Chapter 9: Red Powdered Skeleton

"Indeed, there's a relic ahead!"

Qin Mu followed the herd, and suddenly he saw the terrain ahead lowering, revealing a canyon. Within the canyon, many ancient buildings were still preserved. There were palaces scattered about, along with spacious courtyards and towering high-rise structures. And in front of this relic stood a towering gate, connecting both ends of the canyon, with large ornate pillars adorned with dragon carvings.

The herd was charging towards this gate, rushing into the relic.

"The darkness is coming!"

Qin Mu looked up, his scalp tingling. He saw the darkness flowing down from the cliffs above the canyon like ink, pouring into the gorge!

This darkness would soon reach the gate of the relic and engulf it!

The herd grew even more violent, madly charging towards the gate. It became extremely dangerous, with the fierce beasts colliding and trampling on each other, resulting in shattered bones and bodies.

But right now, there was no time to care about that. They couldn't rush into the relic before the darkness arrived; otherwise, they would meet a more gruesome death!

Qin Mu frantically dashed forward, grabbing hold of the tail of a massive beast. This beast was extremely formidable, resembling a moving black mountain. It knocked away and trampled on every other beast that came its way.

And the beasts following behind this massive beast also leaped up, grabbing onto its tail, allowing it to carry them into the relic.

Qin Mu lowered his head and saw that the ferocious beasts, which were usually intimidating, were now trembling in fear, gripping the tail of the massive beast tightly without daring to move. He looked back and saw Qu Shixiong, Senior Sister Qing, and the other five people chasing after him, frantically heading towards the relic. They weren't far behind.

Finally, before the darkness engulfed the gate of the relic, the massive beast charged into the enormous gateway, and simultaneously, the darkness, like ink, swallowed the gate.

Qu Shixiong, Senior Sister Qing, and the others rushed forward, but only Qu Shixiong, Senior Sister Qing, and one other young disciple managed to enter the gate before it was submerged in darkness. The other two disciples, one of them was a step too late, with only his arm stretching into the gate, while the other disciple had his face, chest, legs, half of his abdomen, and one arm engulfed by the darkness, leaving only half of his body visible.

Qu Shixiong landed inside the gate and immediately reached out to grab the hands of the two disciples. He pulled one of them with force, dragging out a white and eerie skeleton from the darkness.

But before Qu Shixiong could grab the other young disciple with his remaining hand, he saw the young disciple collapse to the ground.

Qu Shixiong and Senior Sister Qing were horrified. They saw that the front of the young disciple's body was intact, but the back had been completely devoured, with no trace of flesh or blood left. They had no idea what in the darkness had consumed the flesh from his back.

"What exactly is in the darkness? How could such a thing exist?" Senior Sister Qing exclaimed in a high-pitched voice.

Qu Shixiong collected himself, took a deep breath, and spoke in a deep voice, "People die like extinguished lamps. The two junior disciples sacrificed themselves to eradicate evil and uphold righteousness. They died valiantly. That little devil deliberately arrived at this relic just moments before the darkness came. He must have intended to use the darkness to kill us!"

The other young disciple seethed with indignation and said bitterly, "He's also in this relic. Surrounded by darkness on all sides, he has nowhere to escape! Let's find him, tear him apart, and avenge our two junior disciples!"

"He's over there!"

Senior Sister Qing spotted Qin Mu leaping down from the tail of the massive beast and immediately exclaimed, "You little devil! You killed my two junior disciples and still want to escape?"

Qin Mu was infuriated. "Clearly, you all chased and attacked me for no reason, relentlessly pursuing me. As a result, you ended up killing yourselves in the dark. What does it have to do with me? I've never provoked you, yet you came to kill me. How am I at fault?"

Senior Sister Qing gritted her teeth. "You, little devil, dare to argue..."

"Damn you and your demonic nonsense!"

Qin Mu angrily retorted, "My grandmother and I only killed a deer to make clothes. Yet, you call us demons. But you lot kill a group of deer and still have the audacity to call us demons?"

Qu Shixiong's face darkened, and he took a step forward. "This little devil is skilled at deceiving people's hearts. There's no need to waste words with him. Let's kill him directly!"

As the three of them were about to take action, suddenly, deep roars of beasts echoed around them. Startled, they looked around and saw that the relic was filled with thousands of strange beasts, including even some lord-level creatures. Each of them had a hostile expression, glaring at the trio with fierce eyes.

Qu Shixiong felt something was amiss and discreetly took a step back. Seeing that the beasts didn't attack them when they didn't make a move, they also quieted down without further action.

Qin Mu marveled at this sight. These strange beasts would often fight fiercely among themselves over territory and prey. Yet now, they were peaceful and didn't show any aggression. It was quite strange.

"Could it be that these strange beasts have established some rules, prohibiting fighting within the relic?" Qin Mu wondered aloud.

Qin Mu blinked his eyes. Many of the beasts among them were natural enemies that would fight to the death. Yet, they coexisted peacefully, which supported his speculation. The villagers often said that the strange beasts had spirits, and Qin Mu had even encountered a demonic ape that could speak, calling him a little brat. Perhaps these strange beasts had indeed established rules here.

Qu Shixiong also thought of this possibility and let out a sigh of relief. He whispered, "Don't take action tonight. Wait until dawn and kill him immediately!"

Senior Sister Qing and the other young disciple nodded in agreement.

Qin Mu looked around and saw that the relic covered a vast area, resembling a city within the gorge. Strange beasts were scattered everywhere, except for the central square, where not a single one could be seen.

On that square, there were only skeletons—human remains numbering around two to three hundred. It was unclear why they had died here, but they still wore magnificent clothes.

"These are all women."

Strangely, these female skeletons were sitting cross-legged in neat rows. There were fifteen rows, each with fifteen sets of skeletal remains. It seemed that they were meditating when a catastrophe suddenly struck, leaving them no time to escape. In an instant, they died and turned into skeletons.

Qin Mu approached the square, carefully observing. He noticed that among these female skeletons, there was a leader sitting cross-legged at the front of the row.

Both the skeletons and the leader's skeleton faced a gigantic gateway, all in the same direction.

"Senior Brother, look quickly!"

Senior Sister Qing's eyes brightened as she gestured toward the skeletons in the square, whispering, "These skeletons are holding treasures! Each and every one of them!"

Qu Shixiong's gaze swept over, and his heart couldn't help but race. The skeletons were holding swords, holding feather dusters, wearing jade pendants, or embracing treasure vases—a variety of weapons and items.

These treasures still emitted a brilliant light as if they had just been crafted, clearly indicating their exceptional value!

The most eye-catching item was the pearl held in the hand of the skeleton leader. It floated in the palm of the skeleton, with wisps of smoke and mist swirling inside.

This place turned out to be an enormous treasure trove!

"If we could obtain these treasures..." Senior Sister Qing whispered, her breathing becoming somewhat rapid.

Even the treasure trove of the Five Elders of Li River couldn't compare to what was here!

If they could acquire these treasures, they might establish their own sect and become independent!

Qu Shixiong's eyes flickered, and he chuckled, "Heaven has treated us well! Junior Brother Five, go and fetch these treasures."

Junior Brother Five stepped forward and just as he entered the square, he suddenly saw the strands of a feather duster held by a female skeleton gently floating in the air. The strands of dust seemed to come alive, slowly growing. One of the strands approached Junior Brother Five.

The dust strand resembled an extremely small spiritual snake, lifting its head to observe Junior Brother Five.

"Senior Brother Qu..." Junior Brother Five's voice trembled, and he didn't dare turn his head.

Qu Shixiong's voice grew solemn, "These treasures belong to the dead, ownerless objects. Don't worry..."

Before he could finish speaking, the dust strand shot out like lightning, piercing into Junior Brother Five's eye. Other strands of the feather duster swooshed over, burrowing into Junior Brother Five's eyes.

Junior Brother Five opened his mouth in a horrifying scream, but no sound came out. Qin Mu, not far away, witnessed the young disciple rapidly withering before his eyes, turning into a dried-up corpse in an instant!

The feather duster continued to entangle him, quickly dissolving the skin and even the bones of the corpse. Only a few pieces of clothing and a pair of shoes were left on the ground.