163 Lost? The Unpredictable Palace
Clang!
Lin Ran and Liu Hongshan stood with their backs facing each other as they looked around warily.
“What was that just now?”
Liu Hongshan asked softly. His back was facing the shadow just now, so he did not see it with his own eyes. However, the acute sense of the surrounding movements he had developed over the years made him react instantly.
Lin Ran thought for a moment and shook his head. “It’s too fast to see clearly, but it seems to be a wolf.”
!!
“That would be troublesome.”
Liu Hongshan sighed softly. “Wolves live in groups. If we can see one, it means that there’s a group nearby.”
Lin Ran chuckled and said, “That might not be the case. Didn’t I hear that the wolf pack will chase away the old wolf king? No matter how much the wolf king has contributed to the pack, when it becomes a burden, it will still be abandoned without hesitation.”
Liu Hongshan turned around and looked at Lin Ran. After a moment, he said softly, “That one just now was very fast. It’s impossible for it to have been abandoned by the pack.”
Lin Ran nodded in agreement and stopped talking. This place was empty and unobstructed. They couldn’t use divine sense to investigate, so they had to pay close attention to their surroundings.
Soon, Lin Ran realized a problem. They couldn’t see their surroundings clearly.
The sky emitted a gray light, but because of the brighter torches they were holding, the light was dimmed.
However, at this moment, the torches could only illuminate a radius of about ten steps. Any further and it would be almost pitch-black. Moreover, as the flames on the torch gradually extinguished, the radius of light decreased drastically.
“We have to put out the torches!”
Lin Ran whispered. Liu Hongshan extinguished the torch with his foot, obviously thinking the same thing as him.
The moment the torches were gone, the two of them felt their vision darken at the same time.
However, this feeling only lasted for a moment. Soon, they were accustomed to the gray light emitted by the sky, and this strange world slowly appeared in front of the two of them again.
After looking around for a moment, Lin Ran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The palace they had been resting in was standing quietly a few hundred feet away from him. The fire Liu Hongshan started was almost extinguished, leaving only sparks.
Looking back the way they came, the two rows of footprints extended almost straight into the distance. However, if one looked carefully, they would discover that the “straight” footprints were slightly curved.
In other words, they thought that they were walking in a straight line, but in fact, they were walking in a circle around the dilapidated palace.
Lin Ran immediately mocked, “You’re talented in finding the way out, huh?”
Knowing that he was in the wrong, Liu Hongshan did not retort. He cleared his throat and changed the topic. “Since it’s not far, let’s go in first. There’s a wall protecting us. We just have to guard the entrance.”
With that, Liu Hongshan walked towards the palace with the door open.
Lin Ran was about to follow when he suddenly realized that something was wrong and pulled Liu Hongshan back.
“What are you doing?”
Liu Hongshan was caught off guard and almost fell. His tone was filled with displeasure. “You can’t wait to kill me anymore?”
“I’m not that impatient.”
Lin Ran replied softly and pointed at the ground. “That’s not the palace we were resting in.”
Liu Hongshan was stunned when he heard that. “How is that possible? The door is open. The fire I started is still inside. Is there anyone else there?”
“You’re as smart as you claimed to be.”
Lin Ran sneered and stomped his feet on the ground. “We didn’t fly here. Where are the footprints?”
Liu Hongshan’s expression changed and he hurriedly lowered his head to look at the ground.
The ground here was covered in a thick layer of sand. A feather would leave a mark on the ground, let alone two people walking on it.
Even if they had yet to reach the spot where they set out, there should be some footprints at the entrance of the palace.
There were two rows of footprints behind them. If they had been walking in circles, there should be footprints in front of them too. However, in front of the two of them, there were no traces of them having ever traversed the ground within a few hundred steps.
Liu Hongshan said softly, his tone clearly vigilant, “Should we go in and hide for a while?”
Lin Ran smacked his lips and didn’t answer because he didn’t know what to do either.
Indeed, the shadow he saw just now was a threat, but it was still less threatening than the strange palace.
This palace first appeared out of nowhere and then lured them in through various arrangements, as if it was a trap set up by a living creature.
Therefore, compared to this strange palace, Lin Ran would rather face the mysterious shadow.
Thinking of this, Lin Ran planned to ask Liu Hongshan to leave this place first.
However, before Lin Ran could speak, Liu Hongshan suddenly said, “Ok.” Then, he held the Dragon Roar Dagger as he walked towards the strange palace.
Lin Ran was confused and wondered if this guy was hallucinating. He hurriedly looked around warily and shouted softly, “Liu Hongshan! Come back! I mean to leave this place first!”
“I didn’t expect you to care about me so much.”
Liu Hongshan replied softly without looking back, “But neither of us understands the situation here. It doesn’t matter if we swap places or not.”
Lin Ran was even more confused. He looked around suspiciously. After confirming that they were alone, he immediately felt a chill run down his spine.
“Who are you talking to?” Lin Ran couldn’t help but ask softly.
This time, Liu Hongshan did not answer. He only made a hand gesture to the right, as if he was communicating with someone, but there was no one there.
Lin Ran looked at Liu Hongshan and then at the place where he was gesturing. No matter how slow Lin Ran was, he now realized that something was wrong!
“Liu Hongshan!”
Lin Ran shouted and hurriedly went forward to pull Liu Hongshan back.
However, just as he reached out, Liu Hongshan suddenly turned around and slashed at his chest with the Dragon Roar Dagger!
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