Black Stone City.
The name sounded rough, but in reality, it was just a Mortal town built between two mountain passes.
Due to its special geographical location, being a necessary route for merchant caravans traveling north and south, it was quite bustling.
By the time Jiang Chen arrived, it was three days later.
His Qingyun Sect Disciple robes had long been torn and buried, replaced by coarse linen clothes “borrowed” from some unlucky fellow, and his face was smeared with mud and ash, making him unrecognizable.
Three days were enough for him to completely master the power within him, and also to become more proficient in using the Eye of Insight.
As soon as he stepped through the city gates, a complex and boisterous Aura surged towards him.
Not just sounds, but also “destiny.”
In Jiang Chen’s Eye of Insight, the entire Black Stone City was like a overturned basket of yarn.
Thousands of destiny threads, of various colors and thicknesses, intertwined, collided, and entangled before his eyes, forming a giant, dizzyingly chaotic net.
A hawker selling steamed buns: his destiny thread was grayish-yellow, as thin as a spider's silk, stained with the smell of oil smoke and flour. Jiang Chen could “read” that he would sell twenty more buns today, but on his way home, he would sprain his ankle by stepping on a stone.
A hurried Escort : his thread was brown, representing constant travel, and very resilient, but it was entangled with a faint trace of blood-light, indicating that he would encounter a small problem on his next escort mission.
A beggar dozing in a corner: his thread was grayish-black, close to death, intermittent, and could completely break at any moment.
These were the life trajectories of Mortals.
Trivial, insignificant, yet clearly arranged.
This massive information flow flooded Jiang Chen's mind in an instant, making his temples throb.
He forced himself to close his eyes and took a deep breath.
In that breath, there was the cheap fragrance from a distant cosmetic shop, the meaty smell from the nearby steamed bun shop, and also… the faint, sour stench emanating from a roadside gutter.
It was strange; this mixed scent brought his heart, which had been somewhat adrift from prying into too many “Heavenly Dao secrets,” back to solid ground.
When he opened his eyes again, he had learned to actively “de-noise.”
Just as Mortals can ignore street noise, he began to disregard the irrelevant destiny threads, focusing his attention only on what he needed.
He needed a place to stay and gather information.
His gaze swept across the street, and soon, he locked onto an inconspicuous inn.
“Youjian Inn.”
The name was perfunctory, but the innkeeper's destiny thread was a very stable earthy yellow, which represented “stability” and “conservatism,” meaning he was not a troublemaker.
Jiang Chen walked in.
The waiter lazily lifted his eyelids, saw his refugee-like attire, frowned, and was about to tell him to leave.
Jiang Chen said nothing, merely pulled out a piece of broken silver from his Pregnant and placed it on the counter.
The silver was small but heavy.
The waiter’s eyes immediately lit up, and the disdain on his face instantly turned into a warm smile: “Guest, are you stopping for a meal or staying the night?”
“Staying the night. The quietest room, and bring some food and hot water up.” Jiang Chen’s voice was flat, even a little hoarse.
“Alright!”
Led by the waiter, he went upstairs and entered a room at the back.
The room was small but clean.
Closing the door, Jiang Chen immediately walked over, pushed open the window, and looked out.
His position allowed him to see the lobby downstairs and part of the street outside.
Food was brought up quickly—just ordinary braised beef and white rice.
Jiang Chen was indeed hungry and ate it all ravenously, then sat quietly by the window, like the most patient hunter, observing his hunting ground.
Qingyun Sect must be looking for him.
That “Destiny Corrector” also felt like a thorn in his heart.
He was like a torch in the dark night; although he thought he was well hidden, in the eyes of certain existences, he might be terrifyingly bright.
He needed to know how his enemies would find him.
Time passed bit by bit.
People came and went in the inn's lobby. Jiang Chen listened to the bragging and chatting of merchants and wandering heroes, using his Eye of Insight to discern truth from falsehood, and gradually pieced together information about the outside world.
Qingyun Sect had sealed its mountain gate, claiming that an ancient Devil Head had emerged from the Ten Thousand Bat Cave, leading to the unfortunate demise of the Sect’s Genius Lin Feng and dozens of Disciples.
The Sect Master was enraged, and several Elders had already descended the mountain, collaborating with several major immortal Sects to collectively “hunt down the remnants of the Devil Head.”
His own name was also on the list of the “fallen.”
That saved him a lot of trouble.
A cold sneer played on Jiang Chen’s lips. It seemed the Qingyun Sect’s upper echelons, to cover up their shame, had pushed all responsibility onto a fictitious “Devil Head.”
They dared not admit that their meticulously planned “sacrifice” had been overturned by a “sacrificial offering.”
Just then, a commotion erupted downstairs.
Jiang Chen’s gaze sharpened.
A group of seven or eight people entered the inn's lobby.
Leading them was none other than the Qing-robed Elder he had seen in the dense forest, Zhao Wuliang.
Behind him followed several arrogant-looking Qingyun Sect Disciples.
As soon as they entered, the entire lobby instantly fell silent. The Aura of those from an immortal Sect was still too oppressive for Mortals.
Zhao Wuliang ignored everyone. His gaze was fixed on the bronze compass in his hand.
The compass needle was trembling violently, emitting a faint “buzzing” sound.
Finally, the needle suddenly stopped, pointing directly… upstairs, towards Jiang Chen’s room!
He was locked on!
Jiang Chen’s heart tightened abruptly.
He showed no panic; his body’s reaction was even faster than his thoughts.
The moment Zhao Wuliang looked up at the second floor, he had already, like a civet cat, silently flipped out of the window, stepping on the eaves, and dropping into the alley behind the inn.
“He’s there!”
A sharp-eyed Qingyun Sect Disciple shouted.
“Chase him! Set up the ‘Sky-Locking Array’ and don’t let him escape!” Zhao Wuliang barked, his voice carrying a hint of urgency.
He hadn't expected this “anomaly” to be so perceptive.
Jiang Chen moved swiftly through the dark, narrow alley, the sound of rushing wind behind him growing closer.
He knew he couldn't stop.
Once that old man caught up, he had no idea what strange methods the other party possessed.
Just as he was about to rush out of the alley, a strange thing happened.
A hawker selling candied hawthorn at the alley entrance: his carrying pole “just happened” to break at that moment, and two baskets of hawthorn and candied hawthorn rolled all over the ground, perfectly blocking Jiang Chen’s path.
Jiang Chen’s pupils suddenly contracted.
His Eye of Insight saw it clearly: just a split second before the carrying pole broke, the hawker’s originally stable destiny thread was forcibly twisted by an external force!
It was that old man!
He was manipulating the “accidental” of Mortals to create “inevitability” for himself!
Is this the method of a “Destiny Corrector”?
Alarm bells rang in Jiang Chen’s heart, but his feet didn't stop. He stomped hard on the wall, launching himself into the air, flipping over the scattered hawthorn.
But as soon as he landed, a banner from a nearby restaurant, caught by the wind, “just happened” to fall, heading straight for his head.
That feeling again!
Jiang Chen awkwardly rolled to the side, dodging the banner, his body covered in muddy water from the ground.
He looked back; Zhao Wuliang was already less than ten zhang away from him.
The old man’s face held a cold, cat-and-mouse-like smile.
In his view, all the struggles of this “anomaly” were merely futile jumps on the chessboard of the Heavenly Dao.
“Surrender, anomaly.” Zhao Wuliang’s voice carried from afar, “Your existence itself is a mistake. I will personally… correct you.”
Outside the alley was Black Stone City’s most bustling night market.
Jiang Chen plunged into it, hoping to use the chaotic crowd to obstruct his pursuers.
But he was wrong.
Wherever he ran, an “accident” would happen.
A child would “just happen” to cry and cling to his leg, a strong man would “just happen” to drunkenly stumble into him, a basin of foot-washing water would “just happen” to fall from above… These seemingly accidental incidents firmly dragged him in place, making him feel as if he was stuck in a swamp.
For the first time, he felt that sense of powerlessness, of being against the entire world.
Zhao Wuliang was like a director holding a script, casually mobilizing all the surrounding “extras” to encircle and suppress him, the sole “anomaly.”
The rain, at some unknown point, had started again.
The cold rainwater pouring down on him brought a sliver of clarity to Jiang Chen’s chaotic mind.
Running was impossible.
Hiding was also nowhere to be done.
If that was the case… then he could only, before being devoured, devour others first!
He needed power, he needed a “sacrifice” strong enough to break this deadlock!
Jiang Chen suddenly stopped, standing in the rain, letting the rainwater wash away the mud on his face, revealing his terrifyingly bright eyes.
His Eye of Insight was pushed to its limit!
He frantically scanned the chaotic crowd around him, searching for that unique “destiny thread”!