ASER - Chapter 94
Chapter 94: Burying Bones
With that gulp, who knew what kind of stomach it possessed; its digestion rate was terrifying. The energy contained within the flesh, blood, and spirit core nourished its body. The originally grievous wounds visibly and rapidly healed, and it abruptly took flight on its broken bone wings, heading towards the cavern.
"Don't let it escape! It will recover again!"
"Ranged attacks, all of you, use ranged attacks! Bind it! Mind control, quickly!"
Everyone was caught off guard, but fortunately, most reacted in time. Under the military's command, they surrounded it and attacked en masse. However, sensing their boss was in danger, the other Ghouls wouldn't stand for it, especially the highly intelligent Ghoul Mages, who raised their staves...
All the Ghouls charged towards the small town.
Under these circumstances, Song Ling and the others fighting Ghouls in various areas had no choice but to go over.
The battle range shrank, the attack density increased, and the scene grew increasingly bloody.
Some fell, some pressed forward, some retreated. Originally, they were all there for cultivation resources or to uphold their commitment to protecting Danzhou, but at this moment, their eyes were red with killing intent.
The commander and other experts focused on the boss, but for those below, the Ghoul Mages were too strong. Human mages like Song Ling were no match for them at all, fighting under immense pressure. Often, it took a group of twenty people to handle a single mage leading three lesser Ghouls.
This was completely disproportionate.
But there was no helping it. Demonic spirits were inherently warlike and formidable, while this generation of humans was still on the rise.
However, some of those around Song Ling, seeing the miserable state of other small teams, felt their own situation was relatively fine. This was because Song Ling, with her hands outstretched, controlled high temperatures with her twin orbs, causing the Ghouls' combat power to decrease due to their intolerance to heat, and also deterring other Ghouls from approaching.
This helped everyone control their output and steadily take down the lesser Ghouls.
But in terms of early combat results, Ying Da and his wilderness team members were undoubtedly stronger. Their efficiency was two to three times that of the students and even the children of influential families.
However, it was visible to the naked eye...
"They're improving so quickly." Yang Xinling observed that the combat efficiency of the people from Jinling Academy, including the teachers, was rising sharply.
Ying Da: "Don't get distracted!"
Although the situation was currently stable and the human side was suppressing the Ghouls, Ying Da felt a persistent unease, as if he had forgotten something...
Suddenly!
When everyone heard dense, sharp sounds coming from the cavern, they turned to look and saw a large number of small Ghouls crawling out.
Damn!!!
The female Ghouls in the lair below had given birth.
Perhaps because they were infants and hadn't learned to stand upright yet, they crawled on the ground, covered in placental mucus, intestines, excrement, and other disgusting fluids, densely packed. But their pale skin hardened upon exposure to air. They indiscriminately devoured all edible flesh along the way, and the stronger ones even transformed instantly... quickly becoming Ghoul Hyenas, their speed suddenly increasing.
A pack of Ghoul Hyenas roared and charged forward, like an army of hyenas.
The human group, which had been suppressing the Ghouls, suddenly found their rear breached by this pack of hyenas. The patrol army had to divert personnel to secure the rear, but chaos still erupted within their ranks.
In the chaos, several adjutants were also attacked by the hyenas. Struggling to protect themselves, they found it difficult to keep the Ghoul boss contained. With a roar, it opened its mouth and devoured a dozen hyenas, then with a flap of its wings, a fierce gust of wind arose, and its massive body soared into the air...
Buzz!
The town's cannons fired again... but this time, the Ghoul boss was prepared. It dodged and flew rapidly towards the cavern entrance.
It now knew how formidable these humans were and dared not linger. It had to return underground!
"If it returns underground, it might devour those female Ghouls and infants to advance to Grade 6."
"It will definitely do that! We can't let it go back!!!"
A Grade 6 Ghoul boss... even several A-rank individuals would likely struggle to deal with it. Only a true Forbidden Master could take it down. But there weren't many Forbidden Masters within Danzhou's borders right now. The subsequent uncertainty was too high, and who knew how many more would die. Most importantly, if it escaped, even a Forbidden Master would find it hard to locate.
After all, it was an subterranean creature.
Even Forbidden Masters wouldn't dare to recklessly search underground.
But no matter how much everyone wanted to stop it, and no matter how desperately the commander and others pursued from behind, they were a step too slow. It had already reached the cavern entrance and was about to dive in...
Hum, hum, hum, the lively sound of metal wind chimes arrived, like the vibration of metal, its sound waves rippling through the air. Immediately after, everyone saw a streak of golden light flash across the sky.
Its speed was truly astonishing, instantly catching up to the Ghoul boss. The golden light paused, expanded, and transformed into a huge, round gold bracelet three to four meters in diameter, then contracted inwards.
With a snap, it encircled the massive, formidable Ghoul boss. The Ghoul boss roared and struggled continuously, but remained immobilized high in the air.
At the same time, a faint, distant chanting sound seemed to drift over. Immediately after, dense golden runes appeared on the gold bracelet, and these runes crawled onto the Ghoul boss's body.
"Exterminate evil, demon lock…"
Locked. And then?
"Spinning Seal!"
A few simple words, yet intricate and dense runes permeated the Ghoul boss's body, tearing at its flesh, imprisoning its spirit core, and then... forcibly ripped it apart and dragged it into the rapidly spinning gold bracelet.
After the Ghoul boss was sealed within, the gold bracelet spun and flew back... its hum, hum, hum still crisp, yet it continuously shrank as it whirled.
Until...
Someone saw the woman standing atop the high tower in the small town. She was dressed like an ordinary, intellectual female academy teacher, her right index and middle fingers pressed to her lips, her left hand slightly raised.
The bracelet, humming and vibrating, obediently returned to her slender, fair wrist. It still trailed flowing golden runes that dissipated and climbed around her body, as if yearning for and returning to its powerful master.
The bracelet slowly spun three times on her slender wrist before finally settling down.
She also opened her eyes and looked ahead. Only when she saw that the people from the academy hadn't suffered major casualties did her gaze calm.
"Teacher Qu?"
"Class Advisor?"
The academy students were somewhat stunned, and in fact, the academy teachers were also stunned, even Zhou Jiang and the others.
They had long known that Qu Jiangnan, this young woman transferred from Kyoto, had an extraordinary background. But she was too low-key and had never revealed anything. Apart from knowing that the teacher in the room next to hers had suddenly resigned, nothing remarkable seemed to be related to her.
But now it seemed... their perspective had been too narrow.
Perhaps there hadn't been any situation in Jinling before that warranted Qu Jiangnan taking action.
However, looking at it now, this Qu Jiangnan was likely invited by Chen Ran and others.
These high officials indeed had preparations. Perhaps they had reached some other agreement with the academy; otherwise, Qu Jiangnan might not have come.
While Qu Jiangnan was taking action, A'Diao had already arrived in Quxian County.
The officials in Quxian County were unremarkable. The morgue had indeed been destroyed. A'Diao met the female official who had contacted her and, after observing her for a while, found nothing unusual about her.
So, Cui Yong must have seen an opportunity and arranged for someone to specifically destroy the morgue, then?
This was much easier than coercing the female official to lie, and it left no flaws.
"The body is here. You just need to register and confirm the information."
The temperature control system was out of order, and a foul odor permeated the morgue. The female official herself felt somewhat uncomfortable, yet the young girl before her showed no change in expression.
She even took the initiative to unzip the body bag.
The female official couldn't stop her in time and immediately saw the decomposing body of the old man.
She felt a bit queasy, but A'Diao looked for a long time, even put on gloves and examined it, then with a snap, took off the gloves and threw them into the trash can.
"Can I pay and go through the procedures for direct cremation? I'll take the ashes with me."
The female official rarely encountered someone so decisive and calm, but she was also happy to proceed this way, as packing up a body was quite troublesome.
The cremation process was also simple. After the female official made the arrangements, she followed protocol to notify and prepare to console the family, determined to share their grief. However, she didn't see the person wailing on the ground, nor did she witness uncontrollable sobbing, much less despair.
She saw this family member munching on an apple while haggling with the merchant selling urns.
In the end, she chose the cheapest urn.
Female Official: "..."
Could that Old Daoist Priest have died of anger?
After finishing the apple, A'Diao boarded the vehicle with the urn and returned to Qishan that same day. It was high noon, the mountains were drizzled with light rain, cool and moist, the verdant colors vivid.
She held the urn in one arm and an umbrella in the other hand, slowly walking along the familiar path.
Raindrops pattered on the umbrella's surface, the sound crisp.
In the distance, some banana plants also looked vibrant.
Sparrow rarely stayed silent, allowing her to walk this stretch alone.
She didn't confide in it, nor had she ever confided in anyone about how she felt the first time she walked this path as a child.
So tired, so long, didn't want to walk anymore, body aching all over.
But the Old Daoist Priest was harsh and critical of her, never carrying or pulling her, only making her walk by herself.
"Who do you think you are? Who will help you? Rely on yourself."
The Old Daoist Priest's tone was nonchalant and impatient, his hands clasped behind his back as he walked ahead, gradually disappearing from sight.
The mountain was so big, and the howls of some wild beasts echoed. She was terrified but could only grit her teeth, cry, and climb upwards.
The days were so long, one after another.
Later, she too became nimble and agile.
But she always remembered those words.
Who will help you? Rely on yourself.
This old man used similar rhetoric every time he forced her to keep vigil alone in the mourning hall with a decaying corpse.
Every time, it scared her to death.
Back then, she was only ten years old.
At this moment, A'Diao sneered, glanced at the urn, and cursed inwardly: Look how arrogant you were back then, and now you still have to rely on me to carry your ashes up!
But the urn didn't react.
A'Diao's indignation suddenly faded.
Returning to the old house, it had rained several times, and the filth was long gone.
Nature is always a work of divine craftsmanship.
However, A'Diao didn't go in, merely passing by the old house and continuing upwards...
Sparrow: "What are you doing?"
A'Diao: "I'm thinking the old man was wild and loved freedom all his life. I should give him a good send-off."
Sparrow: "So?"
A'Diao: "What do you think if I go to the cliff edge and scatter his ashes?"
Sparrow: "..."
Excellent. Such a benevolent master and filial disciple.
Qu Jiangnan had a gentle and intellectual demeanor, but her personality was actually very aloof. Naturally, she wouldn't say much to others. With the boss killed, the commander and others were freed up, which was also a good opportunity to train Jinling's forces. She didn't intervene further, nor did she meet with anyone from the academy.
She only went into the small town to see Chen Ran, Lord Song, and the others.
Outside, with the boss crisis resolved and high-level combatants freed up, even with a large number of Ghoul infants, the pressure on everyone lessened. Instead, there was a slight sense of joy—the situation had stabilized, and these Ghoul infants were all spirit cores!
The slaughter resumed!
This time, Ying Da didn't stop Yang Xinling from getting distracted with gossip. She asked the academy students beside her, "Is that your teacher?"
"Yes, she's our Class 1 advisor."
"So powerful, truly terrifying! She must be beyond A-rank, right? A Forbidden Master?"
"We're not sure either."
Zhongchuan Mingxiu and the others were sharp individuals. Seeing that Ying Da's group was one of Danzhou's top wilderness teams, they were inclined to build connections, so they answered whatever was asked.
But some questions, they really... didn't want to answer.
Yang Xinling: "Do you know Miss A'Diao? She's so amazing! But I heard she's not first in your class?"
Mm, uh, seems so.
Zhongchuan Mingxiu and Yuan Shu became quieter than chickens, minding their own business as if pecking at rice.
But Tuoba answered, "She is very formidable. You've met her?"
Yang Xinling: "Yes, we have. That day, she single-handedly took down three Ghouls, and after being ambushed by a team, she wiped out that team too. She's too strong. So, your combat first place isn't here, right? Where is he?"
What do you mean by that!???
Are you implying something about us?!
Why is it that even when that damn A'Diao isn't here, we still have to be overshadowed by her?
Everyone felt slightly depressed, their resentment heavy.
Tuoba smiled without speaking, but then suddenly intensified his attack, instantly finishing off four Ghouls, before casually saying, "I don't know. Probably not here."
Zhongchuan Mingxiu and the others: "..."
Damn! That dog Tuoba was also hiding his strength!
Ying Da and the others wanted to stop their silly little sister, the one with the lowest EQ in the team, from further offending people, but no amount of meaningful glances worked. This silly girl, while lashing at Ghouls, exclaimed, "So amazing, truly awesome!" and then continued curiously, "Then are you also first in the written exam? That day, she casually figured out some formula and determined the Ghouls' secret underground. Can you do that too?"
Tuoba, who ranked behind A'Diao in the written exam and for whom math was his weakest subject: "..."
Big sister, can you talk about something normal? Anything related to Chen A'Diao is like a topic from the netherworld. Can we please not talk about it?!
Probably afraid that their teammate would completely offend these favored children of heaven, another team member took the initiative to ease the atmosphere: "You all must have a great relationship then. She's such a good person; she even warned us about the danger while spitting blood. It's truly admirable. I bet she's very popular at school. If only I had such a capable and kind classmate when I was studying."
Everyone: "..."
She spits blood every day! The amount of blood she spits is more than the rice you eat each day!
So mentally exhausting.
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