Chapter 301

Chapter 300

Wen Qiao's gaze suddenly froze.

"What's wrong?" Ning Yuzhou asked, his eyes falling on the lake outside, where he saw the corpse in the water as well.

Wen Qiao said, "This corpse is holding onto the thousand-thread vine and won't let go."

These words drew the attention of Pei Qiyu, Su Molan, and Baili Chi.

Baili Chi thought Wen Qiao was just trying to take advantage of the situation and didn't realize she dared to fish for corpses. Seeing the corpse in the lake entangled with the thousand-thread vine, he didn't think much of it, until he heard Pei Qiyu say, "It seems it wants to be fished up."

Baili Chi: "..."

Wen Qiao said, "Alright, I'll give it a try."

Seeing her actually grab the thousand-thread vine and start pulling, Baili Chi felt uneasy.

"Are you really going to pull it up? What if it attacks?" Having witnessed the ferocity of the corpse attacking the boat earlier, Baili Chi was somewhat worried.

Wen Qiao replied casually, "No problem, if it attacks, we'll just throw it back into the lake."

Looking at Ning Yuzhou and Su Molan, both had expressions of agreement.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Wen Qiao slowly reeled in the thousand-thread vine, and the corpse that had been clinging to it was gradually dragged out of the lake.

With a splash, the corpse broke through the water, like a parabola, landing on the deck.

They quickly dragged the corpse to a corner to avoid being seen by the patrolling skeletons.

Although they didn't know the relationship between the skeletons and the corpses, from the previous battle between the corpses and the skeletons, where many skeletons fell into the water and disappeared, it seemed these two were enemies. If the skeletons discovered they had brought a corpse onto the ship, they would likely not react kindly.

Just then, a group of skeletons passed by, noticing the gathered group and making a clattering sound before leaving.

Baili Chi helpfully translated, "The skeletons said, don't get too close to the edge of the boat, or another corpse might attack and end up in the lake again."

Though the skeletons were just bone structures, they were somewhat considerate.

Everyone pretended not to hear and looked at the corpse Wen Qiao had fished up.

At first glance, everyone was stunned by the corpse's beauty.

Earlier, through the water, the beauty was somewhat blurred, and the surrounding atmosphere and dim moonlight had diminished its appeal. Moreover, with fragments of spirit artifacts occasionally floating by, no one paid much attention to what the corpse in the lake looked like. Only when Wen Qiao dragged the corpse up and there was no longer any water blocking the view did they notice the corpse's appearance.

Despite the ghastly pale complexion, it did not detract from its unparalleled beauty, even making people forget the corpse's gender and immerse themselves in the flawless beauty.

At this moment, Wen Qiao suddenly reached out and swiftly pulled open the corpse's clothing, revealing a flat chest.

Her action was so quick that even Ning Yuzhou didn't have time to stop her—nor did he expect his young wife to do such a thing, especially pulling open another man's clothes right in front of him.

"It's a man!" Wen Qiao stated confidently.

The group looked at her with a mix of surprise and awkwardness, unsure of what to say.

Whether it was their imagination or not, after Wen Qiao pulled open the corpse's clothing, the aura around the corpse seemed slightly off. When they looked more closely, it was still just a lifeless and aura-less corpse.

Since it was a corpse, there was no question of respect; after all, a corpse couldn't protest.

Wen Qiao moved the corpse around, saying in surprise, "He looks like this, I wonder if he feels inferior."

"Why should he feel inferior?" Su Molan was confused. Why would someone who looks good feel inferior?

"Look, it's fine that the corpse looks like this, but every part of his body is perfect, almost as if it was grown in the best possible way, better than women. It's too out of place, feeling inferior is normal. Could it be because he looks like this that he ended up as a corpse in Corpse Lake?"

This logic was too strong, and no one could respond.

Seeing her about to pull the sleeve of the corpse's clothing, Ning Yuzhou quickly stopped her. When she looked at him in confusion, he said, "Chui, don't touch the corpse randomly. We don't know if it has anything unclean on it."

Wen Qiao realized, "Husband is right, I'll use a spirit dagger."

Ning Yuzhou: "..."

If the corpse had consciousness, it would probably jump up and curse this couple.

In the end, Wen Qiao used a spirit dagger to lift the corpse's clothing and examined it thoroughly—fortunately, Ning Yuzhou had stopped her, otherwise the most private parts of the corpse would have been exposed to everyone's view. If this person were still alive, they would probably be so angry they'd want to kill someone.

After the examination, Wen Qiao was puzzled, "Strange, where's the gourd?"

"What gourd?"

Wen Qiao then told them about the corpse and the gourd-shaped spirit artifact she had encountered during the battle. Immediately, everyone looked at the corpse with a strange expression.

Could it still be alive? Otherwise, why would it prevent Wen Qiao from fishing away the gourd-shaped spirit artifact and now come to them voluntarily?

But no matter how they investigated, it was still just a lifeless corpse with no unusual signs.

Although puzzled, the corpse couldn't answer, and they knew little about Corpse Lake, so they could only suppress their doubts.

As for this beautiful corpse, Wen Qiao directly put it into her storage bag, placing it next to the other Yuan Sheng Realm corpse, treating them equally.

"Husband, the corpse we just got, besides not decaying, doesn't seem very useful," Wen Qiao whispered to Ning Yuzhou, "It's not as good as the first one. At least the first one was a Yuan Sheng Realm, and we could use it as a meat shield in danger. I'll fish up a few more, and I must get another Yuan Sheng Realm one."

Faced with her ambitious goal, Ning Yuzhou didn't know what to say, so he smiled and said, "Don't force it."

Wen Qiao happily resumed her position, ready to fish for more corpses.

Finding it quite interesting, Baili Chi also took out a snow-white silver thread, tied it to a spirit artifact, and threw it into the lake.

Unexpectedly, once the silver thread entered the lake, it was no longer under his control, and finally, it broke into two pieces. One piece remained tied to the spirit artifact, while the other sank into the lake.

"How could this be?" Baili Chi said in confusion. "This is ten-thousand-year-old snow silkworm silk; it shouldn't break so easily."

Could the vine in Wen Qiao's hand be even stronger than the ten-thousand-year-old snow silkworm silk?

The young Baili was somewhat reluctant to accept it.

Pei Qiyu patted his shoulder, comforting him, "Your ten-thousand-year-old snow silkworm silk is strong, but anything that enters the lake will only sink to the bottom."

Seeing Wen Qiao reel up one Tier-King spirit artifact after another, how could Pei Qiyu and Su Molan not be tempted? They also tried Wen Qiao's method, attempting to fish something out of the lake, but no matter what spirit artifact they used, once it entered the lake, they lost control and couldn't manipulate it like Wen Qiao did with the thousand-thread vine.

This made them realize that the mysteries within the lake were not something cultivators could casually touch. Even if they knew there were treasures in the lake, they couldn't easily retrieve them.

Baili Chi, understanding this, felt a bit disappointed at first, but soon shifted his attention.

He was very interested in the thousand-thread vine in Wen Qiao's hand.

Other spirit artifacts and rare treasures couldn't touch the lake water, but the thousand-thread vine was unaffected, indicating its power. Could there be some profound secret behind it?

Wen Qiao generously gave him a seed of the thousand-thread vine, "I heard that in ancient times, many wood-attribute cultivators would use the thousand-thread vine to assist in battles. It has many uses."

"Is that so? Unfortunately, I am not a cultivator with a wood-attribute spirit root."

Baili Chi played with the thousand-thread vine seed in his hand, still looking at the vine in Wen Qiao's hand, unable to understand why the thousand-thread vine could touch the lake water while other things couldn't.

Pei Qiyu and Su Molan were equally puzzled, making this an unsolved mystery.

Only Ning Yuzhou, leaning against the boat railing and watching Wen Qiao work, seemed to have a hunch.

After several more hours of waiting, Wen Qiao still had no success.

Fishing for corpses wasn't as simple as wanting to catch them. When a corpse appeared, it usually vanished quickly, and without keen eyesight and quick reflexes, it was impossible to catch them.

Moreover, the lake water seemed to contain some force that hindered her from reeling in the corpses.

A splash broke the surface of the water.

The sound was extremely subtle, and the skeletons on the bone boat didn't notice it, but Wen Qiao, who had been staring at the lake, heard it. She looked up and saw a large, wet fur ball floating to the surface under the moonlight, its round shape resembling a large dumpling soaked in water.

Wen Qiao was instantly delighted and quickly stimulated the growth of the thousand-thread vine cells, extending the vines toward where Wen Qiuqiu was.

"Chirp chirp~"

Wen Qiuqiu grabbed the vine and allowed it to drag him back to the bone boat.

The others finally noticed the commotion and were overjoyed to see Wen Qiuqiu emerge safely from the lake, quickly helping to protect him as he came aboard.

Only Baili Chi was dumbfounded.

"How did Wen Qiuqiu end up in the lake?" Baili Chi asked, suddenly worried.

"It jumped in on its own," Ning Yuzhou said nonchalantly.

When Wen Qiuqiu was pulled onto the boat, its fur had already dried. Baili Chi was the first to rush over, rubbing the silver-white fur until he confirmed that Wen Qiuqiu was unharmed, then he let out a sigh of relief.

Wen Qiuqiu handed him a piece of honey fat and chirped a few times at Wen Qiao.

Hearing Wen Qiuqiu's chirps, Wen Qiao and Baili Chi's expressions turned serious.

Wen Qiao said to Ning Yuzhou, "Husband, Wen Qiuqiu says there is a bone of an immortal below. The reason the corpses in the lake attack passing boats is because of this immortal bone."

"That's right," Baili Chi said solemnly. "The immortal bone has fallen to demonic influence. Although it is bound to the lake bottom and cannot leave, it can control the corpses in the lake, turning them into the ferocious zombies that the skeletons speak of."

Ning Yuzhou listened quietly, saying nothing.

Pei Qiyu and Su Molan seemed stunned by this revelation, their gazes simultaneously falling on Baili Chi.

Seeing their looks, Baili Chi hurriedly asked, "Do you have any questions? Do you not believe me?"

"No, we believe you," Pei Qiyu said sincerely. "But we're curious, how do you understand Wen Qiuqiu's language?"

Baili Chi: "It's easy to understand. I just listen and I get it."

Pei Qiyu and Su Molan: "..."

This answer was similar to when they asked him how he understood the skeletons' language. He really just listened and understood. How come they couldn't do that?

They didn't doubt why Wen Qiao could understand Wen Qiuqiu, assuming that since Wen Qiuqiu was one of her contract beasts, the bond between master and beast naturally allowed them to communicate.

Seeing Baili Chi's clueless expression, Pei Qiyu decided to ignore him and directly asked Wen Qiao, "Miss Wen, is there anything else in the lake besides the demonic immortal bone?"

Wen Qiao shook her head, "Wen Qiuqiu says there's only this."

At that moment, Wen Qiuqiu chirped happily at Wen Qiao, pulling out a bone from under its long fur and happily handing it to her.

The bone was as white and flawless as jade, looking like a fine piece of jade, and emitted an extremely powerful aura.

Fortunately, Ning Yuzhou had already set up an array around them, preventing the bone's aura from attracting the attention of the skeletons on the boat and Liu Qingyun.

Even so, the group was stunned.

"This is an immortal bone?" Baili Chi exclaimed. "Wen Qiuqiu, you brought up an immortal bone from the lake?"

Wen Qiuqiu chirped and handed the immortal bone to Wen Qiao, then took out a piece of honey fat and began eating it.

"Is this for me?" Wen Qiao asked.

"Chirp chirp."

Receiving Wen Qiuqiu's confirmation, Wen Qiao examined the palm-sized immortal bone in her hand, unsure of its use, and passed it to Ning Yuzhou.

Good things should naturally be given to one's own husband.

The three people beside them watched with envy and jealousy, unsure whether they were envious of Wen Qiao, who was solely devoted to Wen Qiuqiu, or of Ning Yuzhou’s good fortune, as if all the good things in the world had fallen upon these two.

Ning Yuzhou examined the immortal bone in his hand and suddenly said, "This immortal bone is made of the same material as the Bone Town Order."

"What?"

The three were instantly stunned by his words. Baili Chi quickly took out his Bone Town Order.

Upon comparison, it was indeed found that the bones were of the same material, but the Bone Town Order lacked the aura of the immortal bone, which was why they hadn’t previously compared the two.

Ning Yuzhou placed the Bone Town Order and the immortal bone together and said, "Although the Bone Town Order was originally an immortal bone, after being artificially refined and used multiple times, the divine power it once contained has dissipated, leaving only some residual power sealed within the token. It is estimated that after a few more uses, it will lose its power and become an ordinary object."

After his explanation, everyone finally understood the function of the Bone Town Order.

If the Bone Town Order was indeed made from an immortal bone, and the immortal bone came from the Thirteen Palaces of Dry Bones, it was no wonder cultivators could use the Bone Town Order to directly enter the Thirteen Palaces of Dry Bones, saving much effort and time.

Baili Chi mused, "So that's how it is. No wonder when our masters gave us the Bone Town Orders, they instructed us to leave the Thirteen Palaces of Dry Bones immediately if the order showed any cracks, and not to linger..."

Suddenly, Pei Qiyu felt a stirring in his heart and couldn't help but glance at Wen Qiao.

Even before entering the Thirteen Palaces of Dry Bones, he could sense something unusual, and even on the main street of Bone Town, he could distinguish the true path into the Thirteen Palaces of Dry Bones... It could be said that without Wen Qiao leading the way, they might not have taken the correct path to enter the Thirteen Palaces of Dry Bones. And then there was Wen Qiao fishing for spiritual artifacts and corpses in Corpse Lake...

He decided to give the immortal bone to Ning Yuzhou, intending to try and refine another Bone Town Order.

For this purpose, he had specially observed the Bone Town Order in Baili Chi's hand.

"Master Baili, do you know where the Bone Town Order comes from?" Wen Qiao asked curiously.

Baili Chi shook his head, "I haven't heard anything about it. I asked my master, but they didn't know either, saying it was obtained by chance."

The bone boat had been sailing on Corpse Lake for nearly five days and finally reached the opposite shore.

As the bone boat docked, Liu Qingyun and the others descended from the third deck. Their divine senses swept over, and they saw Baili Chi standing on the deck, talking to Wen Qiao and the others.

As they approached, they just happened to hear Wen Qiao bidding farewell to Baili Chi.

Sang Yufei and Ge Rusong were delighted, thinking it was great that they were finally parting ways and wouldn't have to worry about their junior brother accidentally revealing their secrets.

Just as they were rejoicing, they heard Baili Chi say with reluctance, "Aren't you coming with us? We're already so familiar, why don't you—"

"Baili Junior Brother!"

Sang Yufei interrupted him, hurriedly walking over and grabbing Baili Chi, a fake smile on her face as she bid farewell to Wen Qiao and the others, "We have other matters to attend to next, so we won't be traveling with you."

Wen Qiao glanced at her obviously fake smile, understanding her predicament, and said nothing.

Only Baili Chi, hesitating to speak, was ultimately dragged away by his senior sister.