With Dox leading the way, the group’s pace quickened, and within seconds, they arrived at the maze’s end, observing the dark cavern connecting to the sewer.
Previously, they never had such a close-up view of the sewer, always presuming the cavern was simply a sinkhole.
But in actuality, the path to the sewer, though dark, isn’t as primitive as a sinkhole; it’s equipped with very complete stairs, with no negligence in the materials used.
From here, one can simply deduce that what Angel mentioned was indeed correct, the sewer back then was undoubtedly different from now. Perhaps there was even a living area within the sewer back then.
Due to being in the Purifying Field, everyone couldn’t perceive the outside smell, thus didn’t harbor a great fear of the sewer. Dox still took the initiative to step onto the stairs, with the others following closely behind.
As they kept descending, the surrounding smell grew noticeably stronger, with dark-tainted air wafting around, leaving no space for evasion. Hence, even the Speedy returned to the Moving Mirage.
Speedy’s retreat showed how bad the external situation was.
Without Speedy’s wind sensing, the specifics of the front couldn’t be determined easily. Moreover, others clearly didn’t want to extend their spiritual power beyond the Purifying Field at this moment.
Angel pondered a while, attempting to have Earl Mi diffuse shadows to scout the external condition.
Earl Mi accepted the command without hesitation, and after the shadows spread out of the Mirage, with no abnormal feedback, Angel finally breathed a sigh of relief.
I have to say, the Black Earl’s previous remarks made Angel cautiously mindful of Earl Mi. Now confirming their connection remained smooth and viewing the outside from Earl Mi’s perspective, Angel felt considerably assured.
Being mentally in tune is not just a literal interpretation; it implies Earl Mi has no privacy toward Angel. Every emotion, every stray thought could be detected by Angel.
In fact, information that Earl Mi once pillaged from other Ghosteye Witches, if Angel desired, he could explore.
This is absolute control. The power of the Seed of Distortion is embodied in this.
Through telepathy, Angel confirmed that Earl Mi was unharmed, and there were no significant emotional stirrings. It’s just that the floating miscellaneous information within the shadow was a bit excessive, but it didn’t affect anything for now. Once they got out, a thorough check and cleanup would suffice.
In the blink of an eye, they descended a staircase about twenty meters high.
Surrounding them was still the drifting aura of darkness. Without the probing of spirit tentacles, everyone now had no idea where to go.
Fortunately, there was still Earl Mi.
Through Earl Mi’s perspective, Angel saw the general situation here—
The sewer, when viewed as a whole, was no different from the labyrinth above, still with high walls and sheer cliffs, and still possessing the Magical Energy Array. The only two differences were the aura of darkness and impurity; and the ground was mottled and damp, occasionally showing long pools of filth.
Because this place was excessively humid, combined with the contamination of impure aura, the walls and floor showed signs of erosion. Some inner shell Magical Energy Arrays were even exposed, with some already failing altogether.
Angel simulated the scene he saw through illusions. The illusion solved the vision problem for everyone, ensuring they wouldn’t be like blind bats.
"This is the general situation. Currently, there are two paths, front and back. I suggest continuing forward. The path behind is more dilapidated, and the damage to the Magical Energy Array is relatively severe. If the Hanging Jail Stairway is really to be built in the sewer, it will certainly have the best protection..."
After Angel finished speaking, he looked at everyone, wanting to hear their opinions.
"Let’s go the way you said. After all, there are only two roads, back and forth. The Hanging Jail Stairway shouldn’t be too far. If we can’t find it ahead, it’s not much trouble to come back." Dox said.
The Black Earl had no objections either, so everyone set off again, the target being the path directly ahead.
Angel was constantly updating the situation outside, which deepened everyone’s understanding of the sewer. Any entity, once the veil of the ’unknown’ set by it is pierced, no matter how difficult, can give everyone some confidence.
"Putting aside the impurity, this place is really not much different from the top. Maybe, in another hundred or even a thousand years, the top might become like this, more ruin-like." Dox sighed and looked around: "I haven’t seen any signs of Magical Creatures, really."
Earlier, Dox thought the Black Earl saying it wasn’t too dangerous here was just comforting words. But now, it seemed that the Black Earl was indeed right.
Angel knew the Black Earl got the answer through Divination, but the Black Earl only gave the answer; he didn’t explain why that was the answer.
Angel privately asked the Black Earl, and the Black Earl’s answer was cryptic, sounding like some diviner.
But after spending a lot of time with White Bear, this kind of ’cryptic talk’ was something Angel was very familiar with.
In short, the Black Earl himself didn’t know why the answer was what it was. But as long as he spouted some nonsense and cited fate as a shield, the prestige would instantly increase.
Although the Black Earl didn’t provide any constructive advice, Angel pondered several possibilities himself.
After all, this place wasn’t far from the Hanging Jail Stairway. Could the builders have anticipated that the aura of impurity would affect the Hanging Jail Stairway and thus made precautions in advance?
Or, perhaps this area is actually the territory of some large Magical Creature, and other magical creatures dare not intrude?
Of these two possibilities, Angel leaned towards the former. Because if there really was a large magical creature, how did that Wood Spirit originally escape into the Hanging Jail Stairway from outside?
Generally speaking, a newborn Wood Spirit is only slightly faster than a Stone Spirit. If even a Wood Spirit could escape into the Hanging Jail Stairway, it indicates the danger here is indeed not significant.
Continuing forward for about three hundred meters, the road began to widen, and the surrounding dark aura became thicker.
Because, as the road widened, the "sewer" finally appeared.
The literal sense of sewer.
It was the old drainage pipeline of Naraku City.
Angel didn’t send Earl Mi to investigate what exactly was in that long drain, mainly because the sticky liquid inside was pitch-black, and just by the color, one could almost smell that overwhelming stench.
Even though Earl Mi was hiding in Angel’s shadow and couldn’t smell it, having Earl Mi, who had been through a filthy ditch, still made Angel uncomfortable.
Although the real sewer had appeared, and the signs of corrosion on the walls became even more severe, there was still no presence of magical creatures around.
In their cautious yet puzzled state, a slight light suddenly appeared ahead.
When they approached the location of the light, they discovered that the light was coming from an offshoot.
Yes, an offshoot.
The first offshoot since they entered the sewer had appeared.
However, looking at that glowing offshoot, everyone only felt a chill down their spine and had no intention of diverting.