A secluded bamboo grove lay a hundred li beyond the Xi Yue River.
A figure rolled painfully across the ground, countless cracks spreading over his entire body as though he were a clay sculpture. Blood continuously seeped out, staining the earth beneath him red.
If Guangxian and Guangzhi had still been alive, they would certainly have recognized this man—Guangdu!
He had originally intended to keep it as a backup, both to avoid being discovered by Mother Diviner True Person in the Xi Yue River and to take the chance to eliminate Guangxian and Guangzhi, allowing him to monopolize the Holy Bone.
But Guangdu had never imagined that there would be another existence within the Xi Yue River, one countless times more terrifying than Mother Diviner True Person.
Not only had the false body he had refined through secret techniques been destroyed, but even his true body had been implicated, leaving him in this miserable state.
Only after several hours had passed, when Guangdu had become skin and bones as though he had been drained dry, did he finally regain a shred of clarity.
He sat with his back against a boulder. The ground beneath him had turned red across a wide area, and his breathing grew ever weaker. Fortunately, he had managed to keep his life.
"That person..."
The moment he recalled the final glimpse his false body had caught before trying to flee, that aged figure became deeply engraved in his heart. Even now, merely remembering it made his entire body tremble uncontrollably.
"The Holy Bone... It seems there's no way to retrieve the Holy Bone. I must return and report this to the abbot!"
Losing one of the Holy Bones meant that White Buddha Temple's plan could no longer proceed smoothly. They had to think of a way to seize it back. Otherwise, White Buddha Temple would face a catastrophe that blotted out the sky and covered the earth, and no one would escape.
But an enemy that terrifying...
At the very thought of it, the image of that figure filling his mind, Guangdu's heart was instantly flooded with despair. He immediately coughed up another mouthful of blood.
This time, there truly wasn't a single drop left in his whole body...
Han Prefecture lay in the south and had been the greatest prefecture of the previous dynasty.
But at this time, war raged throughout Han Prefecture. Smoke filled the air, and the land had fractured into pieces.
After the previous dynasty had fallen apart, fierce and valiant generals everywhere had carved out territories and proclaimed themselves kings. This one prefecture alone contained three powers, making it utterly chaotic.
Yet amid this chaotic prefecture, there were places that even war dared not touch. They were even more sparsely populated, and outsiders called most of them forbidden lands, not daring to set foot within lightly.
The renowned Corpse Saliva Valley was one such place!
Legend had it that this was where the bloodiest battle of the previous dynasty had taken place. Corpses had carpeted the fields, and blood qi had surged into the heavens. No one had even dared to enter and gather the bodies of the dead.
Once one entered, one would be tainted by the dense blood qi that had lingered for ages, and there would be no return.
Though several hundred years had passed, this place remained unchanged. Even from dozens of li away, one could see a red, mist-like layer of blood qi.
And yet, within such a strange environment, two figures suddenly appeared one day.
One was slightly hunched, dressed in coarse gray-white clothing, with two strange and utterly different heads resting atop his shoulders.
With his hands behind his back, he walked forward slowly. With every step he took, the blood mist around him scattered of its own accord as though fleeing snakes and scorpions, as if even the mist dared not lightly touch his body.
Beside him, a young man in coarse clothing knelt on the ground, his entire body trembling uncontrollably like a sieve.
The flesh on his body also twitched violently and irregularly, as though that skin at any moment might lose control and peel away, leaving behind nothing but a skeleton.
At the same time, filth kept pouring from his mouth as he vomited, making him look utterly miserable.
Sizzle!
Only when a blaze suddenly ignited from his body and began burning fiercely did his complexion gradually improve. He began gasping for breath.
Damn Old Man!!
As Yang An watched Old Man Fate Crane walking ahead, raging fury filled his eyes without the slightest concealment. If even a hundred of him were not inferior to this Old Man, he would have risked his life to fight Old Man Fate Crane!
Corpse Saliva Valley lay a full thousand li from the Xi Yue River. Even if an ordinary person traveled day and night without rest, it would take at least several days to arrive.
Yet Old Man Fate Crane had simply grabbed Yang An and brought him here in only five blinks of an eye.
Yes, five blinks!
Yang An had experienced only five blinks before appearing here, then collapsing weakly to his knees.
What followed were the severe aftereffects caused by forcibly traversing such an immense distance with a frail mortal body.
It was as if he had fallen into boiling magma. Every part of the flesh over his entire body was in excruciating pain, as though the meat on him were twisting and deforming inch by inch, perhaps eventually even falling away.
At the same time, his mind had suffered devastation. It was a hundred times more terrifying than motion sickness or seasickness. He felt as though half his soul remained within his body while the other half hung outside his flesh, enduring pain like nine heavens of ice and fire.
Fortunately, Yang An had ultimately endured the agonizing pain and ignited flames upon himself that could clear the mind and purify the spirit. Only after gathering his scattered consciousness did he finally feel somewhat better.
Immediately afterward, he forced himself upright, spat two pills out of the Flesh-Buried Talisman, purified them in an instant, and tossed them into his mouth.
As the medicinal power rapidly dissolved within his stomach and was absorbed by his body, Yang An's condition gradually recovered.
At that moment, Old Man Fate Crane ignored him, but the crane head turned to look at Yang An and immediately let out a strange laugh.
"Old Man, I think you should do this a few more times now and then. That way, he'll definitely become especially delicious in the future, hehehe!"
Hearing the crane head's words, Yang An forcibly suppressed the urge in his heart to respond. He was truly afraid that if he failed to hold back for even a moment and rushed over, he would be a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth.
Old Man Fate Crane likewise ignored it and continued walking straight ahead. Only after more than a dozen steps did he suddenly stop and look forward.
At that moment, the crane head, which had been watching Yang An, abruptly turned forward as well, instantly revealing a strange smile.
"Someone has come to welcome you, Old Man!"
As the crane head's words fell, a tall figure slowly emerged from the blood mist ahead, finally stopping only one zhang away from Old Man Fate Crane.
He was an exceptionally burly man clad in ragged clothes. His knotted muscles could be seen through every tear and hole, while his arms alone were thicker than an adult's thighs. His long, disheveled hair looked as though it had not been washed in a very long time, and his entire body radiated a wild aura.
A long tail even extended from behind him. The tail was bare, like a thick earthworm, and it coiled around a steel blade that he carried over his shoulder.
He appeared to have been waiting here all along for Old Man Fate Crane's arrival. The instant he saw Old Man Fate Crane, a smile immediately appeared on his face.
"Master, this disciple has awaited you for a long time! You truly made this disciple wait bitterly!"
Master?
The man's appearance likewise caught Yang An's attention.
The moment he heard that form of address, he immediately understood the man's identity. He was likely one of Old Man Fate Crane's personal disciples, though Yang An did not know what rank he held among them.
It looks like he came to welcome the Old Man back. Why is there only one of them? Where are the others?
Yang An could not help thinking this upon seeing the man, yet he also felt that something was wrong.
This atmosphere, this tone—why did it not sound like a master and disciple reuniting, but rather like drawn swords and taut bows?
"How long have you waited?"
Seeing the man, Old Man Fate Crane remained exceedingly calm and merely asked indifferently.
"Not long. Since leaving seclusion, this disciple has waited only six hours."
Old Man Fate Crane said nothing, merely nodding faintly. Then he lifted his foot and continued forward, soon brushing past the man without giving him another glance.
The smile remained on the man's face. He seemed delighted, but it looked more like excitement he could barely restrain.
Just as Old Man Fate Crane had taken another dozen or so steps and his back was about to vanish into the blood mist—
Whoosh!
The man abruptly turned around. His long tail suddenly coiled up the steel blade, and the coldly gleaming weapon immediately pointed at Old Man Fate Crane's back.
A sharp blade wind swept out, instantly scattering the surrounding blood mist.
At the same time, the excitement on his face seemed about to burst free. His original smile suddenly became ferocious, and even his body trembled with agitation.
"Master..."
"This disciple truly can't hold back anymore. I beg you... just let me slaughter you!"
"Just once! Only this once! I beg you!"
The man suddenly became crazed and uttered something astonishing as he explosively sprang forward.
The next instant, accompanied by a furious roar, the man became a black shadow and charged directly at Old Man Fate Crane.
"Old Man! Die!!"
What the hell!
What kind of situation is this?!
At the side, Yang An was instantly dumbfounded.
Before you continue