Chapter 131: The Light Amidst the Encircling Bone Demons

“Hmm? There… is a light?” Maintaining communication with Wen Hui, Zhuang Xiaoyuan walked back along the road. Although she had found several paths leading to the small clinic, for some reason she still chose the old route. She remained deeply concerned about the group of bone demon rats that had gathered earlier.

As Zhuang Xiaoyuan passed again by the narrow alley where the bone demon rats had built their bone wall, a faint pale yellow glow quietly blossomed in the shadowy alley. Since the sun was already setting in the west and the sky was stained with dusk, visibility had decreased significantly. The sharp contrast in daylight that once obscured the darkness within the alley was now slightly clearer.

At the top of the white bone wall constructed by the bone demon rats, the pale yellow light reflected on the walls on either side. This glow unexpectedly breathed a hint of life into the otherwise pitch-black and eerie alley. What could this light be? It seemed as if it were deliberately encircled and protected by these bone demon rats. A strong sense of curiosity stirred within Zhuang Xiaoyuan.

As she tried to draw closer to observe more clearly, a pair of red glowing eyes suddenly lit up on the bone wall. With the sun setting and night approaching, it seemed the detection range of these bone demons had expanded. Without hesitation, upon noticing the red glow, Zhuang Xiaoyuan immediately turned and ran. Thanks to her quick reflexes, the red glint quietly extinguished after she left and did not pursue her.

Though deeply curious about what lay behind, she knew this was not the moment to explore further. She would wait until fully prepared before returning. Something that could be protected by bone demons without being destroyed, and that could infuse this grim alley with fresh vitality—perhaps it was one of the divine artifacts listed on the sacred relic rankings.

Ever since the arrival of the evil demons in this world, strange transformations had occurred everywhere. Some humans suddenly began communicating with guardian deities, gaining immense power, and other things had changed in mysterious ways.

It was as if, alongside the arrival of the evil demons, an opposing force had also descended. Several items capable of significantly enhancing divine warriors had appeared in the world. Humans compiled a list—the sacred relic rankings—ranking ten wondrous items discovered so far that greatly empowered these warriors. Perhaps behind these bone demon rats was one of these ten sacred relics, or even a new divine artifact yet to be discovered by humanity.

“Xiaoyuan, you’re so slow! Did something happen?” As soon as Wen Hui stepped through the clinic’s door, she complained. They had said over the comms they would arrive soon, but unexpected discoveries had delayed them quite a bit.

“Something did happen, though I’m not sure if it’s good or bad,” Zhuang Xiaoyuan replied as she entered and sat down on a bench, finally relaxing.

“Bad or good? What happened? You said you were almost here, then got delayed. Did you find something nearby?” Wen Hui’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as she began to speculate. Though usually lazy to think, when she did, her mind was sharp.

“I did find something valuable, but it’s difficult to obtain,” Zhuang Xiaoyuan said, taking a bite of the compressed food Wen Hui had brought. A faint aroma spread in her mouth as she spoke.

“Difficult? Is it guarded? Could it be a divine artifact nearby? One from the sacred relic rankings? Or something off the list?” Wen Hui’s eyes brightened with excitement, her curiosity now dozens of times stronger.

“I don’t know,” Zhuang Xiaoyuan shrugged helplessly.

“Don’t know? How can you not know? Didn’t you see the divine artifact?” Wen Hui had already concluded that Zhuang Xiaoyuan had indeed seen the artifact.

“I didn’t see it. I only noticed a strange phenomenon and suspect it might be a divine artifact,” Zhuang Xiaoyuan calmly replied, continuing to eat. Her calmness wasn’t due to stoicism—it was because she had already been excited once on the way back. Seeing Wen Hui hopping about like a child in excitement made for a pleasant scene in her eyes.

“Ah, I can’t stand it. I have to go see it,” Wen Hui said, pacing back and forth in the clinic’s hall before impulsively stepping outside.

“Oh, right. The divine artifact is in that alley where we went for food earlier. Be careful not to let those bone demons notice you,” Zhuang Xiaoyuan called after her with a faint smile.

After a few moments, footsteps quickly approached. Wen Hui returned silently. “Forget it. Since the bone demons didn’t attack, that means the divine artifact won’t run away. Better wait for you to come along.”

“Heh, alright, don’t rush. Let’s first study our current location. Once we’re ready to leave at any moment, we can go find the divine artifact and leave immediately. So, what did you find?” Zhuang Xiaoyuan comforted Wen Hui with a pat on the shoulder, her gaze already fixed on the map and several thick books on the table—books that did not seem like something Wen Hui would normally read.

The map was surprisingly old-fashioned, printed on fragile paper that tore easily. It only roughly marked the city limits, with no dangerous wilderness areas indicated—bad news for those planning to escape by car. Entering a dangerous area unknowingly could make escape difficult.

“Hehe, just the map isn’t enough to know our location, so I brought this as well,” Wen Hui said, ignoring the divine artifact talk, walking to the table and proudly showing a hefty book to Zhuang Xiaoyuan.

“The Chronicles of the Huacheng Incident? I see, so we’re in Huacheng. We’ve come quite far,” Zhuang Xiaoyuan read the cover text and began searching the map for Huacheng’s location. Three circles had been drawn on the map: Central City, Huacheng, and Maple City. It seemed Wen Hui had already marked them carefully.

(To be continued...)