Longevity Strange Immortal
Chapter 112 - 113: Is This It? Nothing Special

Chapter 112: Chapter 113: Is This It? Nothing Special

The buildings scattered around the slaughterhouse formed a temporary, rudimentary town, guarded tightly by stationed cultivators.

At the center stood the slaughterhouse, resembling any regular butcher shop, though its doors and windows were tightly shut, and the lanterns hanging under the eaves swayed in the wind.

Compared to the Human Bear Demonic Beast from Cai Market, which let out terrifying roars every so often, the slaughterhouse was eerily silent.

Occasional sheep cries were heard, but they didn’t seem to come from the slaughterhouse itself.

The source seemed more likely to be the warehouse in front of the slaughterhouse, which was once used exclusively for storing demonic beasts’ corpses for spiritual material extraction.

After gradually withdrawing some stationed cultivators, a Core Formation Stage Qingfang Taoist was deployed. As it appeared the beast calamity at the slaughterhouse was not substantial, the stationed cultivators collectively sighed in relief.

Everyone thought the calm of the slaughterhouse would last until the beast calamity ended.

But for some reason, the number of patrolling constables continued to grow.

Their expressions were unusually solemn, continuously employing Eye Magic to scan the area, as if searching for something within the town.

When the constables gathered toward a shop on the outskirts of the town, it immediately drew the attention of the stationed cultivators, who began to speculate about the reason.

Ma Weigong furrowed his brows deeply. Even before entering the shop, the stench of decay greeted him.

Based on the decay rate of a childhood cultivator’s corpse, the body must have been there for two days—it seemed the deceit beast had ultimately escaped.

"Search every nook and cranny thoroughly. Don’t overlook a single clue."

Leading more than a dozen constables, Ma Weigong stepped into the shop. Immediately, they saw the corpse lying inside the room, its flesh crawling with maggots.

"The identity of the corpse?"

"Kou Gang, I know him—he’s called Kou Gang."

Ma Weigong turned his head, spotting a towering childhood cultivator standing by the door. The man seemed to be on familiar terms with Li Mo.

"I’m Jin Li. My stationed shop is nearby."

With Ma Weigong’s permission, Jin Li stepped closer to the corpse. But upon seeing Kou Gang’s grisly state, he couldn’t hold back a sharp intake of breath.

The cause of death was a shattered skull, and the floor bore traces of elephant foot prints.

The heart was completely hollowed out, clearly devoured clean by the deceit beast.

Jin Li recalled that Kou Gang was reasonably strong for a childhood cultivator; he shouldn’t have been unable to make a sound in the face of a deceit beast.

This deceit beast must have extraordinarily stealthy methods and an acute understanding of the slaughterhouse layout to accomplish this so quietly.

Jin Li secretly noted this information, intending to report it to Li Mo later, as any anomaly at the slaughterhouse could potentially impact the Calligraphy and Painting Hall.

A constable exited the inner room, his face pale with fear, and remarked, "Ma, the traces are from some time ago. After devouring the heart of its prey, the deceit beast made a swift departure."

"Search each shop. At the very least, confirm whether the deceit beast is still within the slaughterhouse."

"Yes."

Ma Weigong pinched the bridge of his nose and turned to Jin Li. "Fellow Daoist Jin, forgive the embarrassment. A deceit beast escaped from the slaughterhouse, but it hasn’t reached the Weak Crown Period yet—shouldn’t be difficult."

Yet from Ma Weigong’s anxious expression, Jin Li could tell things were far more complicated than presented.

It likely involved something significant; otherwise, the government office wouldn’t mobilize with such fanfare, especially for the death of just a childhood cultivator.

The constables gathered the corpse into a storage bag and quickly left thereafter.

Standing inside the damp, gloomy shop, Jin Li shivered against his will and retrieved his spiritual tablet to relay the slaughterhouse news to Li Mo.

Soon, Li Mo replied.

"Relax, the deceit beast has already left the slaughterhouse area."

"Huh?"

Unbeknownst to Jin Li, Li Mo was already confronting that deceit beast.

Standing atop a rooftop, Li Mo observed the Black Mountain Goat deceit beast wandering aimlessly, occasionally lowering its head to nibble on withered grass by the roadside.

Its appearance was entirely clear to him now.

The beast had massive horns on its head, eyes clouded and pale, one leg ending in a goat’s hoof and the other resembling an elephant’s foot, with aura at the Perfect Puberty Stage.

What sent a chill down his spine was the Black Mountain Goat’s face, disturbingly similar to An Gang’s, evoking an unexplainable sense of eeriness.

Li Mo even noticed the beast’s legs bore traces of iron chains that appeared to be from the Bone-locking Body Sealing Chain.

Whether the Black Mountain Goat deceit beast had any connection to An Gang remained unknown.

"Baa..."

While contacting the government office, Li Mo simultaneously tried to stall the deceit beast.

If the Black Mountain Goat deceit beast showed signs of moving away from the Calligraphy and Painting Hall, Li Mo deliberately released his own aura to lure the creature closer bit by bit.

From his judgment, the deceit beast’s spiritual wisdom wasn’t as high as Jin Li claimed. It didn’t even compare to a common wild beast.

By merely adjusting the release of his aura, Li Mo toyed with the beast, keeping it pacing within a 200-meter radius of the hall.

Soon, the government office responded, dispatching constables who were already en route.

Li Mo intended to handle the Black Mountain Goat deceit beast discreetly. After all, given its connection to An Gang, he couldn’t simply kill it and throw it into the Meat Mountain as fodder.

But suddenly, without warning, the deceit beast underwent abrupt changes.

"Baa..."

It tilted its head, its expression twisted in agony, and then a gory wound appeared on its chest and abdomen, seemingly a self-inflicted injury caused by its sharp horns piercing its flesh.

Yet no cultivators intervened—why was the deceit beast injured?

Li Mo’s first thought was the possible interference of puppet cultivation in the shadows. Fearful of impacting the slaughterhouse, he exhaled a swarm of Poison Bees.

Thousands upon thousands of Poison Bees poured out.

The mist was tainted by the sweet venom of their stingers. Even a single breath could make a mortal faint instantly.

Within moments, the Breath Fog enveloped a kilometer, yet no traces of puppet cultivation or magic were found.

The Black Mountain Goat deceit beast collapsed to the ground, its body convulsing painfully before its wounds began healing at unprecedented speed.

The regenerated flesh, however, resembled that of an ordinary man.

Under Li Mo’s watchful gaze, the beast started morphing into a human, though only its chest and abdomen transformed, defying all known logic.

Crack, crack, crack...

Bone-popping sounds echoed from its body as its cultivation advanced to the Early Stage of Youth, with a faint glimmer of spirit light flashing in its eyes.

"Baa."

Li Mo’s body turned cold, not out of fear of the deceit beast but because he dreaded the sinister and inexplicable rules governing the slaughterhouse.

No wonder Tian Changwen had concentrated considerable manpower here.

The Black Mountain Goat deceit beast tilted its head and hobbled toward Li Mo.

Despite its mismatched legs, it moved noiselessly, its lanky arms swinging with each step.

"Baa."

Greed flickered in the beast’s eyes, as its movement pace remained steady but abruptly accelerated several times, vanishing into the mist.

The rumbling sound from the government’s arrival coincided perfectly with the beast’s disappearance.

Though standing alone in the courtyard, Li Mo could still feel the beast’s gaze fixed on him—clearly drawn to the heart infused with the essence of the Paoxiao Swallowing Body.

The government forces halted by the Calligraphy and Painting Hall, and two constables hurried out.

Ma Weigong stood respectfully behind an elderly constable with white hair and beard.

The old constable was named Tang Wu, his face dominated by an exaggerated rosacea while holding a pipe in his hand. His cultivation had reached the Late Teenage stage.

Upon noticing the Beastification of the Black Mountain Goat deceit beast into Weak Crown Period, his complexion changed drastically.

Tang Wu took out a Bone-locking Body Sealing Chain but hesitated, wary of startling the target.

Li Mo glanced at the chain, recognizing it was crafted by himself, incorporating the spiritual material of elephant bone specifically to subdue the beast.

Tang Wu scratched the half-exposed back of his skull and spoke, "Young one, you must be Li Mo—the Artifact Refiner An Gang mentioned?"

"I won’t mince words. This deceit beast is highly unusual, but don’t take its life... though with your abilities, that shouldn’t be a concern."

"Secure your safety first, and work to lure the beast out."

Li Mo tensed his muscles.

Given his fierce reputation as the Mountain and Sea Hermit, Tang Wu should have known about him. Could the Black Mountain Goat deceit beast hold some unimaginable capability?

Ma Weigong looked toward Tang Wu, his mouth half-open as if unable to voice his thoughts.

Tang Wu, nearly a thousand years old, had his Core Formation prospects ruined by the invasive Death Disease. Because of this, he spent most of his time sleeping within a buried coffin.

If not for the Taoist inheritance struggle, Tang Wu rarely woke up.

Having only been awake for the past six months, he had heard of Li Mo’s renown, though only knew him as Han Cai’s disciple and a mid-grade artifact refiner.

Almost activating his Primordial Dao Body, Li Mo found it hard to see how this deceit beast could threaten him.

Testing himself cautiously, he suppressed his leakless body, his blood coursing like raging waves.

Tang Wu’s eyes widened incredulously; the aura Li Mo revealed contained at least two types of Daoist bodies.

What kind of monster was this?

"Baa."

The deceit beast couldn’t hold back, its form emerging from the mist.

Its palms began sprouting horns, while its mouth and nose were blocked off by thick goat hair. Its elephant foot swelled several times larger in mere moments.

With one powerful stomp from its elephant foot.

The deceit beast instantaneously closed the distance to Li Mo, the horns in its palm aimed directly at his chest.

Tang Wu froze for a brief moment before realizing he had underestimated the beast’s speed—it might seriously injure Li Mo.

"Watch out..."

His expression turned grim. If Li Mo’s foundation were damaged, who could predict whether Han Cai might align with the puppet cultivation faction?

Li Mo appeared caught off guard, allowing the horn to approach his heart.

But just as the horn neared his chest, his expression twisted bizarrely as he extended his arm. To be safe, he underwent Golden Toad Beastification at his arm, choosing to clash fists with the beast directly.

BANG!

Sandstorms erupted.

The newly built courtyard wall of the Calligraphy and Painting Hall flew over a hundred meters from the impact.

Li Mo frowned slightly.

While he remained unscathed, the deceit beast’s arms were twisted like braided ropes, and its spinal column shattered into dozens of segments.

"Baa, baa, baa..."

The deceit beast let out heart-wrenching howls, repeatedly attempting to rise, yet its recovery would clearly take time.

Li Mo withdrew the Golden Toad Beastification and helplessly spread his hands.

"Is that all?"

Tang Wu nearly tore out his beard, his face turning black from suppressed rage yet unable to utter a word, before releasing the Bone-locking Body Sealing Chain to bind the beast.

Carrying the bound deceit beast, Tang Wu returned to the government office, while Ma Weigong offered a grim-faced farewell.

Moments later, the government forces headed swiftly toward the slaughterhouse, with Li Mo receiving a task from Tian Changwen to follow closely afterward.

The mission was to strengthen the beast’s cage.