Chapter excerpt: The Battle Outside the Mine

Outside the Hu Clan’s mine, Jiang Wang clashed with the Pig Bone Mask.

In the heat of the battle, the Pig Bone Mask shattered the bone whistle and swallowed it.

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, within a side hall of the underground palace…

“Pig Face! Pig Face?”

The woman wearing the Rabbit Bone Mask called out repeatedly, but received no response.

“Bad news.”

She hurriedly ran outside.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t urgent enough.

It was just that all spells were forbidden within this underground palace, and this was already the limit.

Running to another side hall, Zhang Linchuan, wearing the White Bone Mask, was playing chess with someone.

Sitting opposite him was Lu Yan, the former Second Elder of the White Bone Dao, now its only Elder, naturally possessing the Nether Eye.

The White Bone Dao, which had accumulated strength for hundreds of years and expanded rapidly for a time, was now withering in talent.

The vast underground palace was empty.

Once, it had hundreds of thousands of followers, intending to establish a White Bone earthly divine kingdom.

Now, only these few core figures remained.

The chess pieces on the board were not black and white, but one black and one red.

On the board, Lu Yan’s black pieces held a slight advantage.

Although magic was forbidden, this short distance wasn’t enough to make the Rabbit Bone Mask woman pant.

The urgency in her voice was entirely because of the Pig Bone Mask. But how much of it was real remained to be seen.

“Elder, Envoy.”

She saluted them respectively, and then reported: “Pig Face released his full state in Yang Country and has lost contact!”

Despite having an advantage on the board, Lu Yan didn’t relax his guard, and after taking a moment of thought, placed his piece down. Seeming as though he had heard nothing.

Zhang Linchuan turned his head, and with his eyes behind the mask, looked at the Rabbit Bone Mask woman: “How is his matter coming along?”

The Rabbit Bone Mask woman was silent for a moment, and said: “The brand has been completed, the seed has been planted. This loss of contact is because he wanted to kill someone from Zhuang Country along the way.”

Only then did Zhang Linchuan turn back, and said calmly: “It’s good as long as the matter is done. As for the rest, let him do as he pleases.”

At this moment, Lu Yan had already made his move.

Zhang Linchuan responded with a red piece, and suddenly asked: “Who from Zhuang Country?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t make it clear, only that there was a small bug from Zhuang Country that he wanted to eat to fill his stomach.” The Rabbit Bone Mask woman cautiously glanced at Zhang Linchuan: “That little bug seems to be from Maple Forest City. That’s why Pig Face couldn’t restrain himself.”

The failure in Maple Forest City almost destroyed the White Bone Dao’s efforts over centuries.

“Maple Forest City…” Zhang Linchuan smiled meaningfully: “Reminds me of Zhu Weiwo. I heard that he ignited the Solar True Flame in Unredeemed City, attained the Supernatural Inner Palace, killed four of my mask wearers, and stood strong against the martial artist Kui Shan. I wonder how bright the Splintered Soul Spear shines now!”

The Rabbit Bone Mask woman didn’t respond to his sentiments, nor did she move.

Zhang Linchuan didn’t look at her, and only asked: “Anything else?”

“Pig Face had problems practicing the White Bone Twelve Divine Phases secret technique, and releasing his full state would cloud his mind. Who could have forced him to that extent in a small place like Jia City? I’m worried he… is in danger.”

Zhang Linchuan casually placed a piece: “Do you know why the chess pieces are black and red when the Elder and I play?”

He said this: “Before the White Bone Era descends, some of us will never see the light of day, and some will never wash away the blood.”

“This subordinate… understands.” The Rabbit Bone Mask woman stopped speaking and bowed as she left.

Within the vast side hall, only Zhang Linchuan and Lu Yan were left playing chess.

The black and red chess pieces continued to clash.

Not knowing how much time had passed, the lamps within the hall gave no indication of the passing of time.

Lu Yan suddenly said: “Pig Face is dead.”

His tone was normal.

He had the Nether Eye that could see through yin and yang, so it wasn’t strange that he could sense the death of Pig Face, who was also a member of the White Bone Dao, from thousands of miles away.

Zhang Linchuan didn’t even show a hint of emotion, and said calmly: “Someone needs to watch over the matter in Jia City. I’ll send Snake Face.”

“I’m curious, which survivor from Maple Forest City has fighting strength above the Tenglong Realm that could kill Pig Face. You were in Maple Forest City for so long, can’t you think of anyone?”

“Although Pig Face’s theoretical combat strength is strong, because his spirit is dominated by rage, his true combat strength cannot be fully displayed. His strength is among the top of the Twelve Bone Masks, but he is easier to kill than the others.” Zhang Linchuan shook his head: “His death is no matter, not worth paying attention to.”

If he knew that the person was Jiang Wang, and that Jiang Wang had fought head-on, using strength against strength, he probably wouldn’t have said this.

Lu Yan changed the subject: “Since Maple Forest City, Snake Face has been getting close to the Holy Maiden. If you send her to the place where Pig Face died, and she also dies, you need to be careful of the Holy Maiden’s thoughts.”

“Is a Holy Maiden who is estranged from the Holy Master still a Holy Maiden?” Zhang Linchuan said: “I only need to be careful of the Holy Master’s thoughts.”

Lu Yan glanced at Zhang Linchuan with his eyes that were all white: “And the Holy Master seems to have no thoughts at all.”

“So I don’t need to be careful.”

Zhang Linchuan picked up a piece: “Speaking of the Holy Master, has he changed at all?”

Lu Yan shook his head: “Still sitting there.”

“Heh.” Zhang Linchuan laughed: “In this underground palace, the Holy Master, the Elder, and the Envoy are all here. I wonder who from Zhuang Country can find this place.”

He pressed down the red piece: “Slaughter this great dragon!”

The Hu family’s courtyard burned in flames.

Tens of thousands in wealth were taken into the possession of the Chongxuan family. Two corpses were burned to ashes.

Hu Shaomeng’s death would naturally have a great impact. But he had plotted against the Chongxuan family, and there was solid evidence of his many misdeeds.

Jiang Wang didn’t need to come forward himself. If the Yang Country and the Fishing Sea Tower had any questions, the Chongxuan family would negotiate with them.

In fact, if the Xi family in Jia City turned a deaf ear to this, the upper echelons of Yang Country would be happy to turn a blind eye.

Jiang Wang cut off Hu Shaomeng’s head and brought it back to the mine.

Zhu Biqiong was waiting for him outside the mine gate.

The two didn’t speak. Jiang Wang directly handed her the head, along with the small purse embroidered with the character “Su.”

Zhu Biqiong only glanced at Hu Shaomeng’s head before throwing it away.

The head rolled a few times on the ground, stopping with its face towards the gate.

She held the small purse, stroking it gently.

“This was embroidered by my sister.” She murmured: “I have one too.”

“Found on Hu Shaomeng’s body. The purse only had Dao Yuan stones, I took them.”

Zhu Biqiong hummed in acknowledgement.

She felt a mix of emotions in her heart regarding Hu Shaomeng keeping Zhu Suyao’s keepsake.

Just then, the three dogs raised in the mine suddenly darted out.

Two black and one yellow, the yellow one running in front.

Probably smelling the blood, it circled Hu Shaomeng’s head, sniffing lowly.

Jiang Wang moved and stood next to the head, using his scabbard to drive them away.

The yellow dog scurried away, but the two black dogs weren’t afraid, and instead stared at him, growling menacingly.

“The old people in Phoenix Creek Town used to say that if a dog eats human flesh, it will become possessed. So even if you hate someone, don’t let a dog eat their flesh,” Jiang Wang explained.

“Phoenix Creek Town?” Zhu Suyao muttered, and said: “Then it’s probably too late, they’ve already eaten it.”

She looked at Jiang Wang and said: “The severed fingers you cut off. And the fat man’s shattered corpse…”

Just then, Xiao Xiao came out to meet them.

Jiang Wang frowned as he looked at her: “I told you to clean up the aftermath, didn’t you even deal with the bodies?”

“Don’t blame her, I told her not to bury them. I think they’re not worthy of being buried, it’s more fitting to feed them to the dogs,” Zhu Suyao interjected.

Xiao Xiao lowered her head, unable to speak.

A cold light flashed suddenly, and the two black dogs that were still growling fell dead on the ground.

Jiang Wang killed the two black dogs, and called out to Xiang Qian in the mine: “Kill that yellow dog too.”

The yellow dog had already run into the mine, and was wagging its tail around people.

Without saying a word, Xiang Qian killed it with a palm strike.

Before, he might have hesitated about Jiang Wang’s orders, but after today, especially after Jiang Wang immediately returned with Hu Shaomeng’s head, if Jiang Wang told him to go east, he wouldn’t go west.

Hu Laogen saw this from afar, and couldn’t help but cry out: “We raised them for so long, they were watchdogs!”

Jiang Wang ignored him.

Zhu Biqiong said: “You really believe in these things.”

“Anything that eats human flesh deserves to die.”

Jiang Wang said: “Whether it’s a person or a dog.”