The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 348

Chapter 348: The Second Encounter with Madam Marshal

 

Hao Ren really regretted not standing his ground when Lily came up with that sorry name for their mercenary group. Now that things had come to this, calling the group “Pink Fluffy Bunnies” would not have been as bad. The way Bishop Gelton pronounced the name of their group turned their faces ashen-grey, with the exception of the dumbass, Lily. She cheered happily and introduced herself to the bishop in her excitement. “Yep, yep. And, I’m the deputy leader of the group…”

Hao Ren henceforth decided that she was the deputy of their merry band. That said, there was no such designation in his group…

Gelton’s main queries were to find out what happened and how they came about rescuing the four ascetics. One query was to gather information and another to verify the veracity of the whole incident. That did not mean that he was planning to hide the truth. However, as the bishop of the local diocese, it would be remiss of him to not be careful. But with Hao Ren and Big Beardy having rehearsed the whole story a few times, it was watertight.

“That’s all from me for now. All of you have done well.” Gelton let out a sigh of relief as he concluded the questioning and the wrinkles on his face were much more apparent as he relaxed. He still peered at Hao Ren curiously nonetheless. “I still wonder why you didn’t come straight to Leyton, instead you went to the sacred lake. Wouldn’t it have been more troublesome to safeguard the Orb that way? I heard that you all teleported here. Did something go wrong?”

Hao Ren’s face was grim. “None other than a slip of the hand.”

Vivian nudged him on the shoulder as she interjected, “We weren’t familiar with the geography of the Blood Lake and there were many disruptive magic sources in town, so we chose an empty plain to land on. However, we never thought that rock monsters had already invaded the lake. We thought that we only had to contend with the creatures in the Grove.

Gelton bore a serious expression as he nodded. “Is that so… Well, that explains things. Thank the goddess that all of you are safe.”

Big Beardy then asked, “I know that the defences here were breached at one point, but haven’t you purified all of the monsters that got through?”

Gelton threw Hao Ren and his group a glance before contemplating the matter. It was not much of a secret to begin with and the group in front of him was directly involved in the matter, hence he was forthright with the information. “We only managed to seal the gap in Leyton, but there are other places where the monsters could have gotten around…”

After that, the old bishop explained the current situation for all of them to understand. Based on the information he gave, there was clearly more than what the captain had let on. “…It was all fine until now. Although monsters did appear from the mountains occassionally, they were few in number and their path was obvious, so it wasn’t much of a trouble to purify them. Once we laid the necessary ground work and understood the weakness of the monsters, they were simple enough to stop. Subsequently, I started studying the ancient text from the Ancient Magic Civilisation to find out why the mountain was splitting itself apart and creating such monstrosities. We had hoped to stall the monsters until we discovered a way to stop them, but progress has been very slow… Half a month ago, Dragonspine Ridge experienced another huge landslide, and not long after, the northern defensive line came under very strong assault. The local lords and garrison went forth to help before the line was attacked by a large group of monsters… This was the first time that the rock monsters showed strategic nuances. Plus, their numbers were way more than before…”

Gelton stopped for a moment before continuing, “After the Leyton defensive line was breached, the southern part of the ridge experienced another round of landslides. But this time, it was even more baffling. It was as if the whole mountain had twisted and turned during the incident, creating a whole new pathway. This pathway literally cut through the mountain range, where the defensive line was anchored all the way through to the Gnarled Grove. The monsters that have been appearing from then on all came from that accursed path. If you go to the southern area, this is very obvious. Dragonspine Ridge has a new mountain and it is right on top of our defences.

Gelton made his explanation clear and simple. It was quite obvious that he was not plotting anything. He knew that the four ascetics would be heading back to the Royal City to report the matter and take the chance to explain everything.

“There are movements and changes in the mountain, right?” Big Beardy said in a grim manner. “This does not bode well… Do you have no way to stop it?”

Gelton closed his eyes. “Our manpower is limited and our foe is nature itself. While it pains me to say so, we still do not understand the power wielded by the mage emperors of yore. The mountain path is very treacherous and the miasma is palpable. The whole mountain can even collapse on itself to prevent others from encroaching it. Losses were heavy in our first few attempts. Even the royal mages could not do anything about it. So, we are now left to cull whatever that comes out from the Grove or the mountains to maintain peace. The former is under the purview of the church knights, while the latter is handled by Marshal Ophra’s Royal Knights.

Hao Ren kept silent as he listened, but in his head, he was already planning on how to go about investigating the mystery behind Dragonspine Ridge. More and more unsettling incidents surrounding that mountain range were popping up. He believed that the range bore secrets of the Magic Kingdom from 10,000 years ago, those secret may just help him in solving the issues regarding Earth’s unusual creatures, and perhaps the whole nature of The Plane of Dreams. His mission now was to prevent The Plane of Dreams from converging with the Surface World. Anything that could possibly help should not be dismissed. Hao Ren was discussing with the MDT if they should apply for a micro-surveillance satellite when the main door was suddenly pushed open. A beautiful lady cutting a heroic figure marched in. “Bishop Gelton, I’ve heard that the Orb of the Holy… Hmm?”

Hao Ren turned towards the voice and saw a lady with curly, maroon locks in full plate armour. She had a very dignified look to her—the eternal guardian of the kingdom, the legendary heroine of the Kingdom of Holetta, Madam Marshal Ophra. As the marshal walked in, the first to bounce off her seat was Becky. The mercenary was so stunned that she stammered as she spoke, “It’s… La-Lady… O-Ophra! An… honour to meet you! Lo-long live the marshal… I-I… am Be-Becky, do you remember me? I-I was… se-searching for the O-Orb…”

Hao Ren was tired of Becky’s fangirling and giddiness, so he pulled her back. “Marshal, I’m… the captain of this mercenary group. We have safely returned the Orb to where it belongs.”

Ophra was slightly surprised to see the group in front of her. Because of Becky’s antics, she had a rather deep impression of them and by then, she had already recalled their first encounter. “So, it’s you lot… I heard the news when I was outside. I never thought that the heroes behind the Orb’s return would be a newly formed mercenary group. Well done.”

Becky’s eyes immediately lit up as she tugged at Hao Ren’s shoulder. “Hehehe… Hehehe… Did Lady Ophra just praise me just now?”

Vivian frowned and she massaged her temples as the scene reminded her of something. “…My goodness, fangirls are sure hard to deal with…”

Ophra soon ignored Hao Ren and his odd bunch of mercenaries as she approached the four ascetics, exchanging greetings in the process. “It has been a while, masters. I’m so glad to see all of you safe and sound. Is the Orb of the Holy Synod with you?”

Lady Ophra seemed like a rather straightforward person because she went straight into the status of the Orb. Big Beardy nodded. “It’s with me. But, we have not decided on how to securely store it. By rule, the Orb should be returned to the church in the middle of the sacred lake, but that place isn’t safe anymore.”

“You can place it here,” Gelton spoke. “This is the nearest holy ground to the sacred lake. As the situation demands it, placing the Orb here befits the scripture. Once we have eliminated the monsters—”

“Allow me to speak.” Lady Ophra found a place to sit as she looked at Gelton. “Bishop Gelton, don’t take this as me doubting your knowledge and abilities, but I’m afraid we won’t be finding the cause of the landslides any time soon. In this situation, placing the Orb in Beinz itself is simply unwise. I suggest that both the Royal and Church Knights select a couple of elites to escort the Orb of the Holy Synod to the Royal Cathedral. This should ease the concerns regarding the Orb. News of fighting in Beinz has already reached Steinne and I suspect those seat warmers over there are already getting jittery.”

Gelton kept quiet and Ophra started to show signs of impatience. “That aside, Bishop Gelton, I’m suggesting this again: let my Royal Knights ‘help’ you clear the area around the sacred lake. It has been half a month and the rock monsters are still wandering about on sacred grounds. I can see that your knights are already tired. They need rest. My royal knights and their reinforcements on the other hand, have only been patrolling the ridge. The boys are aching for action. This is not the time to brood about honour. The Royal Knights are also believers of the goddess. They may not have the mark, but they can still fight on sacred ground. This is in accordance to the creed.”

The old bishop stood up wobbly. “This is not about honour, Marshal. Nevertheless, I have seriously contemplated your suggestion. But before that… let this group of people rest. The masters, please stay put. Both Lady Ophra and I have more to ask you.”

Hao Ren immediately realised that the things they were about to discuss were not for the ears of “outsiders”.

Chapter 349: Heresy

 

Hao Ren led his merry band out of Gelton’s meeting room and two monks led them to their rooms. The four ascetics stayed behind. It seemed like what the bishop and marshal wanted to discuss, had something to do with the secrets of the religion. The moment she stepped into the guest room, Becky realised something. “Oh, yeah! Right, I haven’t asked about the rewards… Say… they wouldn’t conveniently forget about it, right?”

Hao Ren immediately glared at Becky. “Oh my god, grow up would you? Do you really think a mighty country like Holetta would take away your rewards or something?”

Becky pouted. “Time is money! I don’t have a lot of time here. I have 15 days at most. If someone tells me that I need to report to the Royal City, and what if the reply comes when I’m away, won’t that be horrible?”

Hao Ren facepalmed. “Well… you do have this problem. But, lets take it one step at a time. Say… why do we always see Gelton and Ophra at each other’s throats? Does the Royal Army have a tiff with the church’s armed wing?”

Becky waved her hand furiously. “No, no. There’s no tiff or anything. You’re just imagining things. Both the regular army and the church forces have been working side by side for so long; there’s no tiff between the two. But, there is friction on how they go about doing things. The church is focused on conservatism while the army is all about expediency and effectiveness. Lady Ophra is a larger than life personality that has led the army for a couple of centuries. So, each side is pretty stubborn on how they operate. But lets not poke our noses into that. Nothing good will come out of it.”

Hao Ren just gave an emphatic, “Oh.” He had no interest in getting involved in political intrigues. That was just beyond him. He was only interested in the secrets hidden in the land. Lily on the other hand, was very excited. “Hey, you’re saying that they’re discussing how to eliminate the rock monsters? Those things fell from the mountain and they’re very big! It’s like fighting an endless tide! Do they really intend to do so? The Royal Court didn’t say anything about it?”

“I noticed something along the way,” Becky said as she adjusted her equipment. “The Royal City dispatched two groups of troops over here as reinforcements and the nearby orders of knighthood also got here a few days back. So, the military strength in Beinz has increased by three times. But you’re right, seems like the Royal Court doesn’t have any better ideas either. They can’t be moving the whole ridge, right? Until they can figure out how the rock monsters are made, things will stay this way.” By then, a worried look had formed across Becky’s face. “I hope things don’t get worse…”

This was after all her hometown and in the face of such unusual incidents with monsters popping out all over the place, Becky could not help but worry. Nevertheless, this issue was not for a small player like her to solve.

At the same time, in Gelton’s meeting hall, the atmosphere suddenly took a sour turn.

“You’re saying there are heretics there?!” Big Beardy slammed his hand on Gelton’s office table, his face looking grim. “What’s the status?”

“I’m not sure what’s with this heretic group.” Gelton waved his hand at Big Beardy, motioning for him to calm down. “They only appeared about half a month ago. And we have yet to catch anyone. We only have abandoned sites of foul rituals. There have also been reports of unusual activities in this area. They should be related to the heretics.”

“What kind of unusual activities?” Big Beardy frowned. Only news like this was able to rattle a stoic ascetic like him.

Ophra sneered, but her voice calm. “Many of our dead are missing. Based on the reports from the front, the missing dead bodies were placed aside due to certain reasons and the moment the guards looked away, they disappeared without a trace.”

“Not only dead soldiers,” Gelton’s voice was heavy, “civilians as well. Anyone who has died recently, their bodies would go missing mysteriously. The only thing left of the scene would be a little trail of blood. Sometimes there wouldn’t even be any. The most obvious case was at the outpost by the lake. The outpost was lost during the initial assault. When the soldiers who had escaped returned to check the place out the next day, all the bodies were missing.”

The ascetics quickly looked at each other and realised that the outpost he mentioned was the one had passed through. Not only that, they had discovered a mysterious tunnel beneath the outpost! The only thing was, they did not find anything there. This made it difficult for Big Beardy to link the tunnel to the lost bodies. He decided that he would bring it up later, asking about something else instead. “What are the common characteristics shared between the bodies?”

Ophra demurred for a moment. “All recently dead. And using the range’s centrepoint as a guide, the areas where the bodies went missing were all on the west side of the mountain. Those who died on the eastside did not suffer such a fate. That aside, there were no eyewitnesses. All the bodies disappeared when no one was looking. I sent men to keep an eye out on and when there was someone watching, the bodies were fine. The moment someone looked away, they disappeared.”

The marshal angrily clenched her fist as she finished. While she was certain she would get to the bottom of things, come hell or high water, the latest incident was almost like a mockery to her. And, that really got on her nerves.

The ascetics pondered for a moment before asking, “Have you checked the graves?”

Gelton nodded. “Yes, we did. The keepers checked the graves and found that only the newly dead were missing. The old graves in the cemetary were fine. Only those who were recently buried went missing.”

“So, they ‘need’ fresh corpses.” The female ascetic with a hoarse voice said. Doubt was apparent in her voice, “Necromancer, perhaps?”

“Unlikely…” Ophra crossed her arms, her voice almost sounded like she was mocking the ascetic. “While necromancers aren’t people you’d invite to a ball, they are still a legal school of magic. As long as they follow the proper rules and regulations, they can experiment all they want. The most foolish of necromancers would not take such a risk by raiding the holy grounds for corpses. The disappearances started about half a month back and the number of rock monsters have exploded. I’m more keen to believe that this is the work of heretics seeking some power of old. They better not let me get my hands on them…”

“Actually, we may have a clue.” Big Beardy decided it was time for him to disclose the matter of the tunnel and he stood up. “When we got here, we did pass by the outpost that you mentioned. I’m not sure if you’ve checked what’s underground…”

“No, we have yet to check there.” Gelton shook his head. “But as you know, most other places did not have the same tunnel structure.”

Big Beardy was slightly surprised. “Other places? That means, you have checked underground? So, all the other places don’t have any tunnels at all?”

Ophra shook her head resignedly. “No. The first time a body went missing, we went all out in our search, underground included. But, we did not find any tunnels. We never bothered looking underground after that. Seems like we need to refocus our investigation… Maybe, there is something insidious underground. Bishop Gelton, what do you think…. Bishop Gelton?”

Gelton was deep in his thoughts when Ophra called him and it took him a while before he responded, “Oh, of course. I will send men to check the place. But, I remembered something else…”

“Something else?” Ophra frowned.

Gelton motioned as he spoke, “The heretics seem to have powers beyond our understanding. I believe they have something to do with the unnatural changes on Dragonspine Ridge. I’m starting to think that maybe the evil acolytes of the mage emperors have seeped into this holy ground. Lady Ophra, I cannot leave the diocese, so I hope that you can make the trip to the Royal City for me. Report this to His Holiness the Pope and His Royal Highness. This is not a diocese level crisis anymore. We need help and reinforcements from the highest level.”

Ophra broke into a smile as she heard it. “Seems like you do have some sense of urgency after all.”

Chapter 350: The Undercurrent

 

Hao Ren and his group spent half the day doing nothing in their guest room. Even though they had marched across the Gnarled Grove the previous night, none of them were regular beings, hence they were not exhausted by the journey. A short rest was all they needed to recover and they soon started to busy themselves.

Y’zaks and Wuyue had no interest in running about, so they stayed in their rooms to nap. Vivian took the free time to knit a scarf for Hao Ren using Lily’s shed fur. Becky was still fantasising about how she would soon be a filthy rich noble and she walked around her room in that dazed state. It took a while before Becky got on Wuyue’s nerves and she piped down after the siren started to complain. Lily as always was ever capable of finding something to do. After a short while in her room, she ran out to play. Nobody knew where she went, but she was lugging a whole bag of food items when she got back. She started yapping happily as she saw Hao Ren, “Mr. Landlord! Mr. Landlord! I brought us some good stuff to eat! There’s a market on the southwest side of the town!”

Hao Ren was busy going through some old tomes and his table was a mess with all kinds of scrolls as well as books. It was tough work trying to research these old, foreign tomes. Even with the translation plug-in helping him, it took a lot of concentration to even remotely understand the arcane language used. Deep in concentration, he did not even lift his head when Lily called him. “I know, I know. You and your food. Just don’t get a stomach ache.”

Lily did not think too much of it and happily stuffed a sweet pastry into Hao Ren’s mouth. “Eat! Eat! Say, Mr. Landlord, what are you looking at?”

Hao Ren pointed towards the scrolls and tomes on the table. “Books about Dragonspine Ridge, and the chronicles of the Beinz region.”

Lily flipped over a few books. “Oh, they are. Where did you get them?”

“Borrowed them from the monks. There’s a library in the church.” It was only then that Hao Ren lifted his head. “These are all books open to the public. I just told them that I was a magician interested in history and legends. Then, they just got me the whole stack…. Oh, this pastry is pretty good.”

Lily then joyfully stuffed another piece into his mouth. “Right? Right? I have exquisite taste you know! Say, Mr. Landlord, what did you manage to get out of all this?”

Hao Ren gobbled down the pastry and grabbed Lily’s tail to wipe his mouth. “Nothing special so far. The legends behind Dragonspine Ridge are the same; an ambitious mage emperor twisting nature to his fancy and the mountains were cursed with the mage emperor’s hatred. The power of the goddess in the Beinz Blood Lake has been thwarting the curse for 10 millenniums. The well-known legends are all somewhat like this, but some less popular stories are just as interesting. Some say that Dragonspine Ridge and the Blood Lake are the same thing. Some say that the Gnarled Grove is a seal for a different creation by the mage emperor. Some even say that the mage emperor did not die and is simply entombed in ice under the mountains. Once the mountain collapses, he will resurrect and renew his reign of terror. While these stories don’t contradict the doctrine of the Disciples of Glory, the unease they bring is enough for all of them to be labelled as baseless, thus bringing them under control…”

As he said this, he lifted the big tome in his hand. “Like this one here. It pretty much consists of baseless claims from head to tail without much details to boot.”

Lily just uttered a long, “Ooooooh.

“Oh… this could explain the stuff that’s been happening lately. Almost everyone’s on edge. I even heard on the streets that a couple of reinforcements have already been sent, and the threat of the rock monster is still present. Even with more numbers it’s still a stalemate.”

As the two chatted, the the shouting of men and the neighing of horses could be heard from the window. It seemed like something happened on the main road in town. Hao Ren pushed the window open and saw a group of lightly armoured soldiers as well as a group of mages on the street. There was no tolling of bells, so it was not an attack. Hao Ren knew Lily had just returned from a trip outside and he took the opportunity to ask her, “What’s the ruckus about?”

Lily popped her head out of the window under Hao Ren’s arms as she tried to get a good view. “Seems like the patrol unit of the Royal Knights has just returned Oh yeah, oh yeah! I met my kind on the street. There was a female werewolf. She’s a vanguard who’s part of the Royal Knights. We talked for a bit. She looked so good in her armour!”

Hao Ren muttered to himself about this husky was able to really ignore her actual husky origins and call pure-blooded werewolves her kin. But, he knew that her fangs were sharp and he did not dare voice it out. He was not surprised that Lily ran into her kin though. The Plane of Dreams was the home of unusual creatures; vampires, werewolves and the like were all common races there. While it was harder to tell a vampire apart from your usual man, some of the werewolves in town had their wolf ears out in full view. The only thing was, the Kingdom of Holletta was a nation of man, and most unusual creatures were either migrants, or descendants of scholars who had stayed behind. Having an unusual creature in the army was even more uncommon, so Lily was naturally happy that she ran into one of her kind amongst the Royal Knights.

The husky lass noticed that Hao Ren was not interested in the topic and she used her tail to smack the latter on his back to show her dissatisfaction. “Can’t you just play along? Aren’t you interested to know what we talked about?”

“The taste of bones and ways to sharpen your fangs?” Hao Ren surmised.

The fur on Lily’s tail bristled as she bore her fangs at Hao Ren. “What? You think I’m all about food?”

Hao Ren quickly denied it and the husky was happy again. “While we did talk about pork ribs… we mainly talked about the fighting during the past two months. I told her I was the deputy of a mercenary group and the werewolf happily talked about the fighting with me. She even grumbled about the church military being old, stubborn fools, and the Royal Knights not seeming to be all too happy about how things are going…”

Hao Ren was originally not interested in the nonsense Lily had ran into when she went out earlier, but that last part piqued his interest. “Stop right there, what did you say happened?”

“Seems like something to do with mission allocation.” Lily’s ears twitched. “The church’s forces were in charge of battles within the sacred lake’s vicinity, while the Royal Knights fought in Dragonspine Ridge. The more pious of the Royal Knights thought that it was unfair for them to be relegated to just sweeping the mountain range. And oh, I heard that Marshal Ophra already tried speaking to Bishop Gelton about this a few times, to let a part of the Royal Knights assist in the fighting around the Blood Lake. But, nothing really came out of that. Something to do with doctrines…”

Hao Ren recalled the situation at the Gnarled Grove yesterday. Almost 90% of the soldiers in Leyton’s defensive perimeter were comprised of the white-robed army from church. The “government’s military” or Royal Knights were only allowed to operate on the outer perimeter due to certain religious doctrines. He ruffled his chin as he laughed. “Seriously… but, those knights are sure looking for a fight. There are actually people complaining about their fights being too easy. Won’t most people scurry away to the safest possible posting if possible?”

Lily wagged her tail. “Religion… Who knows what they’re thinking anyway. The whole Blood Lake is considered sacred after all. Even if a blood toll needed to be paid everyday, both troops would be fighting for the right to go in first. It also appears that whoever dies here gets the tile of ‘martyr’—a pretty glorious title by the sound of things.”

Both Hao Ren and Lily agreed that they would probably struggle to fully understand a mindset so dictated by one’s religious doctrines. After a short while, they stopped fixating on the small friction between the two forces and started on the matter of pork ribs. Lily was about to drool all over the floor before they heard the clanking of footsteps along the corridor. At the same time, the voices of the servants greeting and welcoming someone could be heard.

After a moment, a servant pushed the room door open and announced, “A visit from Lady Ophra. She wishes to see the captain and deputy of the Dogs Have Gotten All the Good Names Mercenary Group.

“Marshal Ophra?!” Hao Ren was surprised, but he quickly recovered. “And, how many times have I told you not to mention our company’s name!”

The arrival of the marshal herself had shocked everyone into motion and Becky ran like a whirlwind to bear the message to everyone else. Hao Ren got to the small parlor in their quarters and saw that the marshal was already seated on the tall, centremost chair. She was as poised and heroic as ever.

Ophra went straight to the point. “I’m here to deliver a messag3. Get ready, we will depart to the Royal City tomorrow. The reward and knighting ceremony will also be conducted in the Royal City.”

Becky literally lost it when she heard the news, leaping and cheering. Hao Ren was however perplexed. Did the marshal herself need to personally come to the quarters of some new mercenary group just because of this?

Chapter 351: Nightfall

 

Hao Ren wondered why Ophra, a grand marshal had to come here in person. But, he did not have the chance to ask her about it. After the marshal told them about the matter, she asked them regarding their mercenary group and the process of finding the Orb of the Holy Synod. It was not the first time that people asked about these things, so they managed to answer fluently. In the end, Becky asked the marshal about the four ascetics, “When will the four masters come back?”

Actually, Becky was not concerned about the four ascetics at all. She was just trying to let Ophra notice her existence.

Ophra shook her head and said, “The four masters need to rest in their rooms. They will have long prayers and meditation according to the canon. You will probably not see them until the next time you leave.”

Hao Ren had something else on his mind. He had no interest in the so-called rewards. He looked up and asked, “That… Do we have to go to the capital to accept the rewards?”

Ophra was surprised and raised her eyebrows. She looked at Hao Ren for quite a long time, and then asked, “What do you mean?”

“We want to stay here and help,” Hao Ren explained. “I’ve seen the situation here. Those rock monsters are a big threat and I’m good at dealing with them. I think it’d be more useful to stay here and fight than go to the capital to get rewards.”

Hao Ren’s explanation was dignified. Of course, he was not going to admit that the real reason he wanted to stay was to study the secrets of Dragonspine Ridge and the Blood Lake. Wealth and fame in The Plane of Dreams were meaningless to him. The only thing that could help him raise his wages was figuring out the legend behind the end of the world 10,000 years ago…

However, Ophra had no idea what Hao Ren was thinking. She was just surprised that this seemingly plain “mercenary” could say such a thing. She looked at Hao Ren firmly for a while, looking for any signs of false pretenses from Hao Ren’s face. Then, she got up as her armour rattled. “We’ll talk about this later. One or two more men who can fight won’t change the situation now. The true end to this current mess lies in Bishop Gelton’s knowledge. Of course, you can still apply to stay here after you come back from the capital. We have a long-term vacancy here.”

After Oprah finished talking, she left without any further delay. After the marshal left, Becky was relieved. She quickly rushed to Hao Ren and said, “Hello! What were you thinking just now? What if Lady Ophra had really agreed to cancelling our reward?”

Hao Ren gave Becky a sideways glance and said, “I have an important task. And, the reward here is useless to me.”

Becky almost jumped and said, “But to me… Oh, it seems useless to me as well…”

Hao Ren then said, “…Alright, let’s put this aside. Our time is limited. We have no time to come back after we go to the capital. The next time we come back will roughly be one month later. God knows how many accidents would have happened in this place. I’m going to go to the mountains tonight and you guys can help out…”

Hao Ren then discussed that evening’s plan of action with them. After Ophra left the room, instead of going to the church, she rode on her steed and went straight to the Royal Knights’ station. In front of the their camp, an old man who looked just like a regular groom was waiting there. “I’ve met with them, including the four masters and a group of mercenaries who appeared out of nowhere,” she said as she put the reins in the man’s hands.

The old groom kept silent while he led the horse and walked beside Ophra. Shortly after, he posed her question as though he was talking about the weather, “How are things? Is it true?”

They did not lower their voices at all, but no one could hear what the conversation was about two metres away from them. A peculiar mental disturbance pervaded throughout Ophra’s surroundings, causing all who tried to eavesdrop to only hear a buzzing noise in their minds.

“I didn’t see the Orb, but it should be with one of the masters. They abide by the teachings. They will not give the Orb to me to verify its authenticity easily even if they are in front of the bishop. But, the Orb is supposedly real,” said Ophra, looking back with a calm smile, “because the four masters are real. I can tell it from their vibes.”

“So, the return of the Orb is true?” the old groom asked, steadily following Ophra to the camp. “Looks like, this isn’t anyone’s arrangement. What about the mercenaries?”

“They claim to be wizards from the northern Hognar Empire. They’ve been travelling around to increase their knowledge. Their involvement in the Orb and the rescue of the four masters were purely coincidental. The whole story was watertight. It’s just that I have this feeling that they’re hiding something.” Ophra paused slightly and asked, “How’s your investigation, Elson?”

“They appeared out of nowhere. They first appeared in the southern grasslands of Lamberg town. No one knew about the group up until that point. Additionally, I’ve checked the record of border crossings and found no history of them. They just vanished out of thin air. My people tried everything, but still found no clues. I also found some mercenaries who came into contact with the group. The mercenaries mentioned that their way of fighting was so bizarre that they did not seem like wizards at all, or people with any known combat occupation. They relied more on instinct and talent. Maybe they’re some kind of esoteric warrior we do not know of.”

Ophra stared at the ground and asked, “…They came and went like shadows? You can’t even find any clues on when they suddenly disappeared? Has your wolf nose stopped working, or can they really jump worlds?”

“You are the same as always; the jokes are never funny.” The old groom’s expression remained unchanged. “Is there a problem with those mercenaries?”

“They are fine. At least my instincts are sure that they are harmless, innocent, and not greedy. That last point is the most surprising one. Their leader tried to reject the rewards and there was no hypocrisy in his emotions. Thee man gave off a feeling of somone as pure as a saint. He didn’t even pay a tiny bit of attention to fame and fortune, but…” Ophra suddenly stopped talking. She looked up and said, “Their dubious origins are the biggest issue.”

“Then keep investigating,” the old groom nodded and said. “Although I don’t see why a bunch of mercenaries are worth so much attention… your instincts have always been accurate.”

“My intuition…” Ophra was talking to herself as she looked up to the sky. “I hope my intuition can help me solve the trouble here. I have a bad feeling. The sacred ground is shrouded in gloom and some of the uncoordinated areas are hidden around us. Our Bishop Gelton, the only one who can control the situation, is an old priest who is pious, but lacks resilience. ”

Undercurrent was surging under the ancient and mysterious sacred grounds, however most people were unaware of this. They were constantly fighting off the monster attacks and had gotten numb in battle. As night fell, Dragonspine Ridge ended its restless day, followed by an equally restless night.

Under the cover of night and the Power of Shadows, Hao Ren and the rest of them left Leyton at the foot of the hill and approached higher ground not far from the town.

“Even though I want to stay and investigate the situation here, after thinking about it, it’s necessary to go to the capital.” Hao Ren saw that everybody was there, just sitting cross-legged on the ground. He then said, “It’s said that there’s a big library in the capital, which contains various files accumulated since the founding of Holletta. The cathedral and the palace also have secret archives that have been handed down from the previous civilisation. These are all necessary information in our investigation. We will spend a lot of energy in this world and it is necessary to integrate with the upper-class society. So, this is a good opportunity. Let’s look into the rock monsters’ movements tonight; mainly to figure out how much Dragonspine Ridge has changed since we left it two months ago. Also, the Blood Lake—Vivian and Lily, you two move fast, so the both of you go to the Blood Lake again. I haven’t forgotten about the tunnel. Last time, we only discovered one direction of the tunnel. This time, you two go and see where the other direction of the tunnel leads to.”

Lily looked a little excited. Apparently, this “midnight undercover operation” made her feel very powerful. After hearing Hao Ren’s instructions, she immediately nodded and jumped on the big rock beside her, howling. “Awwwwwwooooo—Woof!”

Her howling echoed across the mountain. Vivian immediately rushed towards Lily, but was unable to cover her mouth…

“It’s okay,” Hao Ren shook his head and said, “It’s normal to have wolves on the mountain.”

Vivian stared at him and said, “But it’s not normal to end the howling with woof!”

Hao Ren waved his hand and looked at Y’zaks as he said, “You and Becky are a team. You have strong combat capabilities and Becky has a lot of local experience. You two go to the northern side of the main peak. Apparently, it’s one of the peaks where the rock monsters have surged out from. See if there’s any change in the number of monsters and look out especially if the monsters split from the rocks but don’t attack the town… What are they trying to do? I thought mindless creatures like the rock monsters aren’t capable of something clever such as planning an attack. Yet, they did plan a sneak attack and pierce the line of defense half a month ago.”

“Lastly, Nangong Wuyue and I will go to the ‘overpass’ together.” Hao Ren tossed the Data Terminal in his hand and said, “A mountain doesn’t change its shape for no reason. There has to be some secret behind this. The people here don’t have energy detectors, but haha, I do.”

Chapter 352: The Sky Road

 

In the dead of night, a large swarm of black bats swept over the sky and disappeared. In the middle of the swarm of bats, there was a white figure. Nangong Wuyue looked at them as they disappeared into the horizon and muttered, “Will Vivian drop Lily halfway into the woods…”

Hao Ren gazed into the distance and said, “She already dropped Lily—when they flew into the woods.”

“…”

“Don’t worry, Lily’s body is strong. This won’t hurt her. And, this is what they usually do to each other anyway,” Hao Ren said, like it was something very normal. “Every night when Vivian flies out for a stroll, Lily will hold a slingshot and watch her behind the window. These two are just like that… There’s no cure.”

As a “high-speed combination” in the squad, Lily and Vivian were responsible of exploring the the Blood Lake’s outpost. However, the knights had set up layers upon layers of ground defenses outside the Gnarled Grove to ward off the rock monsters. There were almost no gaps between the various sensitive magic towers and patrolling sentinels. Hao Ren did not want to cause unnecessary, so he advised them to cross the line of defense from the sky. Lily could not fly, hence Vivian needed to bring her along. And the moment they crossed the line of defense and flew into the woods, the vampire girl dropped the husky down right away.

Y’zaks and Becky had already left. Hao Ren and Nangong Wuyue were the only ones still there at the moment. Under the chilly light of the two moons, Hao Ren glanced at Dragonspine Ridge, then tossed the MDT into the air and said,”Let’s go!”

“So lazy…” The MDT faded in a blue light and disappeared into the air, leaving its words slowly dissipating in the air.

A few seconds later, Hao Ren and Nangong Wuyue reached a place about a 100 km from the south of Leyton via the MDT’s teleportation function. This was where the strange collapse and changing shape of Dragonspine Ridge took place. Hao Ren, who had just recovered from the momentary vertigo of teleportation was startled by what he saw…

Seeing something for one’s self was better than hearing about it. It was hard to imagine how mountains could change shape and form a “Sky Road” from the words of others alone. Now he understood why Bishop Gelton and Ophra confirmed that the changing shape of Dragonspine Ridge was caused by the power of ancient, evil magic: At night, the dark mountains twisted into bizarre shapes like ferocious demons. On the walls of the mountain, which should have been smooth, there were countless stalactite or stalagmites sticking out. The small ones were dozens of metres long while the big ones pierced across the sky. The so-called “Sky Road” was in fact, a huge stalagmite that extended out like a road. The huge stalagmite, which was hundreds of metres wide pierced across the mountains of Leyton in the night sky and fell straight into the twisted woodland. It was probably not a natural formation, but there were no traces of it being man-made either. It looked more like it “grew” from the mountain.

The reason why Leyton’s line of defense worked was upon entering the Gnarled Grove from Dragonspine Ridge, there were geological folds that were lower than the ridge but steeper and harder to climb. The folds encircled the Gnarled Grove, and Leyton town was the only entrance. So when the monsters appeared, those who could not climb the mountain were blocked by these folds. But now, the Sky Road stretching out of Dragonspine Ridge completely crossed the defensive line from the sky. The rock monsters entering the sacred grounds through this past were almost unimpeded.

This Sky Road often collapsed, changed shape, and even changed ends. The knights had no way to set a fixed line of defense at the end of the road. Hence, it was no wonder that they were so busy dealing with the rock monsters.

However, the intelligence of the rock monsters was probably limited. They did not know how to deploy their superior forces to a cluster onslaught with the exception of what they did half a month ago. Rock monsters would storm the nearest stronghold from the mountain they cracked out from. If all the rock monsters in the entire mountain range had gathered at one point and swarmed the Gnarled Grove from this Sky Road, the Church Knights would not have been able to beat so many monsters.

But now, there were no rock monsters coming down from the south peak. It was also possible that the rock monsters were dormant now. Hao Ren did not find any monsters wandering around. The magnificent and bizarre stone Sky Road just lay quietly across the night sky, looking harmless.

Hao Ren raised the MDT in his hand as if he was using a searchlight. The MDT was puzzled by his behavior and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Aren’t you a sensor? I’m scanning our surroundings…”

The Mobile Data Terminal paused for a moment, and then flew out of Hao Ren’s hand and yelled, “Can’t you use your brain? You can just tell me!”

Then the MDT emitted a faint blue light to roughly scan their surroundings. More than 10 seconds later, it fell back on Hao Ren’s shoulder and said, “The Sky Road in itself has no magic residue. Those are just simple stones. The source of this unusual phenomenon should be on the mountain.”

Hao Ren looked up and found a way to climb the Sky Road. Let’s go up. It’s said that if the Sky Road senses an outsider, you’ll be ‘dumped’ down. Let’s go up and try.” He looked back at Nangong Wuyue and asked, “Are you waiting here or…?”

“I’m not here to drag you down!” Nangong Wuyue put her hands on her hips and said, “Siren have no other skills, but their survival capability is stronger than yours. I’m an expert in exploring dangerous places like this, okay?”

While Nangong Wuyue was talking to Hao Ren, she was surrounded by a mist that shielded his sight. After the mist dispersed, she had transformed into a beautiful serpent. She threw the ball of frozen clothes into Hao Ren’s hand and said, “Keep it. When we get up there, let me go ahead of you. I hear there’s a miasma on the mountain—I’m good at dealing with that stuff.”

Hao Ren kept Nangong Wuyue’s clothes. He then looked at her soft and smooth tail, then at the rugged rocks. He asked, “Is your body structure suitable for mountain climbing? Don’t break your skin again…”

Nangong Wuyue slapped her tail and said, “You should watch Animal World more often to increase your general knowledge of animals!”

After that, she twisted her body and climbed up the mountain. Her body fit perfectly around those rugged rocks, moving gracefully but also speedily. Hao Ren quickly followed her. Running up the mountain, he said, “But, Animal World has never talked about snakes that specialise in mountain climbing…”

The two were moving fast, and they soon came to the place where the Sky Road began. When he climbed up, Hao Ren noticed that the Sky Road was not connected to the mountain out of nowhere after all. There were two roads at the junction and there was a pretty large, flat transition zone. And on the Sky Road along the mountain, there were broad, winding ramps that extended to both sides. But due to an angle problem, he did not notice these structures earlier on. The purpose of the flat and broad transition zone was obvious: to help the monsters infiltrate the place easily. After all, those monsters could not climb over the cliffs.

“Such an exquisite and thoughtful design should be man-made,” Hao Ren said as he pulled the corner of his lips, ready to find the area where the mountain began. But before that, he began to frown. “What’s that smell?”

The air was filled with an unpleasant odour as if the plants were rotting. It was so subtle that it was almost impossible to tell. If Hao Ren did not possess senses beyond the ordinary human, he would have probably ignored it or thought it to be the smell of rotten grass and wood. But before Hao Ren finished talking, a cool and moist breeze dissipated the unpleasant smell. Nangong Wuyue was moving her arms, using her Water Mist to disperse the poisonous mist around them. “This should be the miasma. It’s dangerous because it’s non-toxic when just inhaled. It’ll react to the warm environment in the lungs for a minute before it starts to kill.”

Hao Ren immediately became frightened and said, “I just inhaled it!”

Nangong Wuyue gave him a sideways glance and said, “Don’t worry, my mist can detoxify it. And with your physique, a little bit of poisonous mist won’t kill you.”

Hao Ren found Nangong Wuyue to be fully functional—she could cure, heal, detoxify, provide a protective shield, and even dispel poisonous air. Where could you find such high-end support? Her only problem was, she could not fight…

“Now, let’s test how this mountain ‘senses’ that someone is climbing the Sky Road.” Hao Ren looked at the long “bridge” across the horizon not far away and said, “I want to see who’s watching this side. By the way, when I fall down, remember to use teleportation to pull me back. It’s gonna really hurt to fall down from such a high place and get hit by tonnes of stones—”

The MDT hit Hao Ren on the back and said, “Okay, okay, just go!”