Chapter 85 — The Great Wall
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 3
The twisted creatures had indeed left many traces of corruption in their wanderings. Although the chaotic magic aura was dissipating rapidly, quite a few telltale signs remained, thanks to their timely discovery.
Following those intermittent traces of corrupting aura, Gao Cen advanced steadily through the Dark Mountains, gradually drawing near a gap in the mountain mass southwest of the camp—a gap that put Gao Yang on his guard.
This was one of the lower, most easily crossed passes in the Dark Mountains. If those monsters had come in through this gap... then they would soon sense the human presence at the pioneer camp and come charging down the mountain to strike straight at it.
The three of them climbed onto a great boulder and gazed at the mountain gap ahead. The rock there was sparsely covered with vegetation; the exposed gray-white stone looked as lifeless as shattered bone. The whole terrain seemed to have been cleft apart by a giant axe, and below the gap an ominous gray-black mist could already be seen rising visibly.
Gao Shao ordered Hedi to use magic to shroud all their auras, including their magic. A third-rank mage's abilities in this regard were, of course, limited—such concealment could not fool any mid-rank or higher professional—but Gao Yang well understood the weakness of the twisted: once removed from the environment of the magic tide, their senses grew dull and their thinking feeble. So long as they did not clearly sense magic or the aura of intelligent beings, they would not react.
Their concealment in place, the three crept cautiously forward. Before they were halfway there, a stench of rot drifted toward them from ahead.
"Urgh..." Hedi retched quietly, her fingers tightening slightly on her staff. She knew that smell all too well—it had appeared in her nightmares more than once, jolting her awake. Months ago, the entire old Cecil Territory had been destroyed amid that very stench.
Knowing the monsters could sense magical fluctuations and that her concealment spell was of limited effect, Hedi suppressed the urge to cast a breeze shield and carefully followed behind Gao Yang, skirting the rocks and ancient trees that blocked the way ahead.
Gao Yang, walking in front, suddenly made a hand signal: "Hide. Up ahead."
The three concealed themselves among the jagged rocks. Amber boldly poked her head out a little from below Gao Yang's shoulder—and the next second, goosebumps broke out all over her body.
The mountain path below was shrouded in a thin gray-black mist. The plants there had withered and mutated; hideous spikes and tendrils had sprouted from the rock and soil. Countless lumps, like some kind of soft-bodied creature, writhed and rolled among the earth and stones, a sight to make the stomach turn. And in crowds and throngs, flesh giants shambled along this hellish mountain road, their chaotic features streaming with mud-like flesh and blood, blasphemous, low murmurs issuing from their chests and forming a buzzing resonance in the air.
What was more chilling still was that many of these flesh giants had rotting, battered ancient weapons lodged in their bodies. Amber even saw one giant with a hollow human skeleton stuck in its abdomen—revolting evidence that confirmed Gao Song's judgment:
This was an army of devils from hell, wandering out of the Gondor Wasteland.
Amber seized Gao Song's arm at once and, in the lowest, lowest voice of her life, voiced the clearest thought in her mind at that moment: "Boss, you can keep my wages, just let me go..."
"Shh." Gao Yang pressed down on Amber's head, his eyes sweeping among the monsters. He checked again and again and finally let out a slight breath of relief. "Not so bad. It's not the worst case."
"This isn't bad?!" Amber looked at Gao Yang as though he were a madman. "A horde this size could tear the whole camp apart three times over!"