Chapter 417: The Green Sea Ruins (Part 10)

If Maylen’s goal was to lure them into these ruins and guide them to a specific object, then that object couldn’t be too difficult to find.

“I think it’s probably buried under some part of the ruins. Maybe the surface is covered with fallen stones to lower our guard, but it should still be easy enough to spot.”

With this assumption, Wu Qingsong commanded the undead to swiftly search through the ruins. The undead didn’t need to worry about safety, could endure far harsher conditions, and required neither rest nor food. This made them far more efficient than the houndfolk. Before long, they made a discovery.

“Someone’s been here before.” Wu Qingsong handed what was found to Charlotte

It was a small dagger commonly used by mercenaries. It had fallen amidst a pile of rubble, so inconspicuous that it had survived unnoticed until now.

The blade was heavily rusted, yet no matter how one looked at it, it couldn’t possibly be decades old.

“Maybe it’s only been here for two or three years,” Wu Qingsong told Charlotte. “We’re not the only ones who’ve been tricked into coming here.”

He ordered the undead to continue searching the surrounding area. Soon, they found more traces that hadn’t been cleaned up—faint footprints in rooms long untouched. Compared to those rooms, the places they’d previously explored had suspiciously little dust on the floor, likely having been swept clean to erase tracks.

Wu Qingsong suspected these people had never left the ruins. Yet, he’d found no soul fragments—a detail that made him even more cautious. He ordered Charlotte and the houndfolk to halt their search and stay in camp, guarding against an ambush.

On the third day after Maylen fled into the forest, they finally faced the crisis of running out of food. Wu Qingsong had already searched the entire ruins, but his theory seemed to be wrong. There were no suspicious places beneath the rubble, no detectable energy. He hadn’t even found a cemetery or burial ground. But that wasn’t too surprising. If the elves’ allies included the Batiz, they would’ve treated their dead with far more care.

“Maybe his goal is to trap us here,” Charlotte said. “Leave us to starve to death.”

That was possible, but Wu Qingsong found the idea too inefficient.

“The elves should have won back then. But why didn’t they rebuild this place? Why did they abandon it?” He hadn’t eaten for days, rationing his food for the others. Though hunger didn’t affect him directly, it still tormented him. His stomach cramped painfully. “This place is large, clearly important to the elves. Why didn’t they repair it? Why leave it behind entirely?”

“A curse?” Charlotte asked.

“One the elves themselves couldn’t lift,” Wu Qingsong nodded.

Finally, it struck him what he had been overlooking. It was something so obvious that passing by it every day had caused him to ignore it.

“That lake!” he said.

Currently, they were drinking from a filthy puddle. If not for Wu Qingsong’s early warnings, Charlotte and the others would never have chosen that over the clear, pristine lake nearby.

“If you hadn’t reminded us, the ideal campsite would’ve been right by the lake, or at least very close to it,” Charlotte admitted.

Wu Qingsong immediately led the undead back to the lake, instructing Charlotte and the houndfolk to stay far away for safety.

The water remained crystal clear, showing no sign of danger.

‘Get in the water.’

Wu Qingsong ordered the undead.

It leapt in immediately. Nothing happened.

‘Dive down. Search the bottom.’

He gave the next command.

The undead quickly submerged, rummaging through the scattered stones at the lakebed. Though the lake wasn’t large, it was surprisingly deep. The undead’s movements stirred up the silt that had settled for who knows how long, gradually turning the water murky. Unable to see, Wu Qingsong switched to using his spiritual link with the summon to monitor its progress.

Nothing. Only rocks.

The undead kept sending back the same message.

Just then, a scream erupted behind him. Wu Qingsong turned around. Maylen had somehow snuck dangerously close to Charlotte’s group. As everyone’s attention was on the lake, he launched a sudden ambush.

Luckily, a houndfolk standing nearby sensed the danger and managed to block the attack, but not without consequence. Maylen’s claws tore through his arm, exposing the bone. Roaring in pain, the houndfolk lunged at Maylen, the two grappling and rolling together.

The remaining houndfolk immediately grabbed their weapons and charged. Wu Qingsong was about to help when the undead at the lakebed sent a sudden signal of discovery, followed by an intense, stabbing pain that shot through his mind. Moments later, the pain vanished, and his connection to the undead was severed.

Meanwhile, Maylen had broken free from the houndfolk’s encirclement, retreating swiftly into the towering ruins and disappearing from sight.

“Wu?” Charlotte called out anxiously.

“Something devoured it,” Wu Qingsong said grimly.

The lake water slowly cleared, but the undead was nowhere to be seen beneath the surface.

***

The houndfolk’s morale was starting to collapse.

Charlotte used a tourniquet to stem the bleeding of the wounded houndfolk’s arm, but his abdomen had been slashed during the fight, intestines spilling out. In a place like this, that kind of injury had only one outcome.

Their food was gone. The undead companions they’d relied on had mysteriously vanished. Maylen lurked somewhere in the ruins, ready to strike at any moment.

No matter how they looked at it, their fate seemed inevitable.

Even though these houndfolk were high-ranking members of Dark Moon, they couldn’t calmly face this kind of end.

They could accept charging into battle and dying gloriously. But being trapped here, starving to death, constantly on edge, fearing ambushes—this slow, agonizing demise was not what they wanted.

“Give me a quick death,” the injured houndfolk begged. “At least after I die, my body can still be useful to you. Eat my flesh if you must, I won’t blame you.”

The remaining three houndfolk said nothing. They didn’t act, but their faces were clouded with sorrow and helpless rage.

“I’m begging you! End it for me!” he pleaded again.

Weakened by blood loss, he still clung desperately to a comrade’s hand, refusing to let go.

Finally, unable to resist his plea, Charlotte’s lieutenant took up a blade with tear-filled eyes, pressing it against his heart, and swiftly thrust it in.

Everyone drew a sharp breath. But through the pain, the dying houndfolk forced out a faint smile. 

“Thank you… You all must live on…”

His body gradually turned cold. Charlotte’s lieutenant finally said, “We have to find a way out!”

“But…” Charlotte hesitated.

“At least it’s better than sitting here waiting to die!” he shouted. “We’re of no use staying here. Lord Tagraedi doesn’t need us to stand guard doing nothing. Let us go out there, maybe we’ll stumble upon a way out.”

“Maylen’s probably hiding in the forest,” Charlotte said.

“Then we’ll get a proper fight! If we die, we’ll die in that forest. At least Lord Tagraedi will be able to find our bodies.”

Charlotte wanted to argue more, but Wu Qingsong gently patted her shoulder from behind, signaling her to stop. She understood her words wouldn’t reach those who had already embraced death.

“We’ll go together,” he said to the remaining three houndfolk.