Even so, Fang Zhixing was resolute in his decision, and knew he must leave this place as soon as possible.
Someone had schemed to lure a stranger—a boy disguised as a mute—here, but to what end, he did not know.
But whatever it was, it definitely wasn’t anything good.
Otherwise, there was no need to cut the stranger’s tongue and then poison him to death.
"This is no place to linger."
Fang Zhixing descended lightly and sought the path he came by, intending to retrace his steps as far as he could.
But he hadn’t gone far...
Fang Zhixing furrowed his brows and came to a halt.
"Eh, the stranger and I clearly came from this direction, where’s the path?"
Fang Zhixing looked down at his feet and saw fallen leaves everywhere; the trail they had followed had mysteriously disappeared.
"Did I take a wrong turn?"
Fang Zhixing took a pause and carefully began to back away, planning to start afresh.
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew.
The woods shook with it, and the branches rustled loudly.
The fallen leaves on the ground were whipped up into the air, spinning wildly on their own.
Dust billowed everywhere, forcing Fang Zhixing to squint his eyes.
When the wind had passed, he felt the cold around him skyrocket, the breath from his mouth turned white, and a layer of frost quickly formed on his clothes and eyebrows.
Fang Zhixing looked around, uncertain, and on a whim glanced to the right, only to see an additional stark white skeleton underneath a large tree.
It was a human skeleton, robust and thick-boned, standing at least two meters tall.
Fang Zhixing gave a sideways glance at the skeleton but didn’t pay it much mind.
After all, since arriving in the Extreme Yin Restricted Area, he had seen too many bones and had grown numb to them.
However, just as he shifted his gaze away, he suddenly turned back sharply.
Fang Zhixing tensed up, having caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye of the skull slightly moving.
"Can skeletons move?"
Fang Zhixing crouched down, grabbed a handful of fallen leaves, and threw them out.
The withered leaves suddenly straightened, transforming into hidden weapons that struck at the skeleton with terrifying force.
The leaves stabbed the skeleton like swords, resulting in loud clanging as if metal was striking metal, and sparks flew in all directions.
"Such resilient bones!" Fang Zhixing raised an eyebrow, quite surprised.
Although he had used only a force of one hundred thousand jin in throwing the leaves, the attack power was not weak and enough to leave any Five Beasts Realm Martial Artist flustered.
Ordinary human remains would have utterly shattered, reduced to dust under the impact of the leaves.
But that skeleton’s bones were extraordinarily tough, with the leaves leaving only shallow white marks upon impact.
The skeleton abruptly cocked its head, and the two hollow eye sockets suddenly turned towards Fang Zhixing.
Fang Zhixing’s pupils shrank, feeling he was targeted by a sharp and chilling gaze.
Then, the skeleton slowly stood up, its movements smooth and fluid like a well-trained Martial Artist.
It stared at Fang Zhixing and suddenly spoke in a human voice, "Why do you disturb my eternal rest?"
Upon hearing this, Fang Zhixing’s face showed a particularly elaborate expression.
Could it be that the skeleton was actually speaking?
Fang Zhixing asked in response, "Who are you?"
The skeleton spoke as if to itself, "Birth, old age, sickness, death, human fate, but why is it that I died and you are still alive?"
It walked step by step toward Fang Zhixing, picking up speed, and shouted, "No one shall disturb the slumber of the dead."
Drawing near, the White Bone Claw thrust forward.
In an instant, a profusion of white energy spewed forth from its palm.
The white energy condensed into a torrent, spreading outwards, enveloped in bone-chilling cold.
Fang Zhixing’s figure flickered, and he rapidly dodged to the side.
He then saw wherever the white energy passed, it formed an ice wall, freezing mid-air the fallen leaves and dust that had been thrown up.
"Oh, this must be Evil Yin Qi," he murmured, clicking his tongue. "I didn’t expect a skeleton to know Martial Arts!"