Reign of the Hunters (200+)

Chapter 262 & 263

Chapter 262 Illusion? Or Could It Be Real? (Part 1)

The stone door was like a large open mouth, and the Doluo tribesmen were standing in that mouth. Their leader waved a torch in front of him, and stepped out of the door, followed by the rest of the group. The leader then tapped an ordinary looking segment of the cave wall when the group was out of the doorway, and with a loud "crack", the door began to rise from the ground again.

"With this Lord Nuoba can be at ease. I've already told you guys! That Elf and the Duluo will never be able to discover our secret! Not even Lord Dalufar himself can!"

"It pays to be careful. Lord Dalufar thinks highly of that Elf, so it's only natural for Lord Nuoba to be cautious." a smile appeared on the leader's face, and he nodded to his men, "Alright men, let's head back. The longer we stay here, the higher the chance we'll be discovered. If Lord Dalufar or that Elf sees us here, we're finished."

"Yes sir!" the Doluo men formed up into an orderly rank and left the cave.

The NPCs were still talking among each other in low voices, but it was no longer Ye Ci's concern. Her attention was focused wholly on the stone door.

Ye Ci shadowed the group, and once she was sure that they have left the Pitch Black cave and was on their way back to the village, she went back into the cave and found Alaunar in his hiding spot.

"Where have you been?" asked Alaunar as he climbed out of the crevice and let out a long breath, "I saw one of Nuoba's men just now. Scared me half to death. I'm lucky that he did not see me, or I won't be able to explain my equipment to him."

"Well, you were not found out, were you?" Ye Ci smiled.

"That was close." Alunar sighed. He was nervous when the Doluo man came close to his hiding spot. He then looked at Ye Ci, "You haven't answered my question yet. Where did you go?"

"I was tailing Nuoba's men."

"Ah! There were more of them here? What are they doing in this place? Are they here for me?" Ye Ci could tell from the sheer terror on Alaunar's face that he was very afraid of Nuoba's men. It could be due to his many misery suffered on their hands, but even when the boy was a powerful Shaman, he still lived in fear of these men.

"Nope. They're here from something else." Ye Ci motioned for Alaunar to follow after her.

"What is it?"

"I have no idea."

Alaunar was baffled, "They're looking for something in the Pitch Black Cave? What could it be?" the boy asked as he scratched his head.

Ye Ci smiled at the boy, and continued walking forward, "Alaunar, have you heard of a forbidden ground for you tribe?"

"Forbidden ground?" Alaunar who was walking beside Ye Ci turned his head to face her and his gaze rested on her pointed ears, "What is that?" asked the boy as he felt his ears with his hands again.

"It's a place that nobody can enter." explained Ye Ci when she noticed the confused look on Alaunar's face.

"Nope! There's nothing like this in our tribe. Lord Dalufar had never put such a measure in place before." and the boy's eyebrows began to furrow, "But there was this thing that happened a few years ago. Lord Nuoba told Lord Dalufar that the Magma Golems in the Pitch Black Cave are dangerous, and could potentially harm the members of our tribe. Lord Dalufar himself want to take a look at the cave, and since then the children were forbidden from entering the Pitch Black Cave. Even mining activities in the cave are strictly limited."

"So you mean to say that even the children were allowed into the cave back then?"

"Yup! But do you think the children would even dare to enter the Pitch Black Cave? They were all afraid of the Magma Golems, and would only play near the entrance of the cave. But even the volcanic crater itself was declared off limits some time later. We could only enter the place with permission from Lord Dalufar." said Alaunar, "I've never even entered this place since I joined Nuoba's militia. I guided you here from memory alone."