# Chapter 32: Seal
After closing the team channel, for some reason, there was no response from Kaisa's side for the time being. This was somewhat unusual. Normally in this situation, Kaisa would appear right beside him the next second.
In the current situation, there were only two possibilities. One was that Kaisa was trapped somewhere, and the other was that Kaisa had found some greater benefit there.
Su Xiao began to re-examine the Monarch's Treasure before him. The Soul Coins looked astonishing in quantity, but after grabbing a large handful, he discovered that while the ones underneath were indeed Soul Coins, they appeared withered and weathered.
Picking up one of these Soul Coins, Su Xiao found that the energy inside had been completely drained, leaving only an empty shell. This type of Soul Coin had lost all value.
From this perspective, only the top layer of Soul Coins was normal, about 100,000 or so. Besides that, the dozen or so [Primordial Fragments] weren't necessarily all intact, since they were embedded in the iron-black crown. As for the Soul Crystals scattered among the Soul Coins, those were fine, totaling over 50 pieces.
Beyond that, the three Eternal Rank equipment pieces also held great appeal for Su Xiao. Overall, while this pile of treasures wasn't as exaggerated as it appeared, if split fifty-fifty with Kaisa, the gains would still be considerable.
Su Xiao didn't find [Moon's Radiance] or any possible Dead Silence Embers within this pile of treasures. Thinking about it, this was only part of the Monarch's Treasure.
Kaisa had already replied, meaning he would rush over as fast as possible. There were some urgent matters to deal with on his end. Not only that, but he also mentioned discovering something very interesting that he wanted to give to Su Xiao. Hearing this, Su Xiao was somewhat surprised. Given Kaisa's money-loving nature, for him to generously offer something for free this time was truly unexpected.
However, compared to this, there was something that puzzled Su Xiao more. Laughing Town was clearly a dangerous area, yet after entering, there hadn't been any substantial danger. In fact, the old town chief of this small town had even led him to the storage area of these treasures.
This was truly baffling. Su Xiao walked along the ascending steps. When he reached the exit, he found that the rock secret door ahead had already closed. He knocked on it with one hand, and magical pattern runes immediately appeared on the secret door. This meant he was trapped here.
Inside the large stone room outside the secret door, Old Town Chief Ligoga heard the knocking through the secret door. The smile on his face became even more benevolent. In the soup pot before him, a pot of thick soup mixed with crimson was bubbling away.
"Young man, don't be anxious. After a few decades, a hundred years pass, you'll use all your wealth to beg me to let you out. Although, even if I accept your wealth, I won't let you out, hehehehe..."
Ligoga stirred the thick soup in the pot. His originally kind smile had already taken on a hint of eeriness. He had seen too many people come seeking the Monarch's Treasure over the years. However, none of these people could leave this place. Not only would they fail to take away the cursed treasures, but they would also lose their lives.
Bang!
A dull thud came from inside the secret door. Ligoga smiled and shook his head. Even Absolute Strong powerhouses in the mid-tier couldn't do anything about this secret door reinforced with Crimson Power. He had already sensed earlier that while the newcomer had astonishing blood energy, they had probably only recently advanced to Absolute Strong. Thinking of this, Ligoga felt even more at ease.
Boom!!
An explosive sound rang out. Before Ligoga could react, he was already embedded in the wall on the side. The secret door, now only a third intact, smashed through the wall and flew outward. With a final dull thud, it shattered most of the monster statue in the town center.
Ligoga looked through the hole in the wall at the mostly shattered monster statue in the town center. His wrinkled old face twitched violently.
"So, you were planning to trap me to death in this corridor."
Su Xiao stamped his slightly numb right foot. This secret door was indeed quite sturdy. Kicking it had made his foot ache.
A crystal seat formed. Su Xiao sat down and pointed to the seat opposite him, indicating they should sit and talk. Seeing this, Ligoga's expression turned extremely ugly, but he ultimately chose to sit.
"What's going on with this town?"
"Greedy people can't leave this town..."
Swish~
Blade light appeared out of nowhere. A diagonal slice was taken from Ligoga's head, causing him to lose his disguise entirely. He transformed into a large-headed monster with gray-white skin and a pair of crimson eyes. Crimson thread-like parasites emerged from the wound, half-protruding from his skull, writhing wantonly in the air.
Ligoga's vertical pupils were exceptionally fierce. His mouth full of sharp teeth ground together with a clicking sound. He was about to pounce on Su Xiao, but at that instant, Ligoga suddenly sensed that behind this human in front of him seemed to be a massive Blood Beast, revealing interlocking fangs, grinning as it waited for him to pounce forward.
The fear of facing the Blood Beast directly caused the anger in Ligoga's heart to vanish completely. What remained was a bone-chilling terror, and a rationality that quickly calmed down due to this terror.
"It seems you're calm enough now. Tell me, what's going on here."
Under Su Xiao's friendly negotiation with his -21 Charm Attribute, Ligoga quickly calmed down and began to explain the situation here.
This area was actually an independent space, about half the size of Sanctuary City. Apart from Laughing Town on the upper level, the surrounding area was filled with dead trees and wandering Rotten Giants.
The reason for this went back to that Tyrant. After discovering this space, the Tyrant began researching how to seize and control the Crimson Power. Unfortunately, as a high-level power twisted from Abyss Energy, the Tyrant could never master the Crimson Power. Even forcibly absorbing it into his body only resulted in Crimson Erosion.
One of the Tyrant's subordinates came up with a solution. Since directly absorbing Crimson Power wasn't possible, they would take a compromise approach. A type of parasite capable of absorbing Crimson Power was cultivated.
First, they let this parasite absorb Crimson Power. Even though the parasite would die quickly, generation after generation of cultivation would continuously increase this creature's Crimson Resistance. Finally, they would transplant this parasite into their bodies and achieve the effect of possessing and controlling Crimson Power by controlling the parasite.
In truth, the real Crimson Power wasn't particularly eerie or creepy. The Crimson Power mastered by the Crimson Monarch was the domineering strength and invasion of a conqueror, or the power of blood and flame combined. But by the time it reached the Tyrant, the invasion of Crimson Power had become erosion, or bizarre parasites.
Although the Tyrant had gained some control over Crimson Power to a certain extent, his greed, amplified to the extreme, wouldn't be satisfied with this. So he ordered his subordinates to transplant more parasites into him, thereby further mastering Crimson Power.
The result was predictable. The parasites inside the Tyrant not only went out of control, but multiple parasites fused together. This parasite was the giant mouth that had swallowed the Shadow Eater earlier. Its name was Greedy Mouth, and it would devour any outsiders.
In fact, this space had two parts, the upper and lower levels. When the Tyrant's parasites went out of control back then, it triggered a chain reaction. Most of the Tyrant's subordinates were either devoured by their respective parasites or controlled by them.
Ligoga had also been one of the Tyrant's subordinates. When he and several colleagues saw the situation turning bad, they blew up the Space Gate leading to the lower-level Monarch's Underground Palace. This sealed the Monarch's Underground Palace into a closed space, trapping all the mutated monsters inside.
Although Ligoga, who was in the upper area, had escaped disaster, he soon discovered that due to the parasites in his body, he could no longer leave this area. These fully activated parasites could only survive in an environment permeated with Crimson Power. Once they left this place, the parasites would die quickly, and Ligoga, who lived in symbiosis with them, would also die.
The reason people who mistakenly entered Laughing Town couldn't leave was that they were first parasitized by the parasites here, then forced into symbiosis with them, making it impossible for them to ever leave. The reason they laughed maniacally was due to the parasites gradually invading their brains.
"You mean, there's no way for me to go to the Monarch's Underground Palace below?"
As Su Xiao spoke, a crystal layer wrapped around his right hand.
"The possibility is very low, unless I take you to that broken Space Gate..."
Before Ligoga could finish his words, several blade lights flashed. Until his death, he couldn't understand why Su Xiao had struck so decisively.
With a splat, Ligoga's flesh burst open. A fluid-like parasite inside rushed straight at Su Xiao. But while still in mid-air, it was sliced in two. This attack carried Soul-Slashing properties, and even though this parasite had no vital points, it was killed on the spot.
The reason Su Xiao had killed Ligoga was that the latter was lying. Among several truths, he had hidden one lie. As for how to get to the underground palace below, Su Xiao had already figured it out. Being swallowed by that Greedy Mouth would naturally lead to the Monarch's Underground Palace, where other treasures were hidden.
There was one problem though. The Greedy Mouth was very wary of Su Xiao, so that giant mouth definitely wouldn't come to swallow him.
Just as Su Xiao was thinking about how to catch the Greedy Mouth, a voice suddenly came from beside him.
"My dear friend, I think I smell the scent of treasure."
Kaisa had appeared beside him at some point. Su Xiao was already used to this. It turned out that even after advancing to Absolute Strong, he still couldn't sense this guy's sudden appearance.
Kaisa pulled out a Soul Coin Pouch. This Soul Coin Pouch was very special. Normal Soul Coin Pouches emitted a light golden glow, but this one faintly showed a blood-red color.
Taking out this item, Kaisa didn't directly hand it over. Instead, he let Su Xiao first check the properties of this thing. Not only that, but Kaisa's hand holding the pouch was wrapped in [Deceiver's Headwrap], as if he didn't want to touch this item.
[Strange Misfortune Coin Pouch]
Origin: Void.
Category: Special Equipment (Misfortune Object)
Durability: 20/30 points.
Prerequisite: Luck Attribute 65 points or above (Met).
Equipment Effect 1: Misfortune Gamble (Active), each use of this equipment can result in one of the following two situations.