Chapter 38: Grievances of the Strange Bones, Soulless White Bones…

A foul wind rushed at him, and Gu Changhuai, caught off guard, inhaled a mouthful. He nearly vomited and quickly erected a barrier around himself.

As expected, the pit mouth was very deep. It took a moment of falling before his feet touched solid ground. The pitch-black cavern was illuminated by luminous pearls from the Enforcement Hall, making everything clearly visible.

It had already been cleared once, with a path carved out for walking. On either side towered piles of white bones far taller than a person. In the open space stood rows of uncorrupted corpses, neatly arranged, while a soul-summoning array was drawn on the ground.

Disciples of the Enforcement Hall continued verifying the corpses that could be identified by location, while others directed the corpses into position from the rear.

At that moment, Hua Mei and Jin Shuang jumped down as well. Jin Shuang asked with concern, “Didn’t puke, did you?” Clearly, the words he hadn’t finished earlier were meant to warn Gu Changhuai about the foul smell below.

Gu Changhuai shrugged with a smile. “Close call. Almost did.”

Hua Mei rolled his eyes. “Told you not to rush!”

Gu Changhuai scanned the surroundings a few times before stepping forward to the nearest skeleton. He examined it carefully from top to bottom.

The exposed section of arm bone was yellowish, pockmarked with tiny holes like needle pricks. A faint chill emanated from it.

This skeleton had clearly been steeped in blood during life. Even after one round of purification, a trace of yin chill still seeped from deep within the bones, with lingering killing intent around it.

Looking up, the other stacked white bones were the same. The countless wisps of residual killing intent converged, making the cavern bitterly cold.

He furrowed his brows lightly.

Baleful qi was still being nurtured!

The killing intent from these white bones was thick. If left for a few more years, it would likely condense into an endless source of baleful qi—a perpetual wellspring that wouldn’t cease until eradicated.

Gu Changhuai had never heard of such a thing. Normally, baleful qi from deathly resentment formed from those who endured torment, harboring grudges and malice.

Too much resentment birthed baleful qi; nurtured baleful qi gathered enough could form a person. But he had never heard of long-dead bones generating baleful qi anew. It was tricky.

Seeing him silent for a long time, Jin Shuang couldn’t help asking, “What’s wrong?”

Gu Changhuai came back to himself and chuckled lightly. “Nothing, just found it strange.”

These white bones didn’t look recently deceased; they showed signs of weathering and sun exposure yet hadn’t crumbled to dust. And there were so many, seemingly from the same batch—who knew when they had died.

“Huh?” Jin Shuang was baffled. He followed Gu Changhuai’s gaze and examined the bones for a while but saw nothing amiss. He said, “Then these corpses…”

Halfway through his words, a deep, cold voice sounded from behind the group, echoing chillingly through the cavern. “Leave them here for now.”

Gu Changhuai turned back. Rong Ye had arrived at some point and was walking over slowly. Jin Shuang and the Enforcement Hall disciples saluted in turn. Gu Changhuai blinked and asked, “Why?”

Rong Ye lowered his gaze, meeting Gu Changhuai’s eyes. “Strange bones harbor grievances. Without souls, they gather; with souls, they disperse.”

“You’re saying these weathered bones haven’t fallen apart because their souls are trapped? That makes sense.” Gu Changhuai tapped his chin with a fingertip, pondering. “But what an insidious method.”

When people died, their souls entered reincarnation. Soul-summoning arts called forth only the last lingering thoughts tied to the body—not true resurrection.

Trapping souls, however, prevented those detached spirits from entering reincarnation, forcing them to wander eternally in place.

Such a vicious technique—if not born of extreme hatred, why deny them peace? With souls unrested, resentment and hatred naturally arose.

This, in turn, affected their former bodies. No wonder the bones endured without disintegrating and continuously gathered baleful qi.

Suddenly remembering something, Gu Changhuai slapped his forehead and looked at Rong Ye. “Oh no.” He said, “Lady Mengying’s Zhuangzi Manor…”

It was far worse than here!

The bones at Zhuangzi Manor were much like those in the City Lord’s Mansion—likely the same situation.

And there was that hidden little baleful ghost at Zhuangzi!

There were too many bones to tally and corpses to summon souls for in the City Lord’s Mansion pit, so Jin Shuang and Hua Mei stayed behind to handle it.

Gu Changhuai went to Zhuangzi Manor with Rong Ye.

After the rose vines’ concealment was stripped away and another day of fermentation, the hidden baleful qi fully erupted, enveloping the entire Zhuangzi Manor in thick, inky gloom. The sky overhead was oppressively dark. However, the baleful qi hadn’t spread; it was contained by a barrier, preventing harm to the Mortal Realm.

This barrier was unmistakably Rong Ye’s handiwork.

“I thought you wouldn’t have time for this place,” Gu Changhuai remarked with a tsk. “Didn’t expect you’d set up the restraint so promptly.”

Rong Ye smiled faintly, saying nothing.

The restraint blocked the baleful qi and also kept the little baleful ghost from escaping.

Otherwise, the moment Lady Mengying died and her barrier vanished, the baleful qi would have dispersed within a quarter-hour, wreaking havoc in the Mortal Realm.

If released, it would be a catastrophe for the Mortal Realm. Handling this took priority, so Gu Changhuai temporarily shelved his assassination plans at Zhuangzi Manor.

The two entered Zhuangzi Manor together.

The path was the same, the layout unchanged—but the scene was utterly transformed from their first visit. Eaves crawled with bones, walls were built of stacked skeletons, and the rose garden’s paths were paved with human bones. Baleful qi wafted faintly, shrouding the entire manor and sending chills down the spine.

“As expected.” Gu Changhuai took one look around the bones and smiled. “Same as the soulless white bones in the City Lord’s Mansion.”

The methods matched perfectly; the yellowish weathering marks on the bones couldn’t be hidden.

The difference was that the baleful qi here hadn’t been cleared. Gathered together, it exerted heavy pressure, as if it could devour the living whole.

Rong Ye spoke, his voice low. “These were transferred from elsewhere.”

“Oh?” Gu Changhuai turned, then realized. “Right, if Lady Mengying and Shi Ying killed tens of thousands, it’d draw the Cultivation World’s attention.”

Shi Ying’s evils in the Mortal Realm involved switching locations periodically, committing atrocities while collecting bones. Thus, the City Lord’s Mansion bones were also relocated.

Though the Cultivation World was coveted, the Mortal Realm had its own experts. If Lady Mengying and Shi Ying were quickly discovered, they might seek aid from the Cultivation World. To avoid notice, they naturally covered their tracks.

Gu Changhuai scanned the surroundings again, puzzled. “With so many bones here, how many did they haul in, and from where?”