The Heartbeat of the Cruel Elves

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"There's no suitable time and place..." Li Yin didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and acted as if I had already told him the reason.

"After reuniting with Princess Du Feiya, you have been staying together. Even if I wanted to report this to you, I couldn't find a suitable opportunity." He explained patiently.

"Besides, I originally thought that this was not important information."

"My enemies are trying to poach my servants, and you, as the person involved, actually think this is not important information?" There was a hint of anger in Cassia's voice.

"Please forgive me, Your Highness," Li Yin pretended to be frightened, but in fact he was not in a hurry, "Please allow me to explain this."

"First of all, that's because, as the person involved, I have already determined that Princess Du Feiya's actions are meaningless, even ridiculous, and will never succeed."

"Since this is a conspiracy that is bound to fail, there is no need to disturb your noble mind."

"Secondly, you were worried about finding a way out for the entire army. You had a higher mission on your shoulders, and this clumsy trick that was only worthy of being a topic of conversation after dinner should not have appeared at that time to distract your attention."

After hearing what Li Yin said, Cassia's anger gradually subsided. However, her stern accent still carried a hint of anger:

"Why do you think her actions are meaningless, even ridiculous? How did she recruit you? Tell me in detail."

"She said I was the son of a witch," Li Yin said calmly, "She said a talent like me shouldn't be buried under your hands. She has a more suitable position for me."

"Oh?" Cassia's tone was a little heavy, "Then what do you think?"

"It is the greatest honor to be your servant." Li Yin said solemnly and resolutely.

"Are you really not tempted by her promise at all?" Cassia stared deeply into Li Yin's eyes.

Li Yin lowered his head in embarrassment and shame.

Just when Cassia was wondering if he had something to hide, she heard him stammer, "Your Highness... your love for me is more important than any empty fame, wealth or power."

Cassia was slightly stunned, and the corners of her mouth curled up unconsciously, but then her expression became stern, and a few cold lights of suspicion flashed in her eyes.

However, before she could ask further questions, Li Yin looked up and added: "And——"

"Anything else?" Cassia asked doubtfully.

"I think," Li Yin calmed himself down and pretended to be a little flustered, but in his panic, he couldn't help but show a bit of pride, "Princess Du Feiya has somewhat underestimated the wisdom of your servant."

"She used those sweet words to seduce me, but in fact, everyone knows that these words are just a conspiracy to lure me to surrender to you after she failed in her attempt to buy me directly from you."

"Her true attitude towards me was exposed during our first contact."

"The so-called more suitable position for her is nothing more than the operating table."

"I'm not so stupid as to rush into making experimental materials."

After listening to Li Yin's endless chatter, even teasing Du Feiya with a bit of self-satisfaction, Cassia did not immediately ask any more questions, but fell into silence. She lowered her eyes slightly, as if thinking about something.

Li Yin guessed that she must be thinking hard at this moment, is her servant unwilling to rebel because of her love, or is it because Du Feiya's promise is just a trick with evil intentions? And if it is the latter, then one day, when faced with real temptation, what choice will he make?

He knew that Cassia would probably fall into such doubts.

It doesn't matter which conclusion she will ultimately come to.

Even if she suspects that she might betray after being "tempted by the truth" in the future, there is still a chance to slowly correct that attitude in the future.

As long as she doesn't doubt whether she has been "unfaithful".

Sure enough, after Cassia pondered for a moment, she raised her face, and a smile with ripples appeared on her fair and beautiful face again.

"Your loyalty is worthy of praise." She pinched the soft spot under Li Yin's jaw and said with a smile, "I will reward you well after this matter is over."

"However," she immediately turned serious, and her stern tone revealed a hint of threat and intimidation.

"Next time this happens, I demand that you report it to me immediately. You are not allowed to act on your own and delay or conceal it as worthless intelligence."

"Yes." Li Yin responded immediately and earnestly, "I was not considerate enough this time. Please forgive me, Your Highness."

Cassia's tone softened a little: "Just hope there won't be a next time."

Li Yin nodded more obediently. At the same time, watching Cassia regain her composure, he muttered to himself, is this matter resolved just like that?

He always felt that it was going a little smoother than he had imagined, no... it should be said that it was going a lot more smoothly.

Or maybe... He changed his mind and reminded himself not to be careless and not to let down his guard completely. Maybe Cassia just temporarily suppressed her doubts on the surface, but her inner vigilance was not completely erased. After this incident, she should pay more attention to the relationship between herself and Princess Dufiya in the future.

Chapter 154: The Road to Light

The scarlet spider's nest is a large area, and the webs inside are still intricate, but what makes it obviously different from the outside is that these tunnels are extremely irregular in size, length and distribution.

It should be said that this irregularity is the natural geographical feature. And outside... Li Yin recalled the tunnels with uniform diameter and identical branches that the troops had passed through before, and also recalled the huge spiritual entity that had once appeared in a flash, and his heart could not help but shudder.

Those strangely identical tunnels had no traces of chiseling or cutting, so he was very reluctant but still believed that they were formed naturally. However, after Dufia's demonstration of stone shaping and the appearance of the huge mental entity, he now had another idea in his mind - of course there would be no traces of chiseling or cutting on those tunnels - because they were directly opened up by magic.

However, this idea was also chilling. According to Du Feiya's description, just changing a small section of one of the tunnels would require powerful magic like Advanced Stone Shaping. And if all the hundreds of tunnels they had walked through were opened up by magic, how much magical power would it require?

How powerful is that mysterious spiritual entity? Or are they actually a large group, and the one who just appeared is just a scout among them?

Either of these two assumptions would be horrifying enough if it became a reality.

Therefore, although the other dark elves were rejoicing because the Spider Goddess appeared and led them to find a way out (although most of them still had a physiological fear of the goddess's messengers - those tiny scarlet spiders), Li Yin's face was still full of deep worry along the way.

Along the way, he continued to use telepathy for reconnaissance, but just like before, he no longer felt anything unusual around him.

Not only that, after a few hours, the road was unexpectedly smooth - this was also contrary to Li Yin's imagination.

He believes that even if spiders have their own paths, if the thing that previously blocked their movement was a living thing, then it could certainly continue to change their path.

Unless... the Spider Goddess really appeared and not only guided them to find the right guide, but also secretly and quietly dealt with the troublemaker.

Li Yin sneered and threw this almost absurd assumption out of his mind. If a god, especially an evil god, was so proactive and spared no effort in responding to the calls of believers, then there wouldn't be so many unbelievers like him in the world who had nothing to do after having enough food.

So, what exactly was the reason that prevented the mysterious mental entity from taking any further action?

Li Yin was puzzled.

Amidst such heavy concerns and speculations, the troops marched for several more hours.

Then, suddenly, while Li Yin was still immersed in his own thoughts, he suddenly felt that the entire army had stopped.

Time for a break? He looked up in surprise.

No, he suddenly realized, it had only been a short time since the last break.

"That's it." Cassia's clear voice suddenly came from beside, passing through the entire army in the silent darkness.

"The goddess's messenger told me that they can only guide us here."

"The rest of the journey will depend on us alone."

As soon as Li Yin began to feel doubtful, a female dark elf officer spoke up and expressed his doubts.

"Is this the end?" Cassia's trusted warrior asked humbly, with a hint of concern, "Your Highness."

"But there is nothing here yet." She raised her head. Li Yin and many other dark elves were looking at the deep and dark tunnel ahead in confusion like her.

"Can you ask them to lead us a little further... to the exit of this maze, to the true location of the lost city?"

"That's right," Li Yin agreed secretly in his heart, "If you want to help someone, you have to help them to the end."

"We can't go any further." Cassia shook her head, and then, in an extremely calm tone, said a message that shocked everyone.

"Because I can sense that these poor little creatures..." She gazed tenderly at her fingertips, where a scarlet spider was clinging and crawling slowly, "They are afraid."

There is danger! For a moment, this was the thought that flashed through everyone's mind. This thought instantly made their pores shrink and the hairs on their bodies stand up.

Then, an even more frightening thought flashed through the minds of some quick-witted dark elves.

It was the scarlet spiders—those scarlet spiders that were all over the place, like a sea and a tide, gnashing their teeth, sucking blood, and devouring everything. They were afraid.

What kind of terrifying existence could frighten these terrible spiders?

"Yes, there is danger." Cassia seemed to have heard what everyone was thinking and responded slowly.

She squatted down, put the spider on her fingertips on the ground, and watched it crawl all the way to a spider colony nearby and merge into its own colony.

“So they can’t go any further.”

"Next..."

“This is a test that is unique to us.”

Then she stood up and looked around with her majestic and stern eyes.

"I know what some of you elves are thinking—"

"'Can't we go back? Can't we let these messengers of the goddess take us directly back?'"

"Unfortunately, no." She asked and answered herself, her words were cold and stern, leaving no room for doubt.

"They appeared in response to our prayers. Their guidance is the goddess's gift and favor to us. And we beg for the goddess's favor, is it just to let her guide us to escape?"

"What kind of blasphemy is this against the gods?"

"Such behavior will definitely not be allowed by her."

"A coward who can only run away is not worthy of being a follower of the goddess."

Cassia said passionately.

"Uh..." Her servant beside her suddenly stammered.

Cassia's brows suddenly frowned, she turned her head to look to the side, and a rare cold expression appeared on her face towards Li Yin.

"Do you have any questions, Li Yin?"

"No, no." Li Yin kept shaking his head like a rattle that couldn't stop.

Cassia curled her lips slightly and turned away, seeming still dissatisfied with his rash interruption.

In fact, Li Yin did have a problem, and it was this problem that caused him to lose his voice just now. And this problem is:

"Think about how you got to the underground?"

But he dared not speak out this question. Otherwise, no matter how close Cassia was to him before, he would probably become a rich meal for the scarlet spiders that gathered around him...

The reason why he thought of this question, apart from his usual wild and divergent thinking, was of course that he was one of the 'certain elves' mentioned by Cassia - well, he was not an elf, but a human, but anyway, he had a connection with them.

He saw no reason to continue moving forward, knowing that there was danger ahead that could not be ignored.

However, if he put himself in Cassia's shoes and thought from her perspective, he could understand why she insisted on moving forward.

First of all, the most important reason was that she was a priestess of the Spider Goddess, and the road ahead was the direction she got through her own divination and the goddess's messenger. In other words, this was the road that God had predicted for her to take, so she certainly had no choice but to do it! Secondly, as a dark elf princess, and the last princess in the family, her strong ambition and her low status also prompted her to complete the tasks given by the family to the greatest extent possible in order to enhance her influence in the family, rather than using failure to show her weakness in front of her mother and sisters...

"This is the path the Goddess has given you, including the path you have already walked and the challenges you must face next."

“You cannot just accept her gift and refuse to accept the test she gives you.” Sure enough, Cassia turned to the dark elves again and continued to appeal with a voice like a storm.

"Since you have called for her favor, you must honor her with blood and courage!"

"Pass my order, march!"

The troops continued to move forward.

The scarlet spiders retreated like a tide and were left far behind by the dark elves. Now, the tunnel was clean and tidy again. Except for the dark rocks and the occasional phosphorescent fungi and lichens scattered on the surface of the rocks, there was no trace of anything else.

However, there was no sign of joy or peace on the face of any dark elf - although the bloodthirsty spider swarms had disappeared without a trace, more dangerous things seemed to be lurking in the darkness all the time.

They remained silent and moved forward carefully. Each elf held their weapons tightly, looking around vigilantly, their palms slightly sweaty.

Li Yin's mind was also filled with mixed thoughts.

When he learned that there was undoubtedly danger ahead, his first reaction was to flee. But unfortunately, he was no longer a free man who could act independently, but a humble slave who had to obey others in everything. Since his mistress was unwilling to retreat, he had no choice but to continue to explore with her and face the unknown danger ahead.

What exactly is the danger? In the first place, without any thought, a possibility emerged in Li Yin's mind - the huge mental entity that had once made a light "eh" sound in his mind.

The reason why it, or they, did not stop them in the spider's nest was because they had already reached the front and were waiting for them to arrive?

For a moment, ghostly shadows appeared before Li Yin's eyes, including the bared fangs of giant beasts and huge traps with sophisticated and complex mechanisms... He couldn't help but shudder.

But if that is the case, then why?

Why would the goddess of Cassia do this?

She gave them revelations, but the result was just to send them to die in a different place, taking a long detour only to encounter the same enemy again?

Could a god be so bored? Li Yin wondered in his heart.

In this way, they continued to move forward for about half an hour in an uneasy state of mind filled with confusion and fear. Unexpectedly, although everyone was on high alert and always on guard against the sudden appearance of invading enemies, the journey was unusually smooth without any unexpected situations.

Not only were there no enemies, but there were no confusing forks in the road. They were walking in a one-way tunnel that was winding but had no divergences.

This road would have been decidedly reassuring if it had not led to a definite danger—but now it was decidedly frightening.