T0 Gaming Guild Saves the World.

Chapter 136, Section 135: You are being spied on.

Unlike other adventurers who feared the snow-capped mountains at night, the boundary between the virtual and real worlds rushed to the scene of the incident under the cover of darkness.

They really wanted to send Mint back to the guild, but as she said, it involved geography and culture, and the entire guild was completely clueless. This was exactly the kind of assistance they might need in finding the caravan.

"Activate the guild gem to disengage immediately upon encountering an enemy, understand?"

After repeated reminders, Bohe nodded repeatedly, and only then did everyone agree to take her into the snow mountain.

Since the reported sightings occurred outside the border, it can be reasonably inferred that the area where the Narum caravan disappeared was located precisely at the edge of the Anar Empire's border.

The information was provided by seasoned adventurers who have long been trekking in the snow-capped mountains. They have excellent night vision and can easily distinguish details in the distance. They also have no drinking problem, so their information is highly credible.

After climbing over a small hill, the group looked down at the trade route. Under the cold moonlight, the snow-capped mountains shone with a mesmerizing silvery white, and a thin layer of frost covered the road surface as the temperature dropped at night.

After nightfall, the temperature near the Screamer Snow Mountain Trade Route had already dropped below zero. Without the Fire Ring spell, obvious symptoms of hypothermia would appear within minutes.

"Hiss, it's still cold. Primals, our Fire Ring needs to raise the temperature a bit more." Zhong Zemo rubbed his arms, shivering.

"Joseph's guess is not without merit," Plain Fries murmured, comparing the map to the guide.

Jiang Heyi glanced at the map: "You also think someone is deliberately targeting us?"

“Take a close look at both ends of the trade route. There are no elevation changes; it’s a relatively flat and easy-to-travel section. If the caravan is attacked here and all 200 people are wiped out, Mint, how many mages do you think we’ll need to use?”

Mint poked her chin with her hand and raised her head slightly: "Yosel seems to have said that there are two seventh-level escorts and several sixth-level escorts in the caravan. This lineup should have at least two to three times the number of escorts to ensure that no one escapes during a surprise attack."

"How many people would be needed to avoid leaving any trace of the magic war?"

Mint's lips twitched: "Eighth-tier units banding together, about 30 of them? Slaughtering everyone in a short time and cleaning up the scene overnight should be possible... Don't be ridiculous, that's impossible. Who has the ability to command that many eighth-tier units?"

Tier 8 is already the pinnacle of combat power in Anna. According to the formula used by community players, a max-level player is roughly equivalent to Tier 5 to 6, and there is still a gap in hard power between them.

Two hundred people were killed in an instant without leaving a trace, and a huge amount of goods disappeared overnight. No wonder the locals immediately associated the incident with the mysterious snow and evil spirits.

"Someone!"

The sound of a blanket came from not far away. Looking in the direction of the sound, a person emerged from the flat snow and ran away.

What incredible patience! You were buried in the snow without moving. Aren't you cold?
Thinking he could escape from his bed was a pipe dream. He was kicked and fell to the ground in the snow. He immediately raised his hands above his head and gave a French military salute.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I'm just a hunter, I don't know anything!"

He was a man wearing an animal skin coat, and the various hunting tools he carried confirmed his identity.

"What's that smell? It stinks!"

His body reeked of a pungent, fishy odor, causing the person in bed to cover their nose and back away.

"Yes, yes... it's a mixture of the smells of wild animal droppings and urine. Only in this way can we deceive those clever prey," the man quickly explained.

The jailer waved his hand, signaling him to stand up.

"It's so late, and you're still hunting in the snow-covered mountains?"

Uh... the jailer guy has a bit of a "Master, what do you do for a living?" vibe to him.

The man stood there dumbfounded for a long while before finally nodding.

"Hunting so late?" The jailer realized he'd asked an awkward question and quickly followed up.

"Most of the prey that fetches a good price in the snowfields are nocturnal, so skilled hunters are nocturnal."

Jiang Heyi cut to the chase: "Do you know about that major event that happened in the business world?"

"The caravan disappeared, right?" The man had obviously heard this before and nodded immediately. He glanced at everyone present. "You were sent by those people to look for clues, weren't you?"

"You know quite a lot."

"I was actually one of the witnesses at the time..."

Everyone was taken aback; what a coincidence!

Where was it witnessed?

“It was a long distance outside the border. I was on the mountain at the time, and I saw a caravan passing by at the foot of the mountain. They were in a hurry.”

Hunters frequently visited the settlements along the trade routes. In such large caravans, there were always people who loved wild game, and they could earn a considerable amount of extra money. Men were among them.

"Did you see any familiar faces in the caravan?" Fries asked.

The man shook his head: "The temperature suddenly dropped that night, and everyone in the caravan wrapped their heads up tightly."

Jiang Heyi glanced at the fries: "What are you suspecting?"

French fries didn't answer, and continued to ask the man, "Someone in the team uses something like..."

At her signal, the four Primals cast a fire ring spell on the man, the warm feeling making him feel comfortable all over.

He couldn't help but look down and admire the bright ring of fire surrounding him.

Does anyone use this kind of magic?

The man closed his eyes and pondered for a long time: "Come to think of it... I have seen them before, but that night, there were none in the entire caravan."

Jiang Heyi frowned; he sensed something was amiss.

Can you confirm this?

“My eyesight is excellent.” The man pointed to the trade route at the foot of the mountain. “At this distance, I can accurately spot even a mouse that slips by. This is an essential skill for a hunter.”

While the others were still confused, Jiang Heyi and French Fries had already sensed a possibility.

He remained calm and asked the man if he believed in demons and the mysterious snow.

The man scratched his head: "My parents' generation was more credulous, but as for us nowadays... to be honest, I've been hunting for almost 20 years and I've never seen the scenes they described even once."

"If it's truly a matter of belief and non-belief, then I'd still rather believe in the Mother Goddess of Resurrection... their followers even send us food." The man smiled. "If you believe, you will have it." The Mother Goddess of Resurrection is a powerful deity with considerable influence among the complex religious beliefs of the Anna Empire.

The way the believers spread their faith in Saion is exceptionally simple: they simply deliver grain, rice, and oil.

Through centuries of subtle proselytizing, the Saion have gradually shifted from a local belief system to a revived Mother Goddess system. Only a few stubborn old Saion people insist that their descendants continue to worship the Snow Mountain Spirit, the Ghost Snow, and the Demon.

Clearly, compared to the mountain spirits that never manifest themselves or deliver food or oil, the miracles sown by the agents of the resurrected Mother Goddess on earth are purer and more direct.

Once the hunter left, Mint realized what had happened.

"Yes, that's a good idea."

"No, what do you all understand? I don't understand anything!" The jailer scratched his head. "Hurry up and tell me."

"Sight reports indicate that they vanished into thin air near an ambiguous area on the Imperial border, and the investigation is also focused on this area..."

Jiang Heyi paused for a moment: "Is it possible that the caravan didn't disappear here at all?"

A word to awaken the dreamer.

“They were already taken care of elsewhere!” Blanket clapped his hands. “Yes, as long as they create the illusion that a caravan has arrived here, they will have plenty of time to move the goods and clean up the scene.”

As everyone pieced together the information, Mint suddenly felt a little nervous.

Her intuition told her that something was wrong.

They intercepted caravans of nobles like Narum and organized caravans of similar size to disguise themselves.

The rumors about the mysterious snow and evil spirits were most likely orchestrated by them to create chaos and distract attention.

These methods are not something ordinary people can organize.

This was not a simple accident at all; every clue pointed to a conspiracy.

Intrigue and power struggles among nobles?
Or something else?
Whatever it may be, she cannot allow the boundary between reality and illusion to get involved.

This is not the Temple of the Clarity, where one can think of disengaging and escaping unscathed when faced with danger.

Once you're hooked, there will be no peace!

She didn't want the stardust anymore; compared to the children's safety, it was nothing.

She was about to speak to Jiang Heyi when a loud bang shattered the silence.

Like a thunderclap, a muffled sound came from afar, and the snow beneath their feet trembled incessantly at the boundary between reality and illusion.

"avalanche!"

I watched in horror as the snow slid down the ridge in slabs, pushing and engulfing the surrounding snow as it cascaded down like a tsunami.

They'd seen plenty of monsters, but this was the first time they'd ever experienced a natural disaster.

It's unrealistic to outrun an avalanche; everyone prepares for the impact.

Anyway, it's time to go offline, and the death penalty is torturous because you're suddenly interrupted from continuous gameplay.

"Mint, teleport away!"

"What do you do?"

"We have a way!"

As he spoke, Jiang Heyi took out the Mint Starry Sky Jade and pressed her hand down to force her to disengage from combat.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Mint left.

“You are being watched.”

Orange Tea raised her hand to summon the spirit, and as the ritual was about to take shape, a voice entered her mind.

“You are being watched.”

The ethereal voice rang out once more.

After choosing a Spirit Summoner, [Unknown Revelation] will be able to hear more types of sounds, and the Spirit Summoner may also hear special sounds.

"Orange Tea, come here!"

Seeing that she was still in a daze, Zhong Zemo pulled her into the barrier that everyone had built with magic.

Just as the avalanche was about to strike, she warned, "The avalanche was caused by humans!"

With a deafening roar, a white tsunami engulfed the seven tiny people.

The overwhelmingly realistic experience of the disaster made Orange Tea shout as soon as she woke up, "Someone triggered the avalanche! Someone is plotting against us!"

Even the fries and the blankets still evoke lingering fear.

The overwhelming power of the heavens poured down, and the ever-expanding whiteness in our field of vision was suffocating.

Even a powerful mage like her, who used all her abilities, perished on the spot.

Thankfully it's just a game...

The plain fries paused for a moment, then let out a long sigh of relief.

"That group is still active near the Screamer Snow Mountain, which means..."

Jiang Heyi was deep in thought in his room.

"Has so much time passed and they still haven't cleaned up the scene?"

(End of this chapter)