Chapter 119 – The Mis (1/2)

Translated by Sunyancai

When they went inside from different caves, the warriors of the five hunting groups finally got together.

In front of them, there was a very big empty hall. No one could ever see where the ceiling was, and there was a dense mist ahead.

Earlier, they thought that some bats would be driven to this direction by the smoke. However, to their surprise, they hadn’t seen a single bat in this open area.

Perhaps they had gone to other caves, but it shouldn’t have been so empty in here, going so far as not seeing even a single bat. Why the hell was that? People had no clue what was so special about this place.

“How are things on your side?” Mai asked the other few group leaders.

“It’s good. There were not too many bats left in the cave. It was a piece of cake.”

“It’s the same on our end.”

“It looks like most of them have gone outside.”

It was a good sign.

“Something’s coming!” Cha said out of blue.

There were far more than five bat caves outside, and other caves were connected to this place as well.

“Should we put out the fire?”

“No. There’s no point in doing that. Let’s wait. Only two bats are coming.”

Cheng waved to the others.

The faint sounds of fluttering wings were very easy to capture in this quiet hall.

Soon, people heard the sound of the bats flying out from one cave.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Although people might not be able to see what these two bats looked like, based on the things they heard, they could spot their locations just the same.

The long spears in Mai and a few other warriors’ hands all flew to the bats once they came out.

After a series of ‘puffs’, those two bats could barely make a sound before they hit the ground.

Cheng asked a few of his men to toss some smoking herbs to the other bat caves, while he stepped forward to check on the bats on the ground and their prey.

Those two bats had so many long spears piercing their bodies, that they looked like cactuses. The cow that they carried also suffered from the spears. It was still alive, but it was unconscious. Just like other prey, instead of being killed, they were only unconscious, and were directly brought in here.

“Judging from their flying route, they should be heading to that direction.”

People looked along the direction that Cheng pointed out, but even with the light of the torches, people couldn’t see what was ahead. It was all in the mist.

“Ah-Cheng, do you think that they maybe…” Cha stared at the mist and murmured.

Well, the reason of all the bats acting so abnormally was probably hidden behind the mist, in that direction.

The five group leaders once analyzed the situation when they were having meetings together. They thought that the bats probably were preparing a feast for their leader. Many animals shared similar habits. It was very possible that they were storing food for that. If that was really the case, they would do whatever they could to put down that leader.

Was the leader in here?

Would the army of bats disband naturally once they killed that leader?

“Let’s check it out. Be careful!” Cheng said to the crowd.

Once they walked into the mist, the flames of the torches grew smaller.

The visibility was very low, and there was a very unpleasant smell around, just like a thick fog.

“Miasma?” Shao Xuan wondered.

The pungent odor made them dizzy, but it was not just the odd smell in those bat caves. It was a smell that befuddled people’s minds. Luckily, the fresh smell of the vines eased that feeling.

People put a piece of herb into their mouth, and the herb’s bitter cool taste refreshed them a little.

There was another burst of fluttering wings, and this time, there were more bats coming. The effect of the smoke was limited after all. Dozens of bats flew inside from other caves, all with prey in their claws. Mai and the others were prepared to throw stone spears at them, but to their surprise, they did not attack the hunting groups at all. Even without looking at them, they grabbed their prey and flew directly into the mist.

Somewhere in the mist, there was a sound of something dropping on the ground. Not long after that, those bats flew out from the thick mist and then headed out to the caves.

“Their leader must be in there.” Cheng whispered.

As they walked deeper inside, the flames of their torches grew smaller, as if they were struggling to keep burning. Because of the “mist”, even Mai could only see thing ten meters ahead with a torch in his hand, let alone the others.

“This place is…”

Before Cha could finish his words, he stumbled on something.

His nerves all tightened up in an instant, and he became fully alert for combat. But soon enough, he realized that the thing he kicked had no sign of life.

“Dead?” Cha kicked the object beneath his feet.

The thing he touched was the body of a dead bat. Moreover, it had been dead for quite a long time.

Not only beneath Cha’s feet, in this area covered by thick mist, there were skeletons of bats everywhere on the ground. In other words, there were numerous bats’ bodies everywhere. In some spots, there were layers of bats’ skeletons. It was kind of creepy.

When they walked forward, there were even more bodies of bats piling up like small hills.

Dead bats.

All of them were dead bats.

Moreover, a lot of them died miserably with their remains spread out everywhere. Apparently, they had been cruelly ripped off before they died.