Chapter 134: Brilliant Idea
Ruru Rosa sprinted to Cade’s side and dropped into a crouch, her eyes scanning the shadows—every flicker of movement, every snapped twig a potential threat. "What about Senior Brother Murphy and Senior Sister Newman? Where are they?" Her voice trembled with hope.
Cade sighed, shaking his head, his regret etched deeply in his furrowed brow. "It was chaos, Ruru. The wraith’s power was unstoppable—I couldn’t wait for you and Junior Brother Payne to escape the shrine’s main hall safely. When I got out, I saw Carl sprinting toward the front threshold, downhill, and Alena vanished into the rear mountain’s residence compounds. I didn’t dare linger; we split up and ran for our lives." His voice cracked with guilt.
After a beat of silence, Cade’s gaze softened, his tone cautious as he asked, "Are you alone? What about Junior Brother Payne? Did he escape?"
The question hung heavy in the air, the mention of Lordi stirring a complex whirl of emotions in Ruru’s heart, her delicate face twitching with unease as she recalled their past tensions and his unexpected heroism in the shrine’s deadly maw, a moment that had reshaped her perception of the Seventh Layer cultivator whose strength defied his realm.
Ruru’s thoughts drifted to Lordi Payne, her fingers brushing the Junior Brother’s chest where his arm had tightly gripped her waist during their escape, the memory sparking a strange, fleeting warmth that clashed with her lingering resentment from their earlier feud. She had once dismissed him as a handsome upstart, favored by Kim Simona’s affection and luck, his Seventh Layer prowess impressive but unremarkable in her eyes. Their spar had been a light test, neither pushing their full power, yet Lordi’s performance against the ninth-layer girl wraith in the shrine had stunned her. The man saved her at the shrine’s brink when she’d expected abandoned by the rest of squad.
Suppressing the tangle of gratitude, shock, and that odd, unbidden emotion from his touch, Ruru steadied herself, her voice calm but tinged with uncertainty. "Junior Brother Payne escaped," she said, her eyes flickering toward the lake’s lilies. "But at that time, the pearl curtain in the shrine stirred again, a strange movement that sent chills down my spine. I was too anxious and scared, focused on fleeing, so I didn’t see where he went."
Cade’s expression darkened, his face contorting with alarm. "What?! Another stir in the curtain?!" he hissed, his voice low but urgent. "Did you see Captain Garrick escape?"
Ruru shook her head, her heart sinking as Cade grimaced, his voice a grim whisper. "Shit, that’s bad! We’re screwed without Senior Brother Blackthorn’s strength. No treasury, no share of the spoils."
Ruru sighed, her delicate frame slumping slightly, her delicate gauze dress clinging to her sweat-dampened skin, accentuating her curves in a moment of vulnerability that might have stirred male’s desire in less dire circumstances. "Senior Brother Barret, you saw it too—that terrifying hand stretching from behind the bead curtain, pulling Senior Brother Blackthorn in without any resistance," she said, her voice heavy with worries. "Even a peak Ninth Layer cultivator like him was powerless against that force. We couldn’t have saved him; trying would’ve been suicide."