The Heartbeat of the Cruel Elves

However, the second advance team, which was supposed to report back after discovering this fork in the road, has not yet joined the main force. Li Yin and his team did not find any traces of this advance team on the way here...

And their good luck seemed to have ended there.

In the following time, they kept wandering between the right intersection, the wrong intersection, and the intersection without any markings. Those so-called "right" intersections have been proven to be completely inconsistent with the route map. Even the marks they left after passing through them were found to be inconsistent with the records after repeated passing.

Three days later, even the dumbest slave soldiers gradually realized that the troops had lost their way during the three-day aimless trek. The troops relied on the seepage of groundwater to replenish their water supply when they passed through an underground crack, but the food consumption continued. The officer in charge of supply reported this to Cassia at the assembly, saying that the troops only had less than half of their remaining food.

Cassia's reaction to this was unexpectedly calm. She simply ordered the logistics officer to reduce the daily supply of dark elf soldiers to two-thirds of the original, and the supply of slave soldiers to one-half of the original, and comforted everyone not to be afraid, they would eventually succeed in getting out of this maze.

Regarding Cassia's reaction, Li Yin could only think that she either had some hidden backup means, or she was just pretending to be calm in order to stabilize the morale of the troops. Considering that they had been wandering around in the maze for so long, Li Yin was more willing to believe the latter.

Panic and hunger spread among the troops, and they became more and more intense as time went by. Two days passed like this. On the fifth day, the troops passed by another place they had passed before, a huge pit that was thirty feet long and twenty feet wide. The rope bridge they had built to cross the pit was still hanging at both ends of the pit, and the three bodies of slave soldiers in the pit were also clearly visible.

When passing this place again, the dark elf officer ordered the slaves to fish out the bodies of the dead slaves in the pit and carry them with the army. This was certainly not out of kindness to collect the bodies for them. The reason for doing so was simple, and the slave soldiers did not wait for the "reason" to surface under the order of the commander, and had already revealed it with their own actions. Not long after, the dark elf officer found that the three bodies were obviously mutilated, and the orcs who carried them used the excuse that a few pieces were missing due to the collision with rocks during the march.

The supervising dark elf instructor immediately sternly whipped them a few times, and then told them very bluntly: No stealing.

After that, this behavior became a routine. Every time they passed a place where soldiers had died, the slaves would collect the bodies of their former comrades. At the same time, perhaps due to the anxiety caused by the long-term clueless march, as well as the oppression of hunger and fear, the troops' perception of traps on unknown roads became increasingly low, and accidental casualties occurred frequently. In this way, it seemed to form a black cycle invisibly - the soldiers marched, encountered traps and died on the way, the survivors collected the bodies of the dead, and continued to march after replenishing their energy...

When he first discovered this "cycle", Li Yin wanted to laugh, but he didn't.

If they kept walking and eating like this, would their troops gradually wither and become scarce, and would there be only one person left? He couldn't help wondering.

Then, that last person will eventually die of hunger, despair and loss.

He subconsciously looked at Cassia beside him.

Could the last person be this noble and powerful dark elf princess?

Regardless, he knew it couldn't be him.

Because he is a semi-undead creature that has been transformed into a zombie, his body will not die even if he does not need to eat!

——However, even so, he couldn't be happy at all now.

Li Yin had thought that as long as all the dark elves starved to death, he would be completely free. However, on the one hand, in this endless maze with no way out, even if he gained freedom, it would be useless and he would still be a de facto prisoner; on the other hand, he once again looked at the noble and beautiful dark elf princess beside him, recalling the charming and warm past between the two of them, and then he saw her alone in the dark and deep cave with no end in sight, becoming weaker and weaker due to hunger, her bright eyes losing their luster, her beautiful appearance gradually withering, and slowly dying. He still felt sorry for her.

If his freedom had to be purchased by killing the dark elf princess who had always taken such good care of him, was that too heavy a price to pay?

Once again, Li Yin reminded himself clearly that Cassia's favor towards him was based on charm. However, at the same time, another voice in his mind told him: She did not hurt you, she saved you from a desperate situation where you were doomed to die, and took good care of you in a dark elf city-state full of dangers, allowing you to survive until now...

Li Yin recalled that in the past two days, because he was aware of the shortage of food, he relied on his ghoul physique to intentionally control his food intake and only ate a little at each meal. After Cassia saw this behavior, she stroked his face and told him that she didn't need him to make such a sacrifice.

"Because," she said with deep eyes, "when unpredictable danger comes, I need you to be my strongest support."

After saying this, she put her food into his mouth with her own hands.

No matter what, you should seek your freedom, but not at the cost of hurting her... Li Yin made up his mind.

Ok.

...try not to...

The troops arrived at another place they had passed before.

Several bloody corpses hanging from wooden stakes provided evidence of their presence.

The dark elves' expressions were not looking good, but the slaves' faces filled with confusion and hunger were filled with a burst of blazing joy.

Without waiting for the leader's orders, they came over in twos and threes and pulled the corpse down from the sharp stakes.

"Put her down!" Suddenly, Li Yin heard a dark elf instructor shouting harshly.

He looked up and saw that two orcs were dragging the body of a female dark elf from the wooden stake.

The two orcs were confused and stood there in a daze. There was a sharp "puff" sound, and the dark elf instructor suddenly raised his hand and a whip shadow came over.

The two orcs were whipped but dared not resist and ran away screaming. Seeing this, the other slaves also retreated to the side, not daring to touch the corpses impaled on the stakes.

Chapter 129: The Savior's Plan

"Don't touch her," the dark elf glared at the slaves and said sternly, "You can only carry the corpses of your lowly fellows!"

Li Yin couldn't help but frown when he heard this. In fact, the slaves of the dark elves were of all kinds and from all races. However, in their eyes, there was no need to distinguish them, so they treated them all equally and classified them as "the same kind".

The slaves were not angry at all because of the dark elves' discriminatory words, or they did not dare to show any anger. After learning that they could continue to "carry" the corpse, they rushed forward again with great joy.

The dark elf turned her head and looked at her companions. Li Yin heard her gnashing her teeth and saying to her companions, "At least, we can't..."

Her companion nodded.

"We must not plant evil seeds in the heads of these filthy beasts."

"Although," the dark elf first looked at the slaves who were happily carrying the corpses with a wary look, and then said with contempt, "These weak and incompetent beasts are simply not capable of harming us."

The two dark elves' words were very implicit, but it was not difficult for Li Yin to understand the meaning. They protected the body of the female dark elf not out of any sympathy between compatriots - Li Yin doubted whether there was such a friendship between dark elves, but because of the principle of lips and teeth being cold.

This would of course be very dangerous if this corpse fostered in the slaves the idea that dark elves could also be "food".

However, Li Yin was very skeptical about how effective their actions to nip the problem in the bud would be.

Appetite is a biological instinct, and survival is another vital instinct of living things. When the instinct of survival is pushed to the limit by hunger, that is, when the desire to eat breaks out, these guys will probably want to gnaw a piece of meat off of themselves, not to mention the distinction between master and servant, and between superiors and inferiors.

...However, as soon as he thought of this, a bizarre idea suddenly emerged in his mind.

A way that would allow Cassia to survive endlessly in this endless maze - well, although from a human's point of view, the lifespan of elves is indeed incredibly long, they will indeed age and die, so let's put it another way, die of old age.

That is--

Let Cassia "eat" herself!

Of course, he was not yet ready to sacrifice his life for a dark elf slave master.

He just suddenly remembered that his zombie-like physique not only allowed him to go without food and water, but also gave him a very important superpower, which was that as long as he lay in the pit, his injuries would heal quickly!

——So, if it comes to the last resort, can he let Cassia survive by eating his own flesh and blood?

He didn't have any particular loss, as long as Cassia dug a hole and buried the leftovers after each meal - with her appetite, she probably wouldn't eat him all at once. At the next meal time, she would swing the pickaxe and dig in the ground - thump thump thump, and a completely intact Rein would appear again.

Li Yin's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but be surprised at his own genius idea.

However, he immediately changed his mind and thought, wouldn't that be very painful? He imagined the scene of Cassia raising a curved sword and chopping off one of his hands every day. As soon as the scene appeared in his mind, his hand couldn't stop cramping.

Forget it. Stimulated by the intense phantom pain, he felt a chill in his heart and decided to put this absurd idea aside for the time being. After all, it was not yet time to take such extreme measures.

For him, this was just a random thought that came to his mind at the time. As for whether to do it or not, he would decide when the time comes...

However, after having this thought, he felt a lot more relaxed.

He raised his head and looked again at the team that had been wandering in the maze for seven days. Almost all the soldiers, whether dark elves or slaves, had faces full of exhaustion and anxiety, but the degree was slightly different. But unexpectedly, his mistress, Princess Cassia, did not look very serious from her face. Although her snow-white cheeks were as cold and severe as a glacier, she did not show any panic or discouragement.

Things have come to this point, looking at her composure in the face of danger, Li Yin can only admire the princess's extraordinary mind.

About half an hour later, at another fork in the road, Princess Cassia suddenly ordered the troops to stop moving and rest on the spot, and once again convened a meeting mainly attended by middle-level officers of the troops.

This surprised all the dark elves present, as well as Li Yin.

Because generally speaking, their gatherings are held when the troops are resting normally, and the normal rest frequency of the troops during the march is generally once every six hours or so - at this time, less than two hours have passed since the last rest.

"I plan to organize another advance team for reconnaissance." After all the participants had gathered, Cassia looked at the dark elves and said in a relaxed tone.

"But... Your Highness," a dark elf murmured in a low voice. The reduction in food and the tiring journey made her look bad. Confusion and panic cast a layer of gloom on her pale face.

"Before, we weren't..." She raised her head, looked at Cassia cautiously, and didn't continue.

Although the other dark elves did not say a word, they all looked up at Cassia with the same gloomy and hesitant expressions, as if they doubted the order.

Seven days ago, when the troops discovered that they seemed to have fallen into a "living" maze, they sent out three advance teams to explore the three paths ahead.

As a result, two of the advance teams never returned without any news, and the other team brought back completely wrong information.

Since then, it has become an unspoken consensus among all dark elves that dispatching reconnaissance is not only useless, but will only disperse the team's strength and accelerate the decline of the troops.

From then on, even though they passed hundreds of forks in the road, Cassia never sent out any advance troops.

They thought their commander knew this as well as they did, but unexpectedly...

Cassia looked around at the dark elves with eyes as calm as water, carefully distinguishing the shock and suspicion on their faces.

The looks on their faces seemed to no longer simply be questioning her orders, but rather questioning whether she, the person who gave the orders, had turned into a lunatic out of despair.

Chapter 130 Oracle

However, Cassia smiled slightly and was not annoyed. It was hard to blame them for this. After wandering aimlessly in the maze for such a long time, hunger, fatigue, confusion and panic had already disturbed their minds, causing them to lose the essential qualities of an excellent dark elf soldier: keen perception and obedience to their superiors.

"The situation this time is different from before." She raised her chin slightly and said calmly.

"It was just a rash attempt before, but this time..." She paused, her tone was sonorous, and her expression suddenly became serious and pious, "We have the guidance of the goddess!"

"The guidance of the goddess?" The dark elves couldn't help but call out in a low voice, their voices full of doubt and surprise.

"That's right." Cassia's lips curled up slightly.

"These days, it seems that we are just trudging aimlessly." She looked at the dark elves with a stern gaze, "I believe you feel the same way, thinking that my order to continue marching and exploring is meaningless and will only lead you to death in exhaustion."

"but it is not the truth."

"These past few days, I have been praying to the Spider Queen using divination every day, begging for her grace to show us a way out of this strange maze."

"Did the goddess answer your prayer?" a dark elf asked excitedly. The other dark elves were also excited when they heard the words. The hunger and fatigue that had filled their faces were swept away.

“Not at first,” Cassia smiled, “but I didn’t take it as proof that the Spider Queen had abandoned us.”

"On the contrary, I think this is a test. Remember: God's favor never comes easily. Before begging for the favor of the Great Goddess, we must first prove our piety, a piety that will not change even in the most difficult and desperate circumstances."

"In addition, the goddess will not favor fools who have accomplished nothing and only hope to change their fate with the grace of the goddess. Therefore, we must also prove that we are not weak and useless people who do not deserve the goddess's mercy. We are determined warriors who will never give up their pursuit, stop fighting, and will not sit and wait for death even in adversity."

"This is why I ordered you to keep on trekking and exploring this maze, even if it seems there is no way out."

"And today..." She spoke in a long, majestic and high voice, "At this moment, I must tell you that our long-term patience and hard work have finally paid off."

"Just this morning, the Queen of Gods finally answered my prayers for the first time."

"She showed me a scene, a very familiar scene - an oval stone hall with three dark cave entrances in front. Three teams walked into three tunnels respectively... Then, what appeared before my eyes was Nevsky's towering spires and inverted stalactite forests!"

As soon as she paused in her solemn preaching tone, the dark elves' excited cheers rang out all around.

"At first," Cassia continued after the dark elves calmed down from their excitement, "I was very confused about the vision revealed by the goddess."

"After all," she turned her head and looked at the three-way intersection opposite the stone hall, grinning, "we have passed by too many similar places."

"It's hard for me to tell the difference between them, and I'm sure it's the same for you."

She looked at the dark elves, and the excitement on their faces was slightly frustrated, and they showed confusion and hesitation again.

"But just now, the moment we arrived at this stone hall, I suddenly felt an indescribable throbbing deep in my heart. This strong tremor was just like every time I prayed to the goddess and got a response, just like when she showed me that picture."

"Therefore, I can conclude that this is the place where the goddess will show us her great power."

"This is where she will guide us through the maze, find the lost ruins, retrieve the treasure, and return to Nevre!"

The listeners' expressions became enthusiastic again.

"Now," Cassia said after a slight pause, her tone softened and calmed down again, and her eyes gradually lost their enthusiasm, becoming clear as water. "It is time for us to accept the goddess's revelation and practice her will."

"Unlike last time, since this is a gift from the goddess, I dare not overstep my authority in selecting personnel. This time, I will leave this honor to fate and to you. It will be up to you to decide who will receive this honor given by the goddess."

"So," she said in a clear and soft voice, "is there anyone who wants to take the initiative to participate?"

"Me!" A male dark elf said without hesitation, "Your Highness, I am willing to be a member of the advance team, accept the guidance of the Queen of Gods, and find a way forward for everyone."

Cassia's eyes sparkled as she nodded approvingly.

"Me!" Another female dark elf rushed to say. The long, aimless journey, which was like a march to death, had made these dark elves extremely desperate. In this despair, a glimmer of hope for salvation suddenly emerged. Even if there was no "gift from the goddess", they would surely try their best for it. Li Yin looked at the excited expression of the female dark elf and thought to himself.

Immediately, he subconsciously looked around, wanting to see who would be the next person to volunteer, the next lucky person to be favored by the goddess.

However, unexpectedly, the next excited voice to take over the order did not sound immediately as he expected. He turned his head and looked around, but saw that some dark elves looked surprised, while others had excitement on their snow-white faces, but the excitement seemed a little unnatural, as if it was seized by some other emotion and was slowly disappearing.

Then, he looked at the two volunteers who had volunteered, and saw that the male dark elf's face was still flashing with excitement, while the female dark elf's face was a little stiff, as if she suddenly realized something. She raised her eyes and looked at Cassia with a flickering look, as if she wanted to say something but didn't dare to speak.

Li Yin's doubts grew.

"We already have two candidates, and we still have one to go." Cassia's voice was as calm as ever, with a hint of joy in her calmness. "Is there anyone else who wants to take on this important task and receive the goddess's favor?"

Her kind eyes swept across the faces of the dark elves one by one, but unexpectedly, still no dark elf spoke, and the scene was silent for a while.

Chapter 131: Unexpected Disaster

Suddenly, Cassia's gaze fell on Li Yin. She was slightly stunned, and Li Yin was also slightly stunned. The two looked at each other, and Cassia's gaze shifted in the next moment, and she continued to calmly look at the dark elf beside him.

However, a wave of confusion suddenly arose in Li Yin's mind.