CHAPTER 69: CHAPTER 67: BOUNTY MISSION: THE BUTCHER OF THE CITY

Han Xing observed the corpse on the ground and came to a conclusion.

This is likely not a child’s corpse, but rather another race of this world, the Dwarf Race.

"Dwarves?"

Han Xing’s tone was somewhat puzzled.

Beside him, Zhang Lianmeng looked at him with curious eyes.

Han Xing did not explain, but continued to inspect the surrounding ground.

Upon looking, he gasped in shock.

The cave floor was littered with bones of various beasts and humanoid creatures, each with distinct features: some had horns on their foreheads, others had wings on their backs, with skeletons ranging in height from two to three meters to one to two meters.

There was no doubt, these corpses were special beings of this world.

Among them, Han Xing also saw a few corpses that hadn’t been dead for long; their death looked eerie, the surface skin intact, without a trace of blood.

However, their flesh seemed drained, leaving only a thin human skin covering the skeleton.

Han Xing turned around and asked, "Is the person you found last time at the goblin camp in this state?"

Zhang Lianmeng nodded like a pecking chick; though she was still very scared, for some reason, Han Xing’s presence gave her a faint sense of security.

Han Xing clearly felt something eerie about this cave.

Moreover, up to this point, there was neither the next clue for the hidden quest nor any trace of ancient weapons.

Han Xing continued searching the cave.

Half an hour later, they had wandered almost a full circle inside, finding nothing except the skeletons of hundreds of corpses.

However, he did gather some information about the cave’s large area size.

Conservatively estimated, the diameter was over two kilometers.

Just then, Zhang Lianmeng suddenly pointed ahead, saying, "There seems to be something drawn on the wall."

"Hmm?"

Han Xing immediately looked in the direction she pointed, indeed seeing patterns resembling graffiti.

Upon closer inspection, Han Xing found the style of these patterns inclined towards realism, resembling frescoes.

Han Xing approached the beginning of the frescoes, where an Elf Man was depicted, with pointed ears and slender limbs.

He sat on high branches, smiling as he gazed down at a village below.

In the second fresco, the style abruptly changed, as if this Elf Man was being bullied by several other Elf Race people, depicted being stomped on and beaten.

In the third fresco, the Elf Man retreated to his small room, silently shedding tears, with a terrifying middle-aged elf standing by the bed, gazing at him with a sinister smile.

Especially the piercing eyes of that middle-aged elf, drawn extremely vividly, making Han Xing feel a chilling sense of eeriness from the fresco.

The fifth, sixth, and even dozens of subsequent frescoes depicted the bullying of the young Elf.

From youth to young adulthood, the Elf Man persistently suffered from other elves’ harassment, his demeanor becoming increasingly gloomy.

Strangely, each image included a terrifying middle-aged man lurking in the shadows, watching silently.

Until the thirtieth fresco, the Elf Man knelt by his bed, where lay the middle-aged elf often seen in the images.

Observing the dying middle-aged elf, the Elf Man felt no sadness, but rather a sense of relief.

Yet even after this elf’s death, his situation did not improve.

He continued to endure insults and beatings from other elves.

What was more terrifying was that the Elf still felt those dreadful eyes watching him.

Wasn’t that guy already dead?

He wondered.

Until the fifty-third fresco, a gentle-smiling elf maiden appeared, like a ray of light piercing the darkness, illuminating the Elf Man’s life.

She became his friend briefly for two days, then swiftly departed.

Whenever the Elf Man felt he couldn’t hold on, he would recall the maiden’s smile, unconsciously producing a similar smile.

However, seeing the elf maiden again, she was walking next to an elf who frequently bullied him, breaking the Elf Man’s hard-built psychological defense.

He ran to confront the elf maiden, but was met with mockery and assault.

Covered in blood, the Elf Man lay on the ground, vaguely seeing the middle-aged man’s Black Shadow appear again, whispering in his ear.

Driven mad, the Elf Man returned to his room, drawing a mysterious array before slicing his wrist, letting the blood flow freely.

In the array appeared a terrifying figure’s phantom, to which the Elf Man in his dying moments bowed respectfully, gaining immense power.

The Elf Man, grinning from ear to ear, went to find the maiden, thinking his newfound power would earn her recognition.

However, upon seeing him, the maiden backed away in fright, her gaze akin to seeing a monster.

Only then did the Elf Man see his current appearance.

His deep brown hair started shedding in clumps, followed by his eyebrows, falling off at a mere touch, until even his body hair was gone, leaving none.

He stood bare, receiving strange glances from those around him.

Yet, the transformation was far from over.

With his hair gone, his nails also fell off, replaced by sharp claws, while his nose swelled like a Gululu Beast’s.

Moreover, his arms melded with his body, sprouting large flesh wings.

At this moment, he transformed from a noble elf into a grotesque monstrous bird.

The Elf Race quickly summoned guards to hunt down this monster.

When a sharp spear pierced his chest, the elite elf man widened his eyes, and the fear of death instinctively made him flap his flesh wings.

It was then that he discovered, unbelievably, that he had taken flight.

The elf man began to fly wildly, his eyes filled with hatred and fury.

He rushed to a secret place in the center of the town and carried out a giant golden cannon, starting a frenzied bombardment on the town.

Countless elves perished under his cannon fire, and the town turned into a sea of flames.

After doing all this, the elf man turned and fled.

And he was naturally wanted by the Elf Race.

In the desperate escape, at a loss, the elf man found an ancient array.

And the place the array led to was called the Land of the Abandoned Gods.

That place seemed to instill fear in the monstrous bird.

However, to survive, he eventually activated the teleportation array.

The final scene shows the elf man finding a floating Sky Island and vanishing into the woodland.

But he didn’t notice that another black shadow seemed to have followed him to this island.

...

After reading this, Han Xing seemed to understand something, a sense of unease rising in his heart.

He said in a serious tone, "It looks like... there’s a problem."

Zhang Lianmeng’s expression was tense, her body trembling slightly, "What’s the problem?"

Han Xing furrowed his brows, "Until now, we haven’t found any clues about the hidden task."

"Speaking of which, when I touched that metal fragment, the system also didn’t mention anything about a hidden task, it just said that the metal fragment can be used to open the Giant Stone Gate."

"In other words, what the NPC told you might be false, we’ve been deceived!"

"What?" Zhang Lianmeng shuddered, her face full of disbelief.

Just then, a pair of blood-red eyes suddenly appeared deep in the dark cave.

From behind, occasionally came the terrifying sound of wind.

Han Xing immediately sensed something was wrong and hurriedly said, "There’s a monster, run!"

But by now, it was too late.

A terrifying monster, accompanied by the howling wind, rapidly attacked from behind.

Han Xing quickly drew his Legendary Quality Moon Crown Longbow, instantly entering combat state.

However, at that moment, a fierce hurricane came head-on.

Whoosh—

Han Xing and Zhang Lianmeng were swept backward by this gust of wind, flying over ten meters away.

The Dark Fire Stone Torch slipped from his hand.

By the fiery glow, Han Xing finally saw the creature that attacked them.

It was a terrifying monstrous bird with a body over two meters tall, boasting a pair of massive flesh wings, entirely hairless.

It looked exactly like the creature depicted on the mural.

Just then, a system notification appeared.

[You have found the hideout of the Elf Race traitor Jiale. The bounty mission "City Annihilator" is automatically triggered, and you can choose how to complete the task.]

[Option 1: Kill the monstrous bird Jiale, bring its head to the Elf Royal Capital to claim the bounty.]

[Option 2: Go to the Elf Royal Capital, inform the Elf Race Guard of Jiale’s hideout, and assist them in capturing Jiale.]

Please note: Since you are in the "Land of the Abandoned Gods," the "Elf Royal Capital" map is not yet open, and the task cannot be completed at this time.

"Damn, so this is the real hidden task!"

Han Xing swiftly turned, meeting the bloodthirsty eyes of the monster.

Without thinking, he immediately shot out a Wind Chasing Arrow.

Ding!

Seeing the arrow coming, the monstrous bird flapped its flesh wings, a hurricane rose, blowing the arrow aside.

This arrow had no effect, and Han Xing’s heart sank.

Just then, he finally saw the monster’s attributes.

[Monstrous Bird Jiale (One-Star Leader-level Creature)]

[Level: lv10]

[Attributes]: Power 94, Agility 132, Spirit 105 (-30), Constitution 76 (-30).

[Skills]: Wind of Wailing, Flesh Wings Protection, Giant Claw Bite, Shadow Assault, Furious Wind Dance.

"It’s actually a level 10 Leader-level creature!"

Han Xing’s face changed dramatically!

...