Since Yun Ge’s room was located at the far end of the second floor, he had to pass by Lily’s room to return to his own. However, as he walked past Lily’s room, he noticed that the door was wide open. Yun Ge immediately turned his head to look inside and found that the room was completely empty, as if no one had ever lived there before.

  Seeing this, Yun Ge couldn’t help but walk into Lily’s room. Although everything in the room had been moved out, he still caught a whiff of the floral scent that Lily loved so much. Luke, noticing Yun Ge entering the room, hurriedly followed him in and said, “Yun Ge, you can’t go into this room. Come on! Let’s go back to your room and pack up!”

  After speaking, Luke reached out to pull Yun Ge out of the room. However, no matter how much Luke tried to persuade him, Yun Ge refused to budge.

  Realizing that something was amiss, Luke asked, “Yun Ge? What are you doing? This isn’t your room! Come back to your room with me!”

  Yun Ge, who had been suppressing a mix of sadness, despair, and anger for a long time, finally lost control.

  He broke free from Luke’s grip with a forceful twist of his hand, then quickly grabbed Luke’s collar with both hands, pulling him close and roaring, “Luke! Where’s Lily? What have you guys done to her?!”

  Luke was clearly startled by Yun Ge’s actions and could only stare at him in fear, unsure of how to respond. A look of horror flashed across Luke’s face, but after a few seconds, he said in a trembling voice, “Yun Ge, you… your memory hasn’t disappeared?”

  “No! My memory is intact! Luke, tell me quickly, where is Lily?” Seeing that Luke didn’t seem to intend to break free and report to the town chief, Yun Ge softened his tone and continued to press for information.

  Upon hearing this, Luke’s shoulders slumped, and he collapsed to the ground, weeping. Seeing Luke’s reaction, Yun Ge felt a chill in his heart and realized what had happened to Lily.

  However, he still wasn’t willing to give up the last sliver of hope. So, he squatted down, grabbed Luke’s trembling shoulders with both hands, and asked, “Luke! Tell me, how is Lily now? You know how I feel about Lily. I can’t just lose her like this! Even if Lily is already dead, I have to see her one last time!”

  Luke nodded, first crying and saying, “Wah wah wah! That’s great! Yun Ge! I’m so relieved that you haven’t lost your memory! I can’t bear to lose you as a friend too!”

  Then, after composing himself a bit, Luke stammered, “L-Lily, she’s been taken away as a sacrifice! Wah wah wah!”

  Yun Ge, assuming that “taken away” meant Lily had been killed, took a deep breath to prevent his grief and anger from erupting, and continued to ask in as calm a tone as possible, “Lily, can I see her again? I need to confirm, even if it’s just one last glance.”

  Luke shook his head and said, “It’s no use! You won’t find Lily’s body! Because Lily has been taken away!”

  “Where has she been taken?” Yun Ge asked anxiously.

  “Sigh! Lily has been taken to the sacrificial altar deep in the Lost Woods! She will wait there for nightfall, and then the Forest Spirit will take her life after the night arrives!”

  Hearing this, Yun Ge looked puzzled and asked, “Wait a minute! Are you saying Lily isn’t dead?”

  “For now, she isn’t. But by tonight, Lily will——, wah wah wah.” Luke wiped away his tears, but his sorrowful sobs quickly overwhelmed his voice again.

  “Luke! Tell me where the sacrificial altar is! I’m going to save her right now!” As soon as he heard that Lily was still alive, Yun Ge’s emotions became even more agitated.

  Luke shook his head and cried, “Wah wah wah! It’s no use, Yun Ge! The sacrificial team escorting Lily to the altar won’t let you near her! Moreover, the members of the sacrificial team are mainly the town chief’s followers.”

  “Because the sacrifice is very important, the town chief will cast spells to ensure that his followers can stay safely in the forest after nightfall and remain by Lily’s side until they leave just before midnight. It is at midnight that the Forest Spirit will take Lily’s life.”

  “So, even if I can’t save Lily in front of the sacrificial team, I can save her after the town chief’s followers leave!” Upon hearing Luke’s words, Yun Ge immediately pondered.

  “It’s no use! Yun Ge, you’re just an ordinary person. Venturing into the Lost Woods at night is akin to courting death! You hardly have any chance of survival, let alone the opportunity to save Lily! Yun Ge! Listen to me! It’s over! You should accept the reality just like we have!”

  Upon hearing this, Yun Ge once again grabbed Luke’s shoulders and shook him forcefully, “Luke! Can you bear to watch your own sister be killed like this? Has your conscience been eaten by dogs?!”

  Luke choked out, “Of course I don’t want to see Lily lose her life! But what can I do? This has been the tradition of Candy Town all along. My parents have also received praise from the town chief because of this, allowing our family to be allocated more candy.”

  “More importantly, at the cost of losing just Lily, it brings prosperity and abundance to the entire family and spares an entire generation of future female members from the fate of becoming sacrifices. It’s a deal my parents can’t refuse. Wah wah wah!”

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Yun Ge naturally felt great dissatisfaction towards Luke’s parents, but considering Luke’s feelings and knowing that the town chief was the real culprit behind all this, he directed his anger towards the town chief, cursing fiercely, “That damned town chief! He’s the one responsible for all of this!”

  Seeing Yun Ge’s disrespectful remarks towards the town chief, Luke, to prevent Yun Ge from causing trouble, hurriedly persuaded him, “Yun Ge! You mustn’t act impulsively! The town chief had no choice but to do this! He did it to ensure that Candy Town can continue to have favorable weather under the protection of the Forest Spirit and that the residents of Candy Town can live here more peacefully!”

  “Yun Ge! You mustn’t disturb the town chief again! Otherwise, our entire family might be implicated by you!”

  Yun Ge naturally didn’t want his actions to implicate Luke’s family. Coupled with the lesson learned before, he dared not recklessly confront the town chief again. However, although he couldn’t provoke the town chief, he also couldn’t bear to stand idly by while Lily was in danger.

  Thus, Yun Ge made up his mind and said to Luke, “Luke! No matter what, I have to find Lily! I must find a way to save her! I can’t just watch her die!”

  At this moment, Luke’s emotions had also gradually stabilized. After witnessing Yun Ge’s resolute attitude, he asked, “Yun Ge, are you really going to save Lily? You should know that if you do this, there’s a high chance you’ll risk your own life!”

  “Even at the cost of my life, I will rescue Lily! I can’t lose her, absolutely not!” Yun Ge replied resolutely.

  Hearing Yun Ge’s determination, Luke also seemed to make up his mind, took a deep breath, and said, “Yun Ge! You should understand that, not to mention whether you can save Lily before the Forest Spirit takes her, you might not even make it alive to the sacrificial altar.”

  “Moreover, even if you do manage to save Lily, you two can’t return to the town! You’ll either have to hide deep in the Lost Woods and fend for yourselves or find a way to leave the forest. In short, once you choose to rescue Lily, it’s like embarking on a one-way journey of death!”

  Upon hearing Luke’s words, Yun Ge immediately realized that there was still hope for saving Lily. So, he nodded vigorously and pursued, “Luke, do you know any way to save Lily?”

  Luke shook his head and sighed, “Sigh! If there was a way to save Lily, would I still be here talking to you about these useless things? I’d probably have gone to the sacrificial altar to rescue Lily already!”

  Luke went to the window and said, “Yun Ge, although the sacrificial evening has ended, the entire town is still under control. The guards won’t leave their posts until nightfall. So, if you want to leave the village and go to the sacrificial altar, you can only act at night.”

  “But the dangers of going out at night don’t need much explanation, do they? The forest at night is full of wild beasts hunting for food. Without the town chief’s special spell protection, even if you’re not taken by the forest’s mist, it’ll be hard for you to escape the sharp teeth and claws of those beasts!”

  Yun Ge, determined, dismissively said, “How do we know if I can make it unless I try? Moreover, even if I die on the way, it’s better than staying here and doing nothing!”

  Upon hearing this, Luke sighed again, “Sigh! Watching Lily become a sacrifice has already been unbearable for me. I really don’t want to lose you, my good brother, too!”

  Then, Luke pointed to a direction outside the window and said, “Yun Ge, the sacrificial altar is in that direction. Normally, it would take you just over two hours to get there. Because of the sacrificial event, the townspeople have tied many prayer ribbons along the path leading to the sacrificial altar. So, once you enter the forest, you should be able to easily discern the direction of the sacrificial altar.”

  Luke paused for a moment, then continued, “The guards in town will all return to their barracks for the night shift after the evening, so as long as you’re not swallowed by the outside mist, you can easily reach the main city gate and then use a rope to climb down the city wall and out.”

  “Additionally, to commend my parents’ selfless dedication of Lily, and also for the subsequent celebration and prayer rituals of the sacrificial ceremony, the vast majority of Candy Town’s residents will gather in the auditorium tonight, and the entire sacrificial event will last until the sun rises tomorrow.”

  “So, before everyone realizes you’re gone, you actually have ample time to head to the sacrificial altar to save Lily. Of course, the prerequisite is that you can make it alive to the sacrificial altar. And by then, Lily is still alive.”

  After speaking, Luke started rummaging through Yun Ge’s room. However, Luke wasn’t tidying up the room but deliberately messing up Yun Ge’s bed to create the illusion that Yun Ge had left in a hurry.

  After arranging Yun Ge’s room, Luke looked at the setting sun outside the window and said, “Let’s go! We’ll head downstairs first to eat something, and I’ll also prepare some necessary self-defense weapons for you. Then, once the sky is completely dark, you can set off!”

  On their way downstairs, Yun Ge asked, “After I leave, how will you explain to your parents?”

  Luke answered without a second thought, “Hey! We’ll deal with that when the time comes! Anyway, they won’t be back until tomorrow morning. Moreover, they won’t sleep at all tonight, and they’ll definitely go straight to bed to catch up on sleep as soon as they get home. So, even if they notice you’re missing, it’ll probably be after tomorrow noon.”

  “As for me——, hum! I’ll pretend to sleep until my parents get up. Then I’ll say that before going to bed, I specifically followed the town chief’s instructions and gave you the healing potion again, and I went back to sleep after seeing you fast asleep.”

  “No matter how they press me for answers, I’ll insist that I don’t know when you escaped. After all, the town chief said that after taking the potion he provided, you’d sleep for at least 14 hours. So, if they want to blame someone, they might as well ask why the potion provided by the town chief didn’t work as it should have?”

  “In short, I’ll try my best to buy you some time. The later everyone discovers you’re gone, the later they’ll inform the town chief. Naturally, the town chief will also send people to search for you later, giving you more time to evade the town chief’s pursuit. Of course, the prerequisite is that you’re still alive by then.”

  After Luke prepared some essential self-rescue tools for Yun Ge and brought him a bundle of old rope and a somewhat rusty sickle found in the basement’s tool chest, the two sat in the kitchen and had a simple meal. Then, they sat in the living room, waiting for the town to be completely enveloped by the night’s mist.

  “It’s about time, I need to get ready to leave!” After making sure there would be no more pedestrians outside, Yun Ge got up and said.

  Luke then led Yun Ge to an inconspicuous corner at the back of the first floor, opened the small window there, and said, “Although this window is small, if you squeeze a bit, you should be able to get out from here! Then I’ll just say that I might have been careless and forgot to lock this window tightly, allowing you to take the opportunity to escape through it.”

  “Hey! In the worst case, I’ll just accept the punishment from my parents and the town chief! Anyway, apart from scolding me, they won’t do anything too severe to me!”