Pillar of Yita

”That’s strange,” Elisa replied, ”but this isn’t the only strange thing happening right now.”

Fang Hong was taken aback: ”What do you mean?”

Elisa then recounted the events that had occurred earlier.

Fang Hong glanced in the direction of the Papalarians, frowning. He also remembered seeing that skeleton before—he had seen Parker reach out to pull the robe off the skeleton, and then a series of events happened.

Could they have all seen it wrong?

But how could he, Elisa, and Parker all be mistaken at the same time? He had a vague feeling that something wasn’t right in the underground, but looking around, he couldn’t find any clues.

After thinking for a moment, he said, ”In any case, there’s no point in staying here if we can’t figure it out. Let’s leave this place first.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Traversing through the dim and deep underground world, the group finally found the first exit after a long while.

It was a secret door, seamlessly embedded in a stone wall, identifiable only by an unusual torch holder. If not for the hint from Bunigu, even the sharp-eyed Miss Nightingale in the group might have missed it.

Moreover, regarding this holder, it was said that the original design didn’t have this difference, but the smugglers, fearing they might miss this hidden door, intentionally added it.

The Lion Person stepped forward, pressed the holder with his hand and turned it. Despite a hundred years passing, the mechanism behind the secret door was still functional. The door creaked open slowly with a teeth-gritting sound.

A scent of dust filled the air.

Fang Hong immediately took out the Clockwork Fairy, but Atira held his hand and threw a plant out first. Fang Hong watched as the plant, with its red stem, drifted lightly to the ground and immediately withered.

Atira then explained to him, ”This is a Law-Eating Vine. If there’s any spell present, it will absorb magic power to survive. In the forest, wandering Fallen wizards and necromancers often intrude, and we use this to detect their magic.”

”But there aren’t just these,” the Big Cat People, seemingly troubled by it, added, ”In that place, the druids plant these thorns in large patches. When you go there, you’ll see how magnificent it is.”

Fang Hong thought that if he ever had the chance, he’d definitely go see it. As for Giant Tree Hill, he had long been eager to visit—not only was it the home of the Forest Elves, but also the kingdom of Sanxiak and the Papalarians.

The withering of the Law-Eating Vine indicated that there were no Scouting Magic spells in this direction, and no Magic Guided Conductors were paying attention here. Fang Hong was relieved and released his Clockwork Fairy. It took about a few minutes for him to get a clear picture of the situation ahead.

They did not encounter any danger behind; the Blood Shark Sky Pirates seemed unaware of the secret passage’s existence—at least in this direction.

After passing through the secret door, the first to scurry across the floor was a noisy group of rats. Fortunately, Tianlan and Gita weren’t here, or else the two young girls might have screamed in fright.

Beyond, the stairs continued upward to another secret door. The Lion Person exerted some effort to push it open, revealing the path to the surface. Looking inward from outside, the design of this secret passage was very clever; if one didn’t know it was an entrance beforehand, it would be impossible for an ordinary person to guess that there were hidden secrets below.

Fang Hong stepped out of the secret passage, looked around, and quickly recognized the place.

”I came ’here’ during my scouting,” he said with a hint of excitement, ”I still remember the surrounding terrain. Not far ahead is the first excavation site of the Blood Shark Sky Pirates. It seems we’re quite lucky.”

”A good start,” the Big Cat Person shook his fur, ”often signifies a good omen.”

”But we have to leave someone to guard the door; we’ll need to return later.” Fang Hong added.

”I’ll do it,” Reed volunteered, ”Wearing this armor, I’m not suited for sneaking around.”

Fang Hong nodded in agreement.

The group left the secret passage, headed north along a path through the ruins, and soon saw firelight ahead. Fang Hong looked towards that direction, recognizing it as the excavation site he had seen before.

He turned around and whispered, ”Miss Atira, do you still have the Law-Eating Vine?”

The Elf Miss nodded without saying much and threw out a plant. The vine landed on the ground, quickly coming to life and spreading stealthily in a particular direction.

Seeing this, Fang Hong understood without Atira needing to explain that there was a spell effect in that direction.

But he wasn’t in a rush; he had prepared beforehand and took out a construct similar to the Stalker Ts-1, throwing it forward. The construct landed on the ground like a dead leaf, spreading open automatically. Fleeting spots of light seemed to flash in the air.

This was a Disturber, a variant of the Stalker equipped with interference modules, although it couldn’t interfere with most Elementalists or Magic Guided Conductors’ spells. However, it was often effective against stationary barrier-type Scouting Spells.

The Disturber, once charged, could be used three times, each lasting about five minutes. Moreover, it was made of special materials, so most spells couldn’t detect it.

Fang Hong saw the flickering light spots and understood that the Disturber had taken effect. He immediately signaled to the others, indicating that they should follow him through the passage created by the Disturber.

However, when passing the Disturber, he didn’t retrieve it, planning to return this way later.

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