Chapter 382: Hard to Escape

Three days ago, three young boys died outside Ejin Horo Banner city. It wasn’t a big deal because the city didn’t restrict its residents from going outside, many ordinary people would search for supplies within the area cleared by the mounted warriors outside the city.

Without any special abilities, their food rations were very limited. To have a better meal, they had to go outside the city and find food on their own.

Hachikuju couldn’t stop them from leaving the city. The area outside the city, up to several kilometers, was cleared. Any potential dangers were usually dealt with during normal patrols by the mounted warriors. So, it should have been safe. The youths who died were around fifteen or sixteen years old, still growing, hungry, and unable to endure the hunger. Gathering in groups of four or five, they would search for edible plants that hadn’t turned mutant, or some docile animals that had mutated into creatures not even qualified as first-tier mutants, like some mutant wild rabbits that had plump bodies and faster speed but no other dangers. If they were able to catch one, it was considered a delicacy, more satisfying than dry rations.

Tempted by the idea of a delicious meal, these youngsters’ families worked inside the city and had no time to watch over them. They couldn’t bear to see their children starving and had to let them go outside to find food for themselves. However, they strictly instructed them not to venture beyond ten kilometers outside the city. The children these days were aware of the dangers outside and hadn’t stepped out of this safe zone.

However, three days ago, something happened inside the safety zone!

Several ordinary people went to the captain of a City Guard squad, crying and saying their children were missing. They had searched within the ten-kilometer area but found nothing. They were requesting the City Guard’s help in finding them.

Normally, the City Guard wouldn’t bother with such trivial matters, but recently, there hadn’t been much to do, so they decided to listen to them.

After asking around carefully, it seemed that four or five people had gone missing all at once. This indicated that mutant beasts might be nearby. Usually, it would be a lone mutant beast wandering around, but the squad leader believed that those young boys might have encountered a carnivorous mutant beast that they had never seen before, and they probably had already met a tragic end inside the beast’s stomach.

If someone gets eaten, of course, there wouldn’t be any bodies to find because those mutant beasts eat anything without being picky.

The squad leader shared this speculation with the ordinary people who came to him for help, but they were still hopeful.

To persuade people to take action, the parents of those ordinary people pooled some elemental crystals as payment. The City Guard squad leader took the money and had to do something about it, so he mobilized half of his squad to start searching nearby.

Originally, he was just casually searching, but to his surprise, he actually found something.

It turned out that there was a first-level evolver in his squad with the ability to tame animals, who happened to be called in this time. He brought his pet hunting dog with him on the mission, and the dog picked up a scent at a junction ten kilometers away.

Following the scent, the hunting dog dug up a large pit and found five horrifying bodies underground. The sight was so gruesome that even the City Guard, who was used to seeing dead bodies, was moved, and one person even vomited on the spot.

It was just too gruesome.

The bodies of those young boys were so mangled that their faces couldn’t be recognized. Their hearts had been brutally taken out, leaving huge holes in their chests.

But that’s not the scariest part. If only the heart was taken out, the City Guards wouldn’t react this much.

The most terrifying thing is that these young people, all of them, had their entire spine pulled out alive, leaving only the soft flesh and remaining broken bones that couldn’t support their bodies.

The City Guards didn’t tell the parents waiting in the city about this news. They just said the missing person wasn’t found and reported it up. Because the situation was very serious, those in the City Guard aren’t stupid. It couldn’t have been done by mutant beasts. If you think a little deeper, it’s very terrifying.

Hachikuju was not there. Uncle Peng received the report and took it very seriously. So he blocked the news internally and started sending City Guards outside to search for other clues, but they found nothing.

When Hachikuju had just returned, she was already very busy with Badar’s matter, and now she had to quickly lead the Red Flame Wolf Riders to save Zhang Mu and the others. When she heard Uncle Peng’s report, she just kept it in mind and didn’t pay much attention, letting Uncle Peng handle it.

However, today, five more young people died, all of them had their abdomen opened and spines taken out. This news didn’t even need to spread. They managed to keep the first five deaths secret, how can they keep quiet after five more deaths?

After tonight, this matter will spread throughout the city, causing widespread panic.

Zhang Mu figured out the key points and recalled many memories of such killings. But when it comes to young people, their hearts being taken out, spines drawn, and all three elements combined, there were no suitable suspects.

Awakening abilities that require killing people are not so cruel. But if it’s not because of awakening abilities, then what could it be? Is it just to satisfy twisted desires?

The person who did this must have known the consequences. If Hachikuju catches them, it will be a matter of life and death. Does he really think he can do all of this quietly without being caught?

He looked up slowly, feeling very puzzled as he watched Hachikuju talking to Uncle Peng.

“Uncle Peng, there’s no other way. Issue the order tomorrow for everyone to temporarily stay inside the city. Also, have all the evolvers who own mutated beasts smell the clothes of the dead teenagers to search and seal off the city. If a human is responsible for this, they will definitely be found if they are hiding in the city.”

His daring actions show that he is disregarding the existence of Ejin Horo Banner Sub-city. He must have his reasons. Tomorrow, I will have all the Red Flame Wolf Riders coordinate with the City Guard in the search operation.

Stay focused. Each search team must include two peak first-rank evolvers. This way, if the opponent is a second-rank evolver, we can buy some time after a battle until nearby second-rank evolvers arrive.

Normal first-rank evolvers are no match against second-rank evolvers. You know this. If there are not enough peak first-rank evolvers in the City Guard, we will recruit from the Red Flame Wolf Riders.”

Hachikuju calmly issued one order after another. Although Uncle Peng knew that these orders would cause chaos in the sub-city, he saw that Hachikuju had made up her mind and did not say anything further.

With so many worries on his mind, Hachikuju really wanted to find someone to fight and let off steam. It just so happened that someone foolish was walking right into his firing line.

As long as he dares to hide in Ejin Horo Banner Sub-city, even if he had wings, Hachikuju would bring him down with an axe.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep