Chapter 210: The Eerie Valley

In the dense forest, a sweep squad composed of five Professional Knights was resting.

This squad was led by the Wubei Territory commander Ruidar, and the members were the four Primary Knights: Tangmu, Qiaozhi, Wodun, and Dandi.

They had traveled north all the way from Heitu Town and had been living in this woodland for nearly a month; the food they carried had long since been eaten.

However, this was not a concern; there was no shortage of wild beasts, wild vegetables, wild fruits, and Magic Beasts in the woodland, so they did not lack food.

During this sweep, Ruidar basically acted as a reserve force, leaving the wild beasts and low-level Magic Beasts they encountered for the four Primary Knights to resolve.

This not only cleared threats to the territory but also tempered the courage of his subordinate knights and improved their practical combat abilities.

Rather than calling it a sweep, it could actually be called training troops.

This was the case for Ruidar's squad, and the same was true for the sweep squads led by Maiken and Qiaofei.

Currently, the Professional Knights under Luoning, except for Luogena, Kelami, and Huoen, were basically all honing themselves in the Shanlin.

Swoosh—

Ruidar jumped down from a towering tree; he had just roughly inspected the surrounding environment.

"I vaguely heard the sound of waves from above; I estimate that if we keep heading north a little further, we will soon reach the edge of the Wubei Territory."

The west side of the Wubei Territory was blocked by the Wushan Magical Beast Mountain Range, while the east and north sides connected to the sea. Now that Ruidar had heard the sound of waves, it meant they were about to reach the northernmost point.

"The sea, I have never seen it before!" Tangmu said with some yearning.

The other three also nodded along; they had lived here since they were children and had heard of the sea, but none of them had seen it with their own eyes.

However, this did not stop them from each sharing rumors about the sea.

Things like how magnificent it was, or strange and curious anecdotes about how a single wave could flip over a cow.

Listening to the few of them chattering away while being dead serious, the corners of Ruidar's mouth could not help but curl up.

Come to think of it, his mind seemed to have quite a few memory fragments about the sea, though many involved sailing on the sea with troops, not knowing where the destination was.

"Alright, fellows, stop with those lame anecdotes of yours."

The commander interrupted their conversation, "Want to know what the sea looks like? Just walk over and take a look."

The group gave a sheepish laugh and immediately picked up their weapons, continuing their departure toward the north.

There is a saying that goes: "The mountain looks close, but the horse runs to death."

Even though Ruidar had heard the sound of the waves, it still took quite a bit of time to actually walk out of this woodland.

By the time night fell and they climbed the final mountain peak by the light of the moon, their field of vision suddenly opened up, and they immediately felt as if they had reached "a place where the mountains and rivers seemed to end, only to find another village hidden behind the willows and flowers."

Walking down from this small mountain was a concave valley, and the opening of the valley faced the vast sea.

"That silvery-white thing, is that a wave?"

"Wow, so wide!"

Under the night sky, although illuminated by moonlight, the sea was pitch black; only the churning waves reflected the moonlight, presenting a silver ribbon.

It was just a pity they arrived a bit late; if they had arrived at the seaside during the day, the experience would surely have been even more magnificent than it was now.

Among the five people present, only Ruidar slowly frowned.

He could feel a chaotic elemental energy in the valley below, which gave him a faint sense of unease.

Moreover, the color of this valley was very strange.

Although the light in the valley was poor due to the shadows cast by the mountain peaks under the moonlight, Ruidar felt that this valley was abnormally gloomy, and there seemed to be a faint purple light surging within it.

"This valley is not quite right."

Ruidar's grave expression was finally noticed by the people beside him; they hurriedly put away their expressions of amazement and joy at seeing the sea and began to observe their surroundings.

It was just that their senses were not as keen as Ruidar's, and they could not make anything out.

"My Lord, what is wrong?" Wodun asked cautiously; he had never seen the commander show such a grave expression.

Ruidar slowly shook his head; this was just his feeling, and it did not necessarily mean anything.

"Let's go, we will go down and take a look."

He took the lead and walked in front, while whispering a warning, "Keep an eye on your surroundings and stay vigilant."

Tangmu had already been on high alert; they quietly gripped their knight swords and followed behind Ruidar.

From the mountaintop to the foot of the mountain, although the group was cautious, they did not encounter any danger.

But when they approached the foot of the mountain, they saw a scene that made their scalps tingle.

At the bottom of the valley, human skeletons that had decayed until only gray-black bones remained could be seen everywhere!

The cold moonlight, the salty sea breeze, the dense mass of human skeletons...

Tangmu and the others had experienced quite a few battles these past few days, and ordinary sights would not scare them, but the scene before them made their scalps tingle.

"M-My Lord, what... what is going on here?"

Qiaozhi was even stuttering.

Ruidar's expression was also tense; it was hard to imagine that such a scene could exist in the uninhabited northern border of the Wubei Territory.

"Do not panic, stay vigilant!"

He whispered, "This place might just be a battlefield from Along time ago."

Ruidar came to a skeleton and picked up Along sword from the ground; it was already covered in rust, and with just a slight shake, it snapped into two pieces.

It was clear that these people had been dead for a very long time.

"If they were a tribe of savages who fled here, then it must have been ten or twenty years ago, right?"

Two savage tribes fighting each other to cause such a tragic scene?

This seemed unlikely; after all, they were all refugees, so who would fight to the death?

"My Lord, there seems to be a cave over there."

Tangmu pointed toward the bottom of the opposite slope, where there indeed seemed to be a huge cave.

Ruidar frowned, and after only a moment of hesitation, he walked slowly toward that side.

He is now a Silver Knight, capable of dealing with ordinary dangerous situations.

Furthermore, they came out this time specifically to eliminate the hidden dangers in Wubei Territory; it is impossible for them to be afraid to investigate because of such matters.

Tangmu and the other three also followed; following behind the commander is safer than staying where they were.

"This cave is strange."

The more tense Ruidar's expression became, the more he could feel that the closer they got to the cave, the more chaotic the surrounding heaven and earth elements became, and the air grew increasingly cold and chilly, as if ten-thousand-year-old ice were hidden inside the cave.

Finally, they arrived before the cave.

"There are footprints here!" Qiaozhi exclaimed in a low voice.

A pale purple light shone within the cave, causing the ground at the cave entrance to flicker between light and dark.

Amidst the alternating light and shadow, the group clearly saw the footprints left in the mud.

Is there someone inside this cave?

Ruidar raised his gaze to look inside; there was certainly danger, but the desire to explore in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

Should they go in and take a look?

Or should they observe from the outside for a while first?

Just as he hesitated, a burst of footsteps came from inside the cave.

"Damn it, it's time to patrol again."

"I don't understand Naibulier; no one ever comes to this godforsaken place, so why do we have to patrol?"

"Shh! You actually dare to talk about the Guard Officer like that, are you not afraid of death?"

"Heh heh heh, if he wants to kill us, he has to see if the captain allows it; it's not like he's the only one with good skills in bed."

These ordinary conversations caused the hearts of the few people outside to jump into their throats.

"Retreat, hide!" Ruidar hurriedly ordered.

The five of them hurriedly dodged to one side, using the Jushi nearby to conceal their figures. (End of chapter)