“I never thought I would see such a beautiful sunrise with you in this lifetime.” Franklin opened his eyes upon hearing her voice, his long eyelashes covering his eyelids, making him look as perfect as an oil painting.
Sylvia turned her head and saw him looking so handsome in the sunlight, her heart skipped a beat. “Me too.”
“Sylvia, did you bring us here just to watch you two being lovey-dovey?” Vaild felt like he was being tortured as a single man.
Another single man, Mark, also felt a bit down. “Can you not do this… think about us single guys?”
“Why are you whining so early in the morning? Have you been hanging out with Logan too long and gotten itchy?” Sylvia glared at the twin brothers. “Hurry up and make breakfast, I’m hungry.”
The twin brothers immediately went to the fridge to get ingredients. “How about ham sandwiches? Oh well, we can only make something simple.”
“And a cup of soy milk for each?”
They had brought many instant foods for convenience and to fill their stomachs.
Sylvia ignored them and went to wash up.
She took clean clothes from her luggage and changed. When she came out after washing up, Franklin’s eyes lit up.
She was wearing a set of sportswear that was easy to move in, with hiking boots on her feet, making her look neat and slender.
The short hair she had cut while accompanying Jenna had grown longer and was tied into a high ponytail. If one didn’t know better, they might think she was a high school student, fresh and charming, full of youthful energy.
“You look great.” Franklin held her hand and handed her a cup of soy milk. “And here’s a sandwich. The conditions here are simple, please bear with it.”
Sylvia gave him a bright smile. “I should be the one saying that since I asked you all to come.”
After breakfast, Jasper piloted the plane and landed it on a relatively low mountain top.
This made it easier for them to descend the mountain.
Everyone carried backpacks with some dry food and water and left the plane, heading towards their destination.
“The terrain here is complex, with wild animals and insects, so be very careful.” Franklin held Sylvia’s hand and reminded the others behind them. “Do not act recklessly.”
Sylvia added, “Also, try to control your curiosity. Many things in the forest that look beautiful and tempting might be deadly. So be cautious and don’t lose your life out of curiosity.”
“Yes.”
Everyone then stepped into the dense forest.
The sun gradually rose, and the weather became increasingly hot. The dense forest was stiflingly uncomfortable.
After walking for over an hour, they were extremely tired and found a shaded spot under a tree to rest.
“It’s so hot.”
“Why is this place so hot and stuffy?”
“Yes! It feels suffocating.”
Vaild and Mark complained one after another.
Jasper opened a bottle of water and handed it to Franklin. “Mr. Maskelyne, have some water.”
He was about to give Sylvia a bottle when Franklin handed his water to Sylvia. “Let’s share one bottle to save some.”
The other three also took out water and compressed biscuits to replenish themselves.
“The ruins of the Palace of Elegance should be in this forest. According to the compass, we need to head south.” Sylvia looked at the map and then at the compass in her hand.
“Everyone rest here for another five minutes before we set off.” Franklin wiped the sweat from his forehead; it was indeed very hot.
Like the other men, he wore camouflage clothing, making him look tall and strong.
He wore military boots that were easy to walk in.
Sylvia looked up and saw his face exuding an aura of restrained hormones, making her heart beat faster. What a devil!
Coming out in broad daylight to seduce people.
Just as they were getting up, Franklin’s ears twitched, hearing a hissing sound from a nearby tree.
He instinctively turned and saw a thick venomous snake lunging at Jaden, who was closest to it.
“Watch out!”
He picked up a stone and threw it at the snake’s head with precision, causing its brains to splatter!
The snake’s head fell to the ground directly.
It showed how much force he used!
Being bitten by such an unknown venomous snake was no joke.
Jaden looked at the snake’s body writhing on the ground in horror and took a step back. “My God! What a big snake!”
The snake was at least over a meter long!
“In this forest, this kind of venomous snake is not the most dangerous, so everyone must stay vigilant.” Sylvia glanced at the snake on the ground. “It’s a sand-spur snake; one bite can kill you within minutes.”
Jaden quickly thanked Franklin. “Mr. Maskelyne, thank you for saving my life.”
“You’re welcome.” Franklin’s voice was cold and deep. “Let’s move on, but be careful.”
After this incident, everyone became more cautious as they moved forward.
The forest was filled with various trees, and Sylvia used her extensive knowledge of wilderness survival to identify several familiar fruit trees.
“These are Addisyn trees and peach trees!”
“Sylvia, you’re amazing.” Vaild and Mark quickly climbed up the trees to pick fruits.
In no time, they had filled a backpack.
The two climbed down from the trees as agile as monkeys.
“Great, with these fruits, we’ll feel much better.”
Jaden was also happy and picked some to put in his backpack.
By evening, they had crossed a forest and arrived at an extremely steep cliff. Below the cliff was an endless abyss shrouded in mist. Jasper threw a stone down, and after several minutes they faintly heard an echo.
This meant there was no way forward; they would have to take a detour if they wanted to continue.
Sylvia squinted slightly as she looked down.
Before she could decide what to do, Franklin said, “You stay here; I’ll go down with Jasper to check it out.”
He grabbed some vines growing on the cliff edge and slowly descended the steep wall.
Sylvia was startled. “Don’t be impulsive.”
But Franklin and Jasper had already slid down about ten meters along the vines. They continued descending quickly until they reached about one hundred meters down.
There was a large rock protruding from the cliff wall.
Franklin exerted force and jumped about two meters onto the rock, landing steadily.
As soon as he and Jasper landed, they heard rustling sounds from above; Sylvia and Jaden were also sliding down.
Jaden tried to grab a small tree on the cliff wall before jumping onto the rock, but the branch broke as soon as he grabbed it, causing him to fall.
The twin brothers quickly grabbed Jaden’s arms and pulled him up from mid-air.
Jaden breathed a sigh of relief. “Good thing you acted fast.”
“Years of brotherhood have given us great coordination.” Vaild patted him with a grin. “Jaden, stop being careless; don’t think you’re safe just because Sylvia is here.”
Jaden stepped back awkwardly. “I’ll be more careful next time; my skills are no match for yours!”
“There’s a cave here.” Sylvia pointed ahead after tidying her hair with her slender fingers.
The men turned to look; indeed, the rock protrusion formed an entrance to a cave.
“Let’s go inside; we might find something unexpected.” Franklin held Sylvia’s hand and led the way into the cave.
Jaden and the others turned on their flashlights to illuminate their path.
The cave was deep and dark with only one winding path leading somewhere unknown.
With their flashlights lighting the way, they walked through the quiet passage for about half an hour until they reached a thick stone door.
Franklin stepped forward to examine their surroundings. “This seems like an entrance or exit. Look around for any mechanisms or keys that might open it.”
Sylvia nodded in agreement. “He’s right; let’s search carefully; we might find a way to open it.”
Jasper patted the stone door forcefully and then examined the nearby cliff wall but found nothing unusual after looking for a while.
Franklin also observed the stone door closely. As he approached the wall to touch it, he accidentally stepped on a loose stone brick on the ground.
He stepped on it several times in succession and confirmed that it was indeed loose.
He squatted down and lifted the brick. As soon as he did so, they heard creaking sounds, and then the stone door slowly opened before them.
“Let’s go inside.”
Franklin held Sylvia’s hand warmly as they stepped through the door.
The others followed them inside.
Once inside, they found themselves in a stone chamber filled with a warm yellow glow emanating from a large Glowstone.
“I’ve only seen such things in TV special effects!” Vaild exclaimed in amazement. “I can’t believe there’s such a big Glowstone in real life.”
Mark was equally impressed. “Yeah! It’s incredible!”
As they spoke, the brothers moved towards the Glowstone, but Sylvia stopped them. “Be careful. We don’t know how long this Glowstone has been here or if it’s contaminated with anything poisonous.”
“Sylvia is right; let’s observe first and see if there’s anything suspicious in this chamber.” Franklin said while scanning the stone chamber with his sharp eyes.