Chapter 6: The Dark Forest
After digging the pit, two soldiers were sent to ignite a pile of withered branches at the entrance of the den. The soldiers crept forward, and when they were just a few steps away from the entrance, a beast's roar stunned everyone. The Duke of Windsor was the first to react, ordering the two soldiers to run back and lure the bear into the pit. The others formed a battle array in preparation for combat. Fortunately, although the two soldiers were frightened, they had been through many battles and became calm at the critical moment of life and death.
A dull, muffled sound came from the entrance of the cave, and a large, clumsy creature emerged from the dense vines. It stood up to about 1.7 or 1.8 meters tall, its entire body covered in thick, shiny black fur. The flower bear was not awakened by Windsor and the others; when it came out, it saw that the two people at the entrance still had a dazed look in their eyes. When it noticed the malicious gaze of the soldiers, the flower bear became enraged, opening its huge mouth to reveal sharp teeth, and charged towards the soldiers like a gust of wind.
Charlotte was having the time of her life, picking flowers and teasing birds, and had long forgotten about Mr. Lucas and Windsor. Along the way, soldiers carefully made marks to help them find their way back. When Charlotte got tired from playing, she found a clean patch of grass to let her little donkey graze on one side while the soldiers looked for a place to rest. She lay down by herself under a big tree at the edge of the field, enjoying the cool breeze. The thick tree blocked the soldiers' view, and Charlotte rolled around comfortably, propping up her legs and humming some tune. After a while, a strange noise came from Charlotte's stomach, and she quickly covered it with her hands, thinking that no one had heard anything. Feeling relieved, Charlotte relaxed again and took out Lydia's prepared lunch. Comparing the large number of soldiers to the small amount of food, she decided to eat by herself after all. The soldiers would find their own food and not need her to worry about them.
Charlotte opened the canvas bag, took out the basket inside, lifted a layer of cotton cloth, and underneath was Lydia's lunch for herself. She bit into an apple, then reached for the cheese, but when she looked again, one piece of cheese was missing. Charlotte rubbed her eyes, thinking it might be an illusion, but when she opened them again, the cheese was still gone. She turned around to look behind her, then looked up at the trees, but there was nothing. Could she have misremembered? Charlotte shook her head and resigned herself to taking another piece of cheese. But just as she did, the cheese disappeared again. This time, Charlotte knew it wasn't her imagination - someone must have stolen her cheese! She stood up and walked out from under the tree's shadow, looking around, but still saw nothing. When she returned to the base of the tree, Charlotte was shocked to find that her basket was gone. Suddenly turning around, she met a pair of big, round eyes staring back at her - a monkey was also staring at her! The monkey's tail was wrapped around Charlotte's basket, and when it realized it had been caught stealing, it quickly scurried away, darting into the dense forest in an instant. Charlotte knew she couldn't catch up to it, but she was still angry about the monkey's behavior, so she decided to chase after it and scare it a bit. She also ran into the forest, throwing branches and other things at the monkey as she went. But to her surprise, the monkey wasn't scared - in fact, it seemed to think being chased was great fun! The monkey leapt and bounded through the trees, suddenly disappearing only to reappear and throw a pile of nuts at Charlotte's head before continuing its escape. Charlotte completely lost her temper - she vowed that she would definitely catch this annoying monkey and take it back to tie up for Xiao Bai to play with.
"Smelly monkey! You stole something and dare to throw it at me? Just you wait, I'll catch you and skin you alive to make a pair of gloves!"
Charlotte was completely unbuttoned, unlike at home, and in the forest she was completely relaxed, revealing her true self, free and easy, saying what she wanted to say, doing what she wanted to do.
The monkey, hearing Charlotte's angry shout, finally didn't want to tease this crazy human anymore and turned around to run even faster. Charlotte made an effort to keep up, with her heart set on catching the monkey, unaware that she had already strayed far from the grassy clearing where the soldiers were resting.
After a long time of rest, the soldiers couldn't see Charlotte and felt something was wrong. One of the higher-ranking soldiers walked to the big tree where Charlotte was resting and saw that there was only an empty cloth bag under the tree with no one in sight. He quickly ordered the soldiers to search for Charlotte everywhere, but after searching through the surrounding woods, they still couldn't find her. His face anxious, he suppressed his panic and arranged for two people to go up the mountain to inform Duke Wensha and Lucas, while ordering others to expand their search range to continue looking for her.
The cunning little monkey dodged and weaved, Charlotte, panting heavily after chasing it for a long time without catching it, stood still with her hands on her knees, staring at the monkey. The little monkey saw that Charlotte wasn't moving anymore, so it didn't run either, keeping a distance of five meters from Charlotte in a standoff. Staring eye to eye with the monkey, seeing how the little monkey was both scared and stubbornly protecting its "stolen" food, Charlotte suddenly couldn't help but want to laugh.
"Hahaha~~~~~ You can go now, hahaha~~ I won't chase you anymore, hahaha~ It's all yours, byebye~"
Charlotte thought the monkey was quite cute, and had run half the forest for a few pieces of cheese. "Stupid human! Actually chased me half the forest for a few pieces of cheese!" This is probably what the monkey is thinking right now.
Charlotte walked back along the route she had chased, ridiculing the monkey in her heart until the sun set westward. In the evening forest, the insect sounds quietly responded, and more and more insects sounded, under the cover of the yellow tree shadows, the sound gradually became louder, and the surrounding blackness seemed to be the same everywhere. Charlotte really couldn't tell the direction at this time. Time was solidified in darkness, and Charlotte decided to stay still on the spot. If the forest was so dark everywhere, it would be much safer to stay still than to run around randomly.
Unlike Charlotte's calmness, Lucas' place has already exploded. Upon learning of Charlotte's disappearance, Mr. Lucas almost fainted and hastily ordered the servants not to tell Lydia and Kitty. If these two people knew about this news, they might not only be unable to help with anything but also need to be taken care of. Just as he was about to ask the Duke of Windsor to send someone to search for Charlotte with him, the Duke of Windsor had already rushed down the mountain with a hundred soldiers. Lucas didn't dare delay any longer and hastily followed up.
The bear was left all alone, tied up in front of the cave, just a moment before it had been considered precious prey.
The surroundings were pitch black, with only the faint sound of insects chirping in her ears, and the occasional distant howl that made her blood run cold. As time ticked by, the moon climbed to its highest point, casting an eerie glow over the forest. After hours of torment, Charlotte couldn't bear it anymore and desperately sought a way out. She was eager to leave this dark and perilous forest behind, no matter where she ended up.
After a few rounds of mental struggle, Charlotte finally decided to leave and try her luck. If she was lucky, maybe the moonlight would illuminate the way home not far away.
