Nina walked a few kilometers around the entire cave hideout, even asking people if they have seen her little brother.

"Excuse me, have you seen my little brother?"

"Have you seen the man carved in this stone?"

Every time she asked, she did so by showing a carved jade stone that had Glyn's facial features image. She even had one of herself and her parents within her spatial ring.

However, everyone shook their heads and answered that they didn't know him and haven't seen him.

Even so, she didn't give up, however, her figure turned increasingly desperate and her actions were attracting the gaze of numerous people.

To the onlookers, Nina seemed like a troublemaker who was begging for something. 

Her nose turned red as she sniffed, however, she didn't cry. She didn't dare to cry as she kept her emotions bottled up.

'Little Brother? Where are you?'

'Why are you still not here?'

Suddenly, Nina stopped as a person blocked her way, standing in front of her. 

It was a man. His face looked rough, manly, however, he was lean.

"Miss, are you searching for that person?" The man pointed at the jade stone she held in her palm.

Nina couldn't help but nod her head as her eyes lit up in both hope and confusion.

The man pulled back his stature and crossed his arms. He then stroked his chin as if he were thinking about something, "I'm not sure... I think I have seen him curled up in one of the rooms that we have back in our cave... He looked hell'a injured though..."

Nina's eyes practically widened with a smile, however, the moment she heard that her little brother was injured, she turned aggrieved.

"Where is your cave residence!?"

The man displayed a hint of a smile, however, he quickly hid it and spoke in a solemn tone, "Follow me, I'll show you!"

Nina quickly nodded her head in agreement. The other party left without even seeing if he was following her or not. Only slight hesitation remained in her heart before she took a step forward to follow him.

A few minutes passed, and she gradually looked at the surrounding people slowly decrease in quantity. However, she suspected nothing but was instead worried if her brother was dying because of burning up blood essence.

Glyn's body which was injured heavily, curled up into a ball, resting on a mat while his dry lips moved, saying "Elder sister, please help me...", "I'm cold..." for an n number of times.

Only this scene constantly flashed past her mind, making her worry to an incredible degree.

Soon, the area turned desolate and only a few people were seen, who constantly shot a gaze at her, staring at her with a different types of emotion. There were even shop stands set up, selling a few wares and supplements.

However, nothing registered in Nina's mind other than the lean-back that she was following.

Suddenly, she felt a hand grasp her shoulders which made her jolt in cautiousness.

"Who?" She turned and looked at a woman who looked at her with a confused expression on her face.

"You, I've seen you with Lucas before, what are you doing here?" The woman spoke as she tightly held her shoulder.

Nina felt slightly uncomfortable, however, when she looked around and noticed the situation, she found that there were people who were looking at her with different types of emotions as if they were feasting their eyes on her.

Her expression quickly turned pale before she hid it away, however, she still stuttered in trepidation, "I-I'm searching for m-my little brother."

"Little brother?" The woman who tightly held her shoulders narrowed her eyes.

She then let go of Nina and smiled, her charming face attracting numerous gazes of lust.

"I see, but why are you following this vermin over here?" The woman turned to look at that lean man who was sweating while trying to silently slip away.

Nina's eyes darted towards the both of them before she spoke, "He said he knew where my little brother is..."

The woman glanced speechlessly at Nina before she smiled stiffly at the man, "Oh, why don't I come with you to see if they're really taking you to see your little brother or not?"

The lean man inwardly cursed before he turned to look back at that woman, "Miss Ophelia, I don't know what this woman is spouting. She just followed me into this place saying that she would like to meet my 'little brother'."

Nina turned aghast but her expression changed into one of anger quickly.

"Scram!" Miss Ophelia coldly spoke, the charm that was visible on her face was nowhere to be seen.

The lean man smilingly glanced down as his steps faded away from their ears.

Miss Ophelia gave a sigh before coldly glancing at Nina, "You dare to follow strangers to their lair where they can do anything to you without facing any repercussions?"

Nina hurriedly shook her head, "H-he said that he knew where my little brother is!"

Miss Ophelia's eyes were still staring at Nina, however, it shook before she gave a sigh of relief, "It's good that I'm patrolling this place sometimes..."

"What do you mean?" Nina couldn't help but ask with a worried expression on her face. Just now, someone had tried to trick her into her lair.

What is exactly happening in this hideout?

"The morale is in an all-time low and the members of the Cloud Spring Mercenaries are starting to show their true faces."

"There are already a few cases of disgusting acts taking place in this desolate area."

Nina widened her eyes in disbelief. 

The situation had deteriorated to such a degree?

"The Cloud Spring Mercenaries is slowly yet surely collapsing internally..."

'It's only a matter of time before someone betrays us...' Miss Ophelia thought but didn't speak out loud.

Her words suddenly dawned on Nina, 'So that's why we're leaving...'

Even she could see that the end of the Cloud Spring Mercenaries wasn't that far.

"Only the leader can change the situation..." Miss Ophelia added with a sigh, however, Nina looked at her with conflicted emotions rising in her heart.

Their Leader was planning to move to another territory, and she exactly knew that mass relocation was impossible.

That meant that they were undoubtedly running away, leaving these people who believed in the Cloud Spring Mercenaries to fend for themselves.

Besides, her beloved's attitude and their rejection to take their little brother with them left her deeply indignant.

At the least, she felt that she needed to inform her benefactor of the situation. She slightly leaned towards Ophelia's ears and whispered.

"What!?" Miss Ophelia's face changed, "Is it true?"

"Shh! Don't shout... That's why I'm desperately searching for my little brother." Nina hurriedly placed her palm on Ophelia's mouth.

Fortunately, Ophelia didn't shout out loud, however, her shocked expression did attract the onlookers' gaze.

Quite a bit of distance away from them, a person who had his ear's twitch moved away from them as if this matter had nothing to do with him.

Miss Ophelia looked at Nina in both suspicion and disbelief. However, the trepidation she felt in her heart really made her believe that something was going to happen soon.

Maybe it was her imagination, but the deteriorating situation made her think that the end wasn't anywhere far.

Suddenly, two people walked towards them, a man and a woman.

"Miss Ophelia, what's happening? Your face looks pale..." 

"Hmm, even I never have seen this side of Miss Ophelia before." The man replied when he heard the woman speak.

The ever-charming and always smiling Ophelia has her face pale? Something's definitely up!

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