The Sentient Skeletons of the Death Swamp

Night fell, and the moon rose over that silent realm of death. Its light was a ghastly white, like the gleam of a corpse's eye, enough to chill any soul.

At the same moment, a flicker of danger touched Xiao Chen's senses. Without an instant's delay, he turned and rushed toward the edge of the marsh.

Faint, almost imperceptible trails of black mist began to rise from the mud and stagnant pools, coiling through the swamp forest. Xiao Chen's heart tightened. He had guessed what it was—miasma, and very likely the most lethal kind: corpse miasma.

Standing at the boundary of that dead domain, watching the ribbon-like vapors drift within, he began to think. Could he use this place? Lure Zhao Lin'er and that brown-haired man here...

Crack.

The sound of bone joints moving came again.

Crack, crack.

In the dim swamp forest, a white shape stirred. A human skeleton rose to its feet.

Xiao Chen was stunned. He concealed himself at the edge, watching the mobile skeleton intently.

At first, its movements were mechanical, stiff. But after a series of sharp pops from its joints, its hunched frame straightened, and its motions grew much more nimble. It paced back and forth across the marsh, as though searching for something.

Xiao Chen held his breath and continued his silent observation.

The snow-white bones, under that corpse-pale moonlight, were macabre and terrifying. And the fact that it could move freely made it all the more unnerving. When it turned and faced in his direction, Xiao Chen saw a faint light flickering within its skull, shining out through the hollow eye sockets—eerie and frightful.

Crack! Crack!

The sound of rotating joints came from two other directions. Two more skeletons rose from among the trees, crossing muddy pools to join the first. Their skulls also held faint glimmers of light. They seemed able to communicate; whenever they looked at each other, the dim radiance in their eye sockets flickered.

Xiao Chen could not understand this. Were they ghosts? He did not think so.

In the hour that followed, no more similar skeletons appeared.

Throughout that time, Xiao Chen remained hidden, watching. He saw the three skeletons constantly turning over the bones scattered across the swamp, as if searching for something. They could easily flip the multi-meter-long, thousand-jin carcasses of savage beasts, revealing immense strength. Only when one skeleton unearthed a glimmering crystal from a pile of bones did Xiao Chen understand what they were doing.

The skeleton holding the crystal seemed greatly excited. Its jaw clattered up and down, producing a hollow snapping sound—macabre yet slightly absurd. The other two skeletons hurried over.

The three skeletons stood together under the ghastly moonlight, a scene of utter grimness and terror.

Crack.

The pale blue crystal was split by the skeleton into three roughly equal pieces. Each skeleton took a piece and inserted it through its eye socket into its cranial cavity.

Bright light shone from their eyes. Pale blue radiance flowed like water from their heads down through their bodies.

The blue glow bathed the white bones in a spectral hue. The soft light enveloped each skeleton's frame for a long time before slowly receding. The bones seemed slightly more translucent than before.

Xiao Chen was amazed. The skeletons could absorb the energy of crystals—was this some form of evolution? He wondered how they had first come into being.

Under the pale moonlight, corpse miasma drifted through the swamp. The three skeletons moved freely. Everything was so uncanny.

Suddenly, one skeleton walking near the marsh's edge seemed to notice something. It turned, puzzled, toward the large tree where Xiao Chen was hiding.

Xiao Chen's heart stirred. Instead of retreating, he stepped out from behind the tree and faced the skeleton.

The skeleton appeared confused. It glanced back at its two companions, then looked at Xiao Chen. The faint light in its eye sockets flickered unsteadily, as though it were thinking.

The other two skeletons also approached. They gazed at Xiao Chen with similar bewilderment, as if finding this lively creature quite "unusual."

Xiao Chen wanted to observe them up close, to discern their peculiarities. But aside from sensing a mysterious power within their skulls that animated their frames, he found nothing else remarkable.

Suddenly, an idea came to him. He took out a brown crystal he had obtained from a beast carcass and held it in his palm.

The light in the three skeletons' eye sockets flickered intensely. All at once, they reached their bony claws toward the crystal.

Xiao Chen stepped back. The three skeletons followed, emerging from the marsh.

Sensing no killing intent from them, Xiao Chen handed them the crystal.

The brown crystal was easily split into three pieces, which they inserted into their eye sockets.

Brown light flashed. The radiance spread from their skulls down through their bodies.

A series of cracking sounds came from their joints. Watching from close range, Xiao Chen saw light flowing over their frames. The three skeletons gleamed like jade. After the crystal's energy was fully absorbed, this strange phenomenon faded, but their bones seemed to have gained a subtle luster.

One skeleton thrust its claw toward a nearby tree. With a soft puff, its white bony fingers sank deep into the trunk, burying half the arm bone.

Such a casual strike carried terrifying power. Xiao Chen was deeply shocked. The skeletons were far stronger than he had imagined.

Standing before Xiao Chen, the three skeletons gazed at him steadily, their eye sockets glowing. After a long silence, their jaws clacked a few times, producing a rattling sound, as if they were speaking. Then, together, they turned and walked deeper into the marsh, slowly vanishing among the heavily Yin-infused trees.

Powerful and intelligent skeletons!

Xiao Chen found it almost unbelievable. He circled the Death Swamp, observing and exploring. After nearly an hour, he estimated its size at about a dozen square kilometers. Inside, layers of corpse miasma and dense Yin energy made it seem mysterious and terrifying.

At midnight, the corpse miasma in the swamp was at its thickest. Heavy black mist blotted out even the pale moonlight.

Not until the latter half of the night did the miasma gradually thin and dissipate.

In those last hours before dawn, Xiao Chen, standing at the outer edge of the Death Swamp, suddenly heard the sounds of violent impact. Someone—or something—was fighting inside the swamp! He ran along the perimeter, racing toward the source of the noise. Moments later, he witnessed an astonishing scene.