Angel ultimately did not understand the meaning behind the vine’s fluctuations.
The only thing that was clear was that the vine showed a friendly demeanor toward him as the "Wood Spirit." However, it clearly exhibited rejection toward the people behind Angel.
If Angel, the "Wood Spirit," wasn’t standing at the forefront, perhaps the vine might have already started attacking them.
Angel attempted to express a friendly attitude, continuously manipulating the power of nature to show their desire to pass through.
The emotions conveyed by the vine were complex, seemingly puzzled as to why Angel would associate with humans.
Upon understanding this emotion, Angel couldn’t help but feel confused. If he could materialize it, his head would certainly have a series of question marks.
The reason Angel felt confused was that the vine seemed to think that "Spirits" should not be with humans?
Spirits are extremely complex life forms, born out of chance and coincidence, as well as time and place. But one core aspect that cannot be disputed is that the birth of spirits is closely linked to humans...or rather, intelligent life.
And spirits born in the Southern Domain Wizard World are basically related to humans.
For this reason, most of the spirits here have a natural affinity with humans.
But the vine seemed unaware of this, firmly believing that the pure Wood Spirit should not be with the filthy humans.
Where did this concept come from in the vine’s shallow mind?
Could it be related to the Wood Spirit they are searching for?
Angel’s mind couldn’t help but start fantasizing about a story—
The Wood Spirit, as described by Monty, was a very timid oddity. The moment it was born, it was lonely and faced a large number of ferocious and terrifying Ghosteye Witches. So it pretended to be dead for countless years, finally finding an opportunity to escape to the Hanging Jail Stairway.
Monty casually mentioned the Wood Spirit’s predicament and destination in one sentence.
However, there should be more to it than that.
For example, how did the Wood Spirit arrive at the Hanging Jail Stairway?
It can be somewhat understood why the Wood Spirit ran in the direction of the stinky ditch. Because in the area filled with Ghosteye Witches, there are only two paths: one is the entrance they came through, and the other leads to the stinky ditch.
It really just comes down to a choice between two options.
As for whether the Wood Spirit couldn’t smell the stench and whether it should have gone to another exit, Angel couldn’t explain that either. But he guessed that the Wood Spirit might have been closer to the stinky ditch at the time. A coward finds an opportunity to escape, and of course, goes to the nearest place; whether it’s smelly or not is less important, especially for something that has pretended to be dead for years and been permeated by the stench.
Falling into the stinky ditch can be understood, but how did the Wood Spirit find the Hanging Jail Stairway?
This answer never previously crossed Angel’s mind, but now upon sensing the vine’s closeness to him, Angel had a speculation.
The Wood Spirit, always facing terrifying monsters, finally escapes and encounters a feeling of closeness with a kindred—the Demon Plant vine.
And so the Wood Spirit started chatting with the vine?
As for how they started chatting, Angel didn’t know. Anyway, it’s just his imagination, rationalizing everything uncertain before discussing whether it is correct or not.
The vine’s spirit is strong, benefited by the collective spirit of countless vines here. But their thinking is shallow, with little known about them, and similarly, the Wood Spirit is also an entity lacking basic education.
Thus, after their conversation, the vine was influenced by the Wood Spirit, hence forming the perception—that pure spirits should not dwell with filthy creatures.
And under the vine’s guidance, the Wood Spirit escaped to a place without Ghosteye Witches—the Hanging Jail Stairway.
These are Angel’s conjectures based on existing information. Whether true or not is yet unknown.
However, what is known now is that there is a high probability that the vine has contacted the Wood Spirit; otherwise, Angel’s "Wood Spirit" aura wouldn’t have elicited closeness from the vine.
The Wood Spirit and wood-type Demon Plants have some connections but mostly hierarchical. Only if the Wood Spirit first shows closeness will the vine actively be friendly to the Wood Spirit. Other Wood Spirits find it hard to release closeness to wood-type Demon Plants, but it’s uncertain for an ignorant and timid Wood Spirit.
Because of the precedent set by the timid Wood Spirit, the vine regards the subsequent "Wood Spirit" Angel differently.
Angel speculated a lot, and whether correct or wrong, it temporarily doesn’t matter. What he needs to do now is find a way to have the vine let them enter the cave.
Angel expressed the willingness to enter, but the vine did not oppose that although it still showed resistance to others in the Illusionary Realm.
This means that truly entering is feasible only for Angel, a single "Wood Spirit."
Angel really wanted to use "silver tongue" skills to persuade the vine, but unlike Monty, its intelligence is still at the lowest level, unable to understand much spoken; saying more would be futile.
Angel thought for a moment and decided to temporarily retreat.
Retreating meant actually leading the group back to a distance where the vine’s perception could not reach.
"...That’s the situation." After returning to the Illusionary Realm, Angel talked about his exchange with the vine, along with his guesses regarding the Wood Spirit and the vine.
After hearing Angel’s exposition, the highly imaginative and deduction-loving Dox immediately began to elaborate further.
"Your speculation might be correct. However, if the vine, like Monty, is a guard, it should fulfill its duty by blocking any life from entering, including the Wood Spirit. Yet, it allowed the Wood Spirit in, suggesting there might be a hidden story within."
"Regarding the present situation, it can actively decide to let you, the fake Wood Spirit, enter, possibly due to its thought seal modification. Monty mentioned that the Sage often enters the Hanging Jail Stairway, with the aim to take away the Wood Spirit. Perhaps the Sage altered the vine’s thought seal to allow the Wood Spirit passage, hoping the Wood Spirit might willingly come out one day."
"But the Wood Spirit hiding in the Hanging Jail Stairway is extremely timid, still not having come out. Instead, it benefits you, the fake Wood Spirit."
Dox continues following Angel’s line of thought, and although Angel agrees, there’s a distinct undercurrent of envy in Dox’s words.
Angel: "Regardless of whether our speculation is correct, the most urgent goal now is to find a way to enter."
Angel finishes his sentence, his gaze slowly scans around and finally settles on the Black Earl.
The Black Earl remains silent for several seconds before slowly saying, "I understand your meaning, it’s possible."
After the Black Earl agreed, Angel looked at Dox. Dox quickly nodded: "No problem, we’re good friends, I trust you won’t betray your close friends."
The first part is about being good friends, the latter evolves to close friends. Angel is too lazy to correct Dox; his greatest talent is exploiting opportunities, the more you pay attention to him, the more assertive he becomes; ignore him, and he secretly introspects.