Chapter 856

The goblin Yin Ding whipped his horse and galloped wildly, subconsciously avoiding the neat seedling field ahead. Although he was also puzzled as to why there would be seedling fields in the middle of nowhere, and although he knew that detouring would slow his speed, long-standing clan teachings made him try his best to avoid these seedling fields, preferring to take risks rather than step on them.

Do not step on seedlings, do not burn fields, do not waste food, otherwise you will die—Silver Commerce Society secret training.

Yin Ding scoffed at this saying. He often saw farmers stepping on seedlings from time to time, and in times of war, the burning of fields and houses was even more frequent, yet he had never seen anyone suddenly die from it.

If one said they would die of old age decades later, what did that have to do with stepping on seedlings or burning fields?

Although he didn't believe it, the long-term education he had received had subtly changed some things. In his panic, he had no time to think and instinctively detoured.

He continued to whip his horse and gallop, but just by detouring, the sand bandits were even closer, and he could clearly hear the sand bandits' arrogant words: "Trample over them..."

This made Yin Ding somewhat annoyed. These sand bandits were indeed coming for him. If he had known, he wouldn't have detoured earlier and would have just trampled over them. May the God of Crafty Merchants protect me...

Just as he thought of this, a series of screams suddenly rang out behind him. Yin Ding looked back and saw a skeleton spring up from the sand, wielding a bone club, one hit per person, one hit per person.

All the galloping sand bandits' horses seemed to sink into the sand, throwing the sand bandits off their backs. Before they could even land, they were hit one by one and lost all sound.

Yin Ding was dumbfounded, seemingly unable to understand the scene before his eyes. He even forgot to drive his horse, and the horse beneath him slowly came to a stop.

His two guards were the same, both stunned by the scene behind them. After a long while, one of the guards muttered, "Is that the summoner from this evening?"

The other guard said, "What a strong skeleton! Why did the sand bandits suddenly fall off? Is there a mage casting spells? Is the summoner nearby?"

Only Yin Ding had the clan teachings surface in his heart: "Skeleton, saplings... Heavens, could the clan teachings be true? Does stepping on seedlings really lead to death?"

Yin Ding dismounted and walked back, and the two guards hurriedly followed. They soon arrived at the place where the battle had occurred. Seeing the situation of the battle clearly, one of the guards whispered, "It's the Quicksand Spell. Sure enough, there is a mage nearby."

Great Xiao Gu's Soil Loosening Spell was mistaken for the Quicksand Spell. These two magic effects were indeed quite similar, so it was no surprise they were mistaken.

The galloping horses sank immediately upon stepping onto the loosened sand. At this moment, Great Xiao Gu was pulling their hooves out of the sand one by one.

Yin Ding bypassed the seedling field, stopped far away, and shouted loudly, "Summoner, my lord, thank you for your help! I am Yin Ding, president of the Silver Commerce Society. Thank you very much for your help. May I come over?"

He had called him "my lord" earlier, but now he had changed it to "my lord" (adult/master), switching very smoothly.

Silver Commerce Society? Great Xiao Gu tilted his head. Such a familiar name. So, he nodded.

After Yin Ding came over, there was another round of sincere thanks. Great Xiao Gu ignored him, busying himself with pulling the horses out and then continuing to plant his trees.

Yin Ding's social skills were beyond doubt, but the problem was that he was facing Great Xiao Gu, and no matter how strong his social skills were, they were useless. Making small talk with a skeleton was about the same as reading a book to a Tauren.

Seeing that Great Xiao Gu ignored them and didn't drive them away, he retreated to the side somewhat helplessly.

Yin Ding gathered firewood and tried to start a fire, while the two guards returned the way they came to check on the situation of the others at the previous campsite and incidentally retrieve some useful items.

After a long time, the two guards returned dragging a carriage, shaking their heads at Yin Ding from afar.

Yin Ding sighed in disappointment. This head-shaking meant that the others in the caravan were likely doomed. The sand bandits were cruel, and Yin Ding had been mentally prepared, but once confirmed, he still couldn't help but feel some grief.

These people were all his most loyal guards; even on the desperate road of fleeing, they had protected him with all their might. Everyone had long been like family.

"Did you bury them?" Yin Ding asked.

The two guards nodded sorrowfully; that was exactly why they had been gone for so long.

Yin Ding nodded solemnly, opened his spatial accessory, and took out two strange ritual items: one looked like a staff but had many bones hanging from it, and the other looked like a gong, also with many bones hanging from its edges.

Yin Ding held the gong in his right hand and the staff in his left, shaking them gently and tapping them lightly, then began to chant: "You have stopped breathing, but you have not yet died; soul flames shall replace your breath... Friends and family have all left you, yet there are still those who sing of your deeds. In the endless night and day, I call upon your soul and memory..."

Yin Ding's voice was very sorrowful and desolate, like a soul's lament and an ancient cry. The sound echoed in the wilderness, soothing the grieving souls.

The two grieving guards calmed down, listening to Yin Ding's chanting in a trance.

Great Xiao Gu also couldn't help but stop, listening to this familiar ballad.

He had heard Wang sing this song, but the lyrics had been changed a lot. Some words were hummed with the soul, but Yin Ding was singing with his throat, resulting in no effect.

By the time the first verse was sung, Great Xiao Gu had already memorized the rhythm. When Yin Ding sang it a second time, he hummed along with his soul: "You have stopped breathing..."

Yin Ding could not hear soul fluctuations, but he had been singing the Song of the Departed his whole life and knew its changes too well. At this moment, he felt that the song he was singing had "come alive."

How to describe this feeling? It was probably the difference between singing a cappella and suddenly having harmony. Then, he watched with his own eyes as the sand bandits Great Xiao Gu had beaten to death earlier were sung "alive" one after another, crawling up from the ground one by one.

Yin Ding looked at the corpses crawling up in shock, then looked at Great Xiao Gu, who was opening his mouth, seemingly understanding something.

His two guards looked at Yin Ding in shock, then looked at the corpses, seemingly also understanding something.

After singing the entire chapter of the Song of the Departed, Yin Ding immediately ordered the two guards: "Go, check the place where everyone was buried earlier and see if there are any changes?" Hopefully, they hadn't all crawled up like the ones here.

The guards soon returned to report: "President, the grave mounds are all fine, but this kind of thing has grown on the graves." As he spoke, he handed over a handful of moss.

"This is grave grass." The knowledgeable Yin Ding recognized what it was at a glance, which shocked him even more. He knew his own level too well; let alone singing corpses back to life, even singing grave grass out—being able to sing accurately was already quite good. These were definitely not his own abilities.

The only difference from the memorial ceremonies he had presided over in the past was the addition of a skeleton. Thinking of this, Yin Ding trotted over and asked Great Xiao Gu respectfully, "Summoner, my lord, may I ask if you know the goblin Silver Coin?"