Wild Crimson Rose: Beloved Handyman Prince’s Courtesan Wife

"Well, I said most. There are some humans that are fascinated by the positive aspects of insect, such as pollination and survival tactics. Besides, there's a general consensus that geniuses are always eccentric. Or crazy." Shen Tianyu muttered the last part under her breath but Rong Jian could still pick it up.

"Hmph, of course our Master was brilliant or we wouldn't have followed him in the first place!" Old Qi raised its head as it let out a breath from its nose.

Shen Tianyu could hear the screams dying out but she wasn't sure if it was because they were far away or because there were less and less people. Either way, they had no choice but to move forward. 

"Lady Qing, do you perceive an exit yet?" She wasn't sure if the Two-Headed Bone Snake could actually see or if it just used its other senses to wander about. Biologically they shouldn't be able to but... some demonic beasts in this world defied common scientific logic, like the undead series of demonic beasts.

"Hmm... I don't see any doors or mechanisms yet... Why is this one so weird? It looks like it goes on forever." Xiao Qing replied with some hesitation.

'So you can see. How does that even- You know what? Nevermind. Trying to figure it out will just give my brain a meltdown. Anyways, still haven't encountered anything else... Don't tell me we're inside a formation? Ugh. I don't want to cast ay light but we might not have a choice. We don't even know if we're going in a direction or walking in circles.' Shen Tianyu put on her thinking cap as she tried to peer through the darkness around her. Needless to say, it was of no avail.

"Shao Wei, Can you check if we're inside a formation of some kind?" Shen Tianyu asked behind her since she wasn't sure where he was.

Shao Wei answered with a grunt and everyone stopped in their tracks to wait for his answer.

"There isn't any that I can feel." After a while, Shao Wei spoke up.

"Hm... Guess I was just overthinking it then. Thank you. Let's keep going." Shen Tianyu took his answer at face value.

"Oh hey, I found something like another door up ahead." Lady Qing sounded from the darkness.

"How far?" Shen Tianyu replied.

"Hm... I don't know how to measure it in human steps but it took us about 40 steps." 

"Ah... okay." Shen Tianyu hesitantly responded. 'How do snakes even measure steps? You don't even have feet.' 

As the group followed the Two-Headed Bone Snake's directions, Shen Tianyu could hear a faint buzzing that might or might not be getting louder. She instinctually glanced back, but of course, with the complete lack of light, she was unable to see anything. She pulled on Rong Jian's robe and slowed down, shuffling to the side while she was at it. The others passed by them, not noticing their presence as the two started to shuffle to the back of the line. 

Either the demonic beasts didn't notice or just didn't say anything, but they didn't make any noise of it either. As they got to the end of the line, Shen Tianyu could clearly hear the low buzzing sounds and faint flapping of wings getting louder. 

'Are they approaching because they finished their meal and followed us or because we're reaching the exit? This is bad. But it's better to try to get out of here than fight them off or guard with a Shield.' And so Shen Tianyu decided to stay quiet about it. 

"Are you sure we shouldn't be alerting the others?" Rong Jian whispered beside her. Since she didn't tell anyone she was moving or greet anyone, he knew she was trying to lay low. 

She shook her head only to realize he wouldn't be able to see it. "No, we're close to the exit so we can probably make it. If we alert them, some people might panic, which would just slow everyone down. Let's just keep quiet and see if we can get away with it. If not... well, that's why we're at the back isn't it?" 

The couple quietly followed the group as everyone tried to contain their excitement. Being cooped up in a space with some deadly insects without any light would grate on anyone's nerves. It's no wonder they are excited to leave this place.

"Is it here? I'm touching something smooth... doesn't seem like rock." Someone from the front said. .

"Let's push it and see if it opens." Another responded.

There was a few moments of grunting before a pop sounded followed by the low groaning noise of hinges.

"It's open!"

"Everyone, make sure to stay in line and proceed calmly." Tianhao and the elders told everyone to behave themselves and also stood aside to shuffle everyone through.

Screeeeech 

"Huh?!" Shen Tianyu whipped her head around as soon as she heard the unusual noise and felt the air move from the mass flapping of wings.

"What's going on?!" Some of the other people were thrown into a panic at the sound. They didn't sense any other demonic beasts so what was making the noise?

"Don't panic, just go through the door like Tianhao told you! The elders are here too!" Shen Tianyu immediately threw out an order and had them move again. 

She reached into her space and pulled out two hand bombs, ready to be ignited as she very slowly backed away. Rong Jian, on the other hand, unsheathed his sword and stood his ground. 

The footsteps behind them were obviously faster now, with a hurried frenzy to them. Even so, no one made a sound except for breathing a bit more heavily from nervousness. As for the parasites that were following them, since they didn't care about them, even Shen Tianyu didn't notice they had disappeared somewhere at one point.

'Tch. Useless things. Did they get lost because they couldn't see? If they were attacked, they wouldn't not make any noise. It's a natural instinct to scream or resist when attacked or surprised.' Shen Tianyu pulled on Rong Jian's robe with her ring and little finger.. He also started to advance backwards but continued to stay in front of her.