Chapter 2632: Chapter 2633: Vine Wall

"The Black Earl’s inspiration was spot on; we honestly didn’t encounter a single magical creature."

After walking a bit further without encountering any magical creature, Kaier, who was initially a bit anxious, couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

However, just as Kaier finished expressing his relief, Angel suddenly stopped in his tracks.

The group, who had not extended their spiritual power outward, looked at Angel in confusion.

"What’s wrong?" Dox asked in puzzlement.

"Earl Mi senses a large number of living creatures hiding nearby. Unless I’m mistaken, we have encountered some magical creatures..." Angel said softly.

As Angel finished speaking, everyone’s eyes turned to Kaier.

Just a moment ago, Kaier was marveling at not encountering any magical creatures, and now they’ve appeared. Though everyone knew it was a coincidence, it was quite the "coincidence."

"You guys called me a crow’s mouth earlier, but now you see, who’s the real crow’s mouth." At this moment, Dox spoke up, "Kaier, didn’t I tell you before we came here not to speak carelessly? You have the crow’s mouth attribute, and you’re aware of it. Sigh, I’ve taken the blame for so long for you, it’s really... ."

Kaier said somewhat aggrievedly, "You never told me before we came, and no, I don’t have the crow’s mouth attribute. This time, this time..."

Dox said with some smugness, "This time what? You want to say it’s just a coincidence? There’s no such coincidence!"

Kaier puckered his lips, the frustration swirling in his chest, but he couldn’t find any other words to rebut, so he kept explaining to the group: Dox had never said those things before coming; he made them up.

The group was more inclined to believe the humble yet sincere Kaier than Dox’s smug demeanor.

However, believing in anyone now wasn’t important.

The important thing was that the previously tense atmosphere was broken by Dox’s interruption. The attention previously on Kaier slowly faded.

"I didn’t expect you to be so protective." Suddenly, Angel’s voice sounded in the mind ribbon, and his gaze was directed at Dox.

Dox was momentarily stunned and pretended not to understand: "Huh?"

Angel didn’t expose Dox’s act but said, "Kaier wasn’t a crow’s mouth this time because the magical creatures we’ve encountered have a peculiarity."

After Angel finished, with a wave of his hand, the illusion screen displayed the so-called "magical creatures."

On one side of the wall not far away, adult-thigh-thick vines covered the area. These vines were intertwined, slowly moving like writhing pythons.

The branches of the vines were extremely black, but they were covered with sharp red thorns, which appeared exceptionally sharp and might even be poisonous.

Though vine-type magical creatures weren’t uncommon, they had encountered quite a few before entering the Underground Labyrinth from the surface ruins. However, Angel mentioning that these vines were somewhat "special" was not without reason.

This was because, amid these writhing and dense vines, there was a clear gap with no vines at all.

And this gap was a pitch-black hole.

This meant the direction they chose to proceed on had brought them to the second fork.

"Is this... also one of those dog holes?" Vay hesitantly asked, looking at the size of the hole.

"Judging from what is visible, it does look similar to the dog holes we encountered before. However, the vines are very dense, and the hole might not be as large as it appears; other parts might be covered by vines," Angel replied.

After a pause, Angel continued, "Now we have two choices: bypass them and continue forward or attempt to take the path hidden behind the vines."

Angel’s intention was still to take a vote, and whatever decision would be contingent on the voting result.

Kaier and Vay both abstained from voting directly, while Dox frowned, "I have some inspiration, but these inspirations may be a kind of fictional inspiration similar to fantasy, and I’m not confident in trusting them. I’ll leave the decision to Angel and the Black Earl."

The fictional inspiration Dox mentioned sounded mysterious, but it was akin to the concept of "phantom pain."

Phantom pain, commonly referred to in Wizard Civilization, was about feeling pain in an amputated limb. According to Jon, it’s called phantom limb pain or illusion pain, where patients may still feel their amputated limb as if it’s there, even experiencing pain in that "phantom limb."

The wizards’ explanation for why this bizarre illusionary pain occurs is the soul’s lament: even if a limb is amputated, as long as you’re alive, your soul remains whole. Although the soul doesn’t partake in physiological activities, it howls in lament when it senses a missing part.

Whether this explanation is correct, Angel didn’t know since he hadn’t conducted similar research. However, considering phantom pain helped him understand Dox’s fictional inspiration.

Currently, Dox’s inspiration had temporarily disappeared, but previously, it had been very active, making Dox consider inspiration as an auxiliary "organ" he could command. Now that this "organ" was gone, fictional inspiration seemed naturally akin to "phantom pain,"

Because Dox suspected his inspiration was fictional, he hadn’t shared the direction it gave but instead passed the decision-making rights entirely to Angel and the Black Earl.

Angel didn’t comment further; his so-called voting was just formal. He already had a personal preference for what to choose.

"Does the Black Earl have any suggestions?" Angel asked.

Black Earl: "This question shouldn’t be directed at me; you’re the one most familiar with the Hanging Jail Stairway."

Angel shrugged, "I only know the path from the Hanging Jail Stairway to the target location; I’m not familiar with the path to the Hanging Jail Stairway. However, I indeed have a preference. Personally, I’d rather take the path of the vines."

Black Earl: "And the reason?"

Angel: "Multiple factors combined. First, I have a feeling that this might be the correct path."

The first factor made Dox couldn’t help but comment, "I didn’t bring up inspiration, but you do."

Angel: "It’s not quite inspiration; it’s more of a synthesis of comprehensive information leading to a feeling."

To simply put it, the "server" within the Mind Space had been gathering information throughout the journey. When all kinds of information were mixed, though Angel hadn’t put it all together, the "server" had already synthesized the most probable answer.

This was the "feeling" Angel referred to, which significantly differed from inspiration.

"If you don’t agree with my first factor, I will continue. Second, I had Earl Mi spread shadows to another path and discovered that the further we go, the more traces of magical creatures we find. In other words, if we don’t take the vine path, we may enter an area bustling with magical creatures. I don’t think the Hanging Jail Stairway would be located in an active area of magical creatures."

"Third, these vines don’t seem to be extending elsewhere; they only linger in a small segment, more like guardians of this path than territorial and predatory magical creatures."

"Consider this: the external work areas have three narrow passages meant for warning, guarding, and repelling outsiders. The Hanging Jail Stairway is the core of the whole institution; it should have guards just like a sentinel."

"And there’s the fourth factor, although it might be a bit far-fetched, so just hear me out. I personally think vine-type magical creatures should be relatively friendly towards the Wood Spirit, so if a Wood Spirit comes here, the vines shouldn’t give it much trouble."

After Angel finished stating these four points, he stopped and looked at everyone, waiting for their feedback.

For once, Dox didn’t voice any opposition, he simply nodded: "I said earlier, you two can decide. As long as Lord Black Earl agrees, then we’ll battle with those vines... But honestly, your first three reasons didn’t really convince me. It’s the so-called tenuous fourth reason you mentioned that has a great possibility."

Angel raised an eyebrow, not responding to Dox’s comment.

From Dox’s words, it was clear that even if he temporarily lost inspiration, he was still an intuitive wizard. Rather than believing Angel’s listed "evidence," he trusted an unsubstantiated deduction more.

On the other side, the Black Earl thought for a moment before saying: "I thought about it and couldn’t find a reasonable argument to refute you. In that case, we will do as you suggested."

With the Black Earl also making a decision, everyone no longer hesitated and decided to take the path sealed by the vines!

Dox had already started rolling up his sleeves, the red sword at his waist was trembling incessantly, and his fighting spirit was continuously rising.

Angel looked at him and said calmly: "Take it easy, it might not come to a fight."

Under Dox’s puzzled gaze, Angel’s form suddenly changed into a young, vibrant youth, wearing a green robe, with a bow and quiver made of vines on his back, and a slanted green hat on his head.

The most distinctive feature was a crystalline, shimmering leaf full of natural aura in the center of Angel’s hat.

The others didn’t recognize this appearance, but Black Earl did.

"You’re holding a Tree Spirit’s leaf, trying to mimic a Tree Spirit? Although I think it’s unlikely the vines will be fooled, if you intend to impersonate a Tree Spirit, then don’t wear clothes, and certainly don’t wear a green hat."

Yes, Angel’s current appearance was that of a Tree Spirit. However, Tree Spirits tended not to wear anything and only had a leaf floating around crucial parts, but Angel’s sense of shame prevented him from being as open as Tree Spirits, so he still transformed into a set of clothes.

Angel treated Black Earl’s "suggestion" as if it was the wind passing by his ears. Even if he had to face the vines head-on, he wouldn’t stroll around naked with the shamelessness of a Tree Spirit.

After dressing up as a Tree Spirit, Angel motioned for everyone to remain inside the Moving Mirage and to follow behind him, not straying too far.

Then, Angel took a deep breath and stepped out of the mirage.

Even though he made thorough preparations and had a Tree Spirit’s leaf purifying the surrounding air, the overwhelming foul odor still rushed into his nasal cavity unexpectedly.

While Angel himself was fine, Dangross, who was resting on his shoulder, rolled its eyes back immediately.

"Oh, I forgot you were there..." Angel said, intending to place Dangross into a bracelet, but hesitated at the last moment.

Dangross seemed to have been "dyed" by the stench; if put into the bracelet, it might foul the inside too. Forget it, Angel thought, better hold on for now and purify Dangross later.

With this thought, a vine extended from Angel’s back, carefully wrapping around the fainted Dangross.

Having done all this, Angel continued onward.

Because Angel had revealed himself and the rich Tree Spirit aura was radiating natural force all around, the distant vines immediately noticed Angel.

The vines had been moving slowly, but Angel’s appearance sped up their pace.

Angel didn’t know whether the vines were preparing for battle or trying to make peace; either way, he’d find out by advancing. If it did lead to battle, he’d wake Dangross to resolve it with fire.

However, even as Angel got within twenty meters of the vines, they still showed no sign of aggression.

Mind you, these vine structures, each as thick as boa constrictors and at least hundreds of meters long, formed a tight wall; if they intended to fight, they could’ve attacked from a distance.

But they didn’t, which seemed to confirm one of Angel’s guesses: plant-type Magical Creatures might actually be more approachable to Wood Spirits.

It wasn’t until Angel came within ten meters that the vines began to react intensely.

Most vines started to move, clawing at the air as if threatening not to take another step closer.

Even then, the vines didn’t make a move.

This made Angel even more convinced that, as he suspected, these vines were "guards" similar to those of the day rather than bloodthirsty, murderous vines.

And while the vines appeared to be clawing ferociously, they weren’t actually aimed at Angel, but at what was behind him.

Though Angel was confident in his illusion, the endless network of vines here had a collective spiritual force vast as the sea. Just standing in front of them, one could feel the oppressive level of spiritual power.

While spiritual power doesn’t equal strength, such massive suppression of spiritual power was enough to reveal flaws in Angel’s illusions.

Or rather, it caused a slight deviation in Earl Mi.

Earl Mi was the main component of the Moving Mirage; if Earl Mi was slightly off, the Moving Mirage naturally showed signs of weakness.

"They seem not genuinely wary of you but are quite hostile to us," Dox whispered through the Mind Ribbon.

"Yet, with you blocking the way, they haven’t made a move... Seems disguising as a Wood Spirit pays off."

As Dox said this, his eyes began to shift.

Black Earl immediately saw through Dox’s thoughts, sneering: "If you had millennia-old Tree Spirit leaves to mask your aura, you could impersonate a Wood Spirit. Absent something akin, dismiss such notions."

Spirits aren’t easy to fake. Their aura is drastically different from ordinary beings, and even the most advanced Shapeshifting Techniques can only mimic their appearance, easily seen through.

With the backing of the three Ancestral Spirits of the Barbarian Cave, each a rare super-monster level spirit in the Wizards’ Realm, anything from them, even a single leaf, allowed Angel’s mimicry to nearly reach true deception.

Dox attempting to mimic a Wood Spirit was mostly hopeless. Even Black Earl himself couldn’t impersonate a spirit like Angel did.

That leaf was just too important.

"Don’t make a move yet, I seem to sense a ripple. It looks like those vines are preparing to communicate with me."

After Angel spoke, everyone saw a slender vine emerge from the massive vine wall, snaking through the air until it reached Angel.

The vine stopped just under half a meter from Angel’s brow.

As it approached, the sensations of the ripple Angel felt grew stronger.

It was like someone whispering in his ear.

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