Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
“Lcan, I’m fine.” Mirabella thought he was making a fuss over nothing. “I’m not that delicate.”
After helping her put her boots back on, Romeo promptly lifted her into his arms.
“I’m wonderful,” she protested.”I just wanted to carry you,’ Romeo replied, his steps steady as he moved forward with her in his arms.
“You’re so light. Haven’t been eating properly these days, have you?”
“I was heavy before?”
“You were always light, but you’re even lighter now.” Romeo’s steps slowed down due to the added weight, “You need to eat more. I’ve learned to cook all your favorite dishes. I can make them for you when we get back.
“You’ve been secretly practicing all this while?”
“Not secretly. Openly.” He replied, the corners of his mouth curling into a gentle, doting smile. “Was there anything else you’d like me to learn?”
“Hmm?”
“In other words, where can I improve further? Your advice is always valuable.” Romeo’s smile grew even warmer.
Laughing, Mirabella wrapped her arms around his neck, ready to respond. But before she could, she quickly covered his mouth, whispering in his ear, “Someone’s coming.”
Romeo heard it, too. He set her down, and they quickly hid, with Romeo pulling her close to him, as if afraid she’d be exposed to the slightest danger.
Two men were wandering around in the forest with flashlights, grumbling as they did.
“So cold out here, and we still have to patrol. The elders are being paranoid. That traitor wouldn’t dare to come back.””If she ever did come back, the two of us wouldn’t stand a chance against her. We are just going through the motions here. I think the traitor’s probably long dead. The elders are just worried about that thing she took.”
“No, you’re seeing it too superficially. She was once highly regarded by the elders, and then she stabbed them in the back. The elders’ hearts turned cold, and that’s why they issued a kill order against her.”
“Women, in the end, always get lost in love. She had such a bright future, and yet she chose love over power. If it were me, I’d choose power any day. Love’s just a pointless notion.”
“Here we are, stuck patrolling in the middle of the night because of her. Let’s just quit this and go have a drink to warm ourselves up. It’s freezing out here.”
“If the elders find out we’re slacking off, you know better than me how ugly our deaths would be.”
“Alright, alright. Let’s finish patrolling here first, then we’ll go have a drink. Life’s tough…
Romeo and Mirabella listened as their voices grew fainter until they were finally gone. Only then did they rise, locking eyes in mutual understanding.
Romeo hoisted Mirabella onto his back once again. “Lookslike the girl they’re talking about was Clark’s girlfriend, Carol”
Mirabella didn’t resist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and murmured, “I didn’t realize Carol held such a high position in the organization before.”
Being unanimously respected by the elders, she must be pretty talented.
Previously, Clark thought Carol was a sweet, fragile girl.
It seemed that Carol always presented herself as a gentle girl in front of Clark and their parents, much like herself.
“Think about it, she’s been missing for a year, and no one in the organization can find her. This shows that she indeed has some skills, Romeo analyzed.
He also wondered what kind of existence this organization was, as he had never heard of it before.
“She managed to hide for over 300 days. That’s impressive, Mirabella looked at Romeo’s profile and said softly, “It seems our guess was right. Carol probably wanted to leave the organization for Clark and ended up hurting the elders, hence the death sentence.”
“Dedicated to love and righteousness,’ Romeo commented, “Respectable.”
“I wonder if she’s hiding around here, Mirabella speculated, “The most dangerous place may be the safest, perhaps?”
“Unlikely.”Even if it were safe, it wouldn’t be possible to hide under everyone’s noses for more than 300 days without being discovered.
“I think there might be something here that’s worth our time,’ Romeo speculated, “Perhaps some kind of leverage against the organization.”
If the elders were ruthless and didn’t hold back, then Carol might also plan to go down fighting.
Didn’t those two men mention earlier that what the elders cared about was that thing.
That thing might be incriminating evidence.
“Look, something’s going on up ahead”
At this point, Mirabella’s gaze fell on the mountain ahead. The terrain was steep and not suitable for setting up camp, so few people ventured there.
However, there were some lights and people at the foot of the mountain.
“Put me down,’ Mirabella whispered in Romeo’s ear.
Romeo squatted down. After she got off, he took the binoculars she handed him from her bag and looked ahead.
There were indeed people gathered at the foot of the mountain, not many, about a dozen or so. It seemed like they were guarding the mountain.
Could this mountain hold some unknown secrets?
Mirabella also took out binoculars from her bag and looked towards the foot of the mountain. These people were walking back and forth near the foot of the mountain, as if patrolling or perhaps protecting the mountain. Could there be some secret hidden inside?“Something’s off.” Mirabella tried to get a clearer look, but her view was obstructed due to the terrain.
She looked up to see a large tree nearby and softly told the man beside her, “Wait for me here.”
In a few strides, she climbed up the tree and quickly perched on its thick trunk. She took out her binoculars again and continued observing the situation.
Romeo chuckled lightly and followed her up the tree. “Without some unique skills, I really wouldn’t be able to keep up with you, Mirabella didn’t expect him to follow. She smiled and continued observing the foot of the mountain. “Look, someone’s coming out from inside.”
There seemed to be an entrance in the mountain. The man who came out was treated with great respect by everyone, who bowed and nodded at him.
“What do you think they use to go in and out?” Mirabella speculated, “Fingerprints? Or something like a swipe card?”
“Could it be the small silver key that Carol left behind?”
“Why don’t we find out?” Mirabella, light as a feather, descended from the tree to the ground.
Romeo followed her lead.
The guards only caught a glimpse of two shadowy figures before they found themselves unconscious on the ground.
“I’ll handle the heavy lifting.” Romeo, unable to bear the thought of Mirabella straining herself, kicked the unconscious guards into the underbrush to avoid drawing attention.
When Mirabella was up in the tree earlier, she saw a man emerge from the mountain, fiddling with a stone.
She mimicked the man’s actions, turning the stone counterclockwise. Suddenly, a translucent scanner appeared.
It must be a security system.
Mirabella pulled out her own custom-built software on her phone and scanned the scanner. She soon discovered various traces of past check-ins.
These people must have been using a check-in system to access the area.
Each person had a different card with dozens of unique patterns. Mirabella input a string of codes into her phone, separating each pattern.
One by one, odd-shaped patterns emerged on her screen.Suddenly, a red light on the scanner started flashing urgently, accompanied by a cold, mechanical voice, “You have exceeded the time limit. Please validate your identity within ten seconds, or an alarm will be activated.
Ten, nine, eight, seven…”
Among the separated patterns, Mirabella spotted a key-shaped one identical to the one Carol had given them.
“Six, five, four…”
Mirabella used the small key to check-in. The scanner’s red light turned a gentle blue.
The mechanical voice softened, “Welcome home, master.”
Master?
Asmirk played on Mirabella’s lips, “Seems like the path ahead should be easier.”
A door opened in front of them, and the passage inside was illuminated with high-level lights.
Mirabella explained, “Being recognized as the master by this system means that no traps or hidden weapons will target her. The path the master takes is definitely different from that of ordinary people.
Maybe it leads to the master’s private residence?”
“Let’s find out” Romeo suggested, taking her hand and leading her inside.
They had reached a dead end. As Mirabella was looking for the next scanner, a door emerged from the left wall.
They went through nine doors before they finally entered the master’s private domain.Everything in this place was made of cold stone. Ten-meter-high walls were decorated with carvings of giant, mythical beasts warding off evil spirits. The eerie electronic candlelight gave off a chilling aura. If one didnt know better, they would think they’d stumbled into a vampire’s lair. It was cold, unlike any human abode.
The space was dauntingly vast, with sofas and tables all carved from stone.
Everything about this place screamed one message to anyone who dared enter, the master of this place was heartless.
A giant diagram on the floor was another talisman against evil spirits.
The master must have committed heinous deeds to have such wards in place.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.