荒墟牧神 - 第9章 粉骨遺城迎黑潮 - 雲海書庫

ame to kill me. Am I not the innocent one?" Senior Sister Qing gritted her teeth. "Little fiend, you still dare to quibble—" "Demon my eye!" Shen Mu shot back. "Granny and I killed only one deer to make clothes, and you call us demons. But you killed a herd of deer, and you still dare call us demons?" Senior Brother Qu's face darkened and he stepped forward. "This little fiend is good at deceiving people. No more words with him—kill him now!" The three were about to act when low roars came one after another. Startled, they looked around and saw nearly a thousand demon beasts gathered in these ruins, including no few lord-tier demon beasts, all staring at them with hostile faces and murderous light in their eyes. Senior Brother Qu knew this was bad and quietly stepped back. Seeing that the three made no move, the beasts also settled down and made no further move. Shen Mu clucked his tongue in wonder. Those demon beasts would ordinarily fight savagely over territory and prey, yet now they kept the peace—exceedingly strange. "Could it be that they have made a rule: no fighting or killing in the ruins?" Shen Mu blinked. Many of the beasts were mortal enemies that would not stop before death, yet they too remained at peace, which meant his guess was right. The villagers often said that demon beasts had spiritual intelligence. The underworld ape Shen Mu had met could even talk, calling him "little runt" at every turn. So it was quite possible these demon beasts really had established rules here. Senior Brother Qu had thought of this as well and let out a relieved breath. "No fighting tonight," he said in a low voice. "Wait until dawn, then kill him at once." Senior Sister Qing and the other youth nodded. Shen Mu looked around. The ruins covered a vast area, set in the canyon like a city. Demon beasts were everywhere—except on the plaza, where not a single one stood. The plaza was filled only with skeletons, human bones, some two or three hundred of them, who had died here for unknown reasons and still wore magnificent garments. "They are all women." And strangely, these female skeletons all sat cross-legged in orderly ranks—fifteen rows, fifteen dry bones to a row—as if a catastrophe had struck while they were meditating, giving them no time to flee, and in an instant they had died and become dry bones. He went to the edge of the plaza and looked closely. These female skeletons had a leader among them, who sat cross-legged at the front of the ranks. All of them, including the leader, faced the enormous gateway, turned in the same direction. "Senior Brother, look!" Senior Sister Qing's eyes lit up. She jerked her chin toward the skeletons on the plaza and whispered, "They have treasures in their hands! Every single one of them!" Senior Brother Qu swept his gaze across them and could not keep his heart from hammering. Some of the skeletons held precious swords, some grasped horsetail whisks, some wore jade pendants, some hugged treasure vases—weapons and treasures of every description. The treasures still gleamed brightly, as if fresh from the furnace, and were clearly extraordinary. The most striking of all was the luminous pearl in the skeleton leader's hand. It floated above her palm, and within it something like mist and rosy clouds seemed to drift. This place was actually an immeasurable treasure vault! "If we could only obtain these treasures..." Senior Sister Qing whispered, her breathing quickening. Even the treasure house of the Five Elders of Lanjiang could not compare with one ten-thousandth of this! If they gained this treasure, they could set up their own household and found a sect of their own. Senior Brother Qu's eyes flickered, and he smiled. "Heaven has not been unkind to us! Junior Brother Five, go and fetch those treasures." Junior Brother Five stepped forward. The moment he entered the plaza, the whisk strands on one female skeleton's hand stirred and floated upward. Strand after strand, like living creatures, slow