241 Absolute Trust, Run into the Darkness
After a short rest, the two of them calmed down.
Shen Rulin raised the Thunderball and looked at it for a moment. In an instant, countless small electric arcs jumped on the sword.
“Good sword!”
Shen Rulin’s eyes lit up as he praised sincerely.
Lin Ran chuckled when he heard this. The original owner of the Thunderball was the only one who had been conferred the title of king after the founding of the dynasty. How could his sword be ordinary?
However, Lin Ran didn’t tell Shen Rulin this. Otherwise, it would make him seem like he was showing off.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Ran looked at Shen Rulin and asked, “Do you still have that bamboo smoke?”
“Bamboo smoke?”
Shen Rulin was stunned for a moment before he reacted. “You mean five-colored smoke, right? I do have, but there’s not much left. The Golden Guards are equipped with two smokes of each color.”
As he spoke, Shen Rulin took out eight bamboo tubes from inside his armor. He had used one red and one yellow before, and the rest were here.
Lin Ran grinned. “It’s quite useful. Why didn’t you bring more?”
“I think this is quite enough.”
Shen Rulin replied with a bitter expression, “The Golden Guards are in charge of investigating and obtaining information. We’re the easiest to encounter danger, so we’re equipped with two bamboo tubes of every color. The other four imperial guards only have one of each color.”
Lin Ran was speechless for a moment. He looked up at the cave entrance that was almost invisible. “I heard that the Fire Guards and the Earth Guards are the strongest in terms of combat skills. Can we call them over with this?”
Shen Rulin shook his head without thinking. “Every color can only express a simple message. Your message is too complicated.”
“…Alright then.”
Lin Ran waved his hand and instructed, “Set off two bamboo tubes of black color here. Make sure they can last long. You can do this, right?”
“I can, but…”
Shen Rulin looked around with a strange expression. “There’s only the two of us here. Why do you want me to set off the bamboo tubes?”
“Someone will come.”
Lin Ran pointed at the cave entrance above. “I don’t know what will happen if we continue forward. Since we can’t call the Fire Guards and the Earth Guards over, don’t let anyone else come in to die.”
When Shen Rulin heard this, his expression changed slightly. “What do you mean? The Golden Guards are not weak either!”
“Is that so?”
Lin Ran chuckled and looked at the wound on Shen Rulin’s shoulder.
Shen Rulin was rendered speechless. When the two of them were attacked by the sword energy just now, if not for Lin Ran’s fast reaction, he would have been dead already.
Although Shen Rulin was only a deputy commander, his strength could be ranked in the top ten in the Golden Guards. If even he was in such a sorry state, it was obvious what would happen to the others when they entered.
“We’ll do it your way.”
Shen Rulin replied in a low voice. Then, he took out two bamboo tubes and set them up on the ground.
He first built two platforms with some gravel. Under one of the platforms was a protruding stone, and a bamboo tube was placed on the platform above this stone.
Then, Shen Rulin picked up another bamboo tube and tied a larger stone with the rope at the end. Then, he placed the stone on the first platform and placed the bamboo tube on the second platform beside it.
“Done!”
Shen Rulin stood up and clapped his hands. “After the first bamboo tube burns out, the bamboo tube’s center of gravity will lean backward. It will fall and hit here—”
Shen Rulin pointed at the stone protruding from the bottom of the first platform. “This way, the bamboo tube of the black color will last longer.”
Lin Ran didn’t quite understand, but seeing how confident Shen Rulin was, he didn’t doubt it. He nodded and urged, “Then let’s begin!”
Shen Rulin nodded and reached out to pull the trigger of the first bamboo tube. Soon, billowing black smoke came out from the other end.
The thick black smoke was inconspicuous in this dark environment. It could still be seen clearly under the flames, but once it rose out of the range of the flames, it immediately fused with the surrounding darkness.
Seeing this, Lin Ran couldn’t help but look worried. “Who invented this thing? Didn’t the inventor consider using it at night?”
Shen Rulin was also a little embarrassed, but he still pretended to be calm and said, “Actually, it doesn’t matter if they can see the black smoke or not. If anyone comes down and sees these two bamboo tubes, they can also understand the message.”
Lin Ran took a deep breath and turned to the direction where the sword energy came. “Follow the fire. You have to trust me completely.”
Before Shen Rulin could understand what he meant, Lin Ran’s figure suddenly disappeared. At the same time, a few fire sword energies flew out and arrived 100 feet away in the blink of an eye!
“What speed!”
Shen Rulin was shocked. He hurriedly activated the Thunderball and turned into a bolt of lightning to catch up with him. In the blink of an eye, he also appeared 100 feet away!
At this moment, he was in absolute darkness. The only thing he could see was the flickering fire in the distance. With his current speed, if he took a sudden turn in the wrong direction, he would bang into the wall and kill himself!
Only then did Shen Rulin understand what “you have to trust me completely” meant. However, he barely knew Lin Ran. How could it be so easy to suddenly trust him completely?
As soon as the doubt appeared, Shen Rulin couldn’t help but slow down. However, in this moment of distraction, the fire was 100 feet further away from him and was almost invisible!
Seeing this, Shen Rulin braced himself and muttered under his breath, “So be it if I die.” Then, he focused his attention and circulated all his internal energy, instantly increasing his speed to the limit!
At the same time, in the cave.
A blurry white light suddenly illuminated the cave. Then, a unique white carriage slowly landed from the cave entrance.
Click!
The carriage landed with a soft sound, causing the first stone platform to collapse. The falling stones immediately lit up the second bamboo tube, and the black smoke that wafted out became stronger.
The horses stopped on the spot as if they didn’t know where to go. However, after only half a second, the four white horses raised their heads and let out a neigh in unison. They strode straight into the darkness!
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om