Chapter 971: Chapter 971: Sleeping Beauty 5

In the castle overgrown with vines, countless soldiers lay sleeping unto death, a discovery that baffled and unnerved everyone.

Especially since a companion had already fallen into an unwakeable sleep.

Curl couldn’t dare to sit down again, fearing he might doze off once more as he paced back and forth, picking up his Iron Sword and swinging it vigorously to try and stay awake.

The others were also on edge, worried they might become drowsy.

The man in the hat, as usual, took control of the situation, comforting everyone, “Don’t be too nervous, as soon as we find the King’s sword, we can all leave this place.”

“But where is the King’s sword?”

“The place is so big, where do we even start looking?”

“Yes, we don’t even know what the sword looks like…”

The group was all talking at once, with the man in the hat raising his hand to signal everyone to be quiet: “We’ve only searched the perimeter so far, we haven’t gone inside yet. The sword we’re tasked with finding is very likely hidden inside, and it must be different from ordinary swords.”

“The entrance is completely blocked by vines.”

“Then let’s hack our way through!”

“With so many of us here, no matter how fast the vines regenerate, they can’t keep up with our chopping speed, right?”

“Actually, we could also climb over, I see lots of vines stretching directly into the second and third-floor windows.”

Everyone was discussing loudly, suggesting their own ideas.

The man in the hat said, “Climbing could get us pricked easily; better to be safe and try to clear the path first.”

Even as they spoke these few sentences, Curl started feeling drowsy again, leaning more and more until his head kept nodding and the sword in his hand seemed like it might slip out at any moment.

Tan Xiao, out of curiosity, nudged him, “Hey, you’re sleepy again?”

Curl instantly snapped to alertness, realizing the person beside him was Tan Xiao, and glared at him fiercely, “I’m not sleepy! Keep away from me!”

“You’re clearly sleepy!” Tan Xiao pointed at him and said, “I saw your eyelids fighting just now!”

Concerned, the man in the hat looked over and said, “Everyone pay more attention to your teammates, and remind them in time if you see anyone getting sleepy.”

Someone pointed at Tan Xiao and asked, “What about this kid who’s been following us? What do we do with him?”

The man in the hat frowned, “Don’t worry about him; he’s only capable of so much anyway.”

The group didn’t delay any longer and started cutting the vines as soon as they found the entrance!

They first trimmed off the spikes, shaving them bald, and then chopped the vines section by section.

Although the vines grew rapidly, they couldn’t keep up with the concentrated effort of their attack, and soon they cleared an opening, large enough to bend over and enter.

Inside was a corridor carpeted with dark-patterned rugs.

Shafts of light shone through high, narrow windows, casting the many layers of cobwebs into a glossy sheen, and to their surprise, it was unexpectedly clean.

No thorns, no vines, not even a weed in sight.

It seemed that the vines only encased the exterior, while the interior of the building was undamaged.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they wouldn’t have to move so gingerly to avoid being pricked.

The man in the hat led the way with 8 teammates deeper into the castle.

Tan Xiao followed behind, also curiously observing the surroundings, and soon encountered a fork in the path. He heard muffled cries of shock from the front of the line, immediately pushing through the crowd to see what was happening, “What’s going on, what’s going on?”

In front of the fork, two servants lay covered in a thick layer of dust.

Looking further, there were even more people lying on the ground–servants, waiters, noblewomen, Dukes, Ministers, Knights…all sorts of attire, all sorts of sleeping positions, stretching all the way to the royal banquet hall.

“Oh my god…” Tan Xiao exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise.

He hurried forward a few steps, charging into the banquet hall, and randomly pulled up a Minister slumped over the table, even more astonished, “Why is everyone here asleep?”

Tan Xiao waved to the man in the hat and the rest of the group, “Come over here, quick! All these people are asleep!”