Chapter Nineteen: The Bone Butterfly

"Hey! You two, stop dawdling! Spray some of this on yourselves!" Haotian scolded them, clearly annoyed as he tossed a small bottle their way.

"What is this stuff?" Xiaoshan caught the bottle in one swift motion, eyeing it with curiosity.

"It's the sap of the man-eating tree. If you don't want to get entangled by those things, you'd better spray it on right now!" Haotian warned.

After being harassed by the wolf pack, a good deal of time had passed. The moon now hung high overhead without any of them realizing how late it had gotten.

"It's the middle of the night—won't your father say something?" Xiaoshan asked Ruoxi.

"Of course he will! He might even come out looking for me!" Ruoxi shot back, sounding annoyed.

"She never goes out, but when she does, she doesn't come home until the middle of the night!" Haotian added gleefully, clearly enjoying her discomfort.

Ruoxi rolled her eyes at him, looking rather put out.

"If he won't let you go out to play, then do it anyway, just to spite him!" Xiaoshan said, grinning at her.

Ruoxi's own smile was sweet as she replied, "Mm!"

"Hey! Have you finished spraying that stuff? If you have, let's get moving! Stop dragging your feet," Haotian barked again, clearly exasperated by their antics.

Xiaoshan and Ruoxi exchanged a quick laugh and hurried after their companions.

"Do you think this stuff actually works?" Xiaoshan sniffed at himself, noting the faint and elegant scent of flowers and grass. It was subtle, not at all the pungent odor he'd expected.

"You'll know soon enough."

Without further ado, Xiaoshan, still nursing a grudge against the man-eating trees, poked a branch with his sword tip.

The branch didn't react at all, swaying lazily as if moved by the breeze.

"It really works!" Xiaoshan exclaimed with delight, giving another playful jab.

"Why are you so obsessed with this?" Ruoxi couldn't stand to watch anymore. She caught his arm and led him deeper into the grove.

After they passed, the branches of the man-eating tree quivered violently for a moment before coming to rest once more.

As they continued on, the man-eating trees around them grew even more robust. Xiaoshan no longer dared to prod the branches, keeping well away from them as if he hadn't sprayed himself with anything at all.

They moved quickly. Before long, the trees thinned out, but those that remained were even more gigantic—some towering over ten meters high.

Suddenly, wide fissures appeared in the ground ahead, stretching onward and illuminated starkly by the glow of their orb.

"What kind of force could create cracks like this?" Xiaoshan stared at the ground in amazement. The fissures were so deep that even the orb's light couldn’t reach the bottom.

"Fragments from a meteorite impact," Haoyun replied.

"Fragments? Not a whole meteorite?" Xiaoshan was stunned—a single fragment could cause this much destruction?

"Meteorites are massive, so there are lots of fragments," Haoyun said, his impatience clear.

Xiaoshan was baffled by Haoyun's sudden irritation, but he fell silent.

"In the late Cancerous Era, countless meteorites fell from the sky—almost smashing the Earth apart! This one probably went nearly to the planet's core," Ruoxi explained, seeing that Haoyun couldn't be bothered.

"Meteorites have that much power?" Xiaoshan gazed up at the sky in awe. The heavens were unfathomably high, and the Azure Star must be immense. If meteorites could nearly shatter the planet, how enormous must they have been?

"Everyone, watch your step! Don't fall in," Haotian warned.

The cracks grew wider and more treacherous. One misstep could spell disaster.

"Go around the fissures—stick to solid ground!" Haopo called from the front.

"Or just follow me," he added. Land that could support his weight would do for them as well.

Having witnessed Haopo's strength, Xiaoshan and the others instinctively trusted him and followed close behind. That was the way of the strong: the weak would always rely on them.

The fissures widened until, up ahead, there were no more cracks—just a massive pit.

Floating in the center were countless fragments of rock. Xiaoshan thought, This must be the meteorite debris we're after—the destination of our journey.

"Can you two make it down there?" Haotian turned to Xiaoshan and Ruoxi.

"Down into that pit?" Ruoxi's mouth fell open in shock.

"Yes," Haotian pointed with his sword. "Step on the meteorite fragments. It's simple!"

"We won't fall?"

"Want us to go first? Then you follow?" Haotian offered.

"Alright," Xiaoshan agreed, cautious.

Ruoxi seemed about to protest, but when she saw Xiaoshan's confident expression, she held her tongue.

"Let's go," Haopo said, leaping onto the meteorite fragments below.

"Follow Haopo's footsteps," Ruoxi urged Xiaoshan.

He nodded, and together with Ruoxi and the others, began to descend.

It looked daunting from above, but up close, the meteorite fragments were right beneath their feet. A simple leap landed them on the next, swaying piece.

As time passed, Xiaoshan's footing grew surer and his pace quickened until he kept up with the others.

"Wow! It's beautiful!" Ruoxi exclaimed with delight when they reached the bottom.

Beautiful? Xiaoshan was bewildered—he had expected carnage.

He shook off his confusion and hurried his steps. The floating fragments wobbled beneath him, making it feel as though they might give way at any moment.

In truth, the pit wasn't more than two or three hundred meters deep. The floating debris slowed their descent, each step like playing a note on a piano.

As Xiaoshan reached the bottom, sunlight dazzled his eyes. He squinted against the sudden brightness, feeling a little dizzy before finally adjusting to take in his surroundings.

He looked up—above them the sky was still pitch black, yet at the bottom it was as bright as day. Puzzled, Xiaoshan asked about it.

"Let's walk on a bit," someone suggested. "There's something unusual about this place."

Just what kind of Azure Star was this, to be so strange?

"Butterflies flying, flying... flying, flying!" Laughter and singing reached Xiaoshan's ears, breaking his train of thought.

When he opened his eyes, he saw countless butterflies perched on the flowers and grass.

A young girl chased the butterflies, laughter ringing out, joyous and carefree.

The butterflies circled around her as she reached out to catch them. Suddenly, noticing someone ahead, she beamed with delight and bounded over.

"Xiaoshan, Xiaoshan! Aren't these butterflies beautiful?" Ruoxi called, smiling.

Xiaoshan saw a dazzling butterfly perched on Ruoxi's outstretched finger.

Tiny patterns and spots decorated its delicate wings, the little antennae at its head accentuating its fragile beauty.

But before Xiaoshan could marvel, the butterfly on Ruoxi's fingertip withered in an instant, dissolving visibly from the wings inward into the finest particles and vanishing on the breeze.

"What...?" Xiaoshan's eyes widened in disbelief at the scene before him.

Ruoxi, for her part, flexed her fingers—she had felt nothing at all as the butterfly landed and then vanished into thin air. She looked around, more startled than Xiaoshan.

"Life and death turning to white bone—this is a Bone Butterfly," Haoyun explained, seeing their astonishment.

"The White Butterfly is no different from any other, but as the name suggests, it feeds on white bone. Born amidst bones, the souls of the dead don't simply vanish. Some enter the cycle of rebirth, while others linger in another form—the souls of powerful warriors may remain in the bones or become spirits.

"The White Butterflies you see are the souls of ordinary people who died in happiness. Their souls either dissipate or merge into the environment you see before you."

Xiaoshan was stunned to realize that what he saw around him was the transformation of countless souls, the residue of the dead.

"You might be standing on a pile of bones," Haotian teased, pointing at Ruoxi with a mischievous grin.

Ruoxi's face turned pale with fright and she took a few steps back.

After a moment, she realized she’d been teased and glared at Haotian, though a reluctant smile tugged at her lips.

"Haotian is right. The White Butterflies never stray far from the bones they formed from," Haoyun said gravely.

Ruoxi’s pupils contracted as she glanced at the ground, her ears catching every sound.

"If all of this was formed from bones, how many people must have died here?" Xiaoshan exclaimed in awe.

"Impossible! Souls rarely linger in the world for long after death. But here, there’s a whole field of White Butterflies—it’s bizarre," Haoyun muttered, deeply puzzled.

"Strange! Could it be the meteorite’s influence?" Haotian wondered.

"The books don't say—let’s just proceed carefully," Haoyun replied, his tone grave. The presence of so many White Butterflies could only mean danger.

"The Book of Beasts?" Haotian asked.

"Yes," Haoyun confirmed.

Ruoxi's cheerful expression had vanished, replaced by a shadow of oppression between her brows.

"Now that we've had our fill of marveling, let's get moving," Haopo said coldly.

"Which way?" Haoyun asked.

"Forward," Haopo pointed with his sword.

"I have a feeling what we seek lies just ahead," he said, his tone brooking no argument.

"But the way ahead will be even more dangerous. Prepare yourselves."

"A place shaped by vengeful souls—danger lurks at every turn," Haoyun warned.

"More walking?" Ruoxi pouted, clearly reluctant. The surrounding beauty had been tainted by the revelation of its true nature.

Her mood soured, as if she’d just gained ten coins only to lose twenty the next moment—a sharper disappointment than ignorance would have been.

"We’re almost there," Xiaoshan whispered in comfort.

"Mm," Ruoxi replied softly, as though she had lost all interest in this place.