Chapter 420: Return to Danger

Everyone was dead. Only the two of them remained.

Silently, Wu Qingsong dragged the houndfolk corpses aside, burying them beneath the trees with only the most basic of rites. Then, without a word, he hoisted Maylen’s lifeless body over his shoulder and continued walking toward the forest’s edge.

Throughout it all, Charlotte said nothing. She helped a little with the burials, then quietly followed beside him, step for step.

The sound of flowing water grew louder. Moments later, the massive boulder came into view. Their horses were still there, tied individually to nearby trees with ropes, piles of freshly cut grass laid before them. Sensing their return, the horses neighed loudly, trotting in circles around the trunks in excitement.

Wu Qingsong dropped Maylen’s corpse to the ground and went to let the horses drink.

The two houndfolk who had stayed behind to guard them clearly hadn’t foreseen their fate. They had simply prepared feed for the horses and then entered the forest, never to return.

“You should go back,” Wu Qingsong finally said.

“I came with you all the way from the Imperial Capital. My subordinates are all dead. And now you’re telling me to go back alone?” Charlotte asked, her tone tinged with a quiet grievance.

“Sorry. But I’ll be staying here for a while longer.”

“That’s fine. I can stay. I can wait for you.”

Her words made Wu Qingsong close his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Can you not talk to me like that?”

“You think I’m scheming. You don’t even want me near you, is that it?”

Wu Qingsong didn’t answer.

“I genuinely like you.” Charlotte pressed on. “Ask yourself honestly, through this entire journey, did you ever feel uncomfortable being with me? Did you feel tormented, as if being with me was unbearable?”

“Enough. Go back.” Wu Qingsong said flatly. “I’m going back into the ruins. It’s too dangerous for you.”

“Maylen is dead. We know the secret lies beneath the lake. I don’t believe staying here is any less dangerous than traveling back alone.” She paused, then asked quietly, “If something happened to me on the way back, would you feel sad?”

Her words sparked a surge of frustration in Wu Qingsong. He finally lost patience.

“I don’t know what you think love is, but let me tell you something. To me, it’s sacred. It’s important. It’s not something to be forced, not something you can obtain through schemes or coercion. If you died on the road, I would mourn you, I would avenge you, because I consider you a friend. But you’re right. Right now, I don’t want to see you.”

Charlotte said nothing, but her silent defiance made her stance clear. She wasn’t going to leave.

“Do whatever you want.” Wu Qingsong relented.

After watering the horses, he selected the two healthiest ones, removing the saddles from the rest.

He couldn’t care for so many horses. Though he knew that releasing domesticated animals into the wild was far from ideal, there was no other choice.

Next, he poured soul energy into Maylen’s corpse, reanimating him as a mindless undead.

Unfortunately, the resulting corpse puppet had no remnants of its past memories. No information could be extracted.

“If you insist on staying, I can order it to protect you and obey simple commands.” Even then, Wu Qingsong couldn’t bring himself to completely disregard Charlotte.

Her face lit up slightly, but she still shook her head firmly. “I’m going back with you.”

Wu Qingsong said no more. He began gathering wood near the boulder, making a fire to roast rations and boil water. After a moment’s hesitation, Charlotte followed suit, trying to help.

She was clumsy, clearly inexperienced with such tasks. Time and again, Wu Qingsong had to stop her blunders and show her the proper way. Yet, ironically, this gave him a nagging sense of falling into her rhythm once again.

That night, they didn’t chat like before. Both turned in early. Wu Qingsong couldn’t sleep. He heard Charlotte tossing and turning beside him, equally restless.

The next morning, they ate a simple meal. Then, loading the remaining provisions onto three horses, they re-entered the forest.

Progress was arduous. Walking here was difficult enough; guiding horses was even worse.

Wu Qingsong remained constantly on edge, fearing the horses might nibble on wild grass and provoke the forest’s retaliation. But strangely, the forest seemed indifferent toward animals. When the horses finally stole a few bites of grass without consequence, Wu Qingsong exhaled in relief. At least now, he didn’t need to constantly stop them from acting on their instincts.

Charlotte chuckled softly, which irritated him somewhat. But really, he had no grounds to rebuke her over such a trivial matter.

With undead stationed on both flanks providing directional guidance, and with their group reduced to the bare minimum, they made steady progress. Despite the horses’ sluggishness, they managed to return to the ruins before nightfall.

Under the setting sun, the collapsed structures glistened with blinding brilliance. Though it had only been two days, standing in the same place, Wu Qingsong couldn’t help but feel a surge of melancholy. The people who had been with them were gone. Life was fragile indeed.

Before they had even set foot in the ruins, Wu Qingsong had already ordered the undead left behind to gather fodder and firewood. Once inside, they could immediately feed the horses and rest by the fire. Cruel as it sounded, for a necromancer, undead servants were indeed far more reliable than living beastkin.

“You’ve lost one of your undead. What’s your plan now?” Charlotte asked as they sat beside the fire, boredom creeping in with the encroaching darkness. 

Her tone was casual, as if picking up an old habit—the same way she had started conversations on countless nights during their journey.

“First, I’m going to study that shattered stone statue,” Wu Qingsong replied.

He had finally figured it out. With only the two of them left, it was impossible not to talk, not to help each other. Given their shared history, he couldn’t truly ignore her forever.

Returning their relationship to a normal state, making Charlotte understand that the old manipulations wouldn’t work. That was the right approach.

“If I succeed, these ruins will become an endless source of stone golems for me.”

“Stone golems?”

“Mid-tier puppet giants,” Wu Qingsong explained, striving for a tone of casual normalcy. “The weakest are sand golems, then stone golems, followed by flesh golems, bone golems, and death icons. The broken statue here should have been a powerful death icon. If I can figure out its inner workings, crafting stone golems from rubble should be simple.”