Chapter 51: The Song of the Wind (10)
Tang Cuo’s decision to take the secret tunnel was actually inspired by Jin Cheng.
Jin Cheng wanted to use a fake rumor to lure Peter out, while Tang Cuo was considering the “surprise” Aesop mentioned in the tunnel. His main mission was to escort Batz back to the Greenvines Alliance office. But once he delivered him, the mission might change, and under the system’s restrictions, whether Tang Cuo could return to the tunnel would become a problem.
The best solution was to investigate the tunnel’s secret on the way back.
But there was another problem here: Tang Cuo had already walked through the tunnel once. It had no forks in the path, no traces of magic circles, and was completely unremarkable. So where was this so-called “surprise”?
After the Greenvines Alliance took over the tunnel, they must have inspected it carefully as well, yet no news had come out.
Therefore, after figuring out Jin Cheng’s plan in the carriage, Tang Cuo had a flash of inspiration and decided to use Batz to crack the mystery of the tunnel.
Tang Cuo’s speculations about the tunnel coincided with Jin Cheng’s. From last night until now, he had been wondering where the missing corpses went and where Peter was hiding, right up until he heard Aesop’s words.
If a sprawling, interconnected tunnel network existed beneath Falan, then everything would make sense. Aesop telling Tang Cuo to investigate the tunnel again meant that this particular tunnel possessed passages leading elsewhere.
However, a passage that neither Tang Cuo nor the Greenvines Alliance could discover must be hidden extremely deep. The fastest way was to make the enemy expose it themselves.
The carriage was attacked, so Tang Cuo taking Batz through the tunnel instead was entirely logical. The Rose Sect shouldn’t be able to guess that Aesop had already exposed the tunnel’s secret, which meant it was highly likely they would use the tunnel to abduct Batz.
This was called catching them off guard.
Thus, Tang Cuo also planned to give them a taste of the unexpected.
Inside the stuffy tunnel, the magic lamps stretched their two shadows.
Tang Cuo didn’t walk fast, tapping the hilt of his sword against the wall as he moved. Although he had set a trap to lure them in, whether the other party would actually take the bait was still unknown, so Tang Cuo decided to search for it himself as well.
Batz asked curiously, “Theodore, what are you doing?”
Tang Cuo: “There might be something hidden in the tunnel.”
“Oh.” It was Batz’s first time in a place like this, and he looked left and right. Tang Cuo’s deliberately slow pace gave him time to look around, but after staring for a long time without making sense of anything, he continued to ask, “Theodore, where is this? How come I’ve never heard of such a place?”
Before Tang Cuo could answer, he scratched his head and said, “Should I not be asking so many questions?”
“It’s fine.” Tang Cuo didn’t say much more.
The deeper he delved into this story, the more it felt like a truly existent world. Batz was different from Xiao Yuan, different from Yingjun, and different from those bizarre creatures in the Devil City. He had his own story and his own emotions, making it very difficult for Tang Cuo to treat him simply as an NPC.
And it wasn’t just Batz; everyone in this instance was like this.
Perhaps the true essence of a roleplaying instance lay in its realism.
“Batz, do you remember the circumstances when we first met?” Tang Cuo asked.
“I remember!” Batz happily opened up. “Theodore, you’ve always been a brave and kind knight. Back then, I had just recovered from my illness and had no savings, so I had to take on some long-distance delivery work. You know, it pays more than working at a tavern, but my health still wasn’t great. The heavy goods were about to break my back, and you came over and helped me.”
Speaking of this, Batz beamed with joy. “An honorable knight helped me transport a crate of wine! When I mention this to everyone, they never believe me. But it’s okay, Theodore, that doesn’t change the fact that we’re friends. We are friends, right?”
Tang Cuo: “Yes.”
Batz was overjoyed. He was happy to have a bard and a knight as friends. He was still thinking about the new jam pies at Beibei’s Bakery and said again, “Theodore, did you and Lancelot go eat them? They’re delicious.”
Tang Cuo shook his head. He and Jin Cheng had been busy with missions and hadn’t wandered the streets looking for good food.
Batz looked slightly disappointed, then said, “Then next time, the three of us should go together! In a few days, I’ll get my pay. Although it’s not much, I can still afford a few jam pies!”
The tunnel was very long, and since they weren’t moving fast, they hadn’t gotten far after more than half an hour. Along the way, Tang Cuo saw a Rose Sect emblem on the wall and asked Batz if he recognized it, but Batz shook his head.
To ordinary commoners, the Rose Sect was still a very unfamiliar name.
They continued forward.
Ten minutes later, Tang Cuo stopped. By his calculations, they should be nearing the edge of the White Leaf District, yet the tunnel still showed no abnormalities.
Was his judgment wrong?
Or was Aesop deliberately toying with him?
Right at that moment, an eerie gust of wind suddenly blew through the tunnel, unexpectedly extinguishing the magic lamps. Tang Cuo went on high alert instantly, drawing his sword to shield Batz behind him.
But the sudden shift happened in the blink of an eye.
“Ah!” Batz cried out from behind him.
Fortunately, Tang Cuo kept the enemy’s true objective in mind at all times. Without a word, he immediately grabbed Batz’s wrist while simultaneously slashing his sword backward—a branching path had suddenly appeared on the wall behind Batz, and a person clad in a black magic robe had grabbed Batz’s other wrist, attempting to drag him away.
Tang Cuo slashed down. The person hadn’t anticipated Tang Cuo’s reaction being so fast and was forced to temporarily retreat.
A miraculous scene occurred: after the person retreated into the branching path, the path vanished on its own. Only Tang Cuo and Batz were left in the stuffy tunnel, as if everything just now had never happened.
“W-what was that just now? Magic?” Batz was astonishingly shocked, almost forgetting the danger he had just faced.
Tang Cuo frowned and didn’t answer. There had indeed been subtle magical fluctuations when the path appeared and disappeared, but now there was nothing. Even when Tang Cuo pressed his hand against the spot where the path had just been, he sensed absolutely nothing.
He slashed fiercely at the wall with his sword. The wall broke apart, revealing the hard stones beneath.
The branching path was gone; this perhaps meant that it was mobile.
A movable passage meant there was no way to determine its exact location, which explained why the Greenvines Alliance had found no clues. But the secret to opening the passage was in the enemy’s hands. Unless they charged in the moment it appeared, there was no solution.
Gripping his sword tightly, Tang Cuo pondered for a few seconds before decisively leading Batz away.
Now that he knew the tunnel’s secret, his primary objective was to complete the main mission and advance the plot.
But the enemy clearly didn’t want to let Tang Cuo leave with this secret.
Boom— The passage flashed open ahead of them, and a magical attack was released simultaneously. Raging flames surged right at their faces.
There was no time to retreat. Tang Cuo immediately held his sword horizontally in front of him. Holy radiance flashed on the blade, and a transparent shield engraved with complex magical array patterns sprang from the sword, expanding and rotating in front of the two of them.
This was a skill Tang Cuo had triggered by wiping his own blood on the sword during his fight with Aesop. He discovered it later when checking his system panel while resting in Batz’s rental. Its name was straightforward and easy to understand: Holy Light Shield.
The flames crashed against the shield, the intense force billowing Tang Cuo’s clothes loudly, but not a single spark of fire could pass through.
The enemy hadn’t expected this move. A trace of surprise flashed in their eyes before they retreated into the passage again and vanished. Tang Cuo, however, didn’t dare relax. He gave his sword a flick to disperse the shield, keeping his peripheral vision glued to his surroundings.
Suddenly, Clang!
Tang Cuo spun around and struck, perfectly blocking an incoming broadsword.
This time, the passage had flashed open behind them.
Batz hid tightly behind Tang Cuo, afraid to distance himself but also afraid to get too close. Seeing the cold glint flash on the enemy’s blade, his heart leaped into his throat, his whole body stiffening.
But the opponents came prepared, operating as a swordsman and mage duo. One pinned Tang Cuo down, while the other went straight for Batz. It was unknown if there were more hiding in the shadows; danger lurked everywhere.
“Theodore!” Batz cried out.
Tang Cuo swung his sword to deflect the swordsman’s attack and spun back to defend. His movements were incredibly fast; he used his Sprint skill just to cover a short distance, pulling Batz backward in the blink of an eye.
Of course, such an absurd application of the skill left his brain a bit dizzy. Sprinting and stopping so abruptly made his head spin.
Consequently, Tang Cuo’s face turned somewhat pale.
Batz’s face was also pale, but out of sheer fright, because Tang Cuo’s sword was now resting against his neck. All he had to do was lower his head, and he’d brush against the gleaming, cold blade—chilling and terrifying.
“Th-Theodore?” Batz’s throat was dry.
The enemies were equally shocked, staring at Tang Cuo in disbelief.
Tang Cuo remained expressionless. His sword-wielding hand tightened a fraction more, and his tone was icy. “Don’t move. Move again, and I’ll kill him.”
Instantly, you could hear a pin drop in the entire tunnel.
Only the ding, ding of system notifications rang in Tang Cuo’s mind. The system was warning him that he was breaking character. However, Tang Cuo ignored it, remaining completely calm and composed.
At this moment, the enemy mage suddenly sneered. Putting away his shock, he said, “Don’t try to bluff me; you wouldn’t dare strike!”
But no sooner had he spoken than a bloody scratch appeared on Batz’s neck. Tang Cuo raised an eyebrow, and a trace of cold provocation appeared on Theodore’s handsome and righteous face. “You can test that.”
“You!” The enemy’s face turned livid. “What exactly are you trying to do? He is your companion!”
Tang Cuo: “If I let him fall into your hands, it’s better to kill him. What do you want to take him for? To continue your evil deeds? I don’t think falling into your hands will be any more pleasant than death.”
As he said this, the system warnings in Tang Cuo’s mind weakened slightly.
Finding the crux of the issue, Tang Cuo continued: “I will not let my friend become a tool for evil to spread. I’d rather kill him and then avenge him.”
Meanwhile, Tang Cuo’s free hand was secretly pressed against Batz’s back, tracing words to tell him this was just a ploy.
Once he finished writing, the ding, ding notifications completely disappeared.
The enemy was completely enraged, but not merely by Tang Cuo’s act of threatening them. It was because he kept chanting about “evil.” “You ignorant fools will never be able to see the true light. Your friend has long been dead, perishing miserably in the cold winter nights of the White Leaf District. Yet he stands here now—why?”
“Because he has obtained eternal life, bestowed by the Undying King.”
Hearing this, Batz widened his eyes in astonishment, even forgetting the sword pressed against his neck in his urgent desire to ask what was going on. As he moved, more blood flowed out, emitting the faint aura of the Well of Time.
“Is that so.” Tang Cuo’s tone was indifferent, but his grip on Batz tightened firmly, snapping Batz back to his senses. He could feel Batz’s sheer terror; his hands were trembling, desperately wanting to look back and draw a sliver of hope from Tang Cuo, but the sword was still pressed to his throat.
What should he do next?
Tang Cuo steadied himself. Staring intently at the other party, he said, “How do I know if what you’re saying is true or false? A knight always follows the facts.”
“You can see for yourself with your own eyes. As long as you are willing to turn back from your misguided path, you too can receive the blessing of eternal life, following the Undying King to forge a great and immortal legacy.”
Perhaps Tang Cuo’s inquiry caused the mage to reign in his anger. He opened his arms, revealing an utmost beguiling smile. When mentioning the words “Undying King,” the reverence and fanaticism in his eyes burned like a raging prairie fire, as if capable of incinerating everything.
Both sides stood at a stalemate, the atmosphere frozen.
After a long while, Tang Cuo spoke with a cold face: “I want to see it with my own eyes.”
At this time, the passage had not yet closed. The mage and the swordsman exchanged a glance and simultaneously stepped aside to make way, allowing Tang Cuo to enter with Batz. They stepped back very cautiously; they felt a secret delight but also harbored suspicions.
Tang Cuo was equally cautious, continuously holding Batz hostage without letting go, and this ironically put the two enemies slightly more at ease.
Both sides deliberately maintained a distance.
In a blind spot where Tang Cuo and Batz couldn’t see, the mage desperately shot a look at the swordsman: Where is the backup? Where is everyone else? Why is it only the two of us!
The swordsman was also filled with worry. The reinforcements that should have arrived on schedule didn’t show up; they must have been delayed, which suddenly gave him a rather bad premonition.
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Author’s Note:
Tang Cuo: Frantically testing the waters on the verge of becoming a villain.
