194: A genuine pirated version of the Gates of Hell.

The surroundings were shrouded in a thick layer of yin energy, as if endless night had swallowed all light.

You Wu looked down; beneath his feet were nothing but brown stones and withered, lifeless earth.

As far as his eyes could see, it was all the same scene—vast and desolate, filling him with an inexplicable sense of oppression and loneliness.

"What exactly is this place?" You Wu's voice sounded exceptionally clear in the silence.

"Could it be… that I've stumbled upon the legendary bootleg Ghost Gate Pass?"

At this thought, You Wu's heart tightened involuntarily. His feet felt rooted to the spot, and he dared not move a muscle.

Time ticked by second by second, and You Wu just stood there quietly.

After a long while, he finally recovered his senses slightly and slowly cast his gaze toward the solitary little hill in the distance.

The hill did indeed look very small; compared to other towering peaks, it could at best be considered a slightly elevated, ordinary hillside.

"Unbelievable, someone actually dares to scam a Ghost Official!!!"

You Wu pondered to himself that since he was already here, he naturally had to get to the bottom of this.

He was determined to see who was so audacious, daring to have the guts to pull such a stunt.

He lifted his feet and walked toward the little hill, a raging fire of anger pent up in his chest, ready to erupt at any moment.

You Wu calculated in his mind that first, he had to figure out what kind of place this was, and then drag that detestable bootlegger out and give them a sound thrashing.

Not only that, but he would also invite the eighteen Ghost Kings to each use their own methods to subject this fellow to eighteen counts of the Lingchi punishment. Surely, those Ghost Kings, upon learning they had almost been made to take the fall, would be more than willing to help.

Just like that, You Wu traveled quickly, and after about half an hour, he finally reached the foot of the hill. When he actually stood at the base, he realized that this so-called little hill was far from as simple as it appeared.

The hillside was exceptionally low, yet it was piled high with countless, varied white bones. Upon closer inspection, the vast majority were human bones, and one could tell at a glance by their shape and characteristics.

Even more hair-raising was that at the top of the hill lay a dozen or so relatively fresh corpses.

Judging by the condition of these corpses, it was highly likely that they were the unmarried women who had been swallowed by the bootlegger some time ago.

He furrowed his brows and looked up, his gaze heavy and profound, taking in the entire hill built from piles of white bones.

Immediately after, he extended his right hand, keeping his index and middle fingers together and straight, and muttered under his breath: "Soul Sect Ghost Official Order, command follows my heart to return, Nine Heavens seek the three souls, control the seven spirits of the cycle, feet tread and guide the four directions... Souls arrive~ Souls arrive."

You Wu kept chanting this over and over a dozen times, but not a single soul appeared in the surroundings.

It was clear that these unmarried women had already had their souls cruelly devoured, vanishing from the world forever, with no possibility of reincarnation.

You Wu clenched his fists tightly, the veins on the back of his hands instantly bulging as if they were about to burst through his pale skin.

He hesitated for a fleeting moment before resolutely stepping forward toward the top of the hill.

As he walked, he cursed under his breath: "Beast, to actually devour the souls of the living for no reason… this is truly… heinous!!!"

This mountain of white bones was actually not very tall, but for You Wu, who was heavy-hearted at the moment, every step felt exceptionally difficult.

When he finally climbed to the top of the hill, he found that everywhere he stepped was white bone.

Some of the bones looked ancient, having turned yellow and black, piled at the bottom of the hill; while others were relatively new, pale in color, stacked on the upper layers.

"Da da da… da da da…" Someone was stepping unhurriedly on the ground covered in white bones.

Upon hearing these footsteps, You Wu instantly became alert. He quickly took the Soul-Snatching Chain from his waist and gripped it tightly in his hand.

Then, he bent his knees slightly and leaned his body forward. He locked his target firmly onto the short, plump, slow-moving humanoid figure ahead.

There was only extremely faint light around, barely enough to illuminate a small area ahead.

A woman in rags slowly walked over from not far away. Her steps were heavy and slow, each one accompanied by the "creaking" sound of the white bones beneath her feet.

Because she was shrouded in thick yin energy, the woman's features were blurry; You Wu could only vaguely see a rough outline.

As she gradually drew closer, You Wu finally saw her face clearly. What appeared before him was actually a young woman, her bloated figure in stark contrast to her delicate and beautiful face.

She exuded a unique, bewitching aura that made You Wu feel instinctively vigilant.

Even more shocking was that the woman had no legs! In their place was a thick tree stump, deeply rooted amidst the white bones on the ground.

As she moved, the tree stump stirred within the pile of bones, emitting a chilling, grinding sound.

At the corner of the woman's eye was a small tear mole, adorning her excessively fair skin, making it exceptionally conspicuous.

She gazed at You Wu with a pair of large, watery eyes and asked softly: "Are you a brother from the Ghost Clan?"

You Wu couldn't help but knit his brows and purse his lips. "Ghost Clan?"

The woman seemed to notice the look of confusion on You Wu's face, and her originally expectant expression instantly turned ugly.

However, she quickly adjusted her emotions and once again put on a pitiful, extremely innocent look, crying out: "Ever since I woke up injured, I have found myself trapped here, unable to find a way out no matter what…"

"Previously, due to the torment of hunger, I was submerged in sleep, but not long ago, many living people fell from the sky like falling flower petals."

"The Human Clan is truly too fragile, like fragile porcelain. They perished the moment they fell, and I didn't even have a chance to speak with them."

The woman wore a look of grievance and coquettishly pleaded: "You are the first person I've been able to converse with, so could you please not leave yet? Stay and talk with me, okay?"

You Wu sat cross-legged on top of the mountain of bones while quietly reaching his hand into his pocket, pressing firmly on the Ghost Official Order, ready to summon help for support at any moment.

However, on the surface, he feigned calmness and responded: "Fine, I'm willing to keep you company. But in return, you have to answer a few questions for me, miss."

Upon hearing this, a smile as innocent as a child's immediately bloomed on the woman's slightly pale face, and she readily nodded and replied: "No problem, little brother."

"So, what exactly do you want to know?"