Chapter 648

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Four Papal Knights

Tick tock, tick tock…

In the intricate and dark caverns, light flickered from afar, casting shadows on the yellow-brown stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Drops of water fell one by one onto the loose sandy layer below.

As the view penetrated through the narrow cave towards the source of light, faint sounds of flowing water could be heard. The sandy layer underfoot became increasingly moist. Strange black bugs burrowed in and out of the sand. The underground river, with its shimmering blue glow, flowed along the channel, accumulating at a low point in the cave bottom, forming a natural reservoir.

A swaying lantern was placed beside the water pool. A silver-haired, blue-eyed little girl knelt there, taking a water bag from her satchel and submerging it into the underground river, filling it with water.

She had also washed her face. Her hair was wet, and water dripped down her cheeks. At this moment, she seemed to have forgotten the terrible events that had occurred not long ago; her expression looked very happy: “Lady, I never expected that there would be such abundant underground river resources at the bottom of this cave. No wonder so many Laniye giant lizards live here… Lady killed them all. In the future, people from the town can come here for water! Hehe, this is a great thing. Once we return, we must tell Grandpa about it right away…”

The little girl filled a water bag, put it back in her satchel, and as if thinking of something, her small eyebrows suddenly furrowed, showing a slightly troubled look: “Ah, but it’s actually not easy to get down here… If it weren’t for Lady, I definitely couldn’t do it myself. Women from the town certainly wouldn’t be able to either. Pack animals can’t enter either. Men will have to figure out a way to get water here… hmm…”

“Strange, it’s clearly quite far from the Red River. Why is there drinkable water here… It’s so magical…”

The little girl kept talking non-stop, while on the other side, a black-haired girl was squatting beside the water pool, wetting her fingers, pushing her hair forward, and leisurely combing it.

After a short while, she stood up, patted the bulging satchel on her waist, and shook it, hearing the sound of water sloshing inside, nodding in satisfaction. She turned to the little girl and urged, “Let’s go, hurry up.”

I feel like I’ve eaten enough today.

When you’ve eaten enough, you tend to get sleepy and want to go back to rest, have a good sleep first… It should be afternoon now? Since it’s dark in the cave, I guess it might be nighttime when we return. Hmm… I can have another dinner and then go straight to sleep.

So, it’s settled!

Without looking back, I walked forward. After crossing two small streams, Betty hurriedly caught up: “Lady, wait for me…”

“Quick, don’t dawdle.”

“Sorry…”

She hastily adjusted her satchel on her back, held the lantern in front of her, and pressed the wick with her finger. The flame immediately brightened, illuminating the dark cave more clearly, yet it seemed to have no end. Echoes resounded as we spoke.

Betty walked beside me, smiled, and then frowned: “Lady, shall we go this way, which should lead us out…”

“Yes.” I nodded at her.

“Do you know the way?”

“No.”

“… Ah.”

The little girl listened to my words and instantly looked worried, looking up at me with a hint of fear in her eyes. She wanted to say something but dared not. After a moment, she reached out and grabbed the hem of my robe, tightly holding it in her hand: “Then, are we going to get lost…”

“No.”

“Have we already gotten lost…”

“No.”

Hmph.

How could I possibly get lost?

My keen senses constantly told me the direction of the airflow. Although I didn’t know how to get out, as long as I followed the direction of the airflow, I would surely be correct…

Right?

Anyway, I couldn’t possibly get lost.

“Lady…”

The dark cave was very quiet. The only sounds were the gentle wind and our clear footsteps. After a moment, little Betty timidly called my name again.

Eye-rolling: “What now?”

“If we go back too late, Grandpa will worry…”

“I know.”

“Can we make it back before dark…”

“Yes.”

“Then you…”

“Oh, don’t say anymore. Just follow me.”

I interrupted her somewhat impatiently.

This little girl was quite talkative once she got familiar…

It wasn’t that I was angry at Betty, but her constant chatter would distract me, and when my attention was distracted, I couldn’t feel the wind’s direction properly. The cave was complex, and one wrong step could lead us astray.

But the little girl didn’t think so. She thought she had annoyed me and trembled in fear, her lips tightly pressed together, not daring to make another sound. Her head drooped like a wronged puppy—yet the hand that clutched my robe never let go.

We walked on, through countless branching paths. Gradually, we felt the ground beneath our feet begin to slope upward, and the air currents became more noticeable. The stifling stench in the air began to fade.

I figured the exit must be close. Soon, after passing through a spacious cavern, the path ahead suddenly became steep, almost at a forty-five-degree angle upwards. Indeed, the slope of the cave seemed to get steeper, making such a path virtually impossible for an ordinary person to climb.

But this was the only way left.

I told Betty to hold the lamp high and looked up at the cave entrance. The surrounding sand had become loose, leaving almost no footholds in the narrow passage. Yet, the length of the passage stretched endlessly.

I roughly estimated that even a common knight in regular armor would find it dangerous to climb up or even jump down from above, risking broken legs or severe bumps to the head.

Yet here again, I discovered human footprints.

These footprints were similar to those found at the cave entrance—many chaotic ones. However, since they were inside the cave, unaffected by external winds and sands, these footprints were much clearer. Their size and shape were unmistakable. After observing for a moment, I confirmed that there were indeed four sets of footprints.

Three males… No, two males?

At least one woman; her footprints were noticeably smaller than the others. I guessed there were no children here, so among the four, at least one must be female.

The other two sets of footprints were clearly male, easy to discern from their outlines and depth. One of them seemed to wear light armor… or carried a heavy load, making his footprints deeper.

The last set was peculiar, making it hard for me to judge. Although the footprint was small, it appeared the deepest. If it belonged to a man, he must be very young, perhaps younger than me… I found this unlikely. Instead, I leaned towards another possibility—it belonged to a very fat woman.

Very fat, yet highly skilled.

An agile fat person.

These four were not ordinary people. They had obviously entered through this steep cave, yet there were no signs of tripping or falling. All footprints were steady, including the woman’s, who showed no signs of slipping.

They moved as if effortlessly, jumping down, landing without issue, continuing forward without pause, treating it as if it were nothing special.

They were strong…

Thinking about the dead lizards earlier, it wasn’t hard to imagine that if they were indeed Church knights, they were likely Papal knights…

Four in total.

But what did any of this have to do with me…

I was just looking for food, eating, and then going back. I didn’t want to provoke them.

—And I hoped they wouldn’t provoke me either.