Chapter 234: Going back to square one

Erick was examining one of the glass jars inside a glass cabinet when he suddenly looked at the direction where they came in. Bastian, who was standing beside him, noticed his weird action and called out to him, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Erick frowned, turning to Bastian. He then shook his head. "Nothing… I suddenly felt something had happened…" he said slowly.

"Something?" Bastian repeated, a confused look on his face. He looked around him. There was nothing that seemed weird or out-of-place, hence why he was baffled as to why Erick seemed to sense that something had happened.

Erick let out a laugh wryly. "It's nothing," he said, turning back to the glass cabinet. 'Was it my imagination?' he thought to himself, inwardly shaking his head.

Just as he was about to grab the jar for a closer look, Oz shouted at all of them for their attention.

Everyone in the room turned to where Oz was. He was hunching in front of a hole where one of the cabinets used to be. Apparently, he had thought that the cabinet seemed a bit off and noticed how it was placed quite strangely. He then noticed that the back of the cabinet was a bit further from the wall as if it had been pulled or pushed in a rush. Following his instinct, he pushed the cabinet and noticed a glimpse of the hole before pushing more of the cabinet to reveal the hole.

It was unsure whether the hole was new or not but apparently it seems like someone had used the hole to escape from the place.

When everyone had gathered around Oz, the latter turned to Elder Zyair. "What do you think?" he asked, wanting his opinion.

Elder Zyair frowned. "It's either a trap or their getaway," he answered. He then looked at Jose, who nodded in agreement.

"How about this then?" Oz suggested. "We, brothers, will be staying here and continuing to be on a lookout while you werewolves go ahead and chase after them."

"That is only if there really was someone escaping," Bastian mumbled to himself.

Levi glared at him, shutting Bastian up. Erick just rolled his eyes.

Jose frowned as he crossed his arms across his chest. "And why would you suggest that?" he asked, looking suspicious. Truthfully, he was still a bit skeptical about the bear shifters' involvement in all this. He finds it unbelievable as to how the bear shifters were in the den in the first place. Even if they said that they were looking for their elder brother, it shouldn't be that long, should it?

Oz frowned at Jose's disrespectful tone. Levi, the hot-headed one, stepped forward towards Jose in a warning. He would have stood in front of Jose, glaring down at the latter if Atticus hadn't held him down.

Erick let out a sigh as Paccia tried to be the peacemaker once more. "Now, now, Jose," she said warningly.

"Hmph!" Jose said as he looked away.

Bastian rubbed his face in resignation. He then studied his Beta and wondered why he was being stiff about all this. He himself believes in the Kendall packs' words. If they said that the bear shifters could be trusted, then he believes in that.

Seeing the distrust in Jose's face, Elder Zyair knew that he could not put him and the bear shifters together, hence, he suggested Paxon and Riowins could stay behind, together with the bear shifters. The two wolf shifters nodded in agreement.

After a few more minutes of discussing their next plan, the two groups separated.

Paxon and the others waved goodbye to Elder Zyair's group before heading back inside the hidden pathway, trying to look for more clues that they have probably missed.

Elder Zyair was the first one to jump down the hole, followed by Paccia and the others.

Paccia frowned when she stood inside the hole where it was actually another hidden pathway that leads to who-knows-where. It was quite dark inside with only the lights from the room above giving lights to below.

Noticing the weird expression on her face, Erick asked her what was wrong.

She then grimly replied, "Warlocks have been here."

Erick cocked an eyebrow. "Warlocks? Not vampires?" he asked.

Paccia shook her head. To prove her statement, she conjured up a small spell and casted it around. Suddenly, the whole area was filled with sparkles and a weird scent, making the shifters cringed with revulsion.

"Warlock's scent," Elder Zyair muttered with disgust.

Paccia nodded. She then looked ahead and said, "We should be going. The scent is weakening. It means that they have gone for so long already."

With that said, they immediately set off, looking for the end of the pathway.

After nearly an hour, they finally reached the end and what greeted them shocked them.

A few hundred metres away, they could see a wolf shifter hunching over a trembling prone figure. As they walked closer, they realized that it was Li Jie with a devious smile on his face. In his paw, there seems to be a remote controller with a button which he kept pressing on and on.

They then looked over at a man who was quivering non-stop with foam on his mouth. They were surprised to see that it was a warlock. A few metres from them, there was another warlock but he seemed to be unconscious.

Sensing there were some people behind him, Li Jie looked over his shoulder, still hunching. He gave them a smile and greeted, "Oh, you all are here!"

"Where's Ezekiel and Trey?" Bastian asked, looking confused as he looked around him.

Li Jie simply raised his paws, pointing at the direction of where the other two shifters ran and said, "Trey was chasing an escaping warlock. Thinking that he might have a problem capturing the warlock, Ezekiel just went after him, not too long before you all arrived."

"And what's wrong with him?" Bastian asked again, pointing at the trembling warlock in front of Li Jie.

Instead of answering him, Li Jie turned to Paccia and said, "I used that thing that you gave me to him."

Paccia frowned. "What thing?" she asked, looking confused.

"The vibrator."

Everyone's faces, excluding Li Jie, turned strange.

Paccia let out a resigned sigh, rubbing her face in consternation.