Amber Sword

This kind of relationship once made her feel uneasy, and she always vaguely wanted to correct it. But it was all in vain; she didn’t know whether Brand could understand the goodwill she was releasing and her intention to seek change. Yet the moment Brand fell into danger, she suddenly realized she could never allow him to die like this.

The taste of loneliness had been endured for too long.

Even someone as excellent as Sir Wolf couldn’t fully understand her thoughts. Although Viscount Beigening disguised himself almost perfectly, he was just someone who could help her.

The Princess suddenly felt a stir in her heart. She tensed up, quickly furrowed her brows, and hastily gathered her thoughts to return to her original calm state.

Because she understood that it was impossible. She had to be cautious.

This was the limit.

After entering the fissure, the group had already ventured deep into the underground depths of Ambeser. The temperature rose slightly, initially only offsetting the cold from outside, but gradually it became somewhat stuffy. Especially since there was no wind underground, the air was filled with a musty smell.

Brand was conversing with Barbara: "Barbara, in which direction is the secret passage you know of?"

"Just north of here, not far. I know there should be a hidden door there."

"So it’s on our way?" Brand’s eyes lit up, and this was indeed good news. He feared that the secret passage led to the ruins hall to the east or the ancient underground corridor further east. Not to mention whether he remembered the maze-like terrain after so long, but that area was also the territory of Spider Mother Anaseron, and he didn’t want to provoke that big bug and then go looking for trouble with her.

That sure was one big bug.

Barbara cast him a mysterious glance but didn’t speak. It was as if the rumor of the Dark Dragon understanding everything had deeply taken root, and Barbara undoubtedly thought, ’The Lord clearly knew all of this already.’ The prophecy of the dark words was almost eerily accurate, and the feudal superstition thoughts were deeply ingrained in her mind.

But it was then that Brand, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped.

He halted and then reached out to stop everyone behind him. Everyone was slightly taken aback because they hadn’t sensed anything unusual. However, after having gone through several battles, the group had developed a tacit understanding, and no one easily voiced any doubts. Moments later, they indeed saw several shadows emerge from a crack not far ahead.

The knights exchanged glances; encountering other ’humanoid creatures’ in this crisis-ridden underground clearly exceeded their expectations. But only Brand could see clearly—

They were Cave Dwellers.

He made a gesture to silence, as Cave Dwellers had surprisingly sharp hearing, especially in the silent underground where sound mostly traveled in one direction. Fortunately, after reaching Elemental Manifestation, his five senses were a hundred times more acute than an ordinary person. Otherwise, he might have been discovered by them first.

There were very few Cave Dwellers apart from those like the clan from the Lengshan Domain that escaped the Underground World to the surface, but even one group was rare. Brand didn’t think he had the luck to encounter such things repeatedly. The identity of the others had only one possibility—that they were part of the underground army of Jogen Digan.

But why would they be here? Could it be that they also discovered this secret passage?

Brand thought this wasn’t very likely. He wondered if perhaps there was a passage nearby that connected to the underground of Jogen Digan. That seemed more likely. He couldn’t help but frown, watching the Cave Dwellers slowly slip into another crack.

The Underground World was intersected in all directions, but most naturally formed passages were dead ends. Some even led to monster nests or traps. But Brand remembered that road should lead toward the ancient ruins hall.

It seemed they hadn’t discovered the hidden door Barbara mentioned.

He breathed a small sigh of relief. Once the Cave Dwellers were far away, the knights asked, "My Lord, them?" Previously, these knights from Lantoniyan called Brand ’Sir’, but now they directly addressed him as ’My Lord’.

However, Brand probably didn’t realize that this change in address detail was not just due to their awe of his strength. More importantly, it was because Ecco had long been speaking to these knights under his command about his deeds in the Eternal Song Forest. These knights might have originally scoffed at their successor with his head full of knightly ideals. But now, it seemed even Ecco’s status in their hearts had improved significantly.

Unfortunately, Brand didn’t know these details. Otherwise, he would have been quite embarrassed. He waited a moment before replying softly: "Cave Dwellers are far more familiar with the Underground World than we are, so it’s not surprising they discovered this place. This doesn’t mean anything; we should continue moving forward."

The group nodded, with an air of ’whatever Brand said goes.’ But in truth, Brand himself was not entirely sure. He only hoped that the Old Witch Barbara hadn’t exaggerated.

He hoped the secret passage was truly as hidden as she described, or this journey might be wasted. And besides, how to get out later would still be a problem.

He couldn’t help but glance at Barbara. Unfortunately, the Old Witch’s face was hidden under her hood, revealing nothing significant, but she didn’t seem particularly tense.

(PS: I had to go out temporarily today and by the time I returned, it was already 8 o’clock. I was a bit tired and didn’t feel like writing, but considering that I shouldn’t leave it undone, I still wrote a Chapter. Sorry to keep you waiting.) (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote recommendation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)