I Contracted All Ancient Divine Artifacts-Chapter 278 - 177: Bamboo Grove!

Han Zhan returned to his residence from Wofeng Palace, and it was already nearing evening.

The eerie shadows went from initially headache-inducing to now gradually numbing.

With the improvement of Sword Dao Cultivation, for Han Zhan, it felt more like clocking in at work, endlessly repetitive, and utterly joyless.

"I'm back."

Han Zhan pushed open the door and greeted Nuannuan.

Over these days of living together, he had gradually grown accustomed to having this little girl, preparing six soups and one dish every night, waiting at home.

Just not knowing how long this eerie shadow would persist.

When he walked into the house, it was empty inside.

No one was there.

"Nuannuan?" Han Zhan realized something was amiss and raised his voice to call out.

Still, no one answered.

Where did Nuannuan go?

It's already nearing evening; the eerie shadows could appear any moment, and Nuannuan is just an unawakened juvenile, she wouldn't choose to leave at this time.

Did someone target her?

Could it be Chen Tao!

Since the incident at Shang Academy, Chen Tao had been silent, no longer doing anything against Han Zhan.

Only continuing to pester Gongyang Jin, firmly believing she wouldn't like a man like Han Zhan and still had feelings for him.

Besides this, he hadn't done anything targeting Han Zhan for quite some time.

Just as Han Zhan was about to quickly turn back to Wofeng Palace to report Nuannuan's disappearance to Gongyang Jin and begin an investigation.

An eerie shadow appeared at the doorway, blocking Han Zhan's way.

Then the second, the third…

More and more eerie shadows filled the entire room densely.

Han Zhan's expression turned solemn as he gripped the Moonlight Longsword.

The sudden change in the eerie shadows gave him a bad feeling.

If Nuannuan's disappearance had anything to do with the eerie shadows—

Before he even finished the thought, the countless eerie shadows before his eyes suddenly transformed into a puddle of ink, melting on the ground, walls, and ceiling.

Everywhere visible to the eye.

By the time Han Zhan sensed something was wrong and tried to escape, it was too late.

The ink was much thicker than expected.

They continued to shrink, wrap around, condense, and finally completely engulf Han Zhan.

The black ink kept shrinking until it condensed into a tiny black dot smaller than a sesame seed, and then completely disappeared.

The entire residence of Han Zhan was empty.

As if nothing had ever happened.

...

Han Zhan watched the all-consuming ink, and in the blink of an eye, the sky cleared again.

Swoosh.

The sound of wind passing through the bamboo forest reached his ears.

Bamboo forest?

At that moment, Han Zhan's mind cleared instantly, he looked around, and his residence had been replaced by a lush and verdant bamboo forest.

He was standing in the wilderness before the bamboo forest.

Still maintaining the stance of tightly gripping the Moonlight Longsword.

"Where am I?"

"Bamboo forest! Is it the bamboo forest described by those spirits!"

Han Zhan recalled that there had been descriptions of a "bamboo forest" during the time at the Mechanical Sect Mine.

Those deceased souls had all visited that bamboo forest, experiencing something there, and ultimately returned to the Land of Soul Burial.

When he tried to inquire about more information on the bamboo forest, the spirits seemed to touch a restriction and dissipated directly.

"The bamboo forest holds secrets."

"Are those eerie shadows related to the secrets within the bamboo forest?"

"Where is Nuannuan? What is her connection to this bamboo forest?"

Three questions immediately flashed through Han Zhan's mind.

Then he saw a horrifying scene.

The soil beneath his feet suddenly turned transparent, like glass, through this transparent glass layer below, he saw countless, dense, people!

Each one was dressed in worn blue fisherman's clothing like a boat captain.

Countless boat captains were all roaring towards the sky.

Han Zhan also saw these boat captains stacking up to form a tall obelisk-shaped "human tower".

Boat captains continuously fell from the outer layers of the human tower, crashing into the vast sea of boat captains below, disappearing.

But more boat captains, like tiny ants, were endlessly converging towards the "human tower" from all directions around it.

They strived to climb to the top of the human tower, then used their bodies as new tower bases, layer upon layer, steadily rising towards the sky!

Though there was still some distance from the transparent glass-like land beneath Han Zhan's feet, the distance was continuously shrinking!

Was this over?

No, not yet!

Just as Han Zhan withdrew his gaze, trying to figure things out, an ear-piercing crashing sound suddenly rang above the sky, which should have been blue.

The sound was like, the harsh noise produced when special metals are forcibly compressed and twisted.

Han Zhan saw the sky above being pressed down hard, forming a large dent.

Outside the dented sky.

There was nothing.

Han Zhan's eyes narrowed slightly, and once he realized it, he activated the spiritual power perception of the Nuwa Stone.

Through the perception of Nuwa Stone to spiritual power particles, he finally "saw."

It was a giant starship comparable to the Great River Battleship, which had crashed fiercely against the curtain of sky that seemed like air, causing the sky to dent.

"Virtual-Real Technology, a means of the Mechanical Sect!"

"Those countless clone-like 'boat captains' below, should be the Life and Death Apostles of the Holy Bishop!"

Just when Han Zhan said this, the ground beneath his feet suddenly trembled violently, the entire land was shaking.

He stabilized his stance and looked out towards the open wilderness behind him.

He saw a giant black hand, covering the sky and blocking out the sun!

That black hand smacked the transparent sky curtain fiercely, leaving a pitch-black handprint.

This handprint carried an aura of evil and corruption, even a single glance made one's heart yearn to sink into it.

"Fallen Knight!"

Mechanical Sect, Holy Bishop, and the Sun Never Sets Knight Order.

Were they all launching an attack on this "bamboo forest" from behind?

What is hiding within this bamboo forest?

Or could it be, within the bamboo forest lies the answer to unlocking the ultimate secret of City of Extreme Evil!

"You've arrived."

From the bamboo forest, a gentle and pleasant female voice sounded.

Her voice was similar to Nuannuan's by seventy or eighty percent, but more mature, lacking the slightest hint of a lisp.

"Come in."

"Our time is limited."

"The bamboo forest has been anchored here too long, they've discovered and locked onto it, not much time is left for us."

The woman's voice seemed to carry a hint of urgency.

Facing these circumstances, Han Zhan hesitated for less than a second, his gaze once again firmed.

He strode forward, walking straight towards the bamboo forest's entrance with determination!

As Han Zhan stepped into the bamboo forest, he seemed to hear the woman's voice faintly dissipating into the air beside his ear once more.

"Be careful, the bamboos."

"Come in, find me!"