Several dozen miles outside the prefectural city lay a secluded bamboo grove.
It was so quiet here that it was nearly dead silent. Only the occasional wind passed through the bamboo leaves, producing a rustling murmur. Few ever came here.
Yet the moment one stepped into this bamboo grove, an indescribable chill rushed head-on. The horrific sight before one's eyes made their scalp tingle instantly.
On the ground, bleached White Bone lay scattered in every direction, each skeleton draped in a brocade robe.
The brocade robes were brilliantly varied in color—red like congealed fresh blood, green like underworld mist, blue like a frigid pool in the depths of night.
Though these brocade robes differed in color, the embroidered patterns upon them were exactly alike.
At the center of every robe was a massive mysterious black bird emblem, dazzling to the extreme.
Blackbird Guard!
Before the Blackbird Guard corpses strewn across the ground, four figures stood faintly visible deep within the impenetrable bamboo grove, positioned in an irregular formation.
The next instant, the figure at the center of the four suddenly erupted with a fierce aura.
"Not good, retreat!"
A sharp shout instantly shattered the surrounding deathly silence.
Before his words had faded, the man transformed into a dazzling streak of light, moving so fast the eye could not follow.
In the blink of an eye, he had vanished into the shadowy bamboo grove.
Seeing this, the other three did not hesitate in the slightest. They immediately sped after the figure that had disappeared first.
In an instant, as the four fled in panic, only the bamboo grove remained, rustling in the gentle breeze.
Along with the silent Blackbird Guard skeletons on the ground, quietly telling the tale of the earlier slaughter.
After merely a dozen breaths, a dazzling purple light