Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 649 - 13 Chasing_1

Chapter 649: Chapter 13 Chasing_1

"Woof woof woof, woof woof woof," the resounding barks merged into one, as three sleds whizzed across the vast snowfield. The snow sled’s blade left neat marks on the smooth snow, stretching from the distance. All three sleds were of medium size, pulled by twelve giant white dogs arranged in three rows. Each sled could accommodate one driver and two passengers, with the driver standing in front to control the sled while the two passengers sat facing each other in the rear. The three sleds carried a total of nine passengers, heading towards Snowy Village on the snowfield, searching for two missing young people who had run away from home.

Apart from the large metal claws serving as brakes, the sleds were built entirely from wood. The sled’s carriage was lined with thick fur for warm and comfortable seating. In front of each sled, twelve giant dogs ran wildly in three rows. The leading two were the strongest leaders, the most powerful and respected in the dog pack. The rest followed in formation, with the discipline of an army. These giant dogs were Siberian huskies, bred over thousands of years by residents of the snowfield. They were strong and robust, with long, wide paw pads that maximized contact area with the snow, preventing them from sinking during their run. Usually, people of the snowfield used just four dogs for a small sled and six to eight dogs for a medium sled. Only a large sled would require all twelve Siberian huskies. Thus, thirty-six huskies could easily run in the snow, speeding the sleds up like the wind.

"It’s no use; it’s too hard to find any trace." The driver on the first sled shouted, "Yesterday’s blizzard has covered all traces and scents, making it impossible to discover a single clue. What should we do, Brother Dak?"

"We should just follow the road towards Snowy Village." The driver of the second sled was Old Dak. Despite his exhaustion, his concern for his daughter and future son-in-law kept him alert. He shouted back, "There are only a few routes from town to Snowy Village, and this is the safest one. We’ll keep following this road until we reach Snowy Village. Once we arrive, we’ll ask the locals if they’ve seen Betty and the others. If not, we’ll leave one sled to wait in the village while the other two continue searching along the other routes. We’re bound to locate them at some point."

"Won’t they change directions?" On the third sled, the driver was Pannis. His driving skills were notably less adept than the other two, but he managed to keep pace. This surprised not only the seasoned snowfield hunters, but even Catherine, who was accustomed to Pannis’s peculiar knowledge, found herself astonished. However, she remembered that Pannis had visited the snowfield in the past and naturally wouldn’t miss using such an obscure mode of transportation.

"Deviating is unlikely." Old Dak responded loudly, "They’re not familiar with the routes on the snowfield, and haphazardly changing routes is very risky. Neil is not foolish enough to take such a risk. Plus, they have no reason to change routes - they don’t know that Chester told us about their whereabouts, so they won’t make a sensitive move like changing routes."

"Moreover, deep down they aren’t genuinely scared of being caught, right?" Sitting behind Pannis, Catherine, with her arms around Ava, stated, "They should have a clear idea about Old Dak’s attitude towards them. Since they’ve run away, he won’t genuinely stop them from leaving. It’s not an issue if they were caught and brought back, right? Or to put it another way, I think they may have prepared for the possibility of being chased down. When I checked Neil’s house earlier, they didn’t seem to pack much, indicating that they won’t take a detour."

"Stop." Pannis suddenly stepped on the brake, causing the sled’s speed to reduce abruptly. The drivers of the sleds in front were taken aback, not realizing what had happened, they rushed forward another seventy or eighty meters before finally stopping. Pannis slowly approached them with his sled and asked curiously, "We’ve been out for two hours, right?"

"Almost two hours." Old Dak, looking at the sun, replied, "Why, did you find Betty?"

"Well, not exactly." Pannis shook his head, "But I found someone we knew. Odd to see him two hours away from town, very strange indeed."

"Someone we know?" Catherine asked in confusion, "Who could that be at this place? Uh, do you mean Mackervillain?"

"Indeed, it’s him. I wonder why he would come out, if it has anything to do with Betty and the others?" After some thought, Pannis steered his sled around, "Follow me. Let’s go ask him, maybe we can find some clues."

Nine people with thirty-six huskies slightly changed their direction on the snowfield and dashed diagonally forward. Shortly, they spotted two long tracks extending from the distance. Looking straight along the smooth lines on the ground, a small black spot at the end stood out against the pure white snowfield. Recognizing the incoming sleds, the black spot stopped and waited. Upon getting closer, they saw that it was indeed Mackervillain, the liaison from Dragon Worship Autonomous Prefecture.

"Oh, long time no see." Pannis greeted with a lazy smile from afar, "Didn’t expect you to come out for a breath of fresh air from your cave, that’s really surprising."

"Even a dragon occasionally leaves its nest." Mackervillain’s voice was slow and deep, just like most dragons, like a lullaby that soothes sleepiness. Of course, the dragon’s voice wasn’t hypnotic due to its volume, "We also like to take the occasional walk."

"Even if you venture out, there must be a reason behind it." Pannis had already slid next to Mackervillain, removing his large sunglasses to say, "You people, without a reason, might well sleep in the cave until the world collapses, wouldn’t you?"

The townspeople had also caught up by now, beholding the liaison officer who rarely appeared before them. He seemed utterly unaffected by the cold, wearing only a thin overcoat, his arms- tattooed like his shaved head with innumerable dragon symbols -were bare. It wasn’t clear whether his indifference to the cold was bestowed by his dragon faith, giving him the dragon-like ability to withstand the freezing cold. But he too sported large sunglasses. After all, even with Drake’s abilities, it was not possible to shield from the light emanating from the snowfield and damaging the eyes. With his feet on the long skis and poles in his hands, he listened to Pannis’s words without anger or laughter, as if he didn’t hear the mild teasing, he answered seriously, "Indeed, there is a reason. I sense several powerful snowfield wolves roaming about close to the town. It’s been a while since I hunted, so I thought of just stepping out."

"Pfft." Catherine in the back couldn’t help but laugh at the agent’s words- the attitude of worrying about the magical beasts attacking the small town, hence getting rid of the beasts but insisting on calling it hunting was too much for her to not laugh at. Looking back at the unsuspecting townsfolk, she muttered in a voice they couldn’t hear, "Surprisingly, the Dragon Worshipping tribe also has its moments of enthusiasm. I thought they’d all be like the Drakes, choosing an observant stance towards individual life and death."

Mackervillain turned away, his shining bald head glowing in the sun, "Actually, dragons do have emotions, and so do we. We know who genuinely cares for us. If it doesn’t affect us, it’s quite normal to give an appropriate response. I wanted to assist them one last time before I leave this place. As for you three, why are you accompanying four ordinary people and two lower rank hunters? Is something going on in town?"

"Two kids have run away from home." Catherine gave a brief explanation, "You must have been tracking the wolves for several hours, no? Have you come across them yet?"

"Haven’t encountered them." Mackervillain shook his head, "Dragon friend, the wolf pack is not far ahead. If you need, after trailing them, we can search for them together. After all, dragons have much keener perceptions of living beings compared to humans."

"However, your other senses are somewhat lacking." Pannis, looking ahead, spoke, "Didn’t you smell that?"

"What?" Mackervillain asked, "I didn’t smell anything. Is there a scent?"

"The rancid smell of a few magical beasts, as well as the scent of their prey’s blood." Pannis turned back to the townspeople and said, "Wait here. There seem to be seven or eight Silver Rank magical beasts; once we drive them away, you can proceed."

The three members of the adventure team hadn’t brought any skis, but with their legendary rank physical power, particularly as professionals of the legendary rank, they could manage to sprint a short distance in the waist-deep snow without getting stuck. The trio, running swiftly over the snow, were no slower than Mackervillain on his skis. After a short run, they could see a group of eight silver wolves at the edge of a coniferous forest, crouching over something and tearing at it. The scent of blood wasn’t strong- more than likely because of the extraordinarily cold temperature, the blood had frozen into ice.

However, Pannis and Catherine simultaneously furrowed their brows as they noticed ominous signs near the pack of wolves. Next to the eight snowfield magical wolves was a small two-person carriage with a significant amount of frozen blood around it, making the scene horrific and pits. At the pack’s center were the carcasses of two sledge deer, one of which was only left with bones, and the other half eaten. The feeding wolves, alerted by the noise, turned towards the direction of the approaching trio, issuing a threatening roar from within their throats.

"I kind of don’t know what to say to Old Dak now." Pannis said with a bitter smile.

Catherine, following Pannis’s gaze, sighed deeply, "Same here."

Where the two were looking, a delicate leg, a young woman’s leg, lay still. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to qidian.com to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets, your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)