Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 951 - 944: Eerie Corpse

Chapter 951: Chapter 944: Eerie Corpse

"Luo’er, let me come along tomorrow, and bring Feng with us," Cheng Ziang pondered for a moment, then stepped forward and said, "Since Fula can sense something’s off, I think Feng, with her broader range of senses, must also be able to detect the abnormalities."

"You..." Luo’er looked at him, hesitating as if wanting to say more.

"Last time, you left me behind and went with the others. By rights, it should be me leading the team this time," Cheng Ziang stated firmly.

"There’s no need to argue about this," Luo’er offered a bitter smile, then nodded and said, "Fine then, I’ll make some arrangements tomorrow, and you’ll go with us."

"That’s more like it." Cheng Ziang nodded, satisfied.

"So boss, I..." Realizing something was amiss, Hu Daoke pointed to himself and asked hesitantly.

"Hmm, you stay outside on lookout; we’ll go in," Luo’er nodded in response.

"No problem, boss!" Hu Daoke replied cheerfully, much to Luo’er’s arrangement, while secretly breathing a sigh of relief.

"Hey, are you afraid of ghosts or what?" Cheng Ziang tilted his head and asked him curiously.

"Scared my ass, I’m supposed to cover for you guys," Hu Daoke snorted in reply.

"If you’re scared, just say it; no big deal, I won’t laugh at you," Cheng Ziang teased, winking.

"Hmph, I trust you!" Hu Daoke rolled his eyes.

Soon after, Fulajie’er flew back and appeared before everyone. According to her reconnaissance, there were hardly any people around, and the camp looked lifeless. Fulajie’er didn’t dare approach it at all.

Luo’er assigned Fulajie’er to stand watch during the night while everyone else rested, conserving their energy for the next day’s exploration.

After a night’s rest, the time came to ten o’clock the following morning. By now, the Advance Team was fully assembled and ready to set out.

Luo’er led his team to the high ground they had used before to observe the camp, where he briefly outlined the members preparing to depart for the exploration.

First off, Hu Daoke and Baiyue were excluded. Baiyue’s wounds from last time hadn’t completely healed, so Luo’er decided not to include her in the exploration. Instead, she was to join Hu Daoke as a sniper duo to stay behind and observe from the high ground.

As for Eve, Luo’er asked her to stay on guard at the camp and issued her a gun so that she could fire a warning if she encountered any danger.

Speaking of which, their primary reason for coming to the Snow Domain was Eve; but after meeting Axia, almost all the tomb exploration work was undertaken by her, leaving Eve out of the loop, which made Luo’er feel somewhat guilty toward Eve.

Of course, this was also Axia’s preference. Rather than letting Eve face danger, she was more willing to take action herself to keep her niece safe.

The key members of the mission were Luo’er leading, along with Tangmo, Cheng Ziang, and Axia. Feng was mainly included as a supplement to their combat strength, so in case they encountered anything they couldn’t deal with, Feng could step in. Last time, if it hadn’t been for Feng and Fulajie’er, that metal puppet would have probably wiped out the Advance Team long ago.

Fulajie’er was still the support for the mission, but she had to look after both the exploration team and the camp situation. It was unlikely she could accompany them through the entire mission like last time.

Once the members were confirmed, Baiyue and Hu Daoke each picked out a position, readying the machine gun and sniper rifle to provide cover for the exploration team.

To be extra cautious, Hu Daoke even set up the Browning automatic rifle. Although it was a bit unwieldy, it was reliable—merely looking at it provided a sense of security.

With the plan set, the group descended from the high ground, approaching the somber camp with extreme caution. Fulajie’er manifested beside Luo’er, ready to provide magical support to the exploration team at any time.

The flat river bank was dotted with tents of varying sizes, and judging by the material, they were synthetic products from Earth. Luo’er, leading the way, moved toward the tents with his gun at the ready.

The camp was eerily quiet, and the atmosphere was oppressively tense, causing Luo’er to take a deep breath, feeling almost suffocated.

"Feng, do you feel anything?" After taking a few deep breaths, Luo’er turned and asked Feng beside him.

Just to be on the safe side, Luo’er had Feng walk in the front alongside him. With her wide-ranging sensory field, she could detect things beyond their perception.

"There are no signs of life nearby, but there’s an oppressive feeling," Feng shook his head, frowning as he replied.

"Are you certain?" Luo’er asked.

"Mhm!" Feng nodded firmly.

"Good." Hearing her response, Luo’er relaxed slightly. His nervousness was mainly due to the fear of an ambush nearby, and since Feng also said there was no one, it meant there really was no one.

As for the so-called "ghosts," frankly, Luo’er found it hard to believe in them, and even harder to feel fear towards such things.

After breathing a sigh of relief, Luo’er felt noticeably more relaxed. He approached the entrance of an open tent, looked back at Feng, and then charged in with his gun raised.

But quickly, Luo’er hurried out with frantic steps, nearly falling to the ground. He stared fixedly inside the tent, his face turning an ugly shade as his chest heaved rapidly—he was clearly terrified.

"What’s wrong?" Noticing Luo’er’s abnormal behavior, Cheng Ziang stepped forward and asked.

"Dead bodies!" Luo’er swallowed a bit of saliva and then pointed inside the tent as he spoke.

Cheng Ziang came over and looked in the direction Luo’er pointed. Inside the tent lay two bodies with hideous expressions.

Their postures were bizarre, with their already stiff bodies twisted oddly and their facial expressions were incredibly horrifying. The two people had their eyes wide open, mouths exaggeratedly agape, as if they had died with their eyes unshut.

Seeing this, Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but inhale sharply, then he exchanged a somewhat guilty look with Luo’er.

Although these people were their enemies, and they had fought a battle a few days ago, suddenly seeing their corpses still delivered a considerable shock to their minds.

"Momo and Aunt Axia stay outside; Ziang and I will go in," Luo’er said, his emotions somewhat steadied as he turned his head to give the order.

"Oh..." Tangmo nodded absently, seeming to be quite frightened by the bodies inside the tent.

"I’m going in with you." But Axia negated Luo’er’s arrangement.

"But..." Luo’er hesitated.

"Don’t worry, I’ve seen this kind of thing before, don’t forget that I took part in the Prophetic War. How could I be afraid of dead bodies," Axia waved her hand dismissively and then continued seriously, "I want to see if these people died the same way as that elder. If so, then we can almost certainly pin it on that ’ghost’ culprit."

Hearing her, Luo’er and Cheng Ziang exchanged glances, then nodded in agreement. Luo’er spoke up, "Alright, Feng and Momo stay outside, the rest follow me in."

Before going in, Luo’er seemed to have thought of something and then turned his head to Fulajie’er, "Fula, you don’t go in. Circle around outside on guard, and help us keep watch."

"Oh," Fulajie’er nodded in relief, her head slightly lowered as she said with some shame, "Sorry, sorry..."

"Why apologize again..." Luo’er said with a smile, shaking his head, and then quickly straightened his face, bending down to enter the tent with Cheng Ziang.

The space inside the tent wasn’t large, so the three of them had to crouch to observe. The two twisted bodies in front of them were entangled, their faces frozen with expressions of terror—it was clear they had encountered something dreadful before death.

Crouching in front of the two bodies, Cheng Ziang closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then brought his hands together in a prayer gesture.

After that, he took out a bottle of medical alcohol from his backpack and handed it to Luo’er, then removed his gloves. Seeing his actions, Luo’er nodded understandingly, tucked the alcohol bottle close to his body to slightly warm it with his body temperature.

"What are you planning to do?" Seeing their movements, Axia sensed something was amiss and hurriedly asked.

"What else but an autopsy, to ascertain the cause of these people’s deaths," Cheng Ziang replied nonchalantly.

"Didn’t you say they were killed by a ghost?" Axia frowned, sounding skeptical.

"That’s just a guess; evidence will tell us the truth," Cheng Ziang replied, rolling up his sleeves slightly.