It was obvious that the sudden change in the atmosphere was caused by Earl Black and Wai.
However, it wasn't just Earl Black and Wai who made the atmosphere more tense.
Dorcas and Kal also had something to do with it. They weren't afraid of the stench, but they didn't want to go through the sewers either.
Who would want to go to the sewers if they could walk normally?
Besides, they didn't know what was going on in the sewers. The sewers were filled with the dark energy that the Witch's Eyes absorbed. The dark energy had nourished countless monsters for tens of thousands of years.
Besides, the monsters living in the sewers also followed the law of survival of the strong.
Weaker monsters such as the mutated squirrels had to leave the sewers if they didn't want to be wiped out.
They didn't have much trouble dealing with the squirrels, but that was only because of the illusion. If they faced the squirrels head-on, the sea of squirrels would definitely cause them a lot of trouble.
Mutated squirrels, on the other hand, were nothing but weak monsters that had to be banished from the sewers.
In other words, they didn't just have to deal with the stench, they also had to face many powerful monsters.
How strong would these monsters be after being nourished by the "dark energy" for so many years? No one could tell.
This was also the reason why Dorcas and Kael were silent as well.
"So this path really leads to the sewers?" Dorcas was the first to break the silence. "I've been thinking. Back when Nether City built the underground maze, they spent a lot of money on it. Isn't it a little too extravagant to build a path that only leads to the sewers? "
Dorcas sighed. "I always thought that there would be a fork in the path. Who would have thought that the people who built the maze would be so extravagant?"
After Dorcas finished speaking, Wai hurriedly nodded as well, "That's what I thought as well. There must be a fork in the road here. But it turned out to be a dead end. "
Angor sensed the gloomy atmosphere and thought for a moment. "First of all, you have a wrong idea. The concept of a maze was given to us by the people who came after us. This place used to be an underground sewer. A dead end and a path of life are the only things we know about this underground sewer. "
"Also, even if this place is a maze, it's not a dead end. The road in the smelly ditch was indeed not easy to walk on, but it was still a road. Moreover, we call it a smelly ditch now because no one has cleaned it up for ten thousand years. But in the past, the smelly ditch definitely had sewage treatment. To put it bluntly, it was just an ordinary road back then. "
"So, treat this place as a maze, and that place is also a path. It's just that after ten thousand years, some 'ingredients' have been added to that path. "
It was not that they did not understand what Angor was talking about. However, times had changed.
After a moment of silence, Count Dark finally spoke, "Angor is right. That's a path. Since we've already come this far, we can't retreat because of such a small matter. "
The Black Earl expressed his stance, and the second half of his sentence was a warning to Wa Yi not to think about turning back.
Angor was surprised by Count Dark's sudden support. Logically speaking, as a nose, the Black Earl should dislike smelly gutters the most, but he was the first to accept it … Was this the pattern of a great wizard?
Count Dark continued, "Besides, with Angor's purification field, we don't need to worry about getting dirty. Red Sword Dorcas should be able to clear the way for us if we run into any monsters. "
Angor was speechless. That's it? He would be the purifier, and Dorcas would be the troll.
Earlier, Count Dark kept calling Angor "brat". Now, he even called Angor by his title.
At least he knew when to yield and when to stand tall.
However, a trace of dissatisfaction appeared on Dorcas's face at this arrangement.
Count Dark continued, "Also, I used a little Danger Sense just now. Ahem, not Prophecy. I've already used up my Prophecy reserves. I only activated a type of spiritual perception similar to Dorcas', and made a comprehensive perception of the danger ahead. "
"The result is good. I think that at least this stinking ditch shouldn't be too dangerous. "
The Black Earl's words were meant to appease Dorcas.
Angor did not know whether he succeeded or not, but he did not sense any energy ripples from the stone slab that contained Count Dark's nose.
Danger Sense? Like hell I'd believe that.
Count Dark's Prophecy reserves did not cause any ripples when he used it. Therefore, when the Black Earl said that he had used up the borrowed Prophecy Spell, he was lying from the start.
No wonder Count Dark expressed his opinion first. It was not about the layout of the place. Count Dark simply did not need to do anything. He could just stay inside the purification field, which was similar to the current situation.
Angor knew what Count Dark was trying to do. However, Count Dark was always on him, so he probably knew Angor would figure it out sooner or later. Even so, Count Dark still spoke up. There was no way Angor would expose him.
And Count Dark was right. Angor did not need to expose Count Dark. The most important thing right now was to lure everyone into the ditch.
It would be too late to tell them to go back once they entered the ditch.
Angor did not say anything. He only looked at Dorcas and Kael quietly.
As for Wai, he did not need to. Since Count Dark already expressed his opinion, Wai would not refuse.
Although Dorcas didn't really want to enter the smelly sewers, he was already here, as the saying went.
Since they were already here and had already come this far, there was no need for them to turn back.
What's more, Dorcas wasn't too afraid of dirt and smelly. It was just that if he could avoid it, he didn't want to get it either.
"You're right. We're already here. It's pointless to look back now. Let's go. If we don't go now, the others will catch up with us soon. "
"Don't worry about it. They're almost here. They've already passed through the second tunnel, and they're not far from Daytime's location. "
Once they reached Daytime's location, they would cross a smooth path and reach the living area of the Witch's Eyes.
The Black Earl said, "By the way, the smell of this group of people is quite compatible with the underground maze. There's even a faint smell of old and stinky sewers. They must be a group that frequents the underground maze. I think they're very good at solving problems here. "
Gray Merchant and his men were indeed good at solving problems in the underground maze. Thus, when Dorcas found out about this, he was even more unwilling to wait.
The Witch's Eyes might be able to stop them for a while, but it would not last long.
With that in mind, Dorcas took the lead and moved forward.
No one else had any objections, and Kael naturally went with the flow. He didn't say anything as he followed Dorcas forward.
With Dorcas leading the way, the group sped up. After a few seconds, they arrived at the end of the maze and saw the pitch-black hole that was connected to the smelly ditch.
They never saw the gutter up close before, so they thought it was just a hole in the ground.
But in fact, the hole leading to the gutter was dark, but it was not as primitive as a hole in the ground. There was a well-built staircase, and the materials used to build it were not careless either.
This proved that Angor was right. The sewers back then must be completely different from what they were seeing now. Maybe there was a living area in the gutter back then.
Since they were inside the purification field, they could not sense the smell of the outside world, so they were not too afraid of the gutter. Dorcas still took the initiative to walk at the very front. He was the first to descend the stairs, and the others followed closely behind.
As they went down, the smell around them grew thicker and thicker. The foul, dark energy was everywhere, and there was no space for them to move around. Even Velvet had returned to the moving illusion.
From Speed Spirit's return, it could be seen how bad the situation outside was.
Without Velvet's Wind Sense, it was hard to tell what was going on. As for the others, they did not want to extend their spirit feelers outside the purification field either.
Angor considered and asked Elmi to spread out his shadow so that he could check the outside world.
Elmi accepted the order without hesitation. Angor sighed in relief when he saw that the shadow didn't do anything wrong.
He had to admit that Black Earl's words made him a little wary of Elmi. Now that he knew Elmi's mind was still connected, and he could use Elmi's vision to observe the outside world, Angor felt much better.
Being connected with Elmi's mind meant that Elmi had no privacy in front of Angor. Angor could sense all of Elmi's emotions and distracting thoughts.
He could even read the information Elmi stole from the other Witch's Eyes if he wanted to.
He had absolute control over Elmi's mind. This was how powerful the Distorted Seed could be.
Through the connection, Angor confirmed that Elmi was fine and did not show too much emotion. There was still too much information floating in his shadow, but it would not affect him for now. He just needed to do a thorough check once he left.
In a flash, they walked down the stairs that were about 20 meters high.
The dark aura was still floating around them. Without the detection of the psychic tentacles, they didn't know where to go at this time.
Luckily, they still had Elmi.
Using Elmi's vision, Angor got a general idea of what was going on.
Overall, the gutter looked no different from the maze above. There were still high walls, cliffs, and magic arrays. The only two differences were the presence of dark, foul energy, and the mottled, damp ground. Occasionally, they could see long puddles of dirty water.
Because this place was too damp, coupled with the contamination of the filthy air, the walls and ground here showed signs of corrosion. Some of the magic arrays inside the gutter were even exposed to the air. Some of them had even lost their effectiveness.
Angor used his illusion to simulate what he saw. The illusion solved the problem of vision and prevented them from being blinded.
"That's about it. Currently, there are two paths. I suggest we continue forward. The path at the back is even more dilapidated than this one, and the damage to the magic array is also more severe. If the Stairs of Hanging Prison were to be built in a sewer, it would definitely have the best protection … "
With that, he looked at the others and waited for their opinions.
"We'll do as you say. There are only two paths, and the Stairs of Hanging Prison shouldn't be too far away. If we can't find it, we can always come back," said Dorcas.
The Black Earl didn't have any objections. Thus, everyone continued on their journey. Their goal was the road ahead.
Angor kept updating them on the outside, which allowed them to learn more about the Stinking Sewer. As long as they could break through the barrier set by the "unknown", they would have a better idea of what to expect, no matter how difficult it was.
"Aside from the foul energy, this place is not much different from the surface. Maybe in a hundred or a thousand years, the surface will become like this … even more ruined. " Dorcas sighed and looked around. "Speaking of which, I don't see any monsters here."
Dorcas thought Count Dark was just trying to comfort him when he said the place was not dangerous. But now, it seemed that Count Dark was right.
Angor knew that Count Dark got the answer through a prophecy spell. However, Count Dark only gave him an answer. He did not say why.
Angor asked Count Dark in private, but Count Dark's answer was vague and sounded like some kind of swindler.
But after spending so much time with White Bear, Angor was very familiar with this kind of "slang".
To put it bluntly, Count Dark himself did not know why he gave such an answer. But as long as he said something stupid and used fate as an excuse, he would immediately look cool.
Count Dark did not give any constructive suggestions, but Angor began to think about several possibilities.
They were not far from the Stairs of Hanging Prison. Maybe the creator of this place already considered that the foul energy would affect the Stairs of Hanging Prison, so he set up some defenses in advance?
Or maybe this place was actually the territory of a powerful monster, and other monsters did not dare to invade?
Angor was more inclined to believe the first possibility. If there really was a powerful monster, how did the Wood Spirit escape into the Stairs of Hanging Prison from outside?
Normally speaking, a newborn Wood Spirit was only a little bit faster than a Stone Spirit. If even a Wood Spirit could escape into the Stairs of Hanging Prison, it meant this place was not that dangerous.
After walking for about three hundred meters, the road began to widen, and the black energy around them grew thicker.
As the road widened, they finally saw the "Stinking Gutter".
Literally, it was a stinking gutter.
In other words, it was the sewer pipe of Nether City.
Angor did not ask Ell to check what was inside the long gutter. Mainly because the viscous liquid inside the gutter was black. Just by looking at its color, Angor could already smell the horrible stench.
Ell was hiding in Angor's shadow. Even if Angor could not smell it, he still felt uncomfortable seeing Ell, who had spent a lot of time in the gutter.
The real Stinking Gutter had appeared, and the corrosion on the wall was getting worse. However, there were still no monsters around.
As everyone remained cautious and doubtful, they suddenly saw a faint light in front of them.
When they got closer to the source of the light, they realized that the light came from a fork in the road.
Yes, a fork in the road.
The first fork in the road after entering the Stinking Gutter appeared.
However, everyone only felt their hair standing on end when they saw the light. They did not intend to change their path at all.
Because the fork was not on the road, but on the wall.
It looked very similar to the small hole on the wall. Or rather, it looked exactly the same except for the light.
If the Black Earl did not leave a marker beside the hole, they might think that the dog hole was a path leading to an unknown place. Who would have thought that the hole on the wall could close on its own and open again when it sensed someone alive?
They did not know if this hole was the same as the one before, but they did not want to take that path.
Besides, the light looked too much like a bait.
As if it was inviting people to go through.
Other people might be attracted by the light when they saw the darkness. However, with Ell and Angor's help, their vision was not affected. They did not want to go through a narrow path that might be dangerous.
They ignored the small path and quickly walked past it.
When they turned a corner and could no longer see the light, Dorcas spoke, "Mister Black Earl, did you leave a scent marker around the hole? Is it closed now? "
The Black Earl did not answer.
Angor sighed. "You can leave a Wizard's Eye there for yourself. Do you think the Black Earl will do the same if you don't? "
Dorcas was speechless. That was true.
Angor continued, "But it's easy if you want to know if the hole is closed or not."
As he spoke, he displayed a screen in front of everyone.
There was a light spot at the edge of the screen. But slowly, this light spot was extinguished.
"I secretly placed a mechanical object without any fluctuations at a place far away from the light spot — the Eye of the Puppet."
You can see that the spot has gone out, which means … it's closed. "
The Black Earl used the light in the darkness to attract their attention, but Angor could also use the same method to determine whether the hole was closed or not.
Now that they knew the answer, they were even more terrified of the fork.
They did not know if the dog hole was a trap or something else, but they were sure that they would pay a terrible price if they chose to go through it.
"Could this cave be the same as the one from before?" Kael asked, swallowing hard.
The Black Earl remained silent for a moment. "I don't know. The hole is closed, so we can't tell. But I don't think so. "
"But don't worry about it. It doesn't matter if it's alive or not. As long as you don't go in, you'll be fine."
Kael's face was still filled with worry. "That's true, but if the dog hole is magnified several times and stands on the ground, it will be hard to tell."
Kael's fears were not unfounded.
If something like that really happened, it would be hard to guard against it.
Everyone who originally thought that they had avoided a disaster felt a faint shadow once again cast over their hearts.
(End of Chapter)
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