Chapter 986: The Return of the Drowning Curse Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales Translated by XephiZ Edited by Aelryinth — — As the sea breeze swept past, the people could vaguely capture a strange scent from the giant skeleton lingering around the harbor. The harbor was currently crowded with people who had never seen anything like this. All kinds of scary rumors were spreading rapidly among the people, most likely going to spread throughout the streets of Tinuoaya City in no time. “It...it’s actually big, like, very big!” Zhao Manyan swallowed with wide eyes. They had already thought the white thing did not fit well in the little harbor when they were glancing down from the plane. However, when they actually landed, they realized how shocking the skeleton was when they arrived at the scene. “How did a creature of this level end up like this? The skeleton is well-preserved, yet not a single drop of blood or the smallest piece of flesh remains, let alone its organs!” Nanyu wondered. “Jiang Yu, go and see what creature is it,” Mo Fan asked seriously, nudged the demon creature expert. Zhao Manyan was left speechless. He exclaimed, “Aren’t you asking too much from him?” “It’s most likely a Coastal Mammoth. Its head and upper body resemble an ancient mammoth, but its lower body is like a whale. It normally resides deep in the ocean. It doesn’t like to bother humans, but many ferocious sea demons prefer to avoid this imperious creature, too. This thing has to eat more than ten sea monsters in a day to obtain enough energy for its body to function properly, and most of the time, it can swallow the sea monsters with a single bite... “They also have another nickname... Ship Destroyers! In the past, almost a hundred luxurious cruise liners have been destroyed by these creatures, even when they were packed with Mages, not to mention that the cruise liners were designed to survive against Commander-level creatures...” Jiang Yu explained, all in one breath. Mo Fan nodded. Meanwhile, Zhao Manyan almost dropped his jaw to the ground. Did Jiang Yu seriously manage to recognize the creature just by looking at the skeleton? Wasn’t his ability to identify creatures a bit too insane? Although there were not many creatures of this size in the ocean, it was still unbelievable! “This creature died less than two days ago,” Jiang Yu added. “Doesn’t a creature of this size need a long time to end up as just the skeleton? How is it possible that it only died less than two days ago?” Mo Fan said. “Look at the tusks... oh, those aren’t horns, they are tusks, similar to the tusks of an elephant. The tusks of these Coastal Mammoths are worth more than ten million each! They are used for crafting magic armor or Deathstrike Magic Equipment. The tusks have only started to turn black, and usually, these tusks will be completely black after a few days, like coal. Once they turn black, they no longer have any value,” Jiang Yu informed them. Mo Fan lifted his gaze and glanced at the tusks. It was just as Jiang Yu had said, the tusks had only started to turn black. “I still don’t understand, I know the ocean is vast, so it makes sense there are creatures stronger than a Coastal Mammoth, but this skeleton is perfectly preserved. It doesn’t seem like it was injured at all, and even if the creature that killed it was so strong that it killed the Coastal Mammoth with a single attack, where did its skin, flesh, organs, and blood go? Besides, aren’t bones supposed to be heavy? Why is the skeleton floating on the surface like a ship?” Nanyu wondered. “Aren’t you all busybodies? Let’s hurry up to the Training Hall. We can head on to our next destination once we are done with the challenge!” Obviously, no one could possibly explain the sight, including the Hunter Groups who had been around Tinuoaya City for many years. The residents of the city were terrified knowing that a giant skeleton had shown up at the port. A single Coastal Mammoth was enough to bring utter destruction to the city, let alone the demon hiding in the ocean that had killed it so easily! Fear was contagious. When the team reached the streets, they could hear everyone whispering to one another. They were all discussing the incident. It was likely that many news agencies had started drafting headlines for the following story... Mo Fan was a curious man. The visual impact of the skeleton was too strong to be ignored for him. Most importantly, how exactly did the Coastal Mammoth die? “Jiang Yu, do you have any rough idea how strong that Coastal Mammoth was?” Mo Fan inquired. “The weakest among them would be around the Commander-level, but the creature at the beach, it’s most likely close to the Ruler-level, judging from its teeth and size,” Jiang Yu replied. “Close...close to the Ruler-level... Jiang Yu, please don’t scare me!” Zhao Manyan shivered. If a creature that was almost as strong as a Ruler-level creature had died such a horrible death, wouldn’t that imply there was a real Ruler-level creature close to Tinuoaya City? And it was the kind that liked to drink the blood and eat the flesh of its prey! The team was not too bothered by the skeleton before Jiang Yu mentioned the level of the creature. However, their attitude completely changed, as they no longer felt safe even when they were in the city. “Let’s hurry up to the Training Hall and get on with the challenge. We’ll take the first flight and leave as soon as we’re done with it.” “...” —— Mo Fan was not interested in fighting Portugal’s Training Hall. He was actually more curious about the skeleton after listening to Jiang Yu’s explanation. “Just go if you want, we’ll handle the challenge,” Ai Jiangtu said helplessly when he saw the look in Mo Fan’s eyes. “Hehe, we’ll leave it in your hands then! Come, time to do some investigation!” “What investigation? It’s more like a ghost story.” Zhao Manyan was unwilling to go, but Mo Fan forcibly dragged him along. The adventurous Jiang Shaoxu tagged along with the group that was eager to find out the truth. To everyone’s surprise, Mu Ningxue, who was normally only interested in becoming stronger, decided to tag along, too! “Mo Fan, this simply means Mu Ningxue is the kind that only looks cold on the outside. She’s actually adventurous and a thrill-seeker on the inside. When you manage to push her down... oh, someday, she will surely push you down and let you have a taste of her wild nature!” Zhao Manyan was indeed a pervert, to actually come up with such a shameless interpretation from something so insignificant. “If she heard you, I wouldn’t be able to save your life even in my demon form,” replied Mo Fan. “Hehe...” Zhao Manyan laughed dryly. Mo Fan was actually surprised that Mu Ningxue was interested in the skeleton. But Mo Fan soon realized he was wrong. When the group was heading for the skeleton, Mu Ningxue took another path and disappeared into the alleyways. The alleyways in the city were stacked up like a maze. Mo Fan did not notice where Mu Ningxue went, so he had no choice but to proceed on his way. — Mu Ningxue walked through the alleyways. The sound of her wooden-heeled shoes on the ground echoed on the narrow paths. She eventually reached a stone bridge, leading to an area filled with fine houses on the other end. Below the bridge was a shallow beach, the water slowly rising, turning the sandy area into a little stream... The other side of the bridge was a seemingly dirty, narrow beach. The view of the ocean was blocked off by the surrounding estates. Only a small corner of it was visible. The sea breeze that had lost its way in such a complicated layout blew Mu Ningxue’s disheveled hair back, revealing her beautiful face... “It’s already the third one this month.” An old man smoking on the bridge let out a heavy sigh while staring at a black bag on the narrow beach. There was someone on the narrow beach. It was a Fire Mage in a red outfit, with logs stacked up high in front of him. On the logs laid something covered in a black bag. Another person opened the bag, revealing a properly-dressed, yet lifeless body inside. The body was lying still on the wooden stand. The Fire Mage completed a Star Orbit and ignited the logs with a gold-tinged flame. The logs were set aflame instantly, devouring the young man lying on them. Mu Ningxue was startled when she saw the fire. -A cremation? Why are they cremating a body on the beach?- This kind of cremation was only conducted for people that died of some kind of disease. Could this beautiful city be plagued with a deadly disease? Mu Ningxue went up to the old man and asked, “Elder, what did you just say?” The old man was speaking in English. They were many different nationalities in Tinuoaya City, thus most people would converse in English. “It’s already the third cremation this month,” replied the old man. “Did he die of some sickness?” Mu Ningxue asked. “People wouldn’t be so scared if it was only a sickness,” said the old man. “Why is that?” “It’s better if you don’t ask any further. You will have a nightmare if you know what happened,” the old man shook his head. “I want to know.” The old man looked at the fire for quite some time, as if he was waiting for the fire to burn the corpse into ashes. Some time later, the old man finally spoke, “Instead of saying he died of sickness, it’s more suitable to say it’s a suicide. No, that’s not it, it’s a curse... because every single one of them was running crazily to the water and drowned themselves in it...” Mu Ningxue frowned and asked seriously, “Did you see it?” “Yeah, I saw it. If I was to count every incident that I saw, there aren’t just three of them.” Mu Ningxue’s heart sank instantly. She had only come here because she heard a few women discussing it along the way. Mu Ningxue initially thought they were discussing the skeleton, yet when she listened to them closely, she immediately recalled the strange incident she had stumbled into in Japan! The Drowning Curse! 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶 Back then, Mu Ningxue had personally witnessed a woman running at the sea in a crazy manner, and she drowned in the water in just a brief moment! Now, she had witnessed the same kind of death, at a seashore city in Portugal on the other side of the Earth from Japan! The sea breeze blew on Mu Ningxue’s face again. A strange chill immediately swept across her skin...