The Names Etched into Humanity's Bones

At his words, Jiang Ran fell silent.

Li Baishi didn't press him. He simply tidied the bookshelf beside him, dusting it off and straightening a few crooked books.

After a long while,

Jiang Ran finally raised his eyes. His voice was so calm that it betrayed no emotion.

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

At the question, Li Baishi's expression turned 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 numerous kingdoms.

For example, the Kingdom of Fire-Eaters, the Kingdom of Three-Bodied People, and the Kingdom of One-Armed People... Though their people look different from modern humans, and some even seem like monsters to us, research has shown that they really were our human ancestors."

Jiang Ran listened thoughtfully. He carefully folded the sketch and tucked it into his pocket. "Thank you, teacher."

Li Baishi waved a hand. "It's nothing. If you're interested in this sort of thing..."

He walked over to another bookshelf, rose onto his toes, and pulled several facsimile editions from the top shelf. After dusting off their covers, he handed them to Jiang Ran.

"You can take these and have a look."

Jiang Ran accepted the books. "I'll borrow them for now and return them when I'm done."

"No rush. They're not getting much attention here anyway." Li Baishi smiled.

Jiang Ran carefully packed the books into his backpack, said goodbye to Li Baishi, and left the library.

The wooden door closed softly behind him, and the bell jingled.

Eleven in the morning.

The October sun was still scorching. Heat shimmered over the street as pedestrians hurried to avoid its direct rays.

Jiang Ran stood by the roadside and glanced up at the sky.

He raised a hand to shade his eyes.

The first time he entered the Abyssal Void, he saw those lizard-like monsters and thought they were the only anomalous creatures there.

Later, he encountered the Human-Faced Spider Mother and Zhi, and assumed they were the reappearance of Exotic Beasts from the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

But now...

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

Exotic Beasts, Ancestral People...

The Classic of Mountains and Seas, with its countless strange and wondrous tales, was being confirmed piece by piece.

But no one knew what else it held.

After all, according to the Classic of Mountains and Seas,

the most famous figures of ancient times were not only those Ancestral People and Exotic Beasts.

There were also those...

names etched into humanity's bones.

Yet Jiang Ran's conjecture stirred no fear in him.

Instead, it filled him with an almost feverish anticipation.

Ever since he acquired the Profession Panel,

he'd been able to do anything with ease and come out on top.

But when everything was so easily within reach,

people lost many of their desires and much of their drive.

So, when he first saw an Exotic Beast devouring a person, Jiang Ran hadn't felt much fear.

Instead, he'd been eager to try.

He'd looked forward to challenging an opponent like that.

It had been the same when he hunted Zhi. There had been safer options, but Jiang Ran had chosen the riskiest one.

It was because of something a famous person had once said:

"Those who pursue freedom are all madmen."

It was now noon.

Jiang Ran stopped in front of the club. He was relatively early today.

But as soon as he arrived, he saw Li Xintong waiting quietly in the shade.

Jiang Ran's heart stirred... Had she figured out who he was?

When the footage of his fight had been uploaded online, he'd wondered whether anyone he knew would recognize him.

And the person most likely to do so was Li Xintong.

She was the only one who knew his archery technique well.

Jiang Ran walked over without changing his expression.

Hearing his footsteps, Li Xintong turned and glanced at him, her gaze calm and unreadable.

"You're here?" she said coolly. "Let's go. We'll continue yesterday's training."

At her words, Jiang Ran secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

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

In fact, the video had been deleted from the entire internet around midnight last night. Every related discussion thread on the forums had vanished as well.

The Federation was still carefully controlling the pace at which information was released,

gradually giving the public room to adjust.

The superhuman combat footage in the video had been a little too overwhelming.

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

For the next few hours, the training room held nothing but the twang of bowstrings and the whistle of arrows cutting through the air.

They continued their competitive shooting practice: Jiang Ran shot at the targets while Li Xintong intercepted his arrows.

But Li Xintong had made obvious progress today.

Several arrows had even skimmed past the fletching of Jiang Ran's arrows, coming within a hair's breadth of colliding in midair.

[Compound Bow Shooting experience +4]

[Moving Target Shooting experience +5]

[Prediction skill experience +3]

Notifications kept flashing across the panel.

Jiang Ran had already gotten used to Li Xintong's inhuman rate of progress.

Ever since she'd asked him last time whether he wanted to qualify for the Abyssal Void, it had been clear that she'd entered it herself.

So it was no surprise if she'd gained some kind of divine ability.

Training ended at five in the afternoon.

Jiang Ran packed up his archery gear, slung his bag over his shoulder, and prepared to leave.

Li Xintong, who was usually quiet, suddenly spoke.

"It'd be best to avoid going out at night for a while."

Jiang Ran froze, about to ask what was going on.

But Li Xintong had already turned and headed for the locker room, leaving him no time to react.

Jiang Ran didn't follow her.

He knew Li Xintong well. If she had something to say, she wouldn't leave it half-said.

There might have been some developments in the real world that he didn't know about...

But she couldn't speak about them openly.

He wasn't worried for himself.

Having a finishing move had given him plenty of confidence.

Even if he ran into some sudden danger in the real world, he had enough ability to protect himself.

But Xiaoyu...

Jiang Ran immediately took out his phone, opened his chat with his younger sister, and typed quickly:

"Don't leave campus at night for now. If anything comes up, contact me anytime."

He tapped send.

A few seconds later, his phone buzzed.

Jiang Xiaoyu replied with a simple 1.

It meant she'd got the message.

Jiang Ran looked at the number and felt a little reassured.

Xiaoyu didn't say much, but she always kept her promises.

After gathering his things, Jiang Ran left the club.

He planned to walk to the training center next door, as usual.

But the moment he stepped outside, he stopped.

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

As soon as he saw Jiang Ran, the man hurried over and bowed slightly.

"Mr. Jiang, I work for Director Chen. I'm here to take you to the training base."

Jiang Ran furrowed his brows but didn't answer at once.

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

A few seconds later, Old Chen replied: "Yes. We're training somewhere else today. There's something I need to talk to you about."

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

The man respectfully ushered Jiang Ran into the car.

Then he walked around to the driver's seat and started the engine.

The car merged smoothly into traffic and headed toward the city center.

Forty minutes later,

the car stopped in front of Voyage Group's headquarters in Feng City.

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

Then he led him toward a private entrance on the side of the building.

Inside the elevator, the man swiped his card and pressed the button for the lowest floor.

The doors closed, and the elevator began descending.

It took a full three minutes

before the elevator finally came to a slow stop.

The doors slid open.

Old Chen was waiting outside, smiling.

"You're here?" He patted Jiang Ran on the shoulder. "Come on. I'll show you around."

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

At the center of the hall was a circular command station covered with surveillance screens.

Farther away, several passageways stretched off in different directions. Armed personnel in black combat uniforms stood guard at some of the entrances.

This didn't look like a training base.

It looked more like a military command center.

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

Old Chen didn't answer right away. He only shook his head with a wry smile and handed him a tablet.

"Take a look at this first."

Jiang Ran took the tablet. A video was paused on the screen.

He pressed play.

The timestamp showed a little after two in the morning last night.

The location was a narrow back alley, dimly lit.

A young man in a hoodie stumbled into the alley, glancing back with a terrified expression as if someone were chasing him.

A few seconds later, another man followed him in.

The man walked strangely, his shoulders hunched slightly and his head lowered, his face impossible to make out.

The young man backed against the wall and said in a trembling voice, "I gave you everything... I transferred the money too... Can't you just let me go?"

The man who'd followed him said nothing. He only slowly raised his head.

Light from the streetlamp at the alley entrance slanted across his face.

It was an ordinary middle-aged man's face, but his expression was rigid, his eyes vacant, and the corners of his mouth curled into a smile.

Then...

His head suddenly exploded.

More than a dozen dark-red tentacles burst from the severed stump of his neck.

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

But the tentacles were faster.

Two of them shot out like lightning and instantly wrapped around his neck and waist, lifting his entire body into the air.

The tips of several others split open, revealing densely packed barbs that plunged viciously into the young man's body.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Within two or three seconds, the young man stopped struggling.

His body shriveled at a visible speed, as if all the flesh and blood had been drained from him.

The tentacles slowly withdrew, retracting into the neck of the headless body.

They writhed, weaving the outline of a head once more.

A few seconds later, the middle-aged man's face, exactly the same as before, reappeared atop his neck.

He wiped the corner of his mouth, turned, and walked out of the alley, disappearing into the night.

The video ended there.

Jiang Ran lowered the tablet and looked up at Old Chen.

Old Chen's expression was grim. He drew a deep breath and spoke in a low voice:

"This really happened last night in the old district west of the city.

Patrolling officers found the mummified corpse in an alley. When they reviewed nearby surveillance footage, they found this clip..."

Jiang Ran was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "Was the killer a Return Void Explorer?"

"Yes." Old Chen nodded. "We looked into him. His name was Zhang Hai. He was forty-two and ran a grocery store. He first entered the Abyssal Void four days ago.

Last night was his second time entering. Less than an hour after he returned from the Abyssal Void, this happened."

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

At that, Jiang Ran's pupils contracted.

"Something has found a way to take over human bodies and make it into the real world.

The Federation's top officials have already held an emergency meeting overnight. They'll probably begin disclosing the Abyssal Void to the public soon and activate emergency protocols."

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

"Our world is about to descend into chaos."