Chapter 85: The Oddity

“So they’re at it again, huh.” One of the saleswomen sighed as she stowed some of the vegetables since it was almost closing time.

“Yeah, aren’t they satisfied enough already? Look at the state of our Shelter now.” Another lady irritatedly commented as she too started packing up.

“Let’s get used to it. As long as no one stands up against our shelter leader, then nothing will happen to us. We will forever live like this.” A man, passing by, interrupted as he wore a scowl on his face.

“Hey, stop saying that! What if shelter leader hears you?” The lady shushed at him. “Our state of living may be hopeless right now but at least we’re not outside, battling the zombies away.”

“You know, people like you are the ones who make this world rot. You may wish someone to stand up for shelter leader and yet you’re not even doing anything. If every person here wishes that the shelter leader should be removed, then nothing will happen. Idleness and wishful thinking don’t do anything.” The man waved his hand.

“Oh right, why don’t you stand up against them?”

“I’m standing against them all right. You might not know it but we the resistance are doing all we can to keep the balance. Without us, you may be the ones next.”  The man said. “Well then, I have more things to take care of so I’ll take my leave first.”

“Um, excuse me,” Before the man could exactly take his leave, I stood in front of him to block his way. I knew that what was doing was a bit suspicious but after hearing more of the current state of the Ziyou Shelter from the three of them, I couldn’t help but ask for clarification. “What exactly is happening here?”

“Who are you? You’re not from around here, are you?” The lady asked.

“Ah yes, I’m a visitor. I just came here today because I was passing through.” I innocently worded.

Upon saying that, the two women and the man in front of me heaved a sigh of disappointment. And judging from their sigh, I definitely felt that I wasn’t welcome. That aside, they were also genuinely sad for me.

“You know what, young man,” The man finally spoke up. “If I were you, I would tuck my tail and run the hell away from here. If you don’t want to put yourself in danger, I’d say you leave before they start targeting you as well.”

“Would it be all right if I ask you what’s going on? I’ve been staying here for a half-day now and frankly, I don’t think this shelter could even be considered one. For once, they didn’t really try to accommodate us visitors and they even tried to lure us to the Forsaken Tree. As a cultivator expert, I immediately realized that the tree held some great power that drains someone’s Qi energy slowly until they die. After escaping from those conniving men, I decided to leave this place. But! On my way out, I overheard something from you and I couldn’t help but ask what’s happening here. I know I sound a bit forceful, please forgive me. I will now take my leave.”

“Yeah you go “

“But, just know that right now, you finally have the chance to stand up against your shelter leader… and you blew it because you decided to keep the problems to yourself.” I interrupted the man as he was shaking his hand, trying to force me to leave. “If my theories were true, the shelter leader is doing something ominous with that tree, right?” I continued.

After I saw that Liu Zhi’s party was sent to the Forsaken Tree and in turn they fell victim to it, I more or less pieced everything together. Adding to that, the reason why the marketplace was odd was not something that was already there, but rather, it was something that was not there. And to be more specific, it’s the absence of children that I found odd in the marketplace.

More like, everywhere one looks, there were no children to be seen. It’s like they didn’t even exist at all in this shelter.

The more I stayed here, the more I realized how delusional and rotten everyone was. Some just went their daily lives not caring about the missing children, some spoke about the resistance but they weren’t even doing any actions, and some were even chasing the remaining children that went into hiding. If I were given an option to save this shelter or not, I would have chosen not to do anything.

But as an esteemed Sect Master. I know that some people here need help, and removing the root of the problem will alleviate the problems, even if it’s just a little bit.

I didn’t wait for the two women and the man to say something else in their defense. Instead, I just walked away while releasing the tiniest amount of killing intent towards them. The three of them fell on their knees in an instant and let me just say, I’ve never felt more pleased in my life.

And with that, I pretty much finished my reconnaissance. There was nothing left for me to do here in this marketplace.

‘Two hours from now, the Rush Hour will happen and countless rabid humans will make their way here. If I don’t act now, my rescue mission might get a bit more dangerous.’ With that thought in mind, I decided to follow the trace of Qi energy I placed on the little child who was running through the marketplace a while ago.

My stroll then led me to a dark alley that had a manhole by the end of it. It may look like a normal manhole but there was some sort of an array placed there. To be specific, the array was like my Qi blanket but instead of using it as detection, it was used to literally cover everything inside. It was like a camouflage that hid the presence of the group in the underground.

“Now, let’s get to the bottom of this.”

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