TTGOL CH92

Chapter 92: The Elven Forest (10)

While Tang Cuo was running all over the forest with his sword chasing people, Jin Cheng was embarking on his otherworldly parkour in the Royal Court. With McKeown stuffed in his pocket and Kelt trailing behind him, the sky was filled with whizzing feathered arrows raining down, forcibly bringing the plum rain season into late autumn.

Here is what happened—

With McKeown leading the way, Jin Cheng and Kelt arrived at the elders’ residential area without any real danger. But just as they were about to reach their destination, the Royal Court’s security suddenly became extremely tight, as if something major had occurred.

The two imposters were on the verge of being discovered. In the nick of time, the Princess appeared and saved them.

Seeing Sophia, McKeown was thrilled and couldn’t wait to immediately reveal his identity.

After a brief thought, Jin Cheng promptly abandoned the idea of looking for Evans and retreated from the danger zone under Sophia’s cover. Sophia temporarily settled them in her own room and thoughtfully prepared food for them.

According to Kelt, who whispered the background lore to Jin Cheng, this Princess and McKeown were not actually biological siblings. When the previous Elven King traveled the continent, he fell in love with a human woman and married her despite his people’s objections. However, the woman was in poor health and passed away after giving birth to McKeown.

The Elven King was deeply depressed over this and was called back to the embrace of the Goddess of Nature before McKeown even reached adulthood. But before his death, he seemed to foresee his own departure, so he adopted Sophia, who was also an orphan, as his daughter to keep McKeown company as he grew up.

This poignant love story spread throughout the Sicilite Continent through the mouths of bards, becoming especially popular among noble ladies.

Jin Cheng didn’t particularly find other people’s love stories beautiful, but McKeown and Sophia seemed to have a good relationship. Besides, the system finally popped up a “Side Quest Completed” notification after the two recognized each other.

Since the side quest was completed, Jin Cheng didn’t plan to waste any more time here. After listening to other people’s love stories, it was time for him to go find his own. After all, a hundred Evans combined couldn’t compare to one Tang Cuo.

But just as Jin Cheng was about to leave, he saw a uniquely ugly cloth doll sitting at the head of Sophia’s bed.

The last time he saw such an ugly doll was in the Principality of Falan. Its master was a pervert wearing tassel earrings and a white formal suit, holding a black umbrella—the rebel Aesop.

Jin Cheng narrowed his eyes slightly. His gaze fell back on Sophia, and then he walked over naturally, picking up McKeown from the table in front of her.

“Squeak!” McKeown glared at him confusingly with his beady little eyes. Sophia also looked up at him in confusion, showing an innocent smile and just the right amount of shyness. “Lancelot, what’s wrong?”

Jin Cheng smiled. “Nothing. I just feel it’s time to discuss the reward with His Highness the Prince. I saved him, so the Elven Royal Court should give me a generous reward, right?”

“Lancelot,” Kelt hurriedly winked at him. How could you bring up something like a reward to their faces? Besides, the matter isn’t over yet; isn’t it too early to say this?

Jin Cheng remained unmoved, still smiling.

Sophia quickly stood up. “That is for sure. You saved my brother and saw through Elder Evans’s conspiracy. The entire elven race will thank you.”

Jin Cheng: “But since you have figures like Elder Evans among you, I can’t fully trust you. So before everything is settled, let His Highness the Prince stay with me. This way, I can better protect his safety.”

Kelt froze. Lancelot wasn’t someone lacking a sense of propriety. He had always been kind and generous, how could he… wait, when things act abnormal, there must be a demon at work. Kelt quietly gripped the hilt of his sword and took a step closer to Jin Cheng.

Sophia seemed to have taken a blow. She looked at Jin Cheng for a long time without speaking, her expression slightly crestfallen.

Jin Cheng’s internal suspicions, however, were only deepening, and not just because of the doll. Thinking carefully, how could Sophia appear so coincidentally in the elders’ residential area and conveniently save them? What was a Princess doing there?

Following this logic, her confession of love to Lancelot last night was even more questionable. If the doll was truly connected to Aesop, Aesop recognized Lancelot and Theodore; he even knew Theodore’s true identity.

“Squeak.” McKeown stood up straight in Jin Cheng’s palm and patted his chest. His eyes were full of sincerity, seemingly promising that he wouldn’t forget Jin Cheng’s kindness.

Jin Cheng thought he was a real fool. He probably had a brighter future spending the rest of his life as a mouse than as a prince.

“My companion is still waiting for me to find him. We should get going.” Jin Cheng made a prompt decision, signaled Kelt with his eyes, and then casually glanced out the window—he was standing very close to it.

“But if you go out now, what if the guards discover you again? Wait a little longer. I’ve already sent someone outside to scout. I’ll escort you out myself later,” Sophia urged.

“No need.” Jin Cheng put McKeown back into his pocket. “If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late. Kelt!”

As soon as the words fell, Jin Cheng immediately jumped out the window, with Kelt closely following. Sophia’s expression instantly changed. She hurriedly chased to the window, looked out, and then turned back, shouting, “They jumped out the window! After them!”

The guards waiting outside burst through the door, a full dozen of them. And there were even more elves outside, flanking from other paths.

Even while fleeing, Kelt didn’t forget to inquire about the ins and outs of the situation. He was simply too curious. Although he trusted Jin Cheng and followed him out, why did Her Highness the Princess suddenly turn against them?!

As Jin Cheng ran, he pulled out the pendant Sophia had given him. “She didn’t turn against us; she was never on our side to begin with.”

Having said that, he wanted to throw the pendant away, but then hesitated for a moment.

Aesop’s magic doll suddenly appearing meant that “those people” Evans mentioned were likely from the Rose Sect. Evans vainly attempted to kill the impure-blooded McKeown, but what about Sophia?

He wouldn’t necessarily support Sophia, because Sophia wasn’t the previous Elven King’s biological daughter and had no royal bloodline. In fact, her bloodline might not even match up to Evans’s own.

In other words, Sophia might not be on the same side as Evans. Perhaps, without Evans knowing, she had already defected to the Rose Sect.

The Rose Sect contacted Evans on one hand, while simultaneously using Sophia as a hidden piece, adopting a two-pronged approach. Once Evans eliminated McKeown, and the Rose Sect took control of the Secret Lake, they would then turn around and kill Evans—who could never fully submit to the Rose Sect—eliminating any future troubles.

Sophia would then become the safe one, a perfect puppet.

In the blink of an eye, Jin Cheng had guessed most of the truth. Just then, a feathered arrow flew over. Jin Cheng dodged sideways, vaulted over the roof, and slid down the black glazed tiles.

He tucked the pendant back away.

Whizzing feathered arrows chased Jin Cheng’s figure over the roof, falling in parabolic arcs. Jin Cheng sprinted to the eaves, took a flying leap, and landed on the spire of the adjacent tower.

Hooking his hand on the pointed spire, Jin Cheng spun around and landed steadily. He made a downward pressing gesture toward Kelt, took out his small lap harp, and played a rendition of Ambush from Ten Sides.

The elves of the Sicilite Continent couldn’t possibly have heard this famous piece, and the small lap harp couldn’t fully replicate the original composition anyway, so this was Jin Cheng’s modified version.

He named this move—Sonic Boom.

Amidst the clanging sounds of armored horses and weapons, the sonic wave rapidly expanded, indiscriminately sweeping over all incoming feathered arrows. The next second, all the arrows shattered with a series of “Bang, bang, bang!”

Kelt had long since hidden behind the roof ridge according to Jin Cheng’s instructions. Seeing this, he still raised his hands to cover his head, afraid the explosions would land on him.

Lancelot’s magic is truly formidable.

Kelt sighed sincerely. Seeing Jin Cheng finish his move, he hurriedly kept up. McKeown clung tightly inside Jin Cheng’s pocket, his heart thumping wildly, his beady little eyes brimming with tears.

The upheaval came too fast, but he had already understood everything. Yet he couldn’t do anything but cover his own mouth, refusing to make a sound that would drag Jin Cheng down.

“Where are we going?!” Kelt shouted.

“To deliver a gift!” Jin Cheng leaped over another roof, his agile figure looking even more graceful than the elves. His hands were itching a bit; if only he could use a bow right now. What a pity.

Looking down, more and more elves ran out of the palace, or poked their heads out from the windows, watching Jin Cheng and Kelt leaping over their heads in an uproar.

The guards pursued relentlessly, and elves constantly flanked them from the sides, but no matter what they did, they couldn’t surround Jin Cheng. It was only tough on Kelt, who was following behind him, running for dear life until he was almost out of breath. Sometimes he even needed Jin Cheng to turn back and save him.

Such a commotion quickly attracted the attention of other royals.

“Your Highness!” An elderly man in robes intercepted Sophia in the corridor. “What exactly has happened?”

Sophia took a deep breath, forcing a hint of a smile. “Great Elder Figaro, there are intruders in the Royal Court. But there are only two, a very small number, and the guards are already pursuing them. You haven’t fully recovered yet, so you should go back and rest. Please don’t overexert yourself over such a trivial matter, or Sophia will worry.”

But Figaro wasn’t buying it. “His Highness the Prince has been missing for several days, and now outsiders are invading. How can I possibly rest in peace? Where is Evans? Have him come see me!”

Seeing that she couldn’t fool him, Sophia hatched a plan. “They seem to be heading towards Elder Evans. Perhaps this matter has something to do with E… Please rest assured, Great Elder, I will send someone over immediately!”

Evans could not be kept alive.

That Lancelot definitely noticed something. If he met with Evans, she might be exposed.

Sophia lifted her skirts and left in a hurry. Her footsteps echoed down the long corridor, mirroring her increasingly fast, uneasy heartbeat.

Figaro watched her retreating back, his gaze profound. He then looked out the window at the commotion outside and frowned. He began to doubt if he had made a mistake. If he had immediately sought help from Popolo Island when he discovered the anomaly at the Secret Lake, instead of stubbornly clinging to elven pride and refusing to let outsiders glimpse the elves’ weakness, then…

But it was too late to say anything now.

Figaro’s face darkened. With a flick of his large sleeve, he ordered, “Go investigate. Find out what Evans and the Princess have been doing these past few days. Also, lock down the Elven Forest immediately.”

No one noticed an ugly cloth doll lifting a corner of the curtain and crawling out of the window of Sophia’s bedroom. It sluggishly pulled a small black umbrella from its pocket, opened it, and then holding the umbrella, leaped down from the windowsill.

By this time, Jin Cheng finally approached his original destination, the elders’ residential area. Another wave of feathered arrows attacked from behind. Catching a glimpse of the profusely sweating Kelt in his peripheral vision, he immediately grabbed Kelt by the back collar and pulled him behind the roof ridge.

Kelt collapsed in exhaustion.

“We split up. I’ll draw them away in a moment, you retreat outside the Royal Court.” Jin Cheng’s voice rang in his ear. Kelt hastily looked up, wanting to say he could still hold on a little longer, but he saw Jin Cheng had already dashed out.

Gritting his teeth, Kelt followed Jin Cheng’s suggestion and dashed in the opposite direction.

Ahead, Evans finally appeared.

Jin Cheng’s lips curled up slightly. His speed increased rather than decreased. With a few jumps and drops, he leaped onto a tower, grabbed the edge of the tower top with both hands, and kicked the guard inside to the ground with one foot.

Knocking him out, snatching the bow—all the movements were completed in one smooth motion. Jin Cheng pulled out the pendant again, tied it to the arrowhead, drew the bow, and aimed at Evans, who had appeared on another tower about two hundred meters away.

“Whoosh—” The feathered arrow, carrying the pendant, precisely nailed itself into the wall behind Evans.

The guards firmly shielded Evans, but they hadn’t expected the arrow wasn’t aimed at his body at all. They were all slightly stunned. It was Evans who reacted the fastest, taking down the pendant from the arrow and frowning.

The pendant looked like an elven item, but it was very ordinary. Evans couldn’t immediately recall where he had seen it, but Jin Cheng loudly gave him the answer.

“The pendant Her Highness the Princess gave me. Does Elder Evans recognize it?”

Just as Evans was about to shout and ask what he meant, a guard charged over and actually drew a blade to stab him. The tower descended into chaos. Surprised, Evans realized that something had slipped out of his control. He immediately blew the whistle hanging around his neck.

The sharp whistle pierced the sky in an instant.

Before long, the echo of the griffin came from the distance, a resounding, cloud-stopping screech.

The pervasive clouds and mist began to churn. The massive griffin flew toward them; the shadow cast when it spread its wings was large enough to cover the entire tower.

Joy flashed in Evans’s eyes, and alongside the joy, a trace of ruthlessness—who exactly was trying to kill him? What was the intention behind that person suddenly throwing a pendant, supposedly from the Princess?

No matter what, he needed to ride the griffin away first and escape this chaos.

But what Evans absolutely never expected was that after circling the tower once, the griffin abandoned him and flew elsewhere. He hurriedly chased after it, only to see the man who gave him the pendant effortlessly climb onto the griffin’s back and soar away.

Before leaving, he even turned his head with a smile and waved his hand.

“Stop! Stop!” Evans stamped with fury, blowing the whistle frantically, but the griffin merely wobbled a bit, let out a few screeches, and did not turn back.

And right at that moment, the pendant in his hand emitted a light. An elegant, slightly magnetic male voice came out from it, “Hm? Why is this aura wrong?”

Evans shivered for no reason and immediately threw the pendant on the ground. “Who is it?!”

The person chuckled lightly, “It’s you, Evans. It seems we’ve been seen through.”

Hearing this laugh, Evans clearly also realized the other party’s identity. Connecting it to Jin Cheng’s words, his expression changed drastically, and a cold sweat broke out all over his body.

The clicking of footsteps echoed from the spiral staircase. He abruptly turned his head and discovered—Her Highness Princess Sophia had arrived.

On the other side, having completed his deed and brushed off his clothes, Jin Cheng rode the griffin away from the Royal Court. He picked up Kelt midway and, under Kelt’s guidance, headed towards the Secret Lake.