Channing Lucas! Just mentioning this name shattered Gregory’s gentle facade, revealing his true ferocious face. His eyes scanned the three of them with a cold and sinister gaze, as if he was looking at a dying person with pity.
“Don’t mention that waste in front of me! The Lucas family’s motto is to rule Chulae, but he holds this position without doing anything. I’m just following destiny.”
“You’re talking nonsense!” Layne spat out blood from anger. Cheyenne was worried about him as she patted Layne’s back.
“Grandpa, please don’t talk anymore. I beg you.” She had no tools on hand to remove the bullet or bandage his wound; he would bleed to death if he continued like this.
“Tell me, what did you take from the tomb back then?”
Thinking back to more than twenty years ago made Layne’s mind wander again. The lush green vines covered the cave so densely that it blocked all outside light.
The cave was pitch black inside; only one person could pass through the long and narrow path at a time. They didn’t know how long the road ahead was or what kind of dangerous creatures they might encounter.
The constant sound of bats echoed in the cave, making it terrifying and eerie.
Several cries suddenly came from deep within the abandoned cave before they bumped into several panicked men who had fled from inside.
They were miners from nearby mountains who saw flickering golden light near this area when someone got up in midnight to urinate. They thought there might be gold buried near here and sneaked into Dead Forest at night for treasure hunting.
Unfortunately, their compass broke down while entering deep mountains where their phones also lost signals during heavy rain at nightfall.
To avoid getting wet under raindrops, they found shelter in this mysterious cave where an idea struck them – maybe there were some treasures waiting for them inside?
But instead of rare treasures awaited by survivors’ hopes – Death himself wielded his scythe against them mercilessly.
One survivor’s spirit had severely collapsed then; every time he opened his eyes all that came up were bloody images of classmates dying around him.
“There is a devil hidden inside that humans cannot fight against; it is too terrifying,” said one survivor warning others not to go there either way.
“People will die, everyone will die,” he muttered, his gaze scattered and his face pale, clearly showing signs of fright.
Everyone grew even more curious about what could be hidden inside that made a rugged man over six feet tall be so terrified.
Layne pressed for answers, “Can you take us to see that thing?”
The man resisted, desperately trying to keep his eyes open as if wanting to run away. As he ran, he cried out in a high-pitched voice, “I won’t go. Even if I go, I’ll die.”
“Not only me, you will all die…”
“Forget it, let’s go see for ourselves.”
The man who spoke wore a deep green military uniform, stained with dirt from recent travels. His hair seemed neglected, sticking messily to his resolute face.
Even in such a disheveled state, his handsomeness couldn’t be concealed. His determined and calm gaze inadvertently eased everyone’s tension.
With Channing present, they had no fear.
The group followed the direction indicated by the man and walked forward. Finally, after passing through a narrow, dark cave, their sight suddenly opened up.
Before them was a stone cave towering over ten meters high, with giant stones carved into various snake poses, covering the entire cliff.
From a distance, it looked as if they had entered a snake’s lair.
In the center stood a purple serpent as thick as a grown man’s waist, with a pair of crimson eyes, stretching over ten meters in length.
It coiled on the ground, beneath it countless treasures of gold and silver. The gems emitted a dazzling light, illuminating the cave.
The sight of scattered jewels and coins fascinated the people behind them, their eyes gleaming with greed.
Someone couldn’t resist the temptation and rushed forward, exclaiming, “So much money! My wife is sick, and we need this money.”
“Don’t go!”
Unfortunately, Layne’s extended hand could only grasp his clothes.
Then, one after another… these people, as if possessed, with envious eyes, headed towards the pile of jewels.
“Old Mr. Edwards, you can’t stop them. This snake has become cunning. That red light earlier was meant to tempt their minds.”
Anyone lacking self-control will be swayed by it, and ultimately killed by it.
Layne, born into a medical family, naturally had no interest in these herbs.
Channing was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, part of the elite wealthy generation.
As soon as they took their first step forward, it meant death. The giant snake opened its bloody mouth and swallowed several people whole, blood spattering everywhere. Layne and Channing had no choice but to team up to fight against the snake, but its scales were too tough to penetrate even with bullets.
In the end, Channing decided to detonate a bomb that would destroy the entire cave along with the snake and countless bodies. He sacrificed himself in the process. Just before he died, he handed over a small Lucas family badge to Selah through Layne’s hands.
The Lucas family created badges from their own blood mixed with special magic spells; if the Lucas had your badge on them, they were safe but without it, they would die. Normal badges emitted silver light but Channing’s badge was dimmed.
Layne thought that he died.
The reason Layne hadn’t told Cheyenne that her biological father was Channing was twofold. Firstly, revealing this information to the Lucas family would likely be detrimental to Cheyenne’s well-being. Secondly, Channing’s death was too tragic, and knowing the truth would only bring sadness to Cheyenne.
Returning to the present, in response to Gregory’s question. Layne glanced at him with a smirk, his eyes filled with mockery.
“I haven’t taken anything. If you don’t believe me, feel free to go down and see for yourself, as long as you’re not afraid of death.”
Gregory didn’t believe his answer because so many people went into that ancient tomb together years ago yet only two survived – including Channing who carried rare plants which could be used to make Misty Forest.
He threatened Layne by saying, “Alright then, I’ll just throw your granddaughter in there.”
“You dare!” exclaimed Layne.
“Old man,” said Gregory threateningly,”you’re forcing me into this.”