The mountains in the Magic Beast Mountain Range stretched on endlessly, and the countless types of plants had been growing for who knew how many years, making travel through the Magic Beast Mountain Range extremely troublesome. The most annoying thing was that you constantly had to climb over mountains and ridges, or take winding detours.
"Traveling through the Magic Beast Mountain Range, don't cut through the thorns in your path—better to take the long way around," Derinkoort lectured Lin Lei, sharing his many years of experience.
Lin Lei listened carefully as he continued pressing forward.
"Remember, the biggest taboo in the Magic Beast Mountain Range is making constant noise. That will get you noticed by all manner of magic beasts. Even if you do make some noise, move away from the spot quickly," Derinkoort continued. "And remember—even if you're injured, try to cover up the bloodstains on your body. The scent of blood will attract magic beasts too. Their noses are far sharper than ours."
Lin Lei looked up at the sky.
The canopies of countless great trees blanketed nearly the entire sky. Seeing this, Lin Lei couldn't help but recall some survival knowledge from the deep forests described in books at the Ernst Academy library. In a place where you could hardly even see the sun, you had to learn to determine north, south, east, and west.
Lin Lei nimbly leaped over tangled branches and vines blocking the path like an ape, but after taking just two steps—
"Hssss—" Catching sight of something ahead, Lin Lei drew a sharp breath.
Five corpses—three men and two women—lay a dozen meters ahead. Their bodies hadn't decomposed much yet, but the marks of being chewed and devoured were painfully obvious. None of the five corpses were intact. One man's thigh had been gnawed nearly in half, his belly torn open into a gaping hole, with ruptured intestines spilling across the ground. One woman's head had been eaten away on one side—a single eye still stared out, and pale white bone was crawling with tiny worms.
Lin Lei's face turned pale, and he held his breath.
"They should have died two or three days ago." Derinkoort appeared beside Lin Lei, studying the five corpses with a comparatively calm expression. "Lin Lei, look carefully—on the clothing over each of their chests, right where the heart is, there's an inconspicuous bloodstain. If I'm not mistaken, these five were killed by a human. And by the same person."
Lin Lei was startled.
"Grandpa Derink—you're saying they were killed by a human?" He looked at Derinkoort in surprise.
Derinkoort smiled faintly. "Lin Lei, this is your first time in the Magic Beast Mountain Range. If you spent more time here, you'd learn that in these mountains, besides dealing with magic beast attacks, you also have to watch out for other humans."
"Humans attacking? Why would they attack?" A flicker of anger stirred in Lin Lei's heart.
In the Magic Beast Mountain Range, where endless magic beasts already held the overwhelming advantage, he hadn't expected that the humans who ventured in would not only fail to cooperate, but actually slaughter each other.
"It's perfectly normal. What are humans doing in the Magic Beast Mountain Range? The vast majority are here to obtain magic crystal cores. You have to kill a magic beast to get one, but if you kill a person—well, that person's pack might have several cores, or even more." Derinkoort stroked his white beard.
Lin Lei understood deep down.
Greed.
It was all because of greed. Some people in the Magic Beast Mountain Range wanted to get more magic crystal cores more easily, and killing other people in the mountain range was indeed the quickest way.
"Lin Lei, you need to be careful. From what I can see, whoever killed these five is terrifyingly powerful. Look at their clothing—four were warriors and one was a mage. Yet all five died with their hearts pierced clean through. The method was so swift and precise it's chilling. I just can't tell how strong these five were, so it's hard to gauge the killer's true strength." Derinkoort frowned. "But anyone who dares come to the Magic Beast Mountain Range is no weakling. From that, you can judge that the killer is at the very least no weaker than you."
Lin Lei stepped forward and examined the corpses more closely, then nodded in agreement.
The killing method was far too clean.
"We're still in the outer reaches of the Magic Beast Mountain Range. Hurry on," Derinkoort said with a smile.
Lin Lei nodded and set off again. As he ventured deeper into the Magic Beast Mountain Range, the remains of both magic beasts and humans became a frequent sight along the way, along with plenty of rusted weapons. Lin Lei also encountered a few low-level magic beasts.
Night fell. Lin Lei and the Shadow Mouse each ate a wild boar trotter and prepared to rest. Lin Lei sat on the ground while the little Shadow Mouse curled up beside him.
"No fires at night in the Magic Beast Mountain Range," Derinkoort reminded him once more.
"I know, Grandpa Derink." Lin Lei was familiar with most of the survival knowledge for the Magic Beast Mountain Range. Magic beasts weren't ordinary wild animals—they had no fear of common flames.
Sitting on the ground with his mind calm, Lin Lei slowly closed his eyes and began sensing the flow of earth elements in the ground around him, as well as the movement of wind elements in the vicinity. The sensation was like returning to a parent's embrace.
His superlative affinity for earth and wind elements made these perceptions remarkably vivid.
"The pulse of the earth, the rhythm of the wind." A serene smile graced Lin Lei's face as he drifted off to sleep. In this state, Lin Lei was supremely confident—even the faintest tremor in the nearby ground, or any rapid movement that stirred the wind, would wake him in an instant.
This was the gift of an earth and wind mage.
The night deepened. The little Shadow Mouse "Bei Bei," curled up beside Lin Lei, let out the faintest of snores. The night breeze grew cooler, though in the Magic Beast Mountain Range during summer, the deep night was only when the heat finally gave way to pleasant coolness—during the day it was nothing but damp and stifling.
Deep into the night, everything was pitch black.
"Shhh, shhh, shhh—" The faint rustling of bodies brushing against wild grass.
Two robust Wind Wolves, their sleek fur a gleaming bluish-green, crept single file through the mountain forest. Their glowing green eyes swept the surroundings with sharp vigilance, yet their powerful limbs moved in utter silence along the path.
Their pale fangs caught a faint, cold gleam in the darkness of the night.