Chapter 76: Dog Eat Dog

Madam Bone returned very late today.

Her expression was also extremely ugly.

The reason was simple.

She had failed to find suitable prey whose organs could replace her own.

This was a year of severe drought. Strong, healthy men were exceedingly difficult to find.

Unfortunately, her organ replacements had to come from exactly that type of person.

There was no room for compromise.

As a result, she could only return in disappointment.

The inn’s door was half-open.

There was no lock hanging from it.

It stood open to all visitors.

Madam Bone was not worried about thieves.

After all, weaker creatures could not escape her tracking even if they stole something. In fact, they would only provide additional amusement.

As for the famous monsters of the province, none of them would bother engaging in petty theft.

Pushing open the door, she found the inn completely dark.

This was no issue for Madam Bone.

She casually snapped her fingers.

Dozens of skeletal claws extended from every corner and lit the oil lamps.

This was her inn.

Though it appeared relatively new, its foundations and support beams had been built with countless bones embedded within them.

As long as she remained here, she could freely exercise her abilities.

Ever since she had nearly been beaten to death by a Daoist priest named Xuanyuan, she had made a habit of constructing such buildings wherever she settled, just in case.

However, the moment the lights came on, Madam Bone froze.

Her inn...

It seemed...

Possibly...

Perhaps...

Probably...

Actually had been robbed.

Looking around, she saw complete chaos.

Tables and chairs lay overturned everywhere, as though a battle had taken place in the main hall.

Rice and pickled vegetables had been trampled across the floor.

She even discovered her treasured bottle of fine wine among the wreckage.

But she had no time to mourn that loss.

Hurrying to the counter, she began searching frantically.

After a long while, she collapsed into her chair.

Gone.

Everything was gone.

All the things she had painstakingly collected over this period...

Gone.

Thinking about the time spent skinning and tanning them, and recalling the tearful faces of her victims whenever she butchered them after sharing her bed with them, Madam Bone felt overwhelming grief.

Very quickly, however, that grief transformed into rage.

She slammed a hand against the counter and snarled through gritted teeth,

“Which bastard did this? I’ll skin him alive!”

Grand Duke Jupiter’s birthday celebration was drawing near.

This place was located within a mass grave.

Normally, barely a handful of visitors appeared in an entire day.

At present, there were only two likely suspects.

One was that wolf demon who constantly tried to curry favor with her.

The other was the zombie who had recently checked into the inn.

“Lord Qingshan shouldn’t have the guts for something like this. That means it has to be that...”

At that moment, however, the aroma of meat drifted through the air.

Someone is stewing meat at a time like this?

That was her first thought.

That bastard hasn’t even left yet?!

That was her second.

An immense sense of delight surged through her.

She could hardly wait to catch the culprit and subject him to every torture she knew.

She would make him howl in agony for days before allowing him to die.

As for the rule forbidding monsters from killing one another?

What did that matter?

Grand Duke Jupiter stood behind her.

To her, that rule was worth less than a fart.

Madam Bone charged forward like a madwoman.

Through the hall.

Down the corridor.

Finally, she arrived at her kitchen.

Then she froze.

The preserved human corpses and livestock meat hanging from the beams were all intact.

Not a single piece was missing.

The inn’s remaining live livestock had been used up half a month ago.

So then...

What exactly was being stewed in the pot?

The fury on Madam Bone’s face gradually subsided.

First, she summoned numerous skeletal hands and searched the room.

After confirming there were no traps or ambushes, she cautiously approached the pot.

She lifted the lid.

Steam billowed upward.

Within it sat a wolf’s head.

Its lifeless eyes remained open, staring directly at her.

Suddenly, Madam Bone began to laugh.

Since Lord Qingshan had died here, identifying the culprit became very easy.

Furthermore, the fact that the corpse had been openly stewed in her kitchen was an obvious act of provocation directed at her.

Come to think of it...

Do you really think I’m useless, Madam Bone?

You actually dare climb onto my head?!

Madam Bone nearly ground her teeth to powder.

She overturned the entire pot.

The wolf’s head rolled across the floor.

A moment later, a tiny bound foot landed atop it.

Then crushed it beneath her heel.

Madam Bone raised her head.

Her eyes were filled with a madness that seemed ready to devour people whole.

She stormed up to the inn’s second floor and kicked open a room’s door.

Inside, traces of someone’s recent habitation remained untouched.

It seemed the room had not even been cleaned up.

Madam Bone immediately sneered.

“Looks like I underestimated you. You think you can run away just like that? Let me tell you, as long as you leave behind even a single strand of hair, I’ll hunt you to the ends of the earth!”

Just as Madam Bone was about to search the room, something else caught her attention.

A sheet of paper sat on the table.

Beside it was a box.

More pointless theatrics?

Madam Bone carefully examined her surroundings once more.

Finding nothing suspicious, she approached the table and picked up the paper.

Several lines of crooked handwriting covered its surface.

Madam, seeing this letter is like seeing me.

I deeply apologize for departing without saying goodbye. However, as the saying goes, every meeting leads to a parting. Life is filled with regrets, just as Naruto and Jiraiya, Edward and his father, and Ash and his girlfriend Serena...

“What the hell is this?”

Madam Bone immediately skipped past that section and continued reading.

I believe Madam will certainly go looking for Lord Qingshan, but you need not worry about him. He has already departed this sorrowful world and traveled to another, better one.

Skipped again.

Also, I sincerely apologize for the damage caused to your inn. All of it was entirely unintentional. I hope you can forgive me.

Madam Bone immediately sneered.

You think a few sentences are enough to make me spare you?

Dream on.

Nevertheless, she continued reading.

Finally, as a small token of apology, I hereby present a modest gift. I sincerely hope Madam will accept it.

A gift?

Madam Bone’s gaze shifted toward the box.

Frowning, she refrained from touching it herself.

Instead, she summoned a skeletal hand and carefully opened it.

Inside the box lay only a shriveled heart.

“...What is this thing?”

Using the skeletal hand, she picked it up and examined it for quite some time.

Yet she still failed to discover anything unusual.

“Could this be some delaying tactic? Forget it. Better to find a strand of hair and perform a tracking ritual. Once I catch him, everything will become clear.”

Madam Bone dismissed the skeletal claws and turned around.

Then, from the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed something.

A tender green sprout.

It had silently emerged from the bed.