Chapter 280 - 147: The Scheme of the Lifeless Lotus Sect’s Master! An Increasingly Chaotic World

Chapter 280: Chapter 147: The Scheme of the Lifeless Lotus Sect’s Master! An Increasingly Chaotic World

In fact, there had been repeated tragedies where entire villages in remote regions were wiped out overnight by monsters from the wild.

As it happened, the Immortal Flesh Lu Yun had obtained this past month came from monsters that had been possessed by Outer Celestial Demons and subsequently gunned down.

However, a thought would occasionally cross his mind: ’If I could kill these monsters myself, the modified value I’d get would be a considerable reward.’

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as he wished. The monsters always appeared far from the Lu Family’s territory, popping up suddenly in other parts of the city.

By the time word reached the Lu Family, it was already too late; the Outer Celestial Demon monsters had long since been riddled with bullets.

With no other choice, Lu Yun settled for the next best thing. He used the identification information left behind by the possessed victims and sent his men to thoroughly search their former homes.

And the search truly yielded results. They found stashes of uneaten Immortal Flesh hidden in all sorts of bizarre places.

Most likely, those people couldn’t refine it all at once. They had to consume it little by little each day to gradually grow stronger. Unfortunately for them, they never made it to that point; the Outer Celestial Demons seized their bodies first.

Sometimes, Lu Yun really thought he should levy an "Immortal Flesh tax" on everyone in Yun Port City.

’These bastards eat whatever they please, turn into monsters, and wreak havoc, killing and burning and throwing the whole city into chaos.’

’Shouldn’t someone be held accountable for all the damage they’ve caused? I’m the Military Governor of Yun Port City, after all. The lives and property of the people are my responsibility, are they not?’

’Collecting some Immortal Flesh as a tax seems perfectly reasonable.’

But it was just a passing thought. No one would be stupid enough to admit they were hoarding Immortal Flesh. If you asked them to hand over a portion, they would only hide it deeper and more securely.

Lu Yun shook his head, casting the impractical notion from his mind.

The Bi Family of Ping’an Town. Today, as always, the Bi estate was a place of high walls, deep courtyards, and strict security.

The two stone lions at the gate stood imposing and majestic, baring their fangs. Even stray dogs tucked their tails and took a wide berth, and the common folk didn’t dare to spare them a second glance.

But inside, the Bi Family servants were growing increasingly uneasy. They had started to notice that something was wrong.

First, there were the changes in the master and mistress of the house. Over the past half-month, the personalities of these two pillars of the Bi Family had changed dramatically.

Mayor Bi, who once had a temper as explosive as a firecracker and would beat and curse the servants at the slightest provocation, had become silent and taciturn. He wore a grim expression all day, like a hollow shell possessed by some monstrous thing.

The mistress was not right, either. She now locked herself in the rear courtyard all day, refusing to see anyone.

Furthermore, Mayor Bi had recently made a clean sweep, replacing many of the long-serving staff. The new servants were, without exception, all men from out of town.

Before they knew it, more than half of the staff had been replaced by Mayor Bi. As for where the dismissed old servants had gone? No one knew.

The few old retainers still working in the mansion all felt that something was deeply wrong.

What chilled them to the bone was the master and mistress’s attitude toward the new servants.

What kind of person was Mayor Bi before? He was the sort of master who didn’t see his servants as human. Beatings and verbal abuse were the least of it. Forcing them to kneel or stand for hours was commonplace, docking their wages was standard practice, and it wasn’t even unusual for him to whip someone when he was in a bad mood.

But now? When he saw the new servants, he would actually give a slight bow, his tone as respectful as if he were addressing some great and powerful personage.

The mistress was the same. She would actually step aside for the new servants. It defied all logic.

Not only that, but many bizarre new rules and forbidden areas had appeared in the mansion.

Thus, panic had begun to spread among some of the Bi Family’s servants in recent days. The cleverer ones had naturally scented that something was amiss. The Bi Family’s old butler was one of them, and he decided to betray the family before it was too late.

In the rear courtyard, coils of incense smoke lingered, and white plumes rose in wisps, shrouding the entire area in a hazy veil.

Mayor Bi and his wife, Mrs. Fang, knelt side by side beneath the spirit tablet of the Lifeless Mother. With heads bowed and hands pressed together in prayer, their lips moved, chanting something unknown.

At this moment, Mayor Bi no longer looked like a normal person at all.

He was like a completely brainwashed zealot, endlessly muttering and repeating obscure, tongue-twisting scriptures.

Mrs. Fang, however, was different. Driven by an obsessive desire for her son’s resurrection, she stubbornly clung to the emotions and desires of a normal human being.

Thus, Mrs. Fang didn’t seem to be praying so much as pleading—pleading for an intangible, illusory hope.

After some time, the faint sound of footsteps came from outside. A stooped old woman, leaning on a cane and cloaked in a long robe embroidered with a white lotus, slowly entered the room.

Behind her followed three women in white robes, each with a stern expression and an icy gaze.

The old woman was stooped and frail. Her face was a mass of crisscrossing wrinkles, like the cracked bark of an ancient tree that had weathered a century of wind and frost.

The moment Mayor Bi saw the old woman appear before him, his entire being seemed to ignite.

One moment he was a wooden, hollow shell; the next, an expression of utter fanaticism spread across his face, as if he were beholding the most sacred being in existence.

Then, Mayor Bi prostrated himself and began to kowtow frantically. "Your disciple respectfully welcomes the esteemed Master Xuantan!!!"