"Why would this bastard come to such a desolate place…"
"I don't know but this place gives me chills…"
"And you say it… Just look around us. There is no sign of life in this damn place. Not to mention the fog of this damn place"
"You can't even see five meters in front of you" At this time a group of disciples were walking around the steep paths of the famous "Desolate Mountain Range". The group seemed quite uncomfortable with their surroundings but this did not prevent them from going deeper and deeper into the misty valleys.
"Hey Edmar! I think it would be best to return"
"Chris! Is the trail still clear?"
"Yes Boss! Just as it has been since we left the Sect" Answered a young man who was carefully checking the ground. It was evident that this disciple had a certain degree of experience in following trails.
"Isn't he doing it on purpose? I mean, maybe he always knew that someone was following him" suggested the girl named Rossly.
"Mmmm it's a possibility," Edmar admitted as he put his hand to his chin. Two days had passed since they had entered the Desolate Mountain Range in search of Ruvan. Until now the trail was still quite clear so there was no fear of having taken a wrong route. However, the feeling that something was not right began to increase within the group, including Edmar himself.
'Could what Rossly said be true? Maybe that bastard always knew we were following him?... 'If so, then Brayna betrayed me...'
'Naa forget it... I tamed that bitch myself... She may be interested but she is not a traitor...'
"Boss… It looks like we are going to enter a forest… Or at least what's left of it" Chirs said as he pointed to what seemed to be a valley covered in dead trees. None of these trees seemed to have a shred of life in them.
"This place is terrifying…Now I understand why no one comes to the Desolate Mountain Range"
"Hey you guys! Don't be cowards!! Remember that you are cultivators" Edmar shouted with fury when he saw the cowardly attitude of many of the members of his gang.
"It's true guys... Also remember that this place has a very low density of spiritual energy... It would be practically impossible for us to encounter high-level spiritual beasts" Said another of the henchmen in an attempt to raise spirits within the group. Since Gino's death, the vacancy for Edmar's second in command was open. It was not unusual to see everyone trying to gain Edmar's favor with flowery actions and words.
"From now, let's look for a place to camp…The beasts are tired and we also need to take a rest" Edmar said as he ordered to make camp. They had not stopped at any time to rest in the Happy Rock Village, so it was natural that the group was tired, including Edmar himself.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Are you sure he had a grade three spiritual beast?"
"That's right Boss! Besides, there were only two people walking along the path"
"Mmm… Generally when there are few people it means that they are cultivators who are quite confident in their ability"
"You don't have to worry Boss! They were in the mortal realms! We checked it ourselves" Said the bandit with a smile.
"Well… If that's the case, I don't see why we shouldn't try" Said at that moment a mysterious man who was wearing a strange bird-shaped mask.
"It's time to prepare the men"
"We leave immediately" Said the mysterious masked bandit as he ordered all his henchmen to get going. At this moment, a group of approximately twenty cultivators were heading towards Ruvan. It didn't take a genius to realize that no one in that group had good intentions.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"So are you sure there is a Sand Hyena den around here…?"
"I'm sure… We met them once on one of my trading trips," Mr. Greames said with a worried look. He was sure that Ruvan would not hesitate to kill him if he thought he was lying to him.
"MMM"
"Well it makes some sense… Sand Hyenas are scavenger beasts. They are the only beasts I can think of capable of living in a place as pitiful as this," Ruvan murmured as he continued his march.
"You found them?" Ruvan murmured as he felt Viridis looking in a direction.
"Excellent…"
"I think it's about time we took out our voyeur, don't you think?" Ruvan said with a smile as he got off Viridis' head.
"What's going on?" Mr. Greames asked curiously. He was also traveling on a sturdy camel after the entire trip was too heavy to do on foot. Ruvan just smiled as he nonchalantly sat on a small log lying on the ground.
"Arrrgh." After a few minutes, a piercing scream was heard.
"What was that?"
"Just wait and you'll find out…" Ruvan said with a half smile. Mr. Greames had question marks in his head, after all he had only seen Ruvan's snake hide and disappear into the earth.
"Please!! Don't kill me" After a few minutes a body fell from the sky.
"What the hell!?" Mr. Greames muttered. When he raised his head he could see that on one of the branches of the tree lay the imposing snake which had returned to a much smaller size than usual.
"Until our dear voyeur finally appeared" Said Ruvan with a mocking smile.
"I'm sorry... I'm just a merchant passing through... My caravan was attacked two weeks ago..." The bandit made up all kinds of excuses but unfortunately none of them were convincing enough to change Ruvan's mind...
"You don't have to bother lying…As long as you tell me about your boss and his group I will let you go" Ruvan said calmly.
"Hmmph! Forget it…" The bandit said decisively when he saw that Ruvan had not fallen for his tricks.
"Oh I'm sure you will…" Ruvan said with a smile as beautiful golden rays began to circulate through his fingers.
"AARRRRRGHHHH" "ARRGHHHHHHHH" "AARRGHHHHH" A series of heartbroken screams began to echo in the middle of the valley.
'In my fucking life I'm going to dare to provoke this boy' Mr. Greames said to himself as he saw how the bandit's skin began to become completely deformed. A layer of painful blisters and bruised flesh began to appear on the bandit's skin as Ruvan's lightning penetrated his body.
"I'M GOING TO TALK!!! I PROMISE I'M GOING TO TALK!!!!"
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Advanced Chapters on my patreon: patreon.com/DarkPrinceLibrary351