Chapter 1247: The Killing Game of the White Bone Tomb

White bones stood like a forest, tombs piled like mountains, heaped upon one another—immaculate and ghastly.

This was the forbidden ground of the Bone-Art Tribe, the White Bone Tomb.

The "Endgame Ground" that the Daoist Wicked sealed with the Famine Calamity, encompassing dozens of mountain realms large and small, including the third-grade Zhu Que Mountain Realm.

The White Bone Tomb lay in the heart of the Zhu Que Mountain Realm, and so it had not been enveloped by the Famine Calamity.

At this moment, the ghastly white bone forest was soaked in fresh blood.

The Bone-Art Grand Chieftain, half-transformed into a demon and half-rotting, was pinned to the ground by General Lord Lugu's Demon-Slaying Bone Blade, which had pierced through his chest—he was on his last breath.

Corpses littered the surroundings.

Among these corpses were the Grand Chieftain's trusted confidants, as well as Lord Lugu's Jin Dan barbarian generals and numerous barbarian soldiers.

The fresh blood of the corpses flowed across the earth.

Many of the bone forests had been snapped in two, and some of the outer stele-tombs had been smashed to pieces—one could see that a grueling, bitter battle had taken place here before.

And now the fighting was over, and everything had been settled.

The Grand Chieftain had already been defeated by Lord Lugu, and his vitality was ebbing away bit by bit.

This was Mo Hua's second time seeing the Bone-Art Grand Chieftain.

This time he was closer, and Mo Hua could clearly see the wrinkles on the Grand Chieftain's face, deep as gullies, and those turbid eyes like those of a hawk.

Those eyes must surely have held many stories—some of hardship, some of filth.

But now, these stories would pass away together with the Bone-Art Grand Chieftain's life.

This should also be the last time Mo Hua would see the Bone-Art Grand Chieftain.

He was going to play a game of chess; playing chess inevitably means taking pieces, and a cold-hearted chess player would not care too much about the story of a single piece.

The Bone-Art Grand Chieftain raised his turbid eyes and glanced at Mo Hua.

This was also his second time seeing Mo Hua.

But this time, he did not dare to ignore this odd-looking youth who resembled a Lord Wuzhu.

Because in the fighting just now, it was he who had ordered Lord Lugu to kill.

It was he who had commanded the Abyss Bone Heavy-Armored Soldiers.

It was he who had told Lord Lugu of the openings in his own body, allowing Lord Lugu to use the treasure-grade Demon-Slaying Bone Blade to break through his bone-transformed demon body and take his withering life.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator, commanding the ancestor's heavy-armored soldiers.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator, ordering a late-stage Jin Dan general.

And with Lord Lugu's untamed temperament, he had actually obeyed him without question.

Obeyed a Foundation Establishment cultivator without question.

Even the dullest Bone-Art Grand Chieftain would have understood by now.

Understood that he had most likely fallen into someone's trap.

He very much wanted to know what identity this youth—who had reduced all his scheming and lifelong achievements to nothing—actually had.

But it was already too late; his life had reached its end.

The heavens had not granted him any more fate.

The Bone-Art Grand Chieftain, who in his youth had also been a generation's overlord, now had his lifespan nearing its end—like a piece of rotting deadwood, he felt only the fear of death:

"The victor becomes king, the vanquished a bandit… I exerted my heart and strength for a lifetime, paid such a great price… in the end… it was all for nothing…"

"In this life of a man, what in the end is the Dao, and what is an immortal…"

The Bone-Art Grand Chieftain finished speaking, died with his eyes open.

A generation's overlord had come to his end, but the ending was not a glorious one.

He died in the tribe's internal strife, at the hand of a general under his own command, and even before death, there had been no truly tragic, heroic duel.

Old age had made him far too weak, and time had been far too cruel to him.

But Lord Lugu let out a long breath; after slaying his enemy with his own hand, the gloom lodged in his chest had finally eased a little.

It was also enough to comfort his late elder brother's spirit in the heavens.

Now, there was only one thing left to do…

Lord Lugu turned his head to look at Mo Hua. "Mr. Wuzhu, I must offer the Grand Chieftain's heart to the ancestors; this is the custom of our Bone-Art Tribe."

Mo Hua did not know what sort of custom this was, but he still nodded. "Alright."

Lord Lugu then cut open the Grand Chieftain's chest, dug out his heart—bloody and dripping—and gripping it in one hand, walked toward the depths of the White Bone Tomb.

Lord Lugu had said the White Bone Tomb was perilous, but in truth, walking inside, aside from the bone-white filling one's eyes and an eerie, deathly silence, there was nothing else out of the ordinary.

The group kept walking deeper.

Lord Lugu gripped the Bone-Art Grand Chieftain's heart.

Tie Shugu and the others carried the Grand Chieftain's corpse on their shoulders.

They walked all the way to a massive bone tomb in the deeper reaches.

This bone tomb was towering and solemn, sealed shut inside; it seemed many ancestors of the Bone-Art Tribe were buried within.

Lord Lugu stopped his steps and ordered Tie Shugu to lay the Grand Chieftain's corpse on the bone table before them.

He himself placed the Grand Chieftain's heart into a white bone bowl before the altar.

Mo Hua was puzzled. "This is…"

Lord Lugu replied, "This is the custom of our Bone-Art Tribe. After every Grand Chieftain dies, regardless of his merits or faults in life, he must be sacrificed here in the Ancestral Bone Tomb, and only after his heart is offered to the Bone-Art Tribe can his body be buried in the bone tomb and find rest."

Saying this, Lord Lugu's gaze grew slightly heavy. "Perhaps when the Grand Chieftain was alive… he also felt his lifespan nearing its end, knew his fate was already sealed, and so came to the White Bone Tomb, wanting to die before the ancestors."

Lord Lugu had a grudge against the Grand Chieftain, but now that the Grand Chieftain was dead, a measure of respect had also crept into his words.

Mo Hua nodded.

Lord Lugu looked again at Tie Shugu, who had been silent all this while, and said, "Tie Shugu, you may begin the sacrificial dance."

Mo Hua was a little puzzled. "Does Tie Shugu have to dance too?"

Lord Lugu explained, "Tie Shugu takes 'bone' as his name because his ancestors were witch-cultivators who served the great Barbaric God, devoted to sacrificial dances."

"Oh…" Mo Hua nodded.

No wonder he always felt that Tie Shugu's dance was very good — it turned out his ancestors had a true lineage behind it.

It seemed his own eye for making Tie Shugu dance had been quite accurate after all.

Tie Shugu glanced at Lord Lugu, then stole a glance at Mo Hua. After a moment's hesitation, he walked with resolute eyes toward the altar before the enormous bone tomb.

He began to dance. His movements were somewhat comical, somewhat clumsy and ancient — at first like a prowling beast, then like a bird, and at the last like a fierce monster, his face savage, his limbs slightly twisted, carrying a desperate, lethal viciousness.

Mo Hua frowned. "What kind of dance is this? How come I've never seen it?"

Lord Lugu, however, no longer answered him.

Mo Hua's brows knit even tighter.

And very soon, Tie Shugu's dance reached its finale.

He took out a bone shard, and on it, in his own blood, he had written certain words of prayer to the ancestors.

The bone shard was cast into the white-bone sacrificial bowl that held the great chieftain's heart, and melted together with the blood.

The blood-written characters on the shard vanished into nothingness, as if delivered to the ancestors.

With a look of piety and resolve on his face, Tie Shugu swiftly drew a dagger, drove it into his own heart, then collapsed to the ground — his vitality severed, his breath gone.

Seeing Dan Zhu, the young lord of the Dan Que tribe, paled. "A life sacrifice?!"

Chifeng started awake in alarm and immediately looked toward Lord Lugu — only to find that Lord Lugu, at some unknown moment, had already drawn his bone-bladed demon-slaying saber, its savage edge hacking down toward the unguarded Mo Hua.

"How dare you?!"

Chifeng clenched his right hand, summoned a long spear, and planted it across in front of Mo Hua.

A sharp glint flashed in Lord Lugu's eyes. The blade-light suddenly swelled and slammed straight into Chifeng's spear. The fierce force on the blade overpowered the spear and bit into Chifeng's shoulder, leaving a deep wound.

Chifeng suddenly understood — the true intent of Lord Lugu's strike had not been to kill Mr. Wu, but had been aimed at him all along.

First, make a show of trying to kill Mr. Wu to lure him into rescuing.

Then, while he was hastily saving someone and had no time to attend to anything else, suddenly pour in Jin Dan power and slash him.

This way, temporarily cripple his mid-Jin Dan combat strength.

Chifeng, gravely wounded, felt a chill in his heart and rebuked harshly:

"Lord Lugu, what are you trying to do?"

Lord Lugu gave a cold snort and did not answer. Reversing his grip, he swung again to kill Mo Hua.

Seeing this, Dan Zhu immediately lunged forward to save Mo Hua, but was likewise forced back by a single slash from Lord Lugu. Then the four Shugu monsters stepped in and entangled Dan Zhu.

Lord Lugu hacked at Mo Hua once more.

The surrounding two hundred-plus Abyss Bone heavy-armored soldiers formed an encirclement, trying to throw themselves in front of Mo Hua.

But before they could truly close in, Ada Gu, who had previously surrendered, led the heavy-armored soldiers of the Shugu tribe and turned to intercept them.

The Dan Que tribe and the Shugu tribe — barbarian soldiers on both sides, clad in identical heavy armor — became locked in a slaughter with each other.

With this, everyone who could have helped Mo Hua had been pinned down.

Lord Lugu raised his saber again and hacked at Mo Hua. Mo Hua could only use movement arts to dodge.

But Lord Lugu did not truly seem to want to deliver a killing blow. Instead, borrowing the might of a late-stage Jin Dan saber, he sealed off Mo Hua's paths of life and drove Mo Hua up onto the bone-tomb altar.

After that, Lord Lugu stopped his hand.

Once Mo Hua had steadied himself, he looked at Ada Gu, who had "turned traitor," looked at Tie Shugu, who had offered up his own life, and finally turned his head to look at Lord Lugu. His expression calm, he said:

"How long have you all been planning this?"

Lord Lugu nodded. "Yes."

Mo Hua asked, "You want to kill me?"

Lord Lugu's expression was indifferent. "You are a demon, a demon that bewitches the hearts of men… The one who truly caused my elder brother to die with grievances unlaid and find no peace — perhaps it was Can Gu, perhaps it was the great chieftain. But the one who truly made my elder brother's death unclosed and unrestful… was actually you. I cannot tolerate a demon playing with my elder brother's corpse."

Mo Hua asked him, "Why not just kill me directly?"

Lord Lugu said, "You are not a man. I cannot kill you by the method used to kill a 'man.'"

"Why not give it a try? What if you strike once and I just die?" Mo Hua said.

Lord Lugu shook his head.

Mo Hua's words were clearly meant to lure him. He would not be led by a demon into taking a risk.

Mo Hua nodded and asked, "Then how do you plan to kill me?"

Lord Lugu's expression was solemn. "I considered it for a long time and found there was no way — I cannot kill you. Though you are only at Foundation Establishment, the 'demonic power' in your body is far too strong, far too inconceivable. Even if I found a way to destroy your flesh, crush your skull, sever your limbs, it would only be wiping out one husk of yours — it might not truly kill you."

"Therefore… I can only summon the ancestors to kill you."

A look of keen interest appeared on Mo Hua's face. "You can't kill me, but your ancestors can?"

Lord Lugu's gaze was stern, and with reverence he said, "The ancestors of the Shugu tribe possessed an inconceivable great-witch lineage. This lineage could, through blood and flesh, erase any existence from the level of cause and effect. But later generations were ignorant, and this lineage has already been lost. So if we are to kill you, we can only awaken the ancestors and let them bestow a curse, to wipe you — this demon — out from the root."

Mo Hua's expression visibly grew more solemn. "Aren't your ancestors dead? Can they still be awakened?"

Lord Lugu, however, was unwilling to answer, because the sacrifice had already begun.

After Tie Shugu finished his dance and offered up his own life-soul —

The White Bone Forest began to tremble, and a blood-colored hue began to spread.

From deep within the enormous tomb, some existence seemed to be gradually awakening.

A feeling of oppression filled the hearts of everyone present.

Suddenly, a curse-power that made the heart palpitate spread through the surroundings.

Beneath Mo Hua's feet, bone-white sharp claws sprouted one after another, firmly locking his feet and limbs in place.

Dan Zhu's face changed drastically. He called out, "Mr.!" Then he activated the Zhu Que Mystic Fire Li Lingyi, his body like flowing fire, and lunged toward Mo Hua, trying to pull him out.

It was feasible, but halfway through, he was sent flying back by a single slash from Lord Lugu.

Seeing Dan Zhu, blood at the corner of his mouth, roared angrily:

"Lord Lugu, you betrayed Mr. —a crime that cannot be pardoned!"

Lord Lugu laughed coldly. "Mr. this, Mr. that—have you never noticed that your so-called Mr. is not a normal person at all? Even the Lord Wuzhu of Wang Ting could not possess such divine power. You little fool—are you truly stupid, or merely pretending to be?"

Seeing Dan Zhu's face darkened.

Lord Lugu said coldly, "Or is it that you've already guessed it in your heart, but don't dare admit it?"

Seeing Dan Zhu clenched his teeth, as if no matter what Lord Lugu said, he still intended to go save Mo Hua.

Lord Lugu, who had a heart for cherishing talent, also seemed unwilling to take Seeing Dan Zhu's life, and only said coldly:

"Don't say I didn't warn you. The sacrifice has begun; the ancestor has already awakened. This altar is now a cursed ground. The bone claws reaching out from the realm of the dead carry ancient curse power—any mortal who touches them dies on the spot. If you don't value your own life, and don't care about the future of the tribe, then by all means, go ahead and try."

Seeing Dan Zhu looked anxious, at a loss for what to do.

Just at this moment, Mo Hua—caught by the bone claws, unable to break free—glanced calmly at Seeing Dan Zhu and gently shook his head.

He meant for him not to come over.

Seeing Dan Zhu's heart clenched.

At the corner of Mo Hua's mouth hung a mysterious smile, and he said in a gentle tone:

"I am the Lord Wuzhu of the Divine Lord; my life belongs to the Divine Lord. If I die here, it is because the Divine Lord wills me to die. But if the Divine Lord does not will me to die… then anyone, any curse, cannot kill me…"

Seeing Dan Zhu was stunned, and murmured, "Mr…"

Lord Lugu also furrowed his brow tightly.

And just at this moment, from deep within the White Bone Tomb came a shrill sound that made one's heart uneasy.

It sounded like bones grinding against each other, accompanied by the sound of a coffin opening.

Dense clusters of white bone claws reached up from underground, like a blooming flower of white bone, layer upon layer, completely sealing Mo Hua's body within them.

A purplish-red blood mist enveloped the altar entirely.

Mo Hua took one last look at everyone, then his face was covered by the bone claws, and his body was completely swallowed by the purple mist.

Seeing Dan Zhu, Chifeng, and the others looked anxious.

Lord Lugu's gaze grew colder and colder, though his brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

……

Deep within the White Bone Tomb, it was pitch-black and gloomy, utterly cut off from the outside world.

At this moment, an ancient white bone coffin opened.

From within the coffin crawled a decayed corpse.

This corpse was very tall, but more than half of it had already rotted away—half rotting flesh, half white bone—much like a bone corpse still walking in the netherworld.

Its eyeballs had also rotted away; it could see nothing, and could only rely on some memories from its life to feel its way to the altar, light the soul lamp, and mumble something.

Its throat had also rotted, its voice slurred and unclear:

"Don't know… how many years… unfilial descendants… ruined my great undertaking… and actually disturbed me, this old ancestor… to come kill for them…"

"Can't even die in peace…"

"I'd like to see… what kind of person… insists on having me, this old ancestor of the Laozu Sect, come kill…"

(End of this chapter)