vncnus Page 256
Page 256
"?"
He stared blankly as Lanling happily rubbed her hair for a while before letting it fall back to the ground, his heart filled with doubt.
Who am I? Where am I? What is she doing?
Latis's three unusually philosophical questions remained unanswered. The sudden cessation of the chanting brought him back to his senses. He scratched his head, looked at Haiyue'er who looked worried not far away, walked over, and asked:
"Haiyue'er, how are they?"
“Mr. Latis…” Haiyue floated back to his side, hugged his arm, and whispered:
"I'm afraid...it won't work."
"what?"
Latis suddenly felt a sense of the impermanence of life. He glanced at the birdman's familiar face again and fell silent.
One of its bony wings had separated from its arm. Without the support of the arm, the structure of the bony wing was no longer stable and had now folded over onto the other side of its body.
The birdman's folded lower limbs, which were designed for crouching, were also broken, seemingly torn apart by immense force during the struggle with the strange bird, and hung limply.
"how come……"
Latis sighed softly, momentarily at a loss for what to do with the birdman.
“…Ahem, sir.”
Suddenly, a wise female voice rang out from the broken skeleton. Latis quickly looked over and saw it was the bone spirit he had seen earlier using its soul power to resist the strange bird.
The female bone spirit appeared to have exhausted her soul power and was on the verge of dissipating, but she still tried her best to maintain her appearance, weakly leaning against the ground, and spoke very quickly:
“I can feel a gravitational pull from your body, as if it’s drawing them in… Are you going to climb Mount Sankturai? Please take them with you before they die completely.”
"Huh?" Latis scratched his head subconsciously, asking in confusion, "Miss Bone Spirit, this skeleton should be your contractor, right... why are you..."
"It's too late, it's too late."
The female bone spirit's body suddenly began to fluctuate, and illusory soul power began to emanate from her. She gritted her teeth and suddenly burrowed into the body of the broken skeleton. The broken skeleton immediately straightened up, hugged the birdman's body, and pounced on Latis.
"Wait...this..."
Before Latis could stop it, he saw the birdman and skeleton's skeleton instantly turn into fine bone fragments, filling his bone wings. The bone wings then became like real wings, producing bone wrinkles and feathers.
Two still-burning spirits landed on him, and then the scattered soul power of the bone spirit rushed into his body, forming a short and intermittent string of words and images.
……
Long ago, the birdman rescued a female traveler who was preparing to climb a mountain. The female traveler was just an ordinary human; although she had complete memories, she did not possess any special abilities.
[At the birdman's urging, the traveler abandoned the climb and returned to the cliff, intending to temper himself and attempt to obtain a soul bone.]
Their encounters continued in this way. After the arrival of the White Moon, the traveler returned. This time, she possessed a soul bone, but it was only a small defensive soul bone.
The birdman tried to dissuade her from going back to practice, but the traveler refused. After crossing half of the plain, she was attacked by a strange bird, breaking half of her hand bone. She returned to the birdman's side, crying.
The birdman was speechless for a moment, but eventually got annoyed by the traveler's tears. He searched for a long time at the place where she had been attacked, found her hand bone, and reattached it.
During this break, the traveler did not go mountain climbing again, but instead helped many passersby with the birdman, until the next white moon appeared.
The bird-people perched on hollow floating rocks, while the travelers were among them. They had assumed the white moon would pass peacefully, but they were still separated in the surging waves.
When the traveler awoke again, she made a pact with the female skeletal spirit she had encountered along the way, and very importantly, she told the spirit about the memories she still retained, requesting her to help record them.
Time passed by, one white moon after another. The traveler did not give up her plan to reach Mount Sankturei. Although the white moons washed away her senses, she eventually found Mount Sankturei.
Over the course of dozens of white moons, they separated and reunited. Sometimes the birdman vanished without a trace, sometimes the traveler was stranded beyond the plains. And even when they met, the birdman and the traveler would occasionally forget each other, treating each other as familiar strangers, repeating the things they had experienced many times before.
All of this was recorded by the female bone spirit. She wasn't always able to find the traveler's trail during every White Moon, since he started as an ordinary contractor, and as his body gradually disappeared, he became increasingly difficult to distinguish from ordinary skeletons.
[It wasn't until an unexpected incident caused her to be separated from the traveler for several white moons that she realized her primary goal, after countless observations of the story, was no longer to climb the mountain and break through the sea of stars, but rather to hope for a positive outcome. Therefore, she no longer needed to leave her core soul contract to any powerful skeleton she might encounter in the future.]
After finally finding the traveler, the Bone Spirit immediately signed a core contract with the traveler, thus gaining the ability to keenly sense the traveler's location.
They set off again for Mount Sankturui, and through repeated encounters, gradually discovered the best plan for climbing with the birdman. Although the birdman and the traveler still often forgot each other under the bright moonlight, they had long since etched this affection into their souls.
[They lived like this for many years, until the edifice collapsed.]
……
The soul power, unable to form any more useful information, dissipated from Latis's mind. He opened his eyes and gazed into the distance towards the direction of Mount Sankturui.
The moment he opened his eyes, he seemed to feel a strange sense of melancholy, as if it came from his own bone wings, or as if it came from his own heart.
The spirits of the birdman and the traveler resided in his body. He could sense that his talent for taking public transportation had been greatly enhanced in an instant, and he vaguely felt that after being infused with a certain amount of high-level power, their spirits could come back to life and regain their bodies.
But he still witnessed the dissipation of a bone spirit, a spirit that did not have time to transform into a piece of withered wood to contain its soul, nor did it have time to leave its name.
"Call her Misaya."
Sensing Latis's thoughts, Seren floated beside him, looked up at the scattered soul power, and whispered:
"This is the name given to each Bone Spirit at the beginning of their birth. It symbolizes the shining stars in the river of memory, and also the middle ground between life and death, which is both nothingness and infinity. Misaya's disappearance is not death, but a return to this endless world."
Latis took a deep breath, nodded, and wrote the words "Birdman," "Traveler," and "Misaya" on the small gray flag.
Chapter 261 The Demon Wolf and the Wolf Spirit
After taking some time to compose yourself, you set off again with the two spirits residing on your skeletal wings.
[Your current running speed has reached 300 kilometers per hour. With the support of the soul power of the spirit maidens, this number could be even higher, but speed is no longer of great importance to you. The vastness of the Bone Spirit Realm makes such speed seem insignificant, and on this perilous plain, you must proceed with extreme caution.]
You return to your previous position and find that thick fog has now obscured the mountains. If you proceed now, even if you run around the fog, you are very likely to lose your way.
Although you missed the chance to cross the dense fog ahead of time, you don't regret it. You begin to quickly consider your next strategy. Waiting is definitely not an option. At this moment, the cliff behind you obscures the outline of Starry Sun, making it impossible to estimate the remaining time. Once Starry Sun's planet emerges from the cliff, there may only be a few dozen hours left before the White Moon begins its surge.
[After thinking for a moment, you vibrated your bone wings and took to the sky. After being filled with the bone tissue of the new passenger, your bone wings finally gained enough power to allow you to fly freely at low altitudes.]
After ascending to your maximum achievable altitude, you frowned slightly. Even a hundred meters above the ground, the thick fog in the distance still obscured your vision. It seemed the fog was much higher than you had imagined; you couldn't simply fly over it.
You turned and decisively chose to fly in the direction the thick fog was coming from. The fog was moving quite fast, and flying towards it might allow you to bypass it from behind.
The large bone wings made a fine, tapping sound as they flapped. The wind in the Bone Spirit Realm carried fine bone fragments, making it difficult for you to breathe. You put on the bone armor mask and lowered your altitude slightly.
On the nearby plains, you can see two or three skeletons observing the thick fog. Upon seeing you, they all instinctively adopt a wary posture.
You hesitated for a moment, then instead of communicating with them, flew towards the back of the dense fog, intending to try and bypass it, though you didn't know exactly how large it covered.
As you fly closer to the dense fog, you see another skeleton on the ground, holding a lantern, trying to circle around it. Because flying is much slower than running, you don't get out of its sight quickly enough.
[A moment later, the lantern-bearing skeleton finally spotted you in the air. He seemed quite surprised, and then a very aged-looking skeletal spirit flew out from his body, raised its hands, and waved them forcefully at you.]
"Looking for me?" You were a little confused. After circling once, you flapped your bone wings and landed back on the ground, cautiously asking, "Is there something you need?"
The elderly bone spirit scrutinized you, noticing your strong, muscular physique, resolute expression, and impeccable armor, complete with spirit bodyguards—you looked every bit the part of a gangster in the bone spirit world. His expression brightened with relief, and he said, "That's how it is..."
[It turns out that this lantern-bearing skeleton was the leader of a mountaineering team. His soul bone, like your bone wings, is an extremely rare type, one in a million. Although it has no offensive capabilities, it can buff people.]
[Teammates within the lantern's range will experience a significant increase in soul power recovery speed and activation effect. Simultaneously, the skeleton's bones will become harder, able to withstand stronger attacks, and experience less wear and tear while walking.]
[For this reason, a small team gradually gathered around the Lantern Skeleton. Although they came from all over the world, and each of them had a very different personality and experience, they ultimately came together for one purpose: to climb Mount Sankturei.]
You learn from him that they were traversing this stretch of road when the dense fog arrived, but unfortunately, they weren't moving fast enough and were engulfed by the fog just before leaving the area, losing their way.
The Lantern-Bearing Skeleton initially planned to dig a tunnel directly underground, leading the team to hide there until the fog cleared. However, after a heated discussion, the team decided to continue groping their way through the fog. After all, they didn't have much distance left, and time was of the essence; they didn't know how long it would take for the fog to dissipate.
However, this decision ultimately brought disaster. In the thick fog, the light from the lantern-bearing skeletons seemed precarious. They moved forward slowly, step by step, without impatience or urging; everyone carefully maintained the stability of the group.
Suddenly, a howling gust of wind plummeted vertically from the sky, scattering the group. The Lantern Skeleton raised his lantern high, and with the help of the Bone Spirit, it emitted an even brighter light, hoping to illuminate his teammates' vision.
However, the next second, a gigantic, shapeless skeletal object descended from the sky, crashing down beside them with a deafening roar, instantly knocking everyone unconscious.
After a brief moment of distraction, the Lantern Skeleton realized he was separated from his teammates. He frantically tried to find them, but in his running, he strayed out of the dense fog.
Before you stands an aged bone spirit, pleading for your help to guide him into the dense fog in search of his lost companions. He has no reward to offer, but if you are willing to help him, he is ready to give you his own soul bone.
[You were shocked to learn that the Lantern-Bearing Skeleton's soul bone was generated by himself, meaning it was a part of his own body. If it were removed, he would lose not only a powerful ability but also a precious part of his own body!]
"The team was in danger under my leadership. All I wanted was to get them out of there. Even if they left me after I lost my ability, it didn't matter. I just wanted to fulfill my responsibility."
The aged bone spirit spoke these words on behalf of the lantern-bearing skeleton. They exchanged a glance and smiled with relief. It seemed that this was more in line with their goal than climbing the mountain to leave the sea of stars.
Ultimately, forming a team to lead someone through this difficult journey before they even enter a competition is already somewhat abnormal.
You paused for a moment, feeling a slight stirring within you. Unable to find a way around it, you thought you could try traversing the dense fog. As for the reward, you felt you didn't really need it. However, seeing the smiles on the bone spirit and the skeleton's faces, you didn't immediately refuse.
Without delay, you immediately reached an agreement with the Bone Spirit, had the Lantern-Bearing Skeleton perch on your back, and then flapped your wings and took flight.
Before plunging into the thick fog, you glanced back at the plain. Apart from the road you had come from, the plain stretched endlessly to the left and right. It was vast and desolate; even with the thick fog swirling over it, it occupied less than one percent of the plain's area.
"Since that's the case, what's there to be afraid of?" You laughed and plunged into the thick fog.
……
"That way!"
The lantern-bearing skeleton clung to Latis's side, struggling to raise its lantern amidst the turbulent flight, attempting to illuminate the road ahead in the dense fog where visibility was less than five meters.
The elderly bone spirit widened his eyes, searching for any possible traces in the chaotic vision. Suddenly, he poured a large amount of soul power into the lantern, illuminating a patch of ground not far away, and shouted:
Look over there!
Under the light, Latis felt that his body had indeed gained some benefits. He quickly flew to the illuminated ground and looked at the marks on the ground.
It was a series of messy footprints, as if someone had fallen here and left marks like cutting lines in their frantic struggle.
"They're my teammates!"
The elderly bone spirit whispered:
“Those are the marks left by his arm blade. Yes, this is the hand bone, this is where his arm blade was!”
Latis stroked his chin, looked in the direction the footprints had disappeared into, took a deep breath, and with a flick of his bone wings, shot out like an arrow released from a bow.
……
You glided through the thick fog like a high-speed fighter jet, the faint vibrations around you making you instinctively lower your movements. Remembering the demonic wolf the birdman had described, you became wary.
Fortunately, thanks to your lightning-fast, zigzagging flight, you quickly found the first lost team member. He was somewhat listless, but thankfully unharmed; he had simply exhausted himself in his frantic escape.
Upon seeing you, he appeared extremely shocked and incredulous. Only after repeatedly confirming that it wasn't a hallucination did he join your group.
The successful rescue made you feel much lighter. You looked around, then headed in one direction and started running again at top speed.
……
However, the rescue operation suddenly became much more difficult. You underestimated the vastness of the fog; searching for a few lone individuals in this fog that stretched for countless kilometers was like finding a needle in a haystack.