Nine Nether Heavenly Emperor
Chapter 154: Bones Everywhere

Chapter 154: Chapter 154: Bones Everywhere

Shi Feng and Zi Ya had walked for almost half an hour when they discovered a human skull, followed by a suit of black iron armor and scattered bones that appeared to have been carelessly discarded.

"What’s going on here?" Zi Ya asked Shi Feng.

"It’s obvious," Shi Feng replied. "This person was stripped of his armor, and then his body was dismembered." The black iron armor was very familiar to him—it was the same armor worn by the soldiers of Western Wasteland City. Could this individual be the one who, as the two Black-armored Iron Cavalry had said on that night, had once marched through that desert and then suddenly disappeared?

So, what exactly happened here? What did he encounter?

"Is there more over there?" Suddenly, Zi Ya pointed towards a spot not far off and shouted to Shi Feng, who walked over to find yet another pile of dismembered bones.

Following that, Shi Feng and Zi Ya continued walking forward. Suddenly, a swath of white appeared in the distance. "There... there’s a whole pile!" On the desiccated black earth lay a dense and sprawling heap of bones that stretched endlessly, giving anyone looking at it goosebumps and a chilling sensation. None of these bones were intact; all had been dismembered. "Those skulls seem to belong to the Lizard Clan," Zi Ya exclaimed in shock.

Following the direction of Zi Ya’s pointed finger, Shi Feng saw dozens of skulls among the dense white bones that resembled the heads of lizards.

"Ah, those are our Snake-man Race’s skins! How could this be! That means... among these bones, there are also... our Snake-man Race!" Zi Ya cried out, trembling with grief. Scattered around the nearby piles of bones were dozens of snake skins of various colors: "They must have died in such pain! Who could be so cruel!"

"It’s dangerous, run!" Shi Feng suddenly sensed a powerful and cold Yin Qi rapidly approaching from ahead. He quickly embraced the slightly dazed Zi Ya and, using his movement technique, swiftly fled back the way they had come. He transformed into a beam of white light, shooting back along their path while simultaneously concealing his own aura and sealing Zi Ya’s aura with a Prohibition.

Only when the powerful and cold Yin Qi had moved away did Shi Feng stop and set Zi Ya down on the ground. He had sensed that the cold aura was at least at the level of the Martial Sect Realm, which meant that those bones were almost certainly related to an entity with the power of the Martial Sect.

"What happened?" Zi Ya stood on the ground, her face filled with confusion, and asked Shi Feng.

"We can’t go there. There’s an existence we can’t contend with, and I believe the deaths of those people and your Snake-man Race are related to that entity," Shi Feng explained.

"No! I want to kill him. He killed our Snake-man Race, dismembered their bones, and skinned them. Do you know how much that hurts?" The naive and innocent girl, upon hearing Shi Feng’s words, became agitated.

"You going there now is tantamount to suicide," Shi Feng said. "Even if you break the seal and transform into your Purple Serpent form, it would still be suicide."

"But he killed our people, and he did so using such cruel methods." Just thinking about those bones and skins made Zi Ya’s face fill with sorrow.

Shi Feng felt that the Snake-man Race’s attachment to their kin was indeed much deeper than that of the Human Clan; at least he, looking at so many human bones, was indifferent. The Human Clan, for years, had been killing each other, using any means necessary to achieve their goals, with many advancing over the bones of others.

"To seek revenge, you must possess a power that surpasses that of the adversary—not blindly rush to your death!

Now, you’re the only one from the Snake-man Race to have come here. You’ve taken on the mission of avenging them; you should strive to survive, diligently cultivate your skill, and, once you’ve gained enough power, seek revenge.

Going there now is merely rushing to your death. If you die, then what will become of the grievances of those who died from your race?" Shi Feng said to Zi Ya.

"I... I understand now, I must become very powerful and then avenge my deceased tribespeople," Zi Ya said seriously after listening to Shi Feng.

"It’s good that she’s not pigheaded, no need for me to put in too much effort to explain," Shi Feng thought to himself.

"What should we do now?" Zi Ya had already come to rely on Shi Feng as her mainstay.

"Let’s wait for my guard to return, see if he has found anything there." Thinking of Dark Evil, and recalling the scene and the strong cold Yin Qi transmitted from there, Shi Feng couldn’t help but worry about Dark Evil—who knew if there was similarly another powerful existence there? Thus, Shi Feng had already sent a message to Dark Evil, urging him to hurry back.

It was only when Shi Feng sensed that Dark Evil was approaching this side did he heave a sigh of relief. Soon, Dark Evil appeared mysteriously in front of Shi Feng, but having had the previous experience, Zi Ya was much calmer.

"Master... Master..." Dark Evil began.

"Did you see anything over there?" Shi Feng asked.

"It was like a... small town..." Dark Evil replied.

"A small town?" Hearing Dark Evil’s words, Shi Feng remembered something. One night, those two soldiers had mentioned that there was a small town in that area that had suddenly vanished; since then, that place had been called the Vanishing Evil Land, "Are there still people in that place?" Shi Feng asked.

"There are... no people," Dark Evil said, "There are... ghosts!"

"Ghosts?" Shi Feng’s eyebrows slightly furrowed, and then he understood. Normally, when people die, their souls quickly dissipate with death. However, given the strong Yin Qi in this region, it was normal for souls to still exist after death.

Then Shi Feng looked toward Zi Ya and pointed ahead, "There are ghosts over there; do you want to go see?"

"I don’t believe it," Zi Ya said. "You’re just like my older sisters used to be, trying to scare me." Then Zi Ya pointed at Dark Evil, "If there really were ghosts, why wouldn’t he be afraid?"

He was already a dead person turned into a Yin Corpse, how could he be afraid?

"This girl, I really tell her there are ghosts, she doesn’t believe it," Shi Feng thought to himself, then said to Zi Ya, "Since you’re not afraid, let’s go and have a look. But, ghosts are really nothing to be afraid of."

Speaking of ghosts, Emperor Nine Nether was practically the king of ghosts.

"That... if there really are ghosts, you will protect me, right?" Zi Ya asked somewhat timidly.

"Of course," Shi Feng said. "But in the future, you mustn’t turn into a Big Snake and attack me."

"That... after releasing the seal, I can’t control it," Zi Ya explained. "I almost killed my own clansmen before, thankfully the Priest arrived in time to subdue me. Moreover, the Priest also instructed me not to easily release the seal. I only did it that day because I saw my elder sisters being bullied and didn’t want to go against the priest’s words."