Chapter 453: How Could It Be Him, How Does He Have This?

Chapter 453: Chapter 453: How Could It Be Him, How Does He Have This?

Shen Ningning and Mo Lingwei looked up.

Through the cover of night and the surrounding woods, they saw a cave standing not far away.

The sound was coming from inside—a deep, ferocious noise that did indeed sound like the roar of a wild beast.

But Shen Ningning, who had raised all the animals on Wolf Mountain, couldn’t recognize what was making the sound.

This only made her more curious.

"We’ll know if we go take a look." The young girl had just taken her first step when Mo Lingwei grabbed her hand.

The young man frowned, his dark eyes fixed on the path ahead.

"They said there’s something here that pricks people. We should be careful. Let the guards clear the way first."

The guards drew their swords and cleared a path through the overgrown weeds ahead.

The two villagers didn’t dare to go forward, but when they saw that the Crown Prince and the Princess were choosing to press on, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and follow.

They hadn’t taken more than a few steps when, suddenly, the guard at the very front went stiff and collapsed with a THUD.

The two villagers, standing at the back and terrified to their wits’ end, let out a scream that shot to the heavens.

"We can’t go any further!"

Mo Lingwei’s brow tightened, and he instinctively pulled Shen Ningning behind him.

The guards at the front who hadn’t fainted didn’t dare to take another step either.

However, Shen Ningning sniffed the air. "Do you guys smell that? It seems like there’s a floral scent."

Everyone took a careful sniff, and sure enough, there was.

"Anything can bloom in the deep mountains."

Shen Ningning shook her head. "Could it be the floral scent? I read a book once that said the fruit of a banyan tree releases an odorless gas. When combined with a specific floral fragrance, it becomes like one of those spices from the Western Regions that can make people fall unconscious."

Hearing this, Mo Lingwei immediately gave an order to the guards: "Try covering your noses and mouths and moving forward."

He held Shen Ningning’s hand, waiting to see if the guards could pass through safely.

The guards tore strips of cloth from their clothes and wrapped them around their noses and mouths like masks. They walked past the guard who had just fainted, and this time, nothing happened at all.

Shen Ningning nodded seriously. "It’s just as I thought. You felt like something was pricking you before because you’re sensitive to the scent. It was already causing you discomfort, but you didn’t realize it."

The group quickly covered their noses and mouths and proceeded without any more trouble.

Mo Lingwei had the guards carry their unconscious comrade under a banyan tree and left three men to watch over him.

Shen Ningning and the others drew closer and closer to the dark cave.

The cave was large, the kind of dwelling a tiger would favor.

Shen Ningning clutched a bit of fur shed by the Black Wolf King in her hand.

’When a beast smells another beast, it won’t attack immediately. It will approach with caution.’

The two villagers refused to go any further up.

"Crown Prince, Princess, you are noble people and are protected by the heavens. We commoners will wait for you here. If anything happens, we can provide support."

Shen Ningning had no intention of making things difficult for them and agreed immediately.

She was also afraid the guards would get hurt, so she and Mo Lingwei moved to the very front.

After a difficult climb up the rugged slope, they looked up and saw that the cave was surprisingly deep!

The light of their torches was swallowed by the darkness, which meant the cave was very deep.

Mo Lingwei, however, grew a little worried about Shen Ningning.

"Should we keep going? It seems to be the lair of some wild beast."

There were scattered bones near the cave entrance.

Shen Ningning’s curiosity had reached its peak.

"We’ve already come this far," she said.

She didn’t show the slightest bit of fear.

So, Mo Lingwei pulled her behind him, holding his sword protectively in front. "Then you have to stay by my side. Don’t go running ahead on your own."

Shen Ningning gave a sweet smile. "Okay~"

’In reality, if they really did encounter a wild beast, it was hard to say who would be protecting whom.’

The further they went, the stronger the damp smell became.

Everywhere the torchlight reached, there was nothing but dripping moss.

However, Shen Ningning noticed their voices were starting to echo, growing louder and more focused.

Moreover, she realized they had been walking downhill the entire time.

’This means the cave is probably a karst cave!’

’And it must be quite large.’

’A cave this big couldn’t possibly be home to several tigers, could it?’

Suddenly.

A RUSTLE of black shadows flew toward them. Mo Lingwei immediately pulled Shen Ningning into his arms and swung his sword.

The guards attacked in unison.

Only after the swarm of black shadows had flown away did Shen Ningning emerge from Mo Lingwei’s embrace.

Looking at the ground, she saw they were bats.

Mo Lingwei pressed his lips together. "No wonder the villagers are scared. In the legends of Cangyun Country, bats are the embodiment of the underworld’s Oxhead and Horseface, representing life and death."

Shen Ningning shook her little head, feeling even calmer.

"That’s not right. The bats gather here because it’s damp. They like this kind of environment."

Mo Lingwei raised an eyebrow, finding her explanation novel.

"Did your mother teach you that too?"

Shen Ningning lifted her chin proudly. "That’s right, impressive, isn’t it? My mother really knew everything! I can’t even imagine what an incredible person she would be if she were still alive."

As they were talking, a guard suddenly shouted, "Crown Prince, there’s a light ahead!"

Shen Ningning looked up and saw it was true. A faint blue light was flickering in the deepest part of the cave.

The little girl pulled Mo Lingwei along, quickening her pace toward it.

They came to a narrow passage that only allowed one person to squeeze through sideways.

The moment Shen Ningning squeezed through, she was stunned by the sight before her!

Her watery eyes went wide.

Below them was an incredibly vast and open underground cavern. And the object shining with blue light was a small flatbed cart, just big enough for one person to sit on.

It was called a small cart, but it didn’t quite seem like one, as the material didn’t feel like wood to the touch.

But Shen Ningning had never seen anything like it before.

Mo Lingwei, following behind her, also looked around and said in astonishment, "To think there’s a place like this deep in the mountains."

Just then, a guard searching the area shouted, "Crown Prince, there’s an unconscious person over here!"

Shen Ningning hurried over.

Indeed, there was a person lying near the cart.

After a guard turned him over and they got a clear look at his face, Mo Lingwei frowned.

’Why does this person look so familiar?’

Wu Fang, who was by his side, recognized him immediately.

"It’s that quack, Master Gu! He’s been hiding here."

Back then, to help his daughter Wei Yufu compete with Shen Ningning for the title of "blessed girl," Minister Wei had specifically sought out a legendary charlatan from the martial underworld who was said to be able to command the wind and rain.

That was this Master Gu.

However, not only did he fail to summon rain, but he also ended up ruining the Wei Family overnight.

Later, the court ordered the arrest of this swindler, but he vanished without a trace. After all these years, they had actually run into him here.

Mo Lingwei frowned. "Just a swindler. Apprehend him and take him back to the capital. He’ll be thoroughly interrogated for his past crimes."

A guard immediately lifted the middle-aged Master Gu.

Just then, a small, round disk fell from Master Gu’s clothes, tracing a silvery arc through the air before landing at Shen Ningning’s feet.

The little girl looked down and was suddenly taken aback.

"Wait!"

She picked up the disk and carefully examined the two words carved on it:

Moon Landing.

They were identical to the words her mother had left behind!

’How could this swindler have this?! Could he have stolen it?’