Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 1028 - 1026_1

Chapter 1028: Chapter 1026_1

Twelve glared at Eighteen’s cowardly demeanor, wishing he could just kill him. There was no way he was partnering with him again, Eighteen could give him a fit of rage!

"Master! Princess!" They all bowed in respect.

"How long have you been trapped here?" Xiao’er asked, glancing at everyone’s bruises and scrapes.

"Half a day. We discovered the room was empty near noon." Twelve admitted with a hint of shame.

Those people were still active in the courtyard in the morning. The men, as usual, went to fetch water from the river early in the morning and filled the tank at home. Then, they went to cut a bunch of bamboo from the bamboo forest to make a chicken coop.

As soon as it dawned, the women watered and plucked vegetables from the garden. After breakfast, everyone continued with their own chores. The ladies stitched embroidery in the courtyard, the men crafted bamboo, the child played with his slingshot, and a baby sucked on his fingers inside the cradle.

As the temperature gradually rose, the sun shone brightly in the courtyard. Men brought the fine bamboo splits into the house for weaving after processing, and women also moved inside the house. The children too were called in to play.

Smoke was still billowing from the kitchen chimney, everything seemed normal, with no peculiarities.

An Shier became suspicious when no one had come out to check the cooking pot in the kitchen, despite the smoke billowing out of the chimney for this long. It was almost noon—had the food cooked? Was there something burning?

He stealthily climbed onto the roof and found that the house was empty.

Only then did their group climb over the wall and initiate their search, eventually finding this secret passage.

"Are you sure they didn’t leave the room? Then how did they exit from this secret passage in the backyard?"

Xiao’er had already checked—the room didn’t have a back door that led to this cellar.

"There’s a storage room with a window that faces the backyard," Eighteen suggested.

"Indeed, there’s a window. But did you assume they jumped out of the window into the backyard without checking the condition outside the window?"

Xiao’er nodded in agreement. There truly was a window, but it was shut. Xiao’er had noticed a spider’s web on the outer frame with a tiny, dried leaf stuck to it. It had clearly been there for some time and wasn’t freshly spun. If someone had used the window as an escape route, the web would have been destroyed.

Hearing Xiao’er’s account, Twelve’s face paled. They had believed the secret passage was the family’s escape route, so they followed suit and got trapped without realizing they had been deceived.

"Dammit, we fell for it!"

"Princess, how did you know we were trapped?"

"Because someone has been causing mischief using a handkerchief stained with my blood!" Xiao’er said, keeping her eyes on the wall paintings. They needed to find the exit soon and leave this place.

"Princess, are you okay?" A twinge of regret crossed their faces when they heard this. Anything involving blood was usually ominous, just like the paintings and secret passage. What were these people’s sinister plans? Did they intend to manipulate the Princess? If they hadn’t been careless, the enemy wouldn’t have succeeded!

"I’m okay, for now." Xiao’er wasn’t sure about the consequences if her space did get destroyed.

"Master, Princess, we shouldn’t look at these paintings. Staring at them too long can induce hallucinations!" Eighteen warned as he saw them studying the mural.

To begin with, they had studied the paintings, almost causing a violent altercation amongst themselves. Twelve noticed something odd about the drawings, advising them to close their eyes and avoid looking directly at them. They regained their sanity after meditating for a while and have since avoided the murals.

"If you don’t look, we will never make it out of here!" Xiao’er casually responded.

"Damn, who came up with such a twisted idea! Let’s all break our weapons, then work together to solve the mystery behind these paintings. We have to find a way out of this godforsaken place, track down that couple and rip them apart!" Eighteen cursed angrily.

"No need. Brother Shangguan and I will figure it out. Your minds aren’t resilient enough, you can easily fall into a trance!"

They were less resilient? Eighteen rubbed his nose, sensing discrimination.

Shangguan Xuanyi didn’t comment, concentrating on the wall paintings instead.

"Master, this is perhaps the largest chamber within the secret passage. Regardless of which passage you choose, they all twist and turn, but all eventually lead back here. You must have come from this passage, but if you try to exit through it, you’ll just end up back in this room," An Eighteen explained.

"I know, it’s a kind of formation. We need to find the exit door to get out. All of you follow behind the Princess and me, and make sure you don’t look at the murals!"

"Yes!" they all chorused.

They felt guilty, though. Their duty was to protect their Master, not to be saved by him.

They were utterly useless. They would be too embarrassed to face anyone once they returned to their team!

Xiao’er and Shangguan Xuanyi quickly studied the murals as they walked. To find an exit, they needed to examine all the paintings in the secret passage. Yet, when they had seen them all, Xiao’er couldn’t help but share a bitter smile with Shangguan Xuanyi.

The formation designer, as Eighteen said, was undoubtedly twisted. Who else could even think like that!

Seeing their troubled expressions, Twelve asked, "Master, can you not find the exit?"

Xiao’er shook her head, "No, we found the exit."

"Then let’s get out of here!"

The exit was discovered, but as soon as they stepped into it, the secret passage would begin to collapse. Now it would be a race against time—would they escape faster or would the passage collapse first?

Xiao’er doubted that the designer of the passage would leave any chance of escape.

Xiao’er explained the situation, causing, even the usually composed Twelve from a scholarly family, to swear. Eighteen ended up cursely the ancestors over and over!

"What do we do now? Are we destined to die here?" one asked.

Xiao’er shook her head, "Let me think. There has to be a way."

Nothing in this world is perfect, there must be a loophole!

Even if Shangguan Xuanyi and she personally set up the formation, they couldn’t claim it was flawless!

Nothing is ever the best, only better!