Chapter 332 - 325: The World Behind the Leather Bag

Song Ciwan pinched a strand of Yao Ermei’s hair and used the Great Derivation Birth Skill to divine her location.

Yao Ermei was just a mortal, so this kind of divination should have been effortless for the current Song Ciwan.

But in reality, Song Ciwan encountered a slight obstruction. It was as if a thin, gray veil had been draped over what should have been a clear path.

However, Song Ciwan was no longer who she once was. Facing this veil, she simply focused her mind, and after a moment of careful examination, she unraveled it with ease.

She transformed into a shadow, covering hundreds of meters in the span of a breath. It wasn’t long before she had traversed dozens of miles, crossing a mountain peak near Gu Family Village and heading toward the mountains beyond.

The area around Gu Family Village was a continuous mountain range stretching for hundreds of miles.

However, the nearby mountains were mostly quite short. From a distance, they seemed to be connected, but up close, one could see that each peak was separated by several miles.

At the foot of the mountains, waterways meandered and rice paddies were everywhere.

And so, in the gaps between these mountains, small villages with distinct local character had formed.

This was the border of Cangling County, an area under the jurisdiction of Shanshui County. Shanshui County Town was small, but it had many mountain villages and beautiful scenery. Unfortunately, it lacked any spirit lands, so it had never seen any significant development.

But for most mortals, life in Shanshui County was actually very comfortable.

After all, it was a land with rich soil and plentiful water. The people were prosperous and open-minded. What could be more livable than this?

But where there is good, there is often bad as well.

Shanshui County was located on the border of Cangling County, separated from the neighboring Fengling County by Celestial Dragon Mountain. You could say it was caught in the middle, truly belonging to neither and cared for by none. There were also no particularly powerful experts stationed there.

As a result, from time to time, evil elements would spring up in the Shanshui County area, disturbing the peace, taking lives, and oppressing the common people.

Shanshui County had many mountains and villages, giving these evil elements the advantage of concealment, which allowed them to run even more rampant.

They came wave after wave. One group would be wiped out, but before long, a new one would always sprout up to take its place.

The local people therefore held martial arts in high esteem. In Gu Family Village, for instance, Gu Dazong was a Martial Artist at the Refining Tendons Stage. He had two sons; one was also at the Refining Tendons Stage, while the other had even reached the Bone Forging Stage!

Gu Family Village had no shortage of strong young men, and its ancestral hall was influential, providing a significant deterrent against external evils.

This was a major reason why the Evil Cultivator behind Brother Yun coveted the good fortune the Little Girl carried, but was unwilling to snatch her directly. Instead, they dispatched Brother Yun to use underhanded tricks to secretly swap the child.

At this moment, halfway up an unnamed mountain peak in the northwest of Shanshui County, there was a series of natural caves. The caves were varied, some narrow, some rugged, and inside was a labyrinth of countless twisting passages.

In the deepest part of the caves, a gaunt Cultivator in a white robe sat cross-legged.

This Cultivator was completely withered. A thin, translucent layer of skin covered her skeleton, and beneath it, bluish-purple blood vessels spread out, every single one clearly visible.

At first glance, this was not a person at all, but a living skeleton!

What was more terrifying than a simple skeleton was that it was connected by an array of living blood vessels. With an appearance like this, if she were to walk out at night, she wouldn’t need a costume to make even the burliest man cry in fear.

The Skeleton Cultivator was clearly not fond of her own appearance. After finishing her cross-legged Cultivation, she immediately brought out a water basin.

The basin reflected her face. She raised a hand to gently stroke her shriveled cheek, murmuring, ’Soon. I just need to gather one more girl born at the time of the Yangyue Spirit, and I can reconstruct my flesh and blood...’

Indeed, although it was difficult to discern her gender from her appearance, the voice that came from her mouth was a woman’s. It was even a very soft, gentle, and sweet voice.

Before she could finish speaking, a person tumbled out with a WHOOSH onto a platform that looked like an altar behind her.

Hearing the commotion, the Skeleton Cultivator was instantly overjoyed. "She’s here!"

She spun around and rushed toward the altar—

Her incredible speed and powerful momentum brought her to the altar’s edge in an instant, but the joy on the Skeleton Cultivator’s face instantly twisted into shock and fury.

"Who are you?" she demanded angrily.

Little did she know, Yao Ermei, who had just fallen out of thin air onto the altar, was even more shocked, furious, and terrified beyond words.

Yao Ermei could never have imagined that being put into Brother Yun’s leather sack would transport her directly to such a hellish place.

They had clearly agreed beforehand that after entering the leather sack, she only had to be alone in the darkness for a moment before Brother Yun would quickly let her out, and the Little Girl from the Ancient Gu Mansion would be swapped and transported away in an instant.

’But now, why have I appeared in such a terrifying place? Is this what the world behind the leather sack is like? Where is Brother Yun? Where is he?’

Yao Ermei stared at the skeleton-person before her, her mind going blank for a moment. Then, following her instincts, she opened her mouth wide and let out a terrified scream, "AHHH!"

Yao Ermei shrieked, "AHHH! A ghost—Help me!"

The Skeleton Cultivator’s expression changed in an instant. She raised her palm and swung it through the air. Yao Ermei, still on the altar, was sent flying backward.

BANG!

Yao Ermei flew off the altar and crashed onto the jagged, uneven ground nearby, her body covered in cuts from the impact.

Her cheek was also swollen from the slap, her lip was split, and blood gushed from her mouth.

The Skeleton Cultivator smelled the scent of blood, and her expression softened slightly.

She moved to stand before Yao Ermei once more, bent down, dabbed a trace of blood from the corner of her mouth, and brought it to her nose to sniff.

"It’s a virgin’s blood..." A dazed yet withered smile appeared on the skeleton’s face. She looked Yao Ermei up and down, speaking with a mix of disdain and delight, "In her twenties, so her Life Force is reasonably strong. Dressed like a married woman, yet still a virgin... Barely acceptable. It can sustain my Dharma Body for three days. So be it..."

As she spoke, she spread her hand, her five sharp-nailed fingers forming a claw. Like a bolt of lightning, she thrust it violently toward Yao Ermei’s heart.

Yao Ermei was so frightened she had lost the ability to think. She could only muster her strength and scream shrilly, "AHH! AHH! Help! He—"

As she cried for help, Yao Ermei didn’t actually believe anyone would really come to save her.

She was just screaming instinctively. In her overwhelming despair and terror, she felt as if her very soul were about to fly away.

Then, in this daze where she felt her soul scattering, Yao Ermei suddenly saw a flash of light before her eyes.

’What light is that?’

’It looks like Firelight... no... The light is clearly white, like coils of a thin cord, and it has tightly bound that utterly terrifying skeleton-person.’

A ball of human desires burst forth. Beside Song Ciwan, the Heaven and Earth Scale materialized and received a heavy mass of energy: [Human desires: A mortal’s terror, joy, and gratitude. Five catties and seven taels. Exchangeable.]