After thinking for a little while longer, Xiaolan decided to wake Laura up. It wasn’t a good thing to keep sleeping in a place like this anyway, and she might even get sick.
So, Xiaolan began to shake Laura while calling out to her. “Laura! Time to wake up! This is no time for sleeping!”
But what Xiaolan didn’t expect was that her actions didn’t seem to rouse Laura at all. This made the corner of Xiaolan’s mouth twitch.
‘This girl can really sleep! No wonder she could fall asleep in a place like this!’
Seeing that gentle actions had no effect, Xiaolan increased the force of her shaking and raised her voice. Laura began to show a slight reaction, but there was still no sign of her waking up.
Seeing this, Xiaolan grew inexplicably angry. She not only started shaking Laura vigorously but also raised her voice from a whisper to a shout. In the end, Xiaolan almost ended up punching Laura in the face. Fortunately, Laura spoke up just in time, stopping Xiaolan’s increasingly violent actions.
“O—k—a—y— I’m— awake!!!”
Hearing Laura’s voice, trembling from the violent shaking, Xiaolan finally stopped.
“Huff, huff, huff. Finally awake. How can you sleep so soundly? How could you fall asleep in a place like this?”
Faced with Xiaolan’s breathless question, Laura replied somewhat sheepishly, “Maybe… it’s because it’s a bit warmer here than on the beach before. After enduring that terrible cold, suddenly being in a warm place made me fall asleep without thinking.”
Hearing this, Xiaolan spoke with disbelief. “Warm?! This damn place?! How did you get that feeling?!”
After all, both she and Laura were still wearing swimsuits! In a dark, somewhat damp place like this, she called it warm! Even with her furry tail and ears, the difference in perception couldn’t be that great!
And didn’t she say she was afraid of the cold? If she was truly afraid of the cold, how could she fall asleep in a place like this?!
Looking at Laura’s embarrassed expression, Xiaolan suddenly became curious about the physical makeup of beastmen. She really wanted to know how the other girl could possibly find this place warmer than the beach.
However, now was not the time for that. Xiaolan took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts again. She began to ask Laura what she knew about this place.
But Laura was just as clueless as she was, having no idea where this was. As for memories before passing out, she had fainted even earlier than Xiaolan, so she couldn’t remember anything either.
Seeing this, Xiaolan couldn’t help but get a headache. Although she had gained a helper, she still had no information about their current situation. She didn’t even know which direction to strive for next.
While Xiaolan was nursing her headache, Laura took the opportunity to look around. After looking for a little while, Laura asked Xiaolan with confusion, “This place… looks like a prison cell? The construction is very rough, with raw stone everywhere, but its purpose is clearly for confinement. I have a lot of experience in that area. Look! There’s even an iron door over there!”
Hearing this, Xiaolan was stunned. A prison cell? An iron door? How did she know? In this darkness? She… right! She’s a fox-type beastman! She might not have true night vision, but she can see much better in the dark than I can! At least she sees more clearly than me!
Seeing this, Xiaolan immediately grew excited. She felt she had grasped a hope of escaping!
“Right! Did you see Laine in this cell? Or are there other cells nearby? Is Laine in any of them?”
Xiaolan asked with hopeful expectation, but Laura’s answer poured cold water on her hopes.
“Laine? No… I didn’t see him. As for other cells? This iron door doesn’t have any gaps to look out of, so I don’t know if there are any.”
Hearing this, Xiaolan lowered her head in disappointment. But before she could start fantasizing in a bad direction, Laura’s voice came again, tinged with a bit of confusion.
“…But, although Laine isn’t here, there is… someone else here besides us.”
Hearing this, Xiaolan raised her head again and looked in the direction Laura pointed. Naturally, she could only see darkness and couldn’t see the “someone else” Laura mentioned.
But she knew it was just that she couldn’t see. After exchanging a look with Laura (though the direction she looked wasn’t Laura’s eyes but her chest, which left Laura momentarily stunned), she slowly moved closer. Laura followed closely behind.
Only after getting close enough did Xiaolan’s eyes, finally fully adjusted to the dark environment, barely make out the other person’s appearance.
It was a person lying quietly on the ground. Judging by the curves of the body, it was likely a woman. The person wore only simple casual clothes, but all the joints of her body were covered by faint rings of light. Although they were called rings of light, the glow they emitted was extremely weak, unable to illuminate even a tiny area in this darkness. Although Xiaolan didn’t know what magic those rings were, she could tell their purpose was clearly to restrain her.
Looking up, the person’s mouth wasn’t covered by that kind of glow; it was simply blocked by something like a rag.
Just as Xiaolan was considering whether to remove it, her gaze shifted upward and met the other person’s eyes. This woman, bound all over, was still conscious!
This instantly put Xiaolan on guard, but the woman made no move. She showed neither the joy of seeing a savior nor the disgust of seeing a murderer. She just lay there quietly, staring at Xiaolan and Laura without any change in expression. Xiaolan wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt the woman’s expression held a hint of… self-reproach?
Xiaolan turned her head, exchanged a look with Laura, and then reached out to remove the rag stuffed in the woman’s mouth.
After regaining her ability to speak, the woman looked at the two of them for a moment, softly said “thank you,” and then fell silent.
Seeing this, Xiaolan had a headache. She had hoped the other woman could contribute a little strength to escaping this cell, but she did nothing.
As if sensing Xiaolan’s thoughts, the woman lying on the ground, bound all over, spoke again. This time, however, her tone carried a hint of helplessness.
“I know you want my help, but look at me now. What can I possibly do?”
Hearing this, Xiaolan had to admit that the woman, bound like this, really couldn’t help. Neither Xiaolan nor Laura had a way to remove these magical restraint rings, so they could only helplessly accept her words.
Xiaolan turned and followed Laura to examine the iron door that imprisoned them. Although she didn’t know what material the iron door was made of, just seeing the faint glows and strange magical symbols that occasionally appeared on it told Xiaolan this was definitely not a cell door the two of them could open on their own.
So, after another futile inspection of the cell, Xiaolan and Laura returned dejectedly to the side of the completely bound woman and lay down on the ground just as helplessly as she was.
The various pieces of information they had gathered proved that this cell was absolutely not something the two of them could escape from on their own. They could do nothing now but slowly wait for possible rescue or for the murderer’s blade, which might be sharpened at any unknown time.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.