Rumor Has It That I’m Pregnant with His Highness’ Child - Chapter 451
Chapter 451: Ghost Cry Forest
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Xiao Juan asked, “Do you suspect that there’s something wrong with this mark?”
Yu Niaoniao thought for a moment and said, “We deliberately changed directions just now. Logically speaking, we shouldn’t have returned to where we were. There are only two possibilities for this to happen. One, the mark has been tampered with, and two, our sense of direction has deviated.”
In order to verify if there was anything wrong with the mark, Yu Niaoniao ordered someone to get a brush. She dipped it in ink and wrote a strange English sentence on the rock.
No one around her could understand what she was writing. They looked confused.
Yu Niaoniao threw the brush to Ye Yu and looked at the English on the rock. She nodded in satisfaction.
“In that case, it’ll be difficult for others to imitate it.
The group continued forward with their torches.
After a long walk, they saw the string of English words Yu Niaoniao had written.
Yu Niaoniao had a photographic memory. After carefully comparing every detail of the English language, it was exactly as she remembered.
This confirmed that the mark was fine.
The problem was their sense of direction.
There were rocks everywhere. They looked different, but if you looked at them for a long time, you would realize that they actually looked similar. It was easy for them to affect one’s sense of direction.
Yu Niaoniao looked up at the starry sky above.
Sensory distractions might appear, but the stars in the sky did not lie.
She turned to look at Xiao Juan and asked, “Do you remember which direction the sun set when we came here yesterday?”
The sun naturally set from the west, but Xiao Juan knew that was not what she was asking.
He remembered briefly and replied.
“It’s our left.’
Yu Niaoniao said, “Then we came from the north.’
She pointed to the Big Dipper in the sky and continued, “It’s in the north. We just have to go straight in its direction and we should find a way out.’
Everyone was a little confused, not understanding how she had come to this conclusion.
Xiao Juan did not think too much about it and immediately gave the order to advance in the direction of the Big Dipper.
It was late at night, and the cold wind kept blowing through the cracks between the rocks, making a whooshing sound like a woman’s cry in the night.
On the way, they also found traces left behind by the wolves, which meant that the wolves had been around.
Even though they were already very tired, everyone had no choice but to perk up and be careful to avoid being ambushed by the wolves again.
This time, Yu Niaoniao did not take a carriage. She also chose to ride a horse.
She was wearing a thick cloak. From time to time, she would look up at the starry sky to make sure they were heading in the right direction. The Eagle Guard in charge of scouting ahead suddenly shouted.
“There’s no way forward!”
Yu Niaoniao immediately urged the horse under her to go forward with Xiao Juan.
They reached the front of the group. In the hazy starlight, they could see a small rock mountain ahead.
If they continued, they would die.
At this moment, Wei Liao rode over.
He looked at the rocky hill ahead and smiled.
“Princess Consort, your judgment seems to be wrong. We didn’t see such a small mountain when we came.”
Yu Niaoniao did not say anything.
At this moment, she wondered if she had made a mistake.
Xiao Juan dismounted and walked to the front of the rock mountain. He raised his hand and touched the rock wall before shouting at Yan Nanguan.
“Torches!”
Yan Nanguan immediately ran over with a torch.
With the help of the fire, Xiao Juan carefully observed the marks on the rock wall and squatted down to look at the sand on the ground. Yu Niaoniao also jumped off the horse and walked to his side.
“Did you find anything?”
Xiao Juan said, “The sand on the ground should have been newly paved. Someone had been here before. In order not to be discovered, they took the sand from elsewhere to cover the traces.’
Yu Niaoniao squatted down to take a closer look. Indeed, the sand on the surface was a little different from the sand below.
She reached out and pulled away the sand on the surface. She saw two deep ruts below.
“This must be a mark left by a carriage. For it to make such deep ruts, it must be carrying something heavy…’
At this point, she had a guess.
“Could this be their way to deliver stolen silver?”
At this moment, Wei Liao also leaned over. He squatted down and carefully examined the marks on the ground.
“Princess Consort, looks like I have to take back what I just said. You should be right this time.”
Xiao Juan ordered the Eagle Guards to sweep away the sand on the ground. We Liao was unwilling to fall behind, and his Sky Wolf Guards also joined in the cleaning.
The sand on the surface was swept away, and the long ruts were clearly displayed in front of everyone.
They followed the rutted track and saw that it extended to the foot of the rock hill and stopped abruptly in front of a boulder.
The Eagle Guards and the Sky Wolf Guards worked together to move the huge rock away.
A deep tunnel appeared in front of everyone.
Yan Nanguan led a small team into the tunnel. They went to investigate the situation first. The others waited outside.
They did not have to wait long before Yan Nanguan returned with his men.
Their faces were filled with joy.
“The way out is ahead!”
Hearing this news, everyone perked up.
The team entered the tunnel methodically.
The tunnel was just wide enough for a carriage to enter.
By the time they passed through the tunnel, the sky was already bright.
Yu Niaoniao looked over and realized that this was already the edge of the rock forest. As long as they moved forward for a while, they could leave this place.
At this moment, everyone heaved a sigh of relief.
They were finally leaving this godforsaken place!
After leaving the tunnel, the rutted tracks extended to the road ahead.
Carriages often passed by on this road. The ruts on the ground intersected with each other. It was difficult to tell who was who.
A middle-aged man was walking forward with firewood.
He was startled to see a large group of people coming out of the rock forest and shouted in the local language.
“Why are you guys out of this place?”
Only Xiao Juan could understand Liangzhou language and he responded, “Is there a problem here?”
The middle-aged man was also enthusiastic and immediately spoke to him.
Yu Niaoniao did not understand a word.
Xiao Juan got someone to give the middle-aged man a silver ingot and sent him away.
Seeing that Yu Niaoniao was looking at him curiously, he took the initiative to explain, “The person just said that the place where we were trapped is called the Ghost Cry Forest. The terrain there is complicated. If you’re not familiar with the locals here, it’s difficult to come out once you enter. Moreover, there are wild beasts there at night that eat people.”
Yu Niaoniao immediately remembered. “Previously, those squires mentioned the Ghost Weeping Forest. Could this be it?”
Xiao Juan nodded. “Yes, it’s said that there’s a cold wind here all year round and you can hear the cries of female ghosts. That’s why it’s called the Ghost Weeping Forest..”
