Hearing Jiang Baimian's answer, Shang Jianyao regretfully withdrew his gaze.
Thankfully, thankfully, he didn't insist on his own way this time... Long Yuehong quietly breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.
In fact, he also knew that Shang Jianyao listened to reason and followed arrangements most of the time.
At this moment, Wang Fugui, seeing that Jiang Baimian was still staring at those several rotting corpses that were either blurred or fragmented, couldn't help but raise his hand to shield his nose and said:
"Will there be any clues on them?"
"Not sure," Jiang Baimian replied casually. "The main thing is that we don't have a camera to take pictures right now. I have to remember all the details and do further analysis later."
At this moment, there was no time or conditions for her to do an in-depth autopsy.
Jiang Baimian immediately put on gloves and, together with Bai Chen, quickly examined the condition of the corpses and the items they carried, to see if they could find any valuable information.
Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong kept an eye on Wang Fugui and the others, while also being wary of their surroundings, in case of attack.
During this process, Long Yuehong smelled the disgusting stench of corpses and inexplicably felt like he had entered a ghost story:
Those relic hunters were "charmed" by the white wolf and brought into the city ruins at the other end of the cave, and then jumped to their deaths one after another!
This was both strange and mysterious, and terrifying.
And this was just a portion of the people who had been brought here by the white wolf... What about the others? What was their situation now? Long Yuehong looked around warily, feeling that the desolate, quiet, and green-plant-covered city square seemed to be brewing something unknown.
The unknown often represents terror.
Jiang Baimian didn't waste too much time and quickly completed the preliminary autopsy.
She took off her gloves, put them in a special plastic bag, and said:
"From what I can see, they definitely died from falling, but it's impossible to know if there were any changes in their mental or physical states before they jumped. Alas, there's no way to do a detailed autopsy here."
She even knows autopsy... Wang Fugui was stunned for a moment.
As far as he was concerned, even the term "autopsy" was something he learned from some Old World books he found while exploring other ruins.
Of course, as relic hunters, they also encountered corpses in their daily adventures, examining traces and judging the cause of death, but these were all very superficial and had not formed a systematic science, relying purely on experience. Therefore, they could only confirm whether the target died from guns, sharp weapons, or beasts, whether they died after fierce battles, or whether they were ambushed from behind.
As for the items found on the corpses, Jiang Baimian collected them all, preparing to study them carefully later.
Weter and the others did not stop them, nor did they try to get a share, after all, most of the missing relic hunters and wasteland wanderers lived a miserable life, and the valuable things on them were either weapons or organs.
"Their guns are gone," Wang Fugui stated the obvious fact.
"Before entering the city ruins, they were disarmed by the white wolf, or did they leave their weapons somewhere before committing suicide by jumping off the building?" Jiang Baimian looked up at the towering, majestic black building.
She exhaled slowly and said:
"Let's not go in. Let's walk around and see if there are any clues."
"Okay," Weter responded first.
He, who just wanted to make a fortune, echoed Jiang Baimian faster than Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen, the three members of the "Old Task Force."
This gave Long Yuehong a feeling of kinship.
Gray and Fals also did not have to look for Old World secrets. They hesitated slightly before expressing their support.
For them, searching for Old World secrets was for the sake of making money and exchanging for needed supplies. Now that there were other ways and means to harvest valuable items, there was no need to force themselves to take risks.
With the exception of a very few, most humans choose whatever is easy and safe, of course, provided that the wealth acquired by those options is not much different in current cognition.
"Okay," Wang Fugui took his eyes off the black building.
The two teams immediately bypassed this place and walked to the side.
"Caw! Caw! Caw!"
A crow flew across the sky, stirring up a chorus of birdsong.
"It seems that there are creatures here," Shang Jianyao said with a disappointed expression.
In this environment, the sound of a crow is more terrifying than no sound at all... Long Yuehong retorted in his heart.
As they walked, Jiang Baimian suddenly stopped.
Following her gaze, Bai Chen saw a pair of roughly made, crude-style leather shoes.
The shoes were covered with dirt and dried rainwater stains on the surface.
Compared to the shoes on the feet of some nearby corpses, it seemed very "new."
Long Yuehong slowly raised his eyes and looked at the air above the leather shoes.
Then, he saw a highly decomposed corpse with its tongue sticking out, swaying gently with the breeze on the roadside tree.
The corpse had one foot bare and the other foot in a leather shoe.
The leather shoe was the same style as the one on the ground.
Wang Fugui's expression slightly froze, and he said in a deep voice:
"The leather used for this shoe is from a distorted creature, definitely not from before the Old World was destroyed."
What he meant was that the corpse hanging on the roadside tree belonged to one of the missing relic hunters or wasteland wanderers.
Over there, people committed suicide by jumping off buildings, and here, people committed suicide by hanging themselves? Long Yuehong only felt a chill rush out of his heart.
Jiang Baimian nodded slowly, indicating that it seemed to be the case.
Shang Jianyao then asked curiously:
"What kind of distorted creature is it?"
"I don't know what the major factions call it. Anyway, it's a distorted electric eel. Its epidermis is closer to that of a snake, and it looks like a giant python, while retaining the ability to release high-voltage electricity. It goes very well with environments like lakes and rivers, and is called the 'Dragon King' by many Ashlands-blooded wanderers. Some people even worship them and give them offerings," Wang Fugui introduced simply. "The smaller ones among them are not that difficult to kill."
When he said this, he didn't associate this distorted creature with Jiang Baimian's special ability at all.
In his mind, that should be a hidden, special discharge device.
After Shang Jianyao got the answer, he looked up at the roadside tree:
"Should we take it down?"
"We can try," Jiang Baimian nodded gently.
Shang Jianyao put on gloves and volunteered. The four hunters from Wang Fugui's team, plus Long Yuehong, looked wary, as if afraid of a zombie transformation or some other terrifying thing.
Soon, the corpse was placed on the ground, and Jiang Baimian began to do a simple examination.
Weter and the others took the opportunity to search the surrounding vehicles and bones, looking for valuable items.
"He was hanged," Jiang Baimian stood up after a while.
Seeing this, Shang Jianyao dragged over an old-world plastic rain shelter that had fallen on the street and covered it on the corpse.
"You're quite..." Wang Fugui didn't know how to describe it for a moment.
"Normal?" Shang Jianyao self-evaluated.
"..." Wang Fugui couldn't answer.
After collecting some supplies, the two teams turned into a nearby residential area.
This was the closest residential area to the black building.
"I wonder if any of the people working in that building live here..." Jiang Baimian whispered to the team members.
Shang Jianyao shook his head with a heavy expression:
"According to the information presented in various Old World entertainment materials, the housing prices in the core urban area are unaffordable for ordinary employees."
"Those who can afford it are all high-level people, which are more valuable," Jiang Baimian nodded. "There is also the possibility of renting. Living near the workplace is very convenient."
As they spoke, they entered the residential area carefully with their weapons.
Although they hadn't encountered any danger yet, the strangeness here had made the air tense.
As soon as they passed through the entrance, the eyes of the eight people simultaneously turned to the landscape pond in front of them.
A corpse was floating there, swollen, rotten, and whitened by the water.
"One of those people who were brought here by the white wolf?" Having the previous experience, Long Yuehong directly made a guess.
Did this person drown himself in the landscape pond?
Did those people who were brought into the Wasteland 13 Ruins by the white wolf commit suicide in various ways in different places in the city ruins?
Hiss... Long Yuehong heard Weter gasp.
Frankly speaking, he almost did the same, but he was a little slow.
The weirdness of this matter was about to exceed his psychological endurance.
Wang Fugui stared for a moment and said:
"I'm really afraid that if I stay here for too long, I will commit suicide for no reason like them..."
"It's possible," Jiang Baimian replied seriously.
Weter's pupils dilated slightly, and he said urgently:
"Should we go back?
"Collect some more supplies and books along the way."
He had already obtained quite a lot of items and no longer had the motivation to persevere.
Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen, and weighed the matter before saying:
"Okay."
The level of strangeness was a little beyond her imagination. She felt that it was better to be cautious.
Except for Shang Jianyao, who was slightly regretful, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen both expressed their approval.
Seeing this, Gray and Fals obviously breathed a sigh of relief.
In the current situation, normal humans are unwilling to stay any longer, let alone the experienced them.
As an Ashlands saying goes: The older the Jianghu, the smaller the courage.
Just then, perhaps a few hundred meters away, or even further, a sound came:
"Awoo!"
This was a standard wolf howl, not as terrifying as the monster roar in the No. 1 Swamp Ruins.
"That white wolf?" Shang Jianyao opened his mouth excitedly.
Wang Fugui pondered for a few seconds:
"Should we catch it by the way?"
This was an exceptionally well-paid mission, and also the purpose of Wang Fugui and the other solo hunters and the "Old Task Force" coming to the Northern Banks Mountains.
Before Jiang Baimian could respond, Shang Jianyao said with a troubled expression:
"I'm afraid its owner will be angry."
Owner... Right, the white giant wolf brought so many people in here. If it wasn't for itself, then it should be serving some existence... Long Yuehong's heart skipped a beat, and he instantly began to imagine things.
And in this Wasteland 13 Ruins, the only known being who could be the white wolf's owner is:
Wu Meng.