24: Chapter 24 Blood Moon Altar, Wraiths Guarding the Gate

When the rooster's crow in Shimu Village pierced the dawn, the furnace in the workshop had been burning for an entire night.

The Descendant of Lu Ban embedded the final "Purification Rune" into the anti-resentment armor, pale golden patterns flowing across the surface of the armor, weaving with the halo of the corpse core fragment into a dense protective net.

"This batch of equipment can withstand intermediate resentment corrosion, and the 'Soul Suppression' effect added to the weapons can also interrupt the vengeful spirit's spellcasting."

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and handed a staff embedded with fragments to Qing Yao.

In the plaza, the players were making their final preparations before the battle.

Kuang Dao swung the reinforced wind-splitting sword, its crimson light cleaving through the morning mist, and the Purification Rune on the sword glowed with his movements: "Let's see how those vengeful spirits act arrogant now!"

Shadow Blade was calibrating the new "resentment tracker," and the newly added red warning line on the dial could detect the traces of elite vengeful spirits from three hundred meters away.

Lin Chen stood before the temple, rubbing the resentment crystal in his hand.

The eight characters "Blood Moon Night, grievance core Opens the City" on the surface of the crystal were becoming increasingly clear, and in his Earth Vein Perception, the resentment energy to the northwest was growing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"According to ancient records, the Blood Moon Altar is in the Nether Canyon on the west side of Black Wind Valley."

He unfolded the map drawn by the Descendant of Lu Ban, his fingertip tracing the canyon marked with a skull icon, "The altar is guarded by a vengeful spirit; we must find the key before sunset."

When the team set off, the morning mist had not yet dispersed.

Moving along the bone-strewn path of Black Wind Valley, the resentment in the air became increasingly thick, and the anti-resentment amulets worn by the players began to heat up slightly.

Arriving at the entrance of the Nether Canyon, a broken stone archway lay across the road, the four characters "Blood Moon Ancient Road" on the arch's lintel having been eroded into illegibility by black resentment.

"Watch your step!" Night Shadow suddenly stopped, pointing to a depression in the ground.

It was covered with tiny runes, perfectly matching the "Soul-Trapping Array" recorded in ancient books—once triggered, the resentment would turn into chains to trap intruders.

The Descendant of Lu Ban immediately took out a special "rune-breaking pen," its tip dipped in earth vein spirit sand, and began drawing the missing patterns in the depression: "This array was set up by ancient shaman-priests; we must use yang energy to neutralize the resentment."

The moment the spirit sand fell, the runes on the ground emitted a piercing shriek, and black resentment seeped out from the patterns, only to be instantly devoured by the golden light of the spirit sand.

The instant the array eye was unlocked, a dull bell toll echoed from deep within the canyon, each sound making the players' heartbeats grow heavy.

The needle of the resentment tracker spun wildly, and the red warning line instantly maxed out.

Passing through the stone archway, the scene in the Nether Canyon was shocking.

Countless pale skulls were embedded in the rock walls on both sides, with ghostly green flames dancing in their eye sockets, and black slime seeped from the gaps between the bluestone slabs on the ground, emitting a faint smell of blood.

Reaching the middle section of the canyon, the path suddenly widened—a massive altar stood in the center of the clearing, its foundation built of dark red stones and covered with flowing blood-colored runes; it was the Blood Moon Altar.

At the top of the altar sat a stone coffin, its body carved with a tragic war scene: soldiers fighting in blood, while behind them, black shadows raised their butcher knives.

Three bronze lamps floated beside the stone coffin, the black smoke produced by their burning oil coalescing in the air into the distorted outlines of vengeful spirits.

"The key must be in the stone coffin!" Just as Kuang Dao was about to step forward, a black barrier suddenly rose around the altar, trapping everyone inside.

"Those who trespass on the altar, die!" A shrill female voice came from behind the stone coffin.

A vengeful spirit draped in tattered palace attire slowly emerged, her pale face frozen in extreme hatred, the bronze bell hanging at her waist emitting a piercing sound with her movements, and the words "Level 35 Consort Shu's Vengeful Spirit (Elite BOSS)" appeared above her head.

Consort Shu's Vengeful Spirit waved her hand, and countless black resentment turned into sharp claws that pounced on the players.

"Purification Flame Barrier!" Qing Yao cast her spell in time, a crimson wall of fire blocking the front, and the claws turned into black smoke the moment they hit the flames, but more claws attacked from different directions.

"Her attacks have multi-angle coverage!" Starfall released an Ice Prism Array to block, but found that the ice prisms shattered as soon as they formed, eroded by the resentment.

Shadow Blade and Night Shadow seized the chance to activate stealth, attempting to sneak around behind the vengeful spirit for an ambush.

But just as they approached the altar, the bronze bell at Consort Shu's waist suddenly shook violently: "Mere stealth techniques, daring to show off in front of me!"

A sound wave spread from the bell, instantly knocking both of them out of stealth, and the resentment trackers inside their bodies emitted a piercing alarm—resentment was invading their bodies along with the sound wave.

"Her bell can break stealth and deal damage!" Shadow Blade coughed up a mouthful of black blood and hurriedly took a purification potion.

Little Warmth immediately released "Group Protection," a pale golden light shield enveloping everyone and temporarily isolating the sound wave attack.

Lin Chen took the opportunity to observe the blood-colored runes on the altar and found that the trajectory of the runes' flow was completely opposite to the direction of the Earth Vein: "This is a 'Reverse Vein Array'; the altar is absorbing Earth Vein Energy to nourish the vengeful spirit!"

He immediately mobilized the Earth Vein Power, and the bluestone slabs spread out around the altar: "Earth Vein Flow, Break the Array!"

Cyan runes rose from the ground, colliding with the blood-colored runes of the altar.

Consort Shu's Vengeful Spirit let out a painful roar, her body beginning to turn transparent: "How dare you destroy the foundation of the altar! I will make you all pay with your lives!"

The vengeful spirit suddenly turned into countless wisps of black smoke, merging into the bronze lamps beside the stone coffin.

The flames of the three oil lamps instantly surged, coalescing in the air into a huge head of vengeful spirits: "Hundred Ghosts Devour Souls!"

Countless tiny wronged souls poured out of the head, each carrying a shrill wail; they were the "Wrongful Deceased" mentioned by Zhao Wu's soul.

"These wronged souls have memories from when they were alive; we cannot kill them by force!" Lin Chen shouted, taking out the resentment crystal, which bloomed with a pale blue light in his hand, actually freezing the approaching wronged souls in mid-air.

"Use Purification Runes to soothe them!" The Descendant of Lu Ban threw out a handful of rune papers, and the players immediately lit them—the golden light produced by the burning runes fell upon the wronged souls, and those twisted faces gradually became calm.

Just at this moment, the stone coffin vibrated violently, and the coffin lid slowly opened with a "creak."

The true body of Consort Shu's Vengeful Spirit rose from the coffin, holding a bronze token in her hand, on which the four characters "key of the city of the wrongfully deceased" were engraved.

"Want the key? Get past me first!" She tossed the token into the air, and black resentment spread along with it, summoning countless phantoms onto the altar—they were the traitors who had betrayed the soldiers of the City of Wrongful Death back then.

"These phantoms are manifestations of her obsession; we must attack the main body to break them!" Lin Chen pointed to the flaw in the vengeful spirit's chest, where the resentment was thinnest.

Kuang Dao immediately understood and swung the wind-splitting sword, charging toward the group of phantoms: "Berserk Charge!" The crimson sword light cleaved through the phantoms, forcibly tearing a gap through them.

Shadow Blade seized the opportunity to leap to the top of the altar, his soul-breaking dagger piercing toward the vengeful spirit's chest with a purifying light.

With a "squelch," the dagger pierced into the vengeful spirit's body, and black resentment gushed out.

Consort Shu's Vengeful Spirit let out a shrill scream, and the bronze bell fell to the ground, making a crisp sound.

This sound actually resonated with the amulet at Little Warmth's waist, and a line of ancient text appeared on the surface of the amulet: "The soul-crossing bell rings, the wronged souls return home."

"This bell is a fragment of the soul-crossing bell!" Little Warmth suddenly recalled ancient records stating that the soul-crossing bell was a supreme treasure used by ancient gods to guide wronged souls to rest, which had scattered across the land after shattering.

She immediately picked up the bell and injected her own holy light energy into it: "soul-crossing bell, Soul Suppression!"

The crisp bell sound echoed in the canyon, the summoned phantoms instantly dissipated, and Consort Shu's Vengeful Spirit's movements also became sluggish.

Lin Chen seized the opportunity, combining Earth Vein Energy with Purification Runes to condense a golden Light Blade: "Earth Vein Judgment, Soul Suppression Version!"

The instant the Light Blade struck the vengeful spirit, countless memory fragments poured out from her body—it turned out that Consort Shu was originally a princess of the previous dynasty who had accompanied her father to support the City of Wrongful Death, only to witness the commanding general collude with the enemy and betray all the defending soldiers.

She had been imprisoned at the Blood Moon Altar, her resentment coalescing into a spirit body, guarding the key that recorded the truth day and night.

"What I was guarding was not a key, but the grievances of the soldiers!" Consort Shu's Vengeful Spirit's voice gradually grew weak, her body turning into pale green light particles.

The bronze token in her hand drifted down slowly, and the moment Lin Chen reached out to catch it, a system prompt sounded: "Obtained key of the city of the wrongfully deceased, can open the gates of the City of Wrongful Death. Unlocked Secret: Tragedy of the City of Wrongful Death (1/3)."

In the stone coffin, a yellowed book, "Chronicles of the City of Wrongful Death," lay quietly.

Lin Chen turned the pages, which detailed the betrayal from back then: the commanding general who betrayed the soldiers was named "Li Mo," the very first leader of the current Undead Cult, and the enemy he colluded with was none other than the "Lord of the Nether" behind the Black-Robed Person.

The black barrier of the altar vanished along with the dissipation of the vengeful spirit, and the afterglow of the setting sun shone through the canyon onto the resentment-stained bluestone slabs.

The players slumped onto the ground, looking at the key of the city of the wrongfully deceased in their hands, their hearts filled with mixed feelings.

Little Warmth carefully put away the bronze bell: "This fragment might be able to recast the soul-crossing bell, and then we will be able to completely soothe the wronged souls of the City of Wrongful Death."

Lin Chen gripped the token tightly, and in his Earth Vein Perception, the resentment energy deep in the Nether Canyon suddenly surged.

Looking up, a blood-red crescent moon had quietly appeared in the sky, and the key of the city of the wrongfully deceased began to heat up, with runes guiding the direction emerging on its surface—pointing directly at that cave deep within Black Wind Valley.

"The Blood Moon has risen early." A grave look flashed in Lin Chen's eyes, "The City of Wrongful Death is about to appear, we must set off immediately!"

And deep within the City of Wrongful Death, the Black-Robed Person was standing before the grievance core.

The crystal ball reflected the scene of the Blood Moon Altar, and he curled his lips into a cold sneer: "Lin Chen, do you think you can win just by getting the key? The resentment of the City of Wrongful Death will devour all of your souls."

He waved his staff, the black patterns on the surface of the grievance core began to flow, the entire City of Wrongful Death emitted a deafening roar, and the wails of countless wronged souls pierced through the ground, echoing endlessly in the Nether Canyon.

The players packed up their equipment, holding the hot key of the city of the wrongfully deceased, and headed toward the cave in Black Wind Valley.

The light of the Blood Moon grew increasingly intense, casting their shadows long, and in the darkness ahead, the outline of a city shrouded in resentment was slowly appearing.