The Sage: "There are many anomalies on you, but they are not the reason I observed you. It is that, which I find most unusual."
The Sage was pointing at Angel’s shadow.
"A demon from the Panic Realm," the Sage commented with interest, "I didn’t expect someone to be able to tame such a creature. How did you manage it?"
Angel remained silent.
The Sage said, "You don’t have to answer, but since I’ve discovered him, you should understand my meaning... he cannot be taken into the Hanging Jail Stairway with you."
The Sage had previously mentioned that at most two people could enter at a time, and one of them must be a weaker apprentice. This way, they could avoid frightening the timid Wood Spirit.
And the demon lurking in Angel’s shadow had power almost comparable to the previous one, the ’Nose’.
Therefore, if Angel wanted to go in, the demon had to stay outside.
Angel also didn’t argue, although he thought that the Wood Spirit might not necessarily perceive Earl Mi, since the Sage had established the rule, leaving Earl Mi outside was fine.
After all, when Angel really intended to enter the Hanging Jail Stairway, he would come out quickly. He would not linger inside too long; once he ensured the aura would not attract Sanders, he would exit immediately.
Seeing Angel consent silently, the Sage did not say more and turned his gaze away.
Meanwhile, his glasses kept flickering with light.
Angel could clearly feel that the three-framed glasses the Sage wore were interacting with the surrounding Magical Energy Array. This interaction directly passed through the door of the Hanging Jail Stairway.
That is to say, if nothing unexpected happens, the Sage was currently observing the Inside of the Hanging Jail Stairway.
...
"Gold, can you hear me?"
While Angel was observing the changes in the surrounding Magical Energy Array, a stream of information flowed into the Mind Ribbon.
Angel looked quizzically at Dox and said in the Mind Ribbon, "I’m right next to you, how could I not hear you?"
Dox let out a long breath of relief when he heard Angel’s voice. "I’ve been talking for a long time without anyone responding; I thought maybe you all couldn’t hear me."
Angel: "I heard, I just didn’t want to respond. It’s obvious."
Dox asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"
Angel: "Since you know ’Black’ hasn’t spoken up till now, don’t you find it odd?"
Dox: "I don’t find it odd. Usually, Black doesn’t talk to me much."
Angel looked at Dox with a face of helplessness: "Usually is usual, but now is special. Black is inside looking for the Wood Spirit, whether he has clues or not, he should at least say something. But he hasn’t spoken, so there can only be one answer."
Dox still didn’t understand, "Only one answer? Which one?"
Angel rubbed his temples, suddenly not wanting to speak anymore.
At this moment, the voice of the Black Earl finally came through: "I’ve searched almost all of the first layer, nothing found."
After a pause, the Black Earl continued, "Wise Sovereign, the second layer has already been shattered to this extent; doesn’t the Wood Spirit fear being torn apart by the power of space?"
Dox looked puzzled: "Wise Sovereign? Black, what are you talking about?"
While Dox was feeling strange, a foreign stream of information entered the Mind Ribbon: "Ah, I originally thought I hadn’t been discovered. Didn’t expect one to have deduced it from the onset, while another directly monitored his Mind Ribbon. Miscalculation..."
Hearing the voice transmitting through the Mind Ribbon, Dox suddenly realized and finally understood what Angel meant earlier by: There’s only one answer.
The Mind Ribbon had been spied on by the Sage!
Dox’s expression became complex, with both annoyance and grievance. Annoyed because Angel had deduced it from the start, and Black Earl had directly sensed it, while he kept murmuring like a fool in the Mind Ribbon. Fortunately, they had used code names before, otherwise, their identities might have been exposed.
And the grievance was... Black Earl had clearly stated before, that he would cut off the Mind Ribbon the moment he sensed it being spied upon.
So why not now?
Of course, this was just a small complaint within Dox’s mind. He also understood why Black Earl chose not to disconnect the Mind Ribbon.
Though being spied upon by the Wise Sovereign, they could indeed still learn about Black Earl’s progress in real-time through the Mind Ribbon.
Weighing the two, Black Earl decided not to cut off the Mind Ribbon. Being eavesdropped on is irrelevant, as long as they could pass on useful information, preparing them in advance was beneficial. Furthermore, Black Earl could reciprocate by using the Mind Ribbon to understand if they were safe.
"The Wise Sovereign is quite lenient for not cutting off internal and external communication. Letting him eavesdrop, why not." Black Earl remarked lightly, seemingly siding with the Sage, but his words were dripping with sarcasm.
The Sage paid no attention to Black Earl’s mockery, as if he hadn’t heard it, and instead addressed Black Earl’s previous inquiry: "You mean the second layer, right? The situation there hasn’t deteriorated to the point of being uninhabitable. If it truly becomes unbearable, there’s no need for me to prompt; my student would leave on his own."
Black Earl pondered for a moment: "Do you mean the Wood Spirit has some danger perception ability?"
"I can’t be sure whether it has danger perception or not. But every time I try to investigate inside the Hanging Jail Stairway, even without entering, it senses something amiss first." The Wise Sovereign seemed very approachable, answering every question in detail.
"Either it’s very sensitive to changes in the magical energy within the array or it has a premonition of danger, just these two possibilities." Angel paused and asked, "Have you taught the Wood Spirit Runeology, Wise Sovereign?"
"No, what I taught was mainly to make it more aware of this world. If it requested to learn something, I would teach it. Sadly, it seems very afraid of me, and the only things it proactively asked to learn were how to protect itself and escape." The Sage sighed a little.
"Then the Wood Spirit might truly have some kind of danger premonition ability... but judging from what it learned, this aligns with what Miss Cicia described about it," thought Angel quietly: timid and cowardly.
Such a peculiar Wood Spirit, putting all its talent into self-preservation, seems quite reasonable?