Angel: "Dox isn’t alone now, with the Black Earl around. If inspiration assessed that Dox would face risk but not die, then it might have opted to conceal."
Black Earl: "That reason I accept, but you still haven’t directly answered why the inspiration would deliberately conceal from Dox?"
Angel actually, before asking, didn’t know the answer.
But through discussing with Black Earl, or rather, under Black Earl’s guidance, an answer started to emerge.
And this answer had been vaguely hinted at by the Black Earl before.
"Dox has begun to doubt himself," Angel said softly.
The Mind Ribbon remained silent for a long time before Black Earl’s voice came through. This time, Black Earl’s voice carried a hint of laughter: "You sure are good at guessing."
"So, was I right?" Angel asked.
"I don’t know either." Black Earl gave the same response, but then added meaningfully: "Inspiration is like divination; the more ambiguous it is, the harder it is to see through. So sometimes living a little muddled isn’t such a bad thing."
Angel pondered for a moment, then laughed: "I think I get it. Unfortunately, my inspiration is hit or miss, and I really can’t imagine what it’s like to have inspiration on the level of divination."
After a pause, Angel didn’t dwell on Dox’s inspiration but asked instead: "Did you sense anything back in the residential area?"
This time, Black Earl answered normally: "I did smell a foul stench, lurking deeper underground. It doesn’t feel too troublesome to deal with, but it’s not easy either. Probably a bit stronger than that demon creature of yours."
Black Earl spoke lightly, but being stronger than the Earl Mi... that would mean at least a Level 1 True Knowledge level.
If we encounter it, it might indeed pose a big problem. However, it’s basically impossible to kill us.
No wonder Dox’s inspiration didn’t warn him.
While they were chatting, the group had already returned to the forked path.
No need to explore the right side now, only two options remain: left or center.
The left side has many mutated carrion squirrels, while the center has none. From this, it seems the left might be safer than the center.
After all, mutated carrion squirrels are also magical creatures, and magical creatures tend to seek good fortune and avoid danger. The absence of mutated carrion squirrels in the center might mean there’s something even they wouldn’t dare disturb.
"How about we go left?" Kaier said in a low voice.
"You’re not the leader, let the leader decide." Vay immediately retorted: "I personally think voting would be better."
Vay still wanted to help Angel and continue to coax Dox.
However, Angel no longer needed Dox to help with the choice.
Because Dox had already entered a stage of self-doubt, and it was possible he’d purposely mislead, even deliberately give incorrect guidance.
So this time... or rather, until Dox has completely mastered his inspiration, they can’t rely on his intuition anymore.
"No voting this time, we’re going down the center." Angel said calmly.
Vay was taken aback: "Sir, did you find a familiar path?"
Angel: "No, only when we see the statue of the peeing boy will we have found a familiar path."
Vay: "Then why do you want to..." choose the center?
Vay secretly hoped for a vote, preferably to go left, because the center clearly seemed dangerous.
Looking at Vay’s conflicted expression, Angel joked: "Didn’t you just say let the leader decide? Now that I’ve decided to go down the center, why are you hesitating?"
Vay’s face flushed with warmth, scratching his head unsure of what to say. He had just opposed Kaier purely to push for a vote!
Since Vay is a junior of the Noah Clan, Angel didn’t tease him too much, and he changed the subject: "Let’s go, after all, it’s just so many paths. It’s normal for a maze to wind around. Who knows, maybe we’ll end up looping back left."
"Don’t jinx it..." Dox muttered softly.
Angel: "I’m just speaking the truth. Haven’t you ever played maze puzzles? You’ve missed a lot of childhood fun then."
While saying this, Angel started walking down the center path.
With no other choice, the others followed Angel.
Only Dox remained at the back, casting a hesitant glance toward the left path.
Since the ten-meter range of the Illusionary Realm was a safe zone, Angel stopped just outside of it, waiting for Dox to make a decision.
"What, do you have other thoughts? Feel free to share." Angel asked with a smile.
Seeing this, Vay was overjoyed; could it be that Dox’s intuition tells him to go left? Does it mean they might go left after all?
However, Vay’s excitement didn’t last long. Dox stood at the forked path, silent for over ten seconds, before closing his eyes, saying nothing, and heading straight down the center path.
At that moment, neither Vay nor Kaier understood what Dox was going through.
But Angel and Black Earl knew well that Dox was likely at the final stage of self-doubt. Clearly, an intuition had emerged earlier, prompting him to go left, yet after pondering for a moment, Dox said nothing, and simply followed Angel down the center path.
This wasn’t an easy decision.
Dox had evaded countless risks thanks to his intuition; it was his life-saving trump card. But now, Dox was contradicting his intuition, making a completely opposite choice, which was a decision of unimaginable difficulty.
"Let’s go." Dox said calmly as he reached Angel’s side.
The fact that Dox didn’t say anything surprised Angel a lot. He had expected Dox to ramble a bit, but didn’t anticipate that when making a significant decision, Dox would actually show a more serious side.
Since Dox didn’t wish to say more, Angel didn’t ask any questions. Amidst Vay’s disappointed expression and Dox’s complex thoughts, they silently continued onward.
Even without any mutated carrion squirrels around, Angel didn’t dissolve the Illusionary Realm; it didn’t consume much magic power anyway, and it provided an extra layer of safety.
The center path was getting wider and wider. Now, not only could it accommodate ten people walking side by side, but twenty would also be no problem. Plus, the path started to slope downward, and visibly, the walls on either side were getting higher.
Compared to the enormous maze and towering walls, they appeared truly insignificant.
This involuntarily instilled a sense of awe in them.
The small, revering the massive.
Of course, this was the feeling of the two apprentices. Angel and the other official wizards were entirely unaffected by this spatial disparity.
In fact, as the surroundings became broader and the walls grew taller, Angel grew increasingly certain that his choice of path might have been correct.
His initial decision to choose the center was simply because he thought they were not far from the Hanging Jail Stairway, which was an official institution of Naraku City, overseen by a dominant authority. Such official institutions wouldn’t allow any mischievous magical creatures to intrude.
Hence, Angel chose the center path devoid of mutated carrion squirrels.
As this path expanded, and the walls rose, the burden on Angel’s mind, though not yet resolved, was drawing close.
Why else would such an extravagant effort be made to construct the path in this way? It’s precisely to command respect.
Undeniably, this obvious spatial contrast did elicit feelings of smallness and insignificance.
A living area or other buildings wouldn’t deliberately create such a sense of awe; only an official institution of Naraku City might do so.
It both inspires reverence and represents authority.