Splash! Splash!
The bushes were densely covered with jagged thorns. Beside them flowed a small stream.
The stream murmured quietly, yet its water was dark green and black, giving an immediate chill to the bones and making the scalp tingle.
Crunch! Crunch!
The grass rustled, and suddenly a creature emerged, twice the size of an ordinary rat. Its snow-white incisors were sharp and gleaming, its fur was stiff and hard, and its front claws were pale, as if wrapped in a membrane of bone.
At this moment, it pushed through the bushes. The sharp serrations and thorns of the shrubs were utterly unable to stop it, being easily brushed aside as it dug out tender and juicy roots and devoured them heartily.
While gnawing, its small eyes rolled restlessly, glowing green with a hint of red, showing great alertness. At the slightest sound or movement, it would flee immediately.
However, there was no disturbance from the outside world, allowing it to eat and drink to its heart’s content.
When the bone-plated rat was finally satisfied and began to run back, an unexpected catastrophe suddenly occurred as it passed a pond beside the stream!
Splash!
Water splashed, and a pitch-black large fish, about three feet long, leapt out, spitting out a jet of water.
Puchi!
Within the water jet, a white streak was hidden, striking the rat’s head directly, immediately splattering blood.
The rat was killed in one blow. A slender bone spine pierced through its left eye and out the right, stained with blood, precise and deadly.
Splash!
The black fish had astonishing leaping ability, even jumping onto the shore, revealing a mouthful of snow-white teeth. It dragged the bone-plated rat into the pond.
Splash! Splash!
In an instant, countless large fish swam over, splashing water. The pond water churned, becoming murky, with scales flashing and blood spreading.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
At this moment, a black shadow suddenly darted out from the nearby grass.
It seemed to have been lying in ambush for a long time. At the moment it struck, it was like thunderclap, moving faster than lightning, becoming a black blur that swept across the pond.
Splash!
Water splashed as a large black fish was scooped up, its scales torn by sharp claws.
Puchi!
The black fish used its old trick again, spewing out a bone needle that hit the black shadow’s forehead, producing a crisp sound and even splashing sparks.
Crack!
The black shadow, however, opened its gaping maw and bit down, instantly killing its prey.
Plop!
The black shadow landed steadily on the opposite side of the pond, revealing its true form—a monster resembling a wolf and a badger, covered entirely in a thick layer of white bone armor. Bone spines protruded from the edges, especially on its forehead, where a piece almost as thick as a thumb protected its skull, slightly marked by a needle-like scar.
“Wang! Wang!”
The wolf-badger let out a hunting cry, sounding like a dog’s bark. It shook its tail and quickly carried off the black fish, disappearing into the thorny jungle.
…
“This… this…”
On the other side, Cang Hu, who had witnessed everything from beginning to end, felt his scalp tingling: “Is this… still an ordinary wild beast?”
Although he had trained diligently since childhood and was cultivated by masters to reach the level of Internal Tempest cultivation, even he doubted whether he could defeat a dog here!
“Fast as the wind, with bone membranes protecting vital points…”
Cang Ying, the Thousand-Household of the Department of Strange Affairs, had a heavy expression in his eyes: “If several of them rushed together, it might take a Grandmaster of Martial Arts to break free… and this is only the outer area of the Bone Beasts, already this formidable… White Bone Mountain, the Road with No Return, indeed lives up to its name…”
“Dad, don’t be scared by those people’s nonsense. I’m very capable, and I have magical treasures to protect me!”
The young girl beside him seemed to be encouraging herself, though her words lacked the previous confidence.
“It’s definitely here…”
Beside her, Wu Ming’s eyes were deep and solemn. Feeling the spiritual imprint growing closer, he was already very certain—the skeleton spirit he had released was hidden in White Bone Mountain!
“Indeed, I left it back then just for an experiment, letting it search for a node of malevolent energy to strengthen itself. I never thought it could find such a blessed land. Truly, its fortune is boundless…”
Wu Ming had released the skeleton spirit originally for two purposes. First, to test the connection between the two worlds.
Although he had previously buried talismans for verification, there was still a possibility of deception. However, this skeleton spirit had been personally cultivated by him, marked with a spiritual imprint, making deception impossible.
At this point, he was already completely certain that the previous mission involving the Primordial Spirit was highly suspicious. There was a ninety percent chance that the Primordial Spirit had paid some price to the Spirit Hall, enabling it to reverse time and seek the opportunity for resurrection and rebirth!
The second purpose was to cultivate treasures!
Back then, Wu Ming had ordered the skeleton spirit to act independently. Three hundred years had passed. If it had been lost, that was fine. But if it still existed and had followed Wu Ming’s instructions, what kind of magical treasure would it have nurtured?
“And my Seven-Slaying Gourd—if buried in the earth’s magnetic veins and nurtured for three hundred years, it should have gained another level of supernatural power by now?”
Wu Ming felt slightly excited. He continued walking with the three others—under White Bone Mountain, the forest was filled with serrated plants. Even the most basic vegetation bore thorns, which were harmful to horses’ hooves, so they could only proceed on foot.
Shoo… Plop!
At this moment, a firework burst into the sky, causing Cang Ying’s face to brighten: “We’ve reached the camp!”
The gathering point established by the Department of Strange Affairs was naturally at the foot of White Bone Mountain. If it were deep within the mountains, it would be an intentional trap for its members.
“Great!”
Cang Hu’s spirits lifted, and the young girl cheered.
Through this period of companionship, Wu Ming had learned that this girl was named Feiyan, and she had a master at the Immortal level, known as “Smoke Net Immortal!”
The Immortal had a long-standing friendship with the Cang family and had made a master-disciple agreement with Cang Feiyan when she was young.
Hearing that this mission was dangerous, he had sent his apprentice down the mountain to assist.
Although Cang Feiyan was skilled in Daoist arts and protected by magical treasures, her character still needed tempering. Her innocent and childlike heart would inevitably suffer in the mundane world.
After walking a while toward the signal, passing through a forest of bones, the group immediately saw a camp appear before them.
Dozens of tents gathered together, surrounding three huge golden tents in the center like stars circling the moon, exuding an extraordinary grandeur.
“Who goes there?”
Of course, Cang Ying and the others were stopped as they approached.
“I am Cang Ying, Thousand-Household of the Lingzhou Department of Strange Affairs. I have brought my subordinates, and this person is Zheng Baihu from Dingshou, whom we met along the way!”
Cang Ying, a seasoned old hand, immediately distanced himself from Wu Ming at the outset.
“Lingzhou, Dingshou? Very well… you’re the last ones…”
The one who came out was a young man wearing a tiger-patterned robe, with a jade-like face and a touch of sinister aura, who seemed somewhat puzzled: “Isn’t Lai Zongyi from Dingshou already on sick leave? Why did he send you instead?”
“Daring to address Lai Zongyi in such a way, this person must be a high-ranking official within the Department of Strange Affairs!”
Wu Ming’s eyes flickered, knowing that there would inevitably be a thorough examination next, possibly involving specific internal codes. Although he could tamper with the Yazi Order, encountering such a background check would expose him immediately.
Fortunately, he had no real intentions to begin with; he had merely come to see the spectacle.
At this moment, his eyes gleamed slightly, contemplating whether to capture all these people. The opponent seemed to hold a high position, exuding the arrogance of someone directly subordinate to the imperial capital, and likely knew a great deal of intelligence.
Cang Ying felt a chill in his heart, pulling his daughter and nephew back a few steps.
“Jiejie!”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Suddenly, the forest was flattened, and a strange cackle echoed, carrying a strange power that disturbed the soul.
Merely hearing it, Cang Hu’s vision was filled with a terrifying scene of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, with white bones everywhere.
“It’s that White Bone Demon again, attacking our camp!”
The young man, previously suspicious, changed his expression drastically: “I am Qiu Yi, Deputy Commander of the Department of Strange Affairs. I order you all immediately to follow me and resist this demon!”
“Ah, so it’s Deputy Commander Qiu Yi. My respects!”
Cang Ying’s expression changed instantly, and he quickly bowed, thinking to himself: “I had heard before that in the capital, the upper echelons of the Department of Strange Affairs underwent a major reshuffle. The old deputy director was replaced, and this person took over. He is quite capable and young, not to be underestimated!”
The Department of Strange Affairs had one Commander-in-Chief at the third official rank, followed by two Deputy Commanders at the fourth rank, then the Pacification Officers, the Eight-direction Lieutenants, and finally the local Thousand-Households and Hundred-Households.
Qiu Yi was quite young but already held the fourth rank. Even in a special department like the Department of Strange Affairs, this easily caused astonishment and even stirred up controversy throughout the court.
“Jiejie!”
Unfortunately, before Cang Ying could say more, another wave of ghostly laughter came, accompanied by gusts of cold wind.
“Aowww!”
“Roar! Roar!”
…
Numerous green ghostly flames floated among the trees, the ground faintly trembling. One by one, massive beasts covered in bone membranes, with hideous appearances, charged out from the deep mountains like a flood, rushing fiercely toward the camp.
“Jiejie!”
Above the tide of bone beasts, large clusters of green ghostly flames burned. Outside, thick black clouds floated in the air, and in the middle, a gigantic skeletal figure faintly appeared.
“Hmph! What nerve!”
Qiu Yi was furious. Suddenly, he clasped a magical seal, and from the crown of his head flew out a magical sword, trailing a tail of pitch-black flame. It soared and pierced the air in an instant, joining several beams of light from within the camp to meet the demon head-on.
“Let’s go. It’s no longer safe here. We must retreat to the camp. We’ve already set up a strong fortress there, which we can use for defense!”
Even while launching sword attacks, Qiu Yi could still speak and act, showing his ease and mastery, clearly at the level of a true Immortal cultivator.
Cang Ying obviously understood the danger and quickly nodded in agreement, not daring to disobey.
Cang Feiyan’s face flushed with admiration in her eyes. This Qiu Yi’s cultivation level was nearly equal to her master’s.
“Hmm? So young and already at the Immortal level? This must go beyond the realm of genius—it’s the work of a prodigy, an extraordinary genius!”
Wu Ming was slightly surprised: “Such talent even surpasses that of my elder sister Wu Qing, likely a chosen disciple from a major sect like the Jade Purity Sect, carefully nurtured from childhood. How could such a person end up serving the imperial court?”
Cultivation was not something achieved overnight. Talent alone was insufficient; one must be cultivated from childhood by a sect, with resources and support, to achieve such a level.
“Could it be…”
Wu Ming’s eyes flickered as he began to suspect something: “Have the shadowy puppet masters already infiltrated the Department of Strange Affairs with their agents?”
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