...
The group continued their journey, encountering several waves of Ghosteye Witches blocking their path, but as long as these Ghosteye Witches were in a "fusion cultivation" state, Angel handled them as he did initially.
If they weren’t fusing, things were even simpler. Such Ghosteye Witches were usually solitary, and one could simply walk past them with the Moving Mirage ensuring they wouldn’t be detected.
Even though they didn’t encounter any danger along the way, it’s undeniable that the dark alleys are favored environments for Ghosteye Witches.
The frequency of encountering Ghosteye Witches kept increasing.
"If it weren’t for Lord Chaowei’s Illusionary Realm, we’d have no choice but to fight our way through. See, we should’ve taken the Little Garden route in the first place," Vay’s complaints resurfaced, while complimenting his idol and criticizing an old friend.
"Nothing happened, and it was pretty safe, wasn’t it?" Dox’s current demeanor was much lazier, unlike his previous stern demeanor. While Vay grumbled about it, their path was already this far, and unless they encountered an unbeatable foe, turning back wasn’t an option.
Vay curled his lips: "Safety isn’t something you brought."
While the two were bickering, the end of the dark alley was finally near; a faint light was visible ahead.
However, before leaving the dark alley, they had to deal with a group of four Ghosteye Witches tangled together.
Even though they knew these creatures were cultivating, their posture was the most shameful they had ever seen. Even those spinning around were more creative than these four Ghosteye Witches.
With the cooperation between Angel and Speedy, they still easily made their way past them.
Nevertheless, Dox kept looking back, occasionally nodding, seemingly having gained some insights, as if internally commenting on those eye-scorching poses.
There was no need to guess; Dox’s mind was undoubtedly filled with indecent thoughts. Angel, however, didn’t mind since he was only thinking and hadn’t voiced them to poison the younglings.
When they finally walked out of the dark alley, the view instantly opened up.
Though a few buildings blocked the way ahead, peering through the gaps allowed them to see the location of the entrance.
"See, this route is quite safe, isn’t it?" Dox exclaimed proudly now.
Vay: "Taking the Gemini Towers or the Little Garden might have been safer and wouldn’t have wasted so much time!"
Dox: "I’m just being cautious. Think about it, aren’t there risks with the Gemini Towers and Little Garden? Even small risks could pose some danger to us. On our route, the biggest threat was just those insignificant Ghosteye Witches."
Dox wasn’t wrong, but Vay seemed to just ignore his words.
Dox didn’t care and hummed a tune cheerfully, looking quite relaxed.
However, Angel could feel that Dox’s emotions were still tense. Although Dox’s choices seemed correct so far, there was still some distance to cover before reaching the entrance.
No one knew if there would be any incidents along this stretch.
Only when they finally reached the entrance smoothly did the battle between Dox and his inspiration conclude.
On the other hand, the others, upon leaving the dark alley, immediately looked around to confirm there was no danger.
Luckily, this place was an open plaza in front of those buildings. Although Ghosteye Witches were numerous, finding a safe path to the opposite side was still quite simple.
This time, not just Angel but also Kaier and Vay started learning how to plan routes.
Since the plaza was small, their route planning speed was relatively quick, and in the end, the routes they planned differed.
This was actually a good thing, indicating that there were plenty of gaps in the plaza, allowing the Moving Mirage to perform.
Any route chosen would do as it generally avoided the Ghosteye Witches, but Angel still planned to let Dox decide. Moreover, he hadn’t seen Dox’s planned route yet.
With this in mind, Angel turned to look at Dox.
Dox was standing on a high platform, constantly gazing toward the center of the plaza.
Angel glanced at the center; there the Ghosteye Witches were densely packed, seemingly forming a small mountain.
It seemed to be another method of "fusion cultivation" for the Ghosteye Witches.
"Stop staring and come pick a route," Angel said to Dox through the Mind Ribbon.
Dox took a long time to reply: "Tsk tsk, I didn’t expect there to be such a beautiful one among the Ghosteye Witches. This is the first time I’ve seen one, very interesting."
After speaking, Dox even took out a Photostone, intending to document the distant scene.
After recording, Dox jumped off the high platform and said to the speechless Angel: "I’m documenting precious data, you don’t understand. You don’t believe me? I’ll show you."
Without giving Angel a chance to refuse, Dox directly activated the Photostone.
A curse was already bubbling up Angel’s throat, but when he saw the image from the Photostone, he was suddenly stunned.
Not just Angel, but the two apprentices were also dumbfounded.
While they were planning routes, they didn’t notice that there was such a special Ghosteye Witch in the plaza.
Indeed, special.
The mound of Ghosteye Witches Angel previously noticed wasn’t engaging in fusion cultivation; instead, they were guarding a particularly unique Ghosteye Witch in the center.
This Ghosteye Witch stood on the statue pedestal of the fountain. The statue had long crumbled, and the pedestal seemed like a display stage instead.
It twisted its waist, and the entire posture was exceedingly enchanting. Even its hair was entirely different from the others’ messy tangles, not only neatly combed but also held in place by a forehead chain.
Moreover, this Ghosteye Witch was not dressed in tattered clothes but wore a complete white cloak, seemingly made from some Extraordinary Material. Yet, the Ghosteye Witch lacking tailoring skills, simply wrapped it around itself, adorning it with various beautiful chains and decorations like turquoise, rubies, and cat’s eye stones.
Even without tailoring, it was considerably beautiful.
This was a Ghosteye Witch with a sense of gender, aesthetics, and even knew how to dress itself.
Even judged by human aesthetic standards, this Ghosteye Witch was quite beautiful. Of course, its essence remained a monster with purple scales; it was just that grooming and dressing made it a fresh sight.
"How is it, isn’t it unique? This is definitely precious documentary data! Selling it to a gossip magazine will surely earn rave reviews." Seeing everyone stunned, Dox couldn’t help but feel proud.
After speaking, Dox even glanced at the Black Earl, wanting to gauge his reaction.
The Black Earl rarely responded to Dox.
"A Ghosteye Witch with this kind of self-managing awareness likely possesses an abundance of fused information, already breaking through the seeds of wisdom. I’d estimate this creature isn’t far from the Wizard Level."
"However, even among Wizard Level Ghosteye Witches, those with such self-managing awareness are rare. I must admit, this Ghosteye Witch is indeed unusual."
It was the first time even the Black Earl had encountered such a well-groomed Ghosteye Witch.
Additionally, this Ghosteye Witch had awakened self-managing awareness, which was quite exceptional.
A Ghosteye Witch with self-managing awareness means it only needs to take one more step to communicate normally with other species. For Wizards interested in studying Ghosteye Witches, this would be a fascinating subject.
While the Black Earl had little interest in studying Ghosteye Witches and gave a brief comment, he found Angel’s reaction intriguing.
Though both Kaier and Vay appeared astonished at the unique Ghosteye Witch, their surprise was plainly written on their faces and easy to read.
Angel was different; he did show signs of surprise, but even more so, there was a pondering and puzzled look.
Such an expression was quite rare on Angel.
The last time he had this look was when he saw that statue in the living quarters.
Now, seeing this Ghosteye Witch triggered the same expression. What could be the reason behind it?