Chapter 11: Black Fire Ridge

To put it bluntly, [Xuanmu Ya] is the place where the [Hundred Flowers Dynasty] investigates cases, but unlike other places, it belongs directly to the royal family, and specializes in helping the royal family investigate those cases that involve secrecy and cannot be too public.

As soon as Ling Yun and the little fox arrived here, a bearded man came up to them.

"Hey, hey, I said you, if you don't leave the portal, I'll wait here for a long time!" The bearded man's beard shook.

"So there's a portal?!" The little fox said a little surprised.

"Of course, the Imperial City and the institutions directly under the Royal City have direct teleportation portals!" The bearded man said.

"Dare to ask the eldest brother's honorable name?" Ling Yun asked.

"Well, my name is Xiao Jingteng! It is the first-level royal guard of the [Xuanmu Ya], who has been ordered by the imperial daughter to wait for you here, and rushed to the Black Fire Ridge with you to investigate the [Black Fire Peak Massacre]. Still have questions? The beard shook his beard a little funny, seeing that under his beard was a small mouth, the little fox grinned, and the bearded man was unhappy when he saw the little fox laughing: "What are you laughing at, little girl, my brothers used to say that I was a handsome guy!" ”

Just as a guard walked out of the [Xuanmu Ya], the bearded man asked casually, "Hey! The one who passed by, you said I was very handsome! As soon as the rough voice came out, the passing guard didn't even look at it, and immediately covered his mouth and laughed, and saw that the bearded man was about to get angry, so he hurriedly ran away.

"You said this man was." The beard crossed his waist and panted for breath.

"Uncle, don't be angry, the little fox didn't mean it, in fact, the uncle doesn't look bad." The little fox comforted.

Ling Yun didn't speak just now, and then he asked with a smile: "Brother Xiao, should we set off now?" ”

"Well, I've got everything ready, but I still have to be careful, this time I have to teleport to a small town near the Black Fire Ridge, and climb a few more mountains, it will take a lot of time, so I have to be well prepared, including things to survive in the wild." Xiao Jingteng said, taking out some food and tents from the ring and placing them on the ground for Ling Yun and the little fox.

Ling Yun was not an aboriginal and didn't need to eat, so he gave all the food to the little fox and took a tent by himself. But there's something missing.

"Brother Xiao, don't we prepare some lighting things?"

"Absolutely!" Xiao Jingteng took out some more things from the ring, including some stick-like things and some things that seemed to be beast traps.

"This is a lamp, it's a magic item, as long as you press its edge hard, it will set off the magic array inside, it will be a little strong at the beginning, pay attention, as for this is the beast trap, it is the only thing I can buy on the market that can deal with wolves." The bearded man introduced them one by one: "I heard from some people in the suburbs that wolves are afraid of fire, especially at night, but all the [Demon Court] can provide is a fixed magic array, so I just bought some torches, which are highly mobile." ”

Ling Yun took a dozen lighting sticks and torches on the ground, and as for the beast clip, he didn't take much, after all, these were not of much use to the wolves with wisdom in the [Heavenly Gods].

"Brother Shi, should I take it too?" The fox asked.

"Little fox, you just have to take the trap." Ling Yun said. The characteristic of the little fox is that it is fast, and if it sets a trap, it is faster and more accurate than him and Xiao Jingteng.

"Take it, we're going to be in danger this time." The bearded man frowned and said, "Let's go." ”

After speaking, Xiao Jingteng turned around and walked towards the teleportation point.

"Brother Shi, why does it seem that the uncle is a little weird?" The little fox touched the fox's ears and asked puzzled.

"Are you saying he wasn't shocked by your beauty?" Ling Yun said with a smile.

"I hate it, I just think it's weird that Uncle didn't tell us." The little fox blushed and lowered his head and touched his furry ears and said.

"Hmm." Ling Yun agreed and said, "Let's go, go to the Black Fire Ridge." ”

"Hmm" the raccoon followed.

The Black Fire Ridge was indeed far away from the town, and Ling Yun and the others had to trek through mountains and rivers for nearly three days before they reached the Black Fire Ridge.

On the way, Ling Yun asked the bearded man a lot of things. [Whistling Mountain Wolves] is a wolf pack with an average level of more than twenty levels, known for their super attacks and bloodthirsty instincts, their attacks absorb 100% damage, and are extremely strong, even the same level of [aborigines] may not be able to kill them, and these wolves are in packs, it is estimated that they will have to find a way to bypass them when the time comes. [Black Fire Ridge] was originally a forest composed entirely of black trees, there were many villages in the forest and the edge areas, and there was a small garrison of [Hundred Flowers] in the center of the forest, but just three years ago, the [Howling Wolf] group in the forest suddenly launched an organized attack on the human villages and garrisons near [Black Fire Ridge], slaughtering all the humans near Black Fire Ridge, even the station of [Black Fire Ridge]. It was precisely because of the loss of contact with the garrison that [Xuanmu Ya] sent someone to find out the reason, but after a short investigation, the case was suddenly sealed by the royal dust, and it was not re-investigated until today.

Entering the [Black Fire Ridge] area, you can see black trees one after another not far away, which are clearly distinguishable from other trees, and the black is extremely cold.

"Is this the Black Fire Ridge? Where do we go first? Ling Yun asked.

"Well, Blackfire........ Let's take a look at the nearby villages. The bearded man, who had been walking in front, suddenly stopped and said.

"Brother Xiao, lead the way." Ling Yun said.

So the bearded man continued to lead the way, and after a while, a small ruined village appeared in front of him. The village is full of weeds, most of the houses have collapsed, and a few of them are covered with cobwebs. The carnage of those years is gone, leaving only these indelible traces. After the bearded man entered the village, he began to walk around, and Ling Yun told the little fox not to walk around, so he began to investigate around.

In Ling Yun's mind, this task would never be as simple as exploring. The wolves that can kill so many villagers and garrisons may have left after that, but Xiao Guard has always emphasized that he should be careful of [Howling Mountain Wolf], which shows that in the information he got, [Howling Mountain Wolf] has not left, but has always been around here, and these wolves are by no means just the twenty or so levels he said before, otherwise he would not have concentrated on preparing so many things, which shows that even the forty-third level (mission prompt) Xiao Guard is afraid of these wolves. Judging from the little fox's opinion, Xiao Guard has always been a little weird, so maybe he has something to hide from Ling Yun. Three years ago, this case was suddenly sealed by the royal dust, but Xiao Guards did say that [Xuanmu Ya] had sent someone to investigate, so there should be something to gain or record, even if it was secretly collected by the royal family back then, and now it is the order of the princess, it will definitely be opened to Ling Yun or Xiao Guards will inform them, but Xiao Guards have never said or shown them any files, so there are only two possibilities: First, all the people who went back then died, and they didn't even have time to send back the information they got! So there is no "investigation results of the year" at all, and the truth of the second year is too amazing, and Xiao Guards are afraid that they will affect their actions after they know about it! Whatever the possibility, this task is almost impossible for them to accomplish right now or very difficult to accomplish, so it must not be taken lightly. So Ling Yun left the little fox outside, because only the speed of the little fox among them could call the police in time in case of danger.

Ling Yun searched several houses with only old bloodstains, weeds all over the floor, dilapidated furniture, collapsed walls, and dead bodies that had long since dried up. Guards Xiao didn't seem to find anything, and didn't call Ling Yun over.

What clues will there be? Ling Yun picked up the cup on the ground and shattered it with a slight pinch. Looking around, there doesn't seem to be anything special to pay attention to. In the adobe house, all traces have been erased by the years, it has been too long, Ling Yun found a pit in the wall, which was caused by the [Howling Mountain Wolf] biting off the heads of the villagers and throwing them on the wall, but no matter how many of these things are found, it is useless.

Just as he was about to walk out of this room, the corner of Ling Yun's eyes swept over the collapsed wall.

Bloodstain! Fresh bloodstains!

The bright red color came into view, Ling Yun's heart was shocked, and he quickly ran over to pick up the mud bricks with his hands, and as soon as he moved a small part, a foul smell came out from under the mud bricks, Ling Yun couldn't help but cover his nose with his hands, and continued to dig down.

Knowing that most of the mud bricks had been removed, Ling Yun was finally sure that it was a fresh corpse, and there was still a slight amount of temperature left on his body, as if it had just been killed. The corpse was full of signs of torn canine teeth, and the flesh had been almost eaten, only the wrist had not been eaten, and a few deep strangulation marks could be clearly seen on the wrist.

"Brother Xiao!" Ling Yun shouted. Now that he had discovered it, Ling Yun did not hesitate at all. Although he also had a stomach full of questions, such as why there were fresh corpses, could it be that someone had broken into here by mistake? But it was so far from the nearest human settlement, that even a hunter would not have gone that far unless he had come here with a purpose; Judging from the traces, the corpse was hastily torn down the wall and buried because the wolves had eaten it and found them coming, but why hide from them? And why is there such a deep strangulation mark on the wrist of the corpse? It's obviously impossible for the wolves to do such a thing, so who tied this man up? Could it be that someone is feeding the wolves?!

After a while, the little fox came in through the door, and when he saw the corpse, he immediately covered his nose and eyes.

"Ah, Brother Shi, it's disgusting!" The little fox turned around and exclaimed.

"Little fox, you go out and wait first." Ling Yun pulled the little fox outside the door, just in time to meet Xiao Dabeard, who came in a hurry.

"Little brother, did you find anything?!" Xiao Beard grabbed Ling Yun's shoulder and asked.

"Well, in the house, you can go in and have a look." Ling Yun said.

As soon as the bearded man heard Ling Yun's words, he immediately rushed into the house without even saying a word. Ling Yun glanced back, thinking about the afterlife.

"Brother Shi, what happened just now, it's so scary." The little fox said with a frown.

"It's okay, it's just a corpse." Ling Yun smiled and comforted.

"Little brother, look, here's a wolf's footprint!" There was a hint of excitement and impatience in the bearded's rugged voice.

For the wolves to tear down the mud wall, they have to force on the other side, so they will leave marks on the other side of the wall. On the other side of the wall is the black forest, from which the wolves have fled, carefully trying to hide their footprints as they leave.

"Hmm." Ling Yun replied lightly. He had already noticed this footprint, and he had even made plans for the next step.

"Let's catch up!" The bearded man's face suddenly became hideous.

The bearded man took out a snow-white steel knife and climbed the trees to the hillside behind the house.

"Follow me, little raccoon." Ling Yun touched the fox ear of the little fox and said.

The little fox's face turned red, but he still understood what Ling Yun meant, and in a flash, he turned into a little fox and followed Ling Yun to climb up the slope.

"Brother Xiao, where are we going to chase this?" Ling Yun shouted to the bearded man in front of him.

"According to the direction of this footprint, they must be going to the Black Fire Ridge garrison, let's go over there!" The bearded man did not look back, and ran forward desperately like a madman.

"Brother Shi, why did Uncle find the wolves? Shouldn't we avoid them? The raccoon asked.

"Well, there's something hidden in this, and we'll know when the time comes." Ling Yun replied.

"Then why should we follow, it's dangerous." The fox asked

"If it's not dangerous, you won't be able to complete this task, don't worry, little fox, there is me. If you really encounter an irresistible situation, you will run first and go back to Huachao to find me. Ling Yun smiled and said.

"But I'm ........ Well, I know my brother. The raccoon nodded.

"Little fox, you catch up first and take care of Brother Xiao, my speed is slow, be careful." Ling Yun said.

"Hmm." The raccoon replied, speeding up to keep up with the beard.

Just as the three of them were speeding up, the sky suddenly darkened.

Not good!!!

The transition between night and day in Tenjin is very short, because it is in the forest, and the light does not change much, but when it comes to night, the light will suddenly dim.

At night, it is the favorite hunting ground of wild wolves!!

"Little fox, tell Brother Xiao to stop!!" Ling Yun shouted. It's obviously not a wise choice to shout a beard now, but fortunately, Ling Yun has already arranged it, so it won't become very bad now.

But now it seems that it has been bad that it can't be bad!

The little fox also felt the change in light, and after hearing Ling Yun's shout, he hurriedly shouted at the beard to stop.

The beard's face was flushed, and it was clearly visible through the beard, and his mouth kept exhaling hot air, and the low roar made him like a beast at the moment, completely ignoring the cries of the little fox. What the hell is going on?

Seeing that he kept barking on his beard, the little fox suddenly bit on the bearded man's thigh.

The stinging pain finally made the bearded man a little conscious, he saw that it was the little fox who bit him, he immediately thought of the little fox, and quickly listened to it, but he asked the little fox with an angry face: "Little girl, what are you doing here!?" ”

"Uncle, it's my brother who called you!" The little fox turned back into human form and said.

At this time, Ling Yun finally caught up, and the bearded man asked, "Little brother, what are you looking for me?" It's only a short distance away! ”

Looking at the red face of the beard, Ling Yun said lightly: "There's no need, we can't get to the station." ”

"What do you mean?" The bearded man was obviously not fully awake yet, and after listening to Ling Yun's words, he asked.

"The station must be the answer." Ling Yun paused, as if listening to the movement around him, and then said, "But we may not be able to get to the station at all. ”

The bearded man looked at the darkened woods around him, and finally understood.

"If we don't focus." Ling Yun spun around in place, observed the surrounding environment, and said, "We may not be able to get out alive. ”

"Whew~~~~~~~~~~~"

A long wolf howl spread throughout the Black Fire Ridge under the thirteen rounds of bright moon.

[It's not very fast, please forgive me]