Chapter 68 The Disappearance of Shu Ning
In the morning, after Jin Tong brought the roasted meat to Shu Ning's cave, he immediately sensed something was wrong as soon as he arrived at the cave entrance.
He noticed that the firewood she had piled up was gone, and then went to knock on her door.
After waiting a while and still no one opened the door, I guessed she had gone out. I planned to put the meat in her hole first, so I could eat it directly when she came back.
But when he pushed open the door, he was met with an empty cave. His heart skipped a beat, and he was momentarily stunned.
He looked around her cave; it was empty. Even the blankets on the bed were gone, leaving only a few jars in the corner.
A bad premonition suddenly came from my subconscious.
He immediately put down the meat and went out to look for her.
He guessed that she might have moved to a new cave or to some beastman's place.
He first went to find Xiao Chong, who was usually closest to Shu Ning, but his subordinates said that Xiao Chong had gone on a long trip yesterday, and Shu Ning was still with him last night, so Xiao Chong could be ruled out for the time being.
Then he went to find Mo Li. He had said he wanted to stay yesterday, so it's possible that he moved Shu Ning's things to his cave.
"Mo Li, come out here!" Jin Tong shouted in front of his cave.
After waiting for two seconds and still not seeing him come out, he went inside to check on himself.
After looking around, they found neither Shu Ning nor anything of hers.
Mo Li was annoyed by his forceful intrusion. "What are you trying to do!?"
After failing to find the answer she wanted, Jin Tong ignored him and left.
Next, he searched Xuanmo and Xuanlin's caves, but found almost nothing related to Shu Ning.
Aside from the pot and bowl left behind by Shu Ning when she brought him soup in Xuanmo Cave, there were no other items related to Shu Ning.
When Xuan Lin and Xuan Mo saw him rushing over, they walked around their cave for a moment, said nothing, and then hurriedly left.
Both of them were puzzled by his strange behavior, but neither of them asked any further questions.
If none of her beast husbands are available, then it's only the Holy Mother.
Jin Tong guessed.
But after asking about the whereabouts of the Holy Mother Shu Ning, she also didn't know where Shu Ning had gone.
Mu Xia knew that Shu Ning usually liked to go on adventures with the orcs in the tribe, so she didn't pay much attention to it.
Jin Tong searched the wolf tribe's territory again but still couldn't find her.
Could it be true, as the Holy Mother said, that she went on an adventure with the wolf-orcs?
Surely they wouldn't empty the cave completely; many of the things inside were newly purchased.
He planned to go back to Shu Ning's cave and wait for her.
At this moment, Muyu Cave—
Is this true?
Mu Yu looked at Hei Yao, Mu Xia's attendant, and said.
“Absolutely true,” Obsidian replied.
"She just said she's going on a long trip and might not be back for a few days."
Upon hearing Hei Yao's affirmative answer, a sinister glint appeared in Mu Yu's eyes.
"Go back quickly, or you'll be discovered."
"Yes, Lady Muyu."
Watching Hei Yao's departing figure, Mu Yu began to make some plans in her mind.
Even by evening, Jin Tong, sitting in the corner of the cave, still hadn't seen Shu Ning.
As time went by, he began to worry, wondering what dangers she might encounter while exploring.
Later, it gradually turned into fear, fear that something might really happen to her.
Thinking of this, he got up and went out to look for Luo Ci and the others. He didn't look for them at first because Mu Xia told him that she might have gone out with them, and he believed Mu Xia.
After looking for Luo Ci and not finding Shu Ning, he went to look for Leng Yu...
They all said they didn't go out with Shu Ning.
Upon hearing the news, Jin Tong returned to Shu Ning's cave. He slumped to the ground, staring at her empty cave, his hands trembling uncontrollably, his breathing becoming heavy.
He was afraid that something had really happened to her.
He couldn't just wait around like that, so he found Mu Xia and told her that Shu Ning hadn't gone out with Luo Ci and the others, but was very likely missing.
Upon hearing this news, Mu Xia looked at him in disbelief and called Xuan Lin over to discuss it together.
The exact circumstances surrounding Shu Ning's disappearance are still unclear.
Seeing that Mu Xia had summoned Xuan Lin, Hei Yao felt that Shu Ning's departure couldn't be kept secret, so he came in and told them that she had been gone for a few days.
"Why didn't you say so sooner?" Mu Xia scolded angrily.
“Shu Ning doesn’t want you to know, after all, she ran away on her own, and she’s afraid you won’t allow her to go out,” Hei Yao said.
Shu Ning did indeed say that to him, saying that she knew her mother would definitely not let her go out, and that she would tell her if she found out she was missing.
Mu Xia sighed, "Alright, you can go now."
Upon learning that Shu Ning hadn't gone missing, but had simply gone out alone, Mu Xia felt helpless about the child's playful nature.
At the same time, I was worried that she might encounter danger while she was out alone.
When Jin Tong found out, his tense mood finally relaxed a bit. After returning, he moved his quilt to Shu Ning's cave to wait for her.
Xuan Lin was used to her going out to play, so he wasn't too surprised. However, his eyes flickered slightly when he thought of her daring to go out alone and the last time he saw her picking vines by herself.
In the middle of the night, Jin Tong had a nightmare. He dreamed that after Shu Ning left him, he suddenly opened his eyes, feeling as if a huge rock was pressing on his chest, and his breathing became short and shallow as if he were drowning.
The story Shu Ning told him last night made him feel scared.
He was afraid that she would disappear from this world like the female in the story, afraid that she would really leave him.
He sat up, bent his knees, hugged himself, and rested his chin between his knees.
She wouldn't be so heartless, absolutely not...
He tried to comfort himself, but his long, narrow eyelashes had unknowingly become damp with sweat...
In the empty cave, a solitary figure trembled slightly, and soft sobs could be heard.
At that moment, Shu Ning had just used his favorability points during his dream to teleport herself from the side of the nightmare to the riverbank she had been on before.
——
After entering the river, Shu Ning drifted steadily with the current. Then, drowsiness overcame her, and she gradually relaxed her vigilance, eventually falling asleep on the raft.
Shu Ning was awakened by the sound of running water and birdsong in the early morning. She opened her eyes, looked around, and had no idea where she was.
"007, where am I? Am I almost there?"
"You're overthinking it. At your current speed, you won't arrive until tomorrow morning," 007 replied.
Upon hearing this, Shu Ning decided to eat some dry food and prepare to row the boat.
As the sun grew hotter, she covered her head and body with an animal skin, and although she was drenched in sweat, she did not stop paddling.
...
Crimson Flame Mountain —
A tall, slender figure with broad shoulders and a narrow waist stood at the entrance of the cave from yesterday, gazing at the spot where the female had appeared. A slight smile played on his lips, and a barely perceptible glint of light flashed in his deep eyes.
"Someone come here."
"exist."
"Give the order to find the wolf female from yesterday."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Also, send people to guard outside the wolf clan's territory, and report back immediately if there is any news about her."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Standing at the entrance of the cave where Shu Ning was discovered yesterday, Yan recalled the day and still felt it was unbelievable, as if she had just had a dream.
But the animal skins binding him told him it wasn't a dream.
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