Chapter 417: Red Empress (1/2)

Although her response was quick and short, everyone else couldn't help but pause. It wouldn't be easy to reveal such details and the manner she did so had taken them by surprise. As for the soldier who asked, he found himself unable to speak.

”I-I see, I apologize for asking such intimate details.”

He could only stumble through his words and speak in a much more respectful way.

Ming Yue looked at him.

”It's alright, I have no reason to hide it and it happened years ago.”

However, it had gone quiet. Everyone quietly focused on recovering and did a few spot repairs on their equipment. She looked at them before doing the same, examining her dagger and armor.

”I probably shouldn't have said it”, she thought.

And Xue Yue suddenly piped in.

”Of course not, you've ruined the happy atmosphere. It's just like the forest elder said, you're still not over it, far from it. Don't think I don't know that you're just trying to convince yourself otherwise.”

”Stop, I know. If it comes to be then it comes but me telling them is by no means a way of convincing myself”, Ming Yue replied.

”Sure, sure, fine, whatever you want but you better remember.”

And just like that Xue Yue''s voice no longer came out. Her counterpart just stared at the Pearlstone Dagger, checking it for any nicks or cracks. Although she didn't show it, her mind was elsewhere, preoccupied with sudden change.

But why now?

Normally, she wouldn't have been so bothered by it but she couldn't stop thinking about it, her own tragedy.

”No, I should stop. It's going to ruin my focus.”

She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as she had done before, finishing up her inspections.

Looking around, Ming Yue noticed the captain standing over the wound he made on the creature that called these lizards. He studied it carefully, picking at it with his axes.

”Strange, how strange...” he muttered.

The others noticed him as well, mulling over the gash he created.

”Is there something wrong captain?”

”Wait, don't tell me we're going to kill this thing too? I don't think we have the power for that!”

He glared at them and shook his head.

”Of course not, I'm not stupid. I just find it strange that we're standing on a much larger lizard”, he answered.

”What? What's so strange? We have monsters like these back home, don't we?” one of them pointed out.

”Yes but were those lizards really its children? The gap is simply too big. With its size, it could certainly give birth to more than just these few and they can't be adults, can they? With such a difference in size, there has to be a parent but where could they be?”

Ya Lang then turned to everyone else.

”We should investigate this. We're not returning until we get to the bottom of this. I better not hear a sound coming from you all, my orders are final.”

However, none of them groaned or showed any sort of opposition.

”There he goes. Guess, we're not going back.”

In fact, it seemed that all of his subordinates had expected something like this to happen.

”After discovering a new race, of course, the captain would want to learn more.”

”Well he is the captain, we can't exactly say no to him.”

With that said, the group went on the move, heading deeper into the marshes. But by night, they had yet to see anything out of the ordinary.

”There really is nothing but these marshes... Where does it end?”

It was the same thing for as far as the eye could see, just an endless swamp paired with an army of insects.

As much as Ya Lang wanted to continue, they needed to return. He couldn't risk the lives of his soldiers as well as Ming Yue on a gut feeling.