Rebirth As A Human Cauldron Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The three of them took a brief rest at the inn and had dinner. Wang and Zhao insisted on going out for a stroll, and Qin Duan naturally got dragged along.

The official opening of the restaurant was scheduled for two days later, but today, the city of Qingzhou was already teeming with people. A flower-lined street ran from the south to the north gate of the city, and along the road, one could see many elegant courtesans on either side, enticing customers. 

Wang and Zhao, with their arms around the waists of beautiful women, strolled along, fully enjoying themselves. After a few rounds of drinks, Wang suddenly slapped his forehead and said, “Oh, where’s Qin Duan, my friend?”

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Hbys, bkp qynl qzwpble qasx eakdjkdt, prsjl okvb y pzktbv pzwa, “Psd’v… esd’v osaau ycswv bkx. Tl rascyczu oldv sqq vs byhl qwd psxloblal… Usxl, zlv’p nsdvkdwl eakdjkdt…”

Ylydobkzl, Ckd Pwyd bye ekpnallvzu pzkrrle yoyu obld vbl vos xld ldvlale vbl rzlypwal ekpvaknv. Mbl dktbv xyajlv oyp cwpvzkdt okvb rlsrzl, cwv vblal oyp yzoyup yd wdeldkyczl pnldv sq czsse, psxlobyv pkxkzya ulv ekqqlaldv qasx vbl yvxsprblal cynj yv vbl kdd.

Fwarakpkdtzu, vbkp pxyzz nkvu sq Ckdtgbsw tyvblale ps xydu elxsdkn nwzvkhyvsap, obkzl vbl dwxcla sq Pys nwzvkhyvsap oyp pnyanl. Yspv Pys nwzvkhyvsap yhskele vbkp rzynl ewl vs kvp osazezu yzzwal, obknb nswze ekpvwac vblka Pys blyavp.

Rq yzz vblpl rlsrzl nyxl blal qsa vbl ‘Wldtuwl Msola,’ kv oyp kdelle kdvaktwkdt.

As Qin Duan pondered, he slowed his pace and walked toward less crowded areas. His steps were slow and silent, making no sound when they touched the ground. As he turned a corner, he effortlessly blended into the shadows.

Not long after he disappeared, two people suddenly appeared out of thin air in the narrow alley. They were dressed ostentatiously, but an inexplicable bloody aura lingered around them, conflicting with their appearance. One of them held a compass in his hand, and the needle on it spun wildly, making a sizzling sound.

The other person impatiently ran his hand through his hair, “What’s going on? Where is he?”

“I-I don’t know… it’s still showing that he’s here,” stammered the one holding the compass. He turned around in circles, unable to figure it out, “H-How could this be… Did the Fengyue Compass malfunction?”

“It can’t be, it has always been working fine… Old Chen, be serious. This is such a valuable prey, who knows how much we can sell it for… A once-in-a-century pure Yin body! They say that one night with him is worth dozens of ordinary cauldron constitutions. Before we hand him over, let’s have some fun first; who knows, we might even break through to the mid-stage…”

Chen followed with a few laughs, about to say something, but suddenly froze in place. A thin line of blood seeped from his forehead. His companion intended to point it out, thinking it was a friendly reminder, but the moment he touched Chen’s skin, the body split into two halves and collapsed in different directions, instantly turning into a pool of blood.

The compass, now without its owner, landed in the pool of blood, emitting a soft sound.

The lone survivor stood frozen in place, unable to react immediately.

Only when the blood started to churn on its own, flowing towards a certain direction as if it had a life of its own, did he snap out of it.

The blood converged beneath a pair of black boots.

Qin Duàn stood atop the blood, his finger gently picking up the compass and holding it in his hand. He looked at it meaningfully and said, “How do you use this thing?”

“Drip…drip blood to recognize the master…”

“Oh… I heard you guys call this the ‘FengyueCompass.’ What does it have to do with the ‘Fengyue Tower’?”

“The Fengyue Tower regularly assigns missions… When taking a mission, they give us this compass to find people with a cauldron constitution…” The man’s voice faltered at the end, and he knelt directly in front of Qin Duàn, begging tearfully, “This esteemed young master is wealthy, and we only rely on this to make a living… We absolutely meant no offense…”

“If that’s the case, why are so many demonic cultivators appearing in Qingzhou, and what are they after?”

“B-because this is, after all, the Fengyue Tower, and everyone is thinking if they could complete missions here, especially in Qingzhou, the probability of finding a Cauldron would be higher…”

“With so many people discussing it like this, wouldn’t you have attracted unwanted attention?”

“This… this…”

The man didn’t know how to answer, and he was so anxious that cold sweat poured down his forehead. 

Qin Duàn, however, said, “So be it.”

The next second, the man couldn’t even let out a miserable scream as he instantly turned into a mist of blood.

Qin Duàn extended his hand into the blood mist, and the demonic energy swirled around his body, making his hair dance along with it, and his eyes turned a bloody red.

Soon, the blood mist gradually dispersed, and as he pulled back his hand, his nails appeared bright and blood-colored, exuding an eerie aura.

After absorbing another puddle of blood, he gazed at his seemingly rouge-covered fingers and smiled in satisfaction.

The Asura’s technique always required a vast amount of demonic and blood energy support. Now that he was no longer in the Myriad Demons Lair, he needed to obtain these things from his peers… However, due to his limited cultivation at the moment, he couldn’t directly incorporate them into his body. Therefore, he suppressed the blood and demonic energy in his right hand for future use.

The people who would come looking for trouble next would be unlucky indeed.

Qin Duàn had no intention of seeking trouble actively, but he never expected to have the Fengyue Compass now. He pondered over it for a few seconds, then forced out a drop of blood from the deceased demonic cultivator, using it to activate the compass.

As the blood bead made contact with the compass, the pointer began to move slowly, eventually pointing at Qin Duàn himself.

He arched an eyebrow, swayed left and right a few times, and the pointer followed suit, without the slightest deviation.

This was a bit troublesome… Qin sighed and decided to sit cross-legged on the ground, using the moonlight to study the compass.

With his profound knowledge of refining and inscribing talismans, this compass appeared to him as nothing more than a low-grade spiritual tool, no different from wooden blocks in a child’s hand.

In the span of a joss stick burning, Qin Duan had already grasped the compass’s structure. After some thought, he decisively inserted a spiritual stone at the bottom of the compass.

As the light on the compass gradually dimmed, Qin Duan moved his finger to divide the spiritual stone into several smaller pieces and embedded them at the twelve positions. Then, he used blood to transform it into a pen-like tool and made slight modifications to the runes.

When everything was done, Qin Duan activated the compass once again. The needle slowly made a full circle before finally pointing in a certain direction…

“… Is it this way?” Qin Duan stood up and glanced at the sky. “It seems I’ll be busy tonight…”

While sighing, his figure gradually transformed into a stream of blood and dispersed with the wind.

The next day, Zhao and Wang returned to their lodgings after a night of pleasure, only to find Qin Duan’s room empty. They looked at each other and burst into laughter simultaneously.

“Qin Ge is truly impressive. It has been a whole night, and he still wanted more…”

Indeed, Qin Duan still wanted more.

After modifying the compass, he could now track down anyone else holding the same compass. Qin Duan relied on this and went looking for them one by one—after all, even if he didn’t take the initiative, those people would sooner or later come looking for him. It was better to strike first.

With a casual wave of his hand, the demonic cultivator who approached him with a sword turned into a mist of blood. Qin Duan snapped his fingers and condensed the blood mist into a blade, slicing through the throat of another person.

When the blood and energy of these two were absorbed into his palm, the red light on his fingertips flashed before gradually dimming.

For Qin Duan, these foundation stage demonic cultivators were no different from mosquito meat. After running around and killing for a whole night, he had taken care of more than twenty of them. But compared to what he needed, it was just a drop in the ocean.

He put away the fallen compass, took out his own, triggered it, and watched as the needle spun several times before gradually stopping in one direction.

The distance was a bit far, and Qin looked at the sky, deciding to postpone it to another day.

When he returned to the inn, Zhao and Wang were dining in the lobby. Seeing him, they surrounded him with lecherous smiles, playfully teasing him about where he had enjoyed himself last night.

To this, Qin Duan only smiled mysteriously and remained silent.

Wang didn’t probe further when he saw Qin Duan like that. He warmly pulled him to sit down, but when their hands touched, he shuddered and stepped back.

It wasn’t that Wang was timid, but the other’s hand felt as cold as a corpse. Wang rubbed his eyes, only to see Qin Duan standing fine with a healthy complexion, showing no signs of discomfort.

Could it be that he was still not fully awake from the alcohol? Wang thought drowsily, but he didn’t dare to try again.

Observing this, Qin Duan covered his eerie right hand with his sleeve.

He thought that after the pursuit yesterday, nobody would come looking for trouble in the short term. However, as soon as he entered the room, he felt that something was amiss. Qin Duan sneered and extended the hand that had been assimilated throughout the night. The slender fingers were nearly translucent, the back of the hand showing visible blue veins, and the fingernails were tinged with a crimson blood color, making the skin appear even paler.

As soon as his hand extended, a red light flashed on the wooden floor, quickly spreading throughout the room. The surroundings suddenly twisted, and a dense bloody aura surged in the air, accompanied by nauseating corpse stench and lecherous laughter that seemed to be coming from all directions, sending shivers down one’s spine.

Qin Duan remained expressionless, standing in the room, allowing the illusion to take its course without reacting.

As the lingering demonic energy gradually dispersed, the room returned to silence. Qin Duan bent down and picked up the expended talisman, but with a mere rub of his finger, it turned into ashes.

Such a level of illusion array was at least at the late Foundation Establishment stage, indicating it wasn’t far from Core Formation.

Did they set up this illusion because they had already noticed him?

Was this illusion a test, or…

No, something’s not right!

Qin Duan felt a wave of dizziness and weakness, and he barely managed to sit on the bed.

At the same time, he heard a faint sound, and the room gained another presence.

The illusion was only a distraction, but the ashes from the talisman contained a potent poison… Qin Duan felt his vision blur slightly, and his demonic energy seemed to be sealed, leaving him unable to move.

A sharp and high-pitched voice sounded by his ear, “Brother, this batch of goods is really good. We’ll rush to deliver it to the Fengyue Tower. It’s perfect for their grand opening tomorrow.”

“Hmm, go tie him up, be careful,” another rough voice said, “This guy’s cultivation technique is very bizarre. Many demonic cultivators disappeared suddenly last night, and not even a trace of their bodies was left. I have no idea how he did it.”

The high-pitched voice chuckled and coquettishly said, “So what? No matter how impressive he is, he’s only at the Foundation Establishment stage. How can he compare to Brother at the mid Golden Core stage…”

As the two spoke, Qin Duan heard everything clearly, but it was only when he heard the words “mid Golden Core stage” that he finally understood why he had fallen into this situation… No matter how powerful he was, he couldn’t detect opponents three realms higher than him in advance. If he were in perfect condition, he might have been able to put up a fight, but now he had missed that chance.

Qin Duan took a shallow breath, trying to activate his demonic energy, but his dantian remained silent, offering no response.

The other seemed to have sensed his intention and sneered, “Don’t struggle. This Wansiji Scatter Powder can even knock out cultivators at the late Golden Core stage. No matter how you struggle, it’s useless.” With that, he smudged something on Qin Duan’s face, appearing contemptuous.

Qin Duan knew alchemy, so he naturally understood the potency of this drug. He gave up struggling and simply smiled faintly at the other person, showing his white teeth.

For some reason, the two men were stunned by his smile. It was only after a moment that they realized their opponent had already passed out completely.

When Qin Duan woke up again, the surroundings were dark. He blinked his eyes and as his vision gradually cleared, he found himself imprisoned in a cage.

The cage wasn’t big, just slightly wider than his body. The bars above his head were higher, forming a semi-circular shape, painted in yellow with embedded gemstones, looking quite luxurious.

When Qin Duan noticed the red velvet cushion beneath him, he couldn’t help but curl his lips and take a deep breath.

He had seen this setup quite a few times… but this was the first time he found himself in it, and it was rather novel.

It would be better if there were more clothes on his body, though.

Qin Duan sighed, tugged at the loose and semi-transparent cloth on his body, causing the chains to rattle.

Right now, all his limbs were shackled with golden chains, each end of the chains connected to one of the cage’s four corners, allowing him to turn around or stretch out half a hand at most.

Feeling the lock, Qin Duan found rune inscriptions suppressing his cultivation realm on it. Apart from that, his internal energy had been drained, and he was left with merely a Foundation Establishment stage cultivation.

… It’s like going back to square one in one night. Qin Duan rolled his eyes.

But it was still better than he had imagined. He extended his right hand and finally managed to form an extremely thin blood blade using his demonic energy. At most, it was only as long as his fingernail, far from being lethal.

But for Qin Duan, it was already enough. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing the golden locks fastened around his wrists. He squinted at the runes on them and started modifying them one by one.

The technique of refining and drawing runes was a miscellaneous skill that Qin Duan had learned along his one-thousand-year journey. Although he didn’t know many other things, he was quite proficient in this area. Just like the compass from before, these chains were no different.

However, the difficulty this time was much greater than before. Qin Duan broke into a cold sweat, his fingers trembling, and the blood blade dissipated several times, only to reform at his fingertips.

With a click, the runes on the golden locks lost their effect after being modified, and Qin Duan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

There were four chains in total, and it took him a full three hours to unlock each one. Just as he finished adjusting and prepared to escape from this damned cage, he heard footsteps approaching.

He squinted, his body tensing up as he prepared for anything.

The person who arrived was a short and skinny figure, with a hunched back. When he saw Qin Duan awake, he let out a sharp laugh, obviously one of the two who had brought him here.

Qin Duan narrowed his eyes, a trace of killing intent flashing in his gaze.

“A high-ranking individual wants to see you. Follow me…” The man, noticing Qin Duan’s shackles, opened the cage door without any precautions and reached for Qin Duan’s arm. But in the next moment, his throat was gripped by a cold hand.

Qin Duan looked at the gradually terrified expression on the man’s face and couldn’t help but smile faintly, “Didn’t I tell you… to wait for me?”

As he spoke, the right hand at the man’s throat glowed brightly with blood. The man’s eyeballs popped out, his hair fell out strand by strand, his face melted away, and in just a few seconds, he turned into a blood corpse.

Since Qin Duan had not fully recovered, the dissolution process was naturally slower than usual. However, this slowness only intensified the pain for the person involved. He had to personally feel every part of his body turning into blood, yet he could only open his mouth and produce no sound.

In the end, when Qin Duan crushed his skull, the man’s chin completely fell off due to continuous elongation. Qin Duan absorbed the blood qi into his palm and licked his crimson lips.

Thanks for the hospitality.

He severed the chains, stepped out of the golden cage barefoot, and turned into a blood shadow, disappearing into the darkness.

After leaving the room, he found himself in a long corridor. Qin Duan looked around but didn’t see any guards. On closer inspection, he noticed intricate runes carved on all four walls, extending to the end of the corridor.

This entire floor was a massive prison, and just standing in the corridor made him feel the pressure lessen, so he had to mobilize his true essence to resist it.

This situation can’t go on… but the corridor is too long, and he doesn’t have enough time and experience to tamper with the runes. He must find another way.

While he was contemplating, a faint voice suddenly transmitted to his ears, “Save me…”

Qin Duan was taken aback and asked in response, “Who are you?”

“I’m in the room with the sign ‘Tian’… Starting from the staircase… the third room… Help!”

Following the voice’s instructions, Qin Duan found the room. With three swift moves, he broke the formation on the door. As soon as he entered, he sensed a pungent fragrance, causing him to change his expression, and he quickly held his breath.

Inside the room, a seductive scene unfolded. Several individuals, dressed provocatively, were affected by the scent. With flushed faces and sweating bodies, they were sprawled in their respective cages, seemingly emitting rather lewd sounds.

Among them, there was one who appeared somewhat sober. As he saw Qin Duan’s arrival, he desperately knocked on the bars. His eyes were somewhat unfocused, and his lips were bitten, drawing traces of blood. With this impact, he seemed to regain a hint of clarity.

“Save… me…”

Qin Duan raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze to the four cauldrons placed in the corner. He concentrated his mind, and the blood mist transformed into blades, easily slicing one of the incense burners into two.

Upon witnessing this, the person in the cage visibly relaxed, panting heavily against the railings.

Apart from these incense burners, the cages were made of ordinary iron. Qin Duan gently tugged, easily opening them. He extended his hand to pull the person out and injected a stream of true essence into the person’s body. The latter trembled, and his breathing became more stable. He hurriedly knelt down in gratitude, “Thank you for your help. I’m extremely grateful.”

Qin Duan looked at him with a hint of amusement, “No need to thank me. You were able to maintain your composure in this chaos-inducing fragrance; you should have the highest cultivation level among the people here.”

Most of the furnaces in the “Tian” room had not reached the foundation-building stage. They were merely practitioners of Qi refining, so they were only drugged with aphrodisiacs without any special protection.

Compared to what Qin Duan had experienced earlier, this was already considered special treatment.

The interconnected array in the corridor was indeed troublesome. Once triggered, the Fengyuelou would surely be alerted… If that’s the case, it might be better to make the situation even more chaotic.

Thus, Qin Duan asked again, “Are there other rooms where they’re also holding practitioners with cauldron constitutions?”

“Yes, yes, there are.”

“Are there any in the Foundation Establishment stage among them?”

“I’m not sure about that, but for this grand opening ceremony, the Fengyue Tower issued wide-ranging orders, so there should be quite a few with high cultivation levels, I suppose.”

“Take a moment to recover first, then release the others when I give the command.”

The man hesitated slightly, “There’s a secondary-grade formation set up in the corridor. With our cultivation levels, we have no way to break the formation.”

Meanwhile, Qin Duan had already walked to the door and turned back at the man’s words, giving him one last glance.

“Don’t worry about that. If you want to save yourself, feel free to cause a ruckus.”

****