Chapter 349: The Fountain of Youth (6)
“Glug, glug…”
After devouring the two mercenaries, the monster in the lake quietly disappeared beneath the water, leaving behind only a trail of bubbles tinged red with blood.
Once they had finished devouring the dead humans and fish, the other monsters left as well. Before long, the surface of the lake returned to tranquility. Only the floating wreckage of the shattered boat silently bore witness to the carnage that had just taken place.
The people they had sent out were dead, and their only boat had sunk.
Those on the shore stared at the deep green lake and fell silent.
Looking at it now, this algae-covered lake was nothing short of a deadly place where the slightest touch meant death. Just looking at it was enough to make one’s blood run cold.
Everly was silent too.
The priest of the Winton tribe had once told her the story of the Winton warrior Gesar. According to the tale, Gesar could not bear to see his people suffer from old age and illness, so he had set out alone on a journey to find the Fountain of Youth. After enduring countless hardships and overcoming one obstacle after another, he finally reached the guardian who protected the stairs. However, because he could not produce the required key, the guardian sent him back.
Although the story contained some fictional elements, it was, by and large, true—or at least the warrior Gesar really had overcome the previous trials and successfully reached the stairs. After all, his subsequent conversation with the guardian of the stairs could be completely corroborated by Orff’s poem.