Chapter 1585: 532. Developnt Team’s Plan – Goat Man Instance Folder Created_3
Shadow Valley is hidden among several barren peaks with complex terrain nearby. While others were setting up camp, Brother ow’s Big Bird Team had already mounted their Wind Eagles and taken off under Lady Adel’s command to scout the area.
She had long forgotten the road leading into the mountains, and Mrs. Bernice had left this place more than thirty years ago. It was hard to say whether the shadow half-elves still adhered to their previous patrol routes.
Soon, good news ca from Brother ow’s side: they discovered a hidden passageway nestled between the rocks. At the end of it was a very secluded cave, which might serve as an access point to get closer to Dark Valley.
“Aunt Bernice, stay at the camp to assist everyone with fortifications and defense. I’ll head up the mountain first to scout the situation.”
Lady Adel had an extraordinary execution capacity; upon receiving the report, she began her actions imdiately.
Mrs. Bernice did not object to the command. She understood why Adel chose to leave her behind.
The Shadow Elves, though malevolent and indiscriminate in their diet, still considered desecrating the dead as a heinous cri within their traditions. The half-elves inherited part of those customs, and soone like Bernice was certainly not soone they would interact with smoothly.
Thus, no matter how eagerly Mrs. Bernice wished to reunite with her long-lost daughter, she had to wait here for news first.
Adel didn’t bring too many people with her; she only had Little Wei Ming, Sister Pogranate, and Lumina accompany her. They could fly, and Lumina’s half-elf identity might curry favor with the valley dwellers.
Guided by the flash grenades fired by Old Qu, the four won quickly approached the cave hidden halfway up the mountainside. Adel seed to recall being here from her distant mories. As she caressed the moist rocks at the entrance of the cavern, she turned to the three vigilant won behind her and said:
“This is a forward post… there ought to be guards here. Drop your weapons.”
“What if they attack us?”
Little Wei Ming, holding her massive gun, asked cautiously.
“Didn’t you say they aren’t friendly?”
“True, they are unfriendly to outsiders. But as far as I rember, my people are very united. So, if you’re ‘one of us,’ there’s no need to worry about being attacked here.”
Adel said softly.
Then, she pulled back her assassin’s hood to reveal her face, raised both hands, and stepped into the small cavern before them.
The three girls hesitated briefly but followed suit. Just before entering, Sister Pogranate waved at the sky and made a hand gesture, signaling Brother Qu, who hovered high above, to prepare for ergency evacuation support.
They walked through the dimly lit cave, but the darkness couldn’t obscure the vision of the four, especially not the vampires, whose innate dark-sense allowed Adel to quickly pinpoint the location of the sentries hiding ahead.
Stopping in her tracks, she took a deep breath and shouted in the language of the shadow elves:
“I am Adelle Bella Bernice, the only daughter of Mona of the ‘Hand of Freedom.’ I was forced to leave twenty-five years ago, but now I’ve returned! Who is the current leader of Shadow Valley? Can I speak with them?”
No response ca—bad news.
But no one attacked either—a small favor.
The four won patiently awaited an answer in the darkness. After several agonizing minutes, a thin figure leapt down from her hiding spot. With a nimble aerial maneuver and a steady landing, she wielded a serpentine-long bow and eyed them warily.
After a brief silence, she answered:
“Adel, I rember you! Mrs. Bernice and Mr. Bella escorted you away during the chaos many years ago. We all thought you were dead. It seems Avalon has sheltered you.
Wait here; word has been sent back to the valley, and the leader’s orders will arrive soon.
You should still rember her—it’s Lisa, your childhood tagalong. She’s now the young chief and our Priestess-in-training.”
“The High Priestess?”
Hearing the title, Adel staggered slightly before she sharply demanded:
“You’ve resud worshiping Lady Spider? Damned fools! You’ve all fallen! Are you planning to pledge allegiance to the jewa Clan in Eternal Abyss again? Traitors! You’ve dishonored this valley and betrayed your ancestors!
I should’ve crushed you along with my clan before your complete descent into corruption.”
Faced with Adel’s rebuke, the huntress in the shadows looked deeply ashad but soon sighed and responded:
“You’ve been away from us too long, Adel. Fate changed you, and it changed us. Here’s sothing you probably don’t know—the jewa Clan we all hated… they’re gone. And now, this valley is the last refuge for the shadow elves.
They, like us, are poor souls without a holand.”
“?”
—
“Poof.”
A sharp sword-staff pierced through thick, shaggy fur and flesh, sending a grotesque creature to collapse in a pool of blood. Under the desolate moonlight, Murphy withdrew his blade, sheathed it, and frowned at the slain goat-man before him.
High above, Reveno soared on wide wings, surveying the landscape of Baphot Canyon at a glance.
Murphy had not joined his players on this venture. He had delayed his departure from Crimson Castle by six days to settle affairs, yet he flew quickly enough to reach Wasteland Mountain almost alongside his Pioneering Group.
His purpose here was to hold discussions with the Second Lord of the Blood Covenant Clan and personally assess the situation on Wasteland Mountain. However, he had no intention of involving himself in Dark Valley’s matters—that was Adel’s task, and he trusted her to handle it diligently.
Murphy’s focus now lay in the burrow of the goat-man clan he had just slaughtered. Foolish players thought they’d been lucky not to be ambushed by the goat-n, unaware that these attackers’ raiding preparations had been thwarted by the “passing by” vampire governor cutting them down.
“These characters…”
Murphy crouched in the blood, examining the carvings etched into the deepest walls of the filthy burrow.
He had seen these markings before.
In the chaotic Eden-related visions and in the Swamp Forbidden Area museum’s curator’s office, similar symbols had appeared. He confird they were of the sa origin, though with odd variations accrued over ages.
Murphy speculated the goat-n might not understand these markings anymore. They likely utilized the symbols rely as part of their rituals.
Still, there was an undeniable resonance between the symbols and spiritual energy, granting them a peculiar, mystical quality.
“There’s no doubt these goat-n ca from Eden District. Their situation is even worse than the vampires—they’ve forgotten their own civilization.”
Murphy stroked the engravings painted in beast blood as he murmured:
“Legend has it that a sprawling underground palace of the goat-n lies beneath Baphot Canyon, hmm… No doubt, the developers and the Dog Planner will be busy again.”
User Comments
0 comments from readers