Chapter 157: The Wager

"There's treasure! Come quick!"

Right after came a location.

The content was basically that Naga Eve, while searching for a hidden spot in Shi Ying Town, had unexpectedly discovered something good and wanted Rod to come help her seize it.

Rod, however, was in no rush.

While sending Miss Xiao Ke and Little Little Bangde back to the woods, he asked about the prophecy.

"The smell of sulfur? A demon-kin?"

Miss Xiao Ke shook her head.

She told Rod that everyone she had seen in the prophecy were humans whose faces she couldn't make out—no demon-kin.

There was nothing to be done about it.

The accumulation of spirituality and magical power could affect the effectiveness of a prophecy.

Generally speaking, if the one casting the prophecy was of a lower rank than the one being prophesied about, the effect would be greatly diminished.

The half-deer Miss Xiao Ke, who had cast the prophecy, had only a fourth-rank accumulation of spirituality.

That was probably why the prophecy was so vague.

She, too, was aware of this problem, and her face showed unwillingness and apology.

"Sorry, it's all because my spirituality is too low. If only my talent were a little better."

Miss Xiao Ke's spiritual talent was not good to begin with.

Without that period of heat when Rod had gone wild dual-cultivating with her using 【Elbert's Amorous Secret Tome】, she probably wouldn't have reached her current rank even in three or four years.

Rod couldn't help reaching out and gently brushing aside her hair.

"If you want to go further, why not come find me alone at night? You know—the time we spent together back then was both very pleasurable and very useful."

The intimate gesture alone had already made the half-deer girl's cheeks flush; that line of talk turned her face into a ripe red apple on the spot.

Head lowered, she stammered, and only after a long while managed a few words.

"Y-you wish!"

"Miss Xiao Ke, you don't want the prophecy being vague to cause something to happen to Little Little Bangde and everyone in the forest, do you?"

"I—"

Miss Xiao Ke was the cute type of girl.

Rod rarely went after that type of girl, but the combination of her budding body and the half-deer's deer form had a strangely erotic quality to it.

Just her blushing face lowered, her graceful deer body trembling slightly, the little white tail on her perked-up bottom swaying gently, was enough to make Rod reminisce about that wonderful week during her heat.

Seeing that she didn't seem to resist, he simply lowered his head and kissed that warm, red cheek.

Soft and dewy, warm.

And there was a fresh body scent mixed with pollen and woody notes.

"I want kisses too!"

Little Little Bangde suddenly spoke up.

Only then did the two of them remember the little horse-girl's presence.

Miss Xiao Ke hurriedly pushed Rod away, pretending not to care as she fanned her face with her hand.

Rod, on the other hand, laughed out loud and kissed the top of the little horse-girl's head.

"I just heard Rod say he's going to make Miss Xiao Ke stronger! I want to get stronger too!"

"You don't need to yet, Little Little Bangde. Your Miss Xiao Ke is only getting my help because she's a dummy."

"You're the dummy!"

Miss Xiao Ke, unconvinced, then pulled the little horse-girl over. "What do you mean 'don't need to yet'? Are you planning to make a move on this child?!"

Rod certainly had no such intention, but he wanted to tease Miss Xiao Ke.

So he shrugged, his face unreadable.

The half-deer girl looked annoyed, then, as if her maternal instincts had burst forth, she softened.

She pleaded:

"At least not now. Little Little Bangde is still young—before then, let me handle it for her, okay?"

"."

The joke seemed to have gone a little too far.

Rod hurried to explain.

But Miss Xiao Ke didn't believe him at all, convinced he would make a move on Little Little Bangde, and begged to handle his lust for the little horse-girl in her place.

The more she spoke, the more intense she got, while Little Little Bangde beside her still wore a blank, confused look.

Seeing that he couldn't talk his way out of it, Rod hurriedly sent them back to the forest and went to find Naga Eve himself.

As for the contents of the prophecy, he also informed Dimia when he got back.

North side of Shi Ying Town, the mining district.

"Took you forever!"

Eve complained.

The Naga's appearance was too eye-catching, so she had recast her spell to take on a human form.

Dressed all in black, medium build—she didn't stir any desire in Rod.

Fortunately, her face hadn't changed: gorgeous and radiant, with some East Asian features.

Rod went in for a hug, but she dodged him easily.

It was working hours in the mining district, with people coming and going.

Luckily, the spot the two of them were in was a bit out of the way—an abandoned mine shaft that had been dug clean, some distance from the currently active areas.

"Get the thing first; afterward, do with me as you please."

Eve stated with open frankness.

It sounded like a ruthless transaction.

This made Rod feel an inexplicable melancholy; he recalled the physical transaction with the Jade Realm and the Ancient Sky Tree.

But then again, to enslave this Naga Princess without force, the main method was to lure her with benefits.

The two shared a soul-deep connection in their bodies, yet their emotions were not particularly deep.

Presumably, it was because this Naga Princess had underestimated the power of the Nu Yi Zhou.

"What's the situation?"

"A ritual seal; I suspect treasure is hidden inside."

"Suspect? Shi Ying Town has quite a few rituals."

It was quite funny; due to the frantic operations in the mining district, quite a few mine tunnels had been dug to unearth incredible things.

For instance, the recent rat-man incursion; they had come up from the dungeon to the surface by following the mine tunnels.

"Let me correct that: it's intuition. You wouldn't disbelieve a Land Naga's intuition, would you?"

She wore a proud expression.

"If you were a half-deer person, it would be one thing, but what's so trustworthy about a Naga's intuition?"

For such a muscle-brained race, believing their intuition was no different from believing the wisdom of kobolds.

"One word: believe it or not? A bet?"

"How do we bet?"

Rod smiled.

"If there isn't any, I challenge swallowing twenty times the usual amount; if there is, you use only your tongue, and you're not allowed to use that thing."

"Hehe, that's interesting. Come on then."

After all, winning or losing made no difference; once the Enchanting Fluid took effect, even if Rod didn't use it, she would cling to him and demand it.

Soon.

The two stepped into the abandoned mine tunnel.

Since both were spiritual warriors, they lacked illumination methods like the Brightness Spell.

Although Rod had practiced accumulating mana for a while, he had not learned spells, so naturally, he could not cast them.

However, the Guardian Veil possessed a Night Vision effect, so that was no problem.

Eve had no related spiritual spells, so she could only produce a staff that came with the Brightness Spell.

The mine tunnel was cramped and narrow.

It was impossible for even the two of them to walk side by side.

Rod went first, Eve followed behind.

There were no monsters here, yet a foul odor constantly lingered.

Looking at the ground, there were even some faint, half-hidden dragging bloodstains.

"This is simply a perfect place for killing and hiding corpses."

It was said that the City Hall had once dealt with these abandoned mine tunnels, and year-round, some mischievous brats would always come in to explore and go missing.

Only that on the day they sealed the entrance with Tu Mu Fa spells, rumors would spread the following year that this mine tunnel was an official secret spell laboratory, with various newspapers scrambling to report on it.

The abandoned mine tunnels in Shi Ying Town, west of Wild Wind City, had already developed into a famous unsolved mystery on the continent.

To the locals, it was somewhat laughable, that was all.

As the two pressed on, they indeed encountered a Tu Mu Fa spell blockage.

However, it had already been smashed through; the traces did not look very old, so it must have been made by Eve.

After proceeding for about half an hour more.

Rod actually did hear some unusual sounds.

"Thump—"

(End of this chapter)