Return of the King, Dominating the City

Chapter 1972: Chapter 1807: Nagging (Part 2)

Momentarily distracted, his palm gently slid down Dongfang Yun’s waist.

Dongfang Yun’s body shuddered, her fist pressed against Song Yun’s stomach, warning, "If you move again, I’ll punch you to bits."

"You’re too beautiful, I can’t control my hand."

Song Yun chuckled and then released his tight grip on Dongfang Yun.

"Hmph."

Dongfang Yun let out a delicate grunt, ignored Song Yun, and peeked out from behind the boulder to look toward the lakeside below.

Song Yun glanced at the three people below and asked, "Are these the ones who are holding your friends hostage?"

"Yes."

Dongfang Yun nodded and then gestured for silence, saying, "Don’t make a sound. We absolutely cannot let them discover our whereabouts. If they find out someone is heading to Mondenlo Mountain, they’ll increase their defenses, and we won’t be able to rescue my friends."

At the lakeside.

A man wearing a felt hat surveyed the few burning cars and the bodies blown apart, speaking solemnly, "These guys have guns; what are they here for?"

Another person said, "Since they have guns, it seems they’re just regular people."

"With this much commotion, we need to figure out what’s going on."

"Maybe it’s because of an uneven split of spoils. These people aren’t good for anything; infighting is a common occurrence."

"Check the surroundings to see if anyone is alive."

The three of them rode their horses and began to check the area.

They were very cautious, expanding their search area far and wide, to a thousand meters.

One of them even took off his coat and jumped into Kuga Lake to see if anyone was hiding underwater.

Fortunately, Song Yun and Dongfang Yun were on the mountain slope a thousand meters away; otherwise, they might have been discovered.

After checking, the three gathered together again.

"There’s no one alive around."

"Only these four cars left tire marks; there shouldn’t have been any other cars leaving before we arrived."

"I did discover something unusual, though; three hundred meters away, there’s a lone footprint."

"A footprint? Could it have been left earlier?"

"Perhaps."

"This is suspicious; we should report it."

"Alright, let’s head back."

The three discussed briefly, then whipped their horses and left Kuga Lake, heading towards Mondenlo Mountain.

Once the three horses and riders disappeared, Song Yun and Dongfang Yun emerged from behind the boulder.

Song Yun frowned and said, "They didn’t notice us, did they?"

"Probably not."

Dongfang Yun shook her head and started walking toward Mondenlo Mountain.

Song Yun caught up, saying, "Traveling like this is too slow, how about I..."

Dongfang Yun glared at Song Yun and interrupted irritably, "Unless absolutely necessary, I won’t let you carry me again."

Song Yun pouted, looking innocent, "I meant well, but in your eyes, I’m like a pervert."

"No arguing, you are a pervert."

Dongfang Yun quickened her pace and walked ahead.

"If I’m a pervert, why did you ask for my help?"

Song Yun followed leisurely beside Dongfang Yun, teasing her now and then, making it not boring at all.

The two of them followed the horse hoof prints on the ground, continuing forward.

After walking for about half an hour, circling around Kuga Lake, they reached a sloping hill.

But inexplicably, right in front of this hill, the hoof prints suddenly disappeared.

"Vanished into thin air?"

Song Yun questioned in surprise.

Dongfang Yun said, "Not vanished into thin air; they went through a door."

Song Yun asked puzzledly, "Where’s the door?"

Dongfang Yun pointed to the hill ahead, walking forward as she explained, "The door is right there."

"You mean that hill?"

Song Yun furrowed his brows, now even more puzzled.

Dongfang Yun explained, "There’s a huge rock on the hill; it can flip over, revealing the entrance."

Song Yun realized, "Oh, there’s a mechanism; how do we get in?"

Dongfang Yun pointed at the mountaintop: "From above."

Song Yun looked at the mountain in front of him, with lush grass on the lower slopes and a stark, barren area above, revealing the black mountain body. Although he hadn’t climbed the mountain yet, he could see that the top was an arched shape, with an open gap in the middle.

"Volcano!"

Song Yun frowned and said.

Dongfang Yun said: "This is an extinct volcano, it won’t erupt with lava again. If we go down through the crater, we’ll reach our destination."

"I see."

Song Yun nodded, smiling meaningfully, and said to Dongfang Yun, "It seems you are quite familiar with this place."

Dongfang Yun didn’t hide anything, directly saying: "I’ve been here before."

After speaking, she quickly walked toward the mountain.

Song Yun watched her back and couldn’t help but think to himself, today they came to rescue someone, but couldn’t kill anyone, and Dongfang Yun had been here before too. It seems things aren’t that simple.

Before long, the two reached the mountaintop.

Song Yun poked his head out of the crater, looked down below, and since it was an extinct volcano, there was no lava below.

However, the scene wasn’t quite what he expected.

When he clearly saw the scene before him, even someone who had seen an illusion array like that in Taoyuan felt greatly shocked.

Because below the crater, there was actually a village.

"Illusion array?"

Song Yun furrowed his brows, focused his eyes, and said in a deep voice: "No, this is real."

Song Yun was greatly surprised because the scene in front of him was indeed beyond his expectations.

A village, actually situated beneath the volcano.

He looked down carefully, only to see the village built with small houses, whose walls were made of stones and roofs covered with straw, very rustic.

The arrangement of the houses seemed well thought out, which is why they were built this way.

A small creek flowed from the east to the west, winding around.

To the east were houses, to the west were fields, fruit trees, pigpens...

The entire village wasn’t large, but it had everything needed.

This village formed an ecosystem of self-sufficiency.

At this moment, inside the village, some children were practicing martial arts at the west end of the village, guided by a burly man dressed in a wolf fur coat.

In the fields, people were farming.

Some women were washing clothes downstream of the creek.

Younger children held homemade toys, playing and chasing each other.

The entire village was enveloped in an atmosphere of harmony.

"If there were peach blossoms planted around, I might have thought this was the Taoyuan written about by Tao Yuanming."

Song Yun clicked his tongue, somewhat puzzled, looking at Dongfang Yun: "The atmosphere here is harmonious, it doesn’t look like a place where people would be imprisoned. Are you sure your friend is being held here?"

"I’m sure."

Dongfang Yun nodded, jumped into the crater, clung to the inner edge, and started climbing down.

Song Yun glanced at the village in the volcano, and said to Dongfang Yun: "Aren’t you afraid of being seen by the people below?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Dongfang Yun land on a protruding platform on the inner wall, which perfectly blocked the view below.

Dongfang Yun waved at him, saying: "Come down."

Song Yun also clung to the inner wall of the crater, descending to the platform.

Dongfang Yun parted a bush, and only then did Song Yun discover that beside the platform on the inner volcanic wall, there was actually a cave entrance.

The cave entrance was hidden within the bush, making it quite difficult to spot.

"This is a secret passage leading to the village below."

Dongfang Yun walked into the cave entrance, beckoning Song Yun.

Song Yun followed, inspecting the dark tunnel.

The tunnel wasn’t wide; the walls were uneven, accommodating only one person, and it was a bit damp around, with a temperature notably lower than outside.

The temperature seemed lower too.

Song Yun chuckled, teasing: "You even know about such a secret passage; it seems you’re very familiar with this place."

Dongfang Yun repeated the same phrase: "I’ve been here before."

Song Yun asked: "Who are the people below? Why did you come here before?"

"Why are you babbling like a woman?"

Dongfang Yun turned back, giving Song Yun an annoyed look.

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