Chapter 17

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Chapter 017: Great Mausoleum

Raven Hill Great Mausoleum is located to the north of the town, and an abandoned road covered with overgrown grass leads directly to the tightly closed large iron gate of the cemetery.

The intricate and beautiful metal patterns on the iron gate and railing indicated that this place might have been very lively in the past. Jesse could even imagine how it was before the explosion at Karazhan.

It was a large cemetery where countless old soldiers and nobles who sacrificed in previous wars were buried. Relatives of fallen heroes would often come here to pay their respects, along with noble lords who arrived in fancy carriages. The residents of Raven Hill town relied on these visitors and the careful care of the deceased, as the cemetery was like a gold mine for them.

Of course, all of this was destroyed by the explosion, as darkness spread and a series of eerie legends emerged.

Jesse approached the iron railing and peeked inside secretly. Rows of gravestones of different sizes and specifications were placed together, with occasional family mausoleums standing between them.

On the hill in the distance, there was a small house which might be where the so-called caretaker of the cemetery or the embalmer lived to prepare the deceased.

Judging from the dilapidated state of the house, it seemed like no one had entered it for a long time.

In this game, there is a series of tasks with a final goal called Mor’Ladim, who is a powerful skeleton warrior that can cast Holy Light spells.

In the early versions of the game, players leveling up here were low-level characters between 20 and less than 30 levels. Mor’Ladim, as an elite monster at level 35, patrolled here and could easily be drawn towards low-level players doing quests.

Once aggroed, he would charge into the crowd and quickly kill anyone in his path, leaving a trail of bodies.

Mor’Ladim actually has a tragic backstory. He was a brave Paladin who fought in the Scourge war for over a decade. After the war, he returned home to find his wife and two children dead, and his daughter missing.

After fruitless searches, he went mad in front of his wife’s grave, accidentally killing several well-meaning guards who tried to console him. Realizing his madness, he ended his own life in regret and despair, becoming a vengeful spirit seeking revenge, haunting the already terrifying Raven Hill.

Unaware that his daughter Sarah Ladimore had left Raven Hill and joined the Night Watch in Duskwood’s Grand Town, later known as Darkshire. Sadly, they never reunited.

Thinking about this story, Jesse suddenly felt something was off.

"Greed."

"Hmm?" The dwarf, who had been carefully examining the soil and weeds, looked up and asked, "Did you find the herbs?"

"No," Jesse asked, "Do you remember the name of the guard from last night?"

"Morgan, what… Moore, who can remember these strange names you humans have."

"Morgan Ladimore," Jesse said.

"Close enough." Greed showed no interest in this topic, he walked towards the distance following a puddle of water, leaving Jesse alone staring at the lonely old house in the graveyard.

Yes, that boy about his age, he later became Mor’Ladim.

Jesse’s memory of this terrifying undead warrior was that he already had three children, had been dead for a long time, even his wife had long turned into a tombstone, and his only daughter had grown into a graceful young lady.

So, logically speaking, he should have appeared as a middle-aged old uncle, completely unrelated to an 18 or 19-year-old young man.

"Over here!" Greed suddenly shouted.

Jesse was awakened by a call, caught up with the dwarf’s footsteps to a pit surrounded by tree roots.

Greed stood on a thick tree root stretching over the pit, blocking Jesse and said, "Don’t go down there. See, this could be a resting place for wild wolves or bears."

"A resting place?" Jesse asked, not quite understanding. "Isn’t that just a den?"

"Not quite," Greed explained. "Wolf dens or bear dens, many are caves. Wolves like to live in natural caves, like rock caves, and some bears like to dig their own dens… Anyway, these animals all live in dens. But when they go out to hunt, they sometimes travel far, so they look for a hidden or comfortable spot away from their dens to rest, like a resting place similar to an inn."

Pointing at the pit below, he said, "Look at the wolf fur down there. I can even smell the wolf scent from here, there should be dung nearby. So, we set the trap here, saving us the need for bait."

"Would wolves really choose a resting spot so close to the graveyard?" Jesse asked.

"This suggests that the rumors you’ve heard are likely true," Greed replied. "It means the wolves here indeed feed on human flesh, using the graveyard as their hunting ground. If our trap works… the chances of finding the so-called Wicked Claw will be much higher."

"Let’s set the trap then," Jesse agreed.

The dwarf nodded, dropped the iron beast trap from his back, slid into the pit, and after setting it up, he covered it with soil, grass, and animal fur for camouflage.

Jesse asked, "But won’t the wolves smell your scent and avoid this resting spot?"

"You have the potential to be a hunter, young man," Greed said. "If we were in the Hinterlands, I’d cover myself in bear dung to do these things. But here, it should be fine. The wolves here probably haven’t smelled the scent of dwarves before. If they catch a whiff of a strange smell, they might be suspicious for a short time, but as long as they observe no danger, they will relax their guard. However, if they detect the scent of hunters who often hunt them at their resting spots, like you humans, they might just abandon their rest spot and leave as you said."

He climbed up the edge of the pit, brushed off the dirt and filth from his body, and said, "We don’t need to bother about this place anymore. Let’s go find herbs elsewhere. We can come back to check tomorrow. Did you find anything?"

"No," Jesse leaned on a protruding slab of blue stone with his Lumberjack Axe, gasped for breath, and said, "We are still too close to Raven Hill here. The townsfolk here or passing travelers might have already plucked all the herbs here. Moreover, most people are ignorant and don’t understand the importance of leaving roots. They just pluck everything, roots and all, so even if there were herbs here before, they are all gone over time. In short, the chances of finding herbs here are slim. We should go to a more remote place to look."

Greed glanced at the faintly obscured graveyard railing in the distance and said, "What about Grave Moss?"

Jesse also looked over there and realized he was subconsciously hesitant to walk into the cemetery.

Especially after finding wolf tracks nearby, he felt even more uneasy about this cemetery.

After all, even if wolves were to gnaw on bones, they would prefer fresh meaty bones rather than the rotten bones buried in a graveyard.

In other words, this graveyard likely has a considerable amount of decaying flesh.

What kind of situation could have led to wolves still willing to eat the meat in a graveyard, even after so many years have passed since the war?

It shows that there are not only undead creatures inside, but possibly many, many more, so many that the wolves in the forest see this place as a hunting ground.

The good news is that predatory animals usually won’t attack enemies that pose a serious threat. For example, wolves like to eat rabbits, but when they encounter deer, they reconsider because deer can be dangerous to wolves.

Carnivores seek food, not fights with everyone, they also consider the possibility of getting hurt.

For animals, a serious injury often means death. Even if they are lucky enough to recover from the wound, it will greatly affect their hunting efficiency.

If the wolf pack sees the graveyard as a hunting ground, it means that even if there are undead creatures here, they may not be that powerful. At least not as terrifying as Gnolls, as no wild animals would dare to challenge Gnolls.

"It’s still morning," Greed said. "If we act quickly, we still have at least six to seven hours before nightfall."

Greed was right. Jesse glanced at the sky covered by tree branches and realized that there were some differences between day and night in Duskwood after getting used to the dark sky here.

Last night was especially dark, almost pitch-black if not for the town’s constant lights. Now, at least some dim light resembling sunlight could break through the layers of darkness and cast spots of light on the gray-green grass.

Jesse shook the axe in his hand and said, "Let’s go."

"Take it easy." Greed stared at the swinging axe blade and said, "Don’t forget what you said yesterday, we’re only here to gather herbs, not to start fights, unless it’s absolutely necessary… Let’s not stir up trouble."

"I remember." Jesse said, "If even you remember so clearly, how could I forget?"

The dwarf chuckled and led the way towards the cemetery.

Jesse followed behind, and as they walked along the fence of the cemetery, they went quite far without reaching the end.

This was indeed the largest cemetery in the entire Kingdom of Stormwind, likely the largest on the whole continent. At least in Lordaeron, Jesse couldn’t recall a place of such scale.

Greed was getting a bit bored. He grabbed the railing and gave it a shake. The metal fence bars, despite being abandoned for years, were still sturdy and strong, not something he could easily move.

"How do we get in?"

"If those wolves can get in, then we should be able to get in too." Jesse looked down and said, "Watch your step, there might be holes dug out by them…"

"Good point."

Greed nodded and kept walking forward. After a few more minutes, Jesse suddenly saw a large cluster of unusual plants growing at the base of the wall under the fence.

The long stems of the plants grew densely outward, forming clusters of fine silver-white leaves at the ends. The leaves looked like coarse silver hairs and clustered together like chrysanthemums, pressing against each other and forming a cascading silver ball that rippled in the breeze.

Is this… Silverleaf?

His knowledge of Silverleaf mostly came from browsing herbal guides in the library, as the rough textures of the intertwined models in the game didn’t help much in identifying most of the herbs in this world.

"Wait." Jesse stopped Greed, unrolled a scroll, found a simple drawing and description of Silverleaf, compared it, and said, "Is this Silverleaf?"

"Let me see." Greed plucked a small stem, rubbed it in his hand, sniffed it, and said, "Very likely. I know a brother who likes to sun-dry Silverleaf and add it to bitter wine to enhance the flavor. It seems to be this scent."

"A pound of Silverleaf can be sold for more than two silver coins." Jesse took out a small knife and asked, "How much of these do we have?"

"Hard to say." Greed looked over the plant and said, "But definitely far less than a pound. When we bring it back to Stormwind, after the dew on top dries up, it may weigh even less."

"Well, at least it’s a start."

Jesse said, bent down ready to cut a plant, suddenly the grass moved. Startled, he shouted "oh no" and pulled back his hand, stepping back.

"What did you say?" Greed, who was observing the surroundings, turned around and asked, "What’s going on?"

Jesse swallowed and said, "Something just moved in there."

"Are you sure?" Greed walked over, slowly lifted his sword, pointing the tip towards the Silverleaf bushes.

After looking around and not noticing anything strange, he pursed his lips, signaling Jesse to take another look.

Jesse nodded and cautiously reached out his hand. The blade of the small knife just pushed aside a leaf, and the bushes inside indeed trembled again!

Greed directly stabbed with his sword, hitting something hard which made a clattering sound… Things in the bushes began to toss around wildly. Greed exerted force to lift the object from the grass into the air, revealing it was actually a severed arm!

Seeing this arm wriggling like a large insect, Greed turned pale, fearfully throwing away his sword. When the arm flew far away from the sword tip, he quickly picked up his sword again.

He cursed in Dwarven language for a few moments, then said, "Quick, cut down the Silverleaf, let’s go!"

Jesse quickly crouched down to start cutting the grass. After finishing a big bunch, he unexpectedly discovered a nearly big enough hole in the wall behind the grass!

"Greed, there’s a hole here!"

"You go in first! I’ll follow right behind you!"

Greed raised his sword, pointing at the arm rolling back and forth on the ground. Jesse glanced back and felt as if it were a tail shed by a large lizard.

However, this thought sent shivers down his spine. If the tail was here, where was the big lizard?

This idea flashed through his mind, and he decisively crawled into the cave. Luckily, his slim body easily squeezed through. When it was the dwarf’s turn, it took a lot of effort to pull him out. Jesse used an axe to dig out a lot of soil before he could fully pull him out.

The two stood up, leaning against the wall to rest for a while. Jesse glanced sideways at the dwarf and asked, "Why are you so scared?"

Greed unhappily replied, "I’m not afraid of seeing a complete zombie, but a wriggling arm twisting on its own? It sends shivers down anyone’s spine."

"On the other hand, you get scared at the slightest noise like a little cat. It’s embarrassing, really. Well, I didn’t have much expectations for humans anyway."

After speaking, the dwarf took a deep breath, stood up, glanced outside the fence, and asked Jesse about the bag in his hand, "How much do you think is in it?"

Jesse lifted the bag slightly and said, "I don’t feel like it’s heavy enough."

"As expected."