The following morning, the sun rose on the horizon and the cool gentle breeze filled the air.
However, the crowd in front of the ruins did not appreciate the breeze. Their hearts and minds were at the ruin’s entrance.
It had been five days since they entered the ruin and yet, only a handful of people managed to come out.
And if this continued, it was only a matter of time before they were lost forever.
With their patience running thin, the leaders could not hold back any longer.
While most were waking from their sleep, hoping their people would come. A group marched toward the ruin entrance with firm determination.
"What are they doing?"
"Are they going to enter the ruin?"
"That’s crazy! Have they forgotten how dangerous the ruin is?"
"What could they do? We’ve all been waiting like fools for the past five days. I guess they couldn’t hold back any longer."
Looking at the group, no one tried to stop them. Everyone was curious, waiting to see what would happen.
They rushed into the ruin entrance at the same time but what came out was their miserable scream.
Their soul-rending scream sent shivers down the spines of the crowd. Everywhere was silent. They widened their eyes with disbelief.
Before they could wrap their heads around what just happened, they saw something sent out of the ruin entrance.
All eyes moved to the object that came out of the ruin entrance. And behold, it was human skeletons.
A person cried in panic and took a step back.
Watching the skeletons, their expressions shifted from shock to seriousness.
The message was clear.
Every leader wore a grave expression with various thoughts flashing through their eyes.
What type of power could turn many First Rated Martial Artists into skeletons in seconds?
Even a Master Martial Artist could not do that.
From this, everyone knew the situation had spiraled out of their control and the chance of them retrieving their people was close to zero.
With the thought settling in, sorrow and grief gnawed on their hearts like a vice.
Suddenly, the entrance twisted and a group stumbled out.
"Look! Another group has come out!" A voice shouted.
His voice cut through the gloomy atmosphere hanging in the air.
"Ah! My son!" A man shouted in tears as he rushed to meet his injured son.
Out of the group, only one or two people could remain standing. Most of them lay on the ground, trying to catch their breath.
They were covered in blood, bruises and various degrees of injuries.
Quickly, the various forces came out to help their men. Right now, no one cared if they managed to find any treasure or not.
From the Jun clan, two First Rated Martials returned. The two Master Martial Artists overseeing the situation breathed a sigh of relief.
Slowly, the quiet crowd came to life. Almost half of the force had one or two that managed to return.
While the crowd was still trying to understand what happened inside the ruin, another group rushed out.
Their number was close to fifty.
With more people coming, the gloomy air began to dissipate. Hope was restored in everyone’s heart.
The Gong clansmen dominated half of the people that returned, followed by the Mystic Path Sect.
Among them was Mei Ling. Her robe was tattered, hair disheveled, blood leaking from the corner of her lips.
She was the only student from the Frostwind Academy.
When she found teachers from her academy, she approached them without any change in her expression.
More and more people came out. And the people learned the horror of the ruin.
Mao Yun and Zhang Wei stumbled out of the ruin. Mao Yun’s condition was bad with various grievous injuries on his body.
Zhang Wei quickly supported him and left the ruin entrance.
Standing a couple of meters from the ruin entrance, the Silver Star City Lord looked at the entrance with a worried expression.
His two sons had yet to come out.
With how dangerous the situation was getting, he knew his sons must come out now.
To breach the Dark Skeletons guarding the entrance, it took a lot of force with many people dying.
The entrance twisted once again and another group came out. They were the Jun clansmen.
In the lead was Jun Zhenya. She had a deep gash on her chest but she seemed not to care.
She turned in the direction of her clan and marched forward fearlessly. Her eyes were cold, filled with killing intent.
Looking at Jun Zhenya, one of the Gong clan elders wore a grave expression.
"This is bad..." He mused and rushed into the tent to report the situation to the others.
Jun Wu stood inside the study, thinking about yesterday’s assassination attempt.
He caught the assassin’s leader and tried to question him but the assassin leader was more ruthless than he thought.
He bit his tongue and died.
Thus, he could not find out who wanted him dead.
He had a few enemies but could not pinpoint who sent assassins to kill him while everyone’s attention was on the ruin.
He suspected his clan and the Gong clan but he could not rule others out.
Shaking his head, he decided not to think too much about it and his gaze shifted to the mural he hung on the wall.
This was the strange mural he found in the ruin.
He stared intently at the mural and he felt his surroundings change and his thoughts slowing down.
The feeling was bizarre but it only lasted a couple of seconds before it disappeared.
"What’s that?!" He exclaimed.
He wiped off the bead of sweat from his forehead with his heart still pounding heavily.
The feeling was unlike anything he ever felt. He tried to invoke the feeling again but the mural did not react.
"I can’t rush. I need to take it slow..." He mused.
Although he wanted to unearth the mural’s secret. He knew he must not be impatient.
Suddenly, a frantic knock came from the door.
Creasing his brow, he rose to his feet and opened the door.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Young Master, Uncle Mao and Uncle Zhang have returned." Xinyue announced happily.
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