Li Yong could be seen walking around the night market with his friends.

The night lights glimmered with an assortment of wondrous colors and music played around from the entertainers scattered around. There was clacking of slippers and the bustling of vendors, it was night time but everyone was lively!

Li Yong and Cao Yingjie were eating street foods to the bafflement of Zhao Zhaohui, Cao Xiaosi on the other hand thought it was normal for Cao Yingjie to have an appetite wherever they go.

Being disguised as ordinary people, I thought to make myself slightly mysterious as I was going to do all the behind-the-scenes acts, hopefully I wasn't needed to take action.

I wore a black damao which was a wide brimmed bowl hat and a stylish and loose black robe that gradually became starry and translucent on the bottom. I looked like a messenger that herald the coming of the stars. It complemented well with my sharp eyes and mysterious persona.

I smile and but then sigh in feigned melancholy, I raised my arms wide to the side and let them fall below my waist where I clasped my hand together, I hummed sonorously,

"Lacking clothes and food, they have no shelter in the cold.

They are drenched by rains, and huddle around the rocks for lack of shelter.

They are orphans snatched from the breast, hope lost on them;

They are the poor that have been forced off the proper path.

The Midnight did not forsake them, but bestowed them with love."

My prayer of a poem resounded to the people in the area who stopped, those who had negative feelings such as sadness, or were merely troubled, felt purified, those who felt stressed, serious, or uptight felt tranquil.

On their minds were the pitiful prayer that was recited, it spoke of troubles and despair but then was of refuge and solace.

Those who felt happy and were enjoying themselves in the night market felt an ethereal kind of satisfaction and those who were carefree and flippant felt relaxed.

Unfortunately, there was no abnormal reactions from anyone so as everyone curious about the source of the strangeness started staring at me. I spread out my hands once again, my group dispersed in the crowed as I started singing out sorrow and consolation, melancholy and comfort, dread and relief.

I walked through the crowd as they let me pass through, bathed breaths over my resounding and emotional voice,

"Woe, Demons take the hearth;

Spirits stake the heart;

Oh, Immortals live in the sky;

So mortals live another night;

 

Scrape for measly food;

Lie on dirty wood;

Drape in nightly clothes;

Worn an ably smile;

 

There is night where cries arise;

Where is blight, there lives dies;

Blood so spouts then ground;

Flowers then sprout so around;

 

Horror, the children can weep;

Horror, the mother can't sleep;

Worry not if one must see another sky;

For naught, if one must live the others die;"

Peoples emotions and souls were sway to my rhythm as some people felt melancholy and others with tears of comfort as if they remember something in their memory.

A good number praise my words with acceptance, though in a tone of sadness. While those with power chose to remain silent as if they finally empathized for once, people hearts were opened. In a way, peace and tranquility is achieved for that moment. More so that no one noticed a person whose face was wriggling like a paper bag wanting to burst open, it didn't help that the rest of her body also went wobbly, not like candle, but like lumpy bread or dough.

Humans are weak and squishy pieces of meat, their live worthless and worth less than any meaning to live, So is life so precious and memories cherished? Find solace that a lifetime is so spent without regret.

I am a Sleepless, I knew to dream therefore I must strive.

If I must strive, then as a Midnight Poet, I must not regret.

I proclaim it so, Midnight is the theme and Poetry is the means.

I think it, no, I know it, Poetry is expression and Midnight is what you take in.

Tonight, this night, I do not want to regret. Even in this melancholy as a mortal, I whose known the cruelty of Jianghu, yes, people die, I have to accept that passing. There may be unwillingness but no room for regret.

As a Warrior, I must fight knowing death is a possibility.

As a Corpse Collector, I must witness the dead and accept it so.

I remember an attribute of the Death Pathway, to bring out the undead. They were not alive nor living again, they were the dead that were given something after, an afterlife. They could not live again. Only a miracle could do that.

I chuckle as I felt quick digestion to my sequences, I couldn't help but cry out, "For people, midnight is for a moment and the evening is for a while. Remember! Midnight is eternal and the evening is an ever night!"

With my quick word, I immediately jolted energy and liveliness to my group as they immediately knew it was my signal. Once again, word also jolted a good area in the vicinity. Unfortunately, the Flesh and Bone disciple in disguise also regained a bit of their will due to me.

Too bad, were in a bustling market place where a lot of wandering cultivators can be hanging out.

The Cao brothers took the flank of the demonic disciple while Zhao Zhaohui stood at her front, stabbing forth with his sword.

The distressed disciple full of mixed and negative emotions reacted instinctively to its basest desires, a fight or flight. Upon barely dodging, the disfigured female tackled Zhaohui as he fell back and rolled of before repositioning himself, "Stop right there!"

Once again he rushed forward and sliced swiftly like flames and cut down on the shoulder of the flesh mound.

"RAUGH!", It may have been effective due to the screaming and pain but it surely didn't cut through the body thoroughly, the flesh is cut but the bone is not.

Cao Yingjie stabbed on an upward angle, twisting it, he ran his condensed qi as a light sheen covered his sword, burning the monstrous being from her stomach upwards.

Lastly, Cao Xiaosi jumped up almost making a shadowy figure, something I noticed happen last night when fighting that old taoist. No one would typically notice but a Sleepless could easily see everything in the dark.

An accurate stab made it's way to the demonic cultivator's cranium and finished the business. It, being the dead body, just a pile of flesh and no more, fell to the ground.

"Worry not everyone, Midnight is upon us.", I quietly whispered, it still has spirituality which carried in the air, giving a calming effect to those who felt fear or distress due to the incident.

Smiling, I leave the premises. What has this romantic poet to do with those group of three? Surely nothing is going on.

I'm merely a romantic, call me... Romanee-Conti, the Romantic Poet.

Don't tell Mr. Wolf about me, Sirhaan will have my throat for causing a scene so early.

Now I feel like a writer for making fake identities of myself, oh well, to where the wind takes me.

As I left, a those who saw me unconsciously made way because they were shaken up by what happened, demonic cultivators are a force to be reckoned with so it would be shocking to find one hiding amongst the people.

Some of them, scholars from what I can tell, approached me from behind, calling out, "Sir scholar! Please wait a moment, can we exchange views?"

I chuckled as I stated, "I'm not a scholar, Call me a Romantic Poet.", and with than I immediately ran.

Warrior's Physique and Nocturnality brings about a multiplied effect.

In little over two minutes, I got out of the night market and headed to a secluded area on the city, actually, it is a graveyard heavily guarded by several Qi Apprentices.

It is probably headed by someone at Qi Foundation. Reasonable because Ghost Tao Disciples may as well be called grave robbers.

The graves were the greatest resource, so the bodies were buried without coffins. Burning the corpses would have negative effects in a Yin Qi dense area.

Depending on the environment, treasures and strange phenomena happen. Evil spirits develop easily here, the burning of corpses are known to have a higher chance to develop a Burning Ghost.

Slipping out a veil for myself, I covered my face with it and wore bronze bracelet on my left hand and two bronze rings on my right.

Then I did what any crazy person would find crazy, actively lose control.

My Spirit Vision and Night Vision were on full blast, letting me see the ghost and evil spirits that float around the grave. They could not take corporeal form though.

I made my Corpse Characteristics show farther as my temperature dropped even farther, if I had even a tint of reddish before due to my blood then not anymore.

I also started whistling incessantly, I drew power from the night using Nocturnality and laced my voice with spirituality, wantonly using a wasteful and minor fraction of Midnight Poem. I also spread my spirituality around me, using the active effect of Spiritual Sense to know is anything is around.

I was consuming a large amount of spirituality, at some point, I might start losing control is some way. But I remain i

Hanging on my waist were familiar double scimitars. I wore thin and fit black-brown clothing with a cloak over me.

Seeing and hearing me, the guards went into a stance and spoke when I came near, "Only those who want to bury bodies and pay respects are allowed in. You must be a citizen of Yin Haze City or from a righteous sect."

I stayed silent and stood near then, there was silence. My stare seems to be piercing their mental defenses as they felt intimidated.

Then nod silently before presenting a crest for the Steel Fortress Sect. Still having some suspicion, the guards passed it around and it ended up on a young woman's hands who scrutinized the logo, "It's real."

Talking amongst themselves, they arrived on a decision and brought in the captain, a Qi Foundation as I had suspected.

He looks at my hazy eyes and my ghostly brown figure. I had a gloomy aura around me that really screamed unusual.

"I am Dim Som. What is you purpose in coming here?"

"Has anyone been dying lately?"

"Yes, why is that?", some of the guards took it the wrong way and gripped their weapons tightly.

"I would like to check the corpses and see if there are any problems with them."

"And what would that bring?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you. But if you come with me then you'll see I mean no harm."

"..."

"..."

"Everyone, go back to your posts! What is your name young man?", T

"Si."

"Okay, disciple Si. It's this way.", I nodded my head and made it to a house with corpses inside. I also decreased my consumption on spirituality as I started losing control. There was a family who has just brought in a body.

[Psyche: Level headed (Sanity 70%) (Insanity 5%)

Darkness:

Minor Hypomania: Bloodthirst - Sanity -5%

Minor Passion: Hate - Sanity -5%

Death:

Lesser Solemnity: Corpse - Sanity -10%

Losing Control: 

Corpse Collector: Copse Body - Insanity - Insanity +5%

Permanent Trauma: Self-Loathing - Sanity -10%]

"Wuwuwu! Xiao Hao, my son, you died so young!", A woman in her forties is crying with a dead body below her.

"Brother! Wuwu!", A young boy is crying and wailing.

"...sob", An innocent adolescent was silent, kneeling and quietly sobbing, suspected to be the younger sister of the family.

"...Xiao Hao...", The father hung his head low as the shadows covered his face.

"Brother Hao...", An older sister said between her sobs and gritted teeth.

"What happened here?", I coldly ask.

"This man was killed by a beast outside the city.", Dim Som explained.

"Any others?", I glaze my eyes on the air, 'seeing' things that other couldn't.

"Over there, the young man, Go Hao, was part of the same group of hunters.", he pointed to a number of pale and frosty corpses.

"He is a deserter who fled by himself like some others, it is normal since a creature that could freeze people over is probably at the Qi Condensation or higher.", Dim Som shrugged, death is commonplace and the world is truly dangerous.

I checked the frozen-like corpses.

The evidence shows that they were frozen stiff and even the liquids flowing out of their eyes, nostrils, and mouth were all frozen over. I could deduce that most men were crying and foaming, but it seems natural as there were actions of beasts tearing their bodies.

There are inconsistencies, not all injuries made by the beasts were fatal to some of the men, I smell a strange pungent smell of their fabric, it wasn't piss nor poop...it's puke, it was faint, covered by the blood and smell of pungent dirt.

They had faces of struggling, which were normal for those who fought monsters but their faces could also tell another story.

"Which monster could it be?", I scrunched my eyebrows.

"The Chilmoth is responsible, we had hunted it down.", Dim Som sighs knowing the matter was finished with, all is left is to mourn for the dead.

Chilmoth is a yin and ice-attribute beast, Qi Condensation or higher. They can make the wounds they make rot and their breath could freeze those who can't resist the temperature, and they love eating stomachs.

"Mr...is the one who killed brother is dead?", a small kid pulled on Dim Som's sleeve with disbelief.

"Xiao Ca, don't disrespect the immortal! I'm sorry, please forgive him, he's too young to understand!", Hastily the mother grabbed on to the young boy.

"Hm, while the Chilmoth isn't the one who killed Go Hao, I also don't think it's also the prime reason why the hunters died."

"What? I witnessed it myself that they-"

"..Hm, yes, although they were all meant to die by poison, anyone who could last can still be taken down by the Chilmoth.", I conjecturize as I approached and knelt by Go Hao, I was glared at by the older sister when I opened up the dead man's mouth.

"Huh...strange, poison.", I pause in thought.

"Did you say poison?", Dim Som asks with disbelief.

"Why are you touching him?", The younger sister asked, feeling slightly offended from what I can tell in her tone, her older sister had to keep herself from lashing out. They both knew that anyone who is with the city's Graveyard Captain, Dim Som, is surely someone special.

"I think I've seen enough inconsistencies."

"Explain.", Dim Som felt both unamused and confused, while he is sure it is a monster attack, he would humor the stranger his antics.

"Any poison that can make flesh rot when ingested? Preferably slow acting, scentless, can cause vomiting."

"There is one. It's a secret poison, if I weren't part the City Governor's Army then I wouldn't have known of this. It's offered by an unorthodox sect, Yin Mix Sect."

"For whatever reason it was, if you can see this right here, that rot cannot be done by a Chilmoth.", I opened the mouth up for him to see.

"That is strange, now that I think about it.",

"This poison that rots can be hidden by the strange behavior of a Chilmoth, they eat stomachs, leading to the person who ends up their victim to also rot."

"..."

"..."

"Even if you say that, why would anyone target the group of hunters."

 

'Someone wanted intentionally murder brother??', The little sister of Go Hao thought incredulously. Even the older sister was left bamboozled. This time, it was the father's turn to become angry, vengeful even.

 

"..who..", I could hear the father ask almost voicelessly before he took on more of a respectful and serious tone, "I plead to the immortal, who is the one to kill my son?", he didn't raise his voice, strangely his voice would have cracked with how much grief he was currently in but the composure revealed here showed something truly menacing, not that he could do something as a mortal in the first place, but since they're family, I'll talk, "If they're all poisoned, then we can only ask those who seemingly survived..."

"Three came back..."

"Reasonably, there would be no way for hunters to afford such poison, right?"

"No... The poison is expensive and is even hard for rogue cultivators to obtain.", 

"So, sect disciples, who killed a random group of hunters using expensive poison, covered it up, and left 3 alive?...No way, it can't be?"

"What do you-?!", Suddenly Dim Som also came to the same realization.

"Hm, it seems so. Flesh and Bone disciples. In that case, we can assume all the hunters died and gives a reason why they had to kill. This also means that we cannot bury the bodies yet because they represent as evidence.", I nod unfazed anymore.

I could see the Go family had paled, realizing that 3 demonic disciples have infiltrated the city.

"My job is just bury the dead thoroughly, bury any unfinished business, bury any regrets.", Coming here, I deduced something that I could use in the future, nevertheless. It is fruitless for a Corpse Collector such as myself.

"Let the dead be buried with the dead; Let the living live on with the living; Let the day fall and the night begin; Then the night will end with the day to come;", While my gaze looked dead and aura gloomy. This family hadn't once acted out of fear against me as they seriously grieved their loved ones.

"...", Once again the family started crying. They were not comforted but all their emotions seemed to gush out after I recited a poem to them.

It takes a long time for acceptance, especially when it comes to death. I bid Dim Som adieu as he thanked me on my input, I left finding no other bodies in need of inspection or require a need to be buried.

It's time to go back to my group. And I should also recuperate my spirit.

 

---

 

"Are we ready? Has everything been resolved?", I asked the others as I wore the sect's robes.

"Yes, this was much easier than we expected.", Cao Yingjie noted. He was fully prepared to struggle on the mission only for his expectations to be overturned.

"Yeah, the only hard part was weeding the disciple out. Thankfully, I had my means. So we could do it with little effort."

"Li Yong, you're Art is overpowered!", Zhao Zhaohui has a big smile while giving a pair of thumbs up.

"We were given spirit coins. There is a bag for each of us.", huh, that neat, also spirit coins? I guess that's natural to call it that for a City Governor, I usually just interchange the spirit coins and spirit stone because of my own idiosyncrasies.

Look through my bag, I was awarded generously with 30 spirit coins each, which were a year's worth of spirit coins. I can someone with an average talent like mine can use a stone once a day in cultivation ergo 2 and a half weeks worth of cultivation material, enough to cover the month of Geng.

Calculating everything, I gained a bountiful harvest. It's time to go, I shouldn't stay to see whatever mayhem I've caused because of my compulsion to 'act'.

 

---

 

"Lei Liqin is dead. Let's go back", A voice informed inside a common house in the city.

"Tch, those pretentious disciples, don't they know that they killed a child of the elder? Argh! We're going to suffer back in the sect!", Another irritated voice speaks in a panic.

"Shut up! There's nothing we can do, we should flee before anyone discovers us!", An aggressive and stern voice sounded, it was mature, coming from someone older than the other voices.

They are the Flesh and Bone disciples who infiltrated Yin Haze City with the goal of getting Lei Liqin out. Unfortunately, they've failed, and their plans have gone down the drain.

Suddenly, they hear a knocking on the door. Confused, the disciple with the most composure came and opened to another group that greeted them, "Good morning, sorry for coming very early in the morning but we would like you three to come with us for a moment."

Silence.

The disciple by the door visibly paled slowly with his mouth agape. The irritated disciple a while ago, his face started to twist in fear before standing up. The leader among them looked between the governor's army and the demonic disciples, "Tch, our covers blown."

Immediately, the disciple by the door tried back up while transforming only to be impaled by spears. The other disciple also started transforming as swelling arms grew out, punching to the guards that entered, "Giant Flesh: Arms"

The leader took the most cowardly approach and jumped through the window and transformed his legs running out of there, "Giant Flesh: Legs"

"Chase them down! You four stay here and kill them!", shouted Dim Som.

"Flesh Trunk"

The impaled disciple's neck extended as jaw outgrew fangs to bite down on a guard, "Serpent Fang Bone", But another guard speared him on the neck. Unfortunately, it did not help as the neck kept extending biting down on the guard, "HAA!"

"Blubber Load!"

The closer guard removed his spear and stabbed backward, penetrating the under chin of the long necked monster but it stuck again due to that fat. The other two guards were facing off against the two giant armed disciple, backing away every time he attacked forward.

Everyone was at the Qi Apprentice stage. Demonic cultivators are generally stronger due to their strange abilities but they are easily exploitable than orthodox cultivators who have little to lethal weaknesses. For Yin Haze City, the guards were unorthodox cultivators, a good mix between demonic and orthodox, they may have strange abilities but the cultivation practiced aren't against morals or heaven.

"Swift Blaze Bust"

Finding an opportunity, a guard seems to have blown his joints as he rapidly accelerated and jammed his spear directly on the giant armed disciple, instantly killing him, "phew", The guard sighs as his joints became sore and slightly torn.

The other guard then came to help the other two guards handling the annoying long neck.

"Light Will Screen"

The guard bitten had endured the pain as a golden light enveloped him. It prevented him from being crushed by the disciple. Seeing as they could not kill the guard, the long neck decided to retreat but his mobility and size made him an easy target, even if his flesh had a strange fatty defense, the three guards attacked in unison, taking down the disciple.

"Sthh..", The bitten guard seethed in pain and he sat down, "That was painful."

"Cultivating light skin required you to be burnt and every use gives you burning pain. I didn't think you'd practice it to mastery.", one of the two uninjured guards chuckles, he had short dark brown hair and light green eyes.

"Well I did, and it paid off, if it were you, you'd die.", The practitioner gave him a glare, he had slightly golden hair in the front of his bob cut hair.

"That's true. I should buy a defensive technique when I can.", The same guard nods.

"Oi, get up. Regroup with the captain!", The only other uninjured guard told them, he always had a scowling face whenever he had to work but he takes the job seriously.

"Dark Ice Spear Art"

"Flesh-Blood Swelling Movement"

To where the captain was, he had shot an dark ice spear right to the fleeing leader, the latter snorted as he dodge, seemingly contracting and bursting his swelling muscles to make supernatural speed.

Dim Som clenched his hand and the spear exploded, its Yin Qi bursting out and penetrating the fleshy disciple who felt his body spasming and speed lower. The latter's frustration grew as he felt the Yin Qi drill in his body and extend lines back to the former whose body also has in Qi drilled in him.

Suddenly, Dim Som threw out several yin-ice spears that homed onto the disciple, even when he turned a street. The demonic practition gritted teeth in frustration as he decided to sacrifice everything for his life. His body inflated like a balloon and popped out, pushing both the Yin Qi and the demonic disciple out. The Yin Qi was dispelled but the injured enemy got away, or that was what the enemy thought.

He then realized the next moment the difference between Qi Apprentice and Qi Foundation. Dim Som took out the spear in his back and shot out his spear, spiraling towards the undefended disciple. The yin-ice spears collided with it and made a torrent of swirling Yin Qi and Ice Qi, "Yin Tundra Spear!"

Caught up in the tundra, the disciple was stabbed by the pelting of ice and was gradually clawed in by the mysterious corrosive force of Yin Qi, causing a Yang Deficiency on his body, worsening his condition.

At last he collapsed after getting stabbed in the chest, vomiting blood and collapsing on the street, "Blagh!". Thankfully it was a very early morning, just past midnight as everyone was still asleep and early risers such as farmers weren't in the middle parts of this city.

It seems unlucky for these disciples as they met inside the home of a hunter whose house is inside the middle of the city, something that isn't a locational advantage of the person making a living, not that they're still alive at the moment.

"That mysterious Steel Fortress Disciple is right. I wonder when I could meet him again...", Dim Som sighs as he took his spear back, preparing to handle the aftermath of the situation.