The Burning Mountain Range was spread over hundreds of miles, and there were creatures strong enough to turn Yorel upside down. Maybe only the principal of the academy would be able to control the situation if the beasts inside the Range decided to invade the kingdom.
However, today no beast could be found, as if they have vanished out of thin air. The creepy silence was enough to terrify anyone. Not even the lowest level snake and scorpion could be seen, the most common creatures in the desert.
A group slowly moved—through the burning desert, under the scorching sun—on the backs of their steeds, looking around cautiously. Qin Meng was also mixed among them, riding the horse along with Yueyan and his companions. Other than Yan Yunjie, Wu Hui, and Zeng Hong, who voluntarily decided to stay behind, everyone else was there.
They weren't strong enough to take care of even the lowest-ranked devils, if it wasn't for their companions, they would have died under the claws of devils, hundreds of times. As for the dungeon, no one knew what kind of perils were awaiting them inside. They didn't want to hold others back due to their lack of skills.
Yao Ying swallowed the water from the skin and wiped her mouth before turning towards Yuayan. "Where did all the beasts go?"
Yueyan frowned. She looked in the distance, towards the mountain range, the burning volcano in particular, that was not too far away from them. "Maybe it has something to do with the dungeon."
"Maybe," said Liqui from beside her.
No one spoke after that, and the journey continued. Qin Meng could feel the changes as compared to the last time he had come here. If it was like before they would have already encountered a number of monsters already, but they haven't met a single creature until now. 'What is going on here?' he thought, deep in thought.
Soon they entered the mountain range, but still found no beast. When they were just a hundred meters away from the foot of the volcano, everyone couldn't help but scrunch their noses in disgust. "What a terrible stench!" said Liqui, covering her nose with a handkerchief.
"It smells like a rotten animal," said Qian Jie.
Qin Meng remained silent and soon their horses arrived at a place, under the foot of a volcano, and found rotten bodies lying around, maggots wriggling inside the flesh, and indeed there were bodies of animals, but there were many belonged to humans as well. Some of them had submerged into the puddles of lava, only parts of their bodies could be seen, but some of them were lying on the boulders, torn in many pieces, pus and maggots covering them from head to toe, hand to leg, back to front. Such a grotesque scene. Unbearable.
As soon as Qin Meng saw the tattered clothes on the rotten bodies, he froze. He recognized these men. They were the same people who were searching for treasure in the Burning Mountain Range, at that time all the monsters were travelling towards the Burning Mountain Range. Qin Meng was also tempted to follow them, but somehow controlled the urge to go after them.
He shivered in terror when he saw their fates and then threw up everything that he had taken before setting on the journey. Others in the group weren't doing any better either.
The Vice Principal was at the very front of the group, travelling with other teachers, and turned towards students. "The door to enter the dungeon is in this volcano." She pointed towards the volcano. "You see that cave—"
Qin Meng narrowed his eyes and indeed there was a cave, around twenty meters away from them, inside the volcano.
"—that is the gate to the dungeon. Many devils have gone inside, so be careful when you are inside. Those devils might be only GoldenRune Devils and below, but most of them have a very pure bloodline, so do not underestimate them, if you want to come back alive."
"Do you know what happened at this place, madam?" one of the students asked.
Meng Xiurong eyed the student and then shook her head. "We don't. Maybe they tried to enter, but the devils killed them."
Qin Meng felt his mentor wasn't telling the entire truth. There was concern written all over her face. 'Were they really killed by the devils?' Qin Meng wondered. He had seen the people killed by devils and it was quite a disturbing sight, but the people at the scene were slayed quite some time ago, so he could not tell if they were slaughtered by monsters instead.
"Alright," said Vice Principal. "Be ready to enter, all of you. Remember to work together in the face of adversity. Don't give your enemies any chance to take you down, and to take you down would mean—death. If you have any grudges, leave them behind, if you have any wish to live. Alright, Go!"
Qin Meng exchanged glances with his companions and took a deep breath before turning towards the cave; he unclimbed the horse as everyone did as well, and walked towards his destination. There were around two hundred students on the scene and all of them moved towards the cave.
When Qin Meng passed his mentor, she grasped his shoulder. He turned towards her and blinked. "Be careful," she said. "Always remain with your companions." Then she eyed Yueyan and others and nodded towards them.
Qin Meng took a deep breath, his heart beating faster and faster as he sauntered towards the cave, eager to know what was awaiting him inside. However, there was fear and terror as well inside his heart, his back was covered in fluid, his feet and palm were wet, and his temple shining with a thin sheen of sudor.
Yueyan seemed to realize his nervousness, so she held his hand tightly. Qin Meng glanced at her and she smiled. He gripped her hand and moved towards the cave hand in hand with his fiancée, other members of his party following behind him.