Chapter 1980: Unknown Cause of Death

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

“Your face is pale. Did the Bone-Eating Spiders scare you?” Mo Fan asked Walden.

“No… not at all,” Walden replied, shaking his head.

“It’s going to be a dangerous trip, but don’t worry, you will be safe as long as you stick with us,” Mo Fan stated, slapping Walden on the back.

“Oh, let’s hope so,” Walden said. He subconsciously looked at Mo Fan as he left.

As a matter of fact, he was a little touched by Mo Fan’s words after being humiliated by the older mercenaries. However, he had a feeling that he should not treat everyone’s words too seriously. In a dangerous place like Tianshan Mountain, it was quite likely that a man would run away just like the others when there was any danger, let alone protect him. Everyone knew how to talk pretty!

—

The only good thing about the landslide was they now had a much clearer idea of which way they should be going.

The landslide had come down from the higher layers. They just needed to follow its trail!

After waiting half a day, the landslide turned into ordinary flowing sand and rocks. It might have changed the ground along the way, but the Rift Valley remained. It would not be sealed off by the landslide, nor was it going to just disappear after the landslide filled it up.

“I believe the Rift Valley is closely related to the flash floods. Tianshan Mountain has had strong undercurrents flowing within it for a long time. The Rift Valley has been around a long time too, but it was buried underground. The recent mudflows must have broken through the ground and cleared a path to the Rift Valley!” Lingling declared after a thorough analysis.

“Yes. It’s unlikely such a spectacular valley would suddenly appear out of nowhere,” Nanyu agreed with Lingling’s speculation.

Valleys and streams were the result of constant rain and flowing water. The flash floods must have occurred countless times before they finally opened up an entrance into the Rift Valley.

Therefore, the Rift Valley would surely lead them to the Valley of Glaciers.

The Valley of Glaciers had a deadly wind that even the strongest Mages would struggle to defend themselves from. It was like a natural magic barrier established around Tianshan Mountain to stop outsiders. However, if they headed for the Valley of Glaciers through the Rift Valley, they could avoid the deadly wind. Most importantly, it would lead them to the Scar of Tianshan Mountain!

No wonder countless Mages across the world had come to Tianshan Mountain. Even though their cultivation was not too impressive, they could still enter the treasure vault in Tianshan Mountain by taking the right path!

—

The barren land fell silent after the mudslide had passed. The group had discovered some corpses buried under the ground along the way. Even the creatures of Tianshan Mountain had not all found shelter from the mudslides.

Tommy, who was scouting the path ahead, called out, “There are some corpses here!”

“Is there anything special about them?” Gavin said.

“They are humans.”

“Oh, that’s pretty normal.”

Tommy glanced at Kuma and added, “These people didn’t die to the landslide. They managed to find a shelter like us, but they still died to some unknown cause.”

“Maybe the demon creatures killed them,” Gavin said impatiently.

“I didn’t see any wounds or injuries, either.”

“Maybe it’s poison,” Kuma ventured.

“Mm, I think so too. If they died in the same direction we are heading in, it’s likely that we’ll encounter the same thing!” Tommy agreed.

Corpses were not scary to the mercenaries. Every path to some kind of treasure would have dead bodies along it. The dead might provide hints. If the bodies were torn to pieces, it indicated they had encountered some ferocious beasts. If the corpses only had bones left, it meant there were species that fed on them. If the bodies were in good condition, it was likely they were poisoned to death, or they had died to some other strange cause. These clues served as warnings to those who were taking the same path!

—

The group marched past the corpses. The ninth team was toward the back of the group and only saw the dead some time later.

Lingling was performing like an expert. She immediately put on a pair of gloves and a mask before inspecting the dead.

When Walden and the others on the team saw the little girl running toward the dead bodies curiously, they all had strange looks on their faces.

Lingling was not bothered at all. Every corpse contained a lot of information. The path ahead of them had too many unknown factors, whether it was related to nature or the demon creatures. Even if Mo Fan and the others were strong, there might be problems which they could not overcome with strength alone. Their group had so many people. How could they possibly guarantee everyone’s safety?

Therefore, it was extremely important to collect information. Every useful bit of data they gathered from the mysterious reaches of Tianshan Mountain might be the key to preventing some uncontrollable tragedies.

“Did you find anything?” Mo Fan asked her.

“It’s strange…” Lingling’s sentence made Mo Fan’s heart skip a beat.” Judging from their clothes, they should have reached the Meadow. There is moss and grass on their clothes.”

“If they already left the barren land and reached a higher layer, why would they come back here and end up dead?” Nanyu said.

“What’s the cause of death?” Mo Fan asked.

“They died of suffocation, but I couldn’t find what was causing it,” Lingling answered.

“Poison?”

“I have considered it too, but if it was poison, they should have stayed in the Meadow. They should be looking for an antidote nearby if they had the slightest common sense,” Lingling said.

“Is there a chance they were poisoned in the Meadow and the slide brought them here?”

“There isn’t any signs of the mudslide on them. I’ll collect some samples. Let’s keep moving. We might have to see what’s ahead to figure out the real cause of death,” Lingling told them.

“Maybe they were too weak?”

“Probably not, one of them is a strong Advanced Mage.”

“There wasn’t any trace of a fight, which means their deaths had nothing to do with their strength…” Nanyu realized.

“The group has already gone ahead. Let’s hurry. If anything happens, the Mailong Private Military Group will deal with it first,” Ai Jiangtu said.

“Old Ai, is that the actual reason why you joined the mercenary group, so they could be our meat shield?” Zhao Manyan smiled.

“You’re talking too much,” Ai Jiangtu answered quietly.

“Hehe…”