Chapter 259: Infiltrating the Interior
"Okay, we'll get the message out. You stay safe!"
Emily responded to Beck with respect and determination.
With that, they parted ways.
Emily watched Beck's figure grow more and more distant, smaller and smaller, until finally she couldn't see him at all.
Yet somehow, his silhouette seemed so imposing.
Emily withdrew her gaze. "Let's go!"
The three of them made their way up the narrow, winding path.
Soon they could see they'd reached the mountaintop, with the mountain village spread out below them.
Next, if they could cross over the mountain and avoid the crowds as much as possible, they might actually escape.
But Sofia stopped. "Emily, I'll see you off to here. From now on, you take Verity and be careful. And make sure you get Beck's message out."
Hearing this, Verity grabbed Sofia's hand. "Sofia, what do you mean? You're not coming with us? If you're not leaving, I'm not leaving either!"
She'd come to rescue Sofia. Now that hope was right in front of them, she didn't want Sofia to give up halfway.
A young, beautiful girl falling into these people's hands—living would be worse than death, and dying would be such a waste of such a young, vibrant life.
Emily frowned too. "You want to go back? To save Atticus, right?"
Sofia wasn't surprised Emily could guess her true thoughts. She'd always been smart.
"Emily, he's my brother. And it's my fault—Atticus tried to warn me back then, but I didn't listen. Instead, I put him in danger. So I have to save him."
Thinking of her stubbornness and foolishness back then, Sofia was filled with regret.
Emily spoke with unusual seriousness and firmness. "I'll go. You know my abilities. If you go back, you'll definitely get caught. Then forget saving Atticus—you'll be in danger yourself. You leave with Verity, and leave the rest to me."
"No, I can't let you take that risk, cousin. If Atticus found out, he'd blame me!"
Sofia shook her head in refusal.
Emily's brow furrowed. "I'm not asking you—I've already made the arrangements. I came here to find you and Atticus, so naturally I'm taking you both back. Besides, even though we've reached the mountain, the road ahead might not be safe. You're a local—taking Verity with you gives you a better chance of getting out alive.
So listen to me. We don't have time to keep arguing. The people searching for us might catch up to the mountain any minute."
Emily spoke with complete seriousness and authority.
Hearing Emily's words, Verity tugged at Sofia, silently urging her.
"Okay, I'll listen to you. Emily, you have to promise me too—nothing is more important than your life. If it comes down to choosing between you and Atticus, put your own safety first, okay?"
"Okay!"
Emily nodded in agreement.
She handed Sofia what Beck had given her. "You must get this out too."
With that said.
Emily looked around and spotted a type of medicinal herb. Her eyes lit up.
She quickly grabbed this herb and mixed it with another common one.
"These two herbs mixed together can temporarily slow someone's movements. If you run into danger and catch them off guard, you can buy time to escape. You should also remember these two herbs—if you run out, you can pick more yourselves."
Emily handed the ball of mixed herbs to Sofia.
After giving instructions, she headed in the opposite direction from them.
It was good that Emily had a sense of danger.
Not long after they separated, Emily nearly ran into the people pursuing them.
Fortunately, her instincts were sharp and she hid behind a large tree in time.
Because she was slender, and with dusk approaching and the mountain covered in trees, they didn't notice her presence.
There were four of them.
If she fought them directly, not knowing their capabilities, she didn't dare rush in.
Emily's expression hardened. She thought for a moment.
Then she picked up a pebble and threw it to the side.
"Who's there?"
The man closest to where the pebble landed immediately noticed the sound, turning his head to shout while approaching cautiously.
"What's wrong?"
At his shout, the others couldn't help but turn and ask.
"Don't know, just heard something. Maybe those women are hiding. I'll go check. They shouldn't have been able to run this fast."
"Alright, you check over there. We'll look around here too. Maybe they're hiding nearby!"
"Okay!"
Then those three approached bit by bit.
Meanwhile, the others split up and began searching carefully.
Emily deliberately made a small noise.
Another approaching person immediately headed toward where she'd made the sound.
Just as he was about to reach the tree.
Emily suddenly appeared. As he looked surprised and pleased, the silver needle in her hand suddenly appeared, first preventing him from crying out.
Then another needle made him lose mobility.
After taking care of one person.
Emily used the same method, breaking them down one by one. Soon she'd dealt with all of them.
Based on their earlier conversation, Emily figured out which one was the leader, then knocked the others unconscious.
She found they were carrying rope and daggers.
Emily used the rope to tie them up and kept a dagger on her—it might come in handy.
"You, look at me!"
Emily stared directly at the leader. Seeing Emily's face clearly, he tried to struggle and get up.
Emily suddenly produced a pendant. "Look at it..."
As she spoke, she swung the pendant in front of him.
Because Emily had used needles on him, and he was agitated from being captured, he easily fell for Emily's trick and was hypnotized.
Soon his eyes grew unfocused, and he answered whatever Emily asked.
Fortunately, this person seemed to be one of Yosef's men, so he knew quite a bit.
From him she learned where the women were being held, and where the men had gone.
Emily hypnotized him again and had him lead the way.
First, they went to where the women were being held.
Even before getting close, Emily could already hear women's screams.
She clenched her fists, barely controlling her impulse to rush up and deal with these scumbags.
She lowered her head so no one could see her face clearly.
"What are you doing here? Did Yosef get interested? Didn't I hear there was a pretty woman today? Don't tell me Yosef already had his way with her? Is it the one behind you?"
The guard at the door saw the man Emily had hypnotized and joked cheerfully.
As he spoke, his gaze kept sweeping over Emily.
The man spoke. "Don't stare. This is a woman Yosef has his eye on. She might become Yosef's wife, so you have to listen to her."
Emily had anticipated the guard might ask this and hypnotized him with this response in advance.
When he said this, he was actually a bit dazed.
But the guard was usually quite afraid of this man, so he didn't look too closely and naturally didn't notice.
"Yes, yes, yes. It's filthy here. Why did you come to this place?"
Hearing the man's words, the guard immediately became respectful toward Emily.
He didn't suspect anything, partly because Emily's clothes were neat and clean—she clearly looked well-treated, without that frightened, cowering look of someone who'd been coerced or harmed.