Chapter 265 Underground Maze (1/2)
Just as Yang Ling was about to make his way quickly past the bloody battlefield and enter the cave as soon as possible, the Horned Bee Beasts scouting the path ahead suddenly relayed a strange image.
Other than the people who were convulsing on a pile of corpses with their final breaths, no one would choose to stay outside the cave. What's weird was that there was a black robed man toiling around near the entrance of the cave. A dozen people wearing capes were moving around nearby, sometimes dragging along the corpses of a few warhorses or Magical Beasts over to the black robed man!
Could this be a troop team that's cleaning up the scene, hoping to profit from the dead people?
In his confusion, Yang Ling instructed the Horned Bee Beasts to slowly approach the strange black robed man, then led the group in hiding nearby. Soon, he discovered things that were even weirder.
The people in cloaks had rigid movements, as if robots prodding around the piles of corpses, searching for dead Magical Beasts while disregarding the crystal coins that were scattered on the ground. The black robed man near the entrance of the cave was examining the corpses of the Magical Beasts that the other people had dragged back. He dug out the Essence Crystals of the Magical Beasts that had severed limbs and tossed them to the side and kept the Magical Beasts that were in good condition into his Space Ring.
Oh, could this be a Necromancer like the Undead Wizard from the Angus family?
Yang Ling had a thought as he recalled the long-haired black robed man he had encountered a few days ago. The people in cloaks seemed more and more like a bunch of zombies, while the black robed man near the entrance of the cave was looking increasingly similar to an Undead Wizard.
”Hmph, to think that the other party has taken action this quickly. But this does save me the effort of searching for the Magical Beast Essence Crystals all over the place!”
After instructing his Horned Bee Beasts to circle around the area and ascertaining that there were no ambushes, Yang Ling signaled for the elven archers to take action. In that instant, following a wave of arrows slicing through the air, the black robed man who had been caught off guard was reduced to a porcupine along with the many zombies.
”Orlando, take off the other party's Space Ring. Later on, you will be responsible for collecting the Magical Beast Essence Crystals and corpses of the Magical Beasts along the way!”
”Yes, Sir!”
Under Yang Ling's orders, Orlando charged forward quickly together with a few barbarians, taking off all of the treasures on the black robed man. The pitiful black robed man might experience tearless grief if he knew about this in the nether realm. Not only did the Magical Beast corpses and Magical Beast Essence Crystals that he had spent much effort in obtaining get snatched away, he even lost his Space Ring and his life.
After killing the careless black robed man, Yang Ling ordered the group to rest where they were and kept the warhorses in the space of the Wizard's Pagoda. He then instructed fifty Bullmen who were adept in close combat to pave a way, carefully entering the mysterious cave.
Just like the Volcano Valley, large pools of blood could be seen everywhere in the cave, with occasional sightings of corpses. Other than the human corpses, there were also several corpses of Gargoyles. Just like he predicted, most of the Gargoyle's Essence Crystals had been dug out.
Even though there were no Essence Crystals, Yang Ling still ordered Orlando to collect the corpses of the Magical Beasts they came across along the way into the Space Ring. The corpses of low-level Magical Beasts that had no Essence Crystal might be worthless in the eyes of an average person, but these were treasures that Yang Ling could not get too many off. The hide of the Magical Beasts could be made into decent coats after it was processed, while the body could be used to feed the Magical Beasts he was rearing in the Beast Taming Ground…
After making their way past the territory guarded by the Gargoyles, the group entered the sphere of influence of the Demon Harpies. There were now more forked paths!
Similar to the Gargoyles, the Demon Harpies were also mid to low-level Magical Beasts. The two Magical Beasts had similar speeds when they were flying, but the Demon Harpies were better in the sense that their attacks came with numbing effects. They would frequently attack in large hordes.
An average person would feel their hair stand instantly and turn numb if they are struck by their sharp claws, as if electrocuted by lightning. Their targets would usually be caught off guard.
Slowly, the ground became covered with corpses that seemed to be troops. However, there were also a substantial number of Demon Harpy corpses strewn around them. Close examination would reveal that the time of their deaths was vastly different. The wounds of the troops would still be bleeding, while those of the Demon Harpies have dried up and withered.
It looks like most of the Demon Harpies had been done in by the major factions that were the first to enter the cave, like the Church and Dark Association, while the troops had unluckily died to the attacks of the remaining Demon Harpies. If not for the many large factions paving the way, the troops might have suffered even heavier casualties!
After making their way past a pitch-black tunnel, the group soon arrived at a small plaza. There were two nearly identical split paths to their front, left and right, each of the paths littered with several messy footprints.
”Sir, what do we do, where do we head toward?”
”Why not we split into six teams and take a direction each!”
”Hmph, fool, splitting up is definitely asking for death!”
…
Faced with the six nearly identical paths, the group slipped into discussion. Some were at a loss for what to do, some suggested splitting up, while others vehemently opposed to the idea…
While the group was arguing over what to do, the hunter Viola remained silent, moving nearer to the various tunnels to observe them carefully, ”Sir, if I am not wrong, this Cross Symbol should have been left behind by the army of the Church; This Blood-colored Rose should have been left behind by the Dark Association…”