Chapter 100: Find a Place to Hide First
“Hurry, keep moving forward!”
Panting heavily in Ye Jiamei’s arms, Yu Luo took a whole cup of tea’s time to catch her breath. Only then did she have the strength to shout at the people around her.
At that moment, everyone was still in shock and excitement seeing her return, but her sudden command only made them even more uneasy and fearful!
“Disaster star! What do you mean by that? Did you lead those bandits back to us?”
Unintentionally, the words “disaster star” slipped out of Yu Yingying’s mouth again. Just the thought that Yu Luo might have brought the bandits back made her face turn pale with fright!
In her mind, Yu Yingying believed she was the most beautiful among the Yu sisters, and as the legitimate daughter, her status was the highest.
If those bandits saw her, they would surely try to abduct her. The only reason they hadn’t taken her before was that she had been hiding behind her mother. The bandits must not have seen her beauty.
But now that Yu Luo had escaped and returned, wouldn’t that mean Yu Yingying would be dragged into trouble too?
“Who are you calling a disaster star? You’re the disaster star! Shut your damn mouth!”
Already tense and nervous, Ye Jiamei snapped back immediately, her voice loud and fierce, holding the exhausted Yu Luo tightly.
“It’s true! She—she said she would sacrifice herself, but now look at her—she must have escaped…”
Startled by Ye Jiamei’s outburst, Yu Yingying seemed to lose her usual arrogance. As she spoke, her voice grew weaker and weaker.
Before she could finish, Chang Huilan quickly grabbed her arm, signaling her with her eyes to shut up.
“Hurry up and move! They don’t know I escaped yet. We need to keep going—no stopping, no resting!”
Ignoring Yu Yingying’s nonsense, Yu Luo steadied her breath and urged everyone to move forward quickly.
Seeing this, the group, who had already planned to keep moving without stopping for the night, quickly gathered their belongings and set off at once.
Yu Zhengqing had indeed planned for everyone to keep going. They had only stopped briefly to rest and eat, so they packed up swiftly and continued on their way.
Seeing how exhausted Yu Luo was, Yu Haojie immediately squatted down and offered to carry her on his back.
“No need, Dad. Just help me walk for now. I ran a long way in one breath and only stopped twice briefly. I’ll be fine in a bit.”
“Alright, we’ll just support you for now. Focus on catching your breath.”
The group moved forward for less than half an hour when Yu Luo suddenly stopped them.
“There, down the slope in the woods, there’s some distance from this ridge path. I wonder if there might be a cave or something around there. I think it’s better if those who can use lightfoot go down and scout ahead.
If those people do come after us, they’ll probably take the ridge path above us. Since we can’t outrun them, we might as well find a place to hide first. If they can’t find us along the way, they might just give up.”
All along, the system had been searching for a place to hide. In fact, that spot was actually an old tomb that had been dug out before.
The entrance was already covered with weeds—though they had withered in the cold season, the piles of messy stones at the entrance were still there.
“I think Yu Luo’s right. If they do chase us, we won’t be able to outrun them. Better to find a place to hide and rest first.”
When everyone looked at Yu Luo in confusion, Yu Qiao’er from the third branch spoke up in agreement.
Yu Zhengqing glanced at the slope below, hesitating for a moment. He couldn’t fathom how Yu Luo could tell there was a cave there in the dark.
But he shared the same thought as Yu Luo: better to hide first. If the pursuers were really coming, they wouldn’t be able to escape anyway.
“Xiao Ran, go down and check if there’s a cave by the cliff. If there is, come back and report.”
“Got it!”
With a swift movement, Yu Xiaoran used lightness skill and landed gracefully at the spot Yu Luo pointed out. Following the cliff for only a few dozen meters, he actually found an ancient tomb hidden behind a pile of rocks!
He couldn’t tell how deep the tomb was or if it could accommodate over a hundred people and ten horses. If it was too small, it would be useless.
“Dad! There really is a cave. Looks like an ancient tomb that was dug open. Just not sure if it’s big enough for all of us.”
“Then I’ll go with you to check it out.”
Yu Xiaoxuan grabbed a torch and landed beside Yu Xiaoran. The two brothers, after a quick discussion, went inside cautiously.
Meanwhile, upon hearing it was a tomb, the women shivered with fear, and the children clung to their parents, terrified.
Even the men couldn’t help but feel a chill down their spines. But recalling the bandits they had fought before, they quickly suppressed their fear.
The brothers moved the stones aside to create a small gap, then squeezed in through the opening.
What they saw inside left them stunned.
“What’s with all these symbols? I’ve never seen writing like this before! Brother, you’re more knowledgeable than me—can you read it?”
Inside, the walls were covered with strange symbols and carvings. But instead of a tombstone or a coffin, all they saw was a long, deep tunnel.
Yu Xiaoran, observing the surroundings, was pulled over by Yu Xiaoxuan, who pointed at the strange symbols with curiosity.
“I can’t read them either. But that’s not the point right now. Let’s move deeper and see if this tunnel can fit all of us.”
“Oh! Right!”
Putting aside his curiosity, Yu Xiaoxuan followed Yu Xiaoran cautiously deeper into the tunnel.
Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through, and a swarm of bats fluttered overhead, stirring the air and causing their torches to flicker ominously!
Startled by the sudden commotion, Yu Xiaoxuan clung tightly to Yu Xiaoran’s arm, his heart pounding with fear.
“Oh my god! There are so many bats in here—even in winter! They scared me to death!”
“Calm down. It’s normal to find bats in caves. There might even be snakes, insects, rats, and other creatures. Good thing it’s winter—just hope there aren’t any hibernating snakes deeper inside.”
