I work as a security guard at a cemetery, and I overhear the dead chatting about getting rich quick.

After that voice faded, only heavy breathing remained under the tree.

Inhale.

pause.

Then slowly spit it out.

The first few times didn't go smoothly.

The beast had only inhaled half of its breath when a muffled rumbling sound came from its chest, its breathing became erratic, and its claws began to paw at the soil.

The voice did not urge them.

He waited until it calmed down before continuing:

"Don't push it against your chest."

"Press it down."

The beast tried again.

This time, the inhalation was noticeably slower.

"The bow is on the back."

"Lie low."

"The Qi first travels along the spine."

Lin Ye frowned slightly.

gas.

Spine.

This no longer resembles teaching a wild animal how to lie down and rest.

He continued listening.

The lingering sound was not continuous.

Sometimes all that's left is panting, sometimes scratching the ground with claws and the suppressed growls of wild beasts.

Moreover, it seems that there is more than one kind of animal lying under the tree.

The initial breathing was deep and heavy, indicating that the person was not small.

Then came a series of short, rapid breaths, like a lynx. Following that, there was a familiar grunting sound, very similar to that of the mutated wild boar in the surveillance video.

They came here at different times.

The voice repeated similar words over and over again.

"Slow down."

"Don't steal it."

"The anger hasn't subsided yet."

"Let's start over."

It did not command these animals to attack anyone, nor did it demand that they obey.

It's more like teaching them a method.

Lin Ye listened for two or three minutes, and his temples began to throb.

The sounds of breathing from different times overlap, and trying to distinguish them further only leads to more confusion.

Cheng Fang kept a close eye on his condition.

"What did you hear?"

Lin Ye deliberately put away his spiritual hearing and opened his eyes.

"Someone is teaching animals to regulate their breathing."

"More than one type of animal has visited this place, and at different times."

Jiang Yue asked, "Can you be sure it's a spirit summoning?"

"cannot."

Lin Ye rubbed his temples.

"The voice mentioned qi and spine, but it's hard to say whether the qi here is spiritual energy."

"I can only hear the sounds left behind at the time, but I can't see what they are doing."

Cheng Fang looked at the animal bones on the tree.

"The sound is coming from this bone?"

"The sound mainly remains in the surrounding area."

Lin Ye said, "The animal bones might be markings, or they might just be used to keep those animals coming here."

"Whether it was left by the animal itself, we still need to investigate."

Jiang Yue nodded.

"First, record the original words."

Zhao Cheng, who was in charge of recording, squatted down next to the equipment and transcribed Lin Ye's words one by one.

Tang Zhi then walked around the old locust tree.

"The footprints on the ground are all pointing this way."

The soil in front of the animal bones had been compacted very firmly.

There are several depressions of varying depths beneath the fallen leaves, some as small as a washbasin, others nearly the size of a single bed.

These animals don't seem to have gathered here all at once.

It was more like they came in batches, each lying in a fixed position.

Xu Mian's shadow swept across the ground.

"This is where we stayed the longest."

She pointed directly in front of the animal bones.

"The soil layers have been repeatedly compacted."

Qin Zhao looked up at the iron nails securing the animal bones.

Jiang Yue took out the detector and scanned the nail and the tree trunk separately.

"Ordinary iron nails will not last more than six months after being driven in."

"Animal bones take longer to weather."

Tang Zhi asked, "Did someone just put it up here recently?"

"Possibly."

Jiang Yue put away the instruments.

"It's possible that it was originally located elsewhere and was later moved here."

Zhao Cheng set up three data collection devices and placed a miniature camera under the tree.

He was preparing for the final test when Xu Mian suddenly turned to look back in the direction he had come from.

Something is approaching.

Everyone stopped moving at the same time.

The sound of grass and trees rubbing together is very soft.

But his steps were heavy.

One after another.

Unlike those wolves from before.

Cheng Fang raised his hand, signaling everyone to disperse.

Zhao Cheng grabbed the recording equipment and retreated to the side and behind the old locust tree.

Tang Zhi released her silk threads.

A small cluster of dark red flames also lit up at Qin Zhao's fingertips.

A few seconds later, a dark brown wild boar burst through the bushes and appeared in the woods.

It was on the other end of the surveillance video.

It was almost twice the size of an average adult wild boar, with bristles standing on end on its back, a noticeably longer tusk on its left side, and an old wound on its shoulder that had not fully healed.

The wild boar saw the people under the tree first.

Then, its gaze fell on the animal bones.

A loud hum came from his nose.

The forelegs forcefully dig through the soil.

"Prepare for control."

As soon as Cheng Fang opened his mouth, the wild boar charged at him.

It is closest to Zhao Cheng.

The several hundred-pound body smashed through the bushes, yet its speed was by no means slow.

Zhao Cheng, clutching the equipment, collapsed to the side.

The wild boar rushed past him, its tusks tearing open the outer layer of his backpack, scattering the spare batteries and memory cards all over the ground.

Tang Zhi flicked out the silk threads.

Two thin, transparent threads wrapped around the wild boar's right hind leg and suddenly pulled it to the side.

The wild boar's momentum was swerved, and its shoulder struck a protruding rock.

boom!

Gravel rolled down.

Tang Zhi was also pulled forward half a step.

"What did this guy eat to grow so big?"

"Don't force it!"

Cheng Fang charged in from the side.

His arms were covered in a bluish-black color. He grabbed the wild boar's left tusk and slammed its head into the ground.

The wild boar suddenly shook its head.

The ground beneath Cheng Fang's feet exploded, and he was pushed back a step, but he did not let go.

Qin Zhao raised his hand.

The embers burned a semi-circular line of fire along the dry leaves, blocking the wild boar's other escape route.

"Anesthetic bullets!" Cheng Fang shouted.

Xu Mian had already raised the tranquilizer gun.

She didn't rush to fire, but waited for the wild boar to struggle and turn its body to the side before pulling the trigger.

puff.

The anesthetic needle was inserted behind the shoulder blade.

The wild boar, in pain, struggled even more violently.

Tang Zhi used the tendrils to wrap around the tree trunk next to her and used them to lock her hind legs.

Jiang Yue also added a restraint rope.

It took several people working together to pin the wild boar to the ground.

Its limbs kept kicking, scattering mud and dead leaves everywhere.

It takes time for the anesthetic to take effect.

Cheng Fang pressed down on its neck.

"Don't get near the fangs."

Zhao Cheng got up from the ground and looked down to check his arm.

The coat was torn, and the inner protective layer also cracked, but fortunately, only a small area of ​​skin was scratched.

Tang Zhi glanced at him.

"It can still move?"

"able."

Zhao Cheng picked up the scattered record cards.

"The equipment almost had to be written off."

"It's fine as long as the person didn't claim the expenses."

The wild boar's struggles gradually slowed down.

It did not fall into a complete coma, but its breathing changed first.

At first, I was anxious and confused.

After a few times, the inhalation suddenly slowed down.

pause.

Then slowly exhale.

Lin Ye immediately looked at its heaving belly.

The rhythm was almost identical to the lingering echoes around the animal bones.

"It's adjusting its breathing."

Cheng Fang turned his head.

"The same as what you just heard?"

"almost."

The wild boar's shoulder slammed into the rocks, reopening an old wound, and blood was flowing down its bristles.

As breathing gradually stabilized, the muscles near the wound began to slowly tighten.

The bleeding rate slowed down significantly.

It's not that the wound has healed.

It's just that it's actively controlling its body.

Jiang Yue took out a portable detector and placed it close to the wild boar's back.

The waveform on the screen flickered a few times.

"There is a faint spiritual energy reaction."

"Move from the abdomen to the back."

Tang Zhi was still holding the thread, and fine beads of sweat had already seeped from her forehead.

"This doesn't count as cultivation?"

"It can be confirmed that it is actively mobilizing the spiritual energy within its body."

Cheng Fang said, "Whether it's a complete cultivation session or not, we'll discuss it after we bring him back to the camp for an examination."

The wild boar's eyelids slowly drooped.

Even after the anesthetic began to take effect, its breathing maintained a fixed rhythm.

After confirming that the wild boar was unable to resist, Jiang Yue contacted the camp via communicator.

"Send a tracked transport platform over."

"Equipped with large restraint frames and veterinary monitoring equipment."

It's simply unrealistic for a few people to drag this mutated wild boar, which is the size of a wild boar, back a kilometer away.

The camp's electric tracked platform arrived in about twenty minutes.

While waiting, the group put a restraint on the wild boar and collected samples of its hair, blood, and saliva.

As Zhao Cheng was reorganizing the equipment, he couldn't help but kick his ripped backpack.

"Isn't this considered a work-related injury?"

Jiang Yue didn't even look up.

"Go back and write a report."

"Then forget it."

Tang Zhi chuckled.

"The moment I heard about writing a report, the pain in my wound disappeared."

The sky grew darker and darker.

The transport platform secured the unconscious wild boar, and the team prepared to evacuate.

Lin Ye walked more than ten meters, then looked back once more.

Animal bones were nailed to the blackened tree trunk, the markings on the surface almost swallowed by the twilight.

He had not originally reactivated his spiritual hearing.

But when my gaze fell upon it, that familiar, lingering sound resurfaced intermittently.

"It's a bit stupid."

There seemed to be a hint of laughter in his voice.

"At least I've gotten the basics down."

Lin Ye stopped walking.

Cheng Fang turned around.

"You heard it again?"

"Um."

"What did you say?"

Lin Ye glanced at the wild boar on the transport platform.

"It said that although this wild boar is stupid, it has already mastered the basics."

Tang Zhi's smile faded slightly.

"Does it recognize this wild boar?"

"That sounds like it."

Lin Ye did not make any definitive statements.

But the voice was clearly not simply repeating the same instruction without any change.

It will observe.

I can make a judgment.

They also know whether their students have learned the material.

The leaves rustled in the evening breeze.

Cheng Fang looked at the animal bones on the tree.

"Let's go back to camp first."

"Strengthen security tonight, and inspect the other three locations tomorrow."

The group left along the route they had come from.

The tracked transport platform slowly moved over the fallen leaves, emitting a low mechanical sound.

The old locust tree was soon shrouded in darkness.

Lin Ye, however, always remembered the tone of that voice at the end.

It is not an order.

It doesn't sound like a tamer's commands either.

It's more like a teacher who has been teaching for a long time and finally sees that the students have learned something.