Chapter Fifty-Nine: Specially Crafted Bark

[You touch the zombie and gain a trace of true qi.]
[You touch the zombie and gain a trace of true qi.]
[You touch the zombie and obtain a clue—Special bark from Meng County, effect unknown.]

The two traces of true qi merged into his body, transforming into two horn-like forms that embedded themselves atop the Dragon Gate, resembling the horns of a dragon. Below, a wisp of true qi began to swell, leaping up toward the Dragon Gate. This leap brought it tantalizingly close, but just shy of crossing. Fang Mu understood that this was already the pinnacle of the Dragon Gate realm. Once the true qi vaulted over the gate, the next step would be the Fish Leap realm, and a fundamental transformation would surely follow.

The larger and smaller zombies below continued their relentless struggle. Fang Mu withdrew his hand, pulled out his butcher's knife, and performed the “Butcher Unveils the Ox” technique. Countless lines of blood appeared across the zombies' bodies, and in an instant, they were reduced to fragments. Ah Bai spat out a wisp of black energy and absorbed all the remains.

Iron Fortune Immortal grinned, accustomed as he was to Fang Mu’s bizarre methods. Still, each time he witnessed this knife technique, he felt a chill run down his spine. Couldn’t he ever leave a whole corpse? It was simply too brutal.

Fang Mu sheathed his blade, reached into his robe, and retrieved the special bark he had just obtained from his mind. At a glance, it seemed utterly ordinary—just a piece of common bark. Considering for a moment, Fang Mu then fished out the bark he had previously obtained from the wooden box, comparing the two.

One piece came from the little girl in Well Dragon County, the other from here. Both were square, about the size of a palm, and identical in shape. But Fang Mu knew there was a reason for the word “special.” Iron Fortune Immortal leaned over, no longer surprised by Fang Mu’s endless supply of strange objects. In the past, he might have been curious enough to investigate these mysteries, but since his last divination, he’d chosen to turn a blind eye. As the saying goes, to live a long life, one must ignore certain things. The last time he tempted fate, his chest had ached for days—a lesson well learned.

So, he simply gazed at the sky, choosing to ignore the rest. Fang Mu scrutinized both pieces of bark, turning them over and back. At last, he noticed something different. The normal Meng County bark bore clear, regular patterns—natural and unremarkable. The special bark, however, had lines that twisted, converged, and crossed, forming what looked like a map.

At the center of the special bark was a tiny, hollowed-out dot, no larger than a needle’s point, barely noticeable unless one looked closely. “A map…” Fang Mu mused, recalling the research notes he had seen at Zheng Wen’s house. Those notes had stated that if a special piece of Meng County bark was consumed by a cannibalistic demon, it could awaken something within them. Zheng Wen’s notes had also emphasized whether his foster father might possess a piece of his own, hinting at something deeper.

His foster father, of course, was Magistrate Yu.

“Doesn’t this look like a map?” Fang Mu displayed the bark. For now, the business with the notes could wait; the main priority was deciphering the patterns on the bark. If these lines represented roads, could this not be a map?

Qing Ruowu stared at the markings, hesitating. “Could it be related to Meng County? A map—could this be a map of Meng County itself?”

Fang Mu nodded, pointing at the bark. “And this small dot in the center—doesn’t it look like a marker on a map, something for us to find?”

Both Qing Ruowu and Iron Fortune Immortal fell silent. It was indeed possible.

“Right,” Fang Mu turned to Iron Fortune Immortal. “Try another divination—does fortune or misfortune lie ahead?”

Iron Fortune Immortal produced his tortoise shell, performed the divination, and his face lit up. “Disaster turns to blessing, disaster turns to blessing. How strange! Why did it suddenly become auspicious? Could it be because of this piece of bark?”

Fang Mu said, “Let’s search for the location of this little dot first.” Indeed, disaster had become blessing. Though he didn’t know where the misfortune lurked, once he obtained the bark, luck shifted. This surely related to his “Corpse Touching” technique. Without it, disaster would truly have been inevitable.

Fang Mu felt the truth was gradually surfacing. In these times, no matter how formidable a person, they could scarcely compare to someone with a cheat like his.

“These two zombies…” Fang Mu eyed the scattered remains. “I don’t know exactly what principle Yu Youde used, but their identities seem clear—a grownup and a child, perhaps Yu Youde’s wife and child.”

“Yu Youde lost his family, but his wife and child vanished without a trace. They were likely killed by his own hand.”

“Let’s find the spot marked by the little dot. The truth may be close at hand.”

To locate the position of the dot on the bark, the most important step was to understand where they were now. The three climbed to a high vantage point, overlooking the streets of Meng County and comparing the scene below to the patterns on the special bark.

“Here.” Fang Mu pointed to a section of the street. The lines matched almost perfectly, and the small dot was at the center of this area.

Without hesitation, the three hurried toward the location. Winding through twisting streets, the sky had begun to lighten after the events of the night, though the glow was still faint and the darkness still prevailed.

“This is the place.”

Fang Mu, holding the special bark, stood in the middle of the street, scanning the empty roadway with a slight frown. The street was deserted; aside from the buildings on either side, there was nothing. Yet the bark indicated the spot was here—they had not deviated from the mark at all.

“Why is there nothing here?” Fang Mu stroked his chin, lost in thought as he gazed at the empty street.

Qing Ruowu and Iron Fortune Immortal circled the area, searching nearby. After a while, they returned together, shaking their heads, having found nothing.

“Judging from the surrounding houses, this area is densely populated,” Qing Ruowu observed. “If anything were hidden here, it wouldn’t be in plain sight. If it were, it would have been discovered long ago.”

“Well said,” Fang Mu nodded. “If Yu Youde killed his wife and child and buried them under a withered tree, he certainly wouldn’t have left anything that could be easily found by him.”

The area was surrounded by houses, with only the street itself left open—nothing but earth and sky.

Standing on the very spot marked by the small dot, Fang Mu tapped the ground with his foot, dismissing the idea of anything buried below. Yu Youde’s wife and child were as ordinary as could be; it was impossible for them to dig here in broad daylight under so many watchful eyes. That left only the sky.

The heavens were pitch-black, thick with ominous clouds, but nothing seemed amiss. Fang Mu’s gaze roamed, and as he looked into the distance, he paused.

There, on the horizon, was an indistinct shadow—the silhouette of a mountain. The mountain was shrouded in darkness, but with the coming dawn, its outline could just be made out.