It didn't take long for the news of the two boys dying inside Meirong's tent to spread around the camp. But even after everyone heard the news no one really cared too much about it.
After all, everyone knew that Meirong was very unlucky and caused nothing but misfortune to those that went near her.
So, their deaths could only be blamed on themselves.
Also, since Meirong was here on a mission sent by the Empress, not even the general who was in charge of guarding the ruins dared to try and capture her.
This was also when one of the women who tried to talk with Jian Shen during the carriage came by to warn him that he really should stay away from her if he didn't want anything bad to happen to him.
What did they know that the dead two boys' bad luck wasn't Meirong, but him who heard their words?
...
After a night which was spent by everyone other than Jian Shen and Meirong on their toes due to being scared of becoming the next victims of the cursed woman, the seven still alive individuals, Jian Shen and Meirong gathered in front of the ancient ruins' entrance.
Turns out that the ruins they were entering were underground. And this was because the initial exploration revealed that this used to belong to an ancient clan of humanoid word species.
Since this point onwards, only the nine of them were allowed to enter the ruins while the soldiers garrisoned near it were to guard it so that no one else could enter it.
Now that they were here, while everyone was still very enthusiastic they were also scared of entering it first because ruins other than for the treasures inside it were known for the dangerous traps inside them.
Seeing this, Jian Shen was just about to take the first step when the expressionless Meirong started walking inside it.
"With that unlucky woman walking ahead of us, we're bound to be safe."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Don't you understand? She's so unlucky that I'm sure she'll trigger all the traps inside the ruins before we could."
Frowning hard at these words, Jian Shen started walking as he said, "Someone who didn't have enough courage to walk first shouldn't criticize those who are."
ā¦
The ruins were.... dark.
Due to being underground and with all of the arrays responsible for maintaining light inside them destroyed due to the passage of time, everyone could only depend on themselves to illuminate whatever they wanted.
This was why everyone only had a single torch in their hand with a flame burning at its end to help them see.
But because the flame wasn't too big they could only see a few feet in each direction around themselves. And the flame wasn't big enough to allow anyone to spot any traps that might be lying in wait for them
If they wanted to do so, they'd need to decrease their speed drastically and carefully observe their surroundings.
Though no one actually chose to do this because Meirong who was walking in the front kept on bravely walking ahead and all the rest needed to do was walk on the same path as she did.
The ruins were just like Jian Shen expected on the inside after he learned which species lived here.
Starting from the entrance which was a long cave, multiple cave like pathways were present everywhere around them.
Unfortunately, due to how scared the first time explorers were they didn't leave the group and explore the tunnels and instead kept on walking straight and deep inside the ruins.
This was because if they chose to leave the group, Meirong who was helping them know if there were any traps wouldn't be there with them.
"You... Aren't you here to save me? Why does it feel like I'm the one saving you?!"
Out of breath from how much effort he was putting in to repeatedly save Meirong who kept on triggering traps while walking, Jian Shen other than believing that she was unlucky began thinking about what was Xifeng thinking when she sent Meirong to protect him.
Considering how many dangerous traps he saved Meirong from, Jian Shen felt like if he ended up being harmed it would be due to trying to save her and not because he needed someone to save him.
"I never asked for your help! So why don't you just let me die before its too late."
Rolling his eyes, Jian Shen who spotted a trap on the floor quickly picked Meirong up and discretely passed it while making sure his legs didn't touch it and the others didn't notice what he was doing either.
"Eeeeee! Why are you holding me up? Let me down! I can walk on my own."
"Nope. Better than saving you from all those traps, I think it's better if I just keep you from triggering those defensive measures."
Chuckling a little, Meirong said, "Given how unlucky I am, you'll just end up falling into the traps along with me."
Snorting and not saying anything, Jian Shen chuckled as those following behind them triggered the trap which he just evaded when he felt something slowly light up under his legs.
"Fuck!"
Quickly jumping into the air, Jian Shen barely managed to escape another one of the stupid bombs that were hidden beneath the floor.
Looking towards Meirong who was grinning proudly as if she was showing off that her bad luck was what caused this, Jian Shen said, "This could've happened to anyone."
"Humph! You'll learn soon enough."
And learnt he did. With everything he was stepping in at the end of his descend being another bomb waiting for him, Jian Shen who always considered himself very lucky soon found himself believing that Meirong was probably a bit unlucky.