Chapter 196: 132. The Coward
The four of them walked through the dimly lit woods under the moonlight, with no torches raised, relying on the simple blue stream above Jasmine’s head for illumination.
Their progress was quite silent; even Xiatu, with hooves but not running, made little sound, let alone Miss Anna, who was dressed in traditional Nali attire.
Although she wasn’t wearing complicated high heels, even walking on this mountain path in ordinary lady’s flats was quite difficult.
Her pace was slow, not able to keep up with the others ahead, yet she remained strong, silent, and did her best to follow their steps.
Fisher noticed her discomfort. Strangely, his ‘Fisher intuition’ always sensed danger upon first sight of Anna, but after actually interacting with her, he found her to be just an ordinary lady, without any means of resistance.
Besides her remarkable beauty, Anna had no other outstanding qualities.
To speak of it, her appearance was completely like that of a Western Continent person, while she herself once claimed she was from the Southern Continent. Fisher had seen humans from the Southern Continent, who typically wore grass skirts and had complex patterns painted on their faces with natural dyes; they should differ in appearance from those of the Western Continent.
Suppressing his questions, Fisher didn’t extend a helping hand to her. As long as she could keep up, that would suffice.
“Is this underground river really this far, Jasmine?”
Xiatu looked at the continually flowing blue stream above Jasmine’s head, which pointed towards the distant Nali Lake without any signs of deviation, indicating that there was indeed a passage back to the sea from Nali Lake.
They had been walking for over half an hour, yet still nothing was found.
“Uh, I don’t know either. We should discover it if we keep going.”
Jasmine poked at the blue stream on her forehead, which persistently pointed towards the nearby Nali Lake. Fisher glanced at the endlessly stretched dense forest ahead and shook his head, saying,
“No, this pace is too slow. We must speed up.”
Upon hearing this, Anna bit her lip and apologetically said to the three of them,
“Sorry, it’s my problem.”
“How about I carry her? That way we can go a bit faster.”
Fisher looked at Xiatu in surprise, or rather, at the not-so-wide body of the horse behind her.
“You?”
It had been previously mentioned that the horses of the Centaur race were actually not as large as true horses. When researching Xiatu, Fisher had felt that the part behind her was not very wide, and seemed a bit reluctant for carrying someone.
“Um, if this lady isn’t too heavy, I can still try.”
Xiatu had no other choice; Anna walked too slowly, needing to rest every few steps. Although she didn’t give her a good feeling, during this time spent together, she hadn’t shown any other issues. Carrying her for a while shouldn’t be a big problem.
“I’ll give it a try.”
Anna didn’t push herself and slowly walked over to Xiatu, with Fisher helping her climb up onto Xiatu’s back. Without a saddle or anything similar to sit on, it felt a little awkward, and for a moment, Anna fearfully hugged Xiatu’s waist, causing Xiatu’s cheeks to flush instantly, nearly making her bolt away.
“Sorry, am I hugging too tightly?”
“It’s… okay.”
Fisher looked at the two ladies in that intimate embrace with dead fish eyes, feeling this scene had a certain harmonious vibe to it, though it might just be his appreciation as a gentleman for a lady’s company.
“Then let’s proceed full speed ahead, aiming to arrive as soon as possible.”
“No problem, hold tight.”
“Mm.”
Xiatu raised her hooves, with Jasmine and Fisher still having enough stamina to run full speed without issue.
Watching Xiatu take a deep breath and then dash forward was Fisher’s first time seeing this Centaur run at full strength; her speed was truly like lightning, even on the uneven mountain path she moved effortlessly, making it hard to imagine how beautiful her movements must be on the plains.
Jasmine and Fisher exchanged glances and quickly followed since Xiatu was carrying someone. They soon kept pace with her, and they could see Anna, who tightly closed her eyes and clung to Xiatu—this speed was a bit too fast for her.
“Clop clop clop!”
“Wait, the direction has changed!”
Not long after, as they were running, Jasmine suddenly spoke up. She looked at the faintly blue water ring on her forehead, which had suddenly adjusted direction. She stopped and stared at the direction indicated by the water ring.
Xiatu and Anna also stopped, but before Xiatu could turn, Anna, covering her mouth, nearly fell off.
“Are you okay?”
“Ugh!”
Anna jumped off Xiatu and turned pale as she hurried to the nearby trees, bending over as she nearly threw up her stomach acid.
Riding on the Centaur felt like being on a roller coaster for her, with the added speed becoming a strong emetic for someone without any experience.
Fisher looked at Anna, who was continuously throwing up, with a bit of sympathy. Earlier, he had considered how cool it might be if humans fought while riding Centaurs. Now, it seemed better to ride a real horse—safer and more stylish too.
He paid little attention to Anna and stood by the cliffside of the nearby forest with Jasmine, looking out in that direction. He could see a river, like a jade belt, cutting through the dense forest toward the distant ocean amid the mountains obscured in the background.
This was no longer within the range of Saint Nali; the river was quite far from Nali Lake. However, since Jasmine’s ring turned here, it indicated that underground there was a dark river connecting Nali Lake with the distant river. The problem was, how could they find the specific entrance?
“Let’s search around nearby and see if we can find the entrance to the underground current.”
“No need.”
Anna returned with a pale face, clearly having nearly finished throwing up. She looked around the dense forest, then slightly twitched her nose before saying to Fisher,
“I vaguely smell the scent of water and rocks, just nearby; the unique smell of a cave cannot be wrong.”
If she hadn’t said it, Fisher would have nearly forgotten that Anna had a remarkably keen sense of smell. She could even detect her own scent through the faint perfume Elizabeth had given her.
Fisher let her lead the way, and Anna followed the scent forward. In the distance, on the mountain peaks, Fisher could faintly see a lookout tower built by the royal family, enclosing the entire area of Nali Lake, preventing anyone from approaching.
However, it was night, and they were very far from there; even if there were any probing magic, it wouldn’t detect them.
“It should be right here.”
Anna’s voice marked the end of their search. After walking a short distance with her, a huge stone block appeared before Fisher. She pointed at a gap between two large stones and said to Fisher and the others.
The gap between the stones was very narrow, just wide enough for a person to pass through. Under the moonlight, the inside was pitch dark. If it weren’t for Anna’s hint, Fisher and the others would have never discovered this hidden spot.
Upon reaching the position above the underground current, the blue stream on Jasmine’s head had also stopped moving, pointing downwards. Therefore, Fisher couldn’t confirm if there was really an underground current below.
“Let’s go take a look…”
Reluctantly, Fisher squeezed into the gap between the stones first.
However, it was troublesome that the staff Renee had given him was nowhere to be found, so he couldn’t use illumination magic to check the surroundings. But Jasmine, following behind him, had night vision. After walking a few steps through the narrow, damp crevice, Jasmine suddenly grabbed Fisher.
“Fisher, there’s a slope ahead.”
Following Jasmine’s glowing water ring, Fisher looked down and found that the space ahead had widened significantly. Before him was a huge slope made of rubble that led straight down to some underground area. A chilly breeze occasionally rose, indicating that the space below was likely quite large.
“There’s a very large cave below.”
Fisher and Jasmine turned back to check if Anna and Xiatu were following. In the dark, he could vaguely see their silhouettes. Confirming that the two were with them, Fisher walked ahead again.
“Splash splash.”
The further down they went, the louder the sound of water became, and the surrounding space also broadened, with air seemingly blowing from all directions. This might indicate an extremely complex underground network, but in the darkness, Fisher could only follow the sound of the water while occasionally checking if the others had gotten lost.
“Hold hands, just in case.”
As Fisher turned back to say this, their group of four—Fisher, Jasmine, Anna, and Xiatu—formed a line. Fisher glanced back along the dim blue stream of water to count heads.
Jasmine
Anna
Xiatu…
And, hmm?
Counting, Fisher suddenly noticed that behind Xiatu followed another silhouette, meaning, in the darkness, someone had suddenly appeared behind them?
Fisher’s heart raced for a second as he suddenly stopped, staring intently in Xiatu’s direction but could only vaguely see her figure and the shadow behind her. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t see clearly who was behind her.
“Don’t move.”
Fisher’s voice suddenly rang out. When Jasmine sensed something was off and turned around, her vision was better than Fisher’s. As soon as she caught sight of the figure behind Xiatu, her face froze and she instinctively pointed at Xiatu, shouting,
“Xiatu! There’s a woman behind you!”
“A woman? Ahhh! There’s a ghost!!”
Fisher couldn’t stop it in time. Xiatu, already frightened, turned pale, instinctively rearing up and kicking at the shadow behind her. Whether she actually hit it, Fisher didn’t know, but they were on a large slope, and with that sudden kick, the entire team’s center of gravity began to tilt.
“Grab hold of me!”
Fisher thought it was bad news, straining to hold onto the three of them to keep them from falling, but he didn’t know when the stone beneath his feet had become slick with moisture. Even if he wanted to support them, he couldn’t. He could only watch helplessly as his body uncontrollably fell into the dark space below.
“Ahhh, Fisher!”
“Ghost!!”
“Ugh!”
In that instant, the entire dark cave was filled with the screams of the three ladies, as if a chain reaction was occurring, crying out while sliding deeper into the cave.
In free fall, Fisher did his best to grab whoever he could to prevent them from slipping off to other places, also ensuring that he would land first to avoid them getting hurt. However, in the tumble through the air, he only managed to grab one lady, unsure of who it was.
The screams continued, and the group fell through the darkness for an indeterminate time. Eventually, Fisher suddenly felt a substantial contact behind him.
“Plop!”
A splash echoed as they fell straight into some water. The water was calm, almost like a still pond. The sound of splashing filled the air, signaling that all four of them had landed simultaneously.
“Fisher!”
Jasmine’s consciousness was still quite clear, calling out from a distance.
At that moment, Fisher found himself holding a soft body that trembled against him; it was Anna embracing him like an octopus.
“Where’s Xiatu?”
Since Anna was still there, Fisher floated and called out to Jasmine.
“She… she sank! She can’t swim!”
With that, Jasmine suddenly flipped in the water and swam towards the bottom, trying to rescue Xiatu. Meanwhile, Fisher, still afloat, noticed a distant shore and decided to carry Anna to the shore first.
“Mmm.”
Feeling Fisher starting to move, Anna clung to him even tighter, frightened that she would be thrown off into the water, showing that she didn’t swim well either.
Fortunately, the shore wasn’t far. Fisher swam for a short while before reaching the bank, pulling Anna up out of the water.
“On the shore now, it’s okay.”
“Mm.”
“… So, you can let go now.”
In the darkness, Anna, soaked through, finally realized she was still gripping Fisher’s wet clothes. The next moment, she hurriedly released her hold, allowing Fisher to stand up.
“Sorry.”
Her face looked a bit unnatural, and her cheeks started to warm up, but fortunately, it was too dark for anyone to see her expression.
“Jasmine!”
“I’m coming!”
Just as Fisher called for Jasmine, she rose from the cool waters like a mermaid, cradling the now unconscious Xiatu, who had been scared out of her wits. Fisher lent a hand to help bring her up, and thankfully, all four of them were now safe.
However, who was the silhouette he had seen earlier on the slope?
Fisher didn’t have time to consider this further, because as soon as Jasmine got on shore, the entire cave seemed to trigger some sort of switch, coming to life. Paths of light, the same color as the glow from Jasmine’s water stream, began to spread across the ground, illuminating the whole cave like fireflies.
“It’s lit up?”
Following the light, Fisher looked around and found that this was a modestly sized cave chamber. The sight of a gloomy water pool before them held an unknown depth and direction.
The four of them stood at the shore. As the light gradually spread to the walls behind them, distorted and obscure patterns began to appear one by one, resembling both pictures and writing.
Anna sat still with her soaked body, her gaze following Fisher as he curiously scrutinized the inscriptions on the rock wall.
Yes, Fisher deduced that this was some form of writing, but it wasn’t human; it resembled a sort of Subhuman civilization.
“Wow, this is the writing of our Whale Folk!”
Beside him, Jasmine lightly patted the now dazed Xiatu’s chest, and then a burst of water spilled out from Xiatu’s mouth. Fisher wasn’t sure if there was any of her soul left with that water, but looking at the force Jasmine used to pat her, it seemed rather terrifying.
“Whale Folk writing?”
Wait a minute, how could a race that lived in the deep sea leave their writing here?
Could it be the writings left behind by Jasmine’s aunt, Muxi? That might also explain things?
“What does it say up there?”
Jasmine slowly walked to Fisher’s side, reading letter by letter. However, as soon as she read the first few words, her expression suddenly turned a bit strange, and she glanced at Fisher, looking a little embarrassed.
“What’s wrong? Is this related to some secret of your Whale Folk?”
“N-no! It’s that…”
Jasmine’s face turned slightly red, and she covered her small face, awkwardly translating,
“The very first sentence says…”
“‘Ah hahahaha, a coward was scared! I won’t say who.’”
Even though Jasmine spoke in a very soft voice, both Fisher and Anna could still hear how malevolent the personality of the Whale Folk was reflected in that sentence.
So, that silhouette seen earlier on the slope belonged to this Whale Folk? It could have been an illusion, a relic, or perhaps magic—or the blessing of that Whale Folk?
Without any other purpose, just wanting to scare you once?
Isn’t that just crazy?
The cave suddenly fell into an awkward silence, with only Xiatu’s nearly lamenting breath echoing in the void.
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(End of Chapter)
