The biting cold wind cut through the air. Due to the frequent unusual happenings in Rong Town, as the setting sun sank below the horizon, the streets quickly emptied of life.
Shops closed their doors tightly, while only the Pear Garden emitted a faint glow.
A street performer, packing up his belongings, caught the sound of a melody drifting from the Pear Garden. His expression immediately became entranced, and he couldn’t help but hum a few bars in harmony.
Having braved the elements for decades, to perform just once on the stage of the Pear Garden would be a life fulfilled for a street performer.
As the sky dimmed further, the performer dared not linger and began walking toward the nearest inn.
Only a plainly dressed child remained, tinkering with a rattle at the Pear Garden’s entrance, with no guardian in sight to call him home.
The child, half-understanding, listened to the song. It was slightly different from the usual "Yiren Zui," with lyrics and melodies far more captivating.
"Crimson clouds hang low shrouding shadowed mountains, the sparse woods lonely, wholly withered."
"Memories of the past cling tight, unshakable, in a barren village, wine is sought to console sorrows."
"Looking toward home, the road stretches far, parting from one’s wife—her voice, her letters, lost across the vast passes."
The child unconsciously set aside his rattle, momentarily spellbound by the song. Passersby also began to pause and listen, drawn to the music flowing from the Pear Garden.
A moment later, as the song reached its end, the crowd erupted into murmurs.
Their words were filled with curiosity about the performance, speculating which performer from the Pear Garden could capture such poignant solitude with such vivid realism.
"Move along, move along."
A constable began pushing through the crowd. People noticed that the street had already been cordoned off. Vendors along the route, sensing trouble, had already packed up and fled.
Ma Weigong surveyed the surroundings and then signaled the constables to control the gathering populace.
"Everyone who heard the song, bring them all to the Jingsi Pavilion at the Government Office. Chief An will assign cultivators to oversee them."
The crowd erupted in protests, wanting to know the reason, but the constables tied them up without a second word.
Before they could resist, the constables drugged the crowd into unconsciousness, sealed off their senses, and loaded them onto carts to transport them to the Government Office.
Ma Weigong took a deep breath, his expression betraying fatigue.
Just as he was about to step into the Pear Garden, a familiar figure appeared beside him—it was the uninvited Li Mo. Other constables turned their heads away upon seeing him.
Li Mo, leveraging his involvement in collecting clues at the scene, had already earned 200 contribution points from the Government Office. His storage bag carried two iron plaques marked with the word "Hundred."
He strode toward the Pear Garden, "Constable Ma, which Deceit Beast is it this time?"
Ma Weigong shook his head helplessly. Every time a Deceit Beast appeared, Li Mo was sure to follow, always arriving three steps ahead of the Government Office, as if he had spies scattered across the entire town.
What Ma Weigong did not know was that, indeed, translucent Poison Bees lingered in the corners of the Pear Garden.
Li Mo’s expression was grim. Ever since the Beast Calamity began, Inner Sect Deceit Beasts had appeared one after another, yet the shops remained obliviously indifferent.
Only the Government Office was perpetually busy.
It was their duty to identify patterns in the Inner Sect Deceit Beasts’ activities immediately and issue corresponding directives to prevent the situation from worsening.
Li Mo quickened his pace, a sharp, piercing static suddenly ringing in his ears.
Smog Spiritual Power surged into his eyes, allowing him to detect the peculiar Spiritual Power permeating the Pear Garden—a semi-real, semi-illusory essence that seemed capable of affecting one of the five senses: hearing.
"Muddy Sound Spirit Power..."
Li Mo’s brow furrowed. Muddy Sound Spirit Power was typically formed only in specific environments, accompanied by ear-piercing noise that could rupture eardrums.
Invisible and odorless, the Muddy Sound Spirit Power was like an imperceptible sound. It was said to infiltrate the brain through the ears, enabling control over consciousness.
Li Mo had read about it in ancient texts but never expected to encounter it emanating from an Inner Sect Deceit Beast.
He pushed open the Pear Garden’s grand doors, only to be greeted by the sight of dozens of corpses. Dripping blood had congealed into a thick crust on the ground.
Their feet had been pierced by iron hooks, suspending them upside down from the ceiling. Their chests and abdomens were split open, and their exposed skin was seared black—their postures resembling roasted suckling pigs hung in restaurant ovens.
Save for their hearts, the favorite delicacy of Deceit Beasts, their other organs appeared largely intact and undamaged.
Still standing on the stage, Li Mo noticed hoof prints embedded in the floorboards. These markings didn’t resemble wild beasts but more closely matched the tracks left by domestic livestock—specifically, the Piglet Beast.
"Constable Ma, how long have you been here in the Pear Garden?"
An Gang’s somber figure ducked into the theater, his glance brushing across Li Mo without the slightest surprise.
Unlike most cultivators who approached the Beast Calamity with utmost caution, Li Mo was uniquely active.
Carefully examining the traces left by the Inner Sect Deceit Beast, An Gang quickly reached a conclusion.
The Piglet Beast had appeared during the Beast Calamity two centuries ago, a creature with the body of a man and the head of a pig. Anyone who heard its cry was ensnared, unable to escape its grasp—casualties were immeasurable at the time.
Yet, knowing the truth and falsehoods about the Piglet Beast made handling it somewhat easier.
"Issue the order: seal off all theaters in Rong Town. Locate every mortal who was on Pear Garden Street within the next two hours."
After An Gang finished giving his instructions, the constables exchanged startled glances, hesitating for a moment before leaving the Pear Garden.
Relying on Eye Magic, they could detect whether mortals had been contaminated by Muddy Sound Spirit Power, but this required a house-to-house search.
Li Mo showed great interest in the Inner Sect Deceit Beasts that had emerged thus far.
The secondary inscription on Hui Qingyi’s right shoulder would require Deceit Beast Blood to complete. With the Beast Calamity unleashing a wave of Inner Sect Deceit Beasts that could well exceed ten in number, there was bound to be one that suited his needs.
The spiritual tablet at Li Mo’s waist suddenly burned with blazing heat.
Tian Changwen had issued new directives, instructing Beast Cultivators to return to their shops and await orders.
Li Mo bid farewell to An Gang and turned to leave.
The calamity befalling the Pear Garden might have been discreet within the scope of Rong Town, but the townsfolk had begun to take notice, and the town grew ever more desolate.
Tian Changwen remained enigmatic in his approach, always favoring lockdowns when dealing with Inner Sect Deceit Beasts.
As time passed, the impact of the Beast Calamity began to snowball. The number of Inner Sect Deceit Beasts exceeded ten, spiraling out of control.
Outside the town walls, groups of Beast Skin People gathered en masse, their human-like yet eerie gazes fixed on the town’s fortifications, sending chills down the spines of the citizens.
Soldiers set up camps at the foot of the mountain, ready to repel any beast attacks on Rong Town.
Within the town, the emptiness was palpable. Each street carried public notices issued by the Government Office:
[No one is allowed outside during the Zi Chou hour. Rong Town contains no headless horses.]
[Executions will only take place at Cai Market at the beginning of the month. Butchers are bears clad in human skin.]
[No rabbit-head lanterns are hung at Laurel Bridge. Do not gaze at them.]
[Theaters have been sealed and ceased operations. If you hear theater music, do not seek its source.]
[There is no slaughterhouse in Rong Town.]
Inner Sect Deceit Beasts roamed freely throughout Rong Town. Even a man like Li Mo felt chills run down his spine as he obediently stayed put in the pawn shop, awaiting further developments.
The Lunar New Year had only just passed, yet Rong Town seemed as though tragedy had annihilated its populace.
It could only be described as a ghost town. Not a soul lingered on the streets; mortals had retreated to their cellars for safety.
Even constables had ceased their street patrols.
Stone Ji of Puppet Cultivation and Tian Changwen of Beast Cultivation showed no signs of conflict. If anything, their coordination was unnervingly in sync.
Li Mo prepared for the worst, readying to flee. If he could imprint the remaining three blank pages with human skin, his Concealing Breath should suffice to deceive even Core Formation cultivators.
But what he did not foresee—
On the day thirteen Inner Sect Deceit Beasts gathered, the so-called struggle for Dao inheritance would begin in a way that caught everyone off guard.