Chapter 169
Chapter 169
It was Ruby who screamed.
“What’s wrong?” Oneida asked in a low voice, frowning slightly.
*1… think I sprained my ankle… There was a hint of pain in Ruby’s voice. She should have tripped over something on the ground and injured her leg.
“Can you still walk? Oneida figured out Ruby’s direction from the latter’s voice and slowly walked toward her.
“It hurts…“. Ruby’s voice seemed to be tinged with tears. “Oneida, Matthias, maybe I should give up. I can’t walk like this…”
Matthias did not expect such an accident to happen.
Letting Ruby fire the signal flare to abstain and leave Misty Forest voluntarily might be the best choice in the current situation. However, he subconsciously felt that Oneida would not give up on Ruby.
“We’ll find the gems soon. All your efforts will be in vain if you abstain now.” Oneida walked toward Ruby. Although they couldn’t see each other through the thick fog, she could still hold Ruby’s arm precisely.
Ruby and Matthias were slightly stunned by Oneida’s words and thought, “Are we going to find the gems soon?”
*Oneida, are you serious?” Ruby widened her eyes in disbelief. There was a faint joy in her tone.
Matthias, too, was slightly surprised and thought, “Obviously, we have circled the forest several times without a clear direction. Why did Oneida say that we will soon find the gems?”
Oneida pursed her lips and did not explain anything.
In fact, it was the first time she came to Misty Forest.
She did not make any preparations before coming because she was confident she could complete the task without much effort.
Just now, she purposely kept circling the forest so that she could listen to the sound.
She was very sensitive to sound and could judge the direction through it.
Just now, by constantly listening to the surroundings, she found that there seemed to be a cave in the forest, and she could even hear the sound of water flowing in the cave.
“Hmm… What’s the place the teachers from Starr Training Camp are most likely to hide the gems?” Oneida asked herself inwardly.
She felt the most likely answer would be the cave.
Since there was water in the cave, she could reach there as long as she followed the sound of water flowing.
That was why she said they would find the gems soon.
It was indeed very soon, as the cave was not far from them.
Now that they had come this far, she did not want to give up on Ruby.
In fact, she was not an overly kind and soft–hearted person.
It was just that she did not have the habit of giving up on her teammates.
She could become the leader of Aphotic Group from an unknown pawn not only because of her high competency but also her loyalty to her subordinates.
She treated every subordinate kindly and never gave up on them easily.
Such kindness and loyalty made her respected and supported by countless people.
She would never give up on her teammates. Thus, she would never give up on Ruby that day either.
“Come. Let me carry you.” Oneida bent down and prepared to carry Ruby to the cave.
“Huh?” Ruby was stunned once again. “Did you just say you’re going to carry me?”
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Chapter 169
She scratched her head and was a little embarrassed. “Oneida, I don’t think this is a good idea…”
“I’ll carry her.” Suddenly, Matthias’s voice rang out.
He did not want Oneida to burden herself, so he offered to carry Ruby.
He knew that Oneida wanted to take Ruby with her.
Since it was her decision, he would help her.
“No need,” Oneida said, refusing very decisively.
She did not want to trouble Matthias.
Moreover, it was not difficult for her to carry a girl.
“Come,” Oneida said to Ruby again and gestured for the latter to come to her back.
Ruby bit her lips and finally lay on Oneida’s back.
She felt sorry for Oneida. However, she also wanted to find the gems and finish the test.
“Thank you, Oneida.” She put her hand around Oneida’s neck and thanked her sincerely.
Carrying Ruby behind her back, Oneida straightened up her back and continued to walk in the thick fog.
Matthias followed behind her.
Oneida followed the sound of water flowing and headed straight to her destination through the fog.
Twenty minutes later, the trio finally arrived at the cave entrance.
At that time, the sun hanging high above their heads became warmer and warmer.
Soon, the fog dispersed.
They could finally see the things in front of them clearly.
“T–There’s a cave here?” Ruby widened her eyes and scrutinized the cave before them.
The rugged dark rocks were somewhat messily stacked. Looking into the cave from the outside, one could only see the darkness, which appeared like a black hole.
“Are… we really going in there?” Ruby’s voice was trembling. A trace of fear flashed across her face.
“Of course.” Oneida walked toward the cave without hesitation and said, “The gems are inside.”
Seeing that, Matthias quickly followed behind her.
He took out a flashlight from his backpack and switched it on.
Once the flashlight emitted light, the dark cave lit up instantly.
They could see most parts of the cave clearly now.
It was damp inside the cave, with many puddles on the ground. Except for that, there was nothing special.
After the trio took a few steps forward, two paths in different directions suddenly came into their sight.
One led to the left and the other to the right.
Oneida stopped in her tracks.
Ruby began to feel nervous. “It seems like a survival game here. If we choose the wrong direction, we won’t be able to find the gems anymore, will
we?”
Matthias frowned at her words. When he was about to analyze the situation, Oneida said directly, “Let’s go to the left.”
“Left?” Ruby couldn’t help but feel confused when she saw how confident Oneida was.
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Chapter 169
Oneida said nothing more and walked straight to the left.
She looked calm and steady.
Matthias continued to follow her with the flashlight.
Oneida did not choose the left path based on the sound.
The sound of water flowing filled the entire cave. Thus, the sound of the water flowing from the left and right paths was the same.
It was the very shallow footprint on the left path that led her to choose the left.
After all, manpower was needed to transport the gems to the cave.
It was inevitable that the people of Starr Training Camp would leave traces behind when transporting the gems.
Those traces would be the footprints.
Although it was shallow and inconspicuous, Oneida managed to catch sight of it in no time.
Therefore, she walked to the left without hesitation.
After walking through a long passageway, they finally entered a bright place.
It was still a cave but was way larger and more spacious, with a not–too–big crack above.
The sunlight seeped through the crack, making the large cave extremely bright.
In the middle of the cave was a huge stone table.
On the stone table were the gems that the students needed to retrieve.
There were blue gems, green gems, red gems, and so on.
It was a dazzling sight.
The color did not matter, though, as the size was the most important.
The bigger the gem they retrieved, the higher the points they scored.
However…
