Chapter 100: Devilry Must Be Afoot When Things Seem Strange

Chapter 100.1: Devilry Must Be Afoot When Things Seem Strange

The two succulent rabbits roasting above the fire were at that moment giving off a delicious and tempting aroma, the meat just getting cooked, the oiljust beginning to drip from it to splash onto the ground.

The man moved like the wind as he stretched a devilish claw straight towards the rabbits, was the hand was denied its path when it was struck by a thin tree branch that flew through the air. He could not help but yelp out in pain and turn around to stare with baleful eyes.

Qing Yu was holding another sizeable tree branch in her hand as she came walking slowly over, tapping the end of the branch on her other hand. She then asked with an indiscernible smile: “You still have the cheek to glare at me? Those rabbits were caught by me, skinned by me, and have you even asked me before you reached your claws towards them?”

“That’s right! Taking without asking is akin to stealing. To think that one who looked like a refined human would turn out to be so shameless and without scruple.” Yan Xi Rou chimed in from one side in indignation.

[She had been eyeing those rabbits for so long! How could she possibly allow a complete stranger who just popped out of nowhere suddenly to steal the prize?]

Yan Xi Rou had just finished saying those words when the man’s inky black eyes turned to look at her. There was less white in his eyes, his irises larger than normal, and it was a little terrifying to see up close. Although his facial features were quite good looking, she still unconsciously shifted herself closer towards Qing Yu.

The few of them in the group stared warily at the man, fearful that he might suddenly attack them.

But after Qing Yu said those words, the man did not make any more moves towards the rabbits, and just sat there quietly to watch the glistening oil sizzle on the smooth and succulent looking rabbit meat, his adam’s apple moving as he gulped longingly.

His actions and demeanor, just felt so indescribably strange, but as to what was wrong exactly, it was hard to put one’s finger on it.

Yan Xi Rou rubbed her arm and whispered softly: “What is it with this guy? Is he going to stay here and not leave? Or does he intend to share our food?”

Towards the unwelcome guest who had popped right out of nowhere, seeing that he was not doing anything else but just watching without a sound, Qing Yu raised an eyebrow and went on to ignore him. She then took out her dagger and slid it over the rabbit meat a few times to make it easier for the meat to cook, while the man just watched her intently.

It was a very strange scene to see.

Qing Bei was a little worried as he leaned in closer to the young lady and said in a low voice: “Sis, this man just came out of nowhere out of the blue, half his body was buried in soil like a dead person. That is already strange enough, and he is now just staring fixedly at the succulent rabbits roasting on the rack like a lunatic without doing anything else. It’s really rather worrying you know?”

Qing Yu cut off a rabbit leg and handed it over to him as she said in an indifferent voice: “Don’t bother about him. When it’s the Mao hour, we’ll just leave.”

Qing Bei knitted up his brows as he took the rabbit’s leg and took a bite. The rabbit meat roasted with the specially mixed spices was tender and delicious, highly appetizing. But as his heart was still dangling in worry, he did not really pay much attention to how the meat tasted.

On the other hand, Yan Xi Rou was watching eagerly, and it was until Qing Yu handed her a thigh that she then smiled contentedly. Even Yan Xi Wu was seen to take a rare bite of the meat. It was not known how Qing Yu had prepared the rabbits as even the fatty parts were not oily at all, but was tender and fragrant.

The gaze of the man who was acting strangely then seemed to deepened bit by bit, like a terrifying storm was starting to brew up within, until a large meaty rabbit thigh was suddenly delivered right in front of his eyes, so close he could almost taste that alluring fragrance.

The man instinctively froze for a moment and he then lifted his eyes to look at her.

“Eat it. I can see that you must be hungry, but you must not just snatch people’s things like that in future. If you happen to meet more unfriendly people, they would have given you a good thrashing.” Qing Yu said in an easy tone, with an eyebrow arched up.

Chapter 100.2: Devilry Must Be Afoot When Things Seem Strange

That action had not only caused the man to be stunned but all the others did not understand it as well.

It was a good while before that man was able to react, his hands grabbing the rabbit leg to take big ravenous bites out of it, looking extremely hungry.

The whirlwind speed he carried out his actions at shocked the few other people into a daze and as the rabbit was big in size, its thigh was sizeable as well. They had not even finished half of what they had when the man had already cleanly finished his share in an instant, even crunching up the bones with his teeth and gobbling it all down.

“…..” [Just how long has he not eaten meat?]

Qing Yu thought about it for awhile and then gave one half of a rabbit they still had remaining to the man. The other rabbit would be enough of the other three people to eat.

As expected, the man wolfed down the large piece of rabbit meat in a few mouthfuls, finishing it lightning quick, which amazed the others so much they actually forgot to eat, but just stared at the man with wooden expressions on their faces.

Seeing that he had finished eating, Qing Yu finally asked: “Who are you? Why were you buried under the soil?”

It was probably because she gave him food to eat and the man’s gaze was no longer that malevolent. It was a while before his raspy voice spat out two syllables slowly. “Sleeping.”

Qing Yu was slightly taken aback by that reply but she quickly recovered. “You mean to say that you were sleeping and was not buried under the soil?”

The man nodded.

“Then why were you sleeping under all that soil?” Qing Yu felt a little speechless. That was quite an eccentric habit.

The man’s gaze looked at her a little disdainfully, like she was asking him a highly irrational question, but he still replied with one word. “Comfort.”

“…..” [There are really so many strange people who do strange things nowadays. This one here likes to imitate dead people by sleeping covered over with dirt.]

“How did you come to appear in here?” Qing Yu then asked the question that had been on her mind. Logically, the spot he had been sleeping in was the direction they had walked past coming here, so why did no one notice the man’s presence before?

The man was seemingly becoming a little impatient, but he still knew the rule that eating people’s food should at least loosen his lips, so he stacked on quite a few words this time. “I found myself here upon waking up.”

“Where are you from?”

“I don’t remember.”

“…..”

There is a saying: “One is deemed too talkative when the topic does not agree.”, and it was very true in this case. Qing Yu had not been snubbed so thoroughly ever before and no matter how gifted a tongue she had, she just could not seem to find a common topic with this man.

Anyway, he was just a passing acquaintance and they might not ever meet again after they leave this place today, so it did not really matter that much.

After their bellies were filled and comforted, the group of people sat by the fire to get some rest, taking turns to keep watch. And because of the arrival of their unwelcome guest, all of them were extra wary.

The strange man did not come any closer but just kept a good distance away to watch them. It was probably because he had had abundant sleep that his eyes were wide open as he surveyed the surroundings curiously, like an ignorant child studying everything in their world.

After a while, it might be because he was getting tired where his eyes slowly began to shut, to fall soundly asleep.

When the Mao hour comes, they would then be leaving this place.

But, what they had not thought, was that the entrance into Hades’ Canyon, had at that moment completely disappeared, and the environment inside had undergone tumultuous changes, falling completely into night, where the light of day would no longer be seen, the already pitiful four hours of light no longer coming, with the entire place buried deep underground henceforth.

The sands of time trickled bit by bit, and Qing Yu sat there in meditation. Although her eyes were closed, her heart saw everything clearly.

Chapter 100.3: Devilry Must Be Afoot When Things Seem Strange

By the time she opened her eyes and blew out a breath of impure air, her brows immediately creased together as she stared into the inky dark night sky. [Why isn’t the sky changing in colour at all? Based on her calculations, it should at least be three quarters past the Yin hour close to dawn and not only was the sky seemingly not showing any signs of brightening but it seemed to be further steeped in darkness.

There was a faint nagging ominous feeling in her heart and she quickly went to wake the others.

“What happened…..” Yan Xi Rou asked lazily as she raised a hand to rub her sleep filled eyes.

Qing Bei became alert very quickly and Yan Xi Wu was looking well rested as they looked quizzically at her.

“We might not be able to get out.” Qing Yu said slowly.

“What kind of a joke are you making? Once the Mao hour is here, we’ll be able to leave won’t we?” Yan Xi Rou retorted with a yawn, disregarding what Qing Yu said completely.

“It is already three quarters past the Yin hour and it will be the Mao hour very soon. But look at the sky.” Qing Yu said as she pointed up at the sky, before indicating for them to look at their surroundings. “There weren’t so many tall trees here before. Do you remember? These gigantic trees were growing near where the Hades’ Canyon’s entrance was.”

“That seems to be the case.” Yan Xi Wu said, looking rather startled.

“And…..” Qing Bei’s eyes swept to a spot at the side. “When did that man disappear?” The man had still been here when he had closed his eyes but he was nowhere in sight at that moment.

Truly an example of “devilry must be afoot when things seem strange”.

Qing Yu’s eyes narrowed, and she suddenly recalled something. “Does everyone still have that teleportation jade token Elder Qin gave us?”

Hearing that, everyone took out their jade tokens and held them together.

“There is only one way to prove if we have all been trapped in here and are not able to get out.”

The jade tokens that Qin Fang gave them could not be fake and they would only need to crush the jade tokens to get themselves transported right out of this place.

Exchanging glances with each other, they all crushed their jade tokens at almost the same moment. A faint white light flew out from inside but disappeared in the next instant. After the jade tokens were crushed, they lost their effectiveness and disappeared completely.

“How can this be! ?” Yan Xi Rou’s face was pale as she stared incredulously. “Has the teleportation jade token lost it effectiveness? Why did it not work! ?”

“Elder Qin will not lie to us. The jade tokens must still be effective.” Yan Xi Wu then said.

“Then why are we still here! ? Are we not going to be able to get out from here?” Yan Xi Rou was frantic, and she then broke into tears. “Are we going to die here? Boo hoo hoo….. And I did not even get to see Mother for the last time…..”

“Alright. Stop crying. What’s the use of crying now?” Qing Bei grew angry when he saw her looking so useless and went on to say viciously: “Go on and cry but if you come to draw anything to us with your bawling, you can go deal with it yourself.”

Yan Xi Rou immediately stopped, not daring to cry anymore, struggling to hold back her tears.

“The Hades’ Canyon, might have disappeared…..”

After quite a long while, Qing Yu stood up and stared into the pitch black night as she said slowly: “Even our surroundings have changed, and the sky still has not turned bright till now. This place might have fallen deep underground.”

[Otherwise why would so many strange gigantic trees appear right out of thin air?]

They were not given the luxury of time to go consider the situation any further when a heavy and low rumbling booming slowly sounded in the distance.

It sounded like some enormous beast and the booming was the sound of its footsteps due to its overly large body walking. The moonlight grew hazy and a terrifying bolt of lightning suddenly struck the ground, which caused a crack that was a good ten meters deep to appear.