On the day of the temple fair and festival, nearly half the population of the western part of the city was drawn in.
Even if they couldn't squeeze into the temple fair, they waited on the adjacent streets.
Among them were many who had been delivered by the temple midwives themselves, and their gazes naturally carried a hint of reverence, this was a scene rarely seen at other temples.
Ren Qing couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. He and Huang Ziwan were hiding in a concealed alleyway.
The two of them stared at such a bustling scene, making some idle and insignificant small talk.
Actually, aside from Huang Ziwan, even Muyi was involved, though scattered along the streets near the entrances and exits of the temple fair.
The Restraint Officers' Hall had deployed who knows how many Restraint Officers around the area, just on Ren Qing's way here, he had already spotted seven or eight of them.
Such a spectacle was indeed rare, somewhat like setting up a trap to catch a turtle in a jar.
But why was the Restraint Officers' Hall so certain that Tu Di would fall for it?
Huang Ziwan took a crunchy bite of cucumber and said, "Tsk tsk tsk, there's probably a Yin Runner Realm cultivator sitting in command. We just need to mind our own safety."
Ren Qing couldn't help but ask tentatively, "Old Huang, there are Restraint Officers inside the Fertility Goddess Temple too, right?"
"There are indeed..."
Seeing Ren Qing showing slight interest, Huang Ziwan couldn't help but warn, "Don't interact with them. That group of cultivators are all experts in using gu."
"Gu?"
"You know Li Yaoyang, right? Gu insects may be strange, but they're nothing compared to disease gu."
Ren Qing was stunned. Wasn't Summer Grass Formula about controlling bacteria? Could it be that these microorganisms were categorized as gu insects?
"The details aren't something I can explain."
Huang Ziwan brushed it off vaguely and didn't continue explaining, which only made Ren Qing more curious.
He had just wanted to press for more information, but then saw Huang Ziwan climbing up the courtyard wall.
"Brother Ren, I'm off. The territory under the jurisdiction of the Ghost Envoy Realm is deeper inside. Once the parade starts, things might get dangerous."
After speaking, Huang Ziwan moved like a four-legged creature, scaling walls and leaping across eaves. The eyes of ordinary people couldn't even follow his movements, showing how fast he was.
This was the Five Venoms Art that Huang Ziwan had mastered, and his chosen mutation path among them was the gecko, a relatively rare beast-transformation technique.
Seeing this, Ren Qing walked out of the alley. Since he was maintaining a human form, there was no need to deliberately hide his movements.
He casually sat at a stall selling stewed offal, eating as he waited.
The recipe had improved after several rounds of refinement, the taste was much better now.
The rest of the crowd all wore solemn expressions, their gazes fixed toward the end of the street.
After about half an hour had passed, just as Ren Qing finished eating, the sound of instruments rose one after another.
The crowd began to chatter, and the children couldn't help but cry out in surprise, but they quickly fell silent again.
A wooden platform carried by eight people slowly approached. Before and behind the procession were devout men and women dressed in ornate clothing, playing the roles of the attendants of the Fertility Goddess.
On the wooden platform stood a deity statue with a blurred face, a head with three beast heads, and an incense burner emitting green smoke.
Ren Qing raised an eyebrow. The other details of the statue were exquisitely carved, yet only the face could not be discerned.
This was indeed typical behavior of Restraint Officers, showing a faint disdain toward temples and Daoist altars.
The festival parade then departed from the temple fair, it looked like it was heading toward the adjacent eastern part of the city, and the people spontaneously followed along behind.
Thousands of people in dense formation moved in orderly fashion, showing that the Restraint Officers' Hall had achieved their objective.
The stalls at the temple fair also began to pack up. With no customers, there was no business.
Even those stall owners who hesitated and wanted to wait a bit longer were quickly urged to leave by arriving constables.
To deal with Tu Di, clearing out the area around the Fertility Goddess Temple was the most basic measure.
Ren Qing still had no intention of getting up.
A younger constable walked over and said, "Please cooperate. There's a fugitive from the Office of Arrest hiding among the temple fair crowd, so we've had to temporarily seal off the area."
"Alright."
Ren Qing reached out and flashed his reserve officer badge, then turned to walk toward the corner of the street.
"Hey, hey, hey..."
The constable was just about to stop him, when his head was suddenly smacked hard by an older constable who had rushed over.
"Got no eyes? Can't even recognize a Restraint Officer?"
"Huh?"
The younger constable stared blankly at Ren Qing's back. The latter lightly tapped the ground with his feet and leapt onto the eaves like a giant roc spreading its wings.
He vanished from view in an instant.
The old constable lowered his voice and said, "Remember this: Restraint Officers are strange individuals who wield magic arts. They must never be offended."
"Got... got it."
"Let's go. We need to thoroughly search every home in the area. Leave no one behind. This place must be cleared within an hour."
"Weren't we told it was a fugitive?"
"Who cares if it's a fugitive."
A great number of constables armed with sabers burst into the courtyards of every household, banging on copper gongs as a warning signal.
Ren Qing found a high vantage point so he could use his double pupils to observe the area at all times.
The Fertility Goddess Temple now showed no signs of activity. Only a few Restraint Officers could be seen openly standing guard.
After a while, Madam Luo walked out of the building, followed by a rough-looking young temple caretaker, his eyes vacant and lifeless.
Ren Qing couldn't help but furrow his brow. He had a strong feeling something was wrong with that person.
Could he be bait set up by the Restraint Officers' Hall?
If it was such an obvious open conspiracy, then had Tu Di already lost his intellect, which was why the Restraint Officers' Hall dared act so boldly?
Li Ergou couldn't help but retch. Chunks of internal organs mixed with blood spilled all over the ground, and his breath gradually grew weaker.
Madam Luo sighed and said, "It's too late. Even if I keep him barely alive, at most he'll last half a stick of incense."
Just then, Jiang Feng's voice came from her palm: "Alright, I'll have the constables withdraw quickly. Now it's time to lure the snake out of its hole."
The source of the voice was an eyeball three to four times normal size, with a tiny mouth growing from it, Jiang Feng used it to converse with Madam Luo.
Not long after Jiang Feng spoke, the other constables received their orders and began withdrawing en masse from the western part of the city.
Sanxiang City's undercurrents surged.
Even the Blood Dog Gang had taken positions on remote streets, blocking civilians from approaching.
Li Ergou knelt on the ground, trembling uncontrollably. Chunks of flesh fell from his body with loud wet slaps.
Ren Qing now held the Great Miao Blade in his right hand, already fully prepared.
Squeak, squeak, squeak...
The omen came without warning.
A few rats nibbling at leftover scraps left behind by fleeing stalls began to swell up without cause, their fur falling off, and their forms becoming more and more human.
The rat-men bared their fangs, their red eyes glinting as they turned on one another.
They tore into each other fiercely, and very quickly, life and death were decided. The victor crouched over the other's corpse and feasted.
Similar scenes unfolded all across the temple fair grounds while the scent of blood spread rapidly.
Ren Qing patiently waited. For this gamble, the Restraint Officers' Hall had definitely made full preparations, it was impossible for Tu Di to easily have his way.
It wasn't long before thousands of fat possums came crawling out from cracks in the walls, clearly under the control of the Rotten Mud Gang.
However, Ren Qing noticed that these possums weren't clones. They were likely bred by the Rotten Mud Gang, in essence, they were ordinary beasts.
What was their purpose?