Chapter 0443 – Yin Turtles

No one spoke again. Qin Hongyi and the others instinctively quickened their pace. Death had already begun to appear in the mine, and no one knew what was lurking in the shadows. Even during the previous catastrophe, no one ever discovered what they had encountered. People just kept dying, one after another, silently and mysteriously. No one knew how they died.

The deaths were exceedingly strange.

The screams they let out before death were exactly like the ones they heard now.

Time was running out. The longer they stayed, the greater the danger.

"All the crystals have been completely excavated. This used to be a major crystal vein. The people of Dark City really are ruthless."

As he walked, Yi Tianxing collected the fallen corpses around him into the treasure pagoda. Surprisingly, the corpses seemed to carry highly refined Yin Qi, making the energy contained within their bones quite substantial. A single skeleton could rival a powerful beast. This kind of harvest wasn't small—at least for the treasure pagoda, where even a mosquito counted as meat.

By clearing the corpses, he both enhanced the pagoda's foundation and removed the chance of those bodies mutating. If there really was something strange about them, the pagoda would simply refine them into nothingness.

"At the time, nearly everyone in Dark City gathered here to dig for crystals like madmen, as if they were robbing a treasure vault. Not a sliver was left behind. That was when we first realized there were items that could accelerate cultivation. Everyone lost their minds trying to dig out every last bit. The entire mine became riddled with tunnels, full of chaotic intersections. There's no way any crystals were left here."

Qin Hongyi said with a faint smile.

Without seeing it in person, it was hard to imagine how crazed the scene had been during the excavation. It defied common sense.

She was clearly very familiar with the layout of the mine. The Red Pavilion women led the way, weaving through the many branches of the tunnels with seemingly no order. There were too many entrances, too many forks. After a few turns, even finding the way back would become difficult.

Their path was strewn with corpses.

In the darkness, eerie will-o'-the-wisps floated silently.

"Ah!!"

Suddenly, one of the Red Pavilion women at the front let out a blood-curdling scream without warning. She clutched her heart and looked at Qin Hongyi, crying out, "Mistress, save me!!"

"Not good. The sinister force in this mine has its eyes on us." Qin Hongyi's face changed. Glancing at the fallen subordinate, she quickly said, "She's beyond saving. Move! We have to get out of here!"

"How interesting. Nothing appeared, yet she suddenly collapsed and died. What exactly killed her?" Yi Tianxing also saw that the woman had already died the moment she cried out for help. There was no chance to save her.

The death had happened far too quickly.

Yi Tianxing walked toward the fallen woman.

"Mr. Yi, don't go near her! Once someone dies, their body becomes tainted with misfortune. If you get too close, death will cling to you. Back then, that's how so many died—without a trace, without knowing what killed them."

Qin Hongyi called out quickly to stop him, her expression tense.

"She's… dissolving!"

Yi Tianxing's eyes narrowed sharply.

He could see the woman's flesh and blood disappearing at a rate visible to the naked eye. It was eerie—horrifying. The flesh was collapsing right off the bone.

"Move, don't linger!"

Qin Hongyi paled and shouted urgently.

"Let's go."

Yi Tianxing looked down at the girl, Nannan, who was holding his hand. Though he wanted to investigate further, the deaths were far too strange—and the corpse was clearly undergoing some unnatural transformation.

Just ahead were several more forked paths.

Qin Hongyi decisively chose one and stepped inside. They disappeared from the original tunnel.

Moments after they left, the corpse they had just seen began to rapidly melt away. All the flesh vanished without a sound—even the skin. Only icy white bones remained, lying on the ground as if they had been dead for years. It was an eerie scene.

"Qin Pavilion Mistress, do you know what killed her?" Yi Tianxing asked as they walked side by side.

"I don't. But I'm sure it's related to the ominous presence that once emerged from the crystal mine. All the deaths back then happened the same way—sudden, unseen, untraceable, and utterly bizarre. What's more terrifying is that once someone dies, their flesh disappears, and then others nearby start dying too. The more who die, the faster the death spreads."

Qin Hongyi shook her head grimly.

"Some suspect it's a kind of mysterious poison that permeates the mine, something that silently corrodes the body. Once you can't resist it, you just die on the spot. But if it were some kind of beast or monster, it would be impossible for it to evade everyone's senses. And if it's a ghost, any cultivator should sense its presence. Unless… it's a ghost far beyond our level."

A Red Pavilion woman interjected.

"It's not poison. I don't sense any deadly toxins in the air."

Yi Tianxing shook his head slightly. If there were poison, he'd detect it—unless it was of an unimaginably high tier.

After that, no one had the heart to speak further. They all pressed forward at full speed, hoping to reach the crystal mine quickly, find what they needed, and escape.

No one wanted to stay a moment longer.

Thump!!

Moments later, another Red Pavilion woman collapsed, letting out a shrill scream before trembling in agony and falling silent. She clearly died the same way as the previous woman.

"This won't do. If we keep going, more people will die. If we want to survive, we must figure out what's causing these deaths."

Yi Tianxing frowned and stopped fleeing. At this rate, they'd all die, possibly without even understanding how.

He walked straight over to the woman's body.

These Red Pavilion women truly were breathtaking—each chosen from among thousands. Even in death, their allure lingered. It was haunting.

"Be careful, Mr. Yi."

Qin Hongyi showed a trace of helplessness. She knew Yi Tianxing was bold and powerful. He would never be satisfied without investigating this mystery firsthand. Once that curiosity sparked, it wouldn't go away.

Of course, she secretly hoped he could uncover something and finally break the cycle of death. If they could find the cause, they wouldn't need to be so afraid and helpless.

"Nannan, hold on to the treasure pagoda. Don't let go, no matter what."

Yi Tianxing turned to the girl and instructed firmly.

He activated his Innate Yin-Yang Eyes to the fullest. His pupils turned black and white, rotating like the sun and moon.

His vision transformed completely—everything now rendered in shades of black and white.

Black and white: the original colors of time. Chaos gives rise to Yin and Yang.

These eyes could peer into the essence of all things. Very few things could hide from them—only true chaos. Even primordial divine beings couldn't escape their gaze.

"There's something inside her body."

Yi Tianxing narrowed his eyes.

He could see her body—her organs, her flesh—shrinking visibly. That could only happen if something was devouring her from within. Moreover, there was something wriggling under her skin. This wouldn't happen in a normal death.

Clearly, something was crawling inside her. Unnerving and terrifying.

"There really is something."

Qin Hongyi also saw the signs and felt a chill in her heart.

Crack!!

Suddenly, even the woman's skin split open and vanished, right in front of them. Not a trace was left. Just clean white bones, cold and still. All her flesh had been eaten—as if consumed by some monster.

"Could that thing be invisible? Formless?"

Qin Hongyi's face darkened. With the skin gone, all that remained were cold bones—no blood, no tissue, nothing. It was as if something had swallowed it all.

"So it really is something. And not just invisible—it's formless. A formless creature, like a corpse-eater, but far more terrifying. It has no form… This is a Yin Turtle."

Yi Tianxing's pupils shrank sharply. The black and white light in his eyes flickered even faster.

Others might not see it—but he could.

In that moment when the skin tore open, a terrifying sight appeared before his eyes.

There wasn't nothing there.

There were swarms of terrifying Yin Turtles (阴鳖).

They were invisible to the naked eye, capable of becoming formless—like deathly messengers from the underworld itself. Just one of them was the size of a baby's fist, grotesque and horrifying to behold. Around it were countless smaller ones, the size of a thumb—all crawling out from that Red Pavilion woman's body.

There were so many, he couldn't even begin to count them.