Starting with the Broken-Winged Frost Butterfly: Beast Taming

Chapter 78 The Bones in the Cave

"Is there another cave in the valley?"

Zhu Ran was filled with doubt and apprehension. This was the first time he had felt such unease since entering the secret realm. What was inside that made him so uneasy?

Beside her, Qin Taozhi's calm expression vanished in an instant. She stared at the cave entrance, her gaze sharpening, and suddenly gripped the Life Contract Card: "Mei, come out."

With a flash of light, the gnarled, iron-like black thorn vines plunged their lower bodies into the ground, while their upper bodies rose like cobras, their tips coated with dark venom. Amidst the swirling miasma, one after another, dark red roses bloomed in a bewitching display.

Moji Meiyao.

Qin Tao actually summoned a pet beast bound to her destiny; did she also feel the pressure? Zhu Ran wondered.

"This godforsaken place—"

Liang Baizhou felt a chill run down his spine halfway through his sentence, as if a spying gaze was lurking in the shadows, watching him right now!

In an instant, goosebumps covered his body, and he shivered, saying, "Master Fan, go ahead and scout. Soldiers and beasts are one family. If it really is the lair of the Beast-Head Chain, we won't be in such a passive position—"

"call""

Clusters of pitch-black flames rose into the air, their eerie light spreading forward and dispelling some of the darkness.

The Black Flame Banana Leaf Fan advanced slowly.

Zhu Ran stared intently. The cave passage was wide enough that a dozen people could walk side by side without feeling crowded. The rock walls were wet with gray-black water droplets, and strange gray-blue moss could be seen everywhere.

"The yin energy is really too strong."

"A transcendent species with Yin-spirit attributes has come here to cultivate in seclusion, absorbing endless Yin energy; the possibility of mutation is indeed not low—"

They traveled about a hundred meters.

Zhu Ran didn't sense any strong life fluctuations, but he did discover more than a dozen branching channels, densely packed, extending in an unknown direction.

"Click"

In the darkness, Liang Baizhou kicked something. He took a look through the black flames and was so shocked that he was completely bewildered.

Just a few centimeters from the right foot, a skeleton lay silently in the mud. Its bones were grayish-white and dull, some joints were broken and detached, and the skull was tilted towards the depths of the cave, as if it had witnessed something terrible before it died.

"Human bones?" Liang Baizhou was startled.

Fortunately, after calming down and taking a closer look, it turned out to be the skeleton of some kind of ape-like pet.

"Seven toes on each hand and foot, a wide pelvis, and triangular incisors—this is presumably an 'imitative monkey.'"

Driven by his scientific research, Zhu Ran meticulously examined the remains like a forensic pathologist and offered his assessment.

Qin Taozhi raised an eyebrow. These two grown men stopped halfway through and are actually studying a corpse. Are they bored out of their minds?

"Imitating monkeys, their physical structure is very close to that of humans. They can imitate the calls of various creatures and generally live in groups to reproduce —"

Zhu Ran hadn't finished speaking.

Two more corpses appeared within the area shrouded in black flames.

He suddenly raised an eyebrow, his temples throbbing wildly, and his unease intensified once again.

"These two corpses—"

Zhu Ran squatted down, opened his jawbone, examined his teeth, and then checked his hand and foot bones, his heart heavy.

"It's not imitating monkeys!" Liang Baizhou exclaimed in shock. "Why are there human corpses here?"

Zhu Ran remained silent. Based on his judgment, the two were a man and a woman who had been dead for some time, certainly not within the last three days.

"Is there any need to make such a fuss?"

Qin Taozhi calmly said, "When the secret realm first appeared, a large number of battle pet masters flocked in to explore it, and many of them perished and disappeared without a trace. They may be two of them."

"But we didn't see any pet carcasses nearby."

Liang Baizhou circled the skeleton once. "There's not even a single bone left. Isn't that strange?"

Qin Taozhi couldn't answer the question. After a few seconds of blank silence, she suddenly took it upon herself to collect the remains of the deceased and store them in her spatial ring, saying, "I'll take them home."

Zhu Ran did not stop him and nodded gently.

Returning to one's roots is the purest and simplest wish of every explorer of a secret realm, and he supports it unconditionally.

"If we go any further and find any more human remains, I will bring them back," Qin Tao said solemnly.

"No." Liang Baizhou smiled wryly, "Aren't two enough? Any more and I'll have to back out and go home."

It was just a thoughtless remark.

Unexpectedly, my words came true.

A moment later, as the black flames illuminated an area, a dozen humanoid skeletons were either leaning against the rock wall or lying on the ground. Zhu Ran, Liang Baizhou, and Qin Tao all had a moment of disorientation in their eyes.

"Six monkeys imitating humans, seven humans —"

Liang Baizhou's teeth chattered as he cautiously said, "Master Zhu, why don't we go outside? We don't want to be caught off guard here—"

Zhu Ran felt a chill run down his spine. The bodies of nine human comrades had already been found, but they still hadn't discovered the source of the danger, let alone found the beast-head chain. They had been on the defensive from beginning to end.

"There are too many." Qin Taozhi frowned, pondering the reason as she collected the corpses.

After collecting the four bodies in succession, when it came to the fifth, Zhu Ran paused, then shouted a warning: "Be careful!"

"Whoosh!"

In a flash, the lifeless skeleton that should have been lying on the ground cracked its joints, its right arm suddenly stretched forward, and its chilling bone claws went straight for Qin Taozhi's throat.

Despite the palpable murderous aura, Qin Tao's delicate brows remained unfurrowed, and her expression remained calm and composed.

The usually dormant Moji Rose Demon was now enraged. Its dark vines shot out like venomous snakes, instantly wrapping around the bone claw. With a twist, the claw's joints shattered on the ground.

Despite her initial counterattack, Mo Ji Mei Yao was still not satisfied. She lashed her thorn whip across the skeleton's spine with all her might, breaking its spine and leaving most of its body in a pitiful state.

"A necromancer?" Liang Baizhou belatedly realized that an undead creature had suddenly attacked from among the corpses? This was too insidious!

"You already found out?" Zhu Ran asked curiously.

The fifth corpse was originally covered by the fourth and third corpses, and due to the distance and limited light, he could not see it clearly.

But when the fourth one was taken away, a panel suddenly appeared in his field of vision, and Zhu Ran realized that he had misjudged. His spiritual eye seemed to have been deceived by some kind of ability and failed to see the essence of things.

"No." Qin Tao shook her head. "But I'm used to surprises. This level of sneak attack, trying to get past Mei and hurt me, is a bit naive."

Zhu Ran seemed to be deep in thought, and his gaze shifted to the attacker.

[Race]: Deceptive Skeleton [Attribute]: Necromancer/Dark [Health Level]: Mature [Bloodline Strength]: B

[Core Talents]: Deceptive Observation of Remains/Hunting Instinct/Bone Reconstruction/Compressed Soulfire [Racial Skills]: Bone Absorption, Throat-Locking Bone Claw, Undead Mimicry [Status]: On the verge of disintegration "You know more, but what kind of species is this? Why can't my spiritual eyes detect anything unusual at close range, and why did my intuition not give any warning?"

Qin Tao asked questions without hesitation, never holding back.

Zhu Ran said softly, "This is a deceptive skeleton."

"I've only seen brief descriptions of this creature in ancient books."

"The book says that the Deceptive Skeleton's talent for disguise is absolutely outstanding among mature B-level skeletons. They often appear on battlefields, dangerous places, and desperate situations, deceiving other supernatural creatures or humans by disguising themselves as human corpses."

Qin Tao, who rarely showed interest in species other than plants, couldn't help but ask, "But I feel its offensive is rather weak; its strength lies in surprise attacks."

Zhu Ran nodded. The Deception Skeleton's talent for disguise was so great that even an A-rank player would fall for it.

However, in terms of burst combat power, it's completely insufficient among B-rank, and can only sit at the same table as C-rank.

Qin Taozhi quickly lost interest and said, "Kill or spare? It's your decision."

"6

Having said that, Mo Ji Mei Yao grabbed the skull of the Deceitful Skeleton and threw it next to the Broken-Winged Frost Butterfly.

The poor fraudulent skeleton, its bones scattered all over the ground, was like a toy that had been brutally dismantled, completely incapacitated.

"Normally speaking, the income sealing card is the optimal solution."

"But the situation here is unknown, and we don't have the time or energy to do this."

Zhu Ran glanced into the darkness and ordered, "Xue Xi, freeze it."

"babble!"

The broken-winged frost butterfly exhaled cold air, and frost mist swept across the ground. In less than a minute, a deformed block of ice appeared on the ground.

"Xiao Ji, thank you for your hard work."

With a croak, Hercules Frog untied an empty box from its back and sealed it away, along with the ice that had frozen its head and the broken bones scattered on the ground.

Besides being adept at disguise, the Deceptive Skeleton is also incredibly resilient, so there's no need to worry about it freezing to death.

Zhu Ran plans to seal it himself once things settle down here, and then he might be able to sell it for a good price after leaving the secret realm.

"Brother Wei, there seems to be some noise ahead. Let's take another route—"

When Zhu Ran and Qin Tao were collecting the human remains.

I could faintly hear human voices, but they weren't coming from behind me; they were coming from other branching passages.

"Have the others come in too?"

"There's clearly more than one entrance here; it's like a maze-like structure?"

Zhu Ran pondered the situation and continued leading the team forward.

The tense atmosphere eased somewhat after the sneak attack by the Deceitful Skeleton.

The reason is simple: one of the natures of the deceitful skeleton is corpse collection.

Humanoid and humanoid forms are the Fake Skeleton's favorite designs. Only when other skeletons become mere accessories can it blend in and hunt more stealthily.

"One possibility is that these remains were moved into the valley from elsewhere; another possibility is that these remains were produced here."

""

Zhu Ran desperately didn't want it to be the latter, because that would mean the level of danger here was probably beyond what ordinary students could handle.

"Master Zhu, over there!"

At that moment, Liang Baizhou pointed to the right, his expression excited.

Black flames billowed, their light dim and indistinct.

It was a cave, extremely deep, with the horizon completely hidden in shadow.

But in that fleeting glimpse, the three of them saw that the cave was littered with remnants of clubs, swords, knives, shields, and the like. Most of them were rusted and cracked, with only a very few retaining a trace of killing intent, indicating that they were no ordinary objects in the past.

"Are they all fragments of military beasts?"

Zhu Ran felt a tremendous surge of emotions welling up inside him.

This is incredible; they only found a small basketful in the territory of the Black Flame Banana Fan.

In this cave, the tip of the iceberg is only a small part; the number of such things would be three or four times greater.

Isn't it said that rare beasts are scarce, and that even a cultivator in a secret realm might not see one for a month?

In the distant past, in the ancient kingdom of war, what kind of glorious civilization did the beasts that inhabited this land possess?

Zhu Ran's thoughts drifted far away for a moment.

The more he pondered, the more he realized that this secret place might hold many little-known secrets.