Chapter 1666

Crack crack crack...

Mechanical parts rubbing against each other, the entrance to the underground room opened, and Lilith, who was resting, looked up, seeing nothing unusual; soon the entrance closed, leaving her bewildered—she didn't think Su Xiao was the type to play with opening and closing doors out of boredom.

"Woof."

A dog's bark left Lilith stunned in place; she stiffly turned her head to see a large dog with black-and-white fur and shiny fur squatting beside her.

"??"

Lilith was dumbfounded; in her perception, this dog had never appeared before.

"This is a friendly unit of the demon race."

Su Xiao suddenly spoke.

"Huh?"

Lilith became even more puzzled.

"Woof (I see)."

Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang sized up Lilith from head to toe; upon seeing her goat hooves, it grew interested and gave Su Xiao a questioning look: "Master, this demon girl looks so clueless—are all demons this dull?"

"This should... count as a minority."

"Woof~"

Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang brought its dog face close to Lilith; seeing Xiang Bubu approach, Lilith didn't reject it—instead, she patted Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang's head.

"Hello."

Lilith rarely initiates greetings, and since Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang appeared near her for the first time, she didn't act on it—this suggests the demon girl likely has a favorable impression of canine creatures.

Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang's ears perked up, and it raised a paw to greet Lilith.

However, the innocent Lilith still didn't know that Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang would drastically change her impression of canine creatures—not just change it, but cause a complete upheaval, shattering her worldview entirely.

"Xiang Bubu, don't tease our ally."

Su Xiao took out a map, spread it flat on the table, and Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang wore an innocent expression.

"The goal is simple: find the Ash Sprout. The problem is, we don't even know what the Ash Sprout is."

Su Xiao raised his hand and drew a circle on the map, first excluding the outermost regions of the Atoner Highlands.

"Ash Sprout?"

Lilith seemed to want to say something but, for a moment, didn't know how to begin.

"Do you know what this is?"

Su Xiao turned his gaze toward Lilith; after all, this girl is of the demon race.

"Never heard of it."

"..."

"..."

Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang's expression was nearly turning into a "fixed" character; hearing Lilith's doubtful tone, it still thought she might know something.

"Based on my inference, the Ash Sprout is likely in this area, possibly related to the Soul Vines."

Su Xiao pointed at the central region; Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang understood, raised its paw, and patted its chest—meaning it would take responsibility.

"Withdraw if the situation turns bad during reconnaissance."

"Woof."

"Lilith, you go cause trouble on Hei Ze's turf later—any reason will do; figure out how to draw out Hei Ze's leader."

"No problem."

Although Lilith lacks much experience, she has one advantage: she likes to silently observe and make up for her shortcomings that way.

"Good, then let's begin."

Su Xiao stood up and walked toward the room's exit; currently he is in the mid-stop zone, and investigating the Atoner Highlands' situation is not difficult—Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang handles the Ancestral Forces, Lilith handles Hei Ze, and Su Xiao secretly observes Lilith's side; he wants to first confirm Hei Ze's situation, and if Hei Ze doesn't have the Ash Sprout, he will focus everything on the Ancestral Forces.

Five hours later, after splitting up, in Su Xiao's underground residence.

Only to see Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang sitting on the sofa, its hind legs twitching uncontrollably—thump thump thump—with that desperate little gaze, as if it had fallen into a feces pit.

Seeing Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang's state, Su Xiao tried hard not to laugh, but his mouth twitched anyway.

Seeing Su Xiao's mouth twitch, Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang let out a loud "wail," clearly meaning: "This little master is almost scared into becoming a dog, and you're still laughing at me? Hurry up and give this master a cigarette—I need to smoke to calm down."

"Speak—what did you find?"

Seeing Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang's expression, Su Xiao knew this drama queen must have made a major discovery.

"Woof."

"Found it?"

"Woof!"

"That thing is indeed in the central area."

Su Xiao felt half the weight lift from his heart—though he had previously guessed the Ash Sprout was in the central area, i. e., the Ancestral Forces' territory, he lacked solid evidence and couldn't change his actions based on mere speculation.

Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang hadn't fallen into a feces pit—it had fallen into a corpse pit, a pit of walking corpses, containing hundreds of thousands of them.

Originally, Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang had entered the central area via Shanfeng, but who would have thought that Shanfeng was actually hollow? Due to long-term weathering and corrosion, some spots had become extremely fragile, like traps, so Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang fell straight in.

Suddenly falling into the corpse pit, even if Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang was blending into the environment, it nearly got scared into shock—if not for its dog claws desperately pinching the philtrum, it might have already gone into shock.

"Continue."

Su Xiao rubbed his forehead—heaven knows whether Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang even has a philtrum—Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang cleared its throat and began to continue narrating.

After that, things were simple: Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang's location was a large canyon; walking out from inside the hollow Shanfeng, it saw an altar, and floating above the altar was a cluster of gray ash—that was exactly the Ash Sprout.

"Xiang Bubu, near that altar, did you see any transparent vines?"

"Woof."

"Are all the vines around here that kind?"

Su Xiao's thoughts raced—Black Ze's side no longer needed attention; the Ashen Sprout had nothing to do with them, the situation was now clear: the Ashen Sprout lay within the Ancestor's territory, and it was connected to the soul vines.

What the Ashen Sprout was didn't matter, nor whether it was symbiotic or induced by the soul vines; what mattered was how to seize it.

When Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang arrived, the situation gradually shifted in Su Xiao's favor—this was the power of information.

"Bubu, how much impact can that thing withstand?"

"Wuu~"

Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang shuffled backward, already guessing what Su Xiao intended to do.

"Like this? In one hour, we enter the Ancestor's territory."

"Do I come too?"

For some reason, Lilith suddenly felt an instinctive resistance—she simply did not want to take part in this, and very much so.

"Of course."

"Well… okay."

Lilith nodded thoughtfully; if given a chance to choose again, she would learn to refuse.

One hour later, Su Xiao loaded a glass tube as thick as an arm into his travel pack; from the exposed fragment, he could see the tube wrapped in a metal frame, with bubbles rising from the solution inside—unknown what it soaked.

Crack-crack-crack...

Su Xiao drew the bowstring of a heavy crossbow with great force.

"Depart."

Su Xiao threw the travel pack to Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang; though Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang caught it, he handled it with unusual care.

Watching Su Xiao's retreating back, Lilith felt a sense of unreality—were they really going to assault the Ancestor's lair? Just these people? Wasn't this just suicide?

Exactly—Su Xiao intended to assault the Ancestor's lair, but he would not clash head-on with the Ancestor's forces.

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