Most of the images Xue Bufan displayed were corpses. Some were even complete, "fresh" skeletons that looked as though they had come from meticulous dissections.
Chen Feng had studied anatomy fairly well and earned top marks. Naturally, he could tell what kind of bones were fresh.
The skeletal images in the files were fresh skeletons that natural decay could never have produced.
And the sagittal crest atop the skull, along with the four nearly identical limbs, revealed the skeleton's identity.
Chen Feng could not help questioning how Xue Bufan had obtained this skeleton.
"Nan Clan members who died naturally. By custom, their corpses had to be stripped clean by a special kind of carnivorous insect."
Unhurriedly, Xue Bufan produced another illusion. It was a writhing mass of insects—countless eight-legged arthropods resembling ground beetles. They were roughly a finger's length long, yet their mouthparts were tiny, utterly mismatched to their size. Their bodies were dark black with a metallic sheen, streaked by golden patterns.
As for the reference Chen Feng used to judge the insects' size, it was the two small bulges within the swarm.
Those were Nan Clan corpses.
"This is a Nan Clan funeral. I heard it's even one of the more elaborate varieties." Xue Bufan tapped the image. "They revere 'cycles' and cling to the belief that dust returns to dust, earth to earth. They believe allowing a corpse to rot is both desecration and waste, so fresh corpses must be used to feed insects."
Chen Feng suddenly felt nauseated. Pointing at the "alien ground beetles" gnawing on the corpses, he covered his mouth. "I remember... their dipping sauce contains this kind of insect too, doesn't it...?"
"That's another species from the same family." Xue Bufan deliberately waited a second or two before bringing out another image. "The