Global Descent to Sky Islands: Getting a God-level Talent from the Start - Chapter 67

Han Xing observed the corpse on the ground and came to a conclusion.

This shouldn’t be the body of a child but rather another race from this world, the dwarves.

“A dwarf?”

Han Xing’s tone was somewhat puzzled.

Beside him, Zhang Lianmeng looked at him with curious eyes.

Without explaining, Han Xing continued to inspect the ground around them.

At first glance, it seemed fine, but then he suddenly gasped.

The cave floor was littered with the bones of various beasts and humanoid creatures. The skeletal features varied: some had horns protruding from their foreheads, others had wings on their backs, and the skeleton heights ranged from 2 m to 3 m and were as short as 1 m or 2 m.

There was no doubt that these bodies belonged to the natives of this world.

Among them, Han Xing noticed several corpses that had died not long ago. Their deaths were peculiar. Their skins were intact, with not a drop of bl00d visible.

However, it was as if their flesh and bl00d had been drained away, leaving only a thin skin stretched over their bones.

Han Xing turned and asked: “The person you found at the goblin camp last time, did he look like this?”

Zhang Lianmeng nodded like a pecking chick. Though still frightened, for some reason, Han Xing’s presence beside her gave her an inexplicable sense of security.

Han Xing could clearly sense that this cave was quite eerie.

Furthermore, up until now, there have been no clues triggering the next step of the hidden quest, nor any traces of an ancient weapon.

Han Xing continued searching within the cave.

After half an hour, they had made almost a complete circle inside, but aside from discovering hundreds of skeletal remains, they still found nothing.

However, he did gather some information, which was that the cave’s area was indeed vast.

Conservatively estimated, its diameter was at least over 2 km.

Just then, Zhang Lianmeng suddenly pointed ahead and said: “There seems to be something drawn on the wall.”

“Mm?”

Han Xing quickly looked in the direction she pointed and indeed saw some patterns similar to graffiti.

Upon closer inspection, Han Xing discovered that these patterns leaned towards a realistic style, resembling murals.

Han Xing moved to the 1st mural, which depicted an elf male with pointed ears and slender limbs.

He was sitting on a high tree branch, smiling as he overlooked a settlement below.

In the 2nd mural, however, the art style abruptly changed, showing the elf being bullied by several other elves, being trampled and beaten.

The 3rd mural showed the elf retreating into his small room, silently shedding tears, while a terrifying-looking middle-aged elf stood beside his bed, watching him with a sinister smile.

The particularly lifelike eyes of the middle-aged elf were painted vividly, and Han Xing could feel the chilling aura emanating from the mural.

The 5th mural, the 6th, and even dozens of murals that followed depicted scenes of this young elf being bullied.

The elf male, from his teenage years to the adulting phase, continually suffered bullying from other elves, and his entire demeanor grew increasingly gloomy.

Strangely, in each scene, there was a terrifying-looking middle-aged elf quietly watching from the shadows.

By the 30th mural, the elf was kneeling by his own bed, on which lay the frequently depicted middle-aged elf.

Looking at the dying state of this middle-aged elf, the elf male felt no sorrow. Instead, he displayed a smile of relief.

However, even after this middle-aged elf’s death, his situation did not improve.

He still endured insults and beatings from other elves.

What was more terrifying was that the elf still felt those horrifying eyes staring at him.

Wasn’t that guy already dead?

He pondered this.

Until the 53rd mural, where an elf girl with a gentle smile on her face appeared, she was like a beam of light piercing through the darkness, also brightening the life of the elf male.

She became his friend for a brief 2 days before drifting away.

Whenever the elf male felt like he couldn’t hold on any longer, he would think of the elf girl’s smiling face, causing his own to unconsciously mirror her gentle smile.

However, when he saw the elf girl again, she was now with an elf who often bullied him, shattering the psychological defenses he had painstakingly built.

When he ran to question the elf girl, he was met with ridicule and beatings.

Covered in bl00d and dirt, the elf male collapsed to the ground, and in his dazed state, he seemed to see the shadow of the middle-aged elf appear once more, crouching beside him and whispering.

The elf male went mad.

He returned to his room, drew a bizarre magic circle, then slit his own wrist, allowing the bl00d to flow freely.

A terrifying phantom appeared within the magic circle, and in his dying moment, the elf male knelt respectfully before it, gaining immense power himself.

With a radiant smile, the elf male went to find the girl, believing that with this newfound power, he could win back her acknowledgment.

However, the girl, seeing him now, was so frightened that she backed away repeatedly, her eyes filled with horror as if she were looking at a monster.

It was only then that the elf male saw his own appearance.

His deep brown hair began to fall out in clumps, and then his eyebrows followed, dropping away with a light touch. Eventually, even the hair on his body fell off completely.

He stood on the street like a bare, grotesque creature, subjected to the strange gazes of his kind.

Yet, the transformation was far from over.

After all the hair was gone, his nails began to fall off, replaced by sharp talons, and his nose swelled like that of a gurgle beast.

Moreover, his arms fused with his body, sprouting a pair of enormous fleshy wings.

At that moment, he transformed from a noble elf into a hideous monstrous bird.

The other elves quickly called in guards to hunt down this creature.

When a sharp spear pierced his chest, the elf male’s eyes widened, and in the terror of impending death, he instinctively flapped his wings.

That was when he discovered he could actually fly.

The elf male began to spread his wings and flee wildly, his eyes filled with hatred and rage.

He rushed to a secret location in the center of the town, hauling out a massive golden cannon, and indiscriminately bombarded the town.

Countless elves perished under his cannon fire, engulfing the town in flames.

Having done all this, the elf male turned and fled.

As expected, he became a wanted man among the elves.

In his desperate escape, the elf male found an ancient magic array with nowhere else to turn.

The place the array led to was known as the Godforsaken Land.

That place seemed to instill fear in this monstrous bird.

However, to survive, he ultimately activated the teleportation array.

The final scene shows the elf male finding a floating sky island and disappearing into the forest.

But what he didn’t notice was that a dark shadow also followed him to this island.

…

Having seen all this, Han Xing seemed to understand something and felt a bad premonition in his heart.

He spoke in a serious tone: “Wait… something’s not right.”

Zhang Lianmeng, looking tense and trembling slightly, asked, “What’s not right?”

Han Xing frowned, “So far, we haven’t found any clues related to the hidden quest.”

“Speaking of which, when I came into contact with that piece of metal, the system didn’t mention anything about a hidden quest. It simply said that the metal fragment could be used to open the Gate of Monoliths.”

“In other words, what that NPC told you might have been a lie, and we were deceived!”

“What?” Zhang Lianmeng’s body trembled, her face full of disbelief.

Just then, a pair of glowing red eyes suddenly appeared deep within the dark cave.

From behind, the sound of terrifying winds occasionally swept through.

Realizing something was wrong, Han Xing urgently said: “There’s a monster, run!”

But by then, it was already too late.

A terrifying monster, accompanied by a fierce gust, swiftly attacked from behind.

Han Xing quickly pulled out his legendary-quality Moon Crown Longbow and instantly entered combat mode.

However, right at that moment, a fierce hurricane hit them head-on.

Whoosh—

Han Xing and Zhang Lianmeng were both blown backward several meters by the wind.

The Dark Firestone torch slipped from their hands.

Amidst the fiery red glow, Han Xing finally saw the creature attacking them clearly.

It was a terrifying monstrous bird over 2 meters tall, with a pair of huge fleshy wings and not a single feather on its body.

It was identical to the creature depicted in the murals.

At this moment, a system notification arrived.

[You have found the hiding place of the Elf race traitor, Caleb, automatically triggering the bounty mission, ‘The Town Slaughterer.’ You can choose how to complete the task based on your decisions.]

[Option 1: Kill the Monstrous Bird Caleb, take its head to Elven Royal Capital, and claim the bounty.]

[Option 2: Go to Elven Royal Capital, inform the Elf guards of Caleb’s location, and assist them in capturing Caleb.]

[Please note: As you are in the ‘Godforsaken Land’, the ‘Elven Royal Capital’ map is not yet open, and the task cannot currently be completed.]

“Damn, so this is the true hidden quest!”

Han Xing turned sharply, meeting the creature’s bloodthirsty eyes.

Almost without thinking, he shot a Wind Chasing Arrow directly.

Ding!

Seeing the arrow coming, the monstrous bird flapped its fleshy wings, whipping up a gust that blew the arrow aside.

Seeing his shot had no effect, Han Xing’s heart sank.

At that moment, he finally saw the creature’s attributes.

[Monstrous Bird Caleb (1-Star Chieftain Creature)]

[Level: LV10]

[Attributes]: Strength: 94, Dexterity: 132, Wisdom: 105 (-30), Constitution: 76 (-30).

[Skills]: Wailing Wind, Flesh Wing Shield, Giant Claw Bite, Shadow Assault, Gale Dance.

“It’s actually a level 10 chieftain-level creature!”

Han Xing’s expression changed dramatically!

…