Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

Finally, I reached the top of that enormous head, but even with my head held high, I still couldn't reach it.

Lyle stretched out his hand and raised it high.

The Shiba Inu stared at the arms waving in the air, its eyes fixed on nothing else. It barked happily and, with a burst of strength from who knows where, leaped upwards.

The mouth opened wide in an instant, almost to a 180-degree angle, with teeth arranged like tableware on a five-meter-long dining table.

Lyle plummeted downwards with inertia, as if he had deliberately crawled into the giant mouth.

Another nimble spell, and the body completed a somersault in the air. After adjusting its posture, Lyle slapped it down forcefully.

"You stupid dog, shut your mouth!"

Chapter Thirty-Four: Harvesting the Fruits

The calm after the storm.

It was like a submarine emerging from the water, revealing a huge dog's head from the bottom of a swamp, covered in mud, looking like a hideous mud monster.

It had an arm in its mouth.

No, it wasn't that it was carrying it in its mouth, but that hand was pinching its nose tightly. Although it could no longer feel pain, the Shiba Inu still felt wronged.

Lyle's remaining portion was held in Shiba Inu's mouth, and after Lyle touched Shiba Inu's nose, it had already regarded him as its good friend.

Seeing that Lyle was about to be swallowed by the mud, Shiba Inu decided to swallow Lyle into its belly to protect him.

There's no danger in getting inside a ghost's stomach; you can just release it by etherealizing it later. It should be a simple matter.

But to everyone's surprise, Lyle's hand, which was gripping the Shiba Inu's nose, wouldn't let go no matter what. The Shiba Inu didn't dare to use force because Lyle was still in its mouth, and its teeth couldn't close properly.

The poor Shiba Inu was doggy-paddled through the mud while enduring the black mud constantly being poured into its mouth. Although it had no sense of taste, it couldn't stand it.

The Shiba Inu finally crawled back to its old home, its body sticky and looking like a black candle monster.

Decisively blur the lines.

Lyle and the black mud on its body fell to the ground through its body. The Shiba Inu walked out, shook its ghostly fur, and became the most handsome cub within a hundred miles of Rafilin once again.

Lyle was still struggling in the mud. The Shiba Inu looked at him with disgust, as if he were a ball of dung, and used its right front paw to pull Lyle out.

It barked affectionately and licked Lyle's body clean of the mud.

The touch of the tongue was like a cool silk cloth brushing against the skin. Without the interference of the dog's saliva, Lyle felt exceptionally dry. It seemed that Mr. Dragon was right; petting the ghost dog really felt great.

After licking it enough, the man and the dog finally met in person. Unlike the initial hostility, the Shiba Inu crouched on its hind legs, its rear end on the ground, its huge tail swaying from side to side like a broom. The small patch of plants on the ground suffered a devastating blow, turning into withered and ruined flowers.

"Shiba Inu!"

"Wang!"

The Shiba Inu barked happily, sticking its tongue out of its mouth, looking silly, its fierce appearance instantly becoming comical.

Lyle felt like petting the dog.

He reached out his hand to the Shiba Inu, as if the nose-touching game was only played once. The Shiba Inu instantly understood what Lyle meant, and leaned forward, very obligingly extending its chin.

Lyle gently stroked the ghost's fur; it felt wonderfully cool and smooth, perfect for the hot summer. The ghost dog's fur was incredibly silky and silky; it was hard to imagine that it had initially stood on end like needles. Lyle enjoyed the Shiba Inu's cheerful purring.

Alright, the fun's over, time to get to work.

After William was scared away, all the strange plants were ours, and Lyle happily began his gardening work.

The Shiba Inu couldn't stand the loneliness and would often rub its tongue or big face against Lyle without paying attention to the force. Lyle would be pushed to the ground with a thud. It didn't hurt too much, but it was troublesome. When picking the fruit, it would take a lot of effort to get up from the ground.

Clearly, the Shiba Inu was also intrigued, stretching out its front paws in preparation. Lyle got up and pushed hard, causing Lyle to fall to the ground again. Lyle got up and fell down repeatedly, and the Shiba Inu barked happily several times, thoroughly enjoying itself.

Lyle was not happy about being repeatedly toyed with, so he grabbed a piece of wood and threw it at Shiba Inu's face.

The Shiba Inu was a little dazed from being hit, but then it seemed to remember something. It picked up the short stick in its mouth, placed it in front of Lyle, and looked at him expectantly.

I understand. Dogs love playing the twig-fetching game. Lyle doesn't mind playing it. If you throw the stick far away, the Shiba Inu won't disturb your work. It's a win-win situation.

"Shiba Inu, watch closely." Lyle stood up, swung the wooden stick in the air twice, and then threw it with all his might.

As the stick flew out, Chai Chai rushed over like a hurricane, picked it up the moment it hit the ground, and ran back like the wind. Less than ten seconds had passed.

This won't do; that silly dog ​​is running too fast.

Lyle picked up the branch again, and this time, he lit one of the remaining Featherfall Charms, sending the branch soaring into the sky like a rocket.

The wooden stick transformed into a star in the sky under the wide-open gaze of the Shiba Inu. Without a complaint, the Shiba Inu ran off in that direction, disappearing from Lyle's sight.

Now that the dog was no longer bothering him, Lyle hummed a little tune and officially began his harvesting work.

Lyle didn't finish his work until the full moon was shining. This was not Earth after all, which is why he bumped into Shiba Inu. Lyle made a common-sense mistake.

This is another world. In summer, the days don't last long. Around six o'clock, the sun sets, and a crescent moon hangs in the sky. At this time, it is white. It gradually becomes full moon between ten and eleven o'clock. After that, the moon turns red and becomes a red moon in the middle of the night.

Lyle finished his work, just as a whimpering sound came from afar. It was Shiba Inu returning, with a wooden stick in his mouth. I never expected that he would actually find it.

Shiba Inu spat out the piece of wood. Sure enough, it was a silly dog. It was a piece of wood as thick as a thigh, not the original one. The wood was bluish-black, and there were no growth rings on the cross-section. What kind of wood was this?

Lyle curiously reached out his hand.

A chill emanated from the wood, accompanied by a mournful wail that sounded neither human nor ghost.

Smoke billowed from the wood, forming a blurry human face that terrified Lyle.

The Shiba Inu stood to the side, puffing away like an idiot. This silly dog ​​must have gotten this weird thing from who-knows-where.

After preparing, Lyle realized that the piece of wood was just for show, so he turned the air conditioning down a bit.

Could this be the exotic wood that Mr. Dragon mentioned? In any case, it's definitely not an ordinary item. Lyle put it into the chimera bag.

This was an unexpected bonus. Now for the main event: the ghost moss in the Shiba Inu's nest.

Lyle was stumped by the rabbit hole, which was less than 30 centimeters wide. How was he going to get in?

I tentatively reached in with my hand, but there was nothing there.

The Chai Chai understood. It barked twice, pushed Lyle aside with its body, and barked twice at Lyle, as if to say, "Watch me."

Raising its front paws high, it slapped the hole shut with a snap, then its two front paws swung rapidly as the silly dog ​​began to dig at its own kennel.

Finally, a large hole was opened, and Lyle slid down the slope. The space below was quite large, like an underground parking garage.

There are plants that emit a faint glow growing on the wall; these are probably ghost moss, since this is the only plant in the Shiba Inu's nest, taking up all the space.

Like ordinary moss that glows, its only characteristic is a kind of visual illusion, as if the Creator added a few more strokes to it, and you can see obvious double images.

Lyle cut off a large piece of ghost moss and put it away. He then discovered that the cut area still retained the original ghost moss. How could this be? It had grown back in an instant?

It was an illusion; the caressing hand passed through the moss, leaving it lying in place just like the original moss. They were the ghosts of the moss. Perhaps, given enough time, they too would transform from illusions into solid entities and then acquire their own ghostly forms.

Having successfully achieved his goal, Lyle prepared to leave. He re-wove a pair of reed pedals, spent some more time cuddling with Shiba Inu, repeatedly emphasizing that Shiba Inu should not follow him, and finally waved goodbye to Shiba Inu.

The Shiba Inu sat on its ruined doghouse, barking at Lyle as he walked away, without moving an inch, until he was out of sight, at which point its barking turned into whimpering.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Choices and Trade-offs

After parting ways with Lyle, William ran straight to Raphael.

When I got that book, I knew all along that the mysterious path to madness was not easy.

His friends dwindled, some died unexpectedly, others met with misfortune, some withdrew in despair, or he became a complete stranger. William had witnessed many tragedies; Lyle was just a small part of it all, and he didn't know if he would be next.

But he wouldn't stop. He had sacrificed too much; he needed and deserved to be rewarded. He roughly tore open his jacket pocket and found a small tin box containing candy. It was a habit he'd developed as a child; when William was nervous, he always used sweets to suppress his panic, and this time was no exception.

His taste buds savored the sweetness, while his brain enjoyed the bitterness. In this balance, William returned to his composed and unperturbed gentleman persona.

He knew he was unlikely to save Lyle; he'd only be walking into the lion's den. Raphael's giant wolf was beyond his expectations. If it were just an ordinary ghost hound, William had some exorcism spells to protect them both. But the moment that giant wolf appeared, William knew he was wrong, terribly wrong. That chilling malice washed over his senses like a tidal wave. The more he learned, the more he feared; the idea of ​​being powerless was etched into his heart. The fear of death awakened the dreaded voice within him, screaming incessantly in William's ears, issuing him sharp and sarcastic commands.

"Take that Muggle down, then that beast will let us go!"

"Break that kid's legs, then we'll outrun him!"

"Wait until he gets close, then let him understand the difference between us and mortals!"

One bad idea after another spills out from the shadows of human nature. I've been blessed with luck many times before, but this time it might not be the same.

Just after Lyle lured the enemy away, guilt became a heavy shackle that suffocated William. He could hardly breathe, and he and the evil voice in his heart took turns.

It shouted loudly.

"You coward! Look at you! While you were plotting and scheming, your friend chose to sacrifice himself. You useless coward, how shameless you are to choose to live on!"

Just when I was being attacked by shame and felt utterly humiliated, sugar made my brain choose to calm down.

I am just an ordinary person.

My choice was my instinct. Instinct is neither right nor wrong. Kindness is a luxury I cannot afford.

William felt like a cold machine as he checked the backpack containing the herbs, the only thing he had gained from the journey.

Yes, not including those fifty Jules.

William must also avoid Ralph to prevent him from tracking down Lyle's whereabouts. Now, he must immediately return to Laffron, day and night, back to Cassandra, take all his belongings, and leave.

Fate played a little joke on him.

It freed him from the giant wolf, but brought him a vicious wolf to hunt him.

Ralph.

He hid in the bushes and watched William run out of the swamp, gasping for breath, stuffing an unknown thin piece into his mouth, returning to comfort like an addict.

He watched all of this with a cold eye.

Approach William from his blind spot.

William's mental numbness caused him to overlook the hunter.

Until Ralph's hand gripped his shoulder like an iron clamp.

“William.”

"Ha...ha...ha...Mr. Ralph, you've caught me. I'm sorry, please don't deduct my payment."

"Where is Lyle?"