Pillar of Yita

The Lion People turned their head and looked at Fang Hong beside them with silver-gray eyes. Fang Hong secretly gave a thumbs-up to the Big Cat. He actually had thought this Dwarf Monster might be more familiar with this place than they were, but unlike the others, he didn’t know how to deal with this simple-minded Dwarf Monster.

Alice withdrew her dagger unwillingly, wishing she could stab two holes in the Dwarf Monster with her gaze, and said irritably, ”Mr. Reed, why do I feel like it’s you Paladins who are best at lying, you’ve completely deceived this little thing.”

”Did I lie?” Reed chuckled softly, ”Not really. We’re not interested in its secrets anyway. Once we leave this place, who will remember the secret path here? The so-called secret is only a secret when held by someone valuable. To it, it’s priceless, but to us, it’s just a road.”

Alice pursed her lips.

”But I feel Mr. Reed is really good at dealing with them, I wouldn’t be able to do that,” Gita couldn’t help but say.

”I’m also good at dealing with Parker.”

The Big Cat People said casually.

Fang Hong nearly sprayed out his nosebleed after hearing this, thinking, Parker really owes you a thank you.

The place was actually not far from here.

They reached their destination after just a few minutes, still cutting through a dense thicket. The secret path mentioned by Gulang was located on a rock wall, where there was a collapsed fissure, stout roots growing out from underneath the crack, seemingly forcing open the crevice between the rocks.

When looking into the crevice in the darkness, it was pitch-black, like a rabbit hole but much larger. The fissure was about half human-high, allowing someone to bend over and pass through, though it was uncertain how deep or long it extended inside, the confined space gave an oppressive feeling from a psychological standpoint.

Generally speaking, crawling through such a hole truly requires some courage—yet Gulang looked at the entrance as if it were no big deal, even rubbed his hands excitedly and bent down to crawl in. After a while, it popped up its head like a groundhog and waved to them, ”We’re here, this is Gulang’s secret path, follow Gulang closely, Gulang will lead you through.”

Alice and Gita frowned tightly at the entrance. Alice was fine as a member of the Rain Listener Brigade, having experienced far harsher trials, hesitated briefly before bowing her head and going in—she was the Nightingale Scout, naturally leading the way.

But Gita, staring at the dark entrance, almost took a deep breath and only reluctantly bit her teeth to make up her mind, drawing up her robe to stoop and prepare to enter. However, Fang Hong approached from behind, patted her shoulder and said, ”Gita, stay behind me, if we encounter any trouble, I’ll tell you to run, just run.”

Gita was slightly stunned, looked up at him, then nodded firmly.

The Big Cat People were the last to enter the crevice, they looked at the intertwining roots and said, ”This place was opened with pure natural strength, now I know why the little one said this was a gift from Moenyalit, but fortunately it wasn’t a path it excavated, otherwise I wouldn’t have made it in.”

Fang Hong nodded.

Between the two of them was Gita, in front was Alice, and once inside the underground cave, the space became increasingly low, until they almost had to crawl forward. Although it accommodated them, it was equally cramped for the Big Cat People, even squeezed in.

They took out the Clockwork Fairy from their bosom, thought for a while and put it back—the Night Vision module worked in dim environments, but not in complete darkness, it wouldn’t work in this enveloping magical blackness.

The Combat Artisan wasn’t omnipotent after all.

...

The Holy White Stone Guild people were whispering in discussion.

Time Reflection looked at the burned Tree People not far away, their charred large branches stood bare on the ground, with approximately seven or eight bodies, dark fog filled the air, and there seemed to be a whiff of burnt charcoal in the air.

They frowned, not wanting to partake in such combat, the Grey Treant was friendly to the Chosen, they had no reason to attack. But it was the guild’s order, and it wouldn’t be them taking action anyway, Time Reflection almost observed the combat from the sidelines, just like before, they were powerless to stop it, each time it was the Twilight Guild who first acted.

The whispers grew louder, and there were more people in the Holy White Stone Guild questioning this action, Time Reflection wasn’t the only one feeling uneasy, others also finding it increasingly unbearable:

”Why are we helping the Twilight Guild do such things?”

”What benefit does this bring us?”

”Yeah, I initially planned to boost my standing with the Grey Treant, and now this mess.”

”Don’t mention standing, do you really think the Grey Treant is easy to provoke? We’ve killed their kind here, who knows how we’ll end this, not to mention those Crystal Monsters outside, they’re not particularly friendly either?”

”Where is the Twilight Guild, let them come explain this ridiculous task, if they keep silent, I’m not sticking around.”

”Exactly.”

The Captain of the Holy White Stone Guild watched their members, talking non-stop, and for a time didn’t intervene—this wasn’t the first time—the Holy White Stone Guild wasn’t exactly a Grand Guild, even among the top ten, there were core and non-core members.