Chapter 675 The King Beasts Peculiar Movements (2/2)

Shao Xuan took a deep breath and looked around the room. Everyone became more anxious.

“This afternoon, Ao told me someone had been slicing off our Thousand Grain Gold.” Shao Xuan briefly explained the situation.

Everyone’s eyes became ablaze with anger. They all wanted to punch the thief.

However, what Shao Xuan said next was like a bucket of cold water. Not only did the flames disappear, they were shivering.

Everyone who had gone to mine fire crystals all remembered what happened.

“How can it be the same bat again?!” Mai clenched his fist, let go, then clenched it again.

“Isn’t it living on the other side of the forest?” Cheng was also panicking.

“Cheng and Mai, you should be able to see that mountain along your hunting routes. Did you notice anything unusual?” asked Shao Xuan.

After the incident at bat mountain, Cheng’s hunt party changed their hunt routes to avoid the bat mountain. They could see the peak from far away but never got any closer to avoid trouble. He had warned their brothers from the other side of the ocean not to get any closer too.

“We never approached the place but from afar, nothing looked amiss.” Cheng scratched his sideburns, frustrated. If this was another tribesman, he would not be afraid. However, he did not have a good impression of that bat, shuddering at the memory of the incident.

“I haven’t been either,” said Mai. Then, he suddenly recalled something. “I don’t know about bat mountain but we noticed changes along our hunt route.”

“Oh?” Shao Xuan straightened up and asked Mai, “Tell us anything unusual you noticed. Any changes in the mountain, trees, rivers, animals… anything.”

“It’s the mountain, the one you all say with the king beast,” said Mai.

“The one with the king stoneworm?” Shao Xuan rarely travelled there, usually going towards the plains. Therefore he really did not notice anything about the mountain.

“Exactly!” Mai paused. “Anyone who has used that path before knows that when you leave a mark in the tunnels within the mountain, you won't be able to see the mark again.”

Shao Xuan nodded. He remembered that there was indeed a king stoneworm beneath that mountain. It was not a rumour at all. It was due to the worm’s ‘activities’ that any markings left on the tunnel’s walls would disappear the next time they visited. Sometimes, even ropes they left behind would disappear.

The cave was like a long intestine, anything left untouched inside would be ‘absorbed’ without a trace. The further underground, the more obvious this phenomenon was, the faster the markings disappeared.

That was why anyone who used that route relied on their own experience and memory, passing on this knowledge to the next generation. No one would ever rely on markings.

“In the beginning, I didn’t notice but after a few times, I found a bit of straw rope I previously tossed inside!” Now that he recalled this, Mai regretted not paying more attention. He thought the king stoneworm must be resting or had gone somewhere else. Maybe the mountain would return to normal if it returned.

“The king stoneworm…” Shao Xuan wondered aloud, “What could have happened to even affect the king stoneworm?”

“Mai, when was the first time you noticed the markings were no longer disappearing?” asked Shao Xuan.

Mai looked ashamed. “The first time I realised this was actually before last winter. It’s just I did not have time to think about it. There were many threats in the cave at the time, even beasts we had never seen before inside. We spent most of our efforts guarding against them.”

“This means the changes within the mountain started before winter. Perhaps it’s due to the natural disaster,” said Shao Xuan. “But the bat leader only came recently. It must have been a recent event.”

There was a tense silence in the house.

There was a huge threat looming over the tribe and they found no explanations for it. No one would be able to rest well. They no longer had the fire seed, powerful fearsome beasts like this one could fly over their village undetected anytime.

“What do we do now?” Mai looked at Shao Xuan, then around the room. No one spoke, for no one had a solution.

“We’ll leave tomorrow to check on the bat mountain. And we’ll also visit the king stoneworm’s mountain. Perhaps we’ll find the reason,” said Shao Xuan.

“That’s the only solution we have. But the tribe must be guarded well. Don’t tell anyone else about this. We’ll only announce one we have found the reason or we’ll cause panic. And outsiders could ambush us while we’re vulnerable,” said Gui He.

After making arrangements for the expedition, everyone returned to their homes. However, no one would be able to fall asleep again.

On the next day, after the sky lightened, Shao Xuan had Cha Cha bring him, Ao and two other leaders over. Ta, Mai and the rest set off together with Caesar.

In the past, bat mountain did not contain any bats. However, a leader appeared in the colony and they abandoned their short hill to conquer a taller mountain. They even chased out all the fearsome beasts living inside. After that, the Flaming Horn tribe called it ‘bat mountain’.

Shao Xuan looked at the mountain so tall it extended into the clouds. Compared to the other mountains, it felt darker and eerier. This feeling became clearer as they approached.

Due to the colony of bats in the mountain, all the beasts had been driven away. Any fearsome beasts that remained behind became bat food. Any smart animal would not stay or their blood would get sucked by the bats.

Since there were no fearsome beasts or smaller animals, it was unusually silent and dead.

It was daytime so they did not see any bats flying out.

Shao Xuan did not enter the cave, merely circling the area.

“The colony is still here, they haven’t left. There are fresh signs of activity, even bat feces at the cave mouth,” said Shao Xuan.

“So you mean only the leader left?”

“Why?” Ao did not understand.

Why would the bat leader abandon its subjects to go steal grains at their field?

Shao Xuan could not think of a reason either.

“Let’s check out the king stoneworm.” Shao Xuan called Cha Cha over, who brought them to the mountain they hadn’t visited in a long time.

That year, Shao Xuan had exited the place carrying his ancestor’s remains. If it were not for the ancestral bone ornaments and the remains, he would have been swallowed by the mountain.

When he arrived at the mouth of the cave, he looked at the writings at the entrance and bowed according to tradition. Then, he entered the cave.