Wizard: I brought the wrong system.

Chapter 645 Undercurrent
A few wild beasts could not hinder Yaro's progress.

Before long, the two arrived at the stone courtyard at the foot of Wugong Mountain.

The courtyard, built of rough mountain stones, had its gate tightly shut. The walls were covered in gruesome claw marks, some reaching an inch deep. Dried blood and broken animal teeth lay piled in the corners, a few tufts of grayish-brown animal hair clinging to the cracks in the stones, rustling in the mountain wind. Even a layman could imagine the brutal carnage that had unfolded before them!

"Master..."

Bevin swallowed hard, looking at Yaro with some concern.

'Those girls...could they all be dead?'

Yaro listened intently, his hairs twitching slightly. His instinctive "cat-like running" instincts, long ingrained, were subconsciously activated, and he vaguely sketched out the scene in the courtyard in his mind.

"Bevin, go knock on the door."

"Okay, Master."

As Bevin approached, Yaro pressed his fingertips to the hidden clasp of the scabbard, becoming more alert and focusing intently on the situation inside the courtyard.

"Dorothea! Are you in the yard?"

Bevan's voice pierced through the heavy stone gate and echoed in the silent courtyard.

"Young Master Bevan?" a joyful exclamation came from behind the stone door. "Young Master Bevan has arrived?"

A commotion came from inside the stone gate, and the bolt was quickly removed.

squeak-

The heavy stone door was slowly opened.

Upon seeing Yarrow and noticing his strange yet not ugly clothes, Dorothea, the leader, was initially taken aback, then quickly bowed, her voice filled with reverence:

"Master Yaluo!"

Yaro nodded slightly and strode inside with a powerful stride.

His gaze swept across the courtyard, and his eyebrows involuntarily rose slightly—the scene inside the stone courtyard was completely different from what he had expected.

Apart from a row of neatly arranged, cleaned meat strips that were being air-dried hanging in a corner, the entire courtyard was as clean as ever.

In contrast, the biggest change was in the girls standing on both sides.

Their once disheveled hair was now neatly tied back, and their coarse cloth dresses had been replaced with short outfits that were easier to move in. They were still stained with some blood, but there were no tears in them.

"Master Yaro, Young Master Bevin!"

The girls bowed respectfully.

These girls still maintained the humility of maids, but their eyes held a newfound confidence.

Yaro nodded secretly—after this ordeal, these girls finally had some of the bearing of warriors.

He asked in a deep voice, "I saw many claw marks and bloodstains outside the yard. When were you attacked by wild animals?"

"Master, it started three months ago on a moonlit night."

Moonlit night?

This word reminded Yaro of an unpleasant encounter.

Bevan looked at the bloodstains on their clothes and asked worriedly, "Are you hurt?"

"We're all fine."

Dorothea said respectfully, "We have Lord Claire to thank for this. The stone courtyard he built is very sturdy and has a reasonable structure, making it very suitable for defense. However, there are too many wild beasts outside, so we can only risk going out to fetch drinking water during the day when the beasts are less active. There is really no extra water for cleaning."

Through his "cat-like" perception abilities, his knowledge of acupoints in multiple internal martial arts manuals, and the description of "momentum" in the "Huangji Jingshi Jue" he had mentioned last night, Ya Luo had already realized that they were in good health.

Of course, Yaro didn't notice anything unusual about them.

“Perhaps I’ve misunderstood them. The Viscountess isn’t hiding among them… or perhaps she’s secretly left these past few days?” Yarrow wasn’t sure if his guess was correct.

Because his "seeing" is similar to the "observation" in the traditional Chinese medicine diagnostic methods of "observation, auscultation, inquiry, and palpation," and his "observation of the situation" is merely interpreting subtle body language, or in other words, "interpreting the atmosphere."

Such methods are only effective when others do not hide or conceal anything; they cannot determine loyalty or treachery at a glance, especially in matters of extraordinary importance.

However, for now, Yaro does have more trust in them.

His gaze swept steadily across the crowd, his tone calm yet sharp:

"Have you noticed anything unusual during these past few days of wild animal attacks?"

Dorothea shook her head: "I didn't find any signs of human intervention. It just seems like a normal herd migration. It's probably because food is scarce in this area, and the starving beasts became extremely ferocious, which is why they attacked our stone courtyard."

Have the animal herds migrated here?
Yaro narrowed his eyes slightly, then suddenly changed the subject, asking, "Have you seen large numbers of bats flying in the sky these past few nights?"

Dorothea was taken aback at first, her brows furrowed slightly, and after a moment's thought, she shook her head and said:

“Master Yaro, I’ve been busy guarding against wild beasts on the ground these past few days and haven’t really paid attention to what’s happening in the sky.”

As she spoke, she turned to the other girls and asked, "Have you noticed?"

The girls looked at each other.

“Speaking of which…” the short-haired girl, Martha, scratched her cheek, “When I got up to keep watch in the middle of the night a couple of days ago, it did seem quieter than usual…”

“Yes, yes,” another girl with braided pigtails suddenly interjected, “I used to always hear bats flapping their wings, but these past few days it seems…”

She hesitated halfway through her sentence, "Maybe I was too nervous and didn't notice..."

If there were wild animals attacking, they would definitely be on high alert. In this situation, if there were a large swarm of bats active overhead, they would not be able to ignore it!
Therefore, the only answer is no!
Yaro frowned in thought.

The dense forest on the shady side of Wugong Mountain used to be teeming with bats.

After clearing out the underground castle, Yaro didn't bother to deal with the swarm of bats.

The main problem is that there are no skill points available for killing ordinary bloodthirsty bats, and since bats can fly, they can't be burned clean like necromancers, making the cost of eradication too high.

In addition, Yaro also discovered during the few days he stayed near the Stone Courtyard that after the underground castle was cleared, the bat swarm was gradually dispersing and returning to its original habitat according to its biological habits, so he didn't do anything more to it.

"But if the bat swarms simply dispersed during their natural migration, why did the surrounding natural environment deteriorate so drastically?"

Yaro's fingers gently rubbed the scabbard, producing a faint metallic scraping sound.

"Furthermore, why would starving beasts attack a stone courtyard where no 'meat' is visible, instead of killing each other?"

There are many contradictions here.

As Yaro frowned in thought, the girls couldn't help but tense up, and even their breathing became noticeably lighter.

The atmosphere was unusually heavy.

After a moment, Bevan hesitated before speaking, "Master..."

"Ok?"

Yaro looked up in confusion.

Bevan asked, "Did you... discover something?"

"It's just a guess."

Yaro didn't explain further, and turned back to instruct:
"You go back to the Stone Courtyard with them first, close the gate, and I'll go check the surrounding area."

"Okay, Master."

Seeing that Bevin agreed, Yaro nodded slightly and turned to walk out.

Dorothea and the other girls rushed forward and pushed the stone door shut again.