Chapter 1152: Strange and Life-Threatening
Zu An and Yu Yanluo could both sense the guard’s fear conveyed through the distorted writing. The two of them exchanged a look, their expressions turning serious. They quickly continued reading to find out more information.
Unfortunately, there was nothing. There were no more recordings.
Zu An wondered seriously, “Could that thing he was talking about be the creature releasing those roars?”
“It probably is,” Yu Yanluo said, taking the book from him. Her expression was grim as she continued, “In private, the other guards call these items death accounts. These books prove the guards’ statuses and record their dying words, so they usually keep them close. Since it’s been left here, that means he’s already encountered something unexpected…”
Zu An fell silent. The pressure the mysterious creature gave off could even make them somewhat fearful, so how could it be something an ordinary guard could deal with?
Yu Yanluo closed the notebook. The owner’s name was engraved on the cover: Peace. She felt pained when she saw that name, which carried his parents’ blessings.
She didn’t have any impression of his name. The Yu clan had many subordinates. As the clan leader, there was no way she could know every single person. And yet, it was precisely such an ordinary member who, despite being in danger himself, had first decided to help the missing miners before anything else.
“It was I, the clan leader, who failed to protect them…” Yu Yanluo’s eyes became moist.
Zu An wrapped his arm around her shoulder and said in consolation, “It’s not your fault. No one could’ve anticipated that all of this would happen when you were imprisoned.”
Yu Yanluo gritted her teeth and said, “Xu Yu is a senior official in Cloudcenter City. Don’t tell me he never noticed the abnormalities that were taking place in this mine?!”
Zu An thought to himself, Xu Yu carries the emperor’s Imperial Edict. Taking down the Yu clan is the only thing on his mind. He couldn't be happier to see the Yu clan suffer a serious blow like this.
But saying all that would be completely meaningless. He looked around him and said, “According to what we read in that book, this mine might have other survivors. Let’s look around and see if we can find anyone.”
“Alright, let’s do that!” Yu Yanluo replied, calmly putting the book away. A resolute expression appeared in her eyes. Now she was thinking not only about the Snake race, but also about dealing with this problem first.
Zu An sighed inwardly. Judging from the information he had received, those left inside were probably ordinary miners and some guards. But whether it was the black fog or that mysterious beast, neither were things they could deal with. Now that so many days had already passed, they were probably already…
Of course, he couldn't say that out loud, or else it would affect Yu Yanluo.
The two of them quickly began to search through the mine paths. At the same time, they were vigilant against any danger. According to the guard’s recordings, apart from the black fog, there were other, even more terrifying existences inside.
But Zu An was still confused. Judging from the strength the mysterious beast had shown, if it made an appearance, just its power alone would have been enough to leave all the guards speechless, and even completely wipe all of them out. Why had they disappeared one by one?
Unfortunately, the two didn’t have much information at all. There was no way for them to make an accurate judgment.
…
The two walked for a long time. Apart from the black fog, they didn’t encounter any other dangers.
Suddenly, however, Yu Yanluo squatted down by a corner. The dirt there was somewhat dark red; it would be hard to notice in the pitch-black cave if they weren’t looking carefully.
Zu An squatted down and kneaded a bit of it between his fingers. Then, he sniffed it and exclaimed, “Blood!” Furthermore, it was human blood.
Yu Yanluo nodded, looking upset. Soon afterward, the two of them found a broken sword nearby. It was a standard-issue Yu clan sword. She said in shock, “This seems to have been someone who accompanied me.”
Zu An was confused. Yu Yanluo explained, “The sword hilt’s decoration is different. The guards who stay at my side have all taken the Yu surname.”
She pointed at the sword hilt. There was the character ‘Yu’ engraved there. She picked up the broken sword and examined the damage. “Even though these guards’ weapons aren’t divine weapons, their quality is definitely excellent. It’s not so easy to break them.”
Zu An gave it a look and said, “It doesn’t seem to have been artificially broken, or broken by another weapon… The surface is covered in fine sawtooth marks that are easy to overlook if you don’t check carefully.”
“If the sword remains, so does the owner. If the sword is ruined…” Yu Yanluo mumbled to herself. At the same time, she seemed to be looking around for something. Suddenly, her eyes widened. She ran over to an area nearby and saw a booklet embedded in the wall. Their attention had previously been focused on the ground, which was why they hadn’t noticed it.
She removed the booklet from the wall. When she saw the name on the leather cover, her expression darkened as she said, “It’s Yu Bin.”
Zu An asked in alarm, “Yu Bin?”
Back in Brightmoon City’s outskirts, Yu Bin had been one of the guards protecting Yu Yanluo. When Zu An had come to Cloudcenter City and visited the Yu clan for the first time, Yu Bin had been the one who passed by and helped him out too. That bright and radiant youngster appeared in Zu An’s mind, and he sighed inwardly.
Yu Yanluo opened the booklet, but her hand immediately stiffened. Many parts of the book were covered in blood that had already congealed.
Zu An worried that she might be struggling with the reality of what had happened. He took the book from her and helped her flip through it. The first half just consisted of normal, routine recordings, although there was quite a bit of admiration and reverence for Yu Yanluo mixed in.
Zu An was already used to that. Yu Yanluo’s prestige in the Yu clan was incomparable; that wasn’t something that could be achieved purely through beauty. He could sense that they all felt the most sincere respect for Yu Yanluo, who definitely treated them quite well. He could tell from the ordinary recordings that Yu Yanluo wouldn’t abandon even a single person who encountered trouble in the mines. All of them had believed that she would come for them…
As he continued to flip through the pages, he quickly found the most recent recording.
“There has been news from the Civil Affairs Manor, that the madam seems to have been imprisoned. There are even rumors that the madam is the Medusa? How is that possible?!
“The elders were also arrested by the Vice Magistrate. The soldiers carried the court’s arrest orders, so those left have no idea what to do either.
“...The Yu clan is a mess; I do not know where Maid Xing went either… I want to discuss things with Sir Zu. He is a member of the Imperial Envoy, he should have a solution… But those Armed Escort soldiers all say that he is recovering in seclusion and will not receive guests.
Zu An’s brows furrowed tightly. Never had he imagined that this guy would come looking for him. Unfortunately, he had been busy looking for a way to save Yu Yanluo and completely overlooked such things.
“Right, the duke definitely has a solution.”
“...I heard that the duke personally went to demand the madam’s freedom. I also went with many of my companions. However, Sir Vice Magistrate had an Imperial Edict, so the duke also backed off…
Zu An sighed and said, “I didn’t expect him to have been there back then too.”
Yu Yanluo pursed her lips and didn’t say anything. She obviously heard about what had happened when Zu An went as Jian Yanyou.
“...More and more information is saying that the madam really is the Medusa… How could the beautiful and elegant madam be an evil and vicious Medusa?
Yu Yanluo’s expression darkened. She muttered, “It seems ordinary people really can’t accept something like this after all.” Even her guard couldn't accept it, let alone someone else.
Zu An continued to flip through the pages.
“...Even if the madam is a Medusa, so what? I know about the things she has done over all of these years better than anyone. Even if she is a Medusa, she is definitely a good Medusa. She will forever be our madam!
Yu Yanluo was stunned when she saw that. Her eyes also began to shine a bit.
“...Maybe it is because Sir Vice Magistrate was worried that we might do something, so that was why they transferred us to the mines. We wanted to go against those orders, but…
“Oh my goodness, something so big actually happened in the mines! I wanted to go back and report this to the city, but the Vice Magistrate’s people stopped me. Those bastards!”
Yu Yanluo’s expression grew cold when she saw that report. So Xu Yu knew about what was happening and had sealed off the information!
Even Zu An began to curse Xu Yu. At first, he had still felt some admiration for the man as a capable subject, thinking that what had happened was only because they belonged to different factions. His methods were also formidable.
But now, after something bad had happened in the mines, Xu Yu had deliberately sealed up information in order to act against the Yu clan. There was no way Zu An could forgive his decision to harm the lives of so many people.
“He met Maid Xing!” Yu Yanluo cried out in alarm when she saw what Yu Bin had written afterward.
Zu An immediately looked at the entry, and only then did he find out that Maid Xing had brought her clansmen near this place,but was almost noticed by Xu Yu’s men. Fortunately, Yu Bin had been present too and had come to their aid.
When he found out that Maid Xing had arrived with those people on the madam’s orders, Yu Bin had hesitated at first, but had still decided to help escort them in the end. Because of the things that had happened recently, and because he had seen that Maid Xing was injured, he had been worried about their safety. In his opinion, that was the only thing he could do to help the madam.
There were a few other guards who had shared his thoughts. However, worried about raising suspicion, they hadn’t let too many others know. Only the closest guards had escorted Maid Xing’s group.
Later on, they had encountered the black fog, so they’d had no choice but to move around. Suddenly, an earthquake had occurred and the mine passage collapsed. He had rushed out to save the others, but had gotten stuck behind fallen rocks himself.
He had wanted to go through a different path and meet up with Maid Xing’s group again, but then, soon afterward, he had heard a strange and life-threatening voice.