Chapter Seventy-Three: Killing the Demon 13
He couldn't bear to take him in such a place. His partner had been pampered since childhood, was his precious treasure, and his only connection to the world. Although they had only met a few times in recent years due to the obstruction of the count and his wife, he had already decided to spend his life with him.
She even felt a little regretful for treating him so roughly just now.
But when Lu Cen reached out his hand, he forgot all his regret.
This bliss made him feel that his love for him wasn't enough, that he hadn't shed enough tears. This person was born to be with him, and everything he did for him was a concrete expression of his love. He lovingly touched his face, his palm sliding up his wrist, stroking him back and forth, unable to let go, which made Lu Cen feel numb on one side of his body.
The two were engrossed in the intense passion when a footstep suddenly sounded.
The guard on night duty was a confidant of Ados. He noticed that the two had gone to the toilet and hadn't returned for more than half an hour. He was worried. They should be back by now. He wondered if the two had been carried off by wild animals or if they had secretly confessed their feelings to each other while Ados was away.
He woke a guard, and the two came looking for him.
The footsteps grew closer, and Lu Cen was startled. He frantically pulled at his disheveled clothes and glanced around for a hiding place. Lu De wouldn't let him move, gripping his hand tightly and pulling him close. He led him behind a tree, where the grass and round trees barely concealed their figures.
Lu Cen thought this person was incredibly crazy. Wasn't he afraid of being caught?!
The guards drew closer.
Where did they go?
"I hope it wasn't really eaten by some wild beast. How are we going to explain this to the young master?"
“Luther was an excellent archer, and besides, they wouldn’t have gone far to the toilet. If there was any danger, they would have shouted long ago. It’s impossible for them to have gone without making a sound.”
"So, where do you think those two went?"
"How would I know?"
"Could they be having an affair?"
"Stop talking nonsense. If the young master hears this, we'll both be skinned alive."
A few steps away from them, Lu Cen bit Lu De's shoulder to block his own heavy breathing. His head was spinning, and he didn't know how he had become like this. His hand was being held, and the back and palm of his hand were burning hot, wet, and terrifying. The guards were still approaching. Lu Cen was so startled that he tightened his grip. Lu De groaned and his body trembled violently. His mind went blank, and his body was completely numb. It felt incredibly good. He hugged Lu Cen like a big dog, affectionately, and rubbed his head and face against him.
An unprecedented sense of satisfaction flowed into his heart like a spring, making him feel as if he had been reborn.
Lu Cen was the one who gave him a new life.
The guards searched for a while, not daring to leave for too long, and the two returned to the entrance of the cave.
Two steps away, Luther was dressing Lucen.
Lu Cen's hands and legs trembled, and her body felt sticky. "I want to take a shower."
Taking a bath was out of the question; it was too dangerous. Luther insisted, taking Lu Cen back to the cave. As they passed the entrance, the guards' eyes made Lu Cen realize they must have discovered something. He suppressed the urge to argue, returned to the animal hide, and lay down. The sensation still lingered on his palm. He rubbed the hide a few times as a form of comfort, and as he rubbed, he unconsciously drifted off to sleep.
This night was destined to be anything but peaceful.
Lu Cen felt like he had just fallen asleep, and the noise was disturbing his peace.
"Golden Frog... the Golden Frog is here."
Lu Cen reacted a beat too slow, and Lu De next to him grabbed him and rushed into the depths of the cave with the captain of the guard.
There are too many golden frogs outside. They don't have horses and can't reach the swamp. Going out means certain death. They might as well try their luck!
Lu Cen, still half asleep, saw a guard place all the firewood at the entrance of the cave. The fire suddenly grew larger in an attempt to buy some time. The group entered the cave in an orderly fashion. The path was narrow, with only a small gap between two people walking side by side. The sound of dripping water came from somewhere, ethereal and indistinct.
There was no light inside the acupoint; it was pitch black, and I was running entirely by instinct.
Slowly, a faint glow appeared from above, barely enough to illuminate the path beneath their feet. Chen Ning asked in surprise, "What is this?"
Her voice was a bit loud, and the lights above seemed to be slowly moving.
Luther quickly whispered, "Don't make a sound. These are white snakes. They are called white snakes because their bodies are white, about the length of a human finger, and resemble snakes in shape. The tips of their tails glow in the dark, and they are extremely sensitive to sound. If we disturb them, we will all die here!"
Lu Cen couldn't imagine what the animal looked like, but after no one spoke, the light source above them stabilized again, and only the deliberately soft footsteps of the group could be heard.
After walking for about ten minutes without any movement from the golden frogs behind them, they couldn't risk turning back. Two narrow paths appeared in front of them, the gaps were narrow, and the stone walls were white. The captain of the guards leaned closer to take a look and couldn't tell what kind of rock it was, but it was fine and hard. "Which way should we go?"
The question was about Luther.
Apart from Ados, only Luther among these people had ever been to the forest.
Although Luther had secretly entered the Roch Forest before, he had never been this deep.
Does this man think he's a prophet who knows everything?
But he still went forward to observe the differences between the two roads and chose the one on the right, "this one."
The captain of the guard asked, "Why?"
"There are animal tracks on the ground on the left, while the right side is cleaner."
A group of about ten people stepped into the narrow cave. As they walked, someone behind them suddenly cried out in surprise.
White snakes flickered at the top, and several climbed down from above, wandering along the stone wall.
The captain of the guards went around to the back and scolded, "What are you yelling about!"
"Captain," the guard said in a trembling voice, "a...a brother is missing."
He frowned and counted the number of people. When facing the Golden Frog, they lost several guards. All of them together had sixteen people left. Ados took two people with him, leaving thirteen. At this time, there were only twelve people in the cave passage, which was indeed one short.
"What happened?"
The guard said in a panic, "I was walking behind him with him, and he fell behind as we walked. I kept hearing footsteps, but I didn't pay attention. Later, I realized that the footsteps had stopped. When I looked back, there was no one behind me. Captain, did something take him away?"
“What could possibly grab him?” The captain of the guard gave him a stern look and added, “Maybe he just didn’t follow.”
He pointed to someone standing next to him and instructed, "Pay attention to what's behind you, and communicate promptly if anything happens."
The guard barely suppressed his fear and nodded.
Not long after, they came to another fork in the road, this time with three paths.
Still the right hand.
Inside the cave, time seemed to stand still, and the group grew increasingly agitated.
Until two more people disappeared without a trace.
"Captain, two more people have gone missing!"
The captain of the guards had a solemn expression. He led his men back a short distance, just as they had come.
Someone said, "Captain, the golden frog outside might have already left. Should we go out? This place is too eerie."
"Yes, Captain, let's keep going in. Nobody knows what's inside. If we can't get through, we'll have to turn back."
"If we get lost inside, and we don't have any food or water with us, we're afraid we'll be in grave danger."
The captain of the guard pondered for a moment, then went to find Luther. After listening to him, Luther told the truth, "Nobody knows what's inside, and I can't guarantee it either. Why don't we wait here for a while? If there's no movement from the golden frog, then we can go out."
The group rested against the wall for about an hour before heading back.
After passing two intersections, the group thought they were almost at the exit, but instead, they were met with the same fork in the road.
The two paths were identical, and they stood there like lifeless objects, silently watching the crowd.
The captain of the guard's pupils contracted, and the hair on his body stood on end.
When they came in, they clearly only passed through two forks, one with two paths and the other with three.
I came out the way I came, and I passed two intersections, so how could this happen!
How could that be?
How could the road have changed?
Luther's face also turned grim. He took Lucen's hand and said seriously, "Whether we're ghosts or immortals, we have to live on. Let's go!"
He chose the leftmost path. Perhaps it was the strange events that had occurred, or perhaps it was his intuition, but he had a vague feeling that they had never taken this path before.
Lu Cen dared not stray too far from him, keeping their bodies pressed together. He knew that three people had disappeared right under everyone's noses. Not long ago, in the woods, Lu De had urged him to do *that*, and his legs had gone terribly weak. After walking so far, he was completely exhausted.
Luther noticed that his grip on his hand was getting lighter and lighter. Remembering the injury on his leg, he said with annoyance, "Are you tired?"
Lu Cen: "I can do it."
He dared not say he was tired. In this situation, if he were abandoned by them as a burden, it would mean he would die without a burial place, his body never to be found.
"Get on, I'll carry you."
"It's so far, you won't have the stamina to keep going." Lu Cen's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't know when they could get out. Once Lu De's stamina was exhausted, it would only make the current situation worse.
"Don't worry, I won't drop you. I can easily carry you. What are you worried about?" Luther forcefully hooked his legs and carried him on his back.
Lu Cen lay on his back, the broad shoulders providing him with support. His calves were trembling; he had never suffered like this before, and his eyes reddened with grievance.
The road gets wider and wider, clearly indicating that it's not the way out.
After turning the corner, a three-way intersection appeared before everyone's eyes.
Suddenly, a feeling called fear swept over everyone.
At the fork in the road, the crowd gathered together.
"Captain, what do we do?"
"What kind of hellhole is this?!"
The captain of the guards didn't speak, his brows furrowed, his gaze sweeping across the cave entrance like a sharp sword.
He thought about the way they came and the way they returned, and there was nothing wrong with it. He couldn't figure out where things had gone wrong.
Why can't we get out?
It's like being lost in a maze.
These are the same holes, going back and forth.
He said, "Luther, what advice do you have?"
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