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

As soon as Lai Changqing finished speaking, three gray shadows flew out from his sleeve.

There was no warning, nor any probing.

The bone fragments headed straight for the forest.

"Be careful!"

Jiang Yue grabbed Lin Ye and dragged him to the back of the tracked reconnaissance vehicle.

Two bone fragments struck the vehicle, making a screeching sound. The remaining fragment grazed Lin Ye's shoulder and embedded itself in the tree trunk behind him, with only a small section sticking out.

On the other side, Jiang Zhaoye had already swung his black short stick and charged towards Cheng Fang.

Cheng Fang's iron bones quickly covered his arms.

The short stick came down, and he raised his arm to block it.

boom!

Gravel scattered and flew everywhere underfoot.

Cheng Fang swayed slightly, then his right fist slammed towards Jiang Zhaoye's chest.

Jiang Zhaoye did not take the blow head-on. Instead, he pressed down with the short stick, used the force to turn to the side, and swept the end of the stick towards Cheng Fang's knee.

The two immediately engaged in combat in the center of the open space upon meeting, their fists and sticks pressed extremely close together, neither giving the other a chance to create distance.

"Meng Chuan, suppress the crack!"

"Xu Mian on the right!"

Cheng Fang blocked the second blow and quickly gave the order.

Meng Chuan was already kneeling behind the rock, his rifle pressed tightly against his shoulder.

Bang bang bang!

Several short bursts of pressure were applied to the fracture opening.

The two Candle Shadow Society members who had just dispersed immediately sought cover. One of them was a step too slow, and a burst of blood exploded on his shoulder as he fell back to the edge of the crevice.

Xu Mian's shadow stretched out to the right, close to the ground.

Yesterday, the stealth-type ability user who was tracking them had just gotten close to the rock wall when Xu Mian bit his shadow.

His body color became almost the same as the stone wall, but the outline of his shadow could not be hidden.

Xu Mian did not rush to fire, but kept pushing him away from the woods.

Another member of the Candle Shadow Society opened the black leather bag at his waist.

A swarm of black insects poured out of the bag and crawled along the cracks in the rocks toward the seven people.

The insects are only the size of a fingernail, with shiny shells, and make a dense rustling sound when they crawl.

Qin Zhao raised his right hand.

As the embers swept across the ground, the black worms at the front instantly curled up into a ball.

The swarm of insects behind quickly separated, attempting to bypass the tracked vehicle from both sides.

"They're heading straight for the line interface!"

Jiang Yue raised his gun and smashed a section of the ground, forcing the swarm of insects away from under the car.

Qin Zhao's second flame came from the other side.

The two embers merged, and the black insects were burned to a crisp, filling the air with an unpleasant burnt smell.

The man controlling the swarm shuddered, his face paled, and smoke began to rise from the leather bag in his hand.

He immediately severed ties with the remaining swarm of insects and retreated into the crevice.

Lin Ye leaned against the back of the tracked vehicle and stuffed the hard-shell data box containing the on-site records into his tactical vest.

The protective stone fragments have not yet been restored.

The Spirit-Shock Nail can be used, but only once.

Now that the two sides are intertwined, he dares not provoke them lightly.

Tang Zhi stood on the left side of the vehicle, using a silk thread to wind around several trees, blocking Lai Changqing's route to the woods.

Lai Changqing raised his hand and flung out several bone fragments.

The bone fragments did not strike the person directly, but instead hit the point where the thread was pulling the object along.

One of them grazed the thin thread.

The transparent strands quickly turned white and became hard and brittle.

Tang Zhi pulled hard, and the thread snapped on the spot.

"Can it even be used to damage enemy equipment?"

She cursed under her breath and immediately abandoned her original point of leverage.

Lai Changqing had already taken the opportunity to take a few steps forward.

He held a palm-sized bronze mirror in his left hand, while continuously releasing bone fragments with his right. Meng Chuan tried several times to turn his gun towards him, but the bullets were all blocked by an invisible barrier in front of the mirror.

The first bullet veered off course and into the rock face.

The second one bounced directly towards the trees on the side.

Meng Chuan immediately ceased fire.

Continuing to fire under these circumstances could result in ricocheting bullets potentially injuring friendly forces.

Lai Changqing had clearly calculated this.

He pressed forward with the bronze mirror on his head, his target always the forest behind the tracked vehicle.

Tang Zhi released the silk threads again.

Two lines, one in front of the other, were taut, blocking his way.

Lai Changqing flicked his finger.

Just as the bone fragment was about to fly out, Qin Zhao's embers suddenly swept in from the side.

Lai Changqing raised his mirror to block the flames.

A ripple-like wave appeared above the mirror. The embers failed to reach him, but forced him to stop.

"Qin Zhao, keep an eye on the bugs!"

Cheng Fang's voice came from the other side.

The black insects that were burned were not all dead.

A small number of them have already climbed onto the tracked vehicle's outer shell and are squeezing into the gaps in the equipment.

Qin Zhao had no choice but to turn around and deal with it.

In that brief moment of silence, the bone fragment in Lai Changqing's hand flew out again.

Tang Zhi raised her hand to reel in the line, causing the first one to deviate.

The second bullet grazed her right arm guard, sending numbness through her entire arm.

The third shot went straight for Lin Ye's thigh.

Jiang Yue leaned out from behind the car and raised the protective panel to block it.

The bone fragment pierced through the outer composite material and became stuck in the plate.

The impact still pushed Jiang Yue back half a step.

"Lin Ye, don't show your face!"

"Know!"

Lin Ye agreed verbally, but his eyes kept scanning the battlefield.

Jiang Zhaoye and Cheng Fang had fought their way from the open space to the edge of the rock face.

The black stick in Jiang Zhaoye's hand was clearly also a magical artifact.

Each time it collides with the iron bone, the staff bends slightly, then bounces the force back.

Cheng Fang took several consecutive hard hits, and the bluish-black color on his right arm began to fluctuate slightly.

Jiang Zhaoye was also feeling bad.

His left lip was split open, and he had taken a punch to the chest from Cheng Fang; his breathing was noticeably more rapid than before.

Tang Zhi seized the opportunity, using her silk threads to bypass Jiang Zhaoye from behind and entangle the middle section of the black stick.

Instead of pulling him forcefully, she suddenly pulled him to the side the instant Cheng threw his punch.

Jiang Zhaoye's block was a beat too slow.

Cheng Fang punched him in the chin.

Jiang Zhaoye staggered backward, raising his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.

Before he could even stand still, Cheng Fang had already caught up.

At the same time, gunshots suddenly rang out from the right.

Xu Mian fired the shot.

The stealth-type ability user had already bypassed the two rocks and was less than ten meters away from the tracked vehicle.

The colors on his body constantly change with the environment, making it difficult to lock onto with the naked eye, but every time he prepares to sprint, the shadow beneath his feet shrinks first.

Xu Mian's first shot hit the rock where he was hiding.

The second shot grazed his left shoulder.

The man felt pain, and his mimicry immediately became chaotic. Half of his body was still like a rock, while the other half had turned into the gray-green of leaves.

Tang Zhi separated a strand of thread and wrapped it around his ankle.

The man swung the knife in the backhand, not to cut the thin, indistinct thread, but to cut the outer strap securing his trouser leg, freeing himself from the restraints.

He wanted to get closer to Lin Ye, but Xu Mian had already changed positions.

The next bullet hit near his feet.

If you take one more step forward, the gun barrel will be raised.

The man glanced at Xu Mian, abandoned his advance, and retreated along the rock wall toward the crevice.

The battle reached a stalemate for a short period of time.

The seven guards protecting the forest and its records were unable to preserve the entire Candle Shadow Society.

Zhuyin would be suppressed by Meng Chuan's firepower and would have a hard time breaking through the tracked vehicle and Tang Zhi's tether.

Whoever reveals a weakness first will die.

Lin Ye suddenly noticed that there was still a person at the edge of the crack who hadn't moved much.

The man was tall and thin, and his right hand remained pressed against the rock face.

A thin, grayish-white bone awl was held between his fingers.

The bone cone was slowly sinking into the stone.

No debris fell off.

It looks more like it's blended into the entire rock face.

Lin Ye followed the man's gaze.

The rock where Meng Chuan was hiding was connected to the rock wall behind him, and there was no obvious fault at the bottom.

"Meng Chuan, get away from that rock!"

As soon as Lin Ye uttered the word, the tall, thin man suddenly tightened his grip.

A series of dull cracking sounds came from inside the rock.

Without hesitation, Meng Chuan rolled to the left while holding his gun.

A bone spike pierced out from where he had been leaning, grazing his tactical vest.

I didn't win.

Just as Meng Chuan propped himself up, another strange noise came from below the ground.

The tall, thin man also placed his left hand on the rock face.

"Zheng Kui, to the right!"

Jiang Zhaoye suddenly shouted.

The second bone cone emerged from behind Meng Chuan's side.

Meng Chuan was already moving, yet he was still stabbed in the armpit.

The bone spike pierced diagonally into the chest cavity, breaking through the combat uniform from behind, but did not completely exit.

His body stiffened abruptly, and the gun in his hand fell to the ground.

"Meng Chuan!"

Jiang Yue rushed over immediately.

Zheng Kui kept his hands pressed against the rock wall, controlling the bone cone to continue growing inward.

Qin Zhao was closer.

He saw a very fine gray-white line emerge from the surface of the rock, extending from the bone cone all the way to Zheng Kui's palm.

The embers fell onto that pattern.

The flames didn't burn the stone; instead, they traveled along the bone embedded in the rock strata.

Zheng Kui's expression changed drastically, and he immediately raised his hand.

The bone cones in the rock wall failed to break in time.

The embers had already reached his right palm.

A dark red line of fire quickly appeared under the skin and spread upwards along the wrist.

Zheng Kui drew his short sword and slashed at the base of the bone cone clinging to the rock wall.

Lin Ye finally got a clear firing line.

There are no friendly forces ahead.

The distance was less than six meters.

He raised the Spirit-Shock Nail.

The free spiritual energy within his body quickly flowed into the nail, and the first ring of patterns lit up.

boom!

The shockwave didn't hit Lai Changqing, but instead struck Zheng Kui's right shoulder as he pressed against the rock face.

Zheng Kui's body swayed, the short knife missed its mark, and his back slammed heavily against the stone wall.

The bone connections embedded in the rock strata suddenly went out of control.

Qin Zhao's embers surged into his chest.

Zheng Kui opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

A few seconds later, he slid down the rock face and sat down, his clothes on his chest charred black.

It didn't move again.

Lai Changqing turned his head and glanced at it.

The smile on his face vanished completely.

On the other side, Jiang Yue was already kneeling beside Meng Chuan.

He dared not pull out the bone spike, so he could only cut open his combat uniform and press hemostatic dressings and coagulants around the wound.

But blood continued to gush from Meng Chuan's mouth.

The bone cone pierced the chest cavity at an angle, damaging a major blood vessel inside.

This kind of injury cannot be stopped simply by pressing on the outside.

Jiang Yue opened the emergency communication.

"Camp, prepare medical support!"

"We have a patient with a penetrating chest wound; we request immediate withdrawal!"

The monitor on Meng Chuan's chest was beeping more and more urgently.

He looked at Jiang Yue, his lips moved, but he couldn't say anything.

Breathing quickly turned into intermittent gasps.

Jiang Yue was still pressing on his wound.

Hang in there.

"The car is right next to us, let's go right away."

Meng Chuan's gaze slowly drifted away.

The numbers on the monitor dropped rapidly.

Finally, it returns to zero.

Jiang Yue's hand stopped on his chest.

On the other side of the open space, the fighting continued.

Seeing Zheng Kui fall, Jiang Zhaoye's black staff suddenly glowed with dark patterns, forcing Cheng Fang back with a single blow.

Several broken animal bones at Lai Changqing's feet slowly floated up.

Tang Zhi's tendrils were all taut.

One person has died on each side.

If the fight continues, no one will hold back.

Just then, the wild boar trapped in the net suddenly began to struggle wildly.

It let out a series of screeching sounds from its nostrils, and kicked the ground with its limbs, sending dirt flying everywhere.

The urgent cries of macaques could also be heard from the treetops.

These are not the three that ran away earlier.

The sounds came from all directions, and there were even more of them.

Xu Mian quickly turned her head.

"An animal is approaching from the woods."

"Three on the left, and some on the right."

"There are wolves behind."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a mutated wild boar crashed through the bushes on the north side, followed by another one charging out.

Stones fell from the tree one after another.

Several macaques moved quickly among the branches, grabbing whatever they could and throwing it into the open space.

Further away, pairs of wolf eyes appeared at the edge of the woods.

They didn't just focus on seven places.

The Candlelight Society is also within the attack range.

Gunshots, the smell of blood, and fluctuations in spiritual energy have attracted all the mutated beasts active nearby.

Cheng Fang forced Jiang Zhaoye away with a punch and quickly retreated to Meng Chuan's side.

"Get on the bus!"

"Jiang Yue leads Meng Chuan, Tang Zhi seals the left flank, and Xu Mian clears the way!"

The tracked reconnaissance vehicle is only half a person tall and cannot carry living people, but it can transport the wounded and equipment.

Jiang Yue and Lin Ye worked together to lift Meng Chuan onto the vehicle and secured him with straps.

Qin Zhao fired a line of fire from the side, forcing back the charging wild boar.

Tang Zhi's tendrils entangled two tree trunks, dragging down a patch of shrubs and temporarily blocking the passage on the left.

The Candlelight Society also began to retreat.

One of the members, armed with a short crossbow, rushed to the rock face and pulled out the most densely scored rib.

By the time Tang Zhi noticed, it was too late to stop it.

Jiang Zhaoye protected the man as they retreated towards the crevice.

Lai Changqing glanced at Lin Ye one last time, then didn't pursue him further.

The wolf pack was closing in from the side; if they stayed in the open, no one could escape.

Seven people evacuated along the route they had taken eastward into the woods.

The candlelight then retreats into the cracks in the rock wall.

Separated by the ever-increasing hordes of mutated beasts, each side carried away a corpse and the items they were carrying.

Lin Ye followed beside the tracked vehicle, his right arm so numb he could barely lift it.

Behind me, I could hear the sounds of wild boars crashing against rocks and gunfire.

Just as they rushed out of the open space, a deep bear roar suddenly echoed from the depths of Black Locust Ridge.

The sound was coming from a great distance.

The mutated beasts in the forest seemed to recognize the voice.

The wolf pack paused for a moment.

The macaques in the trees suddenly fell silent and turned to look into the depths of the mountains.

The two wild boars that were charging at each other became visibly agitated, but their movements slowed down.

Only for a moment.

But in that instant, it was enough for seven places to create distance between them.

Cheng Fang glanced back but didn't stop.

"Continue the retreat!"

The team quickly disappeared into the dense forest.

The tracked vehicle carrying Meng Chuan's body rolled over the slippery fallen leaves.

Lin Ye did not turn back.

But that bear's roar continued to echo above the mountains and forests.

Something stronger than the wolves already knows they've come in.