4: In the slaughterhouse, Shadow Devours Thousands of Souls!

West of Wutan City, the clamor of the market was cut off by a low, dilapidated earthen wall.

Inside the wall was a slaughterhouse permeated with the strong stench of blood and decay.

The sandy ground was soaked with dark red bloodstains, and the filthy drainage ditch flowed with a mixture of internal organ fragments and sewage.

The dying cries of livestock, the shouts of butchers, the sound of bones being crushed, and the sound of meat being cut, blended into a cruel symphony.

Lin Chen, wearing a coarse, blood-stained short jacket, mingled with the numb laborers, pushing a heavy cart piled with giant horned ox carcasses.

The fishy hot air rushed at him, mixed with the smell of death.

This was his "hunting ground"—the source of nourishment Shadow Erosion Dou Qi craved: "The fear, pain, and resentment that erupt from living beings just before death!"

"What are you dawdling for, little mute! Hurry up!" The butcher boss, with a face full of menacing flesh, roared, waving his boning knife.

Lin Chen lowered his head, his face obscured by his hood, only his eyes coldly scrutinizing in the dim light.

He quickened his pace, pushing the cart to the skinning area.

The skinner was gutting an Ironhide Pig, its steaming internal organs being pulled out, the bloody smell thick and suffocating.

Just as the sharp knife was about to completely sever the pig's throat—

Buzz!

The pitch-black Qi vortex in Lin Chen's Dantian spun greedily! An invisible suction force spread!

The skinner was completely unaware.

But in Lin Chen's perception, a thick, viscous, gray-black "Qi" emanating despair and pain erupted from the dying pig!

Under the pull of Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, this negative energy surged madly towards Lin Chen, integrating into his skin and Meridians, and being devoured by the Qi vortex!

A faint, pure, cold energy feedback replenished his vitality, making the Qi vortex a little more solid.

"Too inefficient…" Lin Chen pushed the empty cart towards the "garbage pit"—a deep, foul-smelling pit for disposing of small wild beasts and sick, weak livestock, where mosquitoes and flies swarmed like a black cloud.

Laborers by the pit numbly dumped recently deceased, sick, and weak livestock into the Hell.

Dying wails, groans of illness, and pervasive fear filled the air.

Lin Chen stood by the pit, responsible for leveling the corpses.

His lowered left hand, fingers slightly spread, palm facing the deep pit of death.

"Shadow Erosion · Thousand Souls Lure!"

The Dantian Qi vortex accelerated!

A predatory suction force erupted!

The shadows beneath his feet transformed into countless thin black threads, silently piercing into the mountain of corpses!

In an instant!

Countless gray-black, ghastly green, and dark red "Qi"—the extreme fear, pain, resentment, and unwillingness of living beings before death—were frantically drawn and captured by the Shadow Erosion threads!

They converged into a viscous stream of negative energy, continuously pouring into Lin Chen's palm!

Hiss, hiss, hiss…

The illusory wails of Souls being torn and devoured sounded!

The Shadow Erosion Qi vortex expanded and spun!

A tide of cold energy washed over his Meridians, his power rising steadily!

The internal injuries sustained from the aftershocks of the Bone Chilling Flame at the bottom of Soul Severing Cliff healed astonishingly under the nourishment of death energy!

Veins under his skin bulged, emitting an eerie greenish-black glow.

"Pleasure!" A morbid sense of satisfaction surged into his heart.

In this filthy place, he felt as if he was in a source of energy!

However!

The black crystal core (egg-sized), which he carried close to his body and had been peeled from a spatial crystal, suddenly pulsated violently!

A cold, sinister thought, imbued with strong malice, like a startled venomous snake, shot out from deep within the crystal core, fiercely impacting Lin Chen's mind!

Confused images flashed—a twisted altar, painful wails, and cold eyes looking down indifferently from the darkness!

"Ugh!" Lin Chen grunted, his face pale, his devouring action abruptly stopping!

The residual evil will of the Hall of Souls retaliated when his mind was relaxed!

The negative energy flow above the garbage pit instantly became chaotic and dispersed!

The shadows beneath his feet fluctuated violently, showing an unnatural distortion!

"Hey! Mute! What are you staring at! Are you looking for death?!" The overseer by the pit, a burly man, saw Lin Chen swaying and his shadow distorting, and impatiently raised his whip to strike!

The whip whistled through the air!

At the critical moment, a commotion erupted at the entrance of the slaughterhouse!

"Get out of the way! Everyone, get out of the way!"

"Young Master Xiao Yan is here! Quickly, call the steward!"

Xiao Family guards escorted the black-clad young man, Xiao Yan, as he strode in.

Xiao Yan's face was grim, his eyes sharp as an eagle's, suppressing anger and an urge to investigate.

Behind him followed an old man with an ordinary face and deep eyes (Old Yao possessing the ring).

Xiao Yan's cold gaze swept over the filthy place.

In his right palm, he quietly held a palm-sized, strange compass that was neither gold nor jade (Shadow-Seeking Compass).

Complex runes were inscribed on the compass face, with a pulsating white crystal embedded in the center, emitting a faint chill—this was an investigative item temporarily refined by Old Yao, using a trace of the Bone Chilling Flame's Origin as a guide, combined with the cold Qi Lin Chen had left on his ankle at the foot of Soul Severing Cliff!

At this moment, the white crystal in the center of the Shadow-Seeking Compass was emitting a flickering light, and its direction… was precisely towards the garbage pit!

"Hmph! There are indeed remnants!" A cold light burst forth in Xiao Yan's eyes, and he strode towards the garbage pit!

His gaze swept over the panicked laborers, finally settling on the "mute" laborer who was bowing his head and trembling slightly!

As the whip whistled towards Lin Chen, Lin Chen suddenly "stumbled," as if he had slipped on the bloodstains, falling forward awkwardly, narrowly avoiding the tip of the whip!

He collapsed onto the filthy ground, hands bracing himself, burying the violently fluctuating Shadow Erosion Dou Qi and all other unusual signs deep in the blood-soaked mud.

"Useless trash!" The overseer cursed as he retracted his whip, his attention drawn by Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan had already reached the edge of the pit, just a few steps away from the prostrate Lin Chen!

The white light of the Shadow-Seeking Compass flickered rapidly, pointing clearly!

A cold, greasy, extremely uncomfortable Qi was subtly emanating from that laborer!

Old Yao's solemn voice exploded in Xiao Yan's mind: "Xiao Yan! Be careful! It's this Qi! It's from the same Origin as the bottom of Soul Severing Cliff! Cold and eerie! It's on that laborer! He definitely has a problem!"

Xiao Yan's heart constricted, his eyes incredibly dangerous!

He slowly raised his hand, and hot Dou Zhi Qi condensed in his palm, pointing directly at the "mute" on the ground!

"Look up." Xiao Yan's voice was as cold as scraping ice, leaving no room for doubt.

The entire area fell silent.

Lin Chen, lying in the bloodstains, trembled with "fear."

He struggled to prop up his upper body, his dirty face showing murky, dull eyes filled with the numb terror of a low-level laborer.

He opened his mouth, only to emit a hoarse, gurgling sound.

The Shadow Erosion Dou Qi was suppressed to a deathly silence, his aura perfectly mimicking a frightened mute laborer.

Only the rapidly spinning Qi vortex in his Dantian and the malicious pulsation from the crystal core in his embrace, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, roared silently.

Xiao Yan's sharp gaze locked onto Lin Chen's murky eyes, the Dou Zhi Qi in his palm poised to strike!

The white light of the Shadow-Seeking Compass almost pierced the air!

Frozen! On the verge of eruption!

Woo—!!!

A dull, long, horn-like sound, as if from the Nine Nethers of Hell, pierced through the clamor of the slaughterhouse without warning, echoing over Wutan City!

The sound carried a cold, deathly stillness that penetrated the Soul, making everyone, including Xiao Yan, feel a chill from their very bones!

The sky seemed to darken a few shades instantly.

"What the Hell is that?!" Xiao Yan's face suddenly changed, his mind shaken by this terrifying horn he had never heard before!

The light of the Shadow-Seeking Compass, interfered with by this sudden, more powerful cold Qi, instantly became chaotic and unstable!

Just as Xiao Yan's mind was seized!

Lin Chen, still prostrate, using the bloodstains as cover, suddenly curled and snapped his left hand, which was pressed against the ground!

A strand of Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, as fine as hair and merged with the shadows, shot out along the ground, its target—an Ironhide Pig several feet away, tied up, half-skinned, and dying in convulsions!

Puff!

The Dou Zhi Qi pierced the pig's heart!

"Oww—!!!"

The dying Ironhide Pig let out the most mournful and painful shriek of its life!

A surge of negative energy, far exceeding the ordinary, so intense it was almost substantial—of resentment, fear, and unwillingness—exploded like a bomb!

The white light of the Shadow-Seeking Compass was instantly completely overwhelmed and disrupted by this powerful, close-range negative energy!

Its pointing function became utterly ineffective!

"Damn it!" Xiao Yan's eardrums stung from the shriek and energy explosion, and he subconsciously took half a step back, the condensed Dou Zhi Qi forced to retract to protect his body.

In the instant of chaos!

Lin Chen, like a startled rabbit, scrambled to his feet, hands and feet moving, blending into the panicked crowd of laborers who were frightened by the horn, stumbling towards the most chaotic and filthy back alley sewage ditch of the slaughterhouse!

His movements were clumsy and faltering, perfectly blending into the panicked crowd, and in a blink of an eye, he disappeared behind a mountain of animal hides and blood-stained barrels.

"Stop!" Xiao Yan reacted, roaring as he tried to give chase.

"Don't chase, kid! Get out of here!" Old Yao's urgent voice sounded, carrying an unprecedented solemnity and a hint of… apprehension!

"That horn… is definitely not ordinary! The existence that caused this horn to sound is terrifying in the extreme! You are absolutely not capable of provoking it now! Leave here immediately!"

Xiao Yan's steps abruptly halted!

He looked in the direction Lin Chen had disappeared, then looked with uncertainty at the gloomy sky from which the horn had come, where a heart-palpitating pressure seemed to permeate.

He tightly clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms, his eyes burning with unwilling rage, and finally stomped his foot fiercely!

"Bastard!"

***

Slaughterhouse back alley, a dark corner with sewage flowing.

Lin Chen leaned against the cold brick wall, breathing heavily.

Wiping the bloodstains and cold sweat from his face, the fear and numbness in his eyes disappeared, leaving only cold lingering fear and madness.

He spread his left hand, and a wisp of pure, dark red energy, carrying the Ironhide Pig's extreme resentment, was being refined by Shadow Erosion Dou Qi in his palm.

The pulsation of the black crystal core in his embrace had strangely subsided after the horn sounded, but the dark red patterns flowing within it seemed a little clearer.

"Mysterious horn… Xiao Yan…" Lin Chen whispered hoarsely.

He glanced in the direction of the slaughterhouse, then looked towards the heart-palpitating gloomy sky, and a cold, sinister arc slowly spread across the corner of his mouth beneath his hood.

"It seems that what's hidden beneath the surface is more astonishing than I imagined.

It's easier to fish in troubled waters."

His figure flickered, as if merging into the shadows of the wall, silently disappearing into the depths of the filthy back alley.