I built a safe house in the eerie night.

The pioneering team resumed their busy work, with some members responsible for collecting the Tai Sui (a mythical creature) from the strange remains.

The other group, following Jiang Ning's instructions, carefully moved and bound the three enormous skeletons of the strange creatures.

Jiang Ning carefully examined the bones of these first-tier monsters.

If we use these higher-level bones as materials to power the bone arrow tower, will it be more powerful than if we use lower-level bones?

This idea should be feasible and worth a try.

Jiang Ning then added a special instruction, "Be careful, try to keep the skeleton intact."

Now trapped in the mountains, their understanding of the strange tribe is almost zero, limited to rumors they heard in the city or recorded in books.

Therefore, each different type of bizarre remains has different research value.

The resources have been collected to a near-complete degree, but how to transport them back has become a problem.

These three large skeletons are exceptionally heavy, and with the newly collected black oysters, carrying them by hand is too inefficient.

Jiang Ning then used locally sourced materials, simply binding together sturdy deadwood and vines to create a crude cart. He then placed the frame and part of the black succulent on it, and several strong young men pulled it, making the journey much easier.

Even so, the return journey was not easy, with many strange corpses along the way that could also be recovered.

To collect as much as possible, one would probably have to make several trips back and forth, which would not only be wasteful of time and effort, but also extremely slow.

Jiang Ning couldn't help but frown.

"Relying solely on human transportation is not a long-term solution. If we could have treasures for carrying goods, even simple blueprints for transport tools would be helpful."

Thinking about it, Jiang Ning looked again at the dark and deep cave entrance that exuded wisps of cold air.

There may be resources hidden inside, but the situation inside the cave is unknown, and it may not be safe even during the day.

Who knows if there are any strange creatures lurking inside, or unknown and dangerous environments?

The team currently has no lighting equipment, and venturing further in would likely be extremely dangerous.

But Jiang Ning was unwilling to give up. Resources were right in front of him, and time was of the essence. He couldn't afford to miss any opportunity to develop.

Just as Jiang Ning was weighing the pros and cons, Yu Niu couldn't hold back any longer.

He patted his chest, his voice booming, "Young Master, let me go in and scout. I'm fast; I'll just look around near the entrance. Everyone else, stay outside and provide backup!"

The boy's eagerness to prove himself and his desire for recognition were written all over his face.

Jiang Ning hesitated for a moment, then glanced at everyone.

Finally, he selected a young man named "Erhu," who was also of sturdy build, and said:

"Aniu, Erhu, the three of us will go in and take a look. The rest of you, continue collecting outside the cave, stay alert, and be ready to provide backup at any time."

Yu Niu immediately became anxious: "Young Master, no, it won't do! It's pitch black inside, there might be something dirty inside, it's dangerous. You can't take the risk, you just stay outside and direct the operation!"

The others also showed worried expressions, concerned about Jiang Ning's health.

Jiang Ning raised his hand, stopping Yu Niu from speaking.

"When it comes to danger, there's no difference between you and me. My safety is important, and yours is equally important, so we definitely can't let you be the only ones taking risks. I'm the leader, so if we encounter any problems inside, I'll be better able to assess and handle them!"

"Besides, we won't go deep; we'll just do preliminary reconnaissance. That's settled!"

Upon hearing these words, Yu Niu and Er Hu were stunned, as were everyone else present.

They had learned in the past two days that Young Master Jiang was responsible, but they never expected him to go to this extent. He could have stayed safely in the rear, but he insisted on taking risks with them.

Their courage and composure in leading from the front filled them with both admiration and emotion.

Who says that all young masters from the city are spoiled and cowardly?

At least, the one in front of me isn't.

Following such people makes them feel more grounded and gives them a sense of purpose.

Yu Niu and Er Hu stopped trying to persuade them and nodded vigorously.

"Alright! I'll follow your orders, young master!"

After a quick inspection of their weapons, the three of them, led by Yu Niu and Er Hu with Jiang Ning in the middle, entered the cave.

The moment you step inside, the chilling aura instantly penetrates your clothes, stinging your skin.

The light dimmed rapidly. After walking a dozen steps, the light from the cave entrance behind me became faint, severely obstructing my vision. I could only barely make out the blurry outlines nearby.

The three of them could only rely on the faint light coming through the cave entrance, and they clung tightly to the cave wall, slowly and cautiously groping their way inside.

The cave walls were slippery and cold, and on the ground... everywhere you touched were piles of eerie corpses!

The further in you go, the more low-level, bizarre corpses you encounter, layer upon layer, almost blocking the passage.

The air was thick with an unbearable stench of decay and death.

Jiang Ning's brows furrowed more and more tightly.

This place is like a bizarre mass grave.

But why are there so many strange deaths in the cave? Is it their gathering place, or is there something in the cave that attracts them, and they perish here after arriving?

The more Jiang Ning thought about it, the more he realized that the mystery of Changyin Mountain might be far beyond his imagination.

Humans from outside the city territories have probably explored less than one-tenth of the area, especially the depths of the mountains.

"Young master, we also have those big ghost bones like the ones outside here!"

Ahead, Yu Niu's low voice came, clear in the deep cave, echoing in the empty space.

This cave is of unbelievable depth, and its end is unknown.

Jiang Ning tentatively stepped forward.

The light here has almost completely disappeared, and you can only barely make out what you are looking for by the faint light.

But he still saw it: not far in front of Yu Niu, in the cave passage, lay a massive skeleton of a first-tier monster of the same level as the one outside the cave.

Moreover, there was more than one!

Looking down into the darkness along the cave passage, it seemed that every so often there was a similar skeleton.

The lower-level eerie corpses were piled up like mountains, but their bones were not as hard as those of the first-level eerie creatures. Many of them had long since weathered and stuck together, forming strange layers of debris, and their numbers were shocking.

Jiang Ning bent down, held his breath, and reached out to feel the nearest first-tier monster skeleton.

There is no Black Tai Sui.

There are no rare or precious beads.

His heart sank, and he quickly reached for another body next to him.

There was still nothing.

Undeterred, Jiang Ning ventured a few more steps forward in the dark. In the almost completely dark environment, he encountered a third, a fourth... and so on, with the same result each time.

Jiang Ning slowly withdrew his hand, took a small step back, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead. It wasn't because the cave was too hot, but because of a chill that came from his intuition.

Something is wrong!

This is very wrong!

While there's a chance of something falling, it's also normal to get it empty-handed.

However, Jiang Ning discovered a crucial problem: these strange corpses in the cave, whether they were not yet at the first or second level, although they exuded an aura of death, were missing their cores.

There wasn't a single trace of Tai Sui left on them, not even a gray or black one!

This is completely different from the laws governing the outside world.

It seems that some unknown force or entity not only deprived them of any potential rare treasures after their death, but also completely absorbed or annihilated their "original substance" as strange beings!

All that remains is an empty, lifeless skeleton.

This is definitely not man-made; it's more like an incomprehensible, perhaps bizarre phenomenon inherent to the mountain itself.

Jiang Ning suppressed his shock and looked once more at the all-consuming darkness deep within the cave, a sense of dread and unease welling up within him.

What's hidden here is something we can't touch at this stage.

"We can't go any further. Ah Niu, Er Hu, help drag these two skeletons of first-tier monsters out a bit. We're retreating."

Without hesitation, the three worked together to drag the two closest, relatively intact, massive skeletons toward the cave entrance.

The moment they saw the light of day again, the air and light floating outside the cave made the three of them, as well as the others who were anxiously waiting outside, breathe a long sigh of relief.

"Young Master Jiang!" Several people surrounded him.

"It's nothing." Jiang Ning waved his hand, his expression still serious.

"The situation inside is complicated, so it's not advisable to go in for now. Pack up all the resources you can take with you and head back to the village."

Before leaving, Jiang Ning took one last, deep look at the dark cave entrance.

There may be opportunities within, but there are also unknown horrors.

Perhaps we can come back and explore the truth once we've developed further and gained more strength and power.

As for the plan to bypass the cave and advance in other directions, Jiang Ning also shelved it.

With limited time, manpower, and a large number of corpses to be recovered along the way, today's exploration has yielded a substantial harvest.

The team, dragging heavy makeshift trailers, began their return journey.

Along the way, the team also collected as many strange corpses as possible they encountered.

Jiang Ning naturally continued to loot corpses, not letting go of any opportunity to get free resources, but unfortunately no more rare treasures or special items were found.

About an hour later, the group finally emerged from the oppressive, withered forest and returned to Baiye Village.

Almost simultaneously, a commotion came from the village entrance; it was Wang Fu returning with another team of resource gatherers.

But unlike what was expected, their faces were grim, still showing signs of anger.

Wang Fu strode up to Jiang Ning and reported with a grave expression:

"Young master, we found a cave in the western mountain valley. The amount of black jujube growing inside is considerable, and it won't be difficult to mine it. However... just as we started, the people from Qingniu Village arrived."

He took a deep breath, his voice suppressing his resentment:

"They insist that the mountain valley belongs to their Qingniu Village and forbid us from Baiye Village from touching it. But that place is more than 30 li away from their Qingniu Village. This is clearly a deliberate attempt to bully us."

"I tried to reason with them, but they were very unreasonable and wouldn't listen at all. I didn't dare to make a decision on my own, for fear of being at a disadvantage in a conflict, so I had no choice but to bring people back first and let you, young master, make the decision."

After listening to Wang Fu's report, Jiang Ning's eyes narrowed slowly.

When the three major families of Danhua City jointly sent people to establish outpost villages deep in the southern foothills of Changyin Mountain, there was no clear division of territory. Instead, each family chose a suitable location to settle down, and the villages were far apart from each other, so they did not interfere with each other.

This Qingniu Village is a village under the Liu family. It doesn't get along well with the Jiang family, but at least their relationship on the surface is acceptable.

Not to mention, according to the original plan of both families, if the marriage goes smoothly, Jiang Ning may soon become the son-in-law of the Liu family, and the relationship between the two families will be more stable.

It was understandable that they didn't offer assistance before and were unwilling to temporarily borrow the Holy Blood for emergency relief, since the situation in the mountains has suddenly changed and no one knows when they can get out.

Jiang Ning did not use the pretext of maintaining the relationship between the two families or considering the overall situation to pressure the other party.

At this critical juncture, their deliberate attempts to make things difficult are rather unreasonable.

It seems that in these remote mountains, what needs to be guarded against is not just the strange and unpredictable. Sometimes, the human heart is more unpredictable and more treacherous than monsters.

"Ah Niu, take some men and store the resources that were just brought back safely. We'll deal with them later. Right now, there's something more important."

After Jiang Ning finished speaking, he turned around and looked at the young people around him whose eyes already showed a sharp edge.

"Those who can still move, bring along their handy tools."

"Come with me."

Without further ado, Jiang Ning strode off toward the west of the village.

Upon hearing this, Yu Niu, Er Hu, and the others were not afraid at all; instead, their eyes blazed with anger. They grabbed the machetes, axes, or other household items that could be used as weapons that they had just brought back and quickly followed.

Because Qingniu Village is backed by the Liu family and is larger than Baiye Village, they have always looked down on them and often ostracized them when they have any contact.

This frustration and resentment, fueled by the call to action in Jiangning, caused a group of people to grip their weapons tightly, seething with anger.

This time, I'm going to follow Young Master Jiang and make sure I get my revenge!