Apart from these two items, he found no other clues related to the eldest prince, nor did he know which direction the prince had fled to, so the matter came to a standstill for the time being.
late at night.
The cook quietly lifted the curtain, slipped past the soldiers on guard, and silently made her way down the mountain.
It was very dark, the moon was half-hidden behind the clouds, and the surrounding trees were lush. Although it was winter, the withered grass still made it difficult to walk. But the cook had exchanged for night vision in the game, so she could see the path in front of her clearly.
He pushed aside the bushes and walked for a while until he reached a deep pit dug by a hunter. Standing at the edge, he called out in a low voice, "Your Highness, come out quickly, your sister has brought you food!"
A moment later, a response came from the deep pit: "Sister?"
The voice was soft and childlike, sounding like a cat's meow at first glance.
"Yes, it's me." The cook couldn't help but reveal a smug smile.
He was probably the first person in the entire game to find the main quest objective. This main quest sounded difficult, but the game developers treated it like a beginner's quest, providing a huge amount of information.
The cook was able to find the prince so quickly because he was the closest he could be on the map.
But why do the game developers seem so afraid that they won't be able to kill this prince?
A flicker of doubt crossed the cook's mind, but she was quickly captivated by the generous loot dropped after defeating the boss. In truth, she had found the prince some time ago, but hadn't yet taken action.
It wasn't that he was particularly soft-hearted towards the target of the mission, but rather that defeating the boss would always yield some loot, and he wanted to get more before killing the prince.
Anyway, this kid is being kept in such a deep hunting pit by him, he won't be able to escape anytime soon.
But tonight he couldn't resist. The game's official website updated the generous rewards for killing this prince. In addition to the points and the randomly dropped "brotherhood" status mentioned before, he could even ask the system to grant him an in-game wish.
Who could tolerate this?
The cook dreamed that the system would send the NPC Qin Chu to his bed.
After fumbling around for a while, the cook pulled a dagger from her waist.
The snow-white blade gleamed coldly in the sparse moonlight. The cook smiled at the child waiting at the bottom of the pit for her to throw food, saying, "Your Highness, don't worry, I'll get you out first this time."
As he spoke, he picked up the rope that was lying at his feet and threw it downwards: "Grab the rope."
A rustling sound came from the deep pit, followed by a weak voice: "Sister, I have no strength, I can't climb up."
The cook cursed under her breath for being useless and had no choice but to put the dagger aside and pull hard on the rope with both hands. After working for a while, she finally saw the thin figure of the eldest prince.
The cook pulled hard on the rope with one hand and gripped the dagger with the other, stretching out her arm to slash at the prince's throat.
But suddenly, with a loud "bang," before the dagger in her hand could even touch its target, the cook's body went limp and collapsed.
A long, strong hand gripped the sliding rope and easily pulled the child, who was hanging on the rope, out of the deep pit.
A gap appeared in the thick, dense clouds, and abundant moonlight poured down from it. The silvery light shone through the layers of tree shadows and fell on the small, huddled figure.
Qin Chu almost didn't recognize that this was the eldest prince from the records.
The child was so thin he was just skin and bones; his once flowing robes were gone, leaving only tattered undergarments. The neat, flowing hair that appeared in the records was nowhere to be seen either; now, a tangled mess of dry, brittle hair, mixed with dirt and rotting grass, sat atop his head.
With that dirty little face, he looked more like a wild man raised by wolves in a mountain ravine than a prince.
Qin Chu couldn't quite tell, so he reached out and grabbed the child's left hand.
The child clenched his fists tightly, his dark eyes silently watching Qin Chu. After a while, he lowered his head, blinked, and said in a soft, weak voice, "Brother, I'm hungry."
As he said this, he subtly concealed his left hand behind his back.
Qin Chu saw through his little tricks perfectly.
If anyone else had come by, they would have been moved by the child's pitiful words and temporarily abandoned their plan to check on him. But Qin Chu had never had any sympathy for these little kids, and he was completely unaffected, simply pulling the child's left hand over on his own.
Then, with a slight pinch of his fingers, the dirty little fist involuntarily opened, revealing a small red birthmark inside.
Having confirmed the birthmark, Qin Chu raised an eyebrow and asked again, "The First Prince?"
When he called out that name, the child's dark eyes darkened a little more, but this was completely hidden by his thick eyelashes that quickly drooped down.
He didn't answer. Qin Chu had already confirmed eight or nine out of ten things. He grabbed the child by the collar and prepared to take him back to the military camp.
He has never been one to show tenderness to women, and he always keeps his distance from children. Therefore, he did not choose to carry or hold them on his back during this long journey. Instead, he simply tucked them under his elbow and carried them all the way as if they were some kind of object.
As we were leaving the forest, an inconspicuous stone fell to the ground.
The moonlight shone on the stone, revealing that one end of it had been ground extremely sharp. Even if it wasn't as sharp as a knife, it could still cause a wound if you applied force.
The child being carried by Qin Chu glanced down at the stone and pursed his lips slightly.
This was something he had prepared for the woman from earlier, but since she didn't need it, he naturally left it to the man who had taken him away. Whether the man was hugging or carrying him on his back, he could always manage to hit the man's neck in a vital spot.
But the eldest prince never expected that Qin Chu would choose such a method.
He was held between the elbows like an object, his arm across his stomach was quite strong, but he couldn't walk properly and soon he couldn't even hold onto the stones.
The eldest prince quietly looked up at the man's expression, and only after confirming that he hadn't noticed the stone on the ground did he feel slightly relieved.
He knew the moment he met this man that he particularly disliked him.
Compared to the women he had been with before, he was much harder to deal with and harder to manipulate.
We need to find a way to escape.
Unfortunately, the eldest prince never found an opportunity.
He was taken back to the military camp.
He was stiff all the way, his stomach aching from being constricted, but the person carrying him wasn't tired at all. After walking such a long distance, his face remained calm, without even a hint of panting.
Qin Chu had no idea that he was about to break the child's waist.
Back at the military camp, he glanced at the child in his arms, saw his messy and dirty hair, and without even washing him, he simply grabbed the child and crawled into the tent.
Anyway, since everyone inside is a rough old man, they don't mind. The eldest prince's appearance can also prevent anyone with ulterior motives from recognizing him.
When everyone in the tent saw that Qin Chu had brought back a child after going out, they were all very curious and crowded around to look him over: "Brother Qin, where did you find this child? He's so small, could he be a girl?"
Qin Chu glanced at the child beside him and explained, "It's a boy. He fell into a hunting pit. I guess he's a resident from the neighborhood. I'll find out in a couple of days and send him back."
He is lying.
The eldest prince's eyes flashed again. This person could accurately call out his identity. He was clearly there to kill him just like the others. What was he pretending to be kind for?
Soon the oil lamp in the tent went out.
Qin Chu pressed the eldest prince down to sleep on the same bed as himself, closed his eyes, and began to rest.
The sounds of snoring gradually filled the air around him, but the eldest prince showed no signs of sleepiness. He lay awake in the darkness with his dark eyes wide open, looking less like a sleepless child and more like a venomous snake lurking in wait.
He thought to himself that the person next to him really had no attempt to hide anything; the woman who had approached him a couple of days ago had even brought him some food to gain his trust.
Hungry and with his eyes wide open, he waited until midnight. After confirming that the person next to him was breathing deeply and steadily, the eldest prince moved his body slightly.
He wanted to use this opportunity to escape.
Carefully lifting the arm that was pressing down on him, and silently pulling back the blanket, the eldest prince was about to crawl out from under the covers when he heard a low, cold voice behind him: "Where are you going?"
The eldest prince froze, then turned his head and said in a weak voice, "I...I need to use the restroom..."
As he spoke, he turned around, grabbed Qin Chu's arm with his small hands and shook it: "Now that you're awake, brother, stay with me, I'm scared."
Despite saying that, he rubbed his messy hair against Qin Chu's face, trying to scare him away with his body odor.
Unexpectedly, Qin Chu, who had been indifferent to him, did not refuse this time. Despite the cold weather, she lifted the blanket and led him outside the tent.
"Go ahead and pee," Qin Chu said.
The eldest prince: "..."
He looked up at Qin Chu, wanting to buy himself another chance to escape, and then lowered his head shyly and said, "Brother, can you turn around?"
Qin Chu saw right through the kid's little scheme, but he was too lazy to bother with it.
He was always impatient with children, glanced at him, and asked, "You really are a girl?"
The eldest prince: "..."
He had never liked being called a "boy," believing himself to be a respectable man, let alone being mistaken for a girl. Now, to prove he was a man, he stopped demanding and resolved the issue directly.
But he didn't want to go back to the tent; staying outside a little longer would give him more chances to escape.
So the eldest prince turned around, held up his little hand to Qin Chu, and said softly, "Brother, I want to wash my hands."
Whether it was taking him to the river or Qin Chu helping him fetch water, he always managed to seize the opportunity.
But Qin Chu glanced at him from head to toe and said indifferently, "Is there any need for you to wash?"
The eldest prince: "..."
Qin Chu carried him back to the tent and laid him in the warm bedding. The eldest prince subtly rubbed his hand against Qin Chu.
He thought he would kill this man one day.
Over the next two days, Qin Chu's troop of soldiers finally received orders to enter the city.
The eldest prince had gone to great lengths to escape from the city, so naturally he was unwilling to go back. He tried to find an opportunity to leave while the army was returning to the city, but Qin Chu kept a close eye on him, even having others watch him when he was occasionally away, and all his tricks were useless.
Sometimes he even felt that Qin Chu could see through all his thoughts with just a casual glance, and see his most rotten and unbearable heart through his weak, pitiful and cute appearance.
Such speculation made the eldest prince very uncomfortable.
After returning to the city, the army was not completely disbanded, but the soldiers below were also given the opportunity to go home.
Leaving the military camp, the eldest prince thought that Qin Chu was finally going to kill him this time. Just like those people who had appeared around him before, they all had different purposes, but in the end, they all wanted to extract benefits from him.
On the day he left the military camp, Qin Chu finally took him to take a hot bath.
They washed the dirt off his body, but when it came to his hair, he clearly didn't have the patience to carefully untangle and comb it. He simply took a dagger and cut off all the knotted hair.
Several times, he felt the tip of the knife glide past his throat, and each time he thought Qin Chu was going to kill him.
But Qin and Chu did not.
Qin Chu changed him into clean clothes and instead of taking him home, took him to an inn.
The eldest prince couldn't understand Qin Chu's actions, but he knew that no matter how he questioned him, this man would remain indifferent, offer no explanation, and show no remorse.
His repeated failed attempts to escape from Qin Chu over the past few days made him realize the enormous power gap between him and the man before him. He couldn't deceive this man for even the slightest chance of escape, just as he had done with others before.
So when Qin Chu led him into the inn, he didn't ask any questions; he was going to die anyway.
The imperial city was bustling with people, and even the slightly out-of-the-way inns were very lively.
Qin Chu was talking to the shopkeeper at the counter, and even when he reached for money, his other hand was firmly gripping his wrist.