It took them a day to arrive, but returning full-speed to the border of the Laksum Principality took less than three hours. It must be said, Dox played a great part in this due to his guidance, allowing Angel to avoid many detours.
After crossing one undulating yellow sand dune after another, a temple eroded by wind and sand appeared before them.
"Look, that is one of the twelve outposts of the Desert Temple, the one closest to the Gumman Kingdom."
Angel: "Desert Temple? An ancient faith of the Laksum Principality?"
Dox: "Not exactly, though it indeed originated from ancient times and went through interruptions and twists, there are still many desert dwellers who believe in it today. It’s said there’s also a Desert Temple that hasn’t been abandoned. However, nowadays, true believers are much fewer, and most simply go with the flow, offering lip service without genuine commitment."
It’s like someone finding money on the roadside would exclaim happily, "Thank the goddess of luck for watching over me."
They speak words of praise, but do they truly believe in the goddess of luck?
Angel nodded with understanding. He brought up the topic of faith because, with this type of deity worship, any wizard would be very cautious. This is because many so-called deities are likely impersonated by some wild gods, outer gods, demon gods, and evil gods who manipulate the lives of believers, steal their faith, and try to erode the Wizards’ Realm.
For a time, extreme sects had dealt a devastating blow to various religions. However, faith is not something that can be completely eradicated. For the upper class, it is a tool to delude the masses; for the lower class, it’s a solace for the soul.
After the extreme sects found they couldn’t completely root out major faiths, they began to regulate them. The effect has been considerable, at least significantly reducing the number of outer gods who infiltrate the Southern Domain through their followers.
Having already seen the dilapidated temple, reaching it at Speedy’s pace would take just a second or two.
Upon floating above the temple to look down, Angel immediately saw the statue missing an arm, lying on the ground outside the temple, just like Abulei had described in her sleep.
It seems this should be where Abulei is hiding.
"Which one are you looking for?" As Angel was staring at the fallen statue, Dox had already started using his spiritual power to observe the surroundings. To his surprise, he found: "There are at least twenty people around here, and they are all wizard apprentices."
Following Dox’s gaze, Angel indeed saw several moving small black dots around the temple. They wore uniform robes, with insignias of a crown and scepter intersecting on them, emanating faint magical power fluctuations.
"These are the Royal Knights of the Gumman Kingdom."
Upon hearing that they were the royal knights of the Gumman Kingdom, Dox’s expression instantly turned disdainful: "So, they are the tyrant’s hounds."
The King of Gumman has a poor reputation throughout the Southern Domain. They are not friendly to wandering wizards either, and Dox has heard rumors of wandering wizards disappearing mysteriously after visiting the Gumman Kingdom’s wizard market. Presumably, the King of Gumman is behind it.
"These hounds are no good either. They look like they are searching for something near this temple, even using perception-enabled hunting dogs," Dox sneered, "I bet your junior is the one forced to seek your help because of these people."
Angel indeed thought the same.
He and Abulei separated just over a day ago. By timing, Abulei should be waiting for the teleportation array to open at the Gumman Kingdom’s wizard market. Now, Abulei has hastily fled and used the Illusion Dream left by Angel to contact him, clearly because her enemies are entirely beyond her ability to handle.
And these twenty or so tyrant hounds quite fit the bill of those pursuing Abulei.
Seeing Angel’s lack of reaction, Dox said, "Shall I go down and take out this group?"
Angel: "Let’s wait a bit."
Angel, having already located Abulei’s hiding spot through the feedback of Nightmare Illusion power, thought if the opponents indeed found Abulei, then with evidence in hand, it would not be too late to act then.
Of course, Angel wasn’t someone who only acted based on evidence. Evidence was just one reason; another was sensing that Abulei was experiencing an illusion dream uncovering Gu Yina’s truth. He didn’t want Dox’s actions to disturb Abulei...
However, Angel’s wish that Abulei’s dream not be disturbed was soon disrupted.
Because, under the sniffing of two hunting dogs, Abulei, hidden somewhere in the yellow sand, was finally found.
All the royal knights of Gumman surrounded her, even though their robes covered their faces, the collective malice was palpable.
Without a doubt, their target was Abulei!
"It looks like they’ve found your junior. Do you want me to help you get rid of them?" Dox’s tone carried a slight excitement; to him, battle itself is a joy, though these are mere apprentices, just chickens to be slaughtered, lacking the passionate thrill of an evenly matched fight.
Angel shook his head: "Abulei is still in the dream; let her sleep a while longer. As for these people, leave them to me."
Angel had never seen Dox fight, but from the bloodlust emanating from him, Angel could tell he was someone who tore through obstacles. If he went down to fight, it might disturb Abulei.
Angel wanted to see if Abulei had changed after experiencing the truth illusion dream. So, dealing with those hounds himself was more appropriate.
Dox didn’t argue with this. In fact, he was quite interested to see what Lyon’s wizard had up his sleeve.
Dox stared intently at Angel, ready to watch the entire action process.
One minute, two minutes.
Dox’s eyes were filled with confusion; Angel hadn’t done anything.
Wasn’t he afraid of Abulei suffering harm?
Thinking this, Dox climbed over the edge of the gondola and looked down. When he saw the scene below, his pupils suddenly shrank.
Below, the group of hounds, initially moving collectively, suddenly started wandering aimlessly, as if trapped in a never-ending wall; each walked their path. Their emotions turned to panic, screaming incessantly, yet each could only hear their own cries, as if trapped in a closed loop.
From confusion to agitation, then to distress, finally all fainted.
In just a few seconds, everyone lay on the ground, including the hunting dogs.
Dox looked at Angel in shock and confusion: though he was watching closely, Angel indeed did nothing, emitting no energy fluctuations. How did he accomplish this?
Angel seemed to see through Dox’s bewilderment and said softly, "Now we can go down. You’ll get the answers you’re looking for once we do."
Angel gently lowered the gondola.
After landing, Dox gave Angel a glance and strode swiftly toward the unconscious group.
After a short while, Angel also strolled over at a leisurely pace.
"Again with the illusion," Dox turned to look at Angel, "Right?"
Angel ambiguously nodded.