Chapter 2686 Position <TOC> Chapter 2688 Mental Journey
Translator: SumTLMan
After waiting for quite a while, there was still no response.
Angel spoke again: “Are you really not coming out?”
He tried using words to lure it, saying things like “If you don’t come out, I’m leaving,” “I’m about to count down,” “3, 2, 1… I’ll count down again, this is the last time.”
No matter what he said, the so-called “countdown” was repeated several times, yet the surroundings remained silent.
Angel sighed, quietly muttering: “What a pity, I couldn’t trick it out.”
Then he turned around and looked at everyone: “Let’s go, we’ll continue.”
With that, Angel turned decisively and continued forward.
Watching Angel’s back, the group exchanged looks.
“Did my lord really find the Wood Spirit?” Vai asked doubtfully.
“He just said he couldn’t trick it out, so surely that means…” Daus started to say “surely,” but then remembered Angel’s sly behavior back in Princess Town. Such a scheming person could easily make a true statement sound false.
Moreover, during this entire journey, Angel rarely did meaningless things. If that was purely an act, wasn’t it a bit too much fuss?
Thinking this, Daus took back his certainty and changed his phrasing: “It’s probably false… I guess.”
Vai thought for a moment and looked over at Kael.
It might seem they were inside the Hanging Prison Stairs, but in truth, it was merely an illusion constructed by Angel. Even if the Wood Spirit appeared, so long as Angel didn’t update the illusion, they wouldn’t see the Wood Spirit. Of course, the Wood Spirit wouldn’t see them either.
Among them, only Kael had entered the Hanging Prison Stairs with Angel. So if they wanted to know what was really happening, aside from Angel himself, Kael was the best source.
But Kael was just as bewildered at that moment.
Seeing Vai looking his way, Kael returned the gaze with equal confusion: “I didn’t see anything at all. Is the Wood Spirit actually here?”
Kael wasn’t certain either. Presumably, only the Sovereign of Wisdom knew the inside story. But Vai didn’t dare question the Sovereign of Wisdom outright, so he cast a surreptitious glance at Daus, signaling him to inquire.
However, before Daus could respond to that “hint,” the Black Count’s voice came from nearby: “If it’s real, he’ll find a way to make the Wood Spirit emerge. If it’s not, there’s no point discussing it. Let’s just keep watching and we’ll see.”
With these words, the Black Count took the lead in leaving, following Angel’s footsteps into the silent depths.
Since the Black Count had spoken, the others could only go along and follow.
The Sovereign of Wisdom was the last to depart. He stared into the darkness, eyes reflecting doubt. A moment before, he’d truly believed Angel, for Angel’s expression hadn’t seemed like an act at all.
But Angel’s later remark, “couldn’t trick it out”, had confused him.
Yes, even the Sovereign of Wisdom found himself stuck with the same puzzle Vai had.
Although he could sense conditions within the Hanging Prison Stairs via a magic formation, that special apprentice of his, the Wood Spirit, possessed a far more formidable stealth talent than anyone imagined. Unless he personally went inside to search, even someone as knowledgeable as the Sovereign of Wisdom couldn’t confirm the Wood Spirit’s whereabouts.
Hence, he couldn’t say for certain whether Angel’s performance was fake or if he’d actually discovered the Wood Spirit and was calling for it. In the Sovereign of Wisdom’s view, Angel hadn’t appeared to be lying.
Yet Angel also abandoned his efforts and left so decisively, which made the Sovereign of Wisdom feel perplexed.
Nonetheless, what truly puzzled the Sovereign of Wisdom wasn’t merely the truth or falsity of Angel’s words, but Angel himself.
“His actions are odd, he’s harboring hidden secrets, he possesses skill as well as ability… and he’s not yet forty years old.” The Sovereign of Wisdom repeated these labels in his heart. Someone like that, why had he come here?
In the Sovereign of Wisdom’s eyes, Angel could even be seen as a “variable.”
According to the script the Sovereign of Wisdom had set: this group would definitely enter the ruin site, provoke that Goddess, then flee in a panic. By then, the Sovereign of Wisdom would step in to save them, naturally excluding that obviously suspicious individual, the nose.
After granting them a lifesaving favor, he would then probe them about the inner workings of that ruin site, using it to glean the secret of the Goddess.
What happened next wouldn’t really matter. He could kill them or erase their memories of coming here, then let them go. After all, the Noah family was now quite powerful; if they realized what lay hidden here, their influence alone could bring immense trouble to a slumbering Nightfall City.
So, to avoid complications, the Sovereign of Wisdom wouldn’t allow news of this place to escape. Killing them or expunging memories, both were optional. Which method to choose depended on the circumstances at the time and on their attitudes.
But that was all laid out beforehand. Now, he wavered.
All because of Angel.
Angel wasn’t of Noah blood, but the backing behind him was by no means ordinary, perhaps even more powerful than the entire Noah family.
That such a figure would come here was already odd enough, but more than that, each move Angel made always seemed to slip beyond the Sovereign of Wisdom’s expectations.
He was a variable, one that might upend the final outcome.
A variable wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
In his earlier worldview, the Sovereign of Wisdom would have eliminated any variable outright. A variable could disrupt his carefully arranged script; even if it brought unexpected gain, he preferred not to allow it.
But ten thousand years of guarding had subtly shifted his thinking.
He’d once adhered to convention in the name of stability. Yet to spark new collisions of inspiration required not caution, but change.
He’d maintained that stability for ten millennia without the slightest gain. Nightfall City showed no sign of revival; on the contrary, it sank further into decline.
He could hold out for ten thousand years, but not another ten thousand. Not because he lacked patience, but because his life’s journey was nearing its end.
Thus, he yearned for change. Only by changing might he halt the city’s descent.
Wanting to uncover the ruin site’s truths, to dig up the Goddess’ secret, those, too, were pursuits of change.
So far, though, the change he pursued was still bounded by his own script. After so many millennia, caution was second nature to him. The shift he sought was more “innovation within stability.”
But could that approach truly achieve his goals?
Maybe it was time to contemplate a more radical “change.”
Would this young rising star be the variable that brings new life to Nightfall City, so fraught with stagnation?
“Let’s watch a bit longer, watch a bit longer…” the Sovereign of Wisdom said inwardly, once again treading the void path ahead.
…
The Sovereign of Wisdom wasn’t the only one observing. Daus continued to keep a close watch on Angel.
He couldn’t imagine Angel doing senseless things for no purpose. If Angel claimed a “little fellow” was secretly spying on them, and if that was true, Angel would surely do something next.
Yet the more he watched, the more puzzled Daus became.
Angel’s pace was very fast, not stopping at all, as though he truly intended to leave the Hanging Prison Stairs rather than look for the Wood Spirit.
And from start to finish, Angel showed no sign of investigating his surroundings. His gaze was firmly fixed ahead.
Though Daus wasn’t sure whether Angel might be secretly using mental power to scan the area, if one was genuinely searching, mental power alone wouldn’t suffice. Some things are invisible but detectable through mental power, while others escape mental perception but can be spotted visually.
Maybe the Wood Spirit fell into that second category. Or it might require both methods at once.
From what Daus could see, Angel probably wasn’t investigating in secret. He genuinely seemed “eager” to leave.
“So… did I guess wrong again? … And why did I say ‘again’?”
While Daus stood there, lost in doubt, Kael approached Angel.
“Lord, we’re almost at the exit… Are we just leaving like this?”
Originally, Kael wanted to ask whether they ought to keep searching for the Wood Spirit, but remembered he had asked once already, so he felt too embarrassed to do it again and could only hint indirectly.
“We’re already here, so of course we’ll keep going out.”
Angel paused, then continued: “But before we leave, we’ll look for the Wood Spirit.”
Hearing the first half, Kael thought Angel had given up. But when the second half came out, Kael snapped his head up in surprise.
“The Wood Spirit? Lord, you’ve found it?”
Angel gave a cryptic smile: “If I said I hadn’t, would you believe me?”
Kael: “…”
Angel said: “We’re almost there. Let’s go see.”
Angel patted Kael’s shoulder, signaling him to follow.
Kael hesitated for a moment, then nodded and fell in step behind Angel.
Everyone else heard Angel’s words but remained calm now. Mostly because Angel seemed to be playing around with their feelings from the start.
Whether it was real or not, they couldn’t judge. Like the Black Count had said, seeing is believing.
If Angel could hear their thoughts at that moment, he would have felt wronged. As a “narrator,” wasn’t he supposed to create suspense, ups and downs, and a gripping story?
He’d tried so hard, yet reaped no reward. Instead, they labeled him as “toying with us.” Of course he’d feel aggrieved.
But whether that grievance was genuine or feigned, who could say?
In any case, Angel fortunately wasn’t privy to their thoughts, nor did he voice any sense of being wronged, or their nerves might have been stretched to the breaking point all over again.
…
This time, Angel truly did mean it when he said: “We’re almost there.”
Kael followed Angel for barely twenty meters or so before they came to a stop. Looking around, he realized they were back at the fork in the corridor where they’d previously chosen between going left or right.
“Lord, is the Wood Spirit around here somewhere?”
Kael glanced about in confusion. There were no ruins or any unusual objects in sight. If something was hidden, it had to be lurking in the silent void.
Was the Wood Spirit really in the void? If so, how on earth had Angel spotted it?
Angel gave a brief nod, then closed his eyes, as though entering a state of heightened perception.
Kael dared not disturb him, and fretted about whether he should try sensing the area himself… but worried that might spook the Wood Spirit.
He turned to Daus for help.
Daus told him: “Since Gold hasn’t stopped you, you can do whatever you want. Whatever method you prefer.”
After pausing, Daus added: “But let us know the instant you notice anything unusual.”
Angel clearly had no intention of explaining anything, so Daus pinned his hopes on Kael.
Kael tried using mental power, scanning all around, even resorting to space-based techniques, yet still found nothing strange.
Eventually, he gave up in frustration.
That outcome didn’t surprise anyone. Even the Black Count hadn’t detected the Wood Spirit, so how could Kael, still just an apprentice, pull it off?
Though predictable, the idea was intimidating if the Wood Spirit truly was there, and they already knew it was, but still couldn’t pinpoint it. That level of concealment was extraordinary… for a timid being to reach such extremes was oddly admirable.
Getting nothing from Kael, Daus couldn’t rely on Angel, who stood with eyes shut, so he turned to look at the Sovereign of Wisdom.
But the Sovereign of Wisdom kept silent, eyes fixed on Angel.
In the Sovereign of Wisdom’s view, he didn’t know whether the Wood Spirit was here, but he did know Angel’s current spot was extremely special.
This was a central area the Goddess had left behind.
Before, Angel had shattered the painting left by the Goddess. At the time, he said he’d seen that picture before. But now, what reason did he have for standing at the central hub once again?
In the Sovereign of Wisdom’s mind arose speculation: could Angel be connected to that Goddess? Had he come for her?
If yes, were they allies… or enemies?
His thoughts tumbled. He never realized from the start that his fundamental assumption had gone astray.
Angel had nothing whatsoever to do with that so-called Goddess. He didn’t even know who she was. Deciding to return to this fork wasn’t a last-minute notion, either. From the moment he came back through the left corridor, he’d already been narrowing down the Wood Spirit’s likely hiding places.
At that time, Angel considered two possible areas. One was at the far end of the right corridor, the chamber with the vine sculpture. Earlier, there had been two coordinates that resonated with the staff, one in the void of the left corridor, the other inside that chamber on the right. The void on the left was extremely dangerous, so the Wood Spirit would never go there. That left the coordinate at the end of the right corridor.
But when Angel got there, he hadn’t seen the Wood Spirit, only the vine sculpture it had made.
At that point, Angel realized the object resonating with the staff was probably the vine sculpture itself.
If both the left and right coordinates were incorrect, Angel could almost be certain the Wood Spirit had to be in the second area.
And that second area was around this fork.