Chapter 22 The Robe He wanted her to stay.
A child ran into the cave. Although the light was behind him and his face was not clearly visible, his overall figure looked very familiar.
Upon seeing the child, Derrick asked in surprise, "Lucas? What are you doing here?"
"The outer areas are basically all taken care of by Uncle Benson and his group, so I came in to see if there's anything I can help with."
"You little rascal!" Derrick laughed and ruffled his hair.
Their conversation was overheard by Catherine, who was hiding in the shadows.
Before those humans entered the cave, the only other human Catherine encountered in the Devil's Forest was Lucas. Therefore, his name left a particularly deep impression on her.
Upon seeing that familiar child again, she was momentarily stunned.
What a coincidence! Before she could even go to them, they showed up at her door first.
Catherine narrowed her eyes, beginning to think about how to get them to accept her and leave with her.
Since they were able to enter the cave, they must have a way to deal with the wild beasts outside. If she could persuade them to take her with them, her chances of survival in the Devil's Forest would definitely be higher than if she were alone.
However, humans who have lived in the Devil's Forest for a period of time will no longer readily accept someone of their own kind as a companion.
Because their primary concern is survival.
While Catherine was pondering, Derrick and his group were gradually moving deeper into the cave.
Inside the cave, the magical beasts were fast asleep, their long, drawn-out breaths making them speak even more softly.
Suddenly, a companion's voice came from the corner: "Come quick, come quick!"
A group of people immediately gathered around and found a silver-white women's robe beside the broken rocks. However, the robe was covered with gravel and grime, and looked somewhat dirty and old.
“This must be the witch’s clothes!” someone said with absolute certainty.
If it were a human being being hunted, their clothing wouldn't be so intact, and it would be stained with blood. But this robe, apart from being a bit short and having some mud and grime on the back, is remarkably clean.
Therefore, his companions all agreed with his guess.
This discovery immediately ignited the gloomy atmosphere in the team.
Lucas said happily, "I'll go tell Uncle Benson and the others!" and ran out of the cave.
When the others in the group saw Lucas's childlike behavior, they couldn't help but relax and smile a little.
Derrick scratched his head roughly: "Alright, everyone disperse. Since there are witch's clothes here, she's probably nearby. Our previous guess was correct! We don't know when the beast in that cave will wake up, so we need to hurry."
No one objected. Upon hearing this, they immediately dispersed and headed deeper into the cave.
"Qiong, what's wrong?"
The tall man in the group was originally going to follow his companions to find the witch. But when he looked up, he realized that someone was missing from the group.
Turning around, I realized that she had squatted back down next to the clothes, examining something closely.
Joan shook her head, her brow furrowed. "I just feel like this dress looks a little familiar."
The tall man looked indifferent upon hearing this.
He shrugged: "Women's blouses, don't they all look like this?"
"Let's hurry! That monster might suddenly wake up at any time. We need to find the witch as soon as possible."
Upon hearing this, Qiong stood up and dusted off her hands: "Maybe I'm overthinking it."
Joan and the tall man went deeper into the cave to rejoin their companions. Only after they had gone some distance did Catherine peek out from behind a rock.
She glanced in the direction where they had found the burqa and realized it was exactly what she had guessed. It was the clothing she had worn when she first entered the Devil's Forest.
They didn't know that those were clothes worn by their own kind. They were certain that the clothes came from a witch simply because there was no trace of human blood on them.
Her heart began to race.
She came up with a risky idea...
If they can even mistake clothes, why can't they mistake a witch?
As for what if one of them has seen the witch and finds that they don't look like her... haha, the witch is incredibly powerful! What's so strange about changing one's face?
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Aside from a sleeping alien spider, there was nothing unusual inside the cave. Derrick and his group searched the area but ultimately returned empty-handed.
But after retreating halfway, he suddenly stopped in his tracks as if he had seen something.
The person behind him asked in a low voice, "Derrick? What's wrong? What's up ahead?"
The tall man squeezed his way from the back of the line to the front and successfully got a view of what Derrick was seeing from above his head.
It was a woman.
She was very beautiful, with an arrogant gaze. She wore clothes made of rough grass and leaves, but no one dared to laugh at her for it. Because she didn't look like... a human struggling to survive in the Devil's Forest.
"This must be a witch!"
"I have no idea……"
"A stunningly beautiful woman suddenly appearing in an ancient forest... Could there be another possibility besides a witch?"
Catherine ignored their hushed, mosquito-like murmur. She was simply playing the role of the witch she had seen before.
She saw the change in their expressions when they saw her: surprise, hesitation, uncertainty...
Catherine knew that she had already succeeded more than halfway.
She walked towards them, slowly scanning their faces before raising an eyebrow and asking, "You...were looking for me?"
Upon hearing this, Derrick and his group immediately went weak in the knees and knelt down in unison.
They hung their heads, exchanging glances. They had agreed that once they found the witch, they would beg her to grant their wishes, those of lowly humans, so that they could live.
But when they actually found it, the fear in their hearts prevented them from saying a single word.
After a long, drawn-out argument, Catherine waited patiently for them. Finally, Joan couldn't hold back any longer, slightly raising her upper body and speaking respectfully.
"Witch, we...we would like to ask you for your help in granting us a wish."
"Wish, hope?" These two seemingly light words were spoken with deliberate emphasis, carrying a strong sense of warning.
Everyone sensed a sense of crisis from those words, and cold sweat trickled down their foreheads. But having already spoken, they had no choice but to continue, even if it meant gritting their teeth.
Derrick crawled several steps toward Catherine, his words tinged with nervousness and a secret anticipation: "Yes, yes... we've always heard that there's a noble witch in the Devil's Forest, and that if we can find you, you can grant a traveler a wish."
Catherine rested her hand on her cheek, her outstretched index finger idly stroking her hair.
Everyone in the cave felt their hearts pounding because of her silence.
"How unfortunate..."
She finally spoke, but what she said was not good news.
"You've got the wrong person—the one who made that promise was the Forest Witch Kandis, not me." Catherine's smile was alluring yet dangerous. "I won't help you..."
In fact, she had no magic and couldn't help them. Otherwise, she would have escaped the Devil's Forest on her own.
Seeing the group of people kneeling, instantly become listless because of her words.
Offering hope only to extinguish it abruptly sounds cruel. But if things weren't clear from the beginning, even if they did take her away later, she might later discover she couldn't fulfill their wishes…
At that time, her fate could only be described as tragic.
It would be better to reveal the most serious matter in advance, so that even if she later discovers that she is not a witch, she can still use clues about witches as a bargaining chip.
But to Catherine's surprise, they quickly rallied.
The only woman in the group straightened her back and looked at her with a determined expression: "But, you are a witch too, aren't you?"
Catherine simply smiled at her without replying.
Time passed slowly, and the woman's initial courage gradually faded with her silence. Finally, fearing the witch's impatient rage, she quickly glanced at those around her before uttering the words Catherine most wanted to hear.
"Could you come with us? I mean... briefly visit our place."
"Of course! We will offer generous sacrifices for this."
"The Witch" Catherine was very pleased with this.
She turned and walked a short distance, then turned to look at the crowd still kneeling behind her: "Aren't you leaving?"
Upon hearing this, Derrick and his group immediately stood up and happily left with Catherine.
Just before exiting the cave, Catherine glanced back instinctively, only to find that Tarasco had woken up sometime earlier in the depths of the cave. She wondered how much of their conversation he had overheard.
However, he still looked very weak.
He saw Catherine turn to look at him, and immediately straightened up slightly by supporting himself against the stone wall. But this small movement left him unable to move for a long time.
He leaned against the stone wall beside him, staring straight at her, and didn't look away for a moment until she left with Derrick and the others.
He wanted her to stay.
Catherine knew.
However, between "the possibility of leaving the Devil's Forest with her kind" and "staying behind to await an unknown death deadline," she would only choose the former.
Even if it was a ticking time bomb, it could give her more hope of survival.
So, goodbye Tarlasco.
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Author's note: Hehe! I feel so cool right now [doge] But I didn't expect we'd "meet again" later!
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