38: Feathers, bring wealth at night, and ward off evil spirits.

On a gigantic ancient tree reaching to the sky, a flock of birds resembling green budgerigars chirped incessantly.

Seeing the strange birds, which were as large as soccer balls, Jiang Yan dared not act rashly. He still didn't know their combat strength. If he angered this flock of strange birds, he feared he would turn into white bones the next moment.

After all, he had personally witnessed these birds being unafraid of the strange red mist, which was extremely bizarre.

Just as he was observing these strange birds, one of them seemed to spot him and immediately started chirping.

These strange birds were already very noisy, so Jiang Yan hadn't noticed he was discovered. But the next moment, the birds on the ancient tree immediately stopped chirping and simultaneously turned their heads to stare downwards.

'Damn it, I've been discovered?'

Jiang Yan shifted his feet, wanting to escape, and the flock of strange birds followed his movement with their necks.

'It's over, something isn't right.'

But before he could retreat a few more steps, the strange birds on the lower branches instantly took flight.

Seeing the strange birds fly away without charging at him, Jiang Yan was a bit confused.

'Could these guys be afraid of me?'

With this bold idea, he gradually approached the ancient tree.

This proximity startled dozens more strange birds into flight.

Having gotten the answer he wanted, his heart immediately bloomed with joy, and he sprinted towards the ancient tree.

In just a few breaths, he darted to a strange bird's nest.

Seeing nothing but fist-sized bird eggs and a few green feathers inside, he was immediately drawn to the feathers.

'Sure enough! It seems these strange birds can enter the red mist because of these feathers.'

The green feathers glowed with a faint silver sheen; in daylight, if one didn't look closely, they might not notice anything.

He didn't touch the bird eggs but picked up a few feathers from each nest.

As he moved, the strange birds could only chirp around him.

But just as he was happily collecting, a shadow that blotted out the sky suddenly swept over his head.

He hastily looked up, and this glance almost scared the soul out of him.

A wingspan of over ten meters, like gigantic blades, shimmered with silver light in the sun.

An eagle's cry rang out, and the huge shadow instantly attacked him.

How would he dare fight such a large Spirit Beast? He quickly threw the remaining collected feathers into his Storage Pouch, released his grip with both hands, and his entire body immediately plummeted.

"Bang!"

The moment his feet hit the ground, he shot off like an arrow from a bowstring, sprinting wildly towards the Black Forest.

The huge shadow swept over his head a few times, then stopped pursuing, as if it had lost interest in him.

Jiang Yan immediately stopped and looked in the direction the giant eagle had flown.

'Was it just trying to drive me away?'

Jiang Yan was both right and wrong.

He was right that the giant eagle indeed wanted to drive him away, but it also wanted to eat him.

As for why the giant eagle returned, it was because it couldn't leave its territory for too long; if it stayed away for an extended period, other Spirit Beasts would visit its territory.

He glanced at the Black Forest in front of him and immediately headed towards the cave.

He dared not venture rashly into this Black Forest, nor could he guess how dangerous it truly was, so the best approach was not to enter.

Returning to the cave, Jiang Yan took out a bun and began to chew it.

He had nowhere to go and dared not venture deep into other areas. After all, this damned place was constantly frequented by large Spirit Beasts, so he might as well explore the vicinity.

As for why he didn't enter the dense forest in front of him during the day, it was because many Spirit Beasts were active there during the day; only at night would it become quiet.

As the sun set, the red mist slowly appeared in the dense forest opposite.

Jiang Yan took out a few feathers and found that in the darkness, these feathers formed a light shield the size of a lantern.

To test if the feathers could resist the red mist, Jiang Yan quickly picked up a branch, tied a feather to it, and approached the red mist.

As the feather slowly entered the red mist, the end of the branch not protected by the feather's light shield instantly began to corrode.

Jiang Yan was so scared that he quickly threw away the branch and retreated a few steps.

'This works! It seems these feathers are indeed effective.'

He didn't rashly enter the red mist with the feathers but stood at the edge and waited.

After about a quarter of an hour, the feather inside gradually lost its light, and finally, as if without energy support, it was instantly corroded by the red mist.

'Sure enough, it seems with these feathers, I can go in and take a look.'

He took out three to five feathers and inserted them into his forehead, waist, knees, and elbows.

After checking and finding no problems, he took a deep breath and stepped into the red mist.

The moment he entered the red mist, Jiang Yan saw many white bones and some recently corroded Spirit Plant roots.

'Why does this place feel like a Spirit Beast graveyard?'

As more and more white bones appeared, he shivered involuntarily.

And just as he reached the depths of the dense forest, he was startled by the white bones on the trees.

These were not the bones of Spirit Beasts, but of humans!

'Damn it, someone's been here before?'

Just as he was thinking this, a faint treasure light seemed to flicker around the white bones. Although the halo was very dim, he saw it clearly.

'Am I about to get rich?'

Jiang Yan was incredulous but still cautiously approached a skeleton.

Seeing the Storage Pouch next to the skeleton, his eyes immediately lit up.

One must know that even if there were no treasures inside, just this Storage Pouch alone was of no small value.

Looking at the skeletons on the treetops, there were at least thirty, if not fifty. If he could pick up a dozen Storage Pouches, it would be hard not to get rich.

Jiang Yan bounced around on the treetops, like a giant flying rat.

Jiang Yan collected all these treasures, his smile radiant, his mouth unable to close.

But as he kept collecting, he noticed something was amiss.

Why was he going deeper and deeper?

He took out five feathers, reinserted them, and looked towards the depths of the dense forest.

To be honest, he had collected quite a bit of treasure along the way.

Eight Storage Pouches, two Flying Swords, and three somewhat damaged Magical Artifact inner armors.

'Go in? Or not?'

Jiang Yan hesitated, but seeing dozens more human remains on the treetops ahead, he was somewhat tempted.

'Damn it, I'll do it! I have the feathers for protection anyway.'

Jiang Yan no longer hesitated and jumped towards the treetop of the nearest large tree.

After collecting four more Storage Pouches, Jiang Yan finally stopped his greedy heart.

'This should be the center of the dense forest, right!'

Jiang Yan surveyed his surroundings. This glance was startling; it almost scared the soul out of him. Every tree had a human corpse hanging from it, as if some sacrificial ritual had taken place on their death date.

'My goodness, what exactly happened here?'

Just as he felt a chill of fear, his gaze was drawn to something below.

On the ground not far away, a monument-like object was shrouded in the bloody mist of the night.

'A tombstone?'

Jiang Yan mustered his courage and jumped onto the treetop closest to the tombstone.

Jiang Yan initially thought it was just one tombstone, but upon closer inspection, it wasn't just one; it was an entire field of tombstones, or rather, a graveyard!

Although his vision was limited in the dark, looking around, these tombstones of varying sizes and heights exuded a sense of solemnity.

As he continued to look, he noticed something was off. What had initially been solemn gradually turned into sadness?

He was certain it was indeed sadness.

'Why do I feel uncomfortable?'

Jiang Yan clutched his chest, his brows slightly furrowed. For no reason, a tear slowly slid from his eye.

"Buzz..."

The Soul Calming Incantation in Jiang Yan's mind instantly trembled, followed by a piercing scream that exploded in his head.

"Holy crap!"

Jiang Yan's eyes blazed with anger, and he instantly clutched a soul suppressing talisman in his hand.

Although he couldn't see anything, he could still protect himself.

The soul suppressing talismans were arranged in an orderly fashion, surrounding his body like an iron barrel.

"Suppress!"

Jiang Yan roared, and all the soul suppressing talismans were immediately activated.

The moment the soul suppressing talismans were activated, countless miserable screams immediately echoed around him.

'Damn it, I almost fell for it!' Jiang Yan cursed under his breath, then lightly tapped his finger, and a soul suppressing talisman in front of him instantly struck a dark shadow.

"Bang!"

The soul suppressing talisman exploded, and the dark shadow immediately became hazy.

"Die!"

Jiang Yan stepped with the Seven Stars Gait, leaped into the air, and instantly appeared before the hazy shadow.

Two soul suppressing talismans, like long swords, instantly struck into the hazy shadow's body.

"Boom!"

A sound similar to a firecracker exploding echoed in the silent dense forest.

[Vengeful Spirit Suppressed, gained experience: 200, lifespan: 13 years]

[Current experience: 89.41%]

[Plundered Vengeful Spirit Dao Intent 0.1]

[Suppress Evil LV1 (11/800)]