"Not."
Wu Heng stepped forward, leaving those two words hanging in the air.
Yet those two words instantly eased the tense, heavy atmosphere around them.
"That's good, that's good!" The soldier pressed a hand to his chest and muttered softly, hurrying after him.
Those who could survive the mouths of evil spirits all cherished life. They were not nobles who enjoyed watching wars of flesh and blood, or sitting in arenas to watch their own kind tear each other apart.
They understood the value of life.
They also knew that they fought for the families, loved ones, and cities behind them—not for pleasure.
Naturally, they found no pleasure in it. All they felt was heaviness and the fleeting nature of life.
It even made them feel that life itself was worthless, nearly shattering their worldview. Fortunately, it was not human.
Perhaps it was. Wu Heng did not say those three words aloud.
To allow "Marrow Rot" to merge into this world, he had used the "Nurture" trait. Thus, the malformed fruits scattered across the battlefield were products born from the union of human souls and evil spirits.
They contained both the evil spirits' hatred and human emotions. As for which side occupied more of any individual, no one could say.
Wu Heng descended into the valley and approached the sole standing corpse, which was over four meters tall.
Its massive, malformed body, with its fruit shell fused with flesh and blood, resembled a tombstone carved in the shape of a human statue.
The only tombstone in the deep valley.
Arthur and the soldiers watched Wu Heng nervously, not daring to make a sound. They knew they had reached the most critical moment.
Wu Heng first chanted a string of incantations at the corpse. Strange sounds came from within its body,