But this was truly strange.
By all logic, after traveling for so long, it was impossible not to encounter a single danger.
They had already explored the area three times before, and each time unexpected events forced them to stop advancing.
Especially those scouts who took the lead—none had ever survived half an hour, always pulled into the dense mist and disappearing without a trace.
In the swamp, pale bony hands often suddenly reached out, dragging several cultivators underwater to drown.
But this time, not only was there no danger…
Even the howling and wailing had subsided! The once eerie and terrifying Swamp Ghost Domain suddenly felt as peaceful and tranquil as a quiet summer night in a small village, with only the occasional croaking of frogs… it was peaceful to an unbearable degree.
Qian Duan stood on tiptoe, peering ahead, even catching sight of two faint ghostfires flickering in the distance within the mist, as if lighting the way.
This was truly unnatural!
The more Qian Duan thought about it, the more suspicious he became. Looking at the backs of Jiang Ke’er and the other demons, he felt a growing unease—could he have run into a ghost?
No, don’t think too much! They’re just ghost cultivators, maybe their methods are just a bit strange… Ever since the Collapse of Reincarnation, vengeful souls have been everywhere, and ghost cultivators have become countless.
He had dealt with them before—there was nothing to fear!
“The forest is ahead.”
His feet finally left the soft mud behind. Jiang Ke’er looked at the forest in front of her and couldn’t help but feel a flicker of fear in her heart.
It was an instinctive terror. Although she knew she was the Queen of the Earth, and those ghosts from Mingzhou shouldn’t bother her…
Still, she felt uneasy.
“Qing Yi Jie, I… I’m a bit afraid of ghosts,” Jiang Ke’er whispered, her face pale.
Qingyue was stunned for a moment: “Queen of the Earth… afraid of ghosts?”
What? Was the Queen of the Earth not allowed to be afraid of ghosts?
Jiang Ke’er’s eyes shone with an utterly justified cowardice.
“We’ve reached the forest, which means—” Qian Duan suddenly relaxed and exhaled, signaling to the group behind him with a glance.
Suddenly, an unaligned cultivator lost control of his body and soared into the air, screaming as he flew into the forest!
It turned out that a cultivator beside him had suddenly attacked, forcibly throwing him into the woods!
The blood-curdling screams sent chills down everyone’s spines.
From somewhere in midair, several shadowy chains stretched out and precisely bound the cultivator’s body.
Then, with a sharp tug!
The cultivator’s body instantly lost all life and collapsed to the ground, while his ghostly blue soul was pulled from his body by the chains, bound, and slowly dragged deeper into the forest.
“Just as expected, the Wraith Forest houses seventy-two evil spirits… They were Lunhui Envoys in life, and after death their grudges remain unresolved. They still cling to their unfinished work—if the living souls aren’t taken away, they won’t open the path.”
Qian Duan said this with a smile on his face.
“However, this is also the easiest challenge. Sacrifice seventy-two living people, and you can pass easily… Everyone, we’ve come this far with no way back. If you don’t want to be sacrificed, then show me what you’re capable of.”
Qian Duan’s smile turned cruel as the cultivators behind him murmured in shock, beginning to suspect and guard against one another.
He sneered with disdain.
But the first to make a move was a lone scattered cultivator.
He attacked another scattered cultivator, violently kicking him into the forest.
The situation instantly descended into chaos.
To avoid being thrown in, hundreds of cultivators launched into a merciless brawl!
Yet the scattered cultivators were unaware that they had long since been doomed cannon fodder. The Nine Palaces Chamber of Commerce had recruited them specifically for this moment!
Jiang Ke’er watched coldly from the sidelines. Though she had already seen through the situation, she said nothing.
She didn’t pity these scattered cultivators.
When they mixed with the Nine Palaces Chamber of Commerce’s people, forcing her to enter the swamp as cannon fodder, Jiang Ke’er had already lost all goodwill toward them.
In essence, they were no different from the Nine Palaces Chamber of Commerce people. The only difference was that they lacked the power to manipulate others.
If they had that power, their actions wouldn’t be any cleaner.
The skirmish started suddenly but ended quickly.
All participants were elite disciples of the Nine Palaces Chamber of Commerce.
They united to deal with these unaligned scattered cultivators effortlessly, without a single member injured.
This demonstrated the gap in strength.
“All right,” Qian Duan suddenly sneered, placing his sword against Jiang Ke’er’s neck.
Raising an eyebrow at her, he said, “Betray after crossing the river?”
“If you dare to utter another word on the rest of the path, I’ll let you know what death feels like!” With the scattered cultivators all dead, Qian Duan no longer had to endure Jiang Ke’er’s threats and felt an unprecedented freedom.
“You’re nothing but a little dog demon, a bumpkin, hah, spit!” Qian Duan disdainfully spat.
If it weren’t for wanting to keep Jiang Ke’er as a backup for emergencies, he would have had these four Ding-class Rangers dismembered and executed right now!
The tension suddenly tightened again. Jiang Ke’er smiled calmly and fell silent.
Mu Guoguo had already been frightened into collapse by the earlier sacrifice and the current threat.
Tearfully, she clutched Jiang Ke’er’s arm tightly, as if Jiang Ke’er was her spiritual pillar.
“Don’t be afraid,” Jiang Ke’er comforted, scratching Guoguo’s chin gently. “Let’s go see what’s at the end of the forest.”
Amid the danger, Jiang Ke’er was surprisingly calm.
Entering the forest, Jiang Ke’er saw several skeletal figures holding chains.
They were leaning against the trees, ribs marked with clean wounds—clearly killed by a single, fatal blow piercing their hearts.
But strangely, the chains in their hands were also wrapped around themselves, binding them to the trees and rendering them powerless to resist.
This made their deaths mysterious—could they have tied themselves up, waiting for their enemies to kill them one by one?
What kind of scene must that have been?
Looking at these skeletons, Jiang Ke’er inexplicably felt a hint of sadness.
“Clang—”
As Jiang Ke’er passed by, the eye sockets of the skulls quietly flickered with two pale blue flames.
Their bones creaked and cracked as if struggling to rise.
Chains rattled, and the forest suddenly grew horrifically eerie.
“What did you do?” Qian Duan looked at Jiang Ke’er in terror.
“As you can see, I didn’t do anything,” Jiang Ke’er shrugged.
The rattling of chains and bones grew louder and louder. The Nine Palaces Chamber of Commerce cultivators were terrified beyond words—they had never seen such a terrifying scene!
Feeling the excitement of the surrounding skeletons, Jiang Ke’er let out a soft sigh. “No need for formalities.”
Qian Duan was dumbfounded by Jiang Ke’er’s arrogant words, shouting angrily, “Are you crazy? How dare you provoke them? You think you—”
“Crack—”
With a final crisp snap, the entire world fell silent, the sound of a needle dropping clear in the stillness.
The rattling chains gradually ceased, the bones returned to their places, and the flames in their sockets quietly died out.
Only their skulls, without exception, turned to face Jiang Ke’er, bowing respectfully.
Qian Duan was left dumbstruck.
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