Imperial Crown.

Chapter 79: Tumor-skinned leeches
When Raven and Nancy arrived at the scene, the packhorse team had been pacified, but the scene still made Raven's eyebrows twitch.

A packhorse was lying on the snow, its eyes wide open but gradually becoming dilated. Dark red blood was flowing from its mouth and nose, and had frozen into ice. It was obvious that it was no longer alive.

The goods were scattered on the ground.

A large pool of blood oozed out from the belly of the pack horse, and its internal organs were spread out in a ball with steam rising from them, still beating continuously.

Its wounds did not look like scratches from a sharp blade, nor did they look like bites or scratches from wild beasts. Instead, it was as if an invisible giant hand had grabbed its abdomen and torn it open violently.

Just as Raven was about to go up to check, Mary leapt to the ground and turned back to whisper, "Don't come over!"

At the same time, he raised his index finger to his lips and made a "hush" gesture.

Raven stopped Nancy who wanted to go forward and watched Mary's performance quietly.

It has to be said that this "Black Pearl" has been able to grow up to this day in the bloody heights full of dangers and has not yet become the exclusive lover of any big shot. She is really capable.

She tiptoed towards the fallen packhorse, stopped at the edge of the bloodstain, then tiptoed around behind it, suddenly drew the long sword from her waist and stabbed it fiercely.

The packhorse had already bled a lot, but with this strike of the sword, even more blood gushed out like a fountain. It didn't seem like it was stabbed in the back, but rather in the throat.

At this moment, Mary loosened the hilt of the sword, drew the scimitar from her waist, and jumped up.

At the same time, the packhorse's internal organs spread on the ground twitched violently, and a scarlet ribbon-like creature broke through the intestinal wall and bounced out, about to fall into the snow.

Once it jumps in, with its small size, it would probably never be found again in the vast snow.

Swah——

The scimitar wrapped in black light passed through the air, and the ribbon-like creature split into two pieces and fell to the ground, still twitching, like two long tongues.

"It's safe!" Mary wiped the sweat from her forehead, sheathed her knife, and exhaled a breath of white air.

"Lift the alert! Volaf, take your men to disperse the goods!" Raven gave the order loudly, then dismounted and walked forward. Nancy also dismounted and followed Raven.

As Raven poked the strange creature with his rapier, a hint of surprise gradually appeared in his eyes.

The skin of this creature is not actually red, but transparent, even its body is transparent, and the red color actually comes from the flesh and blood of the pack horses it devoured.

Although transparent, its skin is extremely tough, which reminds Raven of Donald.

Shaking his head to dispel the image of Donald from his mind, Raven continued to observe.

Originally, its total length was only about one foot, but as its vitality gradually faded, the creature became limp and stretched out. The two parts together were actually more than two meters long. If it weren't for the flesh and blood in the middle, it would be almost invisible.

Its mouthparts are oval, like a suction cup, but are covered with sharp and densely packed teeth, quite similar to those of a lamprey.

"These are the larvae of the first-level magical beast 'Tumor-skinned Earthworm'." Mary explained: "But in the Bloody Highlands, we often call them 'White Death'."

"White Death?" Nancy was attracted by the name and didn't care about being angry with Mary. "Why?"

Mary smiled. "Because the warty-skinned leeches lay eggs in the rainy season and begin to hatch in the dry season of the following year. The larvae will feed on their own kind. After eating a whole nest of brothers and sisters, they will grow to this size in the winter."

"Eh, how disgusting..." Nancy frowned in disgust.

"This is the law of the Blood Plateau. Only the strong can survive here." Mary sighed. "It moves quickly, moving in the snow as if it were swimming. It is also very sensitive to vibrations. Once a large creature passes by, it will follow the sound, quietly climb onto its prey, bite it, and release toxins."

"This toxin will paralyze the host's senses, making it unable to detect abnormalities, but it will also make the host's body extremely fragile, until a certain limit is reached, at which point it will strangle the host's body, then drill into the host's internal organs and begin to devour them."

Nancy felt extremely uncomfortable when she heard these descriptions, as if there was a larva of a warty-skinned leech in her body.

Mary's voice remained calm. "Once it has eaten the host's internal organs, it will temporarily go dormant. Once a creature approaches, it will become its new host, and the cycle will continue until it reaches adulthood and grows a magic core."

"Why is it called Tumor Skin?" Raven suddenly asked.

"Baron, look at this." Mary pointed at a bump on its skin with her scimitar. "This kind of hard knot will grow into a tumor-like hard scale when it reaches adulthood. It is very hard and difficult to pierce with ordinary enchanted weapons. So even though it is a first-level magical beast, the tumor-skinned leech is more difficult to deal with than many second-level magical beasts."

"It's so dangerous, why didn't you remind us earlier?" Nancy asked with a complaining tone.

It was Raven who answered her: "That's not necessary. There's no way to warn you of this kind of thing in advance. We can't prevent it. Besides, we're all riding war horses, so we won't be in direct danger. If we really spread the word, it would cause panic."

Straightening up, seeing that Volaf had already packed up the goods, Raven Gaosheng ordered: "Everyone get on the horses and set off again!"

The group set out on their journey again.

After this incident, Mary showed her usefulness and her status in the team was significantly improved. The guards looked at her with less vigilance. Nancy no longer rejected her.
Mary also became more active, often introducing some creatures unique to the Bloody Highlands.

For example, there is a very short plant that is usually buried under the snow. At first glance, it looks like a piece of flattened hay, but if you pull it out, you can get a crystal clear fruit like a cherry.

The fruit is not sweet, but has a strong spicy taste that adds a lot of flavor to the broth every night. People on the Bloody Highlands call it "wild pearl".

For example, there is a kind of low shrub that actually blooms in winter. The flowers are snow-white and have no fragrance, so when you look at it from a distance in the snow, it looks like it doesn't exist.

It has a unique habit, that is, its flowers will move in the direction of the current moon, whether it is day or night, so it is named "Moon-Watching Flower". Local experienced residents can use it to identify the direction.

Not just plants, but animals as well.

The most common creature encountered is a creature called "snow clam". The small ones are as big as a fingernail, and the large ones are about the size of a winter date. They are mottled with black and white, like pebbles covered with snow, and usually gather in groups in the leeward place.

It is called "snow clam" and it is indeed edible, but what you eat is not the clam meat, but the liquid contained in it, which is extremely delicious. Adding one to a pot of soup is like stewing three old hens.

Mary not only introduced and discovered the uses of these animals and plants, but also did her "main job" very well.

In just five days, Raven and his team found traces left by Eric and his team at a garrison point, and it was only nine days since they set foot on the Bloody Highlands.

Under Raven's order, the guards once again began to set up camp and rest.

Raven sat in the middle of the tent, while Nancy sat not far from him wrapped in a blanket, stretching out her hands to warm herself on the brazier: "Raven, we don't have much fuel. Do we really have to use it so extravagantly?"

"If you don't like it, you don't have to use it." Raven said directly.

"Really? I'm just talking about business!" Nancy frowned in dissatisfaction, but she would never retract her hand.

"We're almost at Heleti's lair." Raven stared at the fire, expressionless.
"If we can't capture his lair, there's no point in keeping the fuel."

"I understand!" Nancy's eyes lit up: "If we can capture his lair, we can get fuel from him, right?"

Raven nodded.

"But..." Nancy rubbed her hands: "When will it arrive?"

"In about two days." A voice came from outside the tent, and then Mary opened the curtain and walked in.

She placed the pot on the brazier. "Even if a snowstorm comes tomorrow, two days will be enough."

When the lid was opened, an extremely delicious smell filled the air. Nancy immediately picked up the bowl and scooped up a portion. Just as she was about to eat it, she stopped and placed it in front of Raven.

Seeing Raven unmoved, Nancy stretched out her little hand and waved it in front of his eyes: "What are you thinking about?"

"Stop it!" Raven frowned in disgust and slapped her hand away: "I'm thinking about Eric."

“I don’t know where he went.”

Meanwhile, on Bloody Heights, Raven wasn't the only one who cared about Eric.

The stronghold of "Sand King" Helaiti is called "Scorpion Nest" and is located in a hill in the southeast of Bloody Highlands.

Although named "The Nest", this place is not a wooden structure, but a fortress made of stone.

The five-meter-high and three-meter-wide city wall connects the mountain passes on both sides. There are four watchtowers on the city wall, which are now burning with flames.

Outside the city wall, there was a row of sharp stone horses every five meters, like a jungle of spears.

Inside the city wall is a wide and flat courtyard where hay is piled in a very orderly manner with proper density. This ensures that it will not be hit by rockets outside the wall, nor that all the hay will be burned due to fire.

At the deepest part is a three-story castle. The walls are made of two colors, black on top and yellow on the bottom. It can be seen that it was rebuilt on the original foundation after the collapse.

The city gate suddenly opened, and a horse galloped in and stopped at the gate of the castle. The horse thief on it jumped off the horse and rushed into the gate.

As soon as he entered the hall, he knelt on one knee and shouted loudly:
"Lord Sand King! Just as you expected!"

"A troop of about a hundred men is moving towards the Scorpion's Nest!"

……

(End of this chapter)