Chapter 70: Trap

Staring at the cave entrance completely blocked by a pile of rubble, the nine of them fell silent.

After a moment, Wang Jiu broke the eerie silence.

“I remember this is the entrance, right?”

Looking at his companions who remained silent, Wang Jiu’s voice gradually faded.

Taolani calmly looked at the rubble, already realizing what had happened.

They had been ambushed.

This was a trap.

“It’s just a pile of rocks,” Grey said, stepping forward and raising his long-handled axe, smashing it into the rubble.

The axe struck the rubble, immediately collapsing a section.

Stones clattered down, some even bouncing deep into the cave.

But they still didn’t see an opening to the outside.

Instead, the collapse caused more rubble to tumble inward.

Seeing Grey ready to swing his axe again, Rom quickly stepped in to stop him.

“Big oaf, stop swinging. If you keep at it, we’ll all be buried.”

At that, Grey lowered his axe and stepped back, somewhat dejectedly.

“Are we going to be trapped here?” Grey said gloomily.

“I could use magic to blast this rubble,” Rom said, then turned his gaze to the others.

“But the space here is too narrow. Flying rubble could be lethal.”

Three gazes turned to Rom as if he were a madman.

Feeling their stares, Rom fell silent.

He knew his suggestion was too reckless.

The cave wasn’t spacious to begin with.

If they used powerful magic to blast the rubble, they would have nowhere to run.

“Let’s check deeper into the cave first,” Taolani said, pressing her forehead.

For now, they had to go deeper and assess the situation.

Logically, a cave wouldn’t have just one exit, especially if it was a former bandit hideout.

No matter how stupid those bandits were, they wouldn’t choose a dead end as their base.

If guards came to clear them out, a base with only one exit would be a natural tomb.

So Taolani was certain this cave had another exit.

After sharing her thoughts with her companions, the other three agreed that if they searched carefully, they would likely find it.

So they followed Taolani deeper into the cave.

Holding the Holy Staff, Taolani summoned a glowing orb and led the group.

Behind her, Jiu followed closely, using the light around Taolani.

She kept one hand on her bowstring, alert to the surrounding darkness.

At the rear were Rom and Grey.

Rom, skilled in magic, continuously used detection spells, but they were all blocked by the rock walls.

Grey, the team’s muscle, followed blankly, unsure of what to do.

After a distance, the narrow tunnel gradually widened.

The previously stagnant air began to stir with a faint breeze.

“There’s wind!”

Jiu, following closely behind Taolani, felt the air current and exclaimed in delight, startling the tense Taolani.

“What are you yelling for?!”

Startled, Taolani’s face turned pale.

She placed a hand on her chest, calming herself, and looked at Jiu with a reproachful glance.

“Hehe, you almost scared me to death.”

Jiu scratched her head and chuckled.

“Since there’s air flow, that means this cave isn’t sealed. There should be at least two exits,” Rom analyzed.

“The one we came in from is blocked. So let’s go against the wind and look for another exit.”

“Alright.”

Taolani nodded, agreeing with his logic.

“Then we’ll go against the wind and find its source.”

Saying that, Taolani plucked a strand of her hair and tied it to the Holy Staff.

Then she raised it high, observing the silver strand’s shimmer in the fluorescent light.

Soon, she determined the wind’s origin.

She quickly called the others and led them into the darkness.

As the wind grew stronger, it began to lift the hems of their clothes.

Taolani walked against the wind, feeling something was off.

Why was there such a strong wind in the cave?

A gentle breeze would have been expected, but this wind speed was clearly abnormal, even strong by outside standards.

Something was wrong.

Taolani stopped and said to her companions, “There’s something wrong with this wind.”

At that, the others halted as well.

Clearly, they too sensed something amiss.

They focused their attention, scanning the pitch-black surroundings.

The wind didn’t stop with their halt; instead, it grew stronger, showing signs of becoming a gale.

“I feel something is off,” Taolani murmured.

She then infused more mana into the Holy Staff.

In an instant, the entire cave was illuminated by the staff’s sudden brilliant light.

And in that brief moment, everyone saw the cave’s condition.

A chill ran down their spines.

Before them lay layers upon layers of bones, intermingled with countless weapons and blades, stuck haphazardly into the ground.

The entire cave felt deep and eerie.

As the light dimmed, thick darkness enveloped them again.

Silence.

Standing there, having seen their surroundings, no one spoke.

They were all mute.

Suddenly, a low sob broke the darkness.

The voice seemed to be holding back, but couldn’t contain it.

Sensing her companion’s distress, Taolani turned and brought the light close to Jiu, speaking softly.

“Jiu, don’t be afraid.”

“Mm…”

Jiu’s hand holding the bow trembled slightly.

She lowered her head, her shoulders shaking.

Rom and Grey didn’t look much better either.

Ultimately, the image had been too impactful, catching them off guard.

But just then, it seemed the gale had stopped?

Noticing this, Taolani quickly raised the Holy Staff again.

This time, the silver hair didn’t flutter.

It lay quietly on the staff, occasionally lifting slightly before settling back.

It seemed there was still some air flow, but no longer from the previous source.

Seeing the hair still had a slight reaction, Taolani breathed a sigh of relief.

Good.

Even if the previous wind was problematic, the fact that the hair still stirred slightly proved there was an exit.

At this moment, Taolani hadn’t forgotten the decision they made when entering the cave.

The priority was to find another exit and lead them out.

Then immediately report to the Adventurers’ Guild to send more people to investigate.

She knew very well that the four of them alone couldn’t fully uncover the issue.

Not to mention the intricate layout underground, even just the scale of it was too vast for them to fully record.

Now, the most important thing was to avoid potential dangers and find an exit to contact the outside world.

With that thought, Taolani once again led the still-shaken group toward another direction.

Because of what they just saw, they moved faster.

They didn’t want to stay one moment longer in this eerie place.

As they hurried toward the wind source, the earlier gale suddenly returned.

“Not good!”

Feeling the gale, Taolani’s expression changed, and she shouted instinctively.

Because she sensed that this time, the wind came from a completely different direction.

This gale was blowing from above their heads.