Tragic State

After the room was cleaned, Su Jie heard crows cawing outside.

He walked out of the room and saw a black crow circling in the sky, letting out hoarse, strange cries that carried far, continuously grating on people's ears.

Su Jie took out a black feathered fan from his embrace and waved it high in the air.

Before long, the black crow in the sky landed on Su Jie's shoulder, its beak wide open.

Searching himself, Su Jie pulled out a scout dragonfly and fed it to the crow.

Then, he took a letter from its leg, picked up a brush, and wrote down his itinerary and the day's events. He pressed his thumbprint on it and tied it back to the crow.

Only then did he release the crow again, watching it disappear into the sky.

These crows were actually messenger pigeons, bred by Ghost Ridge Palace to transmit information.

High-level techniques like divine sense telepathy were not something disciples could learn.

Messenger crows flew daily between the Ghost Ridge Palace's main gate and the disciples' various encampments. Disciples needed to report their daily itineraries and any encountered situations.

If there were any arrangements the disciples needed to make, orders would also be issued through the messenger crows.

Not long after the messenger crow was released, Gu Weinan also returned, but the news he brought back was not good.

"It didn't work?"

Seeing the hint of embarrassment on Gu Weinan's face, Su Jie knew that things had likely fallen through.

"No matter how much I reasoned with them, they just wouldn't believe me. And that Chen Koudang..."

Gu Weinan shook his head, not continuing. It was likely he had endured a lot of sarcastic remarks.

Sun Zhihai also offered his opinion, saying, "Let's not meddle in other people's business. Since they don't want our help, we should just take care of ourselves."

Su Jie comforted him, "Try to let it go. Just consider their words as nonsense and don't take it to heart."

"I understand."

"That's good. We'll take turns on watch tonight. I'll take the latter half, so you go get some good rest first."

Deep into the night, the hour of Chou!

The forest floor was completely shrouded in darkness.

On Niujiao Ridge, the noisy cicadas of the day had fallen silent, and dark clouds obscured the full moon.

In front of the wooden cabin stood an ancient tree, silently rooted.

Its age was at least a thousand years, its roots like coiled dragons, its bark like cracked stone, and its bark covered in numerous scale-like scars, resembling a gaunt old man.

Whoosh!

A night breeze blew past, making the branches sway.

The candlelight from the wooden cabin cast mottled shadows among the dead branches and fallen leaves, making it look even more terrifying, like a demon baring its fangs and claws.

At this moment, Su Jie was sitting on the treetop of this ancient tree, sharing his vision with multiple moths to observe any movement within a hundred meters.

"Brother Su, I'm here to relieve you."

From the wooden cabin, Gu Weinan emerged, yawning, and waved to Su Jie on the treetop.

"Brother Gu, be careful. Call for help immediately if anything happens."

"Don't worry. Don't let my age fool you, I still have my wits about me. If..."

Before Gu Weinan could finish, Su Jie suddenly exclaimed, "Wait, what was that? Did you hear something?"

"What?"

Before Gu Weinan could react, Su Jie's gaze pierced through the darkness and looked outward.

In the silent night, apart from the whimpers of a few unknown birds, there was no other sound, as if it had just been an auditory hallucination.

"Brother Su, it's your first time on patrol, you might be too nervous."

Gu Weinan, thinking it was a false alarm, shook his head. Just as he was about to continue speaking, his voice abruptly stopped. He and Su Jie exchanged glances, both hearing a faint sound.

Squeak! Squeak!

The faint, continuous chirping reached their ears, sounding somewhat like mice.

Immediately after, Su Jie and Gu Weinan saw a blood-soaked bat fall unsteadily from the sky, like a bird with broken wings.

"It's Chen Yun's natal Gu worm, that Nether Sound Bat."

Su Jie's expression changed slightly as he recognized the bat's origin.

This type of bat was a rare kind of poisonous insect, capable of producing infrasound that humans could hardly detect.

Not only could it shatter and explode objects, but when used on living beings, it could cause their internal organs to resonate, leading to the rupture of internal blood vessels and death. It was a very vicious and insidious poisonous insect.

Now, this Gu worm was falling from the sky, its body injured, with blood seeping from its nose and mouth.

Su Jie took two steps forward and leaped high, catching the Nether Sound Bat.

The bat, which landed in his hand, was two sizes larger than his palm and was emitting faint cries.

"Something must have happened to Chen Yun. It could be a Strange Ghost. Go wake up Brother Sun."

Su Jie took a deep breath. The appearance of the Nether Sound Bat here was a signal from Chen Yun, a call for help.

Gu Weinan quickly called for people, and soon Sun Zhihai was woken from his sleep.

Gu Weinan's old, cold legs suddenly moved at lightning speed, not daring to delay.

Upon hearing the possibility of Strange Ghosts appearing, Sun Zhihai, who had been somewhat sleepy, shivered all over, instantly losing all desire to sleep.

"Are... are we really going over there? What if it's actually a Strange Ghost?"

At the critical moment, Sun Zhihai hesitated, a look of fear appearing on his face.

Su Jie's expression turned solemn. "Of course, we can't be reckless. We'll observe from the periphery first. If we encounter a tough opponent, then we can't be blamed for not helping."

Sun Zhihai breathed a sigh of relief. This was much more reassuring. Devilish Cultivators didn't have the disposition to sacrifice themselves for others.

Gu Weinan didn't say much. From their interactions, he had already realized Su Jie was a very cautious person and believed Su Jie must have some confidence in his actions.

The three of them traveled without any torches or lanterns, fearing they might attract unknown enemies, heading towards Chen Yun and the others' residence in the dim light.

They were still some distance away when Su Jie's nose twitched. He vaguely smelled the scent of blood wafting through the air. The silhouette of Chen Yun and the others' wooden house was visible not far away.

"The battle there seems to have already ended."

Su Jie, who had been observing secretly with a moth, had a complex look in his eyes. He stood up, lit the torch he carried, and walked towards the wooden house.

About a hundred meters from the wooden house, a tragic battlefield appeared before the three of them.

The ground was covered in a layer of dead Poisonous Insects, with numerous poisonous snakes and ants crushed into a pulp.

An ant queen, the size of a basketball, was missing half its body.

Another giant grasshopper, the size of a tabletop, was torn in half, its green insect blood splattered everywhere.

These were the natal Gu worms of Chen Koudang and Xu Chaoxian, respectively.

If their natal Gu worms met such an end, their own fates were even more dire.

The arrogant Chen Koudang from earlier in the day had his torn skin hanging from a tree branch, his body scattered in pieces.

Xu Chaoxian was left with only his head; his body had vanished.

At the edge of the battlefield, a bloody 'corpse' leaned against the base of a large tree.

If not for the chest still rising and falling slightly, almost no one would have believed the person was still alive.

This was Chen Yun, the sole survivor on the scene.

Besides Su Jie and his two companions who had just arrived, surprisingly, someone else had reached the battlefield earlier: Meng Dongge, from the mountain peak on the other side of Niujiao Ridge.

He held a torch and seemed surprised that Su Jie's group had arrived so quickly.