Chapter 89: Forest of The Elves (7)

Chapter 89: Forest of The Elves (7)

The fact that the mouse was a prince really had Jin Cheng astounded, because in his impression, the prince was meant to turn into a frog. Not to mention, the name McCaw didnt sound as fancy as Legolas, the famous Elf PrinceA reference to Legolas, the Elf Prince of the Woodland Realm of Mirkwood, one of the major characters in the classic novel Lord of The Rings..

Thinking about this, Jin Cheng opened the Mission panel again.

The side mission remained unchanged.

Jin Cheng looked at McCaw. Who he was and the abnormal happenings at the Secret Lake must have a connection. He roughly guessed that McCaws transformation definitely had something to do with the Secret Lake.

Something must have happened in the Royal Palace, or else the elf guards wouldnt arrest their own prince for no reason.

The most important thing was that at the bottom of this trench, there was really a path that led to the outside or the Royal Palace, otherwise, how did the elf guards come down? It wasnt like they could always jump off the cliff like Jin Cheng.

When the guards left, Jin Cheng decisively led McCaw in the direction they came from. Just before leaving, he fed something to the Griffin and regrettably gave up on keeping it as a cool pet to ride on.

In order to not be spotted should another elf guard suddenly appear, Jin Cheng walked closely along the cliff, which made it easier for him to find a passage. Logically, the passage should be on the side close to the Royal Palace. In that way, this trench was likely used to deal with people that couldnt be messed with in front of the publics eyes.

Jin Cheng searched very carefully, not letting go of any inch of the cliff wall. Fifteen minutes later, the gods really didnt let him down and he finally found a passage on the cliff wall, which was about 10 meters above the ground.

The passage was covered up by magic, thus it wouldnt easily be discovered by anyone who didnt understand magic. Moreover, it was situated more than 10 meters above the ground. When ordinary people looked for a passage, they would subconsciously think that it should be near the ground. How would they think of it hanging randomly in the air? This distance nicely helped to prevent it from being exposed, yet it wasnt a distance too high up for people to fall down dangerously.

The passages entrance wasnt closed. Perhaps it was because the guards had to come back often and there was only one passage, they didnt close it. Jin Cheng swaggered inside, and after passing a long tunnel, he saw a stone staircase leading upward.

This was really the path to the Royal Palace.

Squeak. McCaw grabbed Jin Chengs pocket, his eyes revealing a tinge of sadness. Then he slid down Jin Chengs arm, pointed at the stone staircase and squeaked again in excitement.

You want to lead the way? Jin Cheng finally managed to come to understand him better.

McCaw nodded sharply, and one person and one mouse set foot on the road to the Royal Palace.

The path took some time to walk through, because the stone steps were winding left and right, with some parts very wide yet some parts very narrow, and there were no fences at all on both sides. This place directly below the Royal Palace was actually an underground prison. These intricate stone steps connected cells to cells, which were empty with absolutely no guards around.

The further they went up, the smaller the space became. Finally, Jin Cheng caught sight of the prisoners, who were all elves.

With McCaw leading the way, Jin Cheng didnt waste time asking every prisoner, but he would try his best to pass in front of each cell to see if he could trigger any mission.

McCaw had a clear goal, and soon, he led Jin Cheng to a cell where a dying young elf dressed as a guard was breathing feebly inside.

Squeak! Having a tiny body, McCaw easily slipped in, then he pressed his head on the elfs face and tried to wake him up.

Jin Cheng directly took out a potion and threw it to him. The little mouse burst into tears and bowed at Jin Cheng vigorously, then he tremblingly held the potion that was even taller than himself to the elfs mouth.

Still having some consciousness with him, the elf opened his mouth slightly, which allowed McCaw to pour the potion in. It was just that as a mouse, the act of pouring a potion was too difficult for him, causing half the flask to spill. Out of nervousness, McCaw almost shed tears.

Its okay, hell be fine. As Jin Cheng said so, he checked the side mission again to see that it remained unchanged. The elf lying on the ground showed no signs of recovery for the time being. To not delay their trip any further, Jin Cheng asked McCaw to bid goodbye to the elf so they could leave.

McCaw nodded, climbed to the elfs waist and grabbed a bunch of keys. Only then did he reluctantly get out of the cell.

As the keys were handed over to him, Jin Cheng raised his eyebrows this was a nice surprise.

Soon, one man and one mouse came to the end of the stone steps, where they found a stone gate. What made it pleasantly surprising was that the magic formation on the stone gate was located outside, so they could open it from inside without any difficulty.

But what was even more startling was that someone was outside the gate, and the sound of a conversation seeped in through the gaps on the gate.

Elder Evans, what should we do about the Secret Lake? This person dared to tail behind you, he mustve found something.

Just lock him up and ask him about his accomplice.

You mean that young knight?

When we pushed that human down just now, did anyone find out?

Unlikely, otherwise they wouldnt have let us leave so easily.

As soon as these words came out, Hawk and his teammates hiding behind the tree almost made a sound. They didnt expect that the adventurer who died in the dwarfs illusion was actually pushed down the lake.

And the intent hidden in those mens words was even more shocking. Were they going to send everyone to their death?

Why?

Hawk opened his eyes wide to keep looking, then a scene that had him literally shaking in his boots appear. The five adventurers moved close to each other, muttered something under their breath and one of them started glowing. As the light beamed brightly, that man turned into Tang Cuo.

He touched his face, moved his neck a bit and said: This guy named Theodore seems to be the most difficult to deal with. Ill go to see him first. You all keep hiding, dont come out for the time being.

Remember, dont just fall asleep.

The five discussed for a moment, then turned and left.

Hawk and his teammates walked out from behind the tree and looked at the direction where the five had left with complex expressions. They touched their backs to find cold sweat oozing out. One of them said: What do we do now? Should we go back and warn them? If theyre all killed, we cant escape.

Hawk frowned: Who are those people?

The other teammate touched his chin, as if thinking of something: Looking at their shapeshifting, they look like druids. What if he goes back with Theodores face and the two Theodores confront each other? On the other hand, there are already two druids there, so looking at the five human adventurers, no one will suspect that theyre actually five other druids shapeshifting into humans.

Hawk: But doesnt Theodore still have his companion? Shouldnt his companion be able to tell if hes real or fake?

The teammate asked again: Dont you think that companion is also strange? He was the first person to stray off from the group, so why wouldnt anyone suspect that he was swapped? Both of them have suspicious identities. Who would be more trustworthy?

In fact, neither would be.

But since they said they want to get back to fulfil someones order, it means theres still a way to leave from here. Well quietly follow them.

Eventually, Hawk chose to listen to his teammates suggestion and the three of them tailed behind the fake Tang Cuo, watching him turn up in front of everyone while pretending to be all panicky.

The always-calm twin brothers were startled. How could there be two Theodores?

Hes fake! He mustve come from the Secret Lakes illusion to deceive us. Everyone, stay away from him, dont be fooled! After the fake Tang Cuo finished speaking, he angrily pointed at Celtic, planning to gain the upper hand: I was obviously separated from Celtic at the beginning, who are you? Are you his accomplice?!

Tang Cuo looked at the scene in front of him with icy eyes, watching everyones reaction silently and not saying a word.

The other Tang Cuo snorted coldly: You arent saying anything, which means I guessed correctly? Say it, whats your intention to be in this group? When I was separated from Celtic, was it your trick?

This blaming tactic of his was indeed well-played.

Tang Cuo almost couldnt help applauding him, because his hands were feeling seriously itchy. Meanwhile, he really wasnt in the mood to talk nonsense with this fake man, so he simply drew his sword. Before anyone could even react, his sword pierced the other mans heart, truly as fast as the wind.

The fake Tang Cuo subconsciously reached out to hold the blade, but he couldnt stop it in the slightest. All he could see was his own bloody hand. The face that was exactly the same as Theodores was full of shock and even a feeling of tremendous absurdity. Why was he stabbed?!

Tang Cuo wouldnt bother explaining to him anyway. He drew his sword back and watched the other man slump down, his expression unflinching.

All around him, everyone remained utterly silent.

After thinking about it, Tang Cuo felt that he still had to say something, so he took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood on his sword while looking at the man lying on the ground: I wont be as noisy as you.

Subconsciously, the others took a step back, but facing the current situation, it was difficult to make judgment. Then, the moment Tang Cuo finished wiping the blood on the sword, the fake Tang Cuo finally breathed his last, his body glowed with a flash of light and he restored his original appearance.

This was neither Theodores face nor any of the five adventurers, but a druid with two horns on his head.

Everyones gaze was once again fixed on the two druids.