Chapter 172 Bai Heng lost control on the spot, and Su Changqing took the opportunity to feel a wisp

Su Changqing's hand finally fell.

This fall was lighter than any of the previous ones.

It was as light as a leaf falling on the water.

But at that very moment, Bai Heng felt as if his very soul and bones were being held down by that hand.

It's not about physical "heaviness".

Rather, it is a deeper kind of "right".

That's spot on.

Even the last vestiges of order within him, which could barely be "unified," seemed to instinctively shrink back towards the point where that hand would land.

Bai Heng certainly knew what this meant.

The sternal bone is different from the previous ones.

The Chengmen boundary bone is valuable because it supports the gate.

The bone of destiny is evil because it illuminates destiny.

The sacrum is scary because it is connected to the "gate sensation".

The most distressing thing about the Ke Guixu bone is not how valuable it is, nor how prestigious it is.

And it lies in—

It's usually completely invisible.

It's more like a hand hidden deep within the entire guiding skeleton, forcibly straightening out those things that have been dismantled, messed up, missed, and broken little by little.

As long as it remains, even if it loses a few bones, Bai Heng can still barely maintain the outward appearance and inner order of "I am the guide".

But once the order bone is actually touched, pried open, or broken—

That means that what will get out of control next will not be just one place.

Rather, it refers to those parts of the entire Dharma body that were originally maintained by it and were "barely presentable".

Therefore, when Su Changqing's hand fell, Bai Heng had almost only one thought in his mind—

We can't let him get his hands on it.

No.

Absolutely not.

But the moment he had this thought, his body had already given him the answer.

Bai Heng discovered that he didn't even dare to retreat.

It's not that I don't want to.

No, it's not possible.

The boundary bone of Chengmen has been lost, and a section of the "boundary qualification" on the right chest has collapsed.

His left shoulder scapula was pulled out, and his circumflex bone was also detached from his body. The structure on his back that could originally help him cushion, recover, and harmonize was mostly gone.

Now, the only thing that can barely hold up the last bit of the "guiding force" from falling apart is this Guixu bone.

If he retreats haphazardly at this moment, his bone structure will be disrupted first, which is tantamount to overturning the little bit of stability he has left.

Therefore, Bai Heng could only stand.

He could only watch as that hand slowly approached the junction of his ribcage and spine.

This feeling of watching helplessly, unable to dodge, block, or avoid, is even more agonizing than if Su Changqing actually made a move.

In front of the Taiji Hall, everyone lowered their breathing.

Even Lei Wujie, who was usually loud and boisterous, unconsciously pursed his lips at this moment, staring intently at the scene.

Although he didn't understand what the Guixu Bone was.

But from Bai Heng's reaction, and from the expressions on Gu Changxuan and Zhao Xuance's faces, he could roughly guess—

This bone is very important.

And it's not just any ordinary key.

Otherwise, Bai Heng wouldn't have had even more beads of cold sweat on his forehead than before.

Wushuang's fingers rested lightly on the edge of the sword case, his expression calmer than usual.

He couldn't see the details of the bone structure within Bai Heng's body.

But he could sense that Bai Heng was like a machine about to lose its axis.

He used to think that the boss deboning the bones was more like cutting vegetables and removing bones.

But at this moment, he suddenly felt that this was more like dismantling a sophisticated clock.

The parts that were disassembled in front were the teeth, the swing arm, the lock, and the bolt.

And now, the boss's hand has finally touched the innermost pivot, the one that "allows the whole clock to continue its rhythm."

Once this bone is moved—

After that, it's not a matter of one strand at a time.

The whole rhythm will start to go haywire.

Xiao Se saw things more deeply than the others.

He didn't rely on his sword sense or martial arts intuition.

Instead, it relies on a habit that leans more towards "observing the situation".

From the moment Bai Heng was dragged down from the Heavenly Gate until his three bones left his body and his knees hit the ground, he kept observing the man's "momentum".

Bai Heng's momentum initially resembled the white line in front of the door: cold, high, and straight.

Later it became like a cracked knife, messy, hard, yet still sharp.

Now, it's like an ice tower barely held up by a single hidden beam.

Look, it's still standing.

But once that beam breaks, what collapses behind it will not just be a corner.

Xiao Se's heart sank slightly.

He suddenly had a feeling—

Su Changqing's move was not just intended to make Bai Heng look bad.

It's more like borrowing Bai Heng's "Returning Order Bone" to follow the momentum of the entire set of guiding angels' Dharma body, which can still return and connect upwards, to touch something deeper.

Behind the door.

Register holder.

The shadow of the revised book.

Even the hand that actually wields the knife behind Bai Heng's blade.

Thinking of this, Xiao Se couldn't help but look at Su Changqing.

Su Changqing, however, remained remarkably calm.

It was even too calm.

His fingers first landed on a spot about an inch behind Bai Heng's ribs, as if confirming the point of contact.

Then, with a gentle swipe.

Just that one slip—

Bai Heng tensed up suddenly.

Because he clearly sensed that the other party was not directly targeting the Guixu Bone.

Instead, he first followed the remaining lines of his bones that were still barely settling back into place and felt around them.

It's like someone touching a tangled mess of thread; there's no rush to cut it.

First, gently lift up the outermost strands that are hooked together, separate them, straighten them, and then follow them to find the knot that actually binds the whole ball of yarn.

That technique is too skillful.

The familiarity even stirred a sense of utterly absurd fear within Bai Heng—

He acted as if this wasn't his first time dismantling something like this.

But how is that possible?

The Bone-Setting Body of the Guide Envoy, viewed from all realms, is a structure that stands at the highest level of order.

Ordinary beings in the lower realms should not even have heard of it.

Not to mention how familiar one is with the basics, following the natural flow, finding the right path, and locating the correct point.

The fear in Bai Heng's eyes deepened.

He even wanted to ask: What exactly are you?

Before he could finish speaking, Su Changqing glanced at him.

"Bear with it."

Three words.

It's very flat.

But it almost made Bai Heng so angry that he fainted.

When you were dismembering my bones, when did you ever ask me if I wanted to endure it?

Now you're starting to give me a proper reminder?

But in the next instant, Bai Heng knew that the words "bear with it" were not superfluous.

As soon as Su Changqing finished speaking, he flicked his fingertips slightly.

It's not about picking them out.

Instead, it splits in halfway and then squeezes upwards.

boom!

In Bai Heng's mind, it was as if a whole string of bone bells, which had been forcibly suppressed by dark force, suddenly rang out simultaneously.

That wasn't a sound I heard.

It sounded like "mess".

The most critical aspect of the categorical bone is that it is not an independent fulcrum.

It's like a "returning hand" hidden deep within.

It goes to suppress chaos wherever it can.

Where it went wrong, it went back to that place.

So on a regular basis, you don't really realize how important it is.

You'll only feel—

Everything is still barely holding on.

But when it is pointed out, deflected, and forcibly stopped from that "continuous order" position, you will suddenly realize that the reason why those places that did not completely collapse did not collapse was simply because they were always pressing down from behind.

Now, this "hand" has been pried open.

Therefore, it wasn't the bone itself that broke first.

Rather, it's all the chaos that it's been suppressing for you.

Bai Heng's shoulders jolted suddenly.

The area on my left shoulder where the lateral sacrum was missing went erratically first, followed by a twitch in the back of my neck where the circumflex bone was missing. The "door-like empty space" that was left after the lateral sacrum of the ...

And all this chaos should have been brought back to normal by the Guixu Bone.

However, Guixu Bone itself is now stuck in a critical position by Su Changqing's two fingers, unable to move forward or backward.

then--

They've all scattered.

It wasn't an explosive scattering.

Rather, it is an extremely clear, extremely detailed, and almost despair-inducing chain reaction of collapse.

Like a row of dominoes, gently pushed from the most inconspicuous yet most crucial position in the middle.

Then, starting from there, one sheet after another, pour them to both sides.

Bai Heng's breathing suddenly became erratic.

It wasn't shortness of breath.

Instead, with each inhalation, the sides of the chest and ribs are misaligned; with each exhalation, the back and shoulders push back in the opposite direction.

Breathing is a person's most basic activity and should be the most natural thing.

But now, even this most basic thing is being made incredibly awkward by the disordered bone structure within the body.

To Bai Heng's dismay, he felt a sense of absurdity that he "couldn't even live anymore."

In front of the Taiji Hall, many people noticed the subtle changes in Bai Heng's body.

He wasn't standing too crooked.

But the whole person seemed to have suddenly lost that original "cold, white, and upright" sense of line.

My left shoulder felt a little heavy, my right chest slumped a little, and a certain inch of my back seemed to instinctively push outwards.

It's not an obvious hunchback.

It wasn't a disheveled, staggering sway.

But at first glance, it makes people feel—

He is no longer the "complete person" he used to be.

It's like a piece of white porcelain with its internal supports removed, while the outer shell is still being held up.

Seeing this scene, Zhao Xuance's face turned completely ashen.

"Order of Bones..."

He murmured something, as if finally confirming that Bai Heng had indeed reached this point.

Gu Changxuan's expression was also extremely unpleasant.

He knew better than anyone that if Guixu Gu really had a problem, it was uncertain whether Bai Heng could still maintain his status as a guide.

That means—

Su Changqing is now doing more than just dismantling bones.

He was dissecting the three characters "接引使" (jiēyǐnshǐ).

Although Sikong Changfeng couldn't understand exactly how the Guixu Bone operated, he could understand one most obvious fact—

Bai Heng is starting to look unlike himself.

This "unlikeness" only made his eyes light up more and more.

Because it's so interesting to watch.

He immediately lowered his voice and said to the man beside him:

"Make a note of it."

"Bai Heng's fourth bone has not yet detached from his body, and his overall posture is already disordered."

"Add one more sentence—"

"The qualifications of the guide are teetering on the brink of collapse."

The guy was so engrossed in listening that his pen practically flew off the page.

Xiao Se took a deep breath and finally asked:

"Are you in business, or writing storybooks?"

While keeping an eye on the arena, Sikong Changfeng replied matter-of-factly:

We must grasp both aspects.

"With such a scene, wouldn't it be a waste not to polish the writing?"

Xiao Se: "..."

This person is hopeless.

……

Su Changqing's fingers were still on the spot where Bai Heng's ribs met his spine.

He did not immediately extract the Guixu bone.

Because what he's doing now is just "collapse and return".

First, I'll make sure you can't return.

First, it will cause the last remaining force that was barely maintaining order within your body to lose its control.

The best results will be achieved when all the chaos has truly surfaced and the core issues are addressed.

and--

Su Changqing had already noticed something else interesting.

As the Guixu Bone became stuck, the residual intent of guidance within Bai Heng's body, which had been continuously suppressed, organized, and countered by it, was gradually losing its concealment.

Among them, some subtle, almost invisible auras did not belong to Bai Heng himself.

That's not the same as the patrol hall style of Zhao Xuance.

It's not a "sense of command" that people like Gu Changxuan and Yue Zhenchuan can access.

Deeper.

It's paler.

Like a long time ago, someone made a stroke of the brush, and the meaning of that stroke did not truly dissipate, but instead seeped into the deepest part of the Jieyin Bone through Bai Heng's Dharma Body.

If Bai Heng had remained intact, Su Changqing might not have been able to touch it so quickly.

But things are different now.

Once the Guixu Bone was activated, many "old traces" that were originally suppressed at the bottom surfaced.

This is exactly what he wanted.

So Su Changqing continued to stabilize the position of the Guixu Bone with his fingertips while speaking calmly:

"There are words left by others on your body."

Bai Heng suddenly looked up.

A flash of fear crossed his eyes.

Because this statement is clearly not referring to the well-known bone patterns that guide the spirit.

It's talking about something deeper.

"What...do you mean?"

Su Changqing looked at him, his gaze finally becoming slightly more serious.

"It means that your knife isn't just being held by someone else."

"It's been carved."

Bai Heng's pupils contracted sharply.

Although the others in the room did not fully understand, they all gleaned something new from these two sentences of dialogue.

It's not bone.

It's not a cage.

It's not a ticket.

Instead, it's at a higher level.

Deeper still.

Bai Heng even has "words left by others" on his body?

Sikong Changfeng originally wanted to continue writing down "Bai Heng lost his balance", but upon hearing this, his pen suddenly stopped, and his whole body tensed up.

No matter how good he is at business, he knows what the real key is.

Engraving.

Engraving words on the knife.

This means that Bai Heng was not just a guide, nor was he just one of the guides.

He may still bear the marks of some higher being behind the door.

If you really follow this line, then things will be much more complicated than just "Bai Heng's special performance".

Xiao Se's gaze also changed.

"Engraved..."

He murmured to himself, a multitude of thoughts flashing through his mind in an instant.

Is he the holder of the register?

Was it the person who altered the records?

Or... one of the "behind-the-door" figures Bai Heng mentioned?

Li Hanyi looked at Su Changqing, her eyes becoming even calmer.

She knew he had touched her.

I finally got to touch it.

The previous bone-disassembly, questioning, and forced reporting were not just to humiliate Bai Heng, nor were they just to establish authority and slap him in the face.

He was truly following Bai Heng's physical body, inch by inch, feeling his way "behind the door".

And now, he has finally managed to find a clue to this.

Su Xiaonuo was confused and didn't quite understand what "carving" meant, but she had a feeling that her father was a little more serious than before.

So she also quieted down and stopped interrupting, afraid of disturbing Su Changqing.

Bai Heng, however, was now truly feeling a chill in his heart.

He knew better than anyone that he indeed possessed "words".

It's not words on paper.

It's not a pattern that can be seen with the naked eye.

Instead, it was an extremely ancient, extremely hidden trace that he himself could hardly perceive on ordinary days—a "traces of intention."

That's not something every guide has.

Only a very small number of books, those that have been personally reviewed by high-level officials or those that have been casually "marked" by someone revising the books, will retain this kind of thing.

Bai Heng hadn't thought much of the mark before.

On the contrary, sometimes I feel that it is some kind of invisible "seeing", which is proof that I have been noticed by a higher level.

But now, after Su Changqing pointed it out, the mark suddenly became like a hook, directly catching the part he least wanted to expose.

"you……"

Bai Heng was about to say something.

Su Changqing suddenly pressed down with his finger.

Guixu Bone finally emitted a faint, dense cracking sound.

It's not broken.

It's a collapse.

Bai Heng felt as if the last bit of "still-neat" strength had been drained from him at once. His knees buckled, and his back, which had been barely holding up, collapsed instantly.

"ah--!"

This sound could no longer be suppressed.

It wasn't a loud shout.

It wasn't some kind of hysterical screaming.

Instead, it was a very short, very low, yet powerfully silent sound that sent chills down the spines of everyone present.

Because in that sound, besides pain, there was something deeper.

Like a building that had been held together by a last hidden beam, finally, the beam broke.

The balance of power is truly starting to crumble.

In that instant of his loss of composure, a faint light flashed in Su Changqing's eyes.

Because that "Traces of Intent" that was originally hidden deep inside and suppressed by the Guixu Bone finally surfaced completely as Bai Heng's bone order collapsed.

Just once.

That's enough.

Following the fleeting trace, Su Changqing clearly sensed an extremely ancient and faint aura, yet carrying the meaning of "turning a page" and "writing".

It's not Bai Heng's.

It's not from the Border Patrol Hall.

It doesn't have the feel of any of the lower-level "executors" like Zhao Xuance, Gu Changxuan, or Yue Zhenchuan.

More like—

A hand, turning the pages, leaves a faint scent of ink on the fingertips.

Register holder.

Even the faintest trace was enough for Su Changqing to truly connect the name to the person in his heart.

He didn't show it immediately.

However, her fingertips still pressed steadily on Bai Heng's already crumbling Guixu Bone, but her gaze was a step deeper than before.

found it.

At least, I found a hint of flavor.

Bai Heng, who was kneeling in front of him, had his hands on the ground, his white clothes were disheveled, and his breathing was out of rhythm. He looked as if he had been stripped half of his identity as the "Guide".

That aloof, cold white feeling could no longer be suppressed.

All that's left is a person who has been dismantled into chaos, exposed, and forced to kneel on the ground.

Su Changqing looked down at him, his voice still calm.

"The Returning Order Bone, as expected, will collapse first."

"The words will only appear after the page collapses."

Bai Heng suddenly looked up, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with horror.

"What...did you touch?!"

Su Changqing did not answer.

She just looked at him and suddenly smiled.

The smile was faint.

But in Bai Heng's eyes, it chilled him to the bone more than ever before.

Because he knew—

Su Changqing wasn't trying to scare him on purpose.

He truly did follow his own natural inclinations and found his way to the door.