The three killed the demon tree, rested briefly, and continued their journey.
After walking for about an hour, they finally reached the end of the secret passage. At the end was another room, and before the door was even opened, Qingchen said, "There's something inside."
Shen Miao looked at him in surprise: "You have X-ray vision? The door isn't even open, how do you know there's something there?"
Qingchen said expressionlessly, "I can sense an energy fluctuation inside. That thing should be alive."
"It's still alive!" Shen Miao said with lingering fear. "Could it be one of those demonic trees or something?"
That thing only needs to come once, it just keeps going on and on.
Jiuying shook his head: "It shouldn't be. I felt it too. It should be something like a remnant soul. Look, these bones are reacting."
He pointed to the various bone decorations on his body that were constantly swaying.
Shen Miao was very surprised, never expecting that bone decorations could have such a function.
As if sensing her confusion, Jiuying smiled and explained, "These are not ordinary bones. Each one contains a wisp of a remnant soul. To be precise, the remnant souls are sealed inside. Now, they have probably sensed their own kind, so they have begun to stir."
"So, the one inside is also a remnant soul?"
"Possibly."
Shen Miao looked at the two of them and hesitated before asking, "Should we go in?"
If it's a skilled fighter, even they can't defeat him; it wouldn't be good to release him.
Jiuying smiled and said nonchalantly, "Now that we're here, we should naturally go in and take a look. It's alright, I'll go first, and you two follow me. If anything goes wrong, you two can run away."
After saying that, Jiuying pushed open the door.
The room was empty except for a stone bed and a skeleton on the floor. It was unclear how long the skeleton had been dead, as it was almost completely weathered.
"Who is this? Why did they come here to die?"
Shen Miao squatted down and examined the skeleton, which looked like a crocodile's skeleton. She looked up and said, "Someone from the crocodile clan must have died here."
Jiuying and Qingchen also expressed their agreement.
"Except for some cubs, almost all the members of the crocodile tribe are dead. It is estimated that no crocodile tribe members will come to this place in the future."
As soon as she finished speaking, a gust of wind blew, and a shadow appeared on the stone bed.
The shadow's head and face were clearly visible, but its features were indistinct. Rather than calling it a person, it would be more accurate to describe it as a wisp of a soul.
The three retreated together, and the shadow spoke, its tone displeased: "You are not members of my crocodile clan, so why have you come here?"
This was indeed a member of the crocodile clan, but for some reason, even though he was dead, a wisp of his soul remained.
Moreover, this remnant soul was quite cunning; it hadn't shown itself until it heard her words, at which point it began to reveal itself.
Shen Miao suddenly broke out in a sweat. She shouldn't have said anything she shouldn't have.
"This... senior, I'm sorry, we entered this place by accident and disturbed your rest. We apologize. Please continue your cultivation, we will leave immediately," Shen Miao said.
The shadowy figure sternly said, "Which tribe are you from? You just said that the entire Crocodile Clan is dead. Why are they all dead? Were they killed by you? Don't try to lie to me. If the Crocodile Clan were still around, you outsiders would never be able to get close to this place."
Shen Miaojian couldn't dodge it any longer, so she simply admitted it directly, "That's right, the Crocodile Clan had a conflict with our tribe, and the two sides fought a battle. The Crocodile Clan was defeated by us."
The shadow, which had been sitting cross-legged on the stone bed, suddenly stood up and exclaimed, "How dare you?!"
“This is a long story,” Shen Miao said, changing the subject and throwing the question to Shadow. “If you tell us your identity, I will tell you the whole story.”
Shadow gritted his teeth: "You bandits, murderers, you killed my people and even dared to invade my territory! Today, I will avenge my entire clan!"
"You can't take revenge. You're just a remnant soul. And I bet the reason your soul hasn't disappeared after all these years is because you can't let go of the Crocodile Clan. Don't you really want to know what happened to the Crocodile Clan?"
Driven mad by the provocation, Shadow said, "Who says I can't kill you? As long as I trap you in this room, you'll naturally die on your own in a few days."
"I can also self-destruct. Although I am now just a remnant soul, my cultivation is still intact. If I self-destruct, you will all have to accompany me on my journey."
Shen Miao was not afraid of its first threat, because no matter how long they were trapped, she had space, and they would be safe. They could leave once the remnant soul died.
But if she were to self-destruct, there would be no way to stop her.
After much deliberation, Shen Miao decided that she should first calm down the crocodile orc. She softened her voice and said, "We are not enemies. There is no need to make things like this. It would be bad for both of us to suffer losses."
The remnant soul remained silent, seemingly pondering how to make its move.
Shen Miao quickly said, "You didn't hear everything we said. We didn't kill any of your crocodile cubs. We kept them all and will raise them well for you. In the future, it's not impossible for your crocodile tribe to revive its tribe."
These words seemed to strike a chord with the remnant soul, and he became less anxious.
Shen Miao was secretly delighted and continued to press the issue with the cubs: "Senior, you are a smart person. A smart person should know how to choose. It doesn't matter if we die here. Our tribe will continue to live on, but the few remaining cubs of your crocodile tribe will have no chance of survival."
Having said all that, the remnant soul finally relented, and said in a muffled voice, "You really intend to keep the crocodile cubs?"
"Of course!" Shen Miao puffed out her chest and said solemnly, "I can swear to you that I will do what I say."
The remnant soul sneered, "I hope you remember your words today. I am the first leader of the Crocodile Clan. I single-handedly developed the Crocodile Clan, and I never imagined it would fall to this state. Tell me, what heinous things has the Crocodile Clan done!"
Shen Miao then recounted in detail their negotiations with the Crocodile Clan, the Crocodile Clan's attempt to kidnap her, and how they eventually joined forces with the Rat Clan to set a trap for them.
The remnant soul listened, and remained silent for a long time.
After a long while, he sighed and said, "It's because the descendants are unworthy."
Shen Miao thought to herself, "This old man is quite reasonable. No wonder he was able to establish the Crocodile Clan. It's a pity that his descendants didn't inherit any of his abilities or magnanimity."
"Forget it, it was my crocodile clan who chose this path, and I don't wish to make things difficult for you." The remnant soul pondered for a moment before speaking, "My remnant soul can't hold on much longer, but I still have something left for my clan; I'll give it to you now."
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