Chapter 43
Chapter 43: Reborn
Han Shuo whizzed all the way back and suddenly detected that Gene hadn’t gone to bed yet when he returned to the campground. He was sitting outside his tent instead, bored to death.
“Eh, Bryan. Have you seen Fanny or Lisa?” Gene immediately stood up and asked when he heard Han Shuo’s footsteps.
Nodding, Han Shuo said faintly, “I did. Master Fanny and Lisa will be back shortly. Master Gene, why haven’t you gone to sleep yet?”
“Oh, because Clark suddenly left for some business. He asked me to give Fanny his apologies. Hah, that Clark left without giving a reason. How baffling.”
Han Shuo’s thoughts raced after hearing Gene’s words, and he immediately understood that Clark must have left abruptly because he knew that he would be unable to explain his actions for bumping into and angering Fanny and Lisa at the pool.
“I see. Master Gene, I still need to collect a few things from nearby. When Master Fanny and Lisa return, please tell them that I’ll return at daybreak.” Han Shuo quickly headed south after he’d spoken, not paying attention to whether Gene had agreed to pass along his message or not. He vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Although Han Shuo’s body wasn’t stiff and drained of energy, he was still feeling the effects of the Python’s tail whip. His body was truly injured, and he knew that Fanny and Lisa were bound to nag him for a while when they returned. This way, he’d be unable to use his magical yuan to repair his body. He therefore decided to temporarily avoid the situation and wait until morning. Their tempers would mostly be mollified by then, and there shouldn’t be anything major by that time.
There was a towering tree to the south with a thick branch heavily forested with twigs and leaves about ten meters from the ground. Han Shuo sat down Indian style and was deep in concentration, coalescing the magical yuan to repeatedly strengthen his body.
Time flew by unknowingly, and the slight aches in Han Shuo’s body faded away beneath the circulation of the magical yuan. Every inch of skin, flesh, tendon, and bone in his body felt like it was filled with surging strength.
Han Shuo concentrated his attention and suddenly noticed something strange. In other parts of the Dark Forest, sounds from bugs would carry on no matter how quiet it was, but upon reaching this place, Han Shuo realized that this place was almost desolately quiet. There wasn’t a single insect’s call and not a hint of life to be found.
Bizarre. Han Shuo felt that the entire area was filled with a strange aura, hidden under an ordinary exterior. This aura felt familiar and friendly to Han Shuo, as if he’d long since grown used to some things, but upon thinking carefully, Han Shuo realized that he had no idea what was going on.
Just as Han Shuo was completely lost and deep in thought, the round ball within the jade box suddenly levitated into the air as the ball used the green light on the surface to draw beams of magical lines through the air. Han Shuo could feel the strong magical pulses through the air, and that they were growing stronger the more the ball’s green light shone out.
After Han Shuo had noticed, he suddenly realized that the area bathed in the green light underwent changes that made his eyes bug out and his tongue tied. The weeds and shrubs on the ground would suddenly vanish without a trace whenever the green light touched it, to change into dry, grey, and dusty earth with piles of stark, white bones piled on it.
The leafy boughed, towering trees on the side also underwent eerie changes under the green light, changing into the skeletons of monstrous, dead creatures. If Han Shuo’s memory served him right, those enormous skeletons were the legendary bone dragons, the most terrifying kind of dark creature.
Death. An empty, desolate wilderness morphed into an eternal land of death under the rays of the green light.
There was an enormous grey castle half floating in air, half buried underground. A few odd, sharp spikes encircled the castle as numerous pictures of dark creatures were carved on the castle walls.
Han Shuo looked on for a while, completely gobsmacked. He finally muttered to himself in astonishment. “This… is this the legendary cemetery of death?”