And this anomaly, to speak of, is not particularly uncommon in the Wizards’ Realm, it is just... that narrow path suddenly disappeared.
Not knowing what the situation was, the Black Earl simply informed everyone quietly, intending to discuss with Day before deliberating with everyone to see if that narrow path is some sort of mechanism.
What the Black Earl didn’t expect was that after a while, the small path reappeared.
Just as the Black Earl was observing the situation of the small path, he felt a slight tremor in the ground.
This tremor felt like footsteps, and it was similar to the tremors caused by the mutant carrion squirrel on the ground, but it was more urgent, as if there was a predator chasing it from behind.
However, the Black Earl did not perceive any other restless sounds behind him.
It wasn’t until the "mutant carrion squirrel" reached the crossroads that the Black Earl smelled a familiar scent.
This mutant carrion squirrel was the Wizard who initially chased from the smoke duct. To escape the squirrel craze, he transformed into a carrion squirrel and blended in. After some time of reverse travel, the Wizard finally escaped the riotous squirrel swarm and arrived at a crossroads with fewer mutant carrion squirrels.
At this moment, facing a high dog hole and the wide road on the ground.
The Wizard fell into contemplation.
When the Black Earl said this, everyone had already guessed the outcome: "Did he go to that dog hole?"
The Black Earl nodded: "That small path seems to appear whenever it senses someone coming. Even if that person is in the shape of a mutant carrion squirrel, it can still be sensed."
On one side was the high dog hole, and on the other was a flat but endless road ahead.
No matter how you think about it, without more information, it was a choice between two options. A fifty-fifty chance.
And the Wizard probably felt annoyed from being among the mutant carrion squirrels for too long. And since that small path was too high, the mutant carrion squirrel couldn’t reach it, so he eventually chose to climb the dog hole.
"So, what was his final outcome?" Kaier asked, trembling slightly.
The Black Earl: "After he went inside, the small path closed. What happened inside, I also don’t know. Upon discovering this situation, I mentioned to you for the second time that the scent positioning point had changed."
Angel nodded, he remembered the Black Earl saying at that time that the person chasing from behind might not catch up temporarily, but there were already more visitors in the smoke duct, presumably all from the Merchant Organization.
"And just two minutes ago, after we left from Day, that small path was opened again." The Black Earl paused: "That Wizard was... spat out."
Angel: "Spat?"
The Black Earl: "Although thrown out by some force, I think ’spat’ might be a more apt description."
Angel: "So, sir, do you think that dog hole has biological activity?"
"I don’t know, maybe it’s some kind of magical creature’s disguise, or maybe it’s just a mechanism." The Black Earl: "But that’s not important, what matters is that the Wizard didn’t die."
"Though he didn’t die, he became emaciated, losing at least more than half of the essence and energy in his body." The Black Earl: "Yet he was lucky that the Shapeshifting Technique wasn’t lifted, so even being spat out, other mutant carrion squirrels didn’t come to gnaw on him, and he should be able to wait for rescue."
After hearing the Black Earl’s account of the outcome, Vay and Kaier shivered, thankful they didn’t choose the dog hole back then. That dog hole could dry up even a Wizard, wouldn’t they be directly "digested"?
The two apprentices were worried about the safety issues, but Angel and Dox sensed something amiss in the Black Earl’s words.
"Only essence and energy lost? What about the bloodline? The magic vortex?" Dox asked.
The Black Earl: "The bloodline is depleted but fundamentally undamaged, the magic vortex dried but not broken."
Angel: "So, did the dog hole or the magical creature inside it show mercy?"
If wanting to destroy this Wizard, they could have just extracted the bloodline and damaged the psychic model. But the opponent only got "drained" of the less important parts.
—Of course, this "less important" is relative to the essence of the Wizard. With the current state of that Wizard, it would take years to recover to his original state without good potions.
"I don’t know, but I find this dog hole very interesting. If we don’t find the Wood Spirit later and return, we could ask Day about it. Maybe he knows some inside information," said the Black Earl.
The reason for not asking before was that the Black Earl assumed that the Wizard was dead, and that the dog hole was either a magical creature or a mechanism. But since the Wizard didn’t die, it got intriguing.
It was definitely deliberate to leave a life intact, not harming his essence. Is there a wise being hidden behind the dog hole?
While they were chatting, a new narrow entrance appeared before them.
This narrow entrance had no guards, because before they left, Day sighed: "Originally there was another narrow entrance ahead, guarded by two powerful Wizard-level magic puppets. However, after the fall, the magic puppets were taken by their original owner, so this is essentially the last guarded narrow entrance."
Evidently, the initial designer of the Hanging Jail Stairway’s front door sorted the dangers of the narrow entrance in sequence: the outermost layer was signaled by statues, followed by gargoyles to block, then soul demons guarding, and finally, life and death decided by magic puppets.
But now, the magic puppets were gone.
This last narrow entrance was danger-free... or not.
While the magic puppets were no longer there, what lay behind the last narrow entrance? A huge square, along with rows of buildings.
At this moment, the square was filled with Ghostly Shadows greedily absorbing dark energies, all of them Ghosteye Witches.
Inside those buildings, one could also sense potent energy auras, with the front Gemini Towers being the most prominent. Those two Gemini Towers were the two spires of a large bell tower, and atop these towers gathered the densest dark energies.
Even from hundreds of meters away, that terrifying aura could make the two apprentices feel weak-kneed.
"The two Wizard-level Ghosteye Witches that Day mentioned are likely in those Gemini Towers." After Angel spoke, he turned to Dox: "Are you going in?"
"Feeling a bit tired today, won’t fight." Dox paused, quickly changing the topic: "What about the statue of the peeing boy you mentioned? I didn’t see it, is it inside the building?"
Angel: "Not inside the building, we probably need to keep going forward. This is the external affairs institution of the Hanging Jail Stairway, the real prison isn’t here."
Angel spoke while also observing the vast space comparable to a living area, trying to find a way forward.
Because there were too many Ghosteye Witches here, they couldn’t easily use spell techniques without exposing themselves, so they could only rely on their eyes to judge.
But there were so many buildings, it was hard to see a clear path forward.
As everyone was fretting, the Black Earl suddenly wrinkled his nose and spat an indescribable curse.
When everyone looked over, the Black Earl coldly said: "I found a path, it’s behind the Gemini Towers, we need to take a detour. However, I’m not sure if that path is the one you’re looking for, but it’s definitely a way leading to a sewage tunnel entrance."
Hearing the Black Earl almost gnashing his teeth, everyone understood why he just swore.
The Ghosteye Witches’ scent was already unpleasant, and on top of that, he smelled the sewage, which for the Black Earl who only had a nose left, was akin to enduring torture.