Chapter 533: Chapter 270: Shrine, Undead and Scorching Currents
"I suspect it is a creation left from before the founding of the Sevia Kingdom, perhaps even from an earlier ancient era."
"Moradin bless us, I... we’re going to be rich!"
The dwarf’s voice, filled with ecstatic joy, reached Marcus’s ears, stirring waves in his heart.
Originally, it was just an ordinary journey, not even a mission commission.
Even "Grey Valley Village" from last night was accidentally discovered when passing through the forest.
Unexpectedly, we’ve stumbled upon such a windfall now.
He couldn’t help but marvel at his own good fortune.
At the same time, his heart was filled with anticipation for the ancient relic mentioned by "Stone Belly" the dwarf.
Danger certainly exists, but if they could take out a few well-preserved, exquisite items that can verify their origin from the era, those always generous collectors might even end up in a bidding war.
A casual sale could result in revenue that would take years of adventuring to earn.
If they were unwilling to continue exploring, just auctioning off the location information could fetch a high price.
And if they really dug up a valuable ancient magic item, even a battle skill inheritance...
Marcus’s breath became a bit rapid, and his gaze towards the teammates beside him turned dangerous.
In contrast, the team’s somewhat sharp-tongued ranger appeared calm, at least on the surface.
Within the strange fog, a whiff of untimely bloodied stench was detected.
Frowning, their gaze instinctively turned in the direction from which the scent came.
Their expression paused.
"Be careful!"
...
The group of four maintained a cautious and vigilant stance, ready to engage at any moment.
Before them lay several dried bloodless corpses of Axe-beaked Birds.
Coincidentally, these large creatures with hard, powerful beaks that could crush rocks, had their necks empty and their heads missing.
Some had clear cutting wounds on their chests, thighs, and backs.
With fingertips lightly touching the neck stumps, Ranger Qianli wore a serious expression.
She no longer had the mind for mockery but instead used a sober tone to explain her discoveries to her teammates, reconstructing the death scene of the Axe-beaked Birds before them:
"There are no obvious traces around, indicating the battle ended quickly, and the attacker’s strength far exceeded these Axe-beaked Birds."
"So what, Gorg could also smash the heads of these big birds alone!" the half-orc interjected indignantly, comparing the bodies on the ground with an iron rod in hand, as if contemplating where to strike.
"Shut that filthy mouth of yours dirtier than an ogre’s pit!"
Suppressing her temper, Qianli pointed at the motionless landbirds on the ground and continued:
"Firstly, you’ve seen their fatal wounds, they’re from the neck, deadly in one blow."
"The wound is smooth and flat, evidently the work of a sharp weapon, executed with precision and swiftness."
Marcus listened attentively, placing himself in the attacker’s perspective, contemplating if he could as neatly and swiftly sever the heads of these Axe-beaked Birds if faced with them simultaneously.
But Qianli’s discovery in the next second raised his alertness.
"There’s something most peculiar; look at the death positions of these Axe-beaked Birds carefully."
"Only the foremost one faced the enemy head-on."
"The other four had their backs turned towards the attacker and were decapitated, with their death locations varying slightly."
"What does this imply?"
"This means only the first Axe-beaked Bird dared or failed to react, engaging the attacker head-on."
"The other four, lacking even the courage to attack, had their first response on noticing their companion under attack— to flee!"
"Whether it was due to the enemy displaying overwhelming strength or some form of mental control, I am not sure."
"But one thing is certain: there are indeed other powerful adventurers who’ve discovered this valley and have begun exploring it ahead of us."
Hearing this, the image that flashed in Blood Blade Squad’s leader Marcus’s mind was the sharp figure who met his gaze briefly in the crowd last night.
Could it be him?
With this thought in mind, for the whole adventurer team, Qianli’s words hinted at possible other forces.
Along with vigilance, there was more rage for their premature arrival and animosity towards relic competitors.
"The treasures all belong to Gorg! Whoever tries to snatch it, Gorg will crush their head!" the half-orc growled, the veins on his neck bulging like steel cables.
"Then what are we waiting for, let’s hurry inside before they take everything!" The dwarf impatiently rubbed his hands, and his two stout short legs stomped incessantly, as if every moment’s delay would cost him dozens or even hundreds of gold coins.
Ranger Qianli remained silent, having ceased to speak after explaining the scene.
But from her personality, this silence indicated her stance.
After all, as adventurers, they were even more extreme than those cunning and crazy merchants, trading life for money.
When benefits large enough are presented, the hidden dangers are ignored.
Even Marcus, after only a few seconds of thought, issued the command for the team to remain vigilant of possible surrounding threats and pressed on deeper into the valley.
At quite some distance.
Seeing the group disappear into the depths of the mist after discovering the Axe-beaked Bird corpses.
Xia Nan retracted his hand from the sword hilt.
In his eyes, the adventurer team had no chance of survival the moment they stepped into Grey Valley.
Under adversarial circumstances, he couldn’t allow any of them to relay information from Grey Valley and associate themselves with potential treasures inside.
Silencing was necessary.
It was merely a matter of timing.
If, upon discovering the unprocessed Axe-beaked Bird corpses he left behind from the previous day on the ground, the team intended to retreat.
Then it would have been his cue to strike.
For now, since they planned to head deeper, to Xia Nan, they still held value.
With eyes dark and devoid of emotion slightly shifting, Xia Nan stepped forward, his body vanishing into the mist.
But quickly, within five or six minutes, he had to stop once more.
Ahead, the group had been stopped by a ruined altar.
The structure looked more like a gigantic shrine than an altar.
The large statue remaining only as half a torso, the intricately carved fortress-like heavy pedestal propped it high; massive broken stone pillars on both sides seemed like ribs gnawed by beasts, slanted into the rubble.
The vanished top half of the statue was so damaged it could not be identified, only its "goddess" identity discernible from the stone skirt flowing like gauze, the bare tiptoe stepping on the pedestal.
Meanwhile, accompanying a drowning-like eerie "ho-ho" sound.
A withered figure cloaked in a dusty, colorless tattered robe knelt unmoving on the stone statue’s west side, hands clasped in earnest prayer.
His head was bowed, the dried, heavily wrinkled skin on the back of his neck stretched to the limit, the bones beneath like they could pierce through at any moment; the arms protruding from the robe looked like detestably thin specimens, the skin a lifeless dark purple.
A mummy.
Xia Nan judged as such in his mind.
But the next second, from behind, a Blue Wooden Sword named [Green Pine].
Suddenly erupted, surging a hot flow over his neck and back.
Raising his alertness to the maximum in an instant.