We agreed to seek enlightenment together, but how did you end up seeking enlightenment for my mother

At this moment, Wu Lulu is a completely different person.

Considering the other party's usual words and actions and the details they inadvertently revealed, Xu Zhou had some guesses in his mind, but he didn't dare to say them outright.

Who would have thought that deep inside Wu Lulu's heart resided such a... great killing god.

"So this is the source of her confidence that she's not worried about being too irrational?"

In any case, the night ended perfectly.

Xu Zhou ate the takeout delivered to his door by the Thousand-Eyed Soul-Stealing Demon, and at the same time verified the upper limit of his own talent. From now on, he would feel more confident when facing such mental monsters.

Wu Lulu was also unharmed. When she woke up in the morning, she clearly had no recollection of what happened last night; her memory seemed to have stopped after Xu Zhou left.

Therefore, when she opened her eyes and found Xu Zhou sitting by the bed, she excitedly rushed into his arms.

This gave Xu Zhou a huge fright.

But then I thought, that red-eyed wolf girl only said not to touch Wu Lulu, but she didn't say that Wu Lulu couldn't touch him, right?

So he felt perfectly justified in embracing the girl's slender waist, his fingertips gliding subtly over the small tuft of downy fur at the base of her tail, the touch soft and warm.

"Xu Zhou, I'm so glad you're alright!"

Wu Lulu's smile was sincere and bright; she was genuinely happy that both of them had survived, to the point that she completely ignored the overly intimate distance between them.

Seeing that the girl was still the same as he knew, Xu Zhou secretly breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to his business.

"What exactly was watching us last night?"

Wu Lulu tilted her head, carefully considering her words.

"It is a relic of a very high level. After undergoing some mysterious changes, celestial objects have a chance to awaken self-awareness. Among them, relics are often extremely dangerous in the celestial world, while rare objects are much safer in comparison."

Xu Zhou nodded slightly; it was pretty much what he had guessed.

So he then asked:

"Can a relic with its own consciousness be refined by humans?"

"Of course, but it would be very difficult."

Wu Lulu gave an affirmative answer.

Xu Zhou seemed to be deep in thought. He had originally been considering whether he could directly refine a portion of it to achieve an effect similar to [Silent Death (1/5)].

But as things stand, unless the other party takes the initiative to cut ties, he can only exert all his efforts on the mysterious energy.

"Upgrading 'Rotten Wood Blossoms' might enhance the refining effect."

The problem is, where is he going to find such a good power bank again?

After this battle, it's likely that we won't encounter the Thousand-Eyed Soul-Stealing Demon again for a long time to come.

Wu Lulu wanted to find out what happened after she fell asleep last night, but recalling the specifics of the situation, Xu Zhou chose to give a vague answer.

He simply said that he had failed to arouse the interest of the relic, and the other party left quickly. Afterwards, he dealt with a wave of monsters that attacked at night, and the night passed peacefully.

As for the matter of the red-eyed wolf mother, she was never mentioned.

In the morning, villagers came out of their houses one after another. Although they were not directly involved last night, they had all more or less sensed the danger the village was facing.

In particular, the dried bloodstains visible everywhere on the exterior walls of each wooden house reveal the fierce battle that took place the previous night.

Fortunately, the bodies of the dead are burned to ashes by the sun during the day, greatly reducing the visual impact; otherwise, these people probably would never have let Xu Zhou and his companion leave.

As agreed, the two were to embark on their journey to the witch's hut after breakfast.

The village chief not only provided a simple map with a small house drawn on it, but also gave Xu Zhou a short knife as a return gift for protecting the village last night.

Xu Zhou was indeed not good at using weapons and had not mastered any combat skills at all, but which boy would refuse a sharp and cool short knife?

Even if you don't use it to fight monsters, it's still great to hold and play with it in your hand.

As they were leaving, the villagers lined the road to see them off, waving goodbye. Some even had tears in their eyes, seemingly overwhelmed with emotion.

The children jumped and skipped around, raising their hands and shouting names like adventurer and traveler, as if they had put themselves in the shoes of the two.

Leaving the village and walking through the dense forest, Xu Zhou felt a strange sense of unreality. Just last night he was gambling with a high-level relic, but after only one night, everything had returned to normal.

The challenge of the invitation still weighed on his shoulders, and the village's entrustment was not yet fully accomplished, but now his mindset had undergone a slight change.

It seems... I'm not so confused anymore?

"Wululu, can you read a map?"

As he fiddled with the blueprints provided by the village chief, Xu Zhou stroked his chin, lost in thought. How could he have forgotten such an important thing as being terrible with directions?

The girl next to her snatched the map and proudly puffed out her chest.

"Hmph~ Xu Zhou, a nobody, doesn't he still need Lady Wu Lulu to step in when it matters?"

"You really understand it?" Xu Zhou asked with a questioning look.

"What? Are you questioning the authority of the tribal leader?" Wu Lulu pouted and said unhappily.

When did you become the boss?

And when did I become a member of your group?

Xu Zhou was too lazy to argue about these things. Since the other party was so certain, they must indeed have some confidence.

We can't just pretend to be rich when we're not, can we?

"Oh, right, this is for you."

Wu Lulu took out a bracelet from her waist pouch. It was woven from flowers and grass leaves, and although the workmanship was simple, it was very sturdy. It was clear that the maker had put a lot of thought into it.

As she spoke, she stretched out her right hand and waved it, revealing another identical wrist ornament on her wrist.

"Couple's bracelets?"

Xu Zhou blurted it out.

Wu Lulu's face flushed red, and she angrily punched his shoulder.

"What couple! It's a gift from Xiaomei to us!"

"Oh……"

"What are you regretting?!"

"It's nothing, I was just thinking that Xiaomei is such a good girl."

Recalling the two children she met when she first entered the village, Xu Zhou couldn't help but smile gently.

Lively and adorable children can always bring hopeful encouragement and healing to adults on their long journey.

"She also said she would prepare an even prettier gift and give it to us after we get back and fix the iron golem."

Wu Lulu quickened her pace, then suddenly turned back to look at Xu Zhou, her smile exceptionally bright.

Just then, a beam of light pierced through the dense canopy of trees and landed on the girl's shoulder, as if her figure was enveloped in a light golden halo, giving her a somewhat sacred air.

"Hehe, what a charming little brat!"

"Gurgle, gurgle!"

Xu Zhou & Wu Lulu: ? ? ?

What's that strange noise coming from?

The two looked in the direction from which the sound came, and saw a large black bird with a wingspan of more than four feet descend from the sky, flapping its wings and landing on a patch of dead leaves not far ahead.

Wu Lulu's eyes immediately lit up.

"Huh? There are even after-dinner snacks?"

Xu Zhou was too lazy to complain, and pressed down on the head of the wolf-like creature that had already assumed a hunting posture.

"Look closely, it has leg bands, it's clearly a domesticated animal."

"Ah! Could it be the witch's giant bird?!"

"Big... uh, it is indeed very big, but it may not be a witch's."

The black raven was clearly curious about the man and woman in front of it, constantly tilting its head to observe them, yet maintaining a precise safe distance, giving them no chance to get close.

The two looked at each other and grinned.

Go on!

The same hair that bestows the witch's mantra!

[Witch's Mark +1]

[Current marker: 1]