"That boy actually followed us here."
"Yes. He entered this place without an invitation."
"Unless my skin slave personally brought him in, he should have had only the slightest chance of entering. But the last message that skin slave sent me said it had already been ground to dust by that boy."
"Under those circumstances, even if the boy came holding my skin slave's corpse, he should not have been able to get in. Yet he not only entered, he also broke through the ghost-wall maze and came all the way here."
"One coincidence cannot happen twice. Could he also be...?"
In the very front row of houses, in the middle house, the door was tightly shut. There were no windows at all, so not a single thread of light entered. The whole room was pitch black.
Inside that strange room, where even a raised hand vanished in the darkness, two old men and one beautiful young woman sat around a table in the center. The voices just now had come from that young woman and one of the old men, whose face was square and stern.
After the square-faced elder raised his question, he and the young woman both looked toward the other old man.
That elder seemed to be the eldest of the three. Aside from his hair, which was mixed with straw, his face looked no different from an ordinary old man's. But if one looked closely, they would still notice that something seemed to be mixed into the wrinkles of his aged face.
"No. He is different from us. If he could pass through the barrier and break through the ghost-wall maze, then it should all be that one's intention."
When the straw-haired elder mentioned "that one," fear appeared on the faces of the other two. It was as if simply thinking about that existence could kill them.
"Big brother, are you certain?" The young woman leaned forward slightly, surprise in her voice.
The straw-haired elder nodded. "Before he arrived, Lord Sword had already told me that it would personally act against that young man."
"If Lord Sword is going to act, then most likely it is that one's intention. What should we do? Trick that boy into going there?"
"No need. I think he has already noticed some things. Today also happens to be Allie's Martial Soul awakening. We will use that as the excuse to bring him over. Then we will tell him where the exit is."
"Also, third sister, that young man killed the skin monster and skin slave you modified in a single day, then chased us here seemingly unharmed. Most importantly, Lord Sword wants to fight him one-on-one. You should understand what that represents."
"It means that young man's strength is not ordinary. At the very least, he is not below the three of us. To avoid unnecessary complications, you should return to your own house and hide for now."
"If Lord Sword wins, then nothing matters. And if Lord Sword loses... nothing matters either."
After hearing that, the young woman silently nodded and withdrew from the room.
Then the straw-haired elder said to the square-faced elder, "Second brother, you should go back too. The fact that the three of us could gather again is already good enough. The rest is no longer ours to manage."
The square-faced elder pressed his lips together. He still wanted to say something, but when he raised his head, he met the straw-haired elder's gaze head-on.
Under that gaze, the square-faced elder ultimately said nothing and silently left.
After the two left, the straw-haired elder seemed to lean back against something. He looked into the dark room and felt the stillness around him. Then, for no clear reason, he whispered, "I hope this time, I can sleep peacefully."
At the same time, Wu Ling followed behind Allie, listening to her introduce all kinds of things while secretly taking Spirit Power blocks out of his storage ring. He let them sit in the air for a while, then quietly tossed them to Rose.
The so-called Spirit Power blocks were storage objects Rose had created with Magecraft by referencing the milk bottles from Soul Land 2. They could store Spirit Power. They had been created, but were still in the experimental stage. At present, their effect was not as good as an ordinary milk bottle.
Although Spirit Power blocks did not help Wu Ling much yet, they could still absorb Spirit Power from the air and store it.
Just as Rose was enthusiastically researching and Allie was enthusiastically explaining, someone suddenly knocked on the door.
Wu Ling's heart tightened when he heard the knock. As Allie went to open the door, he quietly adjusted the position of the long blade at his waist.
"Wow, First Grandpa!"
When he heard Allie's shout, Wu Ling knew who had arrived. He quietly looked at the elder whose hair was full of straw, then secretly sensed him with Spirit Power.
"So this is the village chief Allie said likes tying straw dolls. Spirit Leader-level Spirit Power. Add the other two deputy village chiefs, and that makes three Spirit Leaders?"
The straw-haired elder first stroked Allie's head and said a few things to her. Wu Ling then saw Allie happily hop up and down. After speaking to her, the elder turned to Wu Ling. "You must be the young brother from outside. I know your purpose as well. Come with us. Once Allie's Martial Soul awakening is finished, everything will be resolved."
"Oh, Allie is awakening her Martial Soul? No wonder she is so excited. But everything will be resolved? Are the three of them planning to work together and resolve me?"
"Hmph. When the time comes, we will see who resolves whom. The Spirit Power in this place is strange, but at most, it is something arranged by Spirit Leaders. How could it affect a Titled Sage? It is not like it is one of Tang San's hidden weapons."
Wu Ling thought that while agreeing to follow.
Soon, Wu Ling and Allie were led into the horizontal house at the very front. Allie performed her Martial Soul awakening there.
As Allie opened her eyes within the awakening array, her Martial Soul manifested. What appeared made Wu Ling slightly surprised again. It was actually a pair of red embroidered shoes.
Just like the Weasel Immortal and Painted Skin legends, Wu Ling had also heard the story of red embroidered shoes long ago.
"How is it, big brother? Is my Martial Soul pretty?" After the awakening, Allie manifested the red embroidered shoes and handed them to Wu Ling for him to see.
Wu Ling took the shoes and examined them carefully. "Mm. They really are pretty."
After confirming that he could not see anything unusual, Wu Ling returned the shoes to her.
But before Allie could test her innate Spirit Power, the straw-haired elder said, "All right, Allie. You go back first. I still have something to discuss with this young brother."
Wu Ling frowned. "Are they that eager to deal with me? They are not even testing Allie's innate Spirit Power?"
A Martial Soul awakening and an innate Spirit Power test were like opening a blind box. This situation was like placing a blind box right in front of someone and giving them the tool to open it, but not letting them open it. It was painfully tempting.
"Okay. Goodbye, First Grandpa. See you later, big brother." Allie, who had not tested her innate Spirit Power, showed no objection. It was as if she did not even know there was supposed to be a test.
"She really might not know."
After Allie left, Wu Ling's aura changed. One hand had already settled on his blade's hilt.
"All right. Stop hiding things. Let the other two come out."
But the straw-haired elder turned around, showing no intention of fighting at all.
"You know quite a lot. But relax. We will not fight you. A certain lord wishes to meet you."