Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

Examine the surrounding details carefully.

“William, don’t you think this three-square-meter space looks a lot like…”

"What does it resemble?"

“I mean, footprints.” Lyle mentally gestured to estimate how big the Shiba Inu would actually be.

"Terrifying." William could see it too, and the speculation about the monster sent a chill down his spine.

“Shall we go straight to Rafilin?” William pointed to the shadows in the fog.

Lyle looked at the sky. Although it was covered by a thin mist, the sunlight still created a small spot of light on the fog. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. Considering that the days are longer in summer, there was still plenty of time before dusk.

"William, your suggestion is to go directly to Rafilin?"

“Yes, Lyle, don’t you feel that this fog is unusual? Every anomaly has its reason. I’ve read in books that places shrouded in fog all day long are either cold lands or the realm of the dead. Lyle, Rafilin may not be a simple abandoned site; it may be a ghost realm, that is, a place where only the dead stay.”

"You mean, Ralph is in danger?"

"I'm not sure. Compared to the ghost realms described in the records, the fog here is too thin. According to the rules, this place should only breed some scary, unclean things, and shouldn't be harmful to a sheriff like Mr. Ralf, but..."

"But what?"

"Logically speaking, such a place with shallow spiritual energy should not be able to produce large monsters like the Rafirin Wolves described in the book. I have doubts about the reliability of the book I read."

So that's how it is. As the saying goes, different environments nurture different people. William was puzzled by the creation of the Chai Chai; he never imagined that it was a product of necromancy, an artificial monster. This makes sense now. Raphael's only threat is the Chai Chai; it seems Ralph won't face any other unforeseen circumstances.

“Such an environment may not produce monsters, but it will give rise to some plants with a corresponding aura of death, which would be good spellcasting materials,” William’s eyes gleamed. “Raphirin must have some precious treasures.”

Of course, there was also the ghost moss I wanted in Chai Chai's cave. There were naturally many mysterious plants here, and Lyle decided to be on the safe side.

"Let's move along the edge of the fog first, check for dangers, look for the materials we need, and then slowly approach Rafilin."

William agreed, suppressing his desire for the valuable material and choosing to support Lyle's cautious approach, for venturing into the mysterious required caution.

The two circled around Raphael's enormous shadow, initially a little impatient, but as they ventured deeper, the strange plants they discovered filled them with delight.

"It's a dream flower!"

"These are terrifying daisies!"

"And there's also the root of the undead!"

William was so excited he transformed. He took out a small dagger and began cutting the grass like a bountiful farmer. He was obviously much happier, because these were not things he had planted; the fruits of labor were sweeter.

Lyle also began picking some plants.

"Lyle, do you want these too? But they're useless to you. Do you even know what they are? Using them haphazardly will cause trouble."

“Since it’s so precious, I can take some back to supplement my family’s income. Is that okay? If all else fails, I can just pick some and sell it to you.”

William thought it made sense; two people working together was better than one. He could get it back by giving Jules some money later, so why wouldn't he be happy? William even taught Lyle how to pick the herbs without damaging their medicinal properties.

As Lyle studied, he thought to himself, "Foolish William, I may not know its value, but surely Mr. Dragon does! Sell it to you? I wonder how many Ollives I could get for selling it to Mr. Dragon. Small change, how wonderful!"

"What is this? A mutated nightshade? Never mind, I'll take it." Lyle heard William's words, turned his head, and saw William's knife pointing at several alluring flowers.

It's a five-petaled Death's Night Citron!

Seeing this plant, the only one he recognized and found useful, brought tears to Lyle's eyes.

"No, you don't want them. These are mine. I'll trade with you. That whole circle, that whole area, you can have them all. I want these."

Lyle employed powerful persuasion.

"That's certainly possible, Lyle. Have you ever seen this kind of mutated nightshade?"

"I've never seen them before, but they're so beautiful, I want to take them home and put them in a vase."

William was speechless, but he let it go. As he said, plants he didn't understand were of no use to him.

The two young gardeners continued with their work.

They found a small depression.

The plants on top are much denser than those around it, but there is a small hole in the middle, about the size of a palm, that looks like a rabbit hole.

William immediately rushed toward the plant, but Lyle remained where he was because of his inner unease.

He stared at the dark hole, as if he had forgotten something.

Unbeknownst to them, they had already ventured quite deep, but were still a considerable distance from Rafilin's shadow. What was the cause of this chilling intuition? This feeling of déjà vu.

Yes, it's a feeling of being spied on.

As the temperature continued to drop, Lyle's body began to tremble, and he finally remembered.

The fear of being stared at by Ariana's ghost, the fear of being targeted by a ghost.

Lyle finally understood.

Why do these unusual plants grow so lushly here?

Who decided that the wolves of Raphirin must live in the ruins of Raphirin?

Who said that giant wolves must live in huge dens?

The Shiba Inu is a ghost dog, so the size of the hole is irrelevant to it; it can pass through any substance at will, just like it is now.

Two eyes the size of light bulbs, gleaming coldly, and a house-sized phantom emerged from the rabbit hole.

A cold wind blew up.

William's hand holding the small dagger began to tremble, and he staggered backward.

It turned out that the two of them were picking grass from near the nest of the cicada.

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Dog Training Story

Standing over three meters tall and nearly ten meters long, the rabbit hole seemed tiny in comparison, yet this enormous creature emerged from there.

Lyle couldn't find a place that could be described as lovely.

His eyes, reflecting a bluish light, resembled two eerie will-o'-the-wisps. His fur stood up like sharp barbs, and his dagger-like claws gleamed coldly. Most terrifying of all was his enormous mouth, which revealed two rows of interlocking canines that even the most discerning dentist could not find fault with. They were arranged like the blades on a chainsaw, and his mouth was like a closed hood of a car. My holy light, you would not want to see it open.

This doesn't look like the little cutie Mr. Dragon described. Perhaps it's just recently entered its growth phase, as it's much bigger than the carriage. Although ghost dogs feed on souls, the Shiba Inu probably wouldn't mind changing its taste and eating some fresh scraps of meat. Lyle doesn't think that mouth, which is like a disintegrator, will allow him to remain intact.

Before the Shiba Inu could launch an attack, it stood at its doorstep, staring at Lyle and William. The two of them were also staring at that big face, not daring to breathe. The situation reached a stalemate, and Lyle began to sweat.

The Shiba Inu took a step forward with its front paws.

Like flipping a switch, William immediately prepared to turn around and run away.

"Don't run, you idiot," Lyle growled, trying to keep his voice as low as possible so William could hear him, afraid of disturbing Chai Chai.

William heard it, his running motion froze in mid-air, and he finally took a step back.

Why did you call me?

"Don't you know? Don't turn your back to the wolf. Also, canines will prioritize chasing fleeing people. Don't panic, slowly move closer to me. Yes, just like that, keep going."

Under Shiba Inu's watchful gaze, William and Lyle reunited and stepped back onto the swamp.

"Lyle, have you thought of a way to escape?"

"It's assessing our situation now, but dogs don't have much patience and will attack soon. When that happens, we'll split up and run, and then it's up to fate."

"Two choices, is that it?" William considered the distance between the two. Lyle was behind him, and if Lyle pushed him from behind, the giant wolf would most likely pounce on him. He didn't want to be the one to take the fall. He secretly conjured a fire talisman in his palm. If Lyle got close, he could instantly knock Lyle down and use him as bait, ensuring his own escape.

“There’s another way, William. I can be the bait, but I need you to give me something.”

"what?"

Where is the improved Featherfall Talisman?

"I kept some light magic charms in the left pocket of my coat."

“Okay, I’ll take a portion, then I’ll lure the giant wolf away, and then you run in the opposite direction.”

“I also have some attack talismans in another pocket.”

“No need, it’s too weak, it won’t work.” Lyle reached into William’s left pocket.

William breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that Lyle didn't take the attack talisman meant that Lyle had no intention of attacking him. What William didn't say was that he actually had a way to remotely detonate those destructive talismans.

"Alright, I've taken enough. Now, get ready, I'll count to three, and then we'll split up and run."

"it is good!"

"Three!" Without continuing the countdown, Lyle activated the talisman and ran towards the outer edge of the mist like a bird.

Caught off guard, William was a step too late. Just as he was regretting his naiveté, the giant wolf actually went after Lyle, unaware of William who had been left behind.

Lyle genuinely wanted to cover his retreat and condemn the darkness in his heart. William ran towards the ruins of Raphirin. The giant wolf was gone, Raphirin was definitely safe, and there was solid ground there, enough for him to maneuver.

……

Lyle dared not look back, clutching the talisman tightly in his hand, and released the Lightness Talisman. Lyle felt as agile as a monkey, as if he had eyes in the back of his head.

Lyle leaped without warning, dodging a Shiba Inu's pounce. The massive creature plunged into the swamp, the splashing mud sending the feather-heavy Lyle flying even further away, creating a small gap between them.

Shiba Inu was stuck in the swamp, its body already more than half submerged, but it wasn't panicked. Its body became even more transparent, and the mud seemed to lose its stickiness, gathering together through free fall. Shiba Inu broke free from the swamp, its ghostly form placing its body in a separate world from the matter, and continued charging towards Lyle. Unimpeded and moving on all fours, it was much faster than Lyle.

Soon back within its range, Chai Chai leaped high into the air, instantly solidifying and striking Lyle with immense inertia and gravitational acceleration.

This time he wasn't as lucky as last time. Although he dodged the attack, the sharp claws tore through Lyle's reed platform, disrupting his balance. He rolled around in the mud, his whole body covered in mud. Fortunately, the spell was still active, so he only slid a short distance on the surface instead of sliding directly to the bottom.

Because of the sticky mud, Lyle's speed was even slower, and he had used up a lot of his spells. The long exercise had left him exhausted, which seemed like another bad news.

Fortunately, Lyle reached his destination.

It was a large swamp, and as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but black mud, not even reeds.

The talisman in his hand began to heat up; the cost of casting the spell was about to be borne by him.

Lyle stopped running, stood on the mud, turned to face the Shiba Inu, and said, "Come and bite me, you stupid dog."

How could a dog refuse?

Another mud bomb appeared. With his agile movements, Lyle dodged the attack. He leaped towards the center of the explosion. Gravity took effect, and he was hit by the mud, but unlike before, he wasn't thrown far away. Lyle felt like the bow of a ship cutting through a giant wave. Although the impact felt like he was crashing into a city wall, he passed through the mud bombs in pain and saw the dog.

Because the swamp here is vast and one of the deepest, Shiba Inu's entire body was below the waterline and had not yet touched the bottom.

Lyle threw the gravity-enhancing spell at the dog, and the Shiba Inu immediately sank another inch.