My experience of grinding in another world

Chapter 443 Plot
As the blood-red sun began to set and the sky gradually darkened, the auxiliary soldiers of the Flame Army arrived at the Blood River under the urging of their respective commanders.

A strong, acrid smell of blood and burning flesh filled the air, and thick smoke was clearly visible from miles away.

Besides the towering red-eyed water apes, there were also many giant corpses three to five meters tall on the battlefield.

Some of these giants were covered in scales, some had multiple hands and one eye, and some had horns on their heads. Although they were generally similar to humanoids, they all had strange and different appearances.

Chen Mu became increasingly alarmed as he looked at the document.

He suddenly realized that his state after being possessed by the Five Ghosts was extremely similar to that of these giants!

"So many ghost soldiers have died, this is a major disaster!" Shi Dechun's face turned pale and his voice trembled.

These giants are ghost soldiers, ghost soldiers who have cultivated ghost patterns?!

Chen Mu's heart skipped a beat.

The giant that was formed by the possession of five ghosts was actually some kind of ghostly soldier?
He stared intently at the giants whose bodies were broken and mangled.

At this moment, thick black smoke was billowing from the giant's body. As the smoke rose into the air, its body slowly faded and became transparent until it disappeared without a trace.

After a long while, Chen Mu took a deep breath to suppress the shock in his heart.

The possession by the Five Ghosts is essentially the creation of Five Ghost Paper Dolls, which are made from malevolent spirits. Judging from the memories of the River of Oblivion, the Yin Spirits are a variant of malevolent spirits. Since both originated from malevolent spirits, their similarities are not impossible.

Even so, he still had many questions in his mind.

The Five Ghosts Bag's lineage is recorded in the Thousand Mountains Scripture, a long-standing and widely circulated unorthodox scripture. The scripture is now incomplete, with only fragments remaining, and the recorded secret methods are mostly bizarre and evil. He never imagined that such a heretical scripture would be connected to the underworld.

"If I have the chance to return to the mortal world, I will definitely find out what's going on."

……

The next day.

Yisanqi Camp.

Chen Mu leaned against the wall, looking out of the barracks through the wide-open window. Many auxiliary soldiers were gathered in twos and threes, whispering and talking with worried expressions.

Not long after, Shi Dechun strode into the barracks and went straight to Chen Mu's side.

"I found out that yesterday, our Hai-character battalion commander, General Lan Zhang, found the core water palace of the Crimson-Eyed Water Ape."

"During the assault, they encountered fierce resistance from the water apes, which led to the deaths of a large number of ghost soldiers."

Chen Mu understood immediately: "Have you managed to breach the Water Palace?"

"I'm afraid not." Shi Dechun shook his head.

"General Lan has ordered a rest and preparation for battle, and will set out again in three days."

"With thorough preparations, we have a high probability of success," Shi Dechun said excitedly.

Chen Mu, however, was not so optimistic.

"The ghostly soldiers are resting, and the red-eyed water apes are also gathering. The final outcome is still uncertain."

"If we can win in one battle, that would be fine. But if it turns into a protracted war, we'll be the ones who suffer."

“The Hai camp is protected by secret methods and is as solid as a rock. Do those red-haired monkeys dare to attack the camp?” Shi Dechun wondered.

Even a rabbit will bite when cornered.

"Even if he doesn't dare attack the main camp, does he think he wouldn't dare to harass us auxiliary soldiers?"

"If just a few of them jump out while we're moving the water ape corpses, it will be enough to cause us heavy casualties!"

Shi Dechun's expression also turned serious.

……

In the afternoon.

To the west of the Hai-character camp are several rows of stone bungalows, which belong to the Hai-character camp's equipment department. Secret techniques and precious medicines are all exchanged here.

Inside a stone house.

"One cauldron of water from the River of Oblivion is worth five military merits," a young man in his twenties dressed in black said without looking up from behind a half-person-high wooden counter.

Isn't it three military merits?
This price is different from the one he had inquired about before.

Chen Mu frowned slightly, but still took out the ghost-face bronze plaque.

The battlefield was becoming increasingly dangerous, and he wanted to improve his Yellow Spring Guidance as soon as possible to reach the Yellow Springs Department, so he had no choice but to risk using the Flying Flame Scripture for assistance.

However, this requires a massive amount of water from the River of Oblivion, which he cannot condense at his own pace, so he can only exchange military merits for it from the Ministry of Armaments.

Thanks to Brother Hong Xiu for his generous gift, the secret technique Yellow Spring Guide didn't cost him any military merits, so the more than three thousand military merits he had accumulated were now of great use.

The young man in black reached out and took the bronze plaque. He activated his Yin Spirit power, made a few gestures, and then pushed it back to Chen Mu.

Along with it, there was also a pebble. It was about the size of an egg, bluish-gray in color, slightly flat, and covered with silver veins.

This is……

"Never seen the Forgotten River Stone before?" The young man in black glanced at Chen Mu, unsurprised, and said, "It contains a sealed curse. Once you return and activate it with Yin Spirit Divine Power, you can summon a pot of water from the Forgotten River."

The Stone of Oblivion? A talisman from the underworld?

Chen Mu raised an eyebrow, curiously playing with the bluish-gray stone. He realized he still knew very little about the Yin and Yang realm.

The Five Ghosts Bag is not something to be used casually, and the Qi-Eating Bag is too small. Before coming here, he was afraid that the volume of the River of Oblivion was too large to be transported secretly, so he originally planned to only buy one pot.

Nowadays...

"Excuse me, give me another two hundred of these Forget-River Stones," Chen Mu said with a smile, pushing the ghost-faced bronze plaque back.

"How many?"

"two hundred!"

"Are you going to take a bath with this thing?" The usually calm and collected young man in black couldn't help but raise his voice.

Hey!
guess what?

I'm really going to use this thing to take a shower!

A smile appeared on Chen Mu's face.

……

In the center of the Hai-character camp, deep within a tall stone hall, Lan Zhang sat lazily on a gray-white stone chair.

He was wearing loose white clothes, his hair was disheveled, his elbow was resting on the armrest, and his right fist was casually supporting his right cheek.

His narrow, red and white eyes stared intently at the line separating light and shadow at the doorway.

A tall, thin figure dressed in black walked slowly into the room, stepping through the dim light.

The other person walked to the stone table, put his hands inside his wide sleeves, and stared down at Lan Zhang.

"Stripping away from the Yin soldiers and single-handedly storming the Water Palace to attack the Water Ape King. General Lan, you are truly valiant." The man in black sneered mockingly.

"Don't you know that once the core of the Water Palace is destroyed and the Water Ape King is killed, the Crimson-Eyed Water Ape clan will immediately fall apart and scatter in all directions?"

"We're here to capture enough Crimson-Eyed Water Apes, not for you to show off your personal bravery!" the man in black said coldly.

Lan Zhang's eyes flickered slightly, his blood-red pupils sweeping over the tall, thin man in black. His voice was calm and indifferent: "Shen Yan."

"General Lan, what are your instructions?" The man in black, Shen Yan, remained expressionless, meeting Lan Zhang's eyes directly.

"You're blocking my light."

“You…” The man in black’s expression changed.

He was about to reprimand him, but when he met Lan Zhang's calm, blood-red eyes, he couldn't help but tense up and involuntarily moved his feet to stand next to the stone table.

Lan Zhang's bloodshot eyes slowly returned, staring once more at the light and shadow at the doorway.

Shen Yan, dressed in black, felt his chest heave violently. After a long while, he took a deep breath and tried to suppress his anger to continue persuading him.

"General Lan, what you cultivate is the Water Ape Dharma Form."

"Only by hunting down a sufficient number of red-eyed water apes and perfecting the spiritual energy on the Root Stone Tablet can your Yin Spirit Dharma Form have a chance to reach its peak."

"Most importantly, this matter concerns the main road of the city lord. If we disobey the order and mess things up, the entire Hai-character camp will be doomed."

"At that time, you and I will probably have our life force drained by the Soul-Summoning Banner." Shen Yan said coldly.

"Prepare the soul-summoning altar within three days." Lan Zhang's voice was calm.

"You want to draw upon the power of the Yin spirits? You...you're going to cause trouble for that Water Ape King?!" Shen Yan's face immediately flushed with anger.

Lan Zhang's eyes darted around as he glanced at the other person.

Shen Yan froze instantly.

"Fine, fine! I'll go prepare the altar!" He gritted his teeth. "But it's my duty to record and report everything that happens in this Hai camp."

"You decide what to do next!" Shen Yan glared at Lan Zhang and strode away from the stone hall.

The stone hall fell silent once more.

"The top? A slightly larger red-haired monkey? Ha..." Lan Zhang lightly rested his left index finger on the armrest, a playful chuckle on his face.

"Are you sure you want to train the Blood Nerve? Aren't you afraid of going crazy?" A clear, childlike voice suddenly rang out in the empty stone hall.

hum!
From the shadows on the left side of the room, a dense array of eyes suddenly appeared.

Strange eyes filled nearly half the room—on the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. They varied in size, opening and closing as if each possessed its own consciousness.

"Isn't this exactly what you wanted?"

Lan Zhang remained lazily seated on the stone chair, staring at the changing light and shadows at the doorway, ignoring the eerie eyes inside the room.

"We offer secret techniques, we offer resources, we simply welcome all outsiders to become one of us on an equal footing." The clear, childlike voices, layered upon layered, spoke calmly.

"Yes, yes, you help me grow stronger, you wait for me to go crazy, and then you can swallow me whole?" Lan Zhang chuckled.

"That's right!" Countless innocent children cheered at the same time, their eyes blinking rapidly, filled with excitement.

"Heh!" Lan Zhang's lips curled up slightly, revealing a somewhat crazy smile.

"Then come on!"

(End of this chapter)