The Secret Way of Immortality

Hexing Street is named for its proximity to the D渡 River, which spans across Sanxiang City.

Every morning and evening, a large number of fishermen travel along the river to reach the docks of Hexing Street, where they set up stalls in the fish market to sell their catch.

Residents from the west of the city come here to buy aquatic products, and even those from other districts make a special trip by carriage, drawn by its reputation.

The fish market at the docks is indeed special.

The fish sold at the stalls in the early morning are the freshest, often still leaping and bouncing, making them popular with wealthy families and restaurants.

The fish sold at the stalls in the evening have been kept in wooden basins all day, and most of them have turned belly-up, with prices dropping to only one-tenth or one-twelfth of the original.

Common people carefully select from the dead fish, which is still a decent way to enjoy a fresh taste.

As dusk approaches and the time for eating passes, the number of stalls gradually decreases.

Fishermen leave Sanxiang City one after another in their small boats, as they all live in villages in the suburbs, and traveling on the water at night is indeed difficult.

Under the sunset's glow, the fish market becomes deserted.

Zhang Dou hurriedly packed up his stall, almost running late to leave in order to buy writing materials for his child who was attending elementary school.

At this moment, he noticed that there was still a fish stall set up not far away, with no sign of packing up.

Zhang Dou glanced at the setting sun halfway up the mountain and quickly walked over.

He had met the stall owner a few times and couldn't help but remind him, "Wang Bingquan, you can leave now, or it will be difficult to navigate the waterways later."

"Hehehehehe."

Wang Bingquan let out a strange laugh. His head was larger than the average person's, and his face was covered with veins.

Zhang Dou took a few steps back, but quickly regained his composure.

He looked at the stall. There was still a white-bellied silver carp in the wooden basin, but it was missing both eyes and was of poor quality, so it hadn't been sold.

"Wang Bingquan, if you can't sell this fish, just go home and make soup yourself..."

"Hehehehe, how about selling it to you?"

"Who wants your broken fish? Consider it my good intentions wasted."

Zhang Dou couldn't help but curse inwardly. Wang Bingquan in front of him wasn't annoyed, just kept laughing strangely, which was unnerving.

He suddenly remembered a tragic incident he had heard about, which seemed to be about Wang Bingquan.

There were five fishermen in Wang Bingquan's village. They fished together, took turns selling the fish, and looked after each other.

Unexpectedly, a few days ago, when they were casting their nets in the D渡 River, all the fishermen except Wang Bingquan died.

It was said that the bodies salvaged by the authorities had no good flesh left on them, and their eyes had only empty sockets remaining.

Rumor had it that they were killed by water ghosts.

Zhang Dou couldn't help but feel pity. He was afraid that Wang Bingquan had already lost his mind, which was why he was staying at the fish market and not leaving.

He sighed and said, "Wang Bingquan, I'll buy this fish. Go home early."

Wang Bingquan raised his head, staring straight at Zhang Dou with an exaggerated smile on his face.

"Three copper coins."

Zhang Dou reluctantly took out his purse, took out a few coins like he was getting rid of a plague god, and handed them to him without counting.

Wang Bingquan skillfully threaded the fish's mouth with straw rope and handed the whole silver carp over.

"Remember to fry it. The silver carp's flesh is tender and smooth, and the fish eyes are especially delicious."

Just as Zhang Dou was about to take it, someone intercepted the silver carp, snatching the straw rope with perfect timing.

He quickly turned his head and saw a constable standing next to him.

"You..."

Ren Qing had no intention of returning the silver carp. Instead, he advised, "Hurry onto the boat. Just consider it spending three copper coins to buy a life."

Zhang Dou had no choice but to suffer this loss due to his fear of the constable, while a strong sense of doubt arose in his heart.

Why would anyone be fighting over a stinky dead fish, and what did it mean to buy a life with three copper coins?

Zhang Dou walked to the dock in a daze. He glanced in the direction of Wang Bingquan again, only to see the two of them turning into the alley one after the other.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong. Wang Bingquan looked like a vengeful ghost trying to collect lives, so he quickly pushed the boat away.

Ren Qing, carrying the silver carp, swayed along, constantly observing the surroundings of the alley.

He secretly investigated the headless corpse case and discovered that some of the victims' residences were near water sources, which led him to Hexing Street.

The commonality between these people was that they had bought a dead fish before they were alive, and their eyes began to ache after eating it, eventually turning into headless corpses.

The circumstances of the other corpses were different, indicating that the Hundred-Eyed One had never shown its face and had been killing people invisibly through certain means.

Ren Qing waited at the end of the alley. There was no light nearby, and it was so dark that you couldn't see your fingers.

He stood there for a while, and bright green eyes gradually approached him, and he could also hear some inexplicable murmurs.

"I didn't want to kill them."

"They deserve to die, deserve to die."

"How can you blame me? You must not blame me."

"Die, die, die, die!!!"

Wang Bingquan walked over, his twisted face full of resentment.

"I'm here to return your fish eyes..."

Ren Qing noticed something was wrong. He looked at the silver carp in his hand and saw the scales on the fish's body gradually falling off, and dense human eyes growing out.

In a trance, the silver carp became extremely fresh, as if it had just jumped out of the water, making him couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

Ren Qing's double pupils turned, and the illusion disappeared in an instant.

He reached out and pinched the carp and could clearly feel the foreign object inside. After tearing open the fish's belly, a human eye fell out.

Seeing that the human eye was still moving, Ren Qing directly crushed it into minced meat and then leaned towards Wang Bingquan.

Wang Bingquan was facing the wall talking to himself. He seemed to feel extreme fear, trembling and kneeling on the ground.

"Don't kill me, I've done what you told me to do, feeding the eyes to living people every day, even the villagers haven't been spared."

As he said this, his tone became astonished again: "I didn't kill them, I just hid the eyes in the fish's belly. They deserved to die for buying my fish."

Ren Qing pulled out the short knife from his waist and moved away.

Wang Bingquan's head turned red, and even his eyeballs protruded for the most part, but his gaze did not move away at all.

The Hundred-Eyed One's ability is to create illusions. It is not difficult to use this to manipulate people's hearts. Wang Bingquan is obviously just a puppet of the other party.

Ren Qing looked at the wall.

If it were other cultivators, even if they could see at night, they would not be able to observe in detail, but the Double-Pupiled One was more than capable.

He saw snails crawling on the wall. A human eye grew between the tentacles of the head, staring at Ren Qing with a strange look.

Before Ren Qing could react, the snail exploded into mud.

Immediately, Wang Bingquan's throat made a gurgling sound. He painfully covered his broken neck, and his head fell to the ground.

The head rolled in the wind and rushed out of the alley in the blink of an eye.

Ren Qing quickly chased after him.

With the Hundred-Eyed One's methods, it didn't seem like he had just been promoted. It felt like he had been hiding in Sanxiang City for a long time. Killing people and taking eyes was not for cultivating the No-Eyed Method.

Perhaps he was seriously injured and needed treatment, or perhaps he was dying of old age and needed to prolong his life.

If that's the case, the Hundred-Eyed One must have relied on a strange object to reach the Half-Corpse state.

If you want to promote the Hundred-Eyed One, you must eat the strange object of the Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord. Not to mention that it is a narrow escape from death, how can it be found so easily.

Could it be that the other party is creating chaos to cover up something?

Thanks to book friends 160506141214740, Who is the Blackest, and Shu Ba's reward.