Transmigrating Into a Fantasy World: Signing in During Pregnancy, Reaching the Summit with My Childhood Sweetheart

57: Chapter 57: Whispers of the Bones and Echoes of Sword IntentThat faint, yet absolutely not illusory, scraping sound, like a stone thrown into a deathly still deep pool, instantly shattered Su Muxue’s frozen grief and tightened Lin Mo’s already highly vigilant nerves.

Deep within this strange forest formed by piled-up, massive pale beast bones—a place even the Demon Spiders instinctively avoided—had something... awakened? Or had it always existed?

Su Muxue instantly reined in all her overflowing emotions. Her ice-blue eyes regained their cold sharpness. While the extreme chill did not erupt again, it had quietly gathered, ready to transform into a destructive attack at any moment. She shifted slightly, placing herself in front of Lin Mo, who was severely depleted and currently lacked the power to defend himself. Her gaze, sharp as an ice spike, pierced towards the darkness where the sound originated.

Lin Mo’s chaos dao seed also operated at full capacity. His Perception spread out like invisible tendrils, carefully extending towards that area. However, similar to before, his Perception encountered significant obstruction and distortion upon contacting those massive beast bones. These skeletons seemed to contain a strange power capable of absorbing and dispersing Divine Sense probes.

Sha-la... Another soft sound.

This time it was clearer, as if something heavy was being dragged across a rough bone surface.

Then, under the heavy gazes of the two, not far ahead, behind a pile of ribs from some unknown giant beast stacked like a small hill, a figure... slowly, staggering... stood up.

It was not a Demon Spider, nor any known creature.

Its form was roughly humanoid but was entirely composed of ghastly white, pieced-together bones of various beasts! Its ”body” was haphazardly assembled from countless bones of varying thickness, with joints smeared with gray-black Death Qi acting as adhesive. Its two ”arms” were uneven in length, one made from the leg bone of an unknown creature, the other from a spinal column, ending in sharp claws. Its ”head” was a massive, hollow skull belonging to some Subterranean Terror-Beast. Deep within its eye sockets flickered two weak yet stubborn clusters of dark red Soul-fire.

This was actually a mobile, patchwork construct of countless remains—a Skeleton Puppet!

It stood there, its body tilted as if it might collapse at any moment. Its hollow eye sockets ”looked” in the direction of Su Muxue and Lin Mo. The two clusters of dark red Soul-fire flickered slightly, conveying not the pure greed and malice of the Demon Spiders, but a more complex emotional fluctuation—a mix of confusion, pain, and an extremely faint trace of... vigilance and curiosity.

It did not attack immediately, merely ”staring” like that. Its bony jaw opened and closed with a soft *click*, as if attempting to speak but only able to produce this meaningless sound.

The chill at Su Muxue’s fingertips intensified, yet she did not strike immediately. This Puppet’s aura was extremely strange. Clearly composed of dead matter and permeated with Death Qi, yet within that Soul-fire hid an indescribable, broken yet tenacious ”will.”

Lin Mo’s Perception carefully analyzed the other party. The Puppet’s energy core seemed to be that dark red Soul-fire, but its mode of operation wasn’t simple necromantic drive. Between the pieced-together bones flowed an extremely faint, yet exceptionally pure and ancient trace of... Sword Intent? Though it was shattered and almost drowned by Death Qi, it undeniably existed!

”Who are you?” Su Muxue’s icy voice broke the silence, carrying an unquestionable demand. Profound Yin Qi locked onto the other party; the slightest hostile move would invite a thunderous strike.

The Skeleton Puppet seemed to understand. It tilted its massive skull. The dark red Soul-fire flickered violently several times, transmitting a fragmented, extremely chaotic, and blurred piece of consciousness:

”...Guard... guard...” ”...Cannot... pass...” ”...Danger... Seal...” ”...Sword... my sword...” ”...Star... valley...”

The consciousness was fragmented, filled with pain and confusion, like an ancient, broken dream just awakening.

But several key words among them simultaneously jolted the hearts of both Lin Mo and Su Muxue!

Sword? Seal? Star Valley? (Could it refer to the previous Star Lake Mystic Realm?)

This Puppet seemed to have once been a guardian of some place? Was it related to that Star Lake Mystic Realm?

Just as Lin Mo attempted to transmit clearer thoughts to communicate—

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several Demon Spiders lurking in the nearby darkness, seemingly unable to restrain their craving for living energy any longer, suddenly lunged out from gaps in the bone piles, their target being the seemingly most ”vulnerable” Lin Mo’s light cluster!

Su Muxue’s eyes turned fierce, about to act—

”ROAR!!!”

The Skeleton Puppet, however, seemed provoked, emitting a soundless yet Soul-shaking roar! The roar contained boundless fury and... hatred! Hatred towards the Demon Spiders!

Its tilted body erupted with a speed unbefitting its form. The gray-black Death Qi suddenly boiled! Its ”long arm,” made of spinal bone, lashed out like a bone whip, carrying a sharp, decaying, yet still faintly discernible Sword Intent with a Foundation of grandeur and righteousness—striking later but arriving first!

Crack! Crack!

The two Demon Spiders at the forefront were instantly and precisely struck by the bone whip, their heads shattered. Their dark red compound eyes extinguished, their corpses sent flying!

Simultaneously, its other ”short arm,” made of a leg bone, plunged into the ground!

Hum!

A faint yet tenacious, gray-white barrier formed from shattered Sword Intent and mixed Death Qi instantly rose, barely blocking the pounces of the subsequent few Demon Spiders!

Its movements were concise, efficient, brimming with a battle instinct honed through countless trials! That was definitely not something a haphazardly assembled monster could possess!

Although the barrier shook violently under the Demon Spiders’ impacts, it stood firm, blocking those spiders outside. Its hollow eye sockets fixed on them, its Soul-fire burning with blazing Battle Intent and hatred.

It... was protecting them?

Both Su Muxue and Lin Mo were stunned.

The Demon Spiders seemed extremely enraged by this ”traitorous” Skeleton Puppet, emitting sharp shrieks and attacking the barrier even more frantically.

The Skeleton Puppet’s body swayed. The bones composing its form groaned under stress, its Soul-fire flickering unsteadily. It was clearly struggling immensely to hold on. Yet, it did not retreat a single step. Its shattered consciousness transmitted again, still chaotic but with an added trace of urgency:

”Go... quickly go...” ”They... more and more...” ”East... fissure... perhaps... can... get out...”

East? Fissure?

Lin Mo suddenly recalled the ancient tree’s will had also mentioned ”east”!

Could this bizarre Skeleton Puppet truly know a way out? What exactly was its origin?

Seeing the barrier about to shatter, more Demon Spiders attracted by the commotion were swarming from all directions.

There was no time to hesitate!

Su Muxue’s eyes narrowed. She hesitated no longer.

Ice-blue cold erupted again, but this time, it wasn’t an indiscriminate attack. It transformed into countless sharp ice spikes, precisely bypassing the Skeleton Puppet, shooting towards the Demon Spiders outside the barrier like a storm!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Instantly, several more Demon Spiders were pierced and frozen by the ice spikes!

”Lead the way!” Su Muxue’s icy voice brooked no argument. She took a step forward, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Skeleton Puppet. Her Profound Yin Domain expanded once more, instantly clearing a small area of the surrounding pouncing Demon Spiders!

The Skeleton Puppet’s Soul-fire jumped violently, seemingly surprised, but then transmitted a feeling akin to ”gratitude.” It no longer supported the barrier, abruptly turned, and pointed its whip-like long arm in a certain direction. Then, staggering yet resolute, it charged forward, each step crushing any Demon Spider attempting to block its path!

Su Muxue, protecting Lin Mo, followed closely behind.

A strange procession—composed of an Ice-Sealed Fairy, a chaos light cluster, and a Shattered Sword-Bone—began another desperate flight through this abyss of despair, heading towards the unknown ”Eastern Fissure.”