Crack! Crack!
The wilderness suddenly split open from below, and countless pale hand bones were exposed like wild grass. The hand bones grew longer and longer, gradually revealing complete skeletons.
There were so many skeletons hidden underground!
They were extremely short, looking like children under ten years old, but they were incredibly fast. After emerging from the soil, they all rushed towards Rong Zhi, emitting the sound of bone friction as they ran, which made one's scalp tingle.
The hairs on Rong Zhi's back stood on end. In her two lives, she had never seen such a bizarre scene. Everything before her was like a nightmare.
She was already surrounded by skeletons.
Xia Jin let out a hearty laugh, "Don't you have skills? Let's see how you deal with my ghost soldiers!"
This place used to be a mass grave, the place with the heaviest yin energy. He had temporarily built a thatched hut here, originally intending to use the yin energy to complete a gathering of yin formation, but he never expected such a bonus.
As soon as his voice fell, countless skeletons rushed at Rong Zhi in unison. A smell of earth and corpses immediately filled the surroundings. Rong Zhi kicked off the skull of the skeleton rushing at her, and the next moment her neck was grabbed by a pair of yellowish-white bone hands.
She grabbed the bone hands, and with a surge of strength, she flung the skeleton behind her away. But for every one she threw off, another would take its place, relentlessly…
Xia Jin could no longer see Rong Zhi's figure, only a mountain of white bones. White bones were continuously thrown out from it, and more skeletons pounced back. Skeletons were still drilling out of the ground one by one.
In the end, Xia Jin's initial smugness turned into confusion. How many corpses were buried beneath this ground? He himself didn't know. He only knew that the yin energy here was strong, but he hadn't expected it to be this strong.
Just then, Xia Jin suddenly felt a gaze fixed on him from behind. The gaze grew, and although he couldn't move or turn his head, he knew that countless skeletons must be standing behind him.
He was also surrounded.
Backlash!
No!
Xia Jin's eyes widened in terror. Summoning ghost soldiers did incur backlash, but it was a rare occurrence, and it shouldn't have been this fast.
Suddenly, he felt a pain on his scalp and let out a wail. A skeleton crawled onto his body and grabbed his hair, tearing off a patch of his scalp.
More and more skeletons swarmed around. The once yellowish wilderness turned into a white plain, with skeletons wriggling everywhere, their bones clacking deafeningly.
"Get away from me, all of you!"
In an instant, all the skeletons were flung away, shattering upon hitting the ground. Rong Zhi let out a puff of breath, her face as pale as those skeletons.
She clutched her chest, gasping for air. To deal with those skeletons just now, she had forcefully pushed the Wind Control Art to its eighth level. Her meridians were now chaotic, and her qi and blood were in rebellion. She was likely at the end of her life.
Not far away, Xia Jin had already been torn to shreds. Rong Zhi, to conserve her strength, could only kneel on the ground and curse at Xia Jin, "Damn you, I'll take you down with me today!"
The only response was a series of screams.
Rong Zhi took a deep breath. Ultimately, she knew she couldn't act impulsively. Preserving her life was paramount. She sat cross-legged on the ground and began to slowly circulate her internal energy, trying to straighten out the chaotic internal forces within her.
She forced herself to calm down, disregarding the clacking of the skeletons and Xia Jin's screams. Just as Rong Zhi was finally recovering a little, she heard a dripping sound, like something falling onto the ground.
A bloody smell filled her nostrils. Rong Zhi opened her eyes and found a little girl, covered in dirt and blood, staring at her intently.
No! She couldn't be considered a little girl, because the flesh on her body had rotted, and pus and blood flowed from her wounds. The dripping sound just now was the sound of her blood falling to the ground.
Rong Zhi's face turned pale, and she couldn't help but gag.
"Hehehe..." The little girl let out a series of eerie laughs. Rong Zhi quickly circulated her internal energy and leaped onto the roof.
The next moment, a bizarre scene unfolded. The little girl crawled up using her hands and feet, her speed so astonishing that it was unbelievable she was human.
Rong Zhi slowly retreated, and the little girl also slowed down, watching Rong Zhi with a strange smile, her eyes full of playfulness.
Rong Zhi swallowed. In the past, when she encountered strange things, she would often curse, "What the hell!" Now, she had actually seen a ghost. If she survived today, she swore she would never utter those words again.
Countless skeletons were still drilling out from the ground below, and a little girl was on the roof above. She was in a no-win situation.
In a flash, Rong Zhi suddenly realized that those skeletons seemed to be deliberately avoiding the thatched hut. Could they not approach it?
With this guess, Rong Zhi immediately leaped down. As soon as she landed, she was surrounded by a dense mass of skeletons. She fought her way through with punches and kicks, throwing off each attacking skeleton. She no longer had the strength to use the Wind Control Art a second time.
Although the room was only a few steps away, Rong Zhi took a full fifteen minutes to reach it. The moment she opened the door, all the pressure vanished. Rong Zhi closed the door and found only the immobile Li Hao and the three sleeping girls in the room.
She breathed a sigh of relief, and couldn't help but spit out another mouthful of blood. Leaning against the door, she had no strength left.
Thank goodness, her guess was correct. Those skeletons couldn't enter. As long as she hid here, she should be safe...
Just as Rong Zhi thought this, the three girls on the bed suddenly sat up, their movements synchronized and very stiff.
Rong Zhi's alertness immediately heightened.
She stood up, pressing herself against the doorframe. The three girls also slowly walked over. They kept their eyes closed but accurately found Rong Zhi's direction.
Rong Zhi's alarm bells went off. How were these three controlled as well?
Dong Mei, who was closest to Rong Zhi, grabbed Rong Zhi's neck as soon as they approached. The strength was so great that Rong Zhi immediately lost her breath.
Her face turned purple, but she couldn't even move the other's hands. She had been starving for seven days and seven nights, and after the battle just now, she had completely run out of strength.
Dong Mei, with an unknown surge of strength, directly lifted Rong Zhi into the air. Her hand continued to tighten, and Rong Zhi's vision turned white.
"Retreat!"
A hoarse male voice echoed through the void. The sound was like a thunderous gong. As it reached Rong Zhi's ears, she felt her entire body tremble, as if someone dying of thirst in the desert had drunk their first sip of water. Her strength gradually returned.
The three girls in front of her stopped moving. In a daze, Rong Zhi felt the door open, and a tall figure supported her.
"Zhi'er..."
Rong Zhi felt a warm current in her mouth, slowly reaching her throat and stomach. She opened her eyes and saw an anxious face.
"Why are you here?"
Xiao Jianli's expression was grim. "If I hadn't come, you would have died here."
The hand supporting Rong Zhi trembled slightly. It was so close, so close to losing Rong Zhi for the second time.
Rong Zhi turned to look at the three girls. They were still lying on the bed, as if nothing had happened.
"I saw so many skeletons, and Dong Mei was trying to strangle me. Was all of that just my hallucination?"
"It wasn't a hallucination. Xia Jin summoned ghost soldiers. All those who died are summoned by him."
Rong Zhi was shocked. "Did they all die?"
Xiao Jianli shook his head. "Not completely dead. I gave them some food. Whether they live or not depends on their luck."
Actually, Xiao Jianli had originally wanted to kill them directly. They were all of the pure yin physique, tools for Xia Jin. As long as these tools were destroyed, Xia Jin would be unable to use his techniques. However, he knew that Rong Zhi disliked killing indiscriminately.
"What about the things outside?"
Rong Zhi got up and walked outside. Xiao Jianli did not stop her.
The moment she opened the door, Rong Zhi was startled by the scene before her. The open ground was piled high with white bones, many still in attacking postures. Xia Jin lay not far from the door, his scalp completely plucked, his clothes tattered and stained with blood.
"So everything just now was real."
Rong Zhi slowly walked out of the room and into the center of the skeletons. There lay a girl, the one who had climbed onto the roof with her earlier. Her body had rotted extensively, exposing her white bones, but her face was relatively intact.
Footsteps sounded from behind. Rong Zhi did not turn around, only frowning and asking, "Don't you think this girl looks a little familiar?"
The voice that answered was very certain, "She looks like you."
Rong Zhi's head suddenly ached. She remembered a distant scene: snow falling everywhere, a vast white wilderness, countless bodies wrapped up, each face identical, looking just like her.
This scene flashed by, and when she tried to recall it again, the fragment slipped away like flowing water.
"Xia Jin could summon so many skeletons. What kind of profound technique is this?"
"His profound technique isn't that powerful. It's just that there are too many corpses buried underground." Xiao Jianli took out a yellow talisman, made a hand seal, and chanted some unknown incantation. With his movements, a clacking sound echoed all around. The skeletons actually stood up, and even those that were torn apart reassembled.
They moved in unison, slowly walking towards the distance and gradually sinking into the ground. The ground where the little girl lay also gradually sunken, burying her.
Everything returned to its original state, becoming the most ordinary wilderness scene. Only Xia Jin, lying wounded by the door, proved that everything that had happened was not a dream.
"I'm afraid Xia Jin never expected so many corpses to be buried here... Zhi'er!"
Before Xiao Jianli could finish speaking, Rong Zhi collapsed. She was too exhausted. After such a battle, it was already remarkable that she could still stand.
Before she fainted, Rong Zhi's mind was only occupied by one thought: "Food..."
Rong Zhi had a dream. In her dream, she returned to Medicine King Valley, slept in her familiar bed, with the chatter of her disciples in her ears. They held medical books, arguing about ancient prescriptions, bickering over dosages. The sound was so noisy, yet so beautiful.
When she woke up, there was a table full of delicious food in front of her, and her disciples were teasing her with smiles.
"Master is so hungry she fainted. She must have forgotten to eat while treating patients."
Rong Zhi felt her eyes well up, picked up the bamboo shoot chicken congee and sesame flatbread in front of her, and began to devour them.
However, what entered her mouth was something cold.
"Zhi'er!" A hoarse voice sounded in her ear. Rong Zhi opened her eyes and found herself gnawing on a knife hilt, with Xiao Jianli's speechless expression in front of her.