Chapter 36

People started arriving from above. Seeing the four disciples of the Supreme Sect standing among the eerie white bones, some felt apprehensive and called out, “Are you friends from the Supreme Sect down there? Are you all right?”

Lin Du found the question a bit off.

Yuan Ye shouted back, “Thank you for your concern, we’re doing fine down here!”

Lin Du’s eyebrows lifted; it was even more off than she thought.

The people above felt the heavy Yin energy below and hesitated, but after hearing this response, they decided to come down and check.

Lin Du glanced at Ni Jin Xuan and Yuan Ye and cleared her throat. “Do you all know what should and shouldn’t be said?”

Yan Qing also realized, “This needs to be reported to Elder Ju Yuan.”

Lin Du added, “Specifically to Elder Ju Yuan. Six hundred years is enough for an ordinary disciple to become an elder.”

Elder Ju Yuan had never been to this secret realm, and considering the time, he must have already been in the Cloud-Treading Realm when this realm appeared, so he couldn’t enter.

Although Yuan Ye and Ni Jin Xuan were innocent, they understood the gravity of the situation and quickly nodded in agreement.

Lin Du crouched down, picked up a jade-white bone—likely a humerus—and gently tapped it against the skull of a nearby skeleton.

“Uncle Junior Master, what are you doing?”

Lin Du tapped again, “Just knocking a wooden fish to accumulate some merit.”

Merit +999

She had a vague feeling that the truth behind the situation was more terrifying than just the flesh beneath the bark or the bones beneath the roots.

The resentment was not merely a result of two hundred Number of ghosts gathering together.

The overwhelming resentment and spirits they faced earlier—there were not just the remaining twenty individuals yet to be found.

The Number of ghosts they had just dispersed were at least in the hundreds or thousands.

The ghosts pouring out of the Ghost Gate were so numerous that they had become tangible black masses. The cries included men, women, and children, but the bones here belonged to high-level cultivators.

Due to the world’s collapse, they couldn’t ascend, but they were still very high-level cultivators.

Where did these children come from?

It was highly likely that there were many more bones in this underground city.

The three of them sensed that something was off with their Uncle Junior Master.

These high-level cultivators’ bones had been refined into nearly translucent white jade-like material due to their experience with heavenly tribulations. Despite years of gathering Yin causing them to lose some of their sheen, they still had a pleasing sound when knocked, similar to jade bells.

Yan Qing suddenly spoke up, “Uncle Junior Master, do you know about questioning the spirits?”

Lin Du looked up, “I’ve read about it in a book on arcane methods.”

It was a technique that only used spiritual energy.

They all looked at the remaining standing skeletons.

“The Number of ghosts that surged out of the Ghost Gate have been dispersed by our Yang souls, but these should still have lingering resentments.”

Thus, the bones remained standing.

The two younger, less bookish children just stared blankly at their older brother and sister.

Lin Du sighed at the innocent, clear-eyed expressions from the two.

Ni Jin Xuan felt a bit useless and said softly, “Uncle Junior Master, do you think we’re particularly useless?”

Lin Du shook her head, “Not at all. You’re very endearing.”

Yuan Ye asked, “Really?”

“Yes, you have a kind of innocent cuteness that hasn’t been tainted by knowledge,” Lin Du said as she stood up, patting Ni Jin Xuan’s head while still holding the humerus.

Ni Jin Xuan obediently said, “Uncle Junior Master, do you want some candy? You look quite weak.”

Though her Uncle Junior Master was younger than her, for some reason, she was already taller. Ni Jin Xuan slightly tilted her head back and pulled out some candy from her pouch. “I made it the day before yesterday.”

Lin Du didn’t want to use her bone-touching hand to handle food, so she took a piece of candy from Ni Jin Xuan’s hand with her mouth. Yuan Ye also reached out for some candy, crunching loudly on the hard candy.

Just then, a few outer sect disciples landed, making some noise as they landed with thumps and then exclamations of surprise.

The scattered bones on the ground caused a slip, making someone fall with a thud.

Lin Du glanced at the cultivators with raised eyebrows.

The cultivators, rubbing their bruised backsides while cursing, looked at the four people among the bones and suddenly felt something was odd.

The four people were calmly standing among the scattered white bones, smiling. One of them was even holding a bone, and another was making crunching sounds as if chewing through bones.

The cultivators’ expressions gradually turned to fear.

“You… you’re actually eating… eating corpses?”

Lin Du: …?

Yuan Ye froze, “No, no.”

One person pointed at the white bone in Lin Du’s hand. “Then what are you doing with these corpses?”

Lin Du hesitated. Could she say she just wanted to hear the sound of knocking on a wooden fish?

“I… was just asking the spirits?”

She made a gesture, “Gently waking the sleeping souls?”

The cultivators were skeptical, “Really?”

“Otherwise, should I make soup?” Lin Du thought to herself that making soup wouldn’t add calcium.

Lin Du walked towards the remaining intact bones with the large bone she was holding.

Asking the spirits was merely using spiritual consciousness to communicate with lingering obsessions.

She casually knocked on the skull of one of the skeletons. This cultivator’s bone was likely of lower quality than the central ones; the bone wasn’t pure jade and the sound was dull and not crisp.

But soon, Lin Du realized why the skull’s sound was dull.

In an instant, a chilling aura climbed up her wrist along her fingers, and her spiritual consciousness was entangled by a cold, heavy presence.

The soul’s energy was exceptionally cold and heavy, like a damp, cold insect sealed away for a millennium, bringing a clammy and greedy chill, gripping her consciousness.

“Uncle Junior Master! This vengeful spirit hasn’t dispersed! It’s still residing within the bones!” Ni Jin Xuan, who had been closely following Lin Du, quickly sensed something was wrong. She drew her whip and was about to strike the skeleton.

“Don’t move.” Lin Du looked down, threw the bone in her hand, and covered the skull with her hand, her tone chilling, “What do you want? To possess a body? Do you even deserve it?”

Everyone’s gaze fell on Lin Du. Wrapped in a heavy cloak, only one of her hands was visible, looking even paler than the bones, making it hard to tell who was the ghost.

But Lin Du’s next actions were even more frightening.

She raised her other hand, using her spiritual power to force the remaining intact bones towards her. Ignoring the scattered bones on the ground, she awkwardly stacked them, not caring if they were crooked or toppled.

“Watch carefully. I’m here to ask you questions. If you refuse to answer, I’ll smash even the bones you currently inhabit.”

Lin Du’s spiritual consciousness wasn’t as deep as these old ones, but…

“Times have changed.”

“With the collapse of the world’s Dao, regardless of your past rank, now you can only use your Qi Heart Realm strength.”

Lin Du expressionlessly raised her hand, infusing spiritual power into it. Her slender fingers gripped the skull, slowly applying pressure.

The skull began to form fine frost, and Lin Du smiled lightly, “Jin Xuan, it’s ready.”

With a crisp crack, the skull shattered.

The spirit residing in the skull, now without its anchor, screamed as it tried to escape, only to be dispersed by Ni Jin Xuan’s whip.

The heavenly-grade spirit treasure, Cloud Soul Whip, could not only harm the body but also the soul.

Lin Du casually walked to another intact skeleton, raised her hand, lightly tapped its skull with her finger, and covered it with her spiritual consciousness, “Now, what about you?”

Everyone shivered in unison, as if the bones themselves were trembling.