Chapter 385 - 258: Ruins (2)
Su Zhi’s eyes widened. "Come to think of it, the Alliance History Hall never recorded the cause of death for the other two members of Tuoba Jing’s squad. It just sort of fast-forwards through that part of history..."
Gou Yu nodded thoughtfully. "That’s right. The painting in the Flying Shadow Alliance’s Alliance History Hall doesn’t depict what happened. However, the Dark Alliance’s confidential files actually do cover it. The Alliance Leader had strictly forbidden me from accessing them, and it was only recently that the Central Imperial Alliance authorized these files to be unsealed..."
Su Zhi: "Huh? Wait, you’ve been here the whole time?"
Shen Chuqing: "I’m used to it. I usually just pretend he’s not here."
Gou Yu: "..."
Su Zhi blinked. "So, what’s in the confidential files? Give me the details."
"After reinforcements arrived on the scene, they conducted a large-scale search. In the room where Tuoba Jing had lived, they found the squad’s mission log, which recorded the events of that night."
Gou Yu tapped his brow, recalling.
"According to Tuoba Jing’s record, a gigantic Exotic Beast attacked the village that night and engaged the squad in battle. The description says it had a mountain-like body, a disproportionately large mouth, numerous thick legs, and no facial features other than its mouth... It was brown all over. That’s the original entry from the log."
At first, Su Zhi thought it sounded like an Earth-necked Dragon, but the more he heard, the less it resembled one. ’Does an Exotic Beast like that really exist?’
"According to the notes Tuoba Jing left, his two teammates were killed in that battle. Tuoba Jing’s Sub-Pet died, and his Main Pet was severely injured. They didn’t even manage to kill the Exotic Beast, merely drove it away.
"At the end of the log, Tuoba Jing left two sentences. The first was, ’It may be calling to me...’ The second was, ’This is all a conspiracy. Time is running out.’"
"Even a squad of Flying Shadow Alliance members could only repel it?" Su Zhi couldn’t help but shudder.
That would mean the Exotic Beast was at least a Three-star, maybe even a Quasi-Four-star. After all, there’s a world of difference between the power level that results in a pyrrhic victory and one that leads to an overwhelming one.
At the same time, Su Zhi felt a new sense of curiosity.
’Why would such a powerful Exotic Beast bother attacking a remote village in the middle of nowhere?’
’Is there something important here?’
But that theory had a hole in it. Based on the description, the Exotic Beast was powerful enough to have completely wiped out Tuoba Jing’s squad, who had been dispatched to support the village.
And yet, it hadn’t gone on a killing spree. Instead, it was "driven away." That simply didn’t add up.
And the biggest mystery... was undoubtedly the two sentences at the end of the journal.
"’It may be calling to me...’ Who is the ’It’ they’re referring to?" Su Zhi was completely baffled.
Shen Chuqing explained, "That’s a term from the Classical Era. It’s generally used to refer to certain mysterious and powerful Exotic Beasts. For instance, back then, we would also use ’It’ when referring to Elder Zhuo. But this obviously isn’t talking about Elder Zhuo."
Su Zhi was troubled. "Then who could it be? I get the feeling it’s not the Exotic Beast that attacked the village, either. There are just too few clues."
Gou Yu covered his face. "Why would you think you can solve a cold case that even the Dark Alliance’s intelligence department couldn’t crack?"
Su Zhi: "...Fair enough."
He tried to flip to the previous pages, but they hadn’t been declassified yet and were completely blacked out. Su Zhi could only turn his attention back to the current page.
"I think the second sentence is the key."
Shen Chuqing frowned. "What does ’this all’ refer to? And what is the ’conspiracy’? Based on Tuoba Jing’s previous writing style, he seemed like a meticulous and precise person. It was rare for him to write something so ambiguous."
"Wait..." Su Zhi suddenly thought of something. "Vice Alliance Leader Gou, is it still possible to look up the roster of Pet Beasts for Tuoba Jing’s squad from back then?"
"Oh, yes! All Alliance Members’ Pet Beast information has to be recorded and regularly updated. The old documents have all been entered into the database, so it isn’t hard to find."
Tapping on his phone, Gou Yu deftly sent the roster to Su Zhi.
The list was extremely long, and Su Zhi had to search for a while before he found the information on Tuoba Jing’s squad:
Squad Leader: Tuoba Jing
Pet Beasts: Thunderbolt War Falcon, Yu Dian Farm Dog
Member: Hong Shao
Pet Beasts: Yu Dian Farm Dog, Azure Wave Claw
Member: An Dingyi
Pet Beasts: Yu Dian Farm Dog, Dark Moon Cat
...
"So many Yu Dian Farm Dogs, just as I suspected."
Su Zhi mused aloud. According to the data, it wasn’t just Tuoba Jing’s squad—the Flying Shadow Alliance and even other branch alliances had contracts with a significant number of Yu Dian Farm Dogs.
Shen Chuqing glanced at him. "The Beast Taming philosophies and equipment of the Classical Era were relatively primitive and simple. The probability of a Pet Beast becoming combat-effective was actually far lower than it is today. Besides, many of the Pet Beasts you see now hadn’t even been discovered by Beastmasters back then, so the range of choices for an ordinary Beastmaster was quite limited.
"Although the Yu Dian civilization had the greatest number of Pet Beasts during the Classical Era, most of them could only be contracted by the Nobility. No matter how deep and profound the art was, it was out of reach for the common folk. It’s been like that in every dynasty."
Gou Yu nodded. "On the other hand, the Yu Dian Dog’s obedience and evolutionary stability put them in a league of their own compared to other Pet Beasts. They were also low-cost, easy to raise, and could become combat-effective quickly. Battles were frequent back then, and Pet Beasts were replaced often. It was a time when practically everyone had a contract with a Yu Dian Farm Dog."
"A-woo!" Yu Bao raised his head proudly.
"CHIRP..." "MEW..." "LA..." Shan Bao, Mimi, and Lala all gazed at him with admiration.
’What are you so proud of? You’re just a utility dog...’ Su Zhi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he bit his tongue.
"What about now?" he asked.
"Far fewer people have contracts with Yu Dian Dogs these days. After all, their potential isn’t very high. Modern Beast Tamers also have many more options than Classical Era Beastmasters, and they no longer have to endure such high-intensity combat. Back then, replacing a Pet Beast was something you only did out of necessity. Now, people generally switch them out as soon as they find a better one."
"I see..." Su Zhi nodded thoughtfully.
’He had previously wondered if it was some kind of coincidence that all the casualties were Yu Dian Farm Dogs... but now it seemed normal. After all, if there were more of them under contract, it stood to reason that there would be more casualties.’
Su Zhi checked the Divine Strategy Alliance’s official website for related data, but something still felt off.
With the exception of an outlier like Yu Bao, Yu Dian Dogs generally fit the Warrior archetype, specializing in offense and defense. They might not have been the strongest, but they were definitely supposed to be the hardest to kill.
From that perspective, the widespread use of Yu Dian Farm Dogs should have led to a lower casualty rate for them. In fact, they should have helped lower the casualty rates of other, weaker Pet Beasts fighting alongside them.
But the data recorded by the Divine Strategy Alliance didn’t support this theoretically sound conclusion. The casualty rates for other Pet Beasts were indeed lower... but for Yu Dian Dogs, the rate was exceptionally high.
"By the way, Yu Bao, did you notice anything?"
Su Zhi was out of ideas for the moment, so he looked over at Yu Bao, who seemed focused and lost in thought.
’Even though Yu Bao loves to act cool, he can be reliable sometimes. He must have noticed a detail that I missed!’
"A-woo."
Yu Bao shook his head.
"...Then why are you giving me that look and making that face?"
Yu Bao used the Beast Taming Space to secretly tell Su Zhi that it would make others think he’d noticed some important detail, which would make him look cool.
Su Zhi: "..."
·
「Late that night, at 10:00 PM.」
Su Zhi, Shen Chuqing, and Gou Yu had split up to search through the ruins of Tuoba Jing Village, and were now regrouping at a crossroads.
After being abandoned by humans, the historic, desolate village had been reclaimed by nature with unimaginable speed. Lush vegetation was everywhere, and at times it was difficult even to find a place to put one’s foot.
Gou Yu plopped down onto the ground. "We’re probably not going to find anything new today. Let’s call it a night..."
"A-woo..." Yu Bao was also dozing off from exhaustion.
"Still, the Earth and Gold Element Energy here is quite dense. Even if we don’t find any valuable clues, it’s an excellent environment for Pet Beasts to train in..."
"A-WOOF!"
Before the words were even out of Shen Chuqing’s mouth, Yu Bao’s eyes shot open, as if something long suppressed had suddenly been unleashed.
·
·