Chapter 10: The Magical Beast Mountain Range (Part 2)
The Magical Beast Mountain Range stretched on endlessly, and with countless plants that had grown for who knows how many years, traveling through it was quite troublesome. The biggest nuisance was the constant need to climb over mountains and ridges, or take winding detours to move forward.
"When advancing through the Magical Beast Mountain Range, don't bother clearing away the thorns and brambles along the path. It's better to take the long way around," Delin Kewode shared many pieces of advice with Linley.
Linley listened carefully while continuing to move forward.
"Remember, in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, the worst thing you can do is make constant noise. That will cause many magical beasts to discover you. Even if you do make some sound, leave the area quickly," Delin Kewode continued. "And remember, even if you're injured, try to cover up the bloodstains on your body. The smell of blood will also attract magical beasts. Their noses are far more sensitive than ours."
Linley looked up at the sky.
The canopies of countless massive trees nearly covered the entire sky. Seeing this, Linley couldn't help but recall some common knowledge from the Ernst Institute library about surviving in deep mountain forests. In a place like this, where even the sun was hard to see, one had to learn to distinguish north, south, east, and west.
Linley nimbly leaped over tangled branches and vines blocking his path like an ape, but he had only taken two steps when—
"Hiss~~" Seeing the scene not far away, Linley couldn't help but suck in a cold breath.
The corpses of three men and two women lay about ten meters ahead. The bodies hadn't rotted much yet, but the signs of being bitten, torn, and devoured were very obvious. None of the five bodies were intact. One man had most of his thigh eaten away, and a large hole had been bitten into his stomach, with broken intestines spilling out everywhere. One woman had half her head eaten off, with one eyeball still hanging there, and her pale white skull had some caterpillars crawling over it.
Linley's face turned pale, and he held his breath.
"They probably died two or three days ago," Delin Kewode appeared beside Linley, carefully examining the five corpses with a relatively calm expression. "Linley, look closely. On the chest area of each of these five bodies, over the heart, there's an inconspicuous bloodstain on their clothes. If my observation is correct, these five people were killed by humans—and by the same person."
Linley was startled.
"Grandpa Delin, you're saying they were killed by people?" Linley looked at Delin Kewode in surprise.
Delin Kewode smiled faintly. "Linley, this is your first time in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. If you stay here long enough, you'll learn that in this place, besides dealing with attacks from magical beasts, you also have to watch out for attacks from other humans."
"Attacks from humans? Why would they attack?" Linley felt a surge of anger in his heart.
In the Magical Beast Mountain Range, the endless hordes of magical beasts already held the upper hand. He hadn't expected that the humans here wouldn't unite but would instead kill each other.
"It's very normal. Why do humans enter the Magical Beast Mountain Range? The vast majority come to obtain magic crystals. You have to kill a magical beast to get one magic crystal. But if you kill a person, that person's pack might contain several, or even more, magic crystals," Delin Kewode stroked his white beard.
Linley understood in his heart.
Greed!
It was all because of greed. Some people in the Magical Beast Mountain Range wanted an easier way to get more magic crystals. Killing other people in the range was indeed a quick method.
"Linley, you must be careful. From my observation, the killer of these five people is extremely powerful. Look at their clothes—four should be warriors, and one a mage. All five died from a pierced heart. The method was so clean and decisive it sends chills down one's spine. It's just a pity we don't know how strong these five were, so it's hard to deduce the killer's true strength," Delin Kewode said with a frown. "But since these five dared to come to the Magical Beast Mountain Range, they definitely weren't weaklings. From this, we can judge that the killer's strength is at least not inferior to yours."
Linley stepped forward two paces to look more closely and nodded in agreement.
The killing method was far too clean.
"This is still the outer edge of the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Hurry up and move forward," Delin Kewode said with a smile.
Linley nodded and set off again. As he advanced deeper into the Magical Beast Mountain Range, he frequently saw the remains of humans and magical beasts along the way, as well as many rusted weapons. He also encountered a few low-level magical beasts.
Night fell. Linley and the little shadowmouse each ate a wild boar trotter and prepared to rest. Linley sat on the ground, while the little shadowmouse curled up beside him.
"In the Magical Beast Mountain Range, you can't light a fire at night," Delin Kewode reminded him again.
"I know, Grandpa Delin." Linley was already familiar with most of the common sense for surviving in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Magical beasts weren't ordinary wild animals—they weren't afraid of ordinary flames.
Sitting on the ground with a calm heart, Linley slowly closed his eyes and began to sense the flow of earth elements within the ground, as well as the flow of wind elements around him. The feeling was like returning to the embrace of his parents.
His super-grade affinity for both earth and wind elements allowed Linley to sense them quite clearly.
"The pulse of the earth, the rhythm of the wind." A serene smile appeared on Linley's face as he began to drift into sleep. In this state, Linley was very confident. Any vibration near the ground or any rapid approach that stirred the wind would alert him and wake him up.
This was the skill of an earth and wind dual-element mage.
The night grew deeper. The little shadowmouse "Bebe," curled up beside Linley, let out very faint snores. The night wind grew cooler, but in the summer Magical Beast Mountain Range, only late at night did it feel refreshing; during the day, it was only humid and hot.
Late at night, pitch black.
"Swoosh, swoosh~~" The faint sound of limbs brushing against weeds arose.
Two strong windwolves with glossy green fur were walking quietly through the forest, one in front and one behind. Their green eyes vigilantly scanned their surroundings as their powerful limbs moved silently along the path.
Their pale white fangs faintly reflected a cold gleam in the darkness.