.
"Benefactor, someone delivered a letter for you. They didn’t give their name; they just handed it to me and left."
"Hm?"
Lin Shu got up, opened the door, and took what she was holding out to him.
It was called a letter, but it was really just a strip of paper rolled up and tied with a thin string.
The object had shown no change in Miss Yun’s hands, but when it landed in his palm, the string trembled slightly and dissolved into a stream of light.
"Just a crude trick," Yu Sheng snorted disdainfully, clearly recognizing whose handiwork this was.
Lin Shu ignored her little outburst and unrolled the paper. There were only two lines of text on it.
"I have hung fifty corpses in East City as a proclamation to the entire city. The three Gang Leaders of the Black Water Gang have gone to West City and have summoned all their members to discuss this matter."
"The Chang Family has also invited the other two Tributors from the Government Office. The three of us are all in West City, so you can go over without worry."
After he finished reading, the paper strip combusted and vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Tsk."
Lin Shu rubbed his fingers together, a little surprised.
It was obvious that after seeing him kill Xia Mingtang, Gu Nanzhi had suddenly made a grand show of displaying the fifty corpses to draw the Black Water Gang’s attention.
This would make the Gang Leaders too busy to deal with the complaints from the "tigers" and force them to focus their energy on the Government Office first.
’But if I remember correctly...’
’...this County Captain didn’t want to see turmoil in Black Water City. She said she wanted to maintain stability until the day the city opens.’
’Even before, at the Zhao Family’s gate, she hadn’t acted rashly.’
’If this was just to thank me for saving Chang Yi, such an uncharacteristic action seems a bit excessive.’
’Could it be that she’s seen a hope of opening the city?’
At this thought, Lin Shu’s eyes lit up.
’If that’s really the case, doesn’t that mean I might have a chance to join an Immortal Sect sooner?’

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