Traces

The group lead by Darius started sweeping through the mountain as they came across similar scenes.

Dead bodies lay on the ground in each location they came across and each body displayed similar patterns to the ones he had witnessed previously.

Not everyone suffered completely fatal wounds that were deep enough to kill them yet they still lay there dead.

There were traces of blood loss and the blood staining the ground beneath them yet there was not a large amount of it that could contribute to all of their deaths.

It was like those that had died in such ways had died very quickly and their wounds froze up within a short time preventing any more blood from spilling out around them.

What it suggested was that there was possibly a strong individual who had taken action on the mountain which could kill using internal attacks or something like poison that could kill quickly and painfully.

There were some bodies he later came across that had their wounds frozen too but he unable to tell the difference between them and the others due to the bodies being left for too long.

The environment made it far more difficult for him to investigate any deeper beyond a couple of quick observations that were obscured by the snow storm.

If he had the time to investigate each body using his Qi then he may have been able to faintly feel the cold energies that still lingered within the dead bodies before they started to dissipate.

By the time they had the time to investigate the bodies, many of the traces left behind would have disappeared.

If they did intend to do that, it still required moving the bodies off the mountain to provide a better environment to do so.

The longer they left the bodies out in the current environment, the more the bodies would be difficult to gain information from.

Despite the fact that they were lessening the chances to investigate the bodies, Darius continued to lead his forces around the mountain.

Meanwhile in another location not too far away from where his forces were moving towards, there was a small group of people who had cautiously wandered around the mountain with their weapons readied for combat.

They spotted some figures moving closer through the snow storm and started seeing them more clearly once they got closer.

Upon seeing the three figures and confirming that none were related to them and that they were women, one man raised his voice in a gentler tone. "Hey girls. You must have got lost up here. Do not worry. We are here to help."

He looked towards the other two people at his side giving them a look that conveyed his plan of action so they followed up by lowering their weapons and hiding them behind their backs to look less of a threat to the approaching girls.

One of the girls had a soft voice that trembled as she spoke. "Please.. please save us. Thank you.. we are so glad you found us."

The man felt more confident that the three girls were harmless and that they had gotten lost during the chaos.

He then caught a glimpse of their figures and some features that stood out on their faces that was not completely covered so he thought to himself. 'Such delicate and beautiful.. hehe..'

He already had the intention to capture them and make use of them even if he had to use them as hostages.

The girls did not look like they had been raised in a harsh environment and wore higher quality clothes so it was clear that they were from one of the noble families or were important in some way.

Even if he did briefly have some other ideas come to mind, he knew that survival came first and that the girls may prove useful towards that.

He had not heard from the other teams and he was among the few that witnessed the massacre at the bottom of the mountain take place before he fled to his current position with his current small team.

Since the girls were getting closer to him and were already within a short distance to catch them with ease, he looked towards his allies once again as they started to walk towards the girls.

His gentle smile shifted to a sinister and confident one as he narrowed the distance enough to be within reaching distance of the girls if he raised his weapon towards them.

The weapons were pulled out from behind their backs which were about to be aimed at their throats in a threatening manner until there was a sudden clang. "Now girls.. do me a favour and.."

It seemed like the three girls had a similar idea to them and they struck just in time to knock their weapons away. "huh?"

In that single moment, the three of them were left surprised and unguarded enough to allow for the swords of the three females to pierce through their chests. "Ack.."

They were deeply shocked and looked towards their chests then back up into the faces of the females who had harmed them. "You.."

The blades twisted inside them causing them more pain before they were removed causing them to drop down to the ground.

Just as they were feeling their lives slowly slipping away, they each saw the faint shadow of one of the females above them which raised their blade over their heads before bringing it down repeatedly onto their body ending their life.