CHAPTER 579: CHAPTER 568: TO BE PUNISHED!_1

"Huh?"

Qin Feiyang was slightly startled. Why did this voice sound so familiar?

The others also looked surprised.

They all turned to look and saw two blurry white figures rushing towards them from a distance.

"Doesn’t it somewhat resemble Senior Brother Wuheng and Senior Brother Murong Xiong?" someone muttered doubtfully.

"Didn’t they both die?" another person questioned.

As the distance shortened, they eventually managed to discern the identities of the two figures. They were right; it was indeed Dongfang Wuheng and Murong Xiong.

Qin Feiyang and Dong Zhengyang looked at each other, an intense glint shining in the depths of their eyes. Very quickly, Dongfang Wuheng and Murong Xiong arrived, panting heavily. Both were disheveled, their tattered clothes soaked in blood, presenting a truly wretched sight.

"Senior Brother Wuheng, Senior Brother Murong Xiong, what happened? Where did you go last night? We all thought you were dead!" Wu Yan and Xui Yang rushed forward, expressing their concern.

Dongfang Wuheng took a few deep breaths and sighed, "It’s a long story. Last night, Murong Xiong and I went to kill that skeleton. But we hadn’t expected that even the two of us together were no match for it."

"And then?" Xui Yang asked.

"We had no choice but to flee. We initially intended to find all of you, but we didn’t know where you were hiding, so we went into hiding first. Later, we faintly heard the sounds of battle. I thought it had to be all of you, so we rushed over immediately. But along the way, there were too many white skeletons, and we were both seriously injured. By the time we arrived, all of you had already left. So, we tracked you all this way until we finally caught up," Dongfang Wuheng sighed.

Wu Yan said, "You’ve both been through a lot. If we had known you weren’t dead, we would definitely have waited for you."

"It doesn’t matter," Dongfang Wuheng said, then continued, blaming himself, "It’s just that not only did we fail to help, but we also ended up leading you into danger. We are truly sorry for that."

At this, Dong Zhengyang interjected, "Qin Feiyang and I killed the black skeleton. It wasn’t very strong. Given your abilities, you two shouldn’t have needed to flee, right?"

Upon hearing this, helplessness immediately filled Dongfang Wuheng’s face.

"It was my fault," Murong Xiong stated, his face expressionless.

Dongfang Wuheng nodded. "Indeed, it was because of his arrogance that we suffered such a crushing defeat. But he has realized his mistake, so I hope everyone can be lenient."

Xui Yang chuckled, "To acknowledge and amend one’s errors is the greatest of virtues."

"Is it your place to speak?" Murong Xiong raised an eyebrow, his gaze extremely unfriendly.

Xui Yang promptly shrank his neck, his face filled with fear.

"Enough." Dong Zhengyang gestured with his hands, and the area quieted down. He then looked at Dongfang Wuheng and said, "Since you’re back, you should make the arrangements."

Dongfang Wuheng said, "There isn’t much to arrange. While there are no skeletons during the daytime, we should advance at full speed."

Wu Yan frowned. "Senior Brother Wuheng, don’t you need to rest first?"

"I can’t delay everyone because of myself. I can recover while we travel. Let’s go!"

Dongfang Wuheng waved his hand, and everyone immediately increased their speed, racing towards the end of the plain.

Dong Zhengyang took the lead, frequently glancing back at Dongfang Wuheng and Murong Xiong. A little while later, a gleam flashed in the depths of his eyes, and he sent a voice transmission to Qin Feiyang, who was behind him: "Did you notice anything odd?"

Qin Feiyang subtly shook his head.

Initially, he too had been skeptical. He suspected the two might have deliberately fled, hoping to use the black skeleton to eliminate them. He even suspected that the two of them might have pulled out the battle sword in the valley when no one was paying attention. However, their earlier explanation had been flawless. Considering Murong Xiong’s character, it was indeed plausible that he had acted arrogantly when fighting the black skeleton. Thus, Qin Feiyang couldn’t be certain. Of course, these suspicions couldn’t be voiced, or it would undoubtedly lead to greater discord. Take Wu Yan and Xui Yang, for example. When Dongfang Wuheng and Murong Xiong were absent, they were particularly docile, but as soon as the pair returned, their expressions and demeanor instantly changed. Clearly, many people here sided with those two.

「Time passed swiftly.」

Night soon descended. Everyone had made preparations for battle in advance. Moreover, thanks to the healing elixirs with four Elixir Patterns, despite having rushed for an entire day, everyone was still full of energy. So, when the white skeletons crawled out from beneath the ground, they weren’t as panicked as on the previous two nights.

However, casualties were inevitable.

「Around midnight.」

Fatty’s cry of alarm suddenly rang out, "Look, there’s another battle sword!"

Everyone was instantly surprised. They turned to look in the direction Fatty was pointing and spotted a small earthen mound about twenty-odd meters to their right. At a glance, it resembled a grave! In the very center of the mound, a rust-covered battle sword was thrust!

Dongfang Wuheng urgently warned, "Don’t touch it! Let’s move quickly!"

"Wait!" At this moment, Qin Feiyang suddenly spoke up, his eyes glinting as he stared at the sword.

Everyone looked at him in confusion.

Qin Feiyang said, "I want to know, will the black skeleton awaken on its own?"

Upon hearing this, a few people immediately understood Qin Feiyang’s intention: Dong Zhengyang, Lu Xingchen, and Fatty.

Dongfang Wuheng said, "Junior Brother Qin, I know you’re capable of killing the black skeleton, but it’s best not to take such a risk. After all, you’re not alone here; everyone else is present too."

"That’s right," Xui Yang and Wu Yan chimed in. "You can’t endanger everyone just for your curiosity."

Qin Feiyang stated, "You can all leave first. I’m enough to handle this."

Dongfang Wuheng decisively replied, "That’s even more out of the question! We’ve already suffered grievous losses. What if something happens to you?"

"Qin Feiyang, even though you’ve crafted Top Grade elixirs for us, I must speak fairly. Senior Brother Wuhen is saying this for your own good; don’t be so unappreciative," Xui Yang said in a low voice.

Dong Zhengyang glanced at Xui Yang coolly. "Don’t worry. I’ll stay with Qin Feiyang, as I’m also very curious to find out."

"You guys..." Xui Yang was suddenly infuriated.

But just then, Dongfang Wuheng said with a sigh of resignation, "Alright, since you insist on staying, I won’t say much more. But remember, after you’ve figured things out, rejoin us immediately. Our group cannot afford to be without you two again."

Qin Feiyang and Dong Zhengyang nodded.

"Boss, I want to stay too," Fatty said in a low voice.

"No," Qin Feiyang spoke in a voice just loud enough for Fatty and Dong Zhengyang to hear. "You go with them. First, to protect Ren Wushuang, and second, to keep an eye on Dongfang Wuheng and Murong Xiong."

"Alright!" Fatty begrudgingly nodded.

Immediately, Qin Feiyang and Dong Zhengyang split from the group, battling white skeletons as they approached the small earthen mound. Dongfang Wuheng led the main group onward.

Once the main group had vanished into the night sky, Dong Zhengyang said in a deep voice, "As long as we can confirm that this skeleton won’t wake up on its own, we can be absolutely certain that Dongfang Wuheng and Murong Xiong were the ones who pulled out the battle sword in the valley."

Qin Feiyang shook his head. "We can’t be that certain."

"Isn’t that certain enough?" Dong Zhengyang sneered. "In the Netherworld, besides us, there are only people from the other eight states. But they aren’t in the same direction as us, so it naturally wouldn’t be them. At that time, we were fighting the black skeleton, and Fatty and the others were all at the entrance. Only Dongfang Wuheng and Murong Xiong had disappeared. If not them, then who else could it be?"

Qin Feiyang frowned. "Let’s wait until we’re clear on the facts before drawing any conclusions."

During their conversation, they advanced with irresistible momentum and quickly reached the small earthen mound. The surrounding white skeletons dared not approach, remaining five meters away. The flames in their eye sockets pulsed violently, as if threatening Qin Feiyang and Dong Zhengyang.

Time ticked by. They stood before the small earthen mound, but even after several hundred breaths’ time, there was no movement from the skeleton within.

Dong Zhengyang raised his eyebrows and shouted, "Hey! Hey! If you don’t come out, we’re going to dig up your grave and scatter your bones!"

But even after a long moment, there was still no response. Dong Zhengyang tried stomping hard on the small mound a few times, but there was still no sign of the skeleton awakening.

Could there really be no skeleton in here?

The two exchanged glances, their eyes filled with bewilderment.

Dong Zhengyang transmitted via voice message, "How about we try pulling out the battle sword?"

"We can," Qin Feiyang said in a low voice. "But we must be prepared. We need to kill it the instant it emerges."

"Alright," Dong Zhengyang transmitted via voice message. "Same as before: I’ll activate my Battle Soul, and you use that dagger to kill it."

Qin Feiyang nodded and drew out Blue Snow.

At the same time, Dong Zhengyang activated his Battle Soul, then stepped forward and yanked out the battle sword.

A dry, cackling sound emerged from the mound: "HEH HEH HEH... Humans... Blood..."

A chill instantly shot through both of them.

BOOM!

Following this, the small earthen mound suddenly exploded! Dirt flew everywhere as a black shadow violently shot out.

But at the same instant, the iron chains behind Dong Zhengyang, with a loud CLATTERING sound, whipped out like lightning to entangle the black shadow.

"Hold!" With Dong Zhengyang’s low command, the black shadow instantly revealed its true form.

It was, indeed, a black skeleton!

And just as Dong Zhengyang immobilized the black skeleton, Qin Feiyang lunged forward.

CRACK!

Blue Snow, like a brilliant flash, instantly shattered the black skeleton’s skull, extinguishing the flames within its eye sockets. Before it could even get a clear look at Qin Feiyang and Dong Zhengyang, the black skeleton was utterly destroyed.

As the black skeleton perished, the battle sword in Dong Zhengyang’s hand shattered into four or five pieces with a loud CLANG.

"Huh!" Both were stunned.

At the same time, the surrounding white skeletons began to utter broken, hoarse words: "Humans... Blood..." Their voices were like the shrieks of vengeful spirits, incredibly chilling!

Then, they charged all at once!

"Hmph!" Dong Zhengyang snorted. Turning, both his hands shot out, his Battle Intent flaring like a rainbow. It transformed into dark arrows that, carrying devastating power, pierced the eye sockets of the skeletons. A large swathe of them collapsed in an instant!

Qin Feiyang’s techniques were no less formidable than Dong Zhengyang’s.

"What’s the next step?" Dong Zhengyang asked while slaughtering skeletons.

It was now proven: the battle sword was akin to a seal. Only when the battle sword was removed would the black skeleton awaken.

Qin Feiyang pondered for a moment. "Let’s not confront them hastily. Wait until we have solid proof; otherwise, we’ll be the ones ostracized by the group."

"Those two bastards!" A cold light surged in Dong Zhengyang’s eyes. "Their malicious scheming is so vile, they deserve to be executed!"

Qin Feiyang shook his head and sighed. "When Lu Xingchen first said Dongfang Wuheng wasn’t a good person, I was somewhat skeptical. I never imagined he was truly such a duplicitous, petty man."

This person was far too skilled at dissembling.