The night road was very bumpy. Although the four of them ran with purpose, they were still exhausted, especially Adair who was carrying Alice on his back.
When they were about to leave the woods, Zhou Tang suggested taking a break. She and Cheng Mu spent a lot of effort to deal with those people, and after running non-stop for so long, their bodies in the game couldn't bear it. It was obvious that they needed to take a break to regain their strength.
The woods are a good cover. If there is a sudden change behind, there are ways to hide and deal with it. Further forward, there is an unexpected rocky beach.
In the mountains and rocks, they may not have an advantage.
Cheng Mu nodded and searched for a suitable position in the woods with his bare legs. With luck, he found a small hole that could accommodate four people.
Looking at the dazzling legs, Adair turned his head consciously and took off a coat and handed it to Cheng Mu, "Hey, that long-legged beauty, the weather is still cool now, let me cover you with some clothes."
Cheng Mu's long skirt was torn into a short skirt by himself, which was very convenient, but it was a different situation in the eyes of others.
Alice was obviously not a player. Cheng Mu didn't explain much and naturally took the clothes and covered her legs. She didn't look unique.
The four of them were crowded in the small cave, and Adair couldn't help but ask, "You... I don't know your names yet? Are those people dead? Where's the lady?"
Zhou Tang replied, "My name is Zhou Tang and his name is Cheng Mu."
Adair said clearly, "Zhou Tang, Cheng Mu."
Cheng Mu felt that Adair's tone was somewhat familiar, but just as he was about to reply and correct himself, the ground above their heads shook slightly.
Zhou Tang looked at him and said, "Shh! Don't talk, someone is coming."
After a while, the sound of horse hooves and a burst of human voices were heard in the distance, "This area has been searched! No trace of them was found!"
"We are about to enter Aprilia. Their footsteps are not that fast, right?!"
"Anyway, let's enter Aprilia first!"
Adair could feel the horse's hoof hitting the top of his head. He hugged himself tightly, not even daring to breathe.
Soon, the sound of horse hooves faded away, and Zhou Tang said softly, "There are not many people chasing us, only three or five! But we need to hide here for a while, wait for them to leave completely, and leave here before dawn .”
Adair was stunned and asked, "How many horses and people can you still hear passing by?!"
Zhou Tang said perfunctorily, "You will understand if you listen more."
Alice was thoughtful. It seemed that the daughter of a commoner was not useless, but as a noble, she only knew how to be romantic and jealous.
Before dawn, they finally crossed the rocky beach and arrived at a small village. However, they did not choose to stay here, but continued to move forward.
Occasionally I met passers-by on the road, and they only said, "We were escorting the noble lady to a relative's house in the countryside. We were robbed by thieves on the road. We finally escaped and wanted to go home."
They also complained, "Why are there bandits in this area! I heard that this is the territory of the Duke, and the Duke doesn't care about it?! I want to go home and tell my father that the Duke is not doing anything, so let my father do it!"
"I heard that women are missing in every village in this area! Why do you only single out women who go out alone? If we hadn't sworn to protect the young lady, something would happen to the young lady, and we wouldn't be able to escape either."
"Isn't there a witch doing evil? Witches like sweet girls the most."
"The blood of the girl can heal the ravines on the witch's face, and can make the witch young again and become youthful and beautiful."
"What?! Witch? Why do we have a witch here! It's so bad."
…
In the past few days, wherever the four of them go, there will be specious remarks. This is Zhou Tang's opinion. Their identities, and even Alice's identity, are weak against the Duke.
In order to complete Adair's game mission and rescue the girls who are still locked in the castle cage, they must either rely on their own ability to shake the Duke with a wooden stick, or they must rely on someone with the same status as the Duke to fight against him.
Wanting to pass the game as quickly as possible, they unanimously chose the latter.
Before they find someone to cling to, they can spread more rumors.
It's not right to say it's a rumor. After all, what they told is the truth. They just broke the truth into pieces and mixed it together. There may be contradictions, or the order of things happening may be wrong.
Let the truth be shrouded in fog, waiting for people with lofty ideals to dig it out bit by bit.
"Alice, are you really not going to go home?" Adair asked again. He did not expect that Alice would have such courage.
Alice shook her head firmly and said, "No! I have many brothers and sisters, and I am just one of them. My parents will not fight against my aunt just because of me."
"Besides," she hesitated, as if she didn't like speaking ill of others, "my brother, Branton, is favored by the Duchess."
Adair nodded. He could see that the Duchess had already moved on. Her love fell on Branton, but...
He asked, "Cheng Mu said that if there is no accident, the lady has died at his hands! Then Branton should be sent home. You and Branton have a good relationship, you can discuss with him..."
At this time, Zhou Tang and Cheng Mu came back together. "An accident happened! The duchess was not killed. She even had someone post a reward notice, saying that a thief sneaked into the castle and stole the valuable treasure."
After waiting in the castle for several days, Branton finally saw his wife who was recovering from her injuries.
Branton followed the housekeeper into his wife's bedroom. There was a heavy smell of medicine in the bedroom. He walked to the big bed without changing his expression, put on a worried posture and asked, "Aunt, you've worried me to death. Are you feeling better?!"
The lady was leaning against the bedside, looking fragile and pitiful.
"Branton, you're here!" The sun outside the window shone on the lady's body. Her skin was as pale as snow. When she saw the extremely young Branton, she stretched out her hand to slowly touch her cheek, "Am I much older?" .”
Branton said affectionately, "Aunt, you will always be elegant and noble in my heart. This is just temporary. Take good care of yourself and you will regain your former style."
Madam prefers to listen to Branton speak, because he is sincere in dealing with people, and now he will not call her beautiful without conscience.
Taking advantage of the fact that the lady was in a good mood, Branton asked again, "Sorry, aunt, I heard what the housekeeper said. If it weren't for the search for my sister, the castle would not have been empty that day, causing thieves to take advantage of it and hurt you.
A few days ago, I edited a letter and sent it to my mother to inform her about my sister’s situation. "
Madam's mood was visibly depressed. Nance's men searched for several days and finally found traces of the four damned people, but the four people did not stop at all and their positions kept changing.
There are also malicious rumors circulating in the countryside that slander the castle.
