Chapter Fifteen: Valley of Bones… Gathering of the Three Wolves
The procession of the "Core Disciples" departed from the Radiant Dragon Peak with the first rays of dawn, riding the "Wind Horses," whose breaths rose as white mist vanishing into the cold air. The journey to the "Broken Bones Valley" would take two days across rugged mountainous terrain, where greenery gradually gave way to a barren land dominated by gray and black hues.
Zhu Fan rode at the rear of the procession, wrapped in a heavy black cloak that concealed his pale features. He felt the "gear" in his pocket moving; it had not stopped spinning since their departure, and its vibration increased as they neared the valley's edge.
At the valley entrance, the procession halted under the command of Elder Khalid, a massive man with a thick white beard covering half his chest, and sunken eyes that told tales of ancient battles. He wore a heavy bronze armor etched with protective talismans, and carried a massive hammer on his back that looked like a chunk of carved mountain.
"Listen carefully!" Elder Khalid roared, his voice echoing through the narrow valley. "This valley is no place for a stroll. Here, armies of emperors fell, and the blood of farmers mixed with the soil until even the ground itself gained a vengeful spirit. Your mission is to recover the 'Dark Essence Crystals' that appear after the spiritual eclipse. You have two days; whoever returns with even one crystal will earn the rank of 'Lieutenant.' Those who come back empty-handed… pray the valley's bones find you before we do."
Zhu Fan entered the valley alone, distancing himself from the other disciples who scattered into groups. The atmosphere within the valley sent shivers down his spine; the rocks formed eerie shapes resembling human skeletons, and the wind passing through the crevices emitted wails like the screams of the tormented.
"Environmental variables: spiritual pressure increases by 10% every hundred meters. Visibility is limited due to the Bone Mist. Current probability of encountering another 'Accountant': 92%."
Suddenly, Zhu Fan stopped. There was no sound, but the "disturbance gauge" in his pocket began radiating intense heat.
Through the dense mist to his right appeared a young man Zhu Fan had never seen before in the sect. He walked slowly and steadily, as if the ground obeyed his steps.
This was Long Xiao, the second Accountant, master of the "Chaos Voice."
Long Xiao had a tall, slender frame, and his skin had an odd bronze hue, as if cast from ancient copper. His face was sharp as a dagger, his chin pointed, and his narrow eyes glimmered with a metallic green light. His long black hair was tied with red ribbons, from which small silent bells hung—exactly like those Lin Er possessed.
But what distinguished him most was his coat: a tight leather jacket embroidered with silver threads forming intertwined sound wave patterns. On his back, he carried a strange zither made from pure white bones, its strings crafted from spider silk that glowed with blue light.
"Stand still, little brother," Long Xiao spoke. His voice was not ordinary; it reverberated directly inside Zhu Fan's skull, bypassing the ears and striking the nerves.
Zhu Fan felt a sharp ringing in his head, and his mind began producing faulty calculations. The frequency… it's manipulating the air vibrations! he thought, gritting his teeth and digging his nails into his palm to stay conscious.
"You possess the first and second tomes," Long Xiao continued, lightly touching the zither strings to produce a single note that turned nearby rocks to dust. "The scent of your 'Physical Derivation' emanates from you. As for me… I possess the fifth tome, 'Echoes of Nothingness.' I do not need to slice things with my hands as you do… I make them dismantle themselves through vibration."
"Why are you here?" Zhu Fan asked, activating his "Chaos Scalpel" in his fist, trying to counterbalance the frequencies his opponent emitted.
"I am here for the same reason Lin Er let you live," Long Xiao replied with a yellow grin, revealing unnaturally neat teeth. "We need your 'data.' The first tome holds the key to 'physical compatibility' that my book lacks. But… Lin Er is very kind; as for me… I prefer to obtain the data from your lifeless body."
At that moment, a burst of purple light descended from the sky, landing gracefully between them. It was Lin Er.
She appeared in the valley like a queen of destruction; her celestial robe fluttered despite the absence of wind, and her violet eyes radiated a power far beyond what Zhu Fan had seen in the residence. She held a black hand fan, engraved with falling stars.
"Long Xiao, stop playing with your food," Lin Er said in a soft yet subtly threatening voice, causing Long Xiao to shrink slightly. "The 'Fourth' has arrived. Did you feel it coming?"
Long Xiao froze, his grin fading. "The Fourth? Master of the 'Touch of Nothingness'? I thought he was killed in the Northern Peak trials."
"Nothingness does not die," Lin Er replied, glancing at Zhu Fan with a mysterious look. "Zhu Fan… now the real game begins. The three of us represent the 'Accountants,' but the Fourth… the Fourth is the 'Corrector.' His duty is to kill us all if we fail to acquire the sixth tome in time."
Suddenly, the ground trembled violently beneath their feet. From a deep crevice in the valley, a massive hand made of cohesive black ash rose up. A strange figure emerged, his face completely wrapped in white bandages, with only one eye visible—an entirely white eye, without pupil or life.
He wore tattered robes, as if devoured by time itself. Heavy iron chains hung from his wrists, yet they did not touch the ground; they floated in the air as if weightless.
This was Kai, the Fourth.
A smell of ancient death emanated from him, like burnt paper left in a sealed room for centuries. He did not speak, did not threaten; he merely touched a massive boulder beside him. The rock did not shatter or tremble—it simply vanished, erased from existence as if it had never been there.
A terrifying silence settled over the valley. Even the arrogant Long Xiao stepped back.
"The calculations are complete," whispered Lin Er, opening her black fan. "We have one hour before the spiritual eclipse is complete. If we do not unite to kill 'Kai,' he will erase us one by one. Zhu Fan… the first tome you hold can 'anchor' matter. We need your body to be the 'anchor' that holds Kai while Long Xiao and I dismantle his soul and sound."
Zhu Fan looked at them. He knew these were traps within traps. Lin Er wanted to use him, Long Xiao wanted him dead, and Kai wanted to erase everyone.
"The probabilities…" Zhu Fan thought, his mind blazing golden. "Probability A: cooperate with them (success rate 12%). Probability B: escape (success rate 0%). Probability C: use the 'Ash Kings Record' to turn the situation into uncontrollable chaos."
Zhu Fan drew the vibrating dagger, the "Scalpel of Chaos," and held it before his face. "I will not be anyone's anchor," Zhu Fan said, his voice deep and savage. "If you wish to kill nothingness… prepare to taste the annihilation you describe."
Kai, the Fourth, surged toward them like darkness crawling across the ground. With each step, parts of the valley disappeared. He did not fight—he "erased."
Lin Er waved her fan, launching thousands of violet spiritual threads to bind Kai's limbs, but they vanished upon contact. Long Xiao played an unbearably sharp note, shattering Zhu Fan's eardrums, yet Kai continued advancing, trembling and vibrating.
"Zhu Fan! Do something!" Lin Er shouted, blood streaming from her nose under the immense pressure.
Zhu Fan did not attack Kai. Instead, he plunged his dagger into his own shadow.
The Forbidden Equation: Inverse Existential Frequency!
Since Kai erased any "matter" he touched, Zhu Fan transformed his body into "void" before contact. When Kai's hand collided with Zhu Fan's, nothing was erased; instead, it was a collision of void with void.
A silent explosion swept through them. The entire valley shook, and the gray mist turned into a black whirlwind. Amid the chaos, Zhu Fan stood face to face with Kai, his hand penetrating Kai's chest—not to kill, but to "upload" the data of nothingness directly into his record.
"You… how…" Kai spoke for the first time, his voice like breaking glass.
"I do not only calculate what exists," Zhu Fan whispered into Kai's ear, his eyes glowing golden, alien to this world. "I also calculate what does not exist. Thank you for the sixth tome… Corrector."
Zhu Fan withdrew his hand. Kai's body collapsed, turning into fine ash scattered by the wind. Silence reigned.
Lin Er and Long Xiao stared at Zhu Fan in genuine fear. He was no longer the weak "little brother." He now carried the energy of nothingness, stolen from the Fourth, in his veins.
"You're insane," Lin Er said, wiping blood from her face, her voice trembling. "You combined the first tome's power with the sixth… your body will explode in minutes! No Meridian Fan can withstand this contradiction!"
"Perhaps," Zhu Fan replied, gazing at his intermittently disappearing hand. "But until then… I will collect the remaining debts."
He turned toward Long Xiao, who had begun retreating in terror, holding his zither like a shield. "Long Xiao… your next note… will be the last sound you hear in this world."
At that moment, the sky darkened as the "spiritual eclipse" began. Day turned into night, and Dark Essence Crystals sprouted from the earth like demonic plants. But no one dared touch them—the real battle between the "Accountants" had just begun, destined to become a massacre spoken of for thousands of years.