Chapter 590: A Tragic Encounter on the Road
At the start, I was terrified, pressing my body tightly against the horse’s body, afraid of being thrown off. I even closed my eyes, not daring to look at the rapidly receding scenery around me.
If it weren’t for the urgency to go home and see Older Brother Jayad, I would have ordered the packhorse to slow down. I shouldn’t have told it to gallop at full speed before. I’m going to die!
When I was chased by that mysterious monster at night, this packhorse’s speed was definitely not this fast. Later, Older Brother Jayad rode it two or three more times. Did it evolve again during this process?
Moreover, it’s not Older Brother Jayad riding it now. If a Holy Knight were riding it, it could go even faster. This means that this is not the horse’s maximum speed yet.
Later, I had completely adapted to this speed. I even felt a bit thrilled, like riding a roller coaster. Although the packhorse ran so fast, it was still very stable on its back, without any feeling of being overly bumpy or about to be thrown off.
After running for more than an hour, I vaguely recognized the surrounding mountains and forests. It was at this moment that the packhorse suddenly began to slow down.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. We weren’t near Cando City yet, so why did the packhorse stop? It wouldn’t slow down for no reason. Was it tired?
It’s understandable if it was tired, after all, it had been running at sprint speed for over an hour. I already felt it was amazing that it hadn’t died of exhaustion.
So I took out a Magic Elixir and a Life Elixir with only a little left. Although the two medicines were not exactly for the same purpose, they should still be able to restore some stamina. I would give it to the horse if it was tired.
But in reality, it wasn’t tired. The packhorse seemed to be very wary of something. Its nostrils kept sniffing the surrounding air, and it looked around. Had it discovered a threatening enemy?
Although it was not night, the dim light in the dense forest still made people feel uneasy. I didn’t know where the unknown threat was hidden. And indeed, it wasn’t that there was no danger during the day. Even with Magical Beasts, it was very possible for them to attack the imperial road during the day, especially when there were no people around.
The packhorse continued to move forward slowly while being vigilant. I also took out my repeating crossbow and scanned the surroundings. It was only then that I realized I had forgotten to give it to Mr. Zhang in my haste. But it didn’t matter. I would give him the blueprints next time anyway, and send them together.
At this moment, the packhorse finally confirmed something and accelerated forward. After turning a corner, I saw several overturned carriages on the road ahead, as well as many corpses.
“How tragic!” I exclaimed, covering my mouth in surprise. The packhorse stopped in front of the convoy. It seemed that she had slowed down and become vigilant because she smelled the smell of blood here earlier.
The attack had happened some time ago. Seeing that the surroundings were silent, I dismounted to inspect. The scene was in disarray. The trucks were overturned, the ground dragons pulling the carts were killed, the goods were spilled everywhere, and the bodies of the people were torn to shreds.
This should have been an attack on the convoy by Magical Beasts. Judging from the huge bite marks and tooth marks on the corpses, the attacker should have been at least three meters long, with sharp teeth that could easily pierce armor.
I saw a warrior’s armor, which was bitten through, on a dead warrior nearby. He was either an Adventurer traveling with them or a mercenary hired to protect the convoy.
Beside the vehicle was a very beautiful girl in light attire, with a broken bow and arrow in her hand. She should have been an archer or a Scout in the team.
Unfortunately, she had also passed away. There was a very obvious bruise on her stomach, which should have been caused by a violent impact from a Magical Beast, leading to internal organ rupture and death. There was also a large amount of blood coughed up near her mouth.
There should have been more than one Magical Beast attacking the convoy. The jungle nearby was trampled and messy, with trees broken. Moreover, if there had been only one, at least some people should have escaped. And the ground dragons that pulled the carts should have had a certain Combat Power, yet they were still bitten to death.
In my opinion, the extent of the damage could not have been caused by a single Magical Beast. The convoy should have been suddenly attacked by a pack of Magical Beasts, leading to their complete annihilation.
In the dismantled carriages, there were several bloody and mangled corpses. They were bitten beyond recognition, their bodies were not intact. I could vaguely see that their clothes were gorgeous. They should have been the Boss of this convoy.
Unfortunately, no matter how rich you are, you can’t bribe Magical Beasts to not eat you. So they all died here, and their valuable goods were scattered everywhere.
There are many reasons for Magical Beast attacks. It could be said that some cruel Magical Beasts naturally like to attack people. However, here I believe that the food in the convoy attracted the hungry Magical Beasts.
One of the trucks contained a large amount of fresh fish and beef, which had been divided by the Magical Beasts, leaving only scraps. Most of the victims’ bodies also had bite marks.
It is worth noting that these marks seem to have been caused by different Magical Beasts. I noticed different footprints on the ground, such as hoof prints and claw prints. There were also traces of being swept by a tail, bite marks, and claw marks on the trucks.
Generally speaking, different species of Magical Beasts do not act together. They even kill each other. Why did they act together here?
Or, was there a wave of Magical Beasts that attacked first, and then another wave of Magical Beasts passed by and ravaged these corpses again?
I should be the first person to encounter this scene. Otherwise, not to mention the valuable goods, at least the money in their waist packs should have been taken away? I got off the horse and opened one of the bulging waist packs. It was filled with many Gold coins and Silver coins.
I took all the waist packs from more than a dozen people and hung them on both sides of the packhorse, filling them up. I even grabbed a lot of Gemstones from the cargo.
I’m sorry. Since you are all dead anyway and can’t take your money with you, I’ll take it and use it for you. If I see the monsters that attacked you, I will find a way to kill them and avenge you.
I clasped my hands together in front of the annihilated convoy, mourning for them for one second. I thought to myself, indeed, this world is full of people who get rich by killing and robbing.
Older Brother Jayad went to help people fight and only got a few Silver coins as a reward. Detectives came to this dangerous place day and night to investigate cases and only got a few hundred Silver coins. Although there were case-solving bonuses later, after layers of deductions, they could get at most a few Gold coins, which was already a lot.
On the other hand, I encountered an annihilated convoy on the road and easily picked up hundreds of Gold coins. This is also because many valuable handicrafts were too large for me to carry, so I left them for those who came later.
The police will definitely pass by this imperial road to Cando City later. They will definitely stop and inspect it. I will leave the rest to them. I got on the horse and continued to gallop forward.
