Master of Ten Thousand Foxes-Chapter 205 - 135: The Immortal Artifact Left by Marquis Qingyun—Gone Mad? (2)

[…His flesh was all gouged out, but his bones still moved…]

[…His vocal cords were gone, yet he used his finger bones to gesture threateningly at us…]

[…His bones could ooze black oil…]

[…We tied him up with iron chains, placed him in a bronze coffin, and sank it into the great river…]

[…When the Marquis returns, perhaps he will want to study him…]

Bai Mo tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Could this be referring to the ancient skeleton that was dug up earlier, the one exuding black oil?

Was that skeleton immortal at the time?

He could be certain that, at least today, the skeleton had lost its vitality and spirituality. Presumably washed away by the passage of thousands of years, it had faded into oblivion.

As for the Immortal Artifact recorded in this journal, belonging to Marquis Qing Yue, what could that be?

Bai Mo furrowed his brow, smacked his lips, very intrigued!

"It should be something good, right?

"Perhaps it hasn't been eroded or damaged by time?"

Bai Mo immediately got up and began searching through this stack of documents for records pertaining to the Marquis's Immortal Artifact.

After searching for a long time, he indeed found a few sentences.

[…The Marquis's Immortal Artifact is difficult to control, beyond our ability, beyond our understanding; we can only barely activate it according to the Marquis's instructions…]

[…All day today, the Immortal Artifact was crying; I don't know what happened…]

[…The Immortal Artifact laughed again, but I feel that the smile was very strange…]

This Immortal Artifact can cry? And laugh?

Bai Mo's interest grew even stronger!

It sounds extraordinarily bizarre, definitely high-end stuff!

This stack of documents had been completely read.

Fortunately, the apprentices responsible for transporting documents pushed in another large cartload, unloading it in the grand hall.

Bai Mo patted their heads, smiled, and praised them. After they left, he continued to peruse the documents.

Yet the journal's records about Marquis Qing Yue's Immortal Artifact were very scarce. It seemed this artifact was left by Marquis Qing Yue for the Alchemists as a last-resort safeguard before his journey. Ordinarily kept on the shelf, only taken out when strong enemies appeared.

After searching for a long time, Bai Mo found a sentence that seemed related on the edge of a stone slab with blurred handwriting.

[…The Immortal Artifact can't be used anymore, the road ahead will be tougher, but we can only rely on ourselves…]

Can't be used anymore?

Why?

Some stone slabs had fairly neat handwriting, indicating the recorder's mental state was normal.

Other stone slabs had sloppy, chaotic handwriting, indicating the recorder was on the verge of breakdown.

On one of these stone slabs with messy handwriting, Bai Mo carefully deciphered, gesturing with his hand, and conjecturing from context, he finally found another sentence…

[…The Immortal Artifact has gone mad…]

Gone mad?

Bai Mo felt even more curious; could this thing actually go mad?

Was it contaminated?

A mad Immortal Artifact sounded extremely dangerous.

But on the other hand, to have the function of "going mad" further proved it was indeed high-end stuff!

In the grand hall, a pile of stone slabs was scattered chaotically from Bai Mo's search.

Regarding Marquis Qing Yue's Immortal Artifact, Bai Mo learned only fragments.

But as to how to locate this Immortal Artifact, he found nothing.

"A waste of time."

Bai Mo furrowed his brow, feeling slightly frustrated.

He picked up the phone on the table to check the time.

"It's almost mealtime; time to go to the cafeteria and prepare the dishes for the apprentices."

…

Fox Mountain cafeteria.

The spicy cumin and smoky aroma had already begun wafting in the air.

It was the scent of roasted mushrooms!

Black Nose and Dark Circles were stationed at the grill, tending to a row of mushrooms, constantly brushing oil, flipping them, sprinkling seasonings, while the enticing sizzling of mushrooms sounded.

And on the chopping board, skewer after skewer of roasted mushrooms had already piled into a small mountain, glistening with oil, golden yellow.

The fox apprentices lined up in a long queue, approaching the board one by one to collect their portions.

Black Tail stood guard over the mountain of skewers, holding a seasoning bottle, continuously sprinkling spices on the mushrooms.

"Rawr rawr rawr?"

…Want it spicy?

"Woo woo woo!"

…Extra sesame!

"Rawr woo woo!"

…Limit of five skewers per fox.

Pang Youyou stood in line, craned her neck to see.

Each skewer had eight large chunks of mushrooms. These eight pieces differed in color, shape, and texture; some were fatter and more tender, others more oily.

Some had a more intense aroma, others more juiciness.

Pang Youyou slurped his saliva.

The brothers and sisters in line before and after him were all discussing.

"Ying ying ao ao!"

"Ao ao ying ying ying!"

... The second piece in the skewers was grown by him!

... The third piece in the skewers was grown in the neighboring medicine field!

"Ying ying ying ying, ao ao ao ao!"

... Eight pieces of mushrooms on one skewer, not just for deliciousness, it's also a prescription that can boost physique when eaten.

"Ao?"

Listening on one side, Pang Youyou swallowed again.

...

Different brothers and sisters had different speeds of eating skewers.

Some foxes like to chew slowly, savoring carefully.

... Like White Toe, Black Shoes, and Big Nose.

Other foxes enjoy gobbling, enjoying the sensation of mushrooms bursting juice in their mouth, and the thrill of swallowing big bites.

... Like Pang Youyou.

On a small stone table, while other brothers and sisters were still savoring, Pang Youyou's plate only had bamboo sticks left.

He burped, his mouth filled with the aroma of roasted mushrooms, picked his teeth with a bamboo stick, feeling very satisfied.

Of course, his way of eating had a drawback... he finished his and saw others still eating, making his stomach growl again!

"Ying ying ying!"

Saying goodbye to the brothers and sisters, Pang Youyou decisively stood up, passed through one stone table after another, one brother and sister after another, swaggering, swinging his tail, left the canteen.

Walking to the front of the canteen, he saw Black Nose, Black Tail, and Dark Circles roasting the last few skewers of mushrooms... it was their working meal.

"Ying ying ying."

These three guys, as chefs, ate last every day, had to clean the canteen after meals, and then cook again, it's so hard!

Pang Youyou came forward, hugged Dark Circles, rubbed against its face.

"Ao ao ao."

A few foxes were about to chat a bit, brag a bit, when suddenly, Pang Youyou saw the black ash and glass fragments next to the grill.

"Ying?"

Are these from the fire?

How come they look like those from the Bronze House?

Pang Youyou touched his fat head with his fox paw, rubbed his triangular ears.

This isn't right!

The Bronze House was clearly sunk in deep water, how could there be burnt soil and glass fragments in it?

"Ao ao ao? Ao ao ying ying?"

Pang Youyou frowned, asked Dark Circles a few questions, confirming his suspicion.

Instantly lifted his head proudly... clever, keen and crafty Pang Youyou discovered the abnormality!

He immediately ran out of the canteen, transformed into a red shadow, dashed down the mountain path towards the swamp shore.

He wanted to gather some black ash and glass fragments to bring back to show his master!

...

Frenzied wind blew across the swamp shore.

Blew over the row of Bronze Houses waiting to be opened, blew over the piles of Bronze Plates, river sand, and trash literature.

At this time all the foxes were off eating, a row of Bronze Houses by the shore was making noises!

Dang!

From inside one house, came a crisp sound.

Hu...

In an instant, the disturbance went to the second house, made the sound of burning. Faint black smoke came out from the cracks of the house.

Dang!

Inside the fourth house came another crisp abnormal sound.

... Seems like some strange thing is shuttling through the houses, creating disturbances.

Don't know when it came to this shore, nor why it shuttles through these houses.

It seemed to fear people, or rather... fear foxes.

Whenever it sensed a fox nearby, it would hide silently.

If it didn't sense a fox, it would shuttle around, causing disturbances.

"Ying..."

A scared voice was stuck in the throat, suppressed under the tongue, dared not sound... it was Pang Youyou who just ran back, standing not far away, his chubby face, rounded eyes, open mouth, erected triangular ears... full of fear!

Indeed something's wrong!

Scared the fox to death!

Its sense of presence was too low, some ghostly thing didn't notice it, revealed a flaw!

It tucked its front paws, stealthily retreated, turned away cautiously.

Try as much as possible to make the move lighter, quieter, sneakily left until far enough, then "swoosh swoosh" transformed into a smoke trail, rushed up the mountain to find his master!

...