Gracie’s eyes took in everything that was happening, but she was already preoccupied with her own situation. It wasn’t until she had climbed up that she realized a faint, eerie sound was coming from behind the stone door behind her.
“Hiss…”
“Hiss…”
It sounded like an animal’s cry, yet it also resembled the sighs of an elderly person on their deathbed.
“Gregory, we can’t wait any longer. I feel like there’s something behind this door,” Gracie said urgently.
“What?” Layne hadn’t fully recovered from Omari’s death when he heard Gracie say there was something inside the door. He looked at the stone door above him in shock.
Could it be that snake was still here after all these years?
The hissing of some unknown creature made Gregory’s eyes wild as he stared intently at the stone tomb above them.
“Legend has it that ancient tombs are guarded by spirits. Could this be one of them?” he wondered aloud.
This tomb had existed for over a thousand years; if there were guardians here, they must have been alive for just as long.
He couldn’t help but think about how powerful the Lucas family would become if they could tame these creatures and make them work for them.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on such thoughts; Gregory strode forward and grabbed Cheyenne by her wrist to pull her up off the ground. “Give me the key.”
“What key? I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Cheyenne glared at him with icy coldness in her eyes; this man had killed Omari and she wanted nothing more than to kill him right now to avenge Omari’s death!
He didn’t get angry though – instead, he smiled kindly and tried to persuade her. “My dear niece, your temper is just like your father. Won’t give up until the last minute.”
“I knew you wouldn’t cooperate willingly… if you don’t want your grandfather dead, then hand over the keys,” otherwise… he wouldn’t hesitate to use force!
In an instant, Layne’s gaze became resolute as he pulled out three test tubes filled with compressed liquid which had extremely low ignition points. Once exposed to oxygen inside a sealed space under pressure, they would instantly release pungent yellow sulfur fumes into their surroundings to cause chaos!
With three bombs together, they could easily create enough cover fire for their escape plan!
Suddenly, Layne lifted his head and pretended to look cowardly while urging Cheyenne. “Cheyenne, give them what they want… I’m old now so I don’t want to die here!”
“Grandpa!”
Cheyenne looked over in surprise, then glanced at Layne with a pale face. “Well, since you said so, Grandpa, I can’t be unfilial.”
“I’ll give you the key.”
Actually, the key was her badge on her foot. To make it shine again, she had to use the blood of the Lucas family to ignite it.
“A knife.”
When Cheyenne took out her badge, Gregory couldn’t help but smile and agreed to her small request.
Then she saw Cheyenne cut herself in the palm of her hand with a blank expression. The bright red blood flowed onto the badge.
A magical scene happened; the badge emitted a golden light that was even more dazzling than before.
“This is Channing’s badge!”
Gracie became flustered when she saw that it shone again. Did this mean he was still alive? They had searched for him for a long time after he escaped from the cellar years ago but only found his clothes on Dead Forest’s edge without his badge. Everyone thought he had died; turns out he was still alive.
When Cheyenne reignited Channing’s badge, as its owner, Channing would also discover their whereabouts immediately.
They could no longer be delayed.
“Let’s go into the tomb.”
After getting hold of the key to open it up finally, Gregory rudely grabbed Cheyenne’s arm and tried to take her up there but got slapped hard on his chest by Cheyenne instead. She curled up against a stone wall in pain with an iron-blue face while biting down hard on her lip which scared everyone around them because they knew something wasn’t right about this situation at all…
Her water broke.
Water gushed down from between Cheyenne’s legs like raindrops falling off leaves until forming into small puddles on the ground below them.
“Don’t touch me,” she cried out.
“I’m going into labor! Grandpa, save me.”
“Really now? Why do these things always happen at critical moments?” Gracie gritted her teeth while looking at Cheyenne whose skirt turned red underneath due to premature birth caused by earlier exposure in swamp water.
“Gregory, don’t bother with her anymore; let Sam look after her instead. Bring that old man up here too; they won’t get far anyway,” Gracie ordered confidently since what could one pregnant woman about ready to pop plus one useless old man do?
So Gregory followed Gracie’s suggestion and brought Layne along as well.
Bang-
Those people had just touched the latter’s sleeve when suddenly a thunderous explosion erupted in their ears, deafening them and shaking the entire cave. A thick white smoke rose up, obstructing their vision. Layne’s booming voice reached Cheyenne through the smoke.
“Cheyenne, run!”
Layne knew what they were dealing with. Once Gregory achieved his goal, he would not hesitate to kill them all. He was already in his seventies and had lived a long life; even if he died now, it wouldn’t matter much. But Cheyenne was different; she was young and had an infinite future ahead of her.
“No! Grandpa, we’ll go together.”
Cheyenne grabbed Layne’s hand amidst the chaos and tried to take him with her but Layne firmly pushed her away.
His choked voice contained a sobbing reluctance as he gave her final instructions that tore at Cheyenne’s heart like nothing else could.
She wasn’t nearly as strong as they thought she was – able to withstand losing two of the most important people in her life within one day.
“Grandpa, please! Let’s go together.”
“Cheyenne,” Layne said gravely into her ear. “You are my pride for this lifetime.”
“After you get out of here,” he continued sternly but lovingly, “take care of yourself; don’t stay up late or order takeout alone.”
“And remember that Grandpa will always be with you,” he finished before urging her on again. “Go now child!”
Run far away… don’t get caught!
Sam realized first that it was a smoke bomb, not an explosive device – all this struggle for nothing except to cover their escape route.
“Block off the exit!” Gregory shouted while Layne broke out into cold sweat knowing that this smoke could only last about one minute more – Cheyenne would soon give birth any moment now so if they waited any longer no one would be able to make it out alive…
“Just leave!” With all his strength, he pushed Cheyenne away from him despite tightly closed eyes and trembling eyelashes betraying his intense anxiety.
Cheynene, my dear granddaughter, you are my only glory in this lifetime.
“Grandpa!”