The Black Knight and the Red Princess, you son of a bitch.

Xiao Cheng couldn't help but imagine Fang He wearing a princess dress for a moment, then her eyelids twitched suddenly, and she quickly shook her head to shake off this terrible thought.

The red rope automatically wrapped around her wrist, emitting a faint halo, with one end slowly extending into the distance, like a guide, disappearing into the deeper darkness.

The area was surrounded by piles of gray-white marble bricks, and the thick columns had collapsed, lying across the road, leaving behind a scene of ruins.

Xiao Cheng grabbed the axe, flipped onto the remaining base of the pillar, stood on tiptoe, and looked in the direction indicated by the red rope.

The outlines of several stone sculptures can be faintly seen, hidden in the shadows, as if they have blended into the bricks and columns.

To be fair, Xiao Cheng didn't want to go there. What was the point of saving the princess? Who would save the princess anyway? In the end, it was uncertain who would save whom.

But Red String clearly had its own ideas.

It suddenly seemed to come alive, pulling Xiao Cheng forward at high speed.

Xiao Cheng was pulled and stumbled, almost falling headfirst into the stone pillar. With great difficulty, she managed to keep up with the speed of the red rope, only to see it suddenly curl up shyly and then lash out at the stone sculpture with two sharp cracks.

Xiao Cheng: "?!" Aren't you a bit rebellious as a rope?!

A rumbling sound came from the ground, and small stones rolled on the ground. The startled stone sculptures trembled violently, and the falling dust enveloped them like a veil.

The nearest stone sculpture opened its eyes first, letting out a deep growl. It turned around stiffly and raised the huge stone hammer it held in its hand.

As if startled, the red rope suddenly pulled back, and the knot tightened rapidly around Xiao Cheng's wrist, leaving a deep bloody mark.

Xiao Cheng gasped, watching helplessly as the stone sculpture strode up to him and brought down a stone hammer bigger than his head with a loud whooshing sound.

"You fucking deserve it!"

She tugged hard on the red rope to prevent it from actually breaking her wrist, then took a half step back, stepped onto the collapsed pillar, used the momentum to leap up, and then did a beautiful somersault in the air, raising her axe to chop at the stone sculpture's wrist.

There was a clanging sound.

The axe blade split in two and was flung away by the hammer handle, embedding itself deeply into the marble tiles on both sides.

The stone hammer fell almost grazing Xiao Cheng's waist, smashing the pillar in two. Dust billowed up, and a deep pit sank into the ground, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading outwards. The tremors from underground grew more and more pronounced, and the second and third stone sculptures opened their eyes.

Xiao Cheng: "..."

Do you guys even have any sense of martial ethics?!

Three stone hammers struck her from both sides, one after another. She lost her weapon and could only dodge haphazardly by using the pillars and stone walls as cover. She felt like a groundhog being beaten.

Broken bricks and stones flew everywhere, leaving the surroundings in a mess. The stone carving's movements became increasingly frantic, and with a few more thuds, the ground was finally smashed through, revealing a bottomless hole.

It was less of a cave entrance and more of an abyss, with an unidentified colloid resembling black mud churning below, occasionally punctuated by red crystals that pulsated like a heart.

Xiao Cheng was hit on the calf by a flying stone, and her footing wobbled, almost causing her to fall. She struggled to grab onto a pillar lying on the ground to regain her balance.

The stone sculptures, unable to hit her completely, roared in frustration, then threw their heavy stone hammers at Xiao Cheng.

Bang--

Smoke and dust billowed up, completely engulfing Xiao Cheng's body.

Three stone hammers were embedded in the ground, with the remains of colonnades underneath.

Everything seemed to fall silent, and the three stone sculptures stopped moving at the same time. They slowly walked towards this place, awkwardly bending down to look for Xiao Cheng's body.

They each picked up their own stone hammers.

The cracks spread, and the ground made a slight cracking sound. The stone sculptures, not seeing Xiao Cheng, straightened up with some confusion and turned to look around.

Suddenly, one of the stone sculptures roared angrily, pointing at a red light on a pillar not far away, and raised its hammer high.

—Click.

The ground collapsed under the weight, and the three stone sculptures screamed in panic, but they still inevitably fell into the abyss below.

The black mud eagerly swallowed them, and the red crystals inside instantly swelled up, as if filled with blood.

Xiao Cheng gripped the red rope tightly, hanging in the air with difficulty with one hand. The other end of the rope was tightly wrapped around a pillar.

The rope, pulling Xiao Cheng along, slowly tightened upwards, finally managing to lift her up.

Xiao Cheng collapsed to the ground, exhausted, and patted the red rope that had wrapped around her wrist again: "Well done, consider it redemption."

This place is almost completely destroyed, and it's uncertain when it will collapse entirely. Xiao Cheng didn't want to suffer the same fate as the stone sculpture, so she didn't dare rest here for too long. After catching her breath, she continued forward following the guidance of the red rope.

It grew darker and darker, and the road narrowed until it finally ended completely. You could only see about a meter in front of you, with a half-meter square stone floating in the air.

Then, about a meter away, there is the next stepping stone.

Xiao Cheng almost laughed in anger: "What the hell is this? Am I doing parkour here?"

But the red rope stubbornly pointed in that direction, and the enormous pull held her hand, preventing her from taking even a single step back.

Xiao Cheng took a deep breath: "Even if I owed Fang He in my past life."

Then, gritting his teeth, he stepped onto the first stone.

The moment she stepped on it, the stone sank sharply, but quickly stabilized and slowly rose back to its original position.

Beside him was a bottomless abyss, and there was nothing to rely on. Xiao Cheng was cautious and waited in place for a while.

Nothing happened.

The red rope trembled with excitement, urging her to continue forward, and the increasingly dazzling red light illuminated the path ahead.

Xiao Cheng continued walking forward until she reached the fifth stone.

She took a breather; after three more stones, there would be a new, complete road.

But just then, a whooshing sound came from the air, and a crossbow bolt, about the length of a knuckle, shot from the left. Xiao Cheng instinctively turned her head, and the sharp arrowhead grazed a lock of her hair before flying past.

"Holy crap, what is that?!"

Xiao Cheng was startled and almost fell headfirst off the rock. After finally regaining his balance, he turned his head and saw hundreds of crossbows hanging down on both sides, arrows nocked and ready to be fired.

Without a second thought, Xiao Cheng instinctively took off running, leaping over the stone in a few quick bounds. Before it could fully rise, he suddenly jumped, using the momentum to tumble to the ground.

Behind them, a dense rain of arrows pierced the stone, almost reaching its hilt.

The stepping stones in mid-air shattered instantly. Xiao Cheng looked at the crossbow that had missed its target with lingering fear, and slowly stood up.