It then repeated the same few actions, but no matter how the狸猫 gestured, Chu Tian and the others couldn't understand.
The group offered several guesses, all incorrect, which made the 狸猫 pace frantically in frustration.
Unable to figure it out, Chu Tian suddenly had an idea. He pointed at Xu Duoduo and asked, "Have you seen her before?"
The night 狸猫 showed no surprise, but it did glance at Xu Duoduo before shaking its head.
"How about her?" Chu Tian pointed at Ye Ling next.
The night 狸猫 turned its head to look at Ye Ling and slowly nodded.
Chu Tian's eyes lit up. He looked up at the group, "Can any of you determine how many years ago the skeletons on the ground died?"
Both Ye Ling and Xu Duoduo shook their heads.
Instead, Zhao Lei and Jing Kaiyu simultaneously turned to look at Gao Kai.
"Kai Ge, I didn't expect you to know this!" Chu Tian said happily. "Kai Ge, could you check if the time of death for these skeletons differs by five years?"
Gao Kai nodded and proceeded to inspect each one.
"I've heard that top snipers can make accurate judgments just by looking at wind speed, humidity, temperature, and the weathering of vegetation and bones, with just a glance and a touch."
"It seems the rumors are true. I didn't expect our team to have so many talented individuals," Ye Ling whispered beside Chu Tian.
Zhao Lei clearly overheard and turned back, saying proudly, "Of course. Kai Ge is our top ace sniper. He can shoot a fly at two thousand meters with a gun he calibrated himself!"
"Oh? Really? What are your specialties?" Ye Ling inquired.
"Me..." Zhao Lei was about to speak when Jing Kaiyu interjected, "His specialty is being a virgin!"
"Ugh... Damn it!" Zhao Lei's face instantly turned red. He shot an embarrassed glance at Ye Ling before grabbing his entrenching tool and going after Jing Kaiyu.
Ye Ling and Chu Tian watched them, both smiling.
Ye Ling, in particular, looked at everyone with an expression they had never seen before.
However, her expression quickly changed. She put her hands behind her back and squeezed them tightly.
"What's wrong?" Chu Tian, standing right beside her, naturally sensed her unease.
Ye Ling said, "I feel it moving!"
"What? The ghost head?" Chu Tian's smile vanished as he asked.
Ye Ling nodded, "Yes! I've never felt it move before. Perhaps it only moves when I'm asleep."
"When did it start?"
"Once, right after we entered the mountain. It's not moving now!"
Chu Tian looked at her deeply and said, "We will definitely deal with it this time. Don't worry too much."
Even as he said it, he felt a lack of confidence, but he could only comfort Ye Ling this way.
Ye Ling smiled wryly and shook her head, "I'm not afraid of death, but I might not be able to complete the mission Elder Xu entrusted to me. If I die, you should leave the Ninth Bureau."
"Why?" Chu Tian asked, surprised.
"The waters within the Ninth Bureau are too murky right now. It's possible we could be harmed by our own people. I suspect the matter of the Soul Devouring Ghost Worm was orchestrated by someone within the Ninth Bureau."
Ye Ling finished speaking, and Chu Tian nodded. He had long suspected that this matter was the work of someone from the Ninth Bureau; otherwise, where would the secret order have come from?
Before he could speak, Gao Kai called out from the other side, "Xiao Tian, these eight skeletons match your estimate. Based on the temperature and seasonal changes here, their weathering is consistent with about five years."
Chu Tian hurried over, and everyone else followed.
"If that's the case, and based on the arrangement of the skeletons, the night 狸猫 that Xu Duoduo encountered forty years ago should be this one!"
Chu Tian pointed to one of the skeletons. "Up to the last one, a total of eight skeletons, exactly forty years. And it should be four or five years old this year. So, it didn't see Xu Duoduo, because the one Xu Duoduo's group saw back then had already died, and should have been the first one. But it did see Ye Ling, which means Ye Ling really did come here back then."
He pointed at the night 狸猫. It seemed that each night 狸猫 had wanted to escape but was controlled.
"Every five years or so, they have to come here to give birth and then wait for death. What is the purpose of this altar?"
Everyone shook their heads, unable to guess.
Chu Tian walked to the center of the altar and looked up at Ye Ling.
Although he had a guess in his heart, he couldn't be sure. After this period of rest, his soul power had recovered considerably.
This time, he stood there, closed his eyes, and released his divine sense again, but this time he compressed the range of his divine sense to be extremely small. Although this consumed a lot of mental energy, it was the only way. He had to get a clear look at what was underneath.
The material of the altar was clearly specially crafted, and Chu Tian's divine sense found it extremely difficult to penetrate. It was only when sweat beaded on his forehead again that he managed to touch the object below.
"So stupid! How can you be so foolish, drawing soul power from your divine platform!" Daotian's voice suddenly sounded in his ear.
Chu Tian blinked, focusing his attention within the divine platform. Wisps of mist rose from the lake's surface, instantly drifting out of the divine gate. Chu Tian felt a jolt of energy. It turned out that the divine source within the divine platform could replenish soul power.
"Isn't that obvious? The divine source is the condensation of soul power, and the divine platform space is where the soul is stored. What use is this meager amount of soul power overflowing from the divine gate in your body?"
Daotian berated him before falling silent. Chu Tian dismissed his words as nonsense, listening but completely ignoring him.
This was the first time he had summoned soul power from his divine platform, and he hadn't controlled the intensity well. It seemed he had released too much, as everyone felt a shockwave emanating from Chu Tian's body, pushing them back several steps.
"Soul power manifestation! How can it be so strong?" Xu Duoduo exclaimed in surprise.
*Crack...*
In the center of the altar, where Chu Tian had focused his divine sense, a crisp sound was heard. Everyone quickly stepped forward. The hard altar, made of some special material, had spiderweb-like cracks appearing on its surface. Recalling the shockwave just now, it was fortunate that Chu Tian had concentrated his divine sense here. If it had been directed at anyone, wouldn't they have been instantly blown apart?
They had no idea that Chu Tian had compressed his divine sense, spanning a range of two kilometers, into a cylindrical beam only a foot thick, which had caused this effect. Moreover, compressing it this far was his limit, and it had taken him a full five minutes to achieve. If this were used for combat, who would give you five minutes to cast a spell? In this era, you'd likely be shot into mincemeat if you stood still for five minutes.
But now, everyone began to worry. If the altar was damaged, would something happen? The moment the center of the altar cracked, Chu Tian felt the resistance significantly decrease. Beneath the altar, a strange object appeared. He hadn't clearly seen what it was, but an imprint on it made him jump.
Ghost head...
It was identical to the ghost head on Ye Ling's back. Its ferocious appearance made Chu Tian's scalp tingle. As he prepared to examine this altar-shaped object more closely, a suction force pulled at him. The others felt nothing, as it was absorbing Chu Tian's soul power. His soul power surged towards it like a tide. In an instant, Chu Tian felt the lake water within his divine platform boiling.