Chapter 612 - 384: Entering the Stone Forest

Chapter 612: Chapter 384: Entering the Stone Forest

This wait lasted a full hour.

It was already afternoon, the sun was blazing, shining directly on people, making it hard to keep eyes open.

Song Wu was also anxious this day, after all, it was a whole thousand people who just disappeared without a trace, he couldn’t eat or sleep either.

Now seeing a glimmer of hope in finding people, he relaxed spiritually, leaned on a rock, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

He was awakened by the heat and turned his head to look, the horse was still resting in its spot.

"How long has it been?"

"General, it’s been an hour."

Song Wu frowned: "Why is there still no news after so long."

He then signaled: "Go see if Miss Jiang is awake, and ask when that parrot will return."

It can fly one hundred kilometers in half an hour, so it should’ve flown two hundred kilometers by now, no?

This stone forest shouldn’t be that big, should it?

The subordinate rushed to Xiaomi’s side, but before getting close, he exclaimed: "General, Miss Jiang is gone!"

"What!" Song Wu jolted up: "How can she be gone, wasn’t she just here, and there are so many of you, didn’t anyone see her leave?"

The subordinate saw something, crouched down quickly, and picked up a piece of paper: "General, Miss Jiang left a note saying she went to find the people and asked us to head back first."

Song Wu was stunned, when he realized, he stomped his foot sharply: "Foolish, this girl actually ditched us and went into the stone forest herself!"

He thought it was really just relying on that bird to find people, but who would’ve thought they’d be tricked by a young girl.

It was clearly to have them lead the way, then find an excuse to ditch them, and go find people herself.

No wonder the parrot never returned, no wonder she deliberately found a corner to rest.

Probably when they were resting, Miss Jiang ran in another direction under the horse’s cover.

Recalling when Miss Jiang sat down, opened her hand, the horse knelt to lick her palm, what wasn’t clear?

It must be that Miss Jiang placed bait in her palm, on purpose!

"General, what do we do now?" The subordinate looked to him.

No one knew when Miss Jiang left or where she entered from, and now it’s been so long, there’s no way to start a search.

Song Wu forced himself to stay calm: "We’ll stay, send someone back to get more people, post them around the stone forest, so no matter where they come out, we’ll know immediately."

The subordinate was surprised: "General, do you really think Miss Jiang can find them?"

Song Wu wasn’t sure. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

"Now, Miss Jiang is our only hope, all we can do is ensure their safety once they come out."

After all, those trapped in the stone forest for more than ten days now, even if they are found, probably have no fighting strength left.

But Song Wu still worried, not knowing if those bandits were still in the stone forest.

He also didn’t know if those bandits, knowing the terrain of the stone forest, had killed everyone who entered.

This worry was like a thorn, digging deep into Song Wu’s heart, yet he didn’t dare to speak it out loud.

Even though he knew his subordinates had such suspicions, he couldn’t abandon hope himself.

Alive, we need to see the person, dead, we need to see the body!

The subordinate quickly rode back to call for more people, and an hour later, thousands more emerged from the camp, fifty in each group, stationed at intervals.

So when did Xiaomi leave?

Actually, the moment the horse knelt, she had already activated her spiritual power and ran off swiftly.

Just like she said herself, a second faster, those people have a bit more hope of survival, how could she sleep or rest peacefully?

But her spiritual power was limited, added that Ling’er was searching in the sky, so she only used a fleeting moment of spiritual power, turned past a rock, and entered the stone forest, then ceased using it.

Her spiritual power hadn’t fully recovered, holding onto a bit, in case of danger, she could escape faster.

After entering the stone forest, she took out her bow and arrow, guarding her surroundings while observing the environment.

Although called a stone forest, it didn’t mean it was all stone, the ground had grass and trees, and the stone mountains had sparse green vegetation.

But the stone mountains were isolated, not forming a continuous range, leaving small paths and blocking the view ahead.

The surrounding stones were steep, making it impossible to climb barehanded.

Xiaomi rummaged in her space, took out a climbing rope, shot it upwards, hooked it on a stone, tested it, and found it very sturdy.

Then she put on climbing gloves and climbed straight up.

This was also why she left the others behind, she had the equipment and ability to cross mountains without circling through the stone forest.

But these items couldn’t be seen by others.

With the tools, Xiaomi was like an agile monkey, quickly climbing to the mountain top, the stone mountain wasn’t particularly high, about twenty meters, but very narrow, a roll would drop her off the other side.

Stowing the rope, Xiaomi stood at the top and looked around.

The mountain she chose was relatively high for the surroundings, but upon climbing up, discovered there were taller ones inside.

Luckily from here, she could slightly see the nearby situation clearly.

The stone forest appeared circular, shorter on the outside, but getting taller and steeper as it went inward.

Without equipment, climbing the mountain using one’s own ability would likely be difficult.

Xiaomi relied on memory to remember a path into the mountains, at least able to proceed a distance, then explore further.

She fixed the rope again, slid down the other side, and when the grappling hook couldn’t catch a stone, she went straight down.

And at this time, outside, Song Wu had just lain down, preparing to rest for a while.

On the other side, deep in the stone forest, a group of people were trapped in a dead-end path.

The entrance was bloody, with flies buzzing, inside were elderly, women, children, and injured soldiers.

A blood-covered soldier came out from inside: "Leader, we have no water left, not a single drop."

The youth leaning against the mountain was about fifteen or sixteen, also with bloody hands, but the only unchanged thing was his bright eyes, entirely unaffected.

"What about the injured horse?" His voice was cold, even a bit ruthless.

The soldier paused, then said solemnly: "The warhorses were all taken by those men, only one horse left."

The youth’s expression didn’t change: "Hang on a little longer, if..."

"Little brother~ little brother~"

A strange voice came from above, the youth in the shadow suddenly looked up, just in time to see a big black bird flying overhead.

"Xiao Ba!"

He remembered that Xiaomi called it this.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ba circled twice overhead and descended straight towards the youth.

Wei Ziang immediately perked up, staring at Xiao Ba: "Quick, notify the others, hold on a bit longer, we are saved!"