Demon Hunter: I have a red gourd

Chapter 55 Mystery
After bandaging his wound, Roche walked to Ivan with a gloomy face. When his eyes fell on the corpse on the ground, his face turned ashen in an instant, and anger surged in his eyes like a surging tide.

He spat fiercely on the ground, and the anger that had been suppressed for a long time finally erupted:
"Look at this arrow, a typical elf work. Only they and those Southerners would use these elm shafts with goshawk tail feathers!"

"These damned Squirrel Gang are simply beasts. Not only do they rob food and money, they even kill these innocent villagers!" Roche's voice trembled slightly with anger.

"What on earth do they want to do? Our King of Temeria is not like Henselt, who has never shown discrimination against non-human races. Why are they doing this? They even spare the elderly and children. They are provoking a war between all human and non-human races!"

The massacre of innocent civilians was a crime that Roche, who was loyal to Temeria, could never tolerate. He had never imagined that the land he loved so much would one day suffer such a cruel atrocity. Shock and anger gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake.

Philip had collected the evil spirit dust on the ground as Ivan had instructed and handed him a tightly tied small bag.

Then, he took out a few thick and fluffy tails from another bag and handed them to Roche.

"Sir, we found this on the notice board in the middle of the village. It had a dagger stuck into it. It looked like the tail of some animal."

"Squirrel tails." Roche narrowed his eyes, a cold glint in them. "Those inhuman races are called the Scoia'tael, and squirrel tails are their symbol. Leaving these tails here is a provocation to us."

After committing a crime, they still leave a mark on the spot? Do these elves and dwarves think they are Wu Song? After killing someone, they dip their machetes in blood and write on the wall, "The murderer is Wu Song, the tiger-slayer!"

Ivan stood up, lost in thought.

"Roche, how did you determine that the Scoia'tael were responsible for the tragedy in this village? Have your spies seen any trace of them in Temeria?"

"Ivan, you may not understand the evil deeds of this emerging organization, but I know it very well." Roche's face became increasingly gloomy.

"When they first appeared and became active in Kaedwen, they were noticed by my spies there."

"After numerous covert investigations into their abandoned strongholds, we've long since determined that this organization uses a squirrel's tail as its symbol, and the arrows they use are all elm shafts paired with goshawk tail feathers."

"Initially, their actions were quite restrained. They only chose to rob passing caravans and military supply transport vehicles. They rarely killed people, but only stole their gold, weapons, and food."

"But as the organization grew, their behavior became more lawless and the scope of their activities became wider."

"'Drive humans back into the sea!' became their slogan, and these inhuman races turned their weapons on innocent people, even the elderly and children."

"And now, at the border of Temeria and Kaedwen, their customary feathered arrows and the symbol of their organization have appeared simultaneously. How else could this be explained other than their expansion into Temeria?" "As for whether any spies saw the Scoia'tael arrive here, no one has." Roche shook his head. "The Scoia'tael are very quick, operating in groups of twelve. After achieving their goal, they quickly retreat, so no one has witnessed them in action."

"I see." Ivan nodded and pointed to the small wound on the corpse's neck. "What do you think about this wound?"

Roche frowned. His eyesight wasn't as sharp as Ivan's, so he could only lean over and get a closer look. "This wound." He paused, as if gathering his thoughts, and after a moment, he slowly spoke:
"This seems to indicate that these Scoia'tael have a habit of cleaning up the battlefield, making sure every enemy is completely dead before leaving."

"This shows that this organization is developing into a regular military, and its discipline is approaching that of a professional army. Their future actions may pose a greater threat to us. It seems that we in Temeria need to mobilize more forces to strike against them. If possible, we should also unite with Kaedwen to completely wipe them out."

"So what do you think caused this man's death, the arrow in his forehead or the wound on his neck?" Ivan continued to ask.

"Of course it was a feather arrow. Judging from the depth of the wound, this person must have been shot in the forehead by an archer from a distance, killing him instantly."

"Since we can easily determine that this arrow is fatal, why would the Scoia'tael bother to finish it off?"

"Perhaps this indicates a strong sense of discipline within this organization? Or is this a form of ritual execution used by the Inhuman race?" Roche stood up and looked Ivan in the eye. "Ivan, if you have anything to say, just speak up. You're an expert in this area, and your thoughts are surely deeper than mine."

"I'm not an expert yet, but my teacher taught me a little bit about wound identification." Ivan looked at Weiss, who had been standing quietly beside them. "Could you please shoot an animal with a bow and arrow and bring it here? I want to give you a direct comparison of the wounds."

Weiss deftly took off the longbow from her back, placed her slender fingers lightly on the tail end of the arrow feather, and slowly pulled the bowstring.

Her eyes were fixed on a hare foraging in the grass not far away. She loosened her fingers, and with a "whoosh", the arrow flew out like lightning and hit the hare's chest accurately.

The hare fell straight to the ground on the grass without making a sound. Philip quickly stepped forward, bent down and picked up the hare's body.

"Look at this wound." Ivan pointed at the feathered arrow deeply embedded in the rabbit's flesh. "The wound is sharp and neat, roughly a semicircular shape. This is how a wound caused by a high-speed arrow should be. The arrowhead is like a sharp blade. Because of its high speed, it will directly cut through the animal's tissue as it moves forward, so the wound must be regular."

"Looking at the wound on the corpse, the surrounding flesh has been torn, forming a star-shaped pattern. Furthermore, his skin and subcutaneous tissue show signs of compression, and a circle of contusions and bruises surrounds the wound. This indicates that the arrow that struck his forehead entered at a slow speed, at least much slower than an arrow shot from a longbow."

"You mean, this feather arrow wasn't shot with a bow, but was thrust in by someone with bare hands?" Weiss, who was proficient in archery, was the first to react, with a hint of disbelief in her tone.

(End of this chapter)