txolops Chapter 75 Infiltrating Bone Slope
Chapter 75 Infiltrating Bone Slope
When Huang Chen stepped onto the stone platform where the array's eye stone was located, the soles of his boots were still covered with cold mud he had brought back from outside the mountains.
He didn't speak immediately.
I first glanced around.
Two new layers of blackout cloth were added around the stone platform, and the torches in the valley were also extinguished, leaving only dark red wicks that made people's faces appear dull.
Several young guards on duty stood guard on the outer perimeter. When they saw him return, their shoulders relaxed a little, but they immediately stood up straight again.
Old Tie was squatting next to the stone platform, drawing lines on the ground with a short wooden stick.
Hearing footsteps, he looked up and cursed, "You've finally decided to actually go into the valley. I thought you were going to spend the whole night wandering around outside, treating yourself like a hawk in the sky."
'
Huang Chen twitched the corner of his mouth, ignoring the joke.
He walked to the stone platform and first probed the valley formation with his divine sense.
The array patterns were operating smoothly, the earth's energy was undisturbed, and the previously buried stress-relief points remained quiet. Only after confirming that no external energy had infiltrated did he exhale a breath of stale air and press his brow with his hand.
"Where's the wound?"
Lao Tie stood up and stared at his chest, abdomen, and left arm.
"No cracks."
After Huang Chen finished speaking, he turned his gaze to the other side of the stone platform.
The old man in the prison cell, wrapped in an old fur coat, sat on a low stool, with the deed he had seized from the demon market in front of him. Standing next to him was a sallow-faced, emaciated man, the rescued mine slave B, who held a chipped ceramic bowl in his hand. The bowl contained freshly heated black medicinal soup, steaming up and mingling with the smell of medicine and bone ash, giving it a bitter odor.
"They're all here."
Huang Chen spoke.
"Speak."
The rescued miner B was visibly nervous. When he saw Huang Chen's gaze fall on him, he swallowed hard and quickly handed over the medicine bowl.
"Lord Huang, have some hot tea first. It's freshly brewed, and I added some herbal root extract."
'
Huang Chen took it and drank half a bowl.
The medicine was so bitter it made my tongue feel numb and astringent.
He didn't frown, and casually placed the bowl on the edge of the stone table: "You go first."
Miner B glanced at his old buddy subconsciously.
Lao Tie waved his hand: "Stop dawdling, just say what you saw."
Miner B then lowered his voice: "Those three weak points outside the valley, the first wave tonight was indeed just a test."
The attackers weren't particularly strong; they seemed like dogs sent out to scout. But after we found something on the two corpses, we realized something was wrong.
'
As he spoke, he took out a small piece of brownish-black bone from his pocket and handed it over with both hands.
Huang Chen took the bone skewer, rubbed it between his fingers, and the surface was covered with dried demon blood and a tiny red line.
The red lines were as fine as strands of hair.
If you don't look closely, you can't tell it's a pattern at all; you'd think it's just a bloodstain.
"The veins branch out from the wedge pattern."
Huang Chen's eyes turned a little cold.
Old Tie nodded: "Yes. At first, I just thought it was a normal tracking method, but later I got a pair of those demon market contracts and the patterns matched."
'
He squatted down and used a stick to draw a rough line drawing on the ground.
"The demon market contract you brought back during the day is a transaction seal that can prove where the 'goods' came from and who they were handed over to."
If you dismantle it deeper, there's another layer of blood pact vein patterns buried inside. This thing isn't disposable; it's a complete set.
'
With a flick of the stick, he divided the earthen line on the ground into two main branches.
"The buyer who takes the order receives a fraction of the pulse."
The true source of the coordinates lies in the master disk. As long as the master disk remains intact, even if this wave is wiped out, others can still follow the traces, continue buying, and continue to target people.
'
A night breeze blew across the edge of the stone platform, causing the flames to flicker gently.
Huang Chen stared down at the line on the ground without saying a word.
His friend knows that expression of his all too well.
This is not hesitation.
This is calculation.
Calculate the path, calculate the people, calculate whether it's worth it, calculate whether tonight's step should be taken directly.
Suddenly, the old man in the prison raised his withered hand and tapped the contract plaque on the stone platform.
"That's not all."
'
His voice was dry, like sandpaper grinding wood.
Huang Chen looked at him: "You recognized the others?"
'
"I just recognized him."
The old man in the prison cell turned the contract over and, by the firelight, pointed out a very faint pattern around the edge to Huang Chen.
"Look here. It's not a demonic pattern, but an old one from the Soul-Binding Pattern."
'
Huang Chen narrowed his eyes.
The pattern was very faint, embedded on the inner side of the contract plaque's bone, unlike the ostentatious vein pattern, it looked more like a deliberately hidden mark.
The tattooed feet curl inwards, with hooks at the ends, resembling a half-open black flower, but with three additional locking lines at the stamen.
Several old images flashed through his mind.
The Golden Bowl for Subduing Demons.
The shattered soul-collecting artifact.
There were also remnants of the Xuantian Sect who had previously pursued them.
The old man in the prison stared at the circle of markings, his eyelids twitching slowly.
"When the old man was young, he was transferred to a prison several times and saw the soul-collecting artifact. Later, on the cold road, he saw a golden bowl carried by a celestial cultivator."
Later, the broken soul-gathering runes beside the corpses of the Xuan Tian Sect pursuers you killed outside the valley also showed the same technique.
As he spoke, the firelight flickered in the wrinkles of his face.
"The demon-subduing golden bowl of the passing earth immortal uses an externally manifested soul-suppressing pattern. The soul-gathering pattern used by Xuan Tian Sect Pursuer A and Xuan Tian Sect Pursuer B is more sinister and narrower, like a side branch technique split off from a fellow sect."
The pattern on the edge of this contract plaque has a single, continuous line at its base.
Old Tie frowned upon hearing this: "You mean, behind the Demon Market there isn't just a bunch of demon cultivators who traffic in slaves?"
'
The old man in the prison cell nodded slowly.
"It's highly likely that it's still connected to the remnants of the immortal sect."
It might not be the entire sect, but just a broken piece. People are sold, their souls are extracted, but the bloodline imprint remains; neither the living nor the dead are wasted.
'
Upon hearing this, the rescued miner turned pale.
His lips trembled twice, as if he remembered something, and his voice lowered even further: "No wonder...no wonder there were a few people who were put on the list before, even though they were almost dead, they still refused to kill them directly."
They say something like, "The price is about to drop before the bones are even cold."
The old man cursed and kicked over a piece of gravel next to him.
The pebble rolled several meters away, hit the stone wall, and made a series of crisp sounds.
The area around the stone platform fell silent for a moment.
The medicine pot was bubbling away.
Someone sneezed in the distance, then quickly held it in.
Huang Chen raised his hand and picked up the Demon Market Contract again. The contract was icy cold to the touch, like touching an old bone that had been soaked in corpse water, with a faint trace of blood still permeating it.
The energy was extremely subtle, climbing upwards along the lines of his palm, as if trying to drill into his sea of consciousness.
His palm surged with energy, instantly dispelling the probing attack.
"Where is the master image? Can we deduce it from the original image?"
Old Tie said in a deep voice, "We can try."
"But no one in the valley is more suitable to go than you."
He spoke frankly.
Without the slightest deviation.
"This thing is well hidden. If an ordinary person approaches it with the contract token, they will likely be locked out first."
You possess the art of concealing your breath, the human-made concealment veil, and can suppress your own vital energy. In addition, you previously seized a batch of miscellaneous items from the demon market, making it easy to disguise your aura.
'
Huang Chen hummed in agreement.
He placed the deed back on the stone platform and tapped the edge of it lightly twice with his fingers.
"Bone Lamp Slope".
The old man looked up and asked, "You also think the source is there?"
'
"The thread in Chapter Ninety-One wasn't completely severed."
Huang Chen looked at the contract plaque, his voice low.
"Outer strongholds can be registered, transferred, and have their vein-finding seals distributed. The main base is mostly located in places like Bone Lamp Slope. It's close to the mountain road, but not so close to the main demon market."
If something really happens, it'll have enough to cut off its tail to escape.
The old man in the prison cell nodded: "Yes."
Outposts are best suited for this kind of dirty work. If something goes wrong, they just push the blame onto their superiors, saying that the subordinates acted on their own initiative.
Buyers keep coming, goods keep selling, and the supply chain keeps going.
Lao Tie grinned, but didn't actually laugh.
"Damn, it's filthy and greasy."
Huang Chen did not respond.
He exhaled slowly, then closed his eyes and summoned the system panel.
A pale golden light curtain spread out in the sea of consciousness, hanging coldly.
[Host: Huang Chen]
[Realm Level: Late-stage Earth Immortal]
[Battle Body: Intermediate Witch Clan Battle Body - High Completion]
[Karma: Available]
[Merit: Stability]
[Key Items: Humanity's Concealing Veil, Twelfth-Grade Karmic Fire Red Lotus (Imitation), Wind-Fixing Pearl]
His gaze swept over them one by one.
The state of mind remains stable.
After several tough battles, his battle physique has improved even further, with his bones, muscles, and blood being more robust than before. He still has enough karma and merits, so if he were to enter another instance, he wouldn't be left empty-handed.
I'm just tired.
It's not the kind of exhaustion that makes you too wounded to move, but the kind of exhaustion that comes from killing several chapters in a row, where your very bones are pressed with fighting spirit and fatigue.
He pressed the web between his thumb and index finger.
There were still hard scabs from the old cracks, and they felt tight.
Seeing that he hadn't spoken for a while, Lao Tie couldn't help but say, "What's wrong? If you can't hold on, we'll deal with it tomorrow during the day. Tonight, I and a few old guys are keeping an eye on things in the valley, and those beasts outside won't be able to cause any trouble."
'
Huang Chen opened his eyes and glanced at him.
"The master disk may be moved to a different location tomorrow during the day."
'
Shut up, buddy.
This is true.
In a place like the Demon Market, if they sense anything amiss, they'll immediately back down. Especially since a group of people have already been caught in the Bone Lamp Slope massacre, anyone with a modicum of sense will start covering their tracks tonight.
The old man in the prison cell said slowly, "We can't delay."
The rescued miner B gritted his teeth and said, "Lord Huang, if we really want to go, I can lead the way to the outer circle."
I was transferred there once before, and I remember a section of stone path near Bone Lamp Slope and how the bone lamp stands were arranged.
Huang Chen shook his head.
"No need. You stay in the valley."
'
The miner opened his mouth, but in the end, he lowered his head and said, "Yes."
Just then, a jolt ran through his mind.
The familiar, cold notification sound rang out.
【Ding!
A persistent human trafficking chain and its origins traced through blood pacts have been detected.
[Side Quest Triggered: Sever the Demon Market Line]
【Task Details:】
1. Infiltrate the outer stronghold of "Bone Lamp Slope" outside the Demon Market.
【2. Destroy the blood pact to find the mother plate with vein patterns】
3. Rescue the humans who were being sold into slavery.
[Task Rewards: 26000 Karma, 12000 Merit]
[Accept or not: Accepted by default]
A golden light flashed in Huang Chen's eyes, then quickly disappeared.
Judging from his expression, Lao Tie guessed pretty much what was going on: "The system beeped again?"
"Um.
'
"What about the reward?"
"26,000 karmic forces, 12,000 merits."
'
Old Tie gasped, then cursed, "How big of a line would it have to be to give so much?"
Huang Chen gripped the contract token back into his palm.
"It's dirty enough to justify the price."
The wind picked up a bit.
The sirens on the horn at the valley entrance were gently knocked together by the wind, making a soft clanging sound.
The people on the stone platform remained silent for a moment.
Huang Chen made the first move.
He walked to the center of the array's key stone platform and placed his hand on the stone surface.
The area beneath the array's core was warm, the earth's energy still steadily supporting the entire small valley. A few breaths later, he took the Human Concealment Veil from his robes and handed it to Lao Tie.
The guy was taken aback: "For me?"
"Taniguchi needs it more than I do."
'
Huang Chen looked at him.
"After I leave the valley, the demon market may not know immediately."
The Xuan Tian Sect's remaining clues are uncertain. A concealing veil over the main wind tunnel at the valley entrance, combined with several layers of your earthen light-blocking array, can suppress most of the life force of the fire.
'
The guy didn't answer immediately.
He stared at the thin veil and clicked his tongue: "Without this, the Bone Lamp Slope is even more dangerous."
'
"I also have the art of concealing my breath."
Huang Chen said.
"There's also the deed disguise."
The old man in the prison cell also spoke up: "Take it."
If Taniguchi were to be brought here by the trail, this thing would be more valuable than anything he had on him.
Only then did Lao Tie take the Humanity Concealment Veil.
His movements were unusually slow, his rough fingers gripping the corner of the gauze as if afraid of damaging it. After taking it, he looked up at Huang Chen, grinning as if he wanted to say something tough, but only managed to squeeze out, "Don't die out there."
Otherwise, I wouldn't know how to return this gauze to you.
Huang Chen scoffed.
"First, you need to learn not to use it as a dishcloth."
The old man finally chuckled and cursed, "Get lost."
'
The atmosphere eased slightly.
Huang Chen turned around and took out two more items from his storage: a jade slip for transmitting sound and a small piece of a trace stone, and placed them on the stone platform.
"If more people come from outside the valley, do not pursue them. Record their movements, their aura, and their number."
A stone with a visible mark can preserve a trace of its image. If you really can't hold on any longer, follow the evacuation plan; don't try to tough it out.
'
The old man nodded: "I'll remember."
The old man in the prison squinted at the demon market contract token and suddenly added, "If there really is a mother plate on Bone Lamp Slope, there will most likely be secondary restrictions with soul-binding patterns placed nearby."
That thing is terrifying; touching it carelessly could kill the person being sold. If you're going to make a move, remember to cut the patterns first, then break the plate.
'
Huang Chen glanced at him: "You know how to solve it?"
"They only recognize the old ways."
'
The old man in the prison coughed twice, his voice muffled.
"I saw a lot of deaths when I was young, and I remembered several ways to die."
'
The rescued miner B, listening nearby, felt his hands and feet grow cold, but still forced himself to say, "Lord Huang, there's a sweet, fishy smell over Bone Lamp Slope, like rotten meat soaked in sugar water. If you smell that smell when you get close, it's probably not far away."
'
Huang Chen nodded and wrote that sentence down as well.
Footsteps suddenly approached outside the stone platform. A boy on duty peeked in and whispered, "Uncle Tie, the wind direction at the valley entrance has changed. Should we put another layer of stones on the west side of the canopy?"
'
Old Tie shoved the Human Concealment Veil into his arms and immediately turned around and yelled, "Press it down! Press it down tight!"
Then move the charcoal basin over there, don't let the anger rise outwards!
"yes!
'
The boy turned and ran.
Lao Tie turned around and reached out to Huang Chen: "Let me take another look at the contract."
'
Huang Chen threw the things over.
Old Tie caught it, squinted and flipped it over twice, then suddenly shoved the contract back into Huang Chen's hand: "Forget it, this thing looks like it has teeth, it's annoying to look at it for too long."
It'll be more convenient for you to carry. If you bump into a buyer on the street, you might be able to fool them for a while.
'
Huang Chen put away the contract token and casually put on the black wind cap.
The hood pulled down, instantly plunging half of his face into shadow.
He then concealed the Xuanhuang Armor within its innermost layer, leaving only the most basic protection to prevent external auras from being too conspicuous. He didn't take out the Wind-Stabilizing Pearl, but kept it in his sleeve for later use.
The karmic fire lotus also remained deep within the sea of consciousness, not moving until the very last moment.
He hadn't forgotten a single one of these things.
Everything has to be used carefully.
As Lao Tie watched him organize the layers, he kept saying, "Go out through the crack behind the West Stream, don't take the main road."
I had someone spread some dust over there during the day, so ordinary footprints wouldn't be able to leave a mark. After leaving the valley, turn north, first use the gravel beach to wash away the smell, then head towards the bone forest.
'
Huang Chen listened and nodded.
"If I don't return within two days—"
"Shut up.
'
The old man's face darkened, and he immediately interrupted.
"Don't keep this kind of nonsense."
'
Huang Chen glanced at him but didn't continue.
The old man in the prison slowly got up, took out a small pinch of dry ash from his sleeve, and placed it in Huang Chen's palm.
"The Soul-Locking Ashes were secretly collected from the prison cell. The quantity was limited."
If there truly are old-fashioned prison cells on Bone Lamp Slope, flicking ash into the keyhole can momentarily immobilize the Soul-Binding Pattern.
Huang Chen looked down at it and accepted it.
Thanks.
The old man waved his hand, sat back down, and shrank back into the Naruto world.
The rescued miner, B, suddenly bowed deeply to Huang Chen, his voice hoarse: "Sir, if we really see the people with the tags hanging over there... please, hurry."
Huang Chen didn't say anything, he just reached out and patted his shoulder.
That wasn't a hard hit.
Miner B's eyes suddenly reddened, and he clenched his teeth tightly to keep himself from losing his composure.
The wind outside Shiping was even colder.
The torches in the valley were suppressed, leaving only thin flames that flickered uncertainly.
Old Tie had already strode towards the valley entrance to spread the yarn, shouting as he went that people were moving stones, mixing ash, and adjusting the formation. Several guards were running back and forth carrying charcoal braziers and wooden stakes, their footsteps mixed but not chaotic.
Huang Chen glanced back at the array's central stone platform one last time.
Firelight, stone wall, old bench, medicine bowl.
And then there are those few who can finally catch their breath in the valley.
He withdrew his gaze and turned to walk towards the narrow crevice behind the West Stream.
There was no fire outside the crack.
Only the mountain wind whistled along the stone wall, making a low, mournful sound, like something grinding its teeth in the darkness.
As Huang Chen squeezed through the gap, a corner of his black cloak was lifted by the wind and then quickly fell back down, enveloping him in a shadow that hugged the ground.
He lightly touched the ground with his toes and disappeared into the rocks below the slope.
Within moments, his figure could no longer be seen near the valley entrance.
Only the faint sound of bone fragments gently touching in the distance echoed through the night.
After emerging from the crevice, he slid down the slope almost parallel to the ground, his shoes making only a faint creak as they crunched over the gravel. The black wind was pressed very low, and the mountain wind lashed against his face, carrying the coolness of the night stones and the smell of dried grass roots.
The faint light at the mouth of the valley behind was quickly swallowed up by the rocks and ridges.
He followed the path given by his friend and headed north, specifically looking for gravel beaches and dry sand to take with him.
Footprints were quickly scattered by the wind, and even the human presence was gradually dispelled by the mountain's cold air and dust.
Huang Chen walked slowly.
His injuries were no longer as severe as they had been a few days ago, but the constant running around, scheming, and fighting still left a dull ache deep within his bones. As he traveled, he silently circulated the Burning Breath Containment Technique, forcing his blood and qi inward, and even his breathing gradually became shallower.
The wind-stabilizing bead in my sleeve felt slightly cool.
The coolness wasn't intense, but it was enough to suppress the fluctuating energy within the body.
Huang Chen didn't touch it, just let the bead rest quietly against his wrist bone, like a piece of ice hidden in the dark.
The night grew deeper and deeper.
The southwestern part of the Ten Thousand Mountains is sparsely populated, and even the chirping of insects becomes rare near Bone Lamp Slope. A few shreds of animal hide, torn from some unknown animal, hang from the fallen dead tree by the roadside, crackling in the wind and sounding like someone clapping in the distance.
As Huang Chen rolled over a low ridge, the Demon Market Contract suddenly felt a gentle warmth in his arms.
It's not burning.
It was as if some cold, eerie force had been awakened, slowly warming against his chest and giving him a vague sense of direction. Huang Chen looked up and saw that the mountain range ahead was no longer a continuous expanse, but rather a barren, gray-white slope that had collapsed, hollowed out as if something had ripped out its underside.
Bone Lamp Slope, we've arrived.
He did not approach immediately.
Instead, they slid down a small ditch blocked by rotten wood and mud, lying flat at the bottom. The ditch was damp, and the mud was mixed with rotten wood chips and the smell of dead rats, which turned bitter after a while.
Huang Chen held his breath and slowly parted the layer of crooked grass roots in front of him.
Suddenly, a sliver of light opened up in my field of vision.
On the surface, Bone Lamp Slope appears to be just a barren hillside, but upon closer inspection, something amiss becomes apparent. At the top of the slope stand rows of slender bone poles, each suspending a lamp. The lampshades are neither paper nor leather, but rather semi-circular shells pieced together from thinned human skulls and ribs.
The lamp doesn't burn oil.
It was a bluish flame that, when it flickered, would illuminate the patterns inside the bones, even revealing the roots of the teeth clearly.
When the wind blows, the bone lamps covering the hillside sway gently, the bone fragments colliding with each other, making a soft, crisp sound. The sound is mixed and dense, drifting down from all directions, and if you listen to it for a while, it will make your teeth ache.
There were stalls, sheds, and makeshift platforms made of animal bones and rotten wood at the bottom of the slope.
At first glance, it really does look like a deserted market at night.
Huang Chen only glanced at it a few times before he saw what was buried under the lamplight—there was a narrow path on the north side of the slope, with half-bones stakes nailed every ten feet or so along the way, and chain rings buried under the stakes; on the east side of the slope, near the foot of the mountain, several cloth-covered bone carts were parked there, their wheels stained with dark red grime; further west, there was a slightly higher auction platform for bones, with black bone banners standing around it, and blood plates pressed down on the corners of the banners, with a few wisps of grayish-red mist wriggling in the plates.
A tool for collecting the life essence of humans.
Huang Chen lay still, gradually memorizing the routes from all four directions.
There are at least three slave transport routes at Bone Lamp Slope.
One route comes in from the southwest mountain pass, winds around the rocky beach to the back of the slope, suitable for small-batch smuggling, and is inconspicuous.
One is the east-side main road, which is wide and has deep ruts, indicating that large trucks frequently travel on it.
There was another, more hidden path, tucked away beside a collapsed section of the slope, with sloping stone steps leading directly underground. This path was used not by carriages, but by guards and stewards, and was the most heavily guarded.
Huang Chen stared at it for half an hour.
The wind chilled the damp mud in the ditch, and my cuffs were covered in the muddy smell.
He didn't even change his posture much, just counted the patrols little by little, seeing who switched hands with whom, which bone lamp had hidden array patterns, and which places had the most footsteps.
There weren't many demon cultivators guarding the area, only about ten.
Even the most powerful cultivators weren't too conspicuous; they patrolled the slope in three groups. The real trouble was those rat demon blood discs, which would occasionally emit a wisp of smoke, wafting around like noses.
If he hadn't suppressed his blood pressure early on, and if he hadn't been protected by the Black Wind Gauntlet and the Ash Breath Concealing Meridian Technique, he would probably have been detected by the scent of such a place.
At this moment, the area around the Po west Bone Terrace suddenly became a bit lively.
Several buyers from the speculative market were gathered around the counter inspecting the goods.
Huang Chen squinted, looking even more closely.
One of them, draped in a grey fox fur coat, had a face so thin it could barely hold its flesh, and two bone nails behind his ears. He held a thin iron ruler in his hand and was using the tip to lift the black cloth covering a wooden cage. Inside the cage huddled three young slave boys, all with thin bone rings around their necks and their wrists bluish from the tightness.
The buyer of the grey fox fur smacked his lips.
"You've lost some weight."
'
He pointed a ruler at the chin of the child in front, like he was picking up livestock.
"What about your teeth?"
Is the pulse still stable? Don't let it become unusable after only two days.
'
The rat demon in charge of the accounting office squatted under the bone platform, its claws rapidly flipping through the bone slips, and squeaked as it replied, "These are new arrivals from Xiling. Two died on the way, but these three are tough. Their pulses are still warm, and their contracts are clean. They can be sold after a while."
"What about your teeth?"
Is the pulse still stable? Don't let it become unusable after only two days.
'
The rat demon in charge of the accounting office squatted under the bone platform, its claws rapidly flipping through the bone slips, and squeaked as it replied, "These are new arrivals from Xiling. Two died on the way, but these three are tough. Their pulses are still warm, and their contracts are clean. They can be sold after a while."
'
The other buyer wore a dark blue short robe with swirling cloud patterns embroidered on the cuffs and a crescent-shaped token hanging from his waist.
Huang Chen's heart sank the moment his gaze fell upon the scene.
He recognized the pattern on the token.
In Chapters 29 and 30, the line outside Gale Gorge—he had retrieved the same fragmented pattern from the pursuers and their belongings.
The wind-patterned tokens worn by this person are almost identical in terms of texture, missing corners, and edge wear.
The buyer of the wind pattern didn't touch the child in the cage, but only glanced down at the bone slip, speaking in a detached tone.
"I'm not accepting this batch."
The accounting rat demon was taken aback: "Wind Guest, the price can be negotiated further."
'
"What I need is something that can run on mountain trails, remember routes, and live a long life, not these few horrifying little bones."
After Fengwen finished speaking, he tapped the token at his waist with his finger.
The movement was small, but Huang Chen remembered it completely.
The old clues haven't been broken.
The people from the Gale Gorge and this Demon Market are indeed connected.
The slave boys beside the bone platform all shrank back, not daring to cry out.
The smallest corner of its mouth was still cracked, as if it had been slapped. When the buyer of the gray fox fur coat approached, its body trembled so badly it almost fell apart.
Huang Chen's fingers gripped the mud tightly for a moment.
He didn't move.
It's not that we don't want to save them, it's that if we act now, we won't be able to save many, and it will only alarm the entire Bone Lamp Slope.
The mother plate is still unknown, and the number of layers in the underground bone cave has not been determined. If the steward is alerted and the cellar array chamber is sealed off, things will become even more difficult.
He suppressed his anger and continued watching.
After a while, someone came down the sloping stone steps on the east side.
Two demonic cultivators guarding the prison escorted a batch of new goods from underground to the outer prison cell.
There were only seven or eight people, some old and some young, all with ankle chains on their feet, walking unsteadily.
Just as Huang Chen was about to follow the line into the cave, the Demon Market Contract in his arms grew warm again.
It's like a reminder.
It also sounds like a urging.
After a moment's thought, he slowly retreated from the rotten wood ditch, circled around to a more secluded slope, and took out the ash bone mask, placing it on his face. As soon as the mask touched his flesh, his aura immediately deepened, and even the contours of his face became cold and blurred.
Then, he hung the Demon Market Contract on his waist and tugged at the corner of his black wind pocket to make himself look more like a rogue cultivator who ran errands at night.
He had already grasped the mark stone in his palm beforehand.
Huang Chen didn't go through the main road, but instead approached along a small ramp used by laborers to deliver water and miscellaneous items. The place reeked of blood, and there were piles of broken bone cages, tattered straw mats, and several buckets of foul-smelling bloody water on the side. Ordinary buyers were too lazy to go there, and the guards were more lax.
Sure enough, when they arrived at the bottom of the slope, there were only two bone-lamp-wielding demon cultivators guarding the place.
A pig-faced, wide-mouthed creature was squatting down picking its teeth.
The other one was tall and thin like bamboo, with a lot of white in his eyes, and he held a short bone whip in his hand, which he impatiently swung back and forth.
The pig-faced demon cultivator saw Huang Chen first and raised his chin.
"Which route are you from?"
Huang Chen didn't stop walking, his voice hoarse.
"West-line escort of miscellaneous goods. An order from the bone and tooth dealers, to deliver two pieces of miscellaneous goods to the cellar entrance."
'
As he spoke, he revealed half of the Demon Market Contract.
The two demon cultivators guarding the area were immediately drawn to it.
The slender demon cultivator took the contract token and flipped it over. Seeing that the markings were correct, he snorted, "There will be many deliveries tonight. Put the miscellaneous goods on the outer layer; don't look inside."
'
Huang Chen bowed his head and responded.
"Know the rules."
'
While they were checking the license plates, he rubbed his thumb into his palm.
The small, scratch-marked stone cracked silently.
A wisp of powder, so faint it was almost invisible, slipped through his fingers and settled on the edge of the collapsed stone and the base of an old bone pillar beside it. To an outsider, it was unnoticed, but he could detect it by the sheer force of his aura.
The contract was quickly thrown back.
The pig-faced demon cultivator waved his hand dismissively: "Hurry up and get out, don't dawdle."
The one inside is in a bad mood tonight. If he bumps into something, you'll be so badly injured you could be used as a lamp.
Huang Chen hummed in agreement and turned to enter the collapsed area.
It's colder inside than outside.
The stone steps led downwards, the walls damp and seeping with dark red water droplets.
Every few steps, a bone lamp was embedded in the wall, its light even more eerie than outside, illuminating the entire path as if it were immersed in corpse water.
The air was filled with the smell of blood, damp earth, and the pungent odor of aged ashes.
When we descended to the outer cellar, the space suddenly opened up before us.
This is no longer a simple grotto, but rather a series of bone chambers that have been carved out by human hands.
The beams and pillars were covered with animal bones, locks were nailed to the ground, and prison bars and shelves of different sizes were distributed along the walls. Even the ceiling had several rows of upside-down bone cages hanging from it.
Someone is crying.
Some people even stopped crying and just leaned against the railing in a daze.
Several rat demons shuttled back and forth, carrying bone pens and tags, counting items between the shelves.
Further inside, two demonic cultivators were carrying sacks down to the next level. Water was constantly dripping from the bottom of the sacks, and it was unclear whether they contained corpses or living people.
Huang Chen glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, but remained steady on his feet, as if he really was there to deliver groceries.
On the left side of the outer layer was a cargo bar, and on the right was a temporary prison cell. Further ahead was a hanging curtain, behind which led to a deeper array chamber. He didn't rush over; instead, he took the opportunity of turning around to put down the wooden box to thoroughly understand the layout of the surroundings.
Huang Chen paused for a moment.
In my memory, the night the flying boat crashed into the valley, the chaotic wind, the firelight, the falling figures, and the broken ropes all flashed through my mind.
it's him.
The boy who got lost after the flying boat crashed into the valley in Chapter 43 of that year.
People were in chaos then, and the valley was filled with miasma; no one could protect anyone. Later, all we knew was that a few people were missing, their bodies never seen again, and we never imagined they would end up here.
The boy kept his head down, his hands and feet were bound with thin locks, and he was protecting an even smaller child in his arms. As if sensing something, he suddenly looked up and glanced in Huang Chen's direction.
Just once.
At first, his eyes were blank, then they twitched slightly as if pricked by a needle.
He didn't dare to say a word.
Huang Chen didn't stop either, only glancing over it lightly, as if looking at an ordinary piece of merchandise.
But in the instant he turned around, he tapped the edge of the wooden box twice with his fingers, paused for a moment, and then tapped it again.
That was the silent code he had set for the survivors in the wreckage of the spaceship.
Don't shout.
Don't move.
and so on.
The boy's Adam's apple bobbed violently, his fingertips gripping the hem of the child's clothes in his arms, yet he managed to steady himself.
The fear in his eyes hadn't faded, but a hint of heat, as if it had been firmly suppressed, had appeared within them.
Huang Chen looked away, but the anger in his heart rose again.
I still can't move.
Not at least not now.
He casually tossed the wooden box into the general store area and then walked forward as if he knew the way well. Ahead of him, a rat demon from the accounting office was engrossed in counting. When he approached, the rat demon raised its pointed snout and sniffed.
"New here?"
Huang Chen tossed out half a sentence: "Temporary transfer to the western front."
'
"Get out of here after you're done, don't stand in the street."
"Um.
'
Seeing that he had little to offer and a contract, the accounting rat demon didn't bother to look at him any further and turned back to continue scribbling on the bone slip. Its rat paws were stained with ink and blood, and it would lick them after writing a few words, making one's stomach churn.
Huang Chen took the opportunity to move closer to the hanging curtain.
Faint voices could be heard coming from behind the curtain.
There was also the low humming sound of the array patterns operating, like countless fine needles grinding inside bones. Taking advantage of the action of moving an empty skeleton, Huang Chen shifted his feet and slid into the shadow of the side wall.
Further in, the road narrows.
The overhead beams were low, and the ground was covered with fine blood lines that converged into the deepest cellar chamber.
Huang Chen walked through the gaps, avoiding the patterns, and kept his breathing extremely slow.
There were two demon cultivators guarding the area talking ahead.
"Flyers at daybreak?"
"The deacon personally oversaw the process, and the accountants checked it three times."
The first batch delivered tonight arrives just in time for the opening of the main venue at the Ten Thousand Bone Demon Market.
"I heard there are a few top-quality items this time?"
'
"Top-notch my foot. The home team wants players, not just skin and bones."
"Only those that can live, recognize words, and remember pictures are valuable."
The two walked away talking.
After Huang Chen and the others turned the corner, he lightly stepped onto the protruding rock on the side wall and then silently leaped onto the crossbeam outside the array room.
The wooden beams were old and smelled of decay.
It was covered in dust and bone fragments, making a soft creaking sound when pressed down. Huang Chen lowered his body, slowly spreading his weight, and the black wind cloak blended into the shadows.
The view below was finally fully revealed.
The array chamber was small, but it was set up extremely ruthlessly.
The ground was a layered blood pact array, with twelve bone nails embedded in the outer ring and a constantly dripping demon bone compass in the inner ring. The compass was not placed flat, but was obliquely embedded in a stone base half a person's height. The surface of the compass was covered with bone patterns, and three blood lines were inserted in the center, pulsating outwards and transmitting red light.
With each drop of blood, the patterns on the ground light up.
The light spread outwards along the cracks in the rocks, clearly connecting to the search plates and prison contracts of the entire Bone Lamp Slope.
This is the true core of the Blood Pact Vein Pattern Mother Plate.
Huang Chen's eyes darkened.
He already had the sub-plate and related patterns in his hand, and now, upon looking at it, many of the stuck parts immediately matched up. The blood plates of those rat demons outside were just their noses.
The real key to tracking, identifying, and standardizing goods lies here.
On the other side of the array room, a person was sitting in front of a long bone table.
The man wore a dark brown bone robe, had slightly hunched shoulders and back, extremely high cheekbones, and skin that looked as if it had been dried in the wind, so thin it clung to his bones. His right hand was covered with long, thin bone sleeves that made a soft rustling sound as he flipped through the register.
He wasn't looking at the goods.
It's about reconciling accounts.
Two demon cultivators stood guard nearby, barely breathing. Rows of bone slips were laid out on the table, each labeled with batch number, pulse pattern, origin, escort route, and teleportation time.
Bone Lamp Slope Deacon.
Huang Chen made the decision almost immediately.
The person who sits in this position may not have the strongest cultivation, but their intellect and power are certainly the greatest. More importantly, this person is too close to the main array; they can practically activate it with a simple reach.
The deacon flipped to one of the bone slips and raised his eyelids slightly.
"Among the Donglong group, one of them is illiterate?"
'
The rat demon in the tent below immediately bowed down.
"He died of illness on the way, sir."
We've already arranged for a younger patient; their bone structure is decent.
"good?
'
The butler gave a cold laugh and tapped the table lightly with the tips of his bone-gloved fingers.
"What the main players in the Wan Gu Demon Market want are goods that can be trained into tent slaves, map slaves, and contract slaves."
If one dies, it's not just a matter of losing a meal, it's losing a fortune. Before dawn, do another round of screening, and single out those who can write, remember routes, and recognize mountain maps.
'
The accounting rat demon nodded repeatedly.
Yes, yes.
'
The butler turned another page, his gaze lingering on a certain name, his brow furrowing.
"Is this a secondhand item from Feizhou?"
'
"Reply to the steward, he was cut off from the main line a few years ago, but was only recently brought back from the Blackwater Pass. He's still alive, in the prime of his life, and still has all his teeth."
Huang Chen lay prone on the crossbeam, his eyes narrowing.
The boy's name is most likely on that page.
The deacon snorted and pushed the bone tablet forward.
"Record it in the first batch of shipments. Send it out at dawn."
'
As soon as he finished speaking, another drop of blood fell from the blood-dripping demon bone compass in the corner of the array room.
Snapped.
A drop of blood landed in the center of the plate, and a flash of red light followed the patterns, making the butler's gaunt face look like a dead man's skin.
Huang Chen slowly gripped the crossbeam with his five fingers, while his other hand silently reached into his sleeve.
Below, the Bone Lamp Slope Deacon was still flipping through that register.
sand.
sand.
sand.
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