sinovels Chapter 945 Bone Ruins
Chapter 945 Bone Ruins
Lin Qiye walked for another two hours.
The surrounding giant skeletons were becoming more numerous and denser. In some places, they even merged into one, as if they had been neatly shattered and scattered everywhere by some force.
He stopped in front of a giant horn that jutted diagonally into the ash layer.
The giant horn was dark gold in color, and its surface was covered with natural patterns. These patterns did not look like they were carved by humans, but rather like runes that some kind of creature was born with.
Even though it had been dead for countless millennia, a faint trace of oppressive power still lingered on its giant horn.
Lin Qiye circled the giant horn once.
At the base of the giant horn, he saw something.
A shallow pit.
The pit doesn't contain ashes.
It was dark red, dried blood.
The bloodstains had dried completely and were almost indistinguishable from the ashes. But Lin Qiye was too sensitive to blood. It was an instinct brought about by the power of the Blood Demon.
He crouched down and lightly touched the dark red layer with his fingertips.
Dry up.
It has no activity.
but--
It didn't dry out naturally.
It was forcibly drained by some kind of force.
Lin Qiye stood up and glanced around.
Around the giant horn, some broken pieces of armor were scattered.
The armor plates were a dark gold color, the same texture as the giant horn. The edges were jagged, as if they had been cut by a sharp weapon.
Someone has been here.
And I've been here more than once.
The cutting marks on those armor plates varied in age; the oldest layer was almost fused with the ashes, while the newest layer still retained a trace of metallic luster.
This shows that this wasteland is not a true dead zone.
Something is moving around here.
Something is hunting these ancient remains here.
Lin Qiye did not linger in the same spot.
He stood up, adjusted his direction, and walked towards a relatively flat "path" in the ash layer.
That "road" was not formed naturally.
It was made by countless footprints.
The footprints were deep, all pointing in the same direction, stretching towards the northeast of the wasteland.
Lin Qiye followed the footprints.
They walked for about half an hour.
The layer of ashes begins to thin.
It's not because the amount of falling fluff has decreased.
It's because the ground is rising.
A huge, grayish-white hill slowly appeared on the horizon.
The hill resembled a sleeping giant, lying on the wasteland, its back arched and covered with a thick layer of ashes.
At the foot of the hills—
bright.
A very faint light.
It was grayish-yellow, like an oil lamp, but not quite.
The light stood out starkly against the hazy sky and earth.
Lin Qiye quickened his pace.
After he rounded a corner of the hill, the scene before him finally changed.
It was a settlement consisting of black tents and simple stone houses.
Not big.
There were only about a hundred tents and a few dozen low stone houses.
The tents and stone houses were built using the giant skeletons found on the wasteland. The skeletons were bound together with black iron chains, engraved with dark red patterns that resembled the runes on the outer walls of the arena.
In the center of the settlement, there was a cleared area.
A tall flagpole stands in the open space.
The flagpole is the spine of some kind of giant beast, and the flag is a grayish-white animal hide with a pattern painted in dark red ink—a skull with its gaping maw.
The flag fluttered gently in the still air.
That fluttering wasn't caused by the wind.
It is the flag itself that is moving.
Lin Qiye glanced at the flag, then looked away.
Two guards stood at the entrance to the settlement.
The two guards were tall and wore simple armor made of bone fragments, each carrying a chipped black longsword.
Their eyes were an abnormal dark red, with upright pupils, like those of a snake.
Not human.
It was not any kind of sub-cosmic creature that Lin Qiye had ever seen.
It's more like some kind of modified entity.
One of the guards noticed Lin Qiye.
He tilted his head and let out a low murmur.
Another guard looked over as well.
"Newcomer."
The first guard spoke. His voice was hoarse, like rusty iron scraping against each other.
"From the arena?"
Lin Qiye stopped in his tracks.
"Yes."
The two guards exchanged a glance.
"Slots for going out?"
"Yes."
"What are you here for?"
"Buy something."
The two guards exchanged another glance.
This time, they didn't respond immediately.
Lin Qiye noticed that the way they were looking at him had changed.
It's no longer just routine questioning.
Instead, there's something else.
Examine.
And, a very faint killing intent.
"Buy something."
The first guard repeated it.
Do you know where you are?
Lin Qiye said, "I don't know."
"This is the Bone Ruins."
The second guard said coldly.
"People don't come to the arena often."
"Those who are here, either buy what you need and leave, or—"
He pointed his long sword at a bone pillar not far away.
Several shriveled heads hung from the bone pillar.
Those heads had been hanging there for who knows how long; the flesh had long since dried up, leaving only grayish-white skulls that swayed slightly as the ashes fell.
"To become like that."
Lin Qiye glanced at the heads.
"I'll buy what I need and leave."
The two guards fell silent for a moment.
A moment later, the first guard stepped aside, making way for the entrance.
"Go in."
"Find out the rules yourself."
"The Bone Ruins do not ask where one came from."
"But if something happens, don't expect anyone to help you."
Lin Qiye nodded and stepped into the Bone Ruins.
…………
The Bone Ruins were even more chaotic than they appeared from the outside.
Various stalls were crowded between the tents and stone houses.
Some stall owners sat on animal hides, while others squatted directly in the ashes. In front of them were all sorts of things—daggers made from animal bones, teeth of unknown creatures, dark red liquid sealed in black stones, and stacks of yellowed handwritten jade slips.
There was no shouting or hawking.
There was no bargaining.
The entire Bone Ruins was eerily quiet.
Everyone was busy with their own things, and occasionally someone would look up at Lin Qiye as he passed by, only to quickly look away again.
Lin Qiye walked forward along the narrow path between the stalls.
He walked about a hundred paces before stopping.
There's a stall up ahead.
The items at the stall were different from those elsewhere.
It was neither a weapon, nor animal bones, nor miscellaneous items.
It's medicine.
One after another, fist-sized black jade bottles were neatly arranged on the stall. The surface of the jade bottles was engraved with fine patterns, and the mouth of the bottles was sealed with dark red wax.
An old man was sitting behind the stall.
The old man wore a large gray robe with the hood pulled low, revealing only half of his face. That half of his face was covered in wrinkles, and his skin, like dried tree bark, clung to his cheekbones.
He didn't look at Lin Qiye.
He simply lowered his head and used a small knife to shave a piece of white animal bone.
"Yuanqing Pill."
Lin Qiye spoke.
The old man paused for a moment.
"have."
"How many?"
"Let's see what price you're willing to offer."
Lin Qiye asked, "How many gladiatorial coins?"
The old man raised his head.
Beneath the hood, his eyes were a cloudy, grayish-white.
"Gladiator coins?"
He smiled.
The smile was faint, yet it carried an inexplicable sense of mockery.
"Gladiator coins are not used here."
Lin Qiye's eyebrows twitched slightly.
"What should we use?"
The old man stretched out a withered finger and pointed at Lin Qiye's chest.
"Original Qi."
"or--"
His fingers moved down.
"Blood."