Those Names Etched into Humanity's Bones

As the words fell, Jiang Ran fell silent.

Li Baishi did not urge him, instead busying himself with tidying the nearby bookshelf, dusting off the shelves and straightening a few crooked books.

After a long while.

Jiang Ran slowly raised his eyes, his voice so calm that no emotion could be detected:

"Teacher, are the people of the Kingdom of Hairy People... even considered human?"

Hearing this question, Li Baishi's expression turned somewhat strange.

"Of course. Aside from the Classic of Mountains, the Four Classics of Regions Beyond the Seas, the Four Classics of Regions Within the Seas, and the Four Classics of the Great Wilderness all record quite a few nations.

For example, the Kingdom of Fire-Eaters, the Kingdom of Three-Bodied People, the Kingdom of One-Armed People... although the people of those nations look different from modern humans, and some even appear as monsters to us, according to research, they are indeed considered our ancestors."

Jiang Ran listened, lost in thought, then carefully folded the sketch and tucked it back into his pocket: "Thank you, teacher."

Seeing this, Li Baishi waved his hand: "It's nothing. If you are interested in this area..."

He turned and walked to another row of bookshelves, stood on his tiptoes to pull several photocopied volumes from the top shelf, patted the dust off their covers, and handed them to Jiang Ran.

"You can take these to look over."

Jiang Ran took the books, "Then I'll borrow them for now and return them when I'm finished."

"No rush, no one else reads them here anyway." Li Baishi smiled.

Jiang Ran carefully packed the books into his backpack, bid farewell to Li Baishi, and turned to walk out of the library.

The wooden door closed softly behind him, the doorbell chiming with a tinkle.

Eleven o'clock in the morning.

The October sun remained fierce, heat waves rising from the streets as pedestrians hurried to escape the direct glare.

Jiang Ran stood by the roadside, gazing up at the sky.

He raised a hand to shield his eyes slightly.

When he first entered the Abyssal Void, he had seen those lizard-like monsters and assumed they were the only anomalous creatures within.

Later, encountering the Human-Faced Spider Mother and the Zhi, he thought these were merely reappearances of the Exotic Beasts from the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

But now it seemed...

The waters of the Abyssal Void were far deeper than he had imagined.

Exotic Beasts, Ancestral People...

That Classic of Mountains and Seas, which recorded countless bizarre and grotesque events, was being verified bit by bit.

Yet no one knew what else lay within it.

After all, according to the records in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

The most famous entities of the ancient era were not merely these Ancestral People and Exotic Beasts.

There were also those...

Names carved into the very bones of humanity.

But regarding his own conjectures.

What stirred in Jiang Ran's heart was not panic, but a near-scorching anticipation.

Ever since he obtained his

Profession Panel

.

He could easily achieve the top spot in anything he wanted to do.

But when everything becomes too easy to obtain.

A person loses much of their desire and motivation.

Therefore, when he first witnessed the phenomenon of Exotic Beasts devouring humans, there was little panic on Jiang Ran's face.

Instead, there was an eagerness to try.

He looked forward to being able to challenge such opponents.

The same logic applied when he hunted the Zhi; it wasn't that there weren't safer methods, but Jiang Ran had chosen the most adventurous one.

The reason was a quote from a famous person.

Those who pursue freedom are all madmen.

Time reached 12:00 noon.

Jiang Ran stopped in front of the club; he had arrived relatively early today.

As it turned out, he had barely reached the entrance when he discovered Li Xintong standing quietly in the shade, waiting.

Seeing this, Jiang Ran's heart stirred... did she know it was him?

When the video of his battle was uploaded to the internet, Jiang Ran had wondered if he would be recognized by someone he knew.

The one most likely to recognize him was Li Xintong.

Because she was the only one who understood his archery technique the best.

Jiang Ran walked over without changing his expression.

Hearing the footsteps, Li Xintong turned her head and glanced at him, her eyes calm and ripple-free.

"You're here?" Her voice was cold. "Let's go, continue yesterday's training."

Hearing this, Jiang Ran secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed that she either hadn't recognized him, or she hadn't had time to watch that video before leaving the Abyssal Void last night.

In fact, that video had been deleted from the entire internet around midnight last night, along with all related discussion threads on the forums, which had vanished without a trace.

The Federation was currently still carefully controlling the pace of information release.

They were gradually opening up room for the public's psychological adaptation.

The impact of the super-spec combat footage in the video was still a bit too overwhelming.

"Alright." Jiang Ran nodded and followed her into the club.

For the next few hours, only the sound of bowstrings vibrating and arrows piercing the air remained in the training room.

The two continued their competitive shooting, with Jiang Ran shooting at targets and Li Xintong intercepting.

But today, Li Xintong showed obvious improvement.

A few arrows even grazed the tail feathers of Jiang Ran's arrows, coming within a hair's breadth of colliding in mid-air.

[Compound Bow Shooting experience +4]
[Moving Target Shooting experience +5]
[Prediction skill experience +3]

The notifications on the panel kept flickering.

Jiang Ran, watching Li Xintong's inhuman rate of progress, was already used to it.

Ever since she asked him if he wanted a qualification to enter the Abyssal Void, he had been certain that she had already entered the Abyssal Void.

Therefore, it was no surprise that she had acquired some kind of supernatural ability.

Training ended at five in the afternoon.

Jiang Ran packed up his archery gear, shouldered his bag, and prepared to leave.

Li Xintong, who was usually quite reticent, suddenly spoke up today.

"It's best to go out less at night recently."

Jiang Ran was stunned, just about to ask what was going on.

But Li Xintong had already turned and walked toward the locker room, giving him no time to react.

Seeing this, Jiang Ran didn't pursue her.

Because he knew Li Xintong's personality well; if she wanted to say something, she wouldn't just say half of it.

It was very likely that there were some changes in reality that he wasn't aware of...

But she found it difficult to say it outright.

He himself wasn't afraid, though.

Having a finishing move gave him plenty of confidence.

Even if he really encountered some sudden danger in reality, he had enough ability to protect himself.

But Jiang Xiaoyu...

Jiang Ran immediately took out his phone, pulled up his sister's chat box, and typed quickly:

"Don't leave school at night recently. If anything happens, contact me anytime."

He clicked send.

A few seconds later, his phone vibrated.

Jiang Xiaoyu replied with a simple "1."

Indicating she had received it.

Looking at that digit, Jiang Ran felt slightly relieved.

Although Jiang Xiaoyu was a woman of few words, she would definitely do what she promised.

After packing his things, Jiang Ran walked out of the club.

He prepared to walk to the training center next door as usual.

But as soon as he stepped out of the gate, he stopped in his tracks.

A black luxury car was parked quietly by the roadside, and a middle-aged man wearing white gloves stood beside it.

The moment he saw Jiang Ran come out, the man immediately stepped forward and bowed slightly.

"Mr. Jiang, I am one of Director Chen's men, sent to take you to the training base."

Jiang Ran frowned slightly, not responding immediately.

He took out his phone, opened WeChat, found the chat box for Old Chen, and sent a message: "Did you send someone to pick me up?"

A few seconds later, Old Chen replied: "Yes, we are changing the training location today; there is something I need to discuss with you."

Jiang Ran looked at the screen, then nodded: "Let's go."

The man respectfully ushered Jiang Ran into the car.

He then walked around to the driver's seat and started the engine.

The car merged smoothly into the traffic, heading toward the city center.

Forty minutes later.

The car pulled up in front of the Voyage Group headquarters building in Feng City.

The man got out and opened the car door for Jiang Ran.

He then led him toward a private entrance on the side of the building.

Stepping into the elevator, the man swiped a card and pressed the button for the lowest level.

The elevator doors closed, and it began its descent.

Three full minutes later.

The elevator finally came to a slow stop.

The doors slid open to both sides.

Old Chen was standing at the entrance waiting, a smile on his face.

"You're here?" He patted Jiang Ran on the shoulder. "Come, let me show you around."

Jiang Ran stepped out of the elevator and surveyed his surroundings.

In the center of the hall was a circular command console displaying numerous surveillance feeds.

Further away, one could see several corridors extending in different directions, with fully armed personnel in black combat gear standing guard at some of the entrances.

It didn't look like a training base.

It looked more like a military command center.

"What is this..." Jiang Ran looked at Old Chen, his brow furrowed.

Old Chen didn't answer immediately, only shaking his head with a bitter smile as he handed him a tablet.

"Take a look at this first."

Jiang Ran took the tablet; the screen showed a paused video.

He tapped play.

The timestamp on the footage showed it was past two in the morning last night.

The location was a narrow, dimly lit back alley.

A young man in a hoodie stumbled into the alley, looking back in terror as if being pursued.

A few seconds later, another man followed him in.

This person walked with a strange gait, shoulders slightly hunched, head bowed, his face obscured.

The young man backed against the wall, his voice trembling: "I gave you everything... I transferred the money too... can't you just let me go?"

The man who had followed him in didn't speak, only slowly raised his head.

The light from the streetlamp at the alley entrance shone obliquely onto his face.

It was the face of an ordinary middle-aged man, but his expression was rigid, his eyes hollow, and a smile hung at the corners of his mouth.

Then...

His head suddenly exploded.

A dozen dark red tentacles burst violently from the severed neck.

The young man let out a short, sharp scream and turned to run.

But the tentacles were faster.

Two of them shot out like lightning, instantly wrapping around his neck and waist, hoisting him into the air.

The tips of the other tentacles split open, revealing dense rows of barbs that drove deep into the young man's body.

Blood sprayed.

In just two or three seconds, the young man's struggle ceased.

His body shriveled at a visible rate, as if every drop of blood and flesh had been drained away.

The tentacles slowly retracted, pulling back into the neck of the headless torso.

They writhed, weaving together to reform the outline of a head.

A few seconds later, a middle-aged man's face, identical to the original, reappeared on the neck.

He wiped the corner of his mouth, turned to walk out of the alley, and vanished into the night.

The video ended there.

Jiang Ran set down the tablet and looked up at Old Chen.

Old Chen's expression was grim. He took a deep breath, his voice dropping to a low murmur:

"This is a real incident that occurred in the old district of the West City last night.

Patrolling police discovered the mummified corpse in the alley and found this footage while reviewing nearby surveillance..."

Jiang Ran remained silent for a few seconds before asking, "Was the killer a Return Void Explorer?"

"Correct." Old Chen nodded. "We've investigated. The man's name is Zhang Hai, forty-two years old, a grocery store owner who entered the Return Void for the first time four days ago.

Last night was his second entry. This incident happened less than an hour after he returned from the Return Void."

He paused. "He was apprehended by the Federation three hours after the incident, but we couldn't take him alive... When he died, a Spirit Crystal was found inside his skull."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ran's pupils constricted.

"Something has found a way to possess human bodies and enter reality.

The Federation's top brass held an emergency meeting throughout the night. They will likely begin a full disclosure of the Return Void soon and initiate emergency protocols."

He gave a bitter smile. "In other words..."

"Our world is about to descend into chaos."