295: Cursed Bone

When Su Ming arrived at the Logistics Camp, he found that the area had been completely sealed off by a dark red Formation light screen.

It wasn't a Hardwall Formation used to defend against external enemies, but a "Spirit-Locking Boundary" designed to prevent internal auras from leaking out.

The air was thick with a nauseating smell of rust—not from rusted weapons, but something closer to the scent of old, dried blood, yet mixed with an indescribable, sickly sweet fishy odor.

"Don't go near that red line!"

A Cultivator from the Law Enforcement Team, clad in black armor, barked a sharp warning at a Menial Worker who was trying to peek inside.

Su Ming stopped in his tracks, his gaze sweeping across the edge of the cordoned-off area.

There, on the snowy ground, lay several low-level Menial Workers in gray uniforms, scattered haphazardly.

They had no visible external injuries, but every one of their bodies was twitching at an extremely unnatural frequency.

Su Ming narrowed his eyes slightly.

Even from over a dozen yards away, he could clearly see the workers' eyeballs rolled back, their whites crisscrossed with spiderweb-like blood vessels, and foam continuously oozing from the corners of their mouths. Even more terrifying were their hands, which were clawing desperately into the frozen earth, their nails torn and bleeding, yet they seemed unable to feel the pain. Only a raspy "he-he" sound escaped their throats, like drowning people desperately trying to breathe.

"These are signs of a Divine Soul shock."

Within his Sea of Consciousness, Lin Yu's voice carried a rare hint of solemnity.

Su Ming's fingers curled slightly inside his sleeve as he activated the Breath Concealment Art, suppressing his own aura fluctuations to the minimum before walking quickly toward the entrance of the sealed zone.

The guarding Cultivator recognized the Formation Hub Token at Su Ming's waist. After verifying it was correct, he let him through with a pale face, whispering a final warning: "Array Master Su, be careful. The thing inside... is extremely wicked."

Su Ming nodded and stepped over the red line.

As soon as he entered the boundary, the sense of oppression suddenly doubled.

In the center of the ruins of Warehouse C, several figures were gathered in a circle, the atmosphere so heavy it felt as if it could drip like water.

Leading them was none other than the Golden Core Array Master of Lingshu Hall, Old Man Mo.

This elderly man, who usually looked like a smiling, wealthy merchant, now had his brows tightly furrowed. He paced back and forth among several piles of charred Magical Artifact wreckage, the Formation Plate in his hand spinning frantically, unable to settle on a direction at all.

Beside him stood two red-robed Deacons from the Artifact Hall, along with several Foundation Establishment Stage Array Masters whose faces were as pale as ash.

And at the focal point of everyone's gaze, mixed among a pile of shattered Formation Plates and broken Flying Swords, was... a bone.

It was a fragment of a bleached white femur.

It didn't look very long, perhaps only two feet, and was as white as jade. Its surface even shimmered with a delicate, porcelain-like luster, looking completely out of place amidst the charred and filthy ruins—clean to the point of being eerie.

But with just one look, Su Ming felt a sharp, intense pain between his eyebrows.

"Buzz—"

No sound entered his ears, but a sharp screech instantly rang out within Su Ming's mind.

The sound felt like countless steel needles stabbing into his brain simultaneously, or like the screech of nails scraping against glass, causing an inexplicable surge of irritation and nausea.

"Don't try to probe it directly with your Divine Sense!"

Old Man Mo suddenly turned his head and barked at the newly arrived Su Ming, "This thing will 'bite' your Divine Sense!"

Su Ming immediately reined in his mind, feigning a startled stumble backward. His face turned appropriately pale as he cupped his hands and asked, "Old Man Mo, what is this..."

"A 'trophy' sent back from the front lines."

Old Man Mo snorted coldly, his gaze sweeping toward the two Artifact Hall Deacons beside him, his voice carrying undisguised anger. "The people from the Artifact Hall claimed it was top-tier Materials for Artifact Refining, suspected to be the natal bone of some high-level Yao Beast. They thought they'd strike while the iron was hot and use the 'Earth Fire Mingyi Formation' to refine the Evil Qi out of it. And the result..."

The slightly plump Artifact Hall Deacon nearby wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and defended himself awkwardly, "Old Man Mo, we were just following protocol. Who knew this bone would react so violently to fire? That tremor just now nearly shattered the warehouse's defensive Formations..."

"Following protocol?" Old Man Mo laughed out of sheer anger. "Your protocol is to just set a fire without even knowing what you're dealing with? Now look at this. Instead of forcing out the Evil Qi, you've activated its ferocity. Who dares to touch it now? You?"

The fat Deacon shrank his neck, not daring to respond.

The Menial Workers lying on the ground were a grim warning; they were only responsible for moving the waste, and just for being slightly too close, their Divine Souls had been shattered by the escaping aura.

"Su Ming, you've come at the right time."

Old Man Mo took a deep breath to suppress his anger and gestured for Su Ming to come over. "Your 'Water-Grinding' technique is delicate, and Water Spiritual Energy is best at containment. Stand three yards away and try to use a gentle force to probe the flow of the energy field around this thing. See if you can find a point of entry for a Seal. Remember, do not meet it head-on!"

"Yes."

Su Ming complied, cautiously moving forward a few steps and stopping three yards away from the white bone.

He didn't act immediately, but first adjusted his breathing.

"Master, activate 'Micro-Observation'," Su Ming whispered in his heart.

"It's on. Careful, this thing smells wrong," Lin Yu's voice carried a hint of disgust. "Wrap your Divine Sense in Water Spiritual Energy; don't go in 'naked'."

Su Ming's eyes closed slightly. When he opened them again, the depths of his pupils were a deep, ethereal blue.

The originally bleached white bone instantly changed its appearance in his vision.

That was no jade-white beast bone.

Under the microscopic view, the delicate porcelain-like surface was actually densely covered with minute patterns invisible to the naked eye.

Those patterns were not natural Formations, but the product of artificial carving.

They twisted and spiraled like countless tiny venomous snakes entangled together, forming patterns of hideous, pained human faces.

What made Su Ming's skin crawl even more was that the interior of this bone was not solid, but filled with honeycomb-like holes.

Black Evil Qi flowed at high speeds within these holes. Every time it struck the walls of the holes, it triggered a vibration. These vibrations were amplified by those eerie human-face patterns, creating the screech that targeted the Divine Soul.

"This is... a Cursed Bone... this is an evil object 'refined' by the Yao Race!" Lin Yu's voice carried a sense of realization and loathing. "I remember now! It was mentioned in the Incomplete Manual of 'Southern Border Strange Records: Evil Beings' in the Sect's Merit Dispensation Pavilion! There is a 'Sacrificial Soul' lineage among the Yao Race that specializes in soul curses. They sometimes select the bones of specific living beings and use secret methods to prepare them, carving in evil curse patterns to create 'Cursed Bones' or 'Grudge Bones'. These things are usually used to cast curses or set traps!"

Su Ming recalled that after becoming an Outer Sect Disciple, he had indeed borrowed many Jade Slips and ancient books on geography, anomalies, and curiosities from the Merit Dispensation Pavilion to broaden his horizons. Lin Yu had also followed along with great interest at the time, using his Divine Soul and knowledge, which far exceeded ordinary people, to memorize many obscure facts.

"Cursed Bone?" Su Ming's heart chilled.

"Yes. This isn't some Artifact Refining material at all; it's a 'trap' specifically designed to screw people over," Lin Yu analyzed quickly. "See those holes? As long as a Cultivator tries to probe it with Divine Sense or refine it with spiritual fire, their Divine Sense will be sucked into those holes, where it will be infinitely stretched and torn, eventually becoming nourishment for this bone."

"Those idiots from the Artifact Hall using fire to refine it is equivalent to feeding it, directly activating the self-destruct Restriction inside."

Su Ming was horrified.

The fact that this thing was mixed in with the wreckage and sent back to the rear was a conspiracy in itself.

If the people from the Artifact Hall had applied any more fire just now, everyone in Warehouse C would likely have suffered severe Divine Soul damage, and it might have even affected the nearby Formation Hub Tower.