Chapter 573

Chapter 573: The Culprits of the Chaos in the Holy Land

Jesse leaned against the hill and watched the Maraudine Centaur coming in and out of the entrance of the Valley of Spears, looking anxious with continuous shouts heard from the valley.

What’s even more unsettling is that black smoke kept rising from the valley into the sky, as if there had been fires put out recently.

He looked at Vereesa beside him and asked, "What do you think?"

"The turmoil deep in Maraudon has a bigger impact than I expected," Vereesa said.

"What do you guys think?" Greed asked. "Will they blame us for the earthquake?"

Mosa said, "It’s us."

Greed glanced at her and said, "I didn’t teach you Common language for you to give me a hard time, Ms. Mosa Woodmane."

Tauren did not reply but just smiled while looking at the black smoke, watching the Centaur bustling in and out with a look of curiosity.

"I have a feeling Vyletongue won’t be giving up his head," Jesse scratched his head and said. "Is there any other way? I can’t just take it home, can I?"

"What about the other Centaur Tribe?" Greed asked.

"The other tribes wish the Maraudine tribe would disappear soon and give the Valley of the Spears to them," Jesse slid down the hill and said, "What do they want with that evil demon’s head? It’s unfair for them to blame us for helping the Maraudine tribe."

Greed muttered, "A gem worth five gold coins gone just like that?"

"Let’s think positively, who knows what treasures the Centaur might bring out," Jesse said, "Even if they bring out a light blue piece of glass and claim it’s Theradras’ Tear, there’s nothing we can do, after all, they have some issues in their heads, getting angry won’t help."

Greed hung his head and said, "I can only console myself like this. Remember what you said earlier, about what the Woodland Protector mentioned, that every situation has a good and bad side, is this the bad side?"

"You should say that when you encounter something good, Greed, I’m a bit annoyed now," Jesse said as he stood up, brushed the dirt off him, and said, "I hope we can sell the magical materials hidden by Vyletongue for a good price. Did we lose anything in that waterway earlier?"

"No," Greed said, "At least I didn’t."

"I didn’t either," Vereesa said, she asked Mosa, who tugged on the straps of her pouch and shook her head.

"It’s not too bad," Jesse said.

Heading south from the Valley of the Spears, crossing a plain scattered with huge animal bones, Jesse looked at a snake-shaped skeleton stretching tens to hundreds of meters on a distant hill, and a skull several times larger than an entire Kodo. He couldn’t figure out what kind of creature these belonged to.

Before the Kaldorei appeared at the Well of Eternity, even before the troll empire ruled ancient Kalimdor, Azeroth went through a very long wild period.

Wild gods, lost Titan servants who survived the fall of the dark empire, elements walked on the world’s surface, fighting each other, competing to grow, gradually forming the shape of the world today.

Who knows how many terrifying giants appeared and disappeared during that time?

Among these bones, there were still some Centaur Tribe patrollers wandering around. Jesse and his group used the bones and hills as cover, trying to stay away from the Centaur camps and villages, moving towards the southern valley away from the roads occupied by the Centaur.

After walking for about three days, they could see the shadow of the southern mountains. Kalimdor was full of these nameless tall mountains, each one looking more rugged and towering than Redridge, challenging to cross.

Luckily, they could see some struggling plants growing here, much better than the complete silence in Desolace.

The wind in the mountains blew fiercely, making it feel hostile. Not only that, Jesse could faintly smell an unpleasant odor in the wind. Although it was not the scent of fel magic, shadow, or other dark forces, it was enough to make them uncomfortable.

"What’s that smell?" Jesse asked.

"You smelled it too," Greed said. "It’s like the smell of a dead goat. Really unpleasant."

After walking for a while, they saw a hanging cage made of dried hay twigs on a small tree by the roadside, filled with… heads.

There were all kinds of heads, some fresh and some rotten, probably the source of that strange smell.

Jesse bravely approached to take a closer look, inside were various heads, including a few Quilboar heads, mostly Centaur heads, and surprisingly even a huge Ogre head squeezed in there.

Walking around the bag, Jesse caught sight of the head of an elf woman in the corner.

It should be a Night Elf, but because it was somewhat dried out, this thin and misshapen head roughly resembled that of a High Elf.

Vereesa stared at the head for a while, then looked towards a tall tree on a distant cliff in the valley where there was another cage like that, but the height and slope of that place were basically impossible for them to climb.

Mosa uttered a word in Tauren language, Jesse asked, "What?"

"Harpy," Vereesa said.

Mosa repeated after Vereesa, "Harpy, warning Centaur."

"Oh, I see now," Greed suddenly understood, "She meant that the Harpies here place their heads here to warn the Centaurs from the north not to enter their territory."

"So, are we entering the Harpies’ territory then?" Vereesa asked, looking up at the high cliffs.

As she spoke, she took off her bow, and her eyes shimmered with arcane energy. "I don’t sense any elemental disturbances here. Based on our encounter with the Harpies near the Tauren before, their elementalists seem to lack the ability to conceal their powers. Even if there are Harpies ambushing nearby, I don’t think their strength will be great."

"Strong or not, they are a group of troublesome flying creatures," Greed grumbled as he took down the Vyletongue bow hanging from his body. "If I were riding a gryphon, let’s see if they dare to be so arrogant above our heads."

Although the group remained vigilant, observing the situation ahead as they moved forward slowly, trying to avoid being caught in between, they had been walking in this lifeless valley for an afternoon without encountering any Harpies. Only some indistinct cries of beasts occasionally echoed from the depths of the valley.

Jesse speculated that the Harpies must also consider the strength of their opponents. This group of travelers who didn’t seem easy to provoke were most likely just passing through, so the Harpies probably didn’t want to attack recklessly.

As evening approached and the sky darkened, Jesse and his companions arrived at a cliff at a mountain pass, gazing into the distance below, where they could see the mist-shrouded deep green area.

That should be the Feralas Jungle.