章 24: On the Way
The very next break of dawn, the couple left their cave.
Due to Scarlett's injury, they couldn't enjoy sensual passion after the first time but both of them knew that they were closer, that they wouldn't forget yesterday night for ages to come. It was somehow… like they were married or something.
It was a weird feeling.
After all, they had been like siblings their whole life. Fighting for everything, playing around with each other, and in everything, they had been like siblings.
When Ethan and Scarlett met for the first time, Scarlett was an avid reader of novels and a nerd. She was still one. They were both orphans and they were both just… destined to be.
Even though they knew deep down that they were meant for each other, they were still like a brother and sister to each other for almost the entirety of their lives. They knew it would change someday, that they would be different—they would have to act like a couple.
But when it actually happened and when Ethan stopped teasing and showed some responsibility and understanding, it was weird indeed. Yet, it was equally energizing. Even if the sky broke today, she'd probably die smiling.
…
The sun-washed dark forest was still as ominous as day one, but the duo warded through the landscape with only some worry. Elderly Hungjun had not told them where to find the Underground City of Humans.
Scarlett's fingers were wrapped around Ethan's and he was walking beside her with an attentive gaze. Looking around at the place, he could see the differences.
The orange-hued morning sun made everything a tad bit too beautiful but the dark leaves, the transparent dew drops on the foliage, and the musty scent of a forest. The roots that stretched across the ground, spread around like wires. Little falling leaves that fell into the puddles, making brief ripples.
Weird birds croaked and flew around, often fantastically fast and hard to notice. Squirrel-like creatures were on some trees, snapping acorn-like things with their mouths. Even though the trees looked corrupted by darkness, the surroundings were still alive—life was thriving in modest amounts.
On the muddy ground, there were ant nests. Ethan even spotted a unique insect that he had never seen or heard about on Earth—a turtle-like creature the size of a palm but it had crawlers like a spider.
Everything was so different yet at the same time similar to Earth. The Higher World, which the books in his hand referred to as the Immortal World was indeed not far too different from Earth. Scarlett wasn't too untouched either.
In the middle of their walk in an unknown direction, her eyes slowly filled up and she soon was on the verge of tears. Indeed, they had left Earth. This was not some other country but… a different world. Yet, the warm and powerful hand she had wrapped into her palm made her take a long sniff and grow silent.
Ethan bumped her shoulder. "My lady, are you not too melancholic there?"
"Indeed," She nodded but Ethan could see her cheeks were red.
Her emotions were never too hard to read.
"For me, wherever you are, that is home, you know?" He asked, pausing.
Her brown eyes looked at him with wonder. Yet, that had always been so. If they were together, they could turn an otherworldly ghost ship and a cavern into the most blissful of homes.
They were each other's homes. It didn't matter whether they were in America, China, India, Space… or even the Immortal World.
"Ethe," She put a finger on his lips. Her fair face was full of smiles, her eyes twinkling and her gaze mischievous. "Such things are secrets you don't speak out loud. I know it, you know it. Keep it in your heart and show it, no need to tell me you love me every day. I love you, you love me, and that's enough. I know it, you know it, and there is nothing to prove."
He took a deep breath and smiled.
"Do you want a kiss? A heartfelt one?"
She nodded, slightly squatting and pressing his chest with her finger. "After we settle into that Underground City, that is." She smiled at the squint. "I will reward you with an opportunity to grace this lady's lips with yours only after that. Maybe something… even more, if my husband so desires."
He didn't seem to care for her opinion and leaned down to take her in a forceful kiss. She smirked and turned to give him a punch but before she could, he'd grabbed hold of her and lifted her off her feet. Scarlett yelped, "That's cheating, you were going to kiss, not lift me off my feet!"
He smiled at her wronged look while being carried in the princess way on his hand. She was defenseless. He leaned down and attacked her lips with his—she could only struggle for a second before her own tongue fell in defeat against his.
She hatefully glared at him as he moved back after the kiss. He only smiled shamelessly.
"A good man has to know when his woman would fall for the trick."
"Tsk," She pouted and he walked forward with a smile. Neither did he have the mood to let her go, nor did she want to walk anymore.
Then, at some distance, Ethan stopped and felt for the ground under him with Dimensional Senses. He had been doing this the entire time. But under this particular place, the ground seemed hollow.
There was no Spell Formation or a Cultivator inside either, he could sense those abominable things. He teleported inside without Scarlett and the woman immediately cursed as she was left in the air—mid-fall.
Yet, she was quick on her feet so she didn't fall and her blue T-shirt and trousers didn't grow dirty.
A minute after she began fuming in anger, Ethan appeared and took her back in a princess carry. "Found it, the Underground City of the Humans. It's a long walk from here... a huge underground Cavern that stretches in all directions."
She asked, "Kept me here just in case you were trapped there or something?"
"Yep. It could've been dangerous."
She nodded, sighing, "…You are not invincible anymore."
Those words had a powerful effect on both of them.
Their hearts constricted for a short moment.
Scarlett's hold over his shirt tightened. "Our clothing is probably different from the run-of-the-mill human, we should change into something they wear when we see them."
Both of them firmly nodded to each other and vanished in a puff of air.
Entering the way to the underground city.
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