Chapter 9: The Pink Skull

These treasures still shine brightly, as if they have just been produced, clearly they are remarkable treasures

Strangely, these female skeletons are all seated in a cross-legged position, arranged in orderly rows. There are fifteen rows, each containing fifteen skeletal remains. It seems that they suddenly perished in a disaster while meditating, leaving them no time to escape, and in an instant, they died and turned into bones

Even the treasure trove of the Five Olds of the Li River is far inferior to this one in a million

Indeed, there is a relic ahead

Are these strange beasts bound by rules that prohibit fighting within the ruins

That strand of dust resembled an incredibly slender spirit snake, lifting its head to scrutinize the fifth junior brother

Qin Mu charged forward recklessly, seizing the tail of a colossal beast. This beast was extraordinarily majestic, resembling a rapidly moving black mountain, as it barreled through, sending one strange creature after another flying and crushing them underfoot

Before he finished speaking, a strand of dust shot out like lightning, piercing into the eyes of the fifth junior brother, while other strands of dust whistled in, aiming to penetrate his eyes.

He arrived at the square and scrutinized it carefully, only to see that among these female skeletons, there was a leader sitting cross-legged at the front of the skeleton ranks

He is there

The fifth disciple opened his mouth to scream, yet no sound emerged. Not far away, Qin Mu witnessed the boy visibly withering at an alarming rate, and in an instant, he transformed into a desiccated corpse

Sister Qing saw Qin Mu leap down from the tail of the giant beast and immediately shouted, "Little demon spawn, you have killed my two junior brothers, and you still want to escape?"

"If we could obtain these treasures..." Sister Qing whispered, her breath somewhat hurried

That fifth junior brother stepped forward, and just as he entered the square, he suddenly saw a female skeleton whose dust whisk was gently swaying. The strands of dust seemed to have a life of their own, slowly growing, and one of the strands approached the fifth junior brother.

Brother Qu felt that something was amiss and quietly took a step back. The strange beasts, seeing that they did not take action, also calmed down and did not make any further moves

However, before Brother Qu could grasp the other youth with his other hand, he saw that the youth had collapsed to the ground

Senior Brother Qu... the voice of Fifth Junior Brother trembled slightly, and he did not dare to turn his head.

Brother Qu's gaze swept over, causing his heart to race uncontrollably. Some of the skeletons held swords, some grasped dusters, some wore jade pendants, and some embraced precious vases, each brandishing various weapons

At last, before the darkness engulfed the portal of the ruins, the colossal beast charged into the massive gateway, while the darkness, as thick as ink, submerged the portal.

Qin Mu looked around and saw that the ruins covered a vast area, situated in the canyon as if it were a city. Strange beasts were everywhere, yet there was not a single strange beast in the square.

Sister Qing gritted her teeth and said: "The little demon still dares to argue..."

Qin Mu lowered his head and saw that the fierce beast, which usually appeared menacing, was now trembling in fear, tightly gripping the tail of the giant beast and not daring to move. He turned his head and saw that his pursuers, including Senior Brother Qu and Senior Sister Qing, along with three others, were also rushing towards the ruins, not far from him.

Qin Mu expressed his astonishment, noting that those strange beasts usually fought fiercely over territory and prey, yet now they coexisted peacefully, which was quite peculiar

Senior Brother Qu steadied himself, exhaled a breath of turbid air, and said in a deep voice: "When a person dies, it is like a lamp extinguished. The two junior brothers died in the pursuit of eliminating demons and safeguarding the way, dying as they should, dying heroically. That little demon deliberately arrived at this relic just before darkness fell, surely intending to use the darkness to harm us!"

The most striking feature is the pearl held in the hand of the skeletal leader, which floats in the palm of the skeleton. It appears as if mist and clouds are flowing within the pearl

Senior Brother Qu's expression was grim as he stepped forward: "The little demon is skilled at manipulating people's hearts; there is no need to waste words with him, just kill him directly"

As the three were about to take action, a sudden low, rumbling roar of a beast echoed through the air. Startled, they looked around and saw that in this ruin, there were gathered around one thousand to eight hundred strange beasts, among which were even some lord-level beasts, all of them casting unfriendly glances at them, their eyes gleaming with ferocity

Senior brother, look quickly!

Damn you!

Qin Mu blinked his eyes; many of the otherworldly beasts are sworn enemies that cannot coexist, yet they live in harmony, indicating that his speculation is indeed true. The villagers often say that these otherworldly beasts possess spirits. The demon ape that Qin Mu encountered could also speak, referring to him as "little one". It seems that these otherworldly beasts may have truly established their own rules here

In front of this ruin, there stands a towering gateway that connects both ends of the canyon, with thick columns adorned with dragon carvings coiling around them

Sister Qing and another young man nodded

Qin Mu ran wildly with the herd, suddenly noticing that the terrain ahead dipped down, revealing a canyon. Within the canyon, many ancient structures were surprisingly preserved, with palaces scattered about, spacious squares, and towering buildings.

Here, it is indeed a tremendous treasure trove

Qin Mu angrily said: "I only killed a deer with my mother-in-law to make clothes, yet you call us demons, while you have killed a whole herd of deer and still dare to call us demons?"

However, there is no time to consider these matters now; we cannot rush into the ruins before darkness falls, only to meet a more tragic end

"What exactly is that thing in the darkness? How could such a thing exist?" Sister Qing exclaimed sharply

Senior Brother Qu's eyes sparkled as he smiled and said, "Heaven has not treated us poorly! Junior Brother Wu, you go and retrieve these treasures."

And the duster was still entangled with him, soon the skin of the dry corpse also dissolved, the bones dissolved as well, leaving only a few pieces of clothing and a pair of shoes on the ground

Qin Muqi said: "Clearly, it is you who have been pursuing me for no reason, relentlessly chasing me. As a result, you chased until dark and ended up harming yourselves. What does that have to do with me? I have never provoked you, yet you come to kill me. How innocent I am!"

Sister Qing's eyes lit up as she nodded towards the skeletons in the square and whispered, "These skeletons have treasures in their hands! Each skeleton has one!"

The herd is charging towards this portal, rushing into the ruins

Senior Brother Qu also thought of this, breathed a sigh of relief, and said softly: "Do not take action tonight, wait until dawn, and immediately kill him!"

Senior Brother Qu, Senior Sister Qing, and others rushed in, but only Senior Brother Qu, Senior Sister Qing, and another young man managed to enter the portal before it was engulfed by darkness. The other two young men, one of whom was a step too late, could only stretch one arm into the portal, while the other young man's face, chest, legs, half of his abdomen, and one arm entered the portal, leaving the other half swept away by the darkness

Another youth, filled with righteous indignation, said with resentment: "He is also in this ruin, surrounded by darkness, with nowhere to escape! Find him and tear his body into a thousand pieces to avenge our two junior brothers!"

Senior Brother Qu said in a deep voice: "These treasures are all lifeless, unowned objects, you can rest assured..."

Senior Brother Qu fell into the portal and immediately reached out to grab two junior brothers. He seized one of their hands and pulled hard, dragging a stark white skeleton out of the darkness

This darkness will soon arrive at the portal of the ruins, submerging the portal

The strange beasts behind this giant creature also leaped up one after another, seizing the giant's tail, allowing it to charge into the ruins with them

The herd of beasts became increasingly frenzied, charging madly towards that portal. The herd turned extremely perilous, with the strange beasts colliding and trampling, and a moment's carelessness could lead to being crushed to pieces

Acquiring these treasures, they may very well establish their own faction and become independent!

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

These skeletons and the skeleton of the leader are all facing that enormous portal, oriented in the same direction

The darkness has come

These individuals are all women

In that square, there were only numerous skeletons, the remains of human bones, amounting to approximately two to three hundred. It is unknown what caused them to die here, yet they were still adorned in splendid garments

Senior Brother Qu and Senior Sister Qing were horrified, as they saw that the front of the young man was intact with flesh and blood, but the back was completely devoid of flesh and blood. It was unclear what dark entity had devoured all the flesh and blood from his back.