Chapter 51: Feel It with Your Heart
Flames crackled on the firewood, and with a pop, a spark burst open before extinguishing in the air.
Having just eaten his fill, Su Xiao held a tablet in his hand. With nothing else to do for the moment, he decided to tackle a puzzle-solving game.
He had been playing this game from the First Rank all the way to the Sixth Rank, clearing over 75% of it. The further he progressed, the more inhumane the difficulty of this puzzle game became. Perhaps even the game's developer never imagined anyone could actually complete it.
"Now this is a midnight snack. Absolutely delicious."
Baha let out a burp, giving Xia's cooking skills a thumbs up.
"It's nothing really. I do mess up occasionally too."
Xia, who was tidying up the dishes, smiled. She wasn't being modest. Once, while developing a new recipe, she had brought a bowl of noodles to the table that looked perfect but tasted so bizarre it defied description. After eating that bowl of noodles, Su Xiao didn't say anything, but he refused to pay for it. It wasn't just that it was bad—the taste was simply too strange.
"What should we do next? Based on the ability Reincarnation Paradise temporarily granted me, I'm in charge of reconnaissance."
"You're still cannon fodder."
Baha added unkindly.
"Don't put it so bluntly. I'm here for justice..." Xia paused mid-sentence, because Reincarnation Paradise clearly had nothing to do with justice. So she shifted her tone and said, "I'm 'sacrificing' myself for my 'ideals.' Yeah, that's it."
"Cannon fodder is cannon fodder. Don't add drama to yourself."
"How can you be like this~"
Xia felt a bit helpless, but deep down, she was much more at ease. Her temporary ability was exactly that, and Baha's blunt attitude was actually more reassuring.
"The Foundation of Demon Forging is over there," Xia pointed toward the direction of Aisenla City and continued, "To be precise, the 'Foundation of Demon Forging' looks more like a massive bronze door with a lot of..."
Xia's words suddenly stopped. Her eyes closed tightly—she was using her 'Spirit Eye' ability.
"What do you see?"
With a snap, Su Xiao snapped his fingers in front of Xia. Her eyes opened, and her pale complexion clearly indicated she had seen something terrifying.
"An indescribable... terror and malice."
Xia's hands trembled, and her gaze was somewhat unfocused, clearly affected by that massive bronze door.
After recovering for a few minutes, Xia calmed down. Her fear earlier wasn't due to cowardice but to a malevolent influence, similar to suffering a debuff.
"The carvings on the bronze door are hard to describe. Their forms are all very strange. I'll draw them for you."
Xia took out paper and a pen from her storage space. The pencil spun between her slender fingers. She was confident in her drawing skills.
A few minutes later, Su Xiao looked at the A4 paper in his hand, frowned deeply, and then looked back at Xia.
"The bronze door is carved with a bunch of potatoes?"
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Baha and Bubu Wang leaned over, glanced at the A4 paper, then exchanged looks. After confirming with each other, the paper indeed showed a dozen irregularly shaped, sprouted potatoes.
"Look closely. You need to feel my artwork with your heart. Those aren't potatoes."
Soul Painter Xia held a cup of iced tea and took small sips.
"..."
Su Xiao glanced at Xia again and began to carefully examine the drawing on the A4 paper. And sure enough, after observing for a while, he did find something.
This was a potato that looked eerily humanoid. It was sprouting all over, and one of the sprouts had a thinner toothpick stuck into it. This thing seemed to be the Dominator, Sotos.
With this clue, Su Xiao looked at a larger potato. This one had even more sprouts. If these sprouts were understood as tentacles, this was probably the Black Goat, Shabu.
Just as Su Xiao raised his hand, Bubu Wang placed two photos in his palm. Bubu Wang took pictures of all formidable enemies, and the Dominator and Black Goat were no exception.
"Are these the two of them?"
Su Xiao handed the photos to Xia. Xia observed them for a while, and it was clear that her soulful artwork was affecting her own judgment.
"That's right, it's them."
With Xia's confirmation, a heavy weight lifted from Su Xiao's heart. Having the Dominator and Black Goat on the bronze door was neither good news nor bad news.
It meant that even if the bronze door fully opened, nothing from outside this world—such as beings or entities related to the Void, the Black Abyss, or the Black Prison—would appear inside Aisenla City.
As for what Sfenke had brought in, it was still unknown for now. Based on Reincarnation Paradise's earlier prompt, entering Aisenla City within ten hours was absolutely forbidden, or else there would be certain death.
By tomorrow afternoon or evening, the Red Clown, Mr. J, would arrive in this world. He had an ability that could easily destroy the bronze door.
The situation developing to this extent only indicated one thing: Sfenke had a massive amount of Space-Time Power in his hands, or he possessed many [Sealed Boxes].
[Sealed Boxes] were supplies belonging to Holy Light Paradise. Su Xiao currently had five in his storage space. As for returning them, that was basically impossible.
Just as Su Xiao was about to take a short rest and set off for Aisenla tomorrow, Bubu Wang, who had been lying on the ground, raised his head.
"Woof."
"Location?"
Baha, crouching on Amu's shoulder, spoke up.
"Woof!"
Receiving Bubu Wang's precise answer, Baha spread his wings and soared into the sky. After a dozen seconds, he dove back down and landed on Su Xiao's shoulder.
"West side, female, around 25 to 27 years old, weight 52.7 kilograms. Heavy smell of blood. Looks severely injured and near death. Being carried by a summoned creature. Estimated to arrive nearby in about 1 minute. Should we let her through, or..."
Baha made a throat-slitting gesture with his wing.
"Let her through."
The sheathed Dragon-Slaying Flash appeared in Su Xiao's hand. He made a gesture, and Bubu Wang blended into the environment. Baha flew high into the sky. Amu plunged his large hand into the earth, his entire body turning into magma as he concealed himself.
"Mm? Mm?! Mm?!"
Xia went from surprise to shock to utter confusion in an instant. She looked at Su Xiao, then pointed at herself.
"You don't need to. Bubu is right behind you at your 6 o'clock."
Su Xiao tossed two Soul Crystal Fragments into his mouth, looking very much like he was eating candy beans.
"I heard from Sfenke that your name is Kukulin."
A weak voice came from the darkness. A black panther with brownish-yellow eyes stepped out. It wasn't the one speaking, but the woman on its back.
With a thud, the woman collapsed beside the campfire. Under the firelight, the left side of her face was withered, like dry tree bark.
"The two daggers you sent over were pretty good."
Su Xiao spoke calmly, not drawing his blade immediately.
"Just as I thought, you and Sfenke are on the same level of old yinbi. I'm Meihuan. I've assassinated you twice, but you've already guessed that."
Meihuan struggled to sit up from the ground, crawled over to the campfire, grabbed a piece of glowing red charcoal, and pressed it against her withered cheek.
Sizzle~
A foul, burnt smell wafted through the air. Meihuan's expression relaxed a bit, but she became even weaker.
"I escaped... from Aisenla. Sfenke has been driven mad by you. I know everything about the bronze door."
After saying this, Meihuan collapsed again, unconscious.