Starting as the heir of a marquis's mansion, I gained access to a summoning system.

The group continued deeper into the marrow passage, with Wan Wujiu leading the way.

The snow-white beast, like a moving white shadow, led the way about seven or eight zhang ahead. Where its four paws trod, the marrow fluid on the bone walls seemed to be forced back by an invisible heat, forming a dry, narrow path.

Wu Wudi followed closely behind, keeping an arm's length distance from Wan Wujiu. The broken sword was not sheathed; it was simply held there. Yan Fei and Chuan Ying stood on either side, flanking Dongfang Weiwo and Lin Xiaoman in the middle.

Dongfang Weiwo did not sheath his dark gold longsword; the marrow fire remained three inches above the tip, like a flickering candle wick, illuminating the surrounding area for about ten feet. The firelight could not illuminate very far; further in, one could see the shadows of Wan Wujiu and the snow-white beast, floating between the dark gold light and the dense blackness.

Lin Xiaoman walked beside him, her steps light, her left hand always loosely holding the Divine Demon Marrow Bead. Dark golden liquid flowed slowly within the bead, like the heart of a living being imprisoned. She used this bead to calm the surging blood and qi within her body, but Dongfang Weiwo noticed that her right hand was always clutching the piece of black rope she held, her knuckles turning white.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a low voice.

"That thing didn't go far," Lin Xiaoman said.

"What?"

"Ahead." Her gaze passed over Wan Wujiu, venturing deeper into the distance. "The blood on my left palm keeps responding. That grayish-white thing from earlier, it's dead, but there were seventeen faces inside. What we burned was the outer shell. Those faces... aren't in the ash."

Dongfang Weiwo's heart sank slightly. He recalled the fire; when the grayish-white shell exploded, the outlines of seventeen human faces did indeed twist and dissipate in the flames, but dissipation and complete incineration are two different things. The marrow fire could burn away the phantoms, but it could not necessarily burn away the soul.

If those seventeen faces are remnants of the consciousness of Lu Moshen's pursuers from back then, even if the corrupted body dies, the remnants of consciousness may not necessarily be destroyed.

"They will coalesce." Wan Wujiu's voice came from ahead, as if he had guessed what they were talking about. "Back then, those seventeen people, after being corroded by the marrow fluid, had their bones and blood turn into that grayish-white stuff. But their souls did not perish, and were trapped in the corridor. The four you killed were just shells. Their souls are still there, waiting deep in the marrow passage. They will attach themselves to new shells, and those shells will become more and more complete the deeper they go."

"That's why you're in such a hurry to move forward," Dongfang Weiwo said.

"I'm in a hurry to move forward because if I don't, those souls will multiply and grow stronger. The corridor has memories. It remembers these thirty years." Wan Wujiu continued without stopping. "Why do you think the Demon God Lü left the entrance in Tianwu? Why didn't he seal it off? Because he knew that those corrosive entities alone wouldn't be enough to stop later covetous individuals. What truly blocks people are those souls trapped in the marrow passage. They will entangle anything that is alive, especially anything with the aura of gods and demons."

Lin Xiaoman suddenly stopped.

"Wait a minute."

Her voice wasn't loud, but everyone, including Wan Wujiu, stopped. She handed the Divine Demon Marrow Pearl to her right hand and raised her left palm. The wound on her palm was already half-healed, and several streaks of bluish-gold blood, like living lines, wandered along the edge of the wound.

"Give me the map," she said to Dongfang Weiwo.

Dongfang Wei took the map out of his bosom. The map was burning hot to the touch.

The entire sheepskin looked as if it had just been taken out of the fire, but it didn't burn your hand; it was just warm.

The dotted lines of the myriad star fields on the map twisted violently, and the area marked "Corridor" resembled a writhing worm, constantly contracting. At the end of the dotted lines, the two characters "Bury Me" were slowly emanating a dark golden light.

Lin Xiaoman gently placed her left palm on the map, and the blood from her palm seeped into the surface. The blood did not spread; instead, it was absorbed by the two characters "Bury Me," like ink falling onto rice paper.

"The Demon God Lü left something behind." Lin Xiaoman's voice carried an unusual calmness, as if she were relaying a message, "At the end of the corridor, not on the map. It's in the blood. In the blood of the guardian."

She closed her eyes.

A moment later, she opened her eyes, a flash of cyan-gold light passing through them. She pointed to a point on the map of the corridor: "Here. The corridor forks here."

Wan Wujiu suddenly turned around: "Impossible. There is only one corridor, from the coccyx to Guixu, with no forks."

"It didn't exist thirty years ago," Lin Xiaoman said. "But it does now. Your people, those seventeen trackers, after they died, their souls were trapped in their marrow passages."

But they all practiced bone cultivation during their lives, and after death, their bones and blood merged into the marrow. Over the past thirty years, their bones and blood have slowly grown a 'side branch' within the marrow passage.

Wan Wujiu's face darkened.

"Where does the side branch lead?" Dongfang Weiwo asked.

"I don't know." Lin Xiaoman shook her head, "But Lu Moshen knew this day would come."

He left these words in the blood of the cardholder; they can only be read when you reach the middle of the corridor and the blood comes into contact with the map.

She paused, then looked up at Wan Wujiu. "Wan Wujiu, you sent seventeen people in back then, but you didn't go in yourself. Demon God Lü knew you would send people, and he also knew what would happen to them. This branch is a way out that Demon God Lü left for you by using the lives of those people."

"A way out?" Wan Wujiu sneered. "Would the Demon God Lü leave me a way out?"

"It's not for you," Lin Xiaoman said, "it's for the person who guards the card later."

silence.

The only sounds in the cavity were the dripping of marrow fluid and a heavy, rhythmic pulsation from a great distance, like the heartbeat of a sleeping behemoth.

Wu Wudi suddenly tilted his head and asked, "Did you hear that?"

Dongfang Weiwo nodded. The pulsating sound was more pronounced than before, coming from the depths ahead. One sound, followed by a few breaths later, then another, deep and dull, like an iron hammer striking bone.

"It's the eroding entities devouring each other," Wan Wujiu said, his voice turning cold. "You just killed one, and its soul and blood are being absorbed by the next. I have no interest in the side branches. That's the path for the guardians. I'm going to follow the main marrow path, to the bone core lock."

"They are my people," Dongfang Weiwo said. "If we're going to leave, we'll leave together. If you want the Bone Key, then come with me."

Wan Wujiu's vertical pupils shrank to slits in the firelight: "What do you mean?"

"The side entrance marked on the map is less than a hundred feet away. Let's go check out the side entrance first," Dongfang Weiwo said, leaving no room for argument.

"That's a waste of time." Wan Wujiu stepped forward, his tone unfriendly. "The deeper you go, the stronger those things become. If there are any side paths, they'll be narrower and more treacherous trails. In your current state—"

"Wan Wujiu," Dongfang Weiwo interrupted him, his voice calm yet scorching like a blazing fire, "The information left by the Demon God Lü over thirty years is more credible than yours. Since you never entered here back then, the so-called 'path you knew' you knew was all just guesswork."

These words left Wan Wujiu speechless. He stared at Dongfang Weiwo, his vertical pupils seeming to burn with dark green fire. Finally, he smiled, a sinister smile carrying an extremely unsettling meaning.

"Alright. Let's go see what kind of way out Lu Moshen left for the card holder."

He spread his hands.

"I'm fine. Anyway, according to the blood oath, I'll lead the way. You decide how to take this route."

He turned and left, but the snow-white little beast stopped in place, its black bean eyes fixed on Lin Xiaoman, before finally following him.