Mystery: The Witch of Desire

At this moment, Edwina, who had been observing carefully for a while, spoke up:

“Strange, I’ve never seen anything like this before. Perhaps we should bypass them and head directly to the ruins.”

Just as Livre was about to nod, she suddenly noticed a curly-haired baboon turn its head and glance in the direction where the two were hiding.

Chapter 177 An Unwilling Sacrifice

It had a few comical tufts of red hair on its head, and its unusually deep black eyes glanced at it before quickly turning away to continue banging on the stones and trees.

Livre felt something was off: Did that curly-haired baboon sense our presence? Or did it simply turn its head by chance?

She asked Edwina with some curiosity:

Can intelligent individuals emerge from among curly-haired baboons?

Edwina thought for a moment and answered seriously:

"Yes, they are similar to humans. Most individuals do not have supernatural abilities, but a small number have a chance to become supernatural beings after coming into contact with magical potions or similar extraordinary things. Perhaps because the curly-haired baboon is closely related to humans, most of the individuals that become supernatural beings are able to develop intelligence and communicate with humans."

"I see……"

Livre nodded slowly, then glanced at the busy curly-haired baboon.

For some reason, she instinctively felt that these creatures with their bare red bottoms were extremely dangerous and exuded an eerie aura.

"Then let's head straight to the ruins..."

Feeling somewhat unwell, Liviel wanted to leave as soon as possible. No sooner had she spoken than the ground suddenly trembled, as if some creature had rolled over underground!

Feeling the earth tremble, Livre's heart tightened, and she grabbed Edwina's hand, letting her actions speak for themselves.

At that moment, Edwina pointed her finger and used the ritual magic of following the wind. The wind suddenly howled around the two women, helping them run more easily and faster.

Then, Livre felt a gust of wind blowing from behind and under her feet, pushing and supporting her as she chased after the enemy. This significantly reduced the gravity she had to overcome and gave her extra power, instantly doubling her speed!

With a whooshing sound, Livril and Edwina ran out of the sparsely wooded area and circled around to the side of the group of curly-haired baboons.

Just then, their hearts suddenly raced, and an indescribable desire surged within them, stirring their very souls.

Livre was alright; she instinctively used her sex addiction ability to suppress the urge, but Edwina pursed her lips, her legs trembling slightly, revealing a pained expression.

At the same time, Liviel saw a huge figure emerge from the center of the altar built by the curly-haired baboons:

It was a giant tree that a single person could not encircle, its surface covered with huge, dark green scales, just like the giant trees seen in the Black Forest before, only with even more exaggerated scales.

Between the scales, flower buds covered in pale yellow oil stains and interspersed with a few pure white feathers grew.

In an instant, Livre sensed an aura that disgusted her: it was the aura of the evil god worshipped by the Rose School!

This aura mingled with another powerful aura, causing her body to tremble involuntarily.

Suppressing her disgust, Livre whispered to Edwina beside her:

"What is the connection between that nullification sect and the Rose School?"

Edwina barely managed to control her desires and said tremblingly:

"The Celestial Cult appears to be a peripheral organization of the Rose School. There must be some connection between them, but the specifics are still uncertain."

Livre nodded, taking a moment to soothe Edwina's desires.

At this moment, the tall, sturdy trees seemed to come alive, growing rapidly upwards. The flower buds began to bloom, sprouting thin, feather-covered arms. These arms were as slender as twigs, unlike human limbs, but rather like the wing skeleton of a bird.

Around it, trees withered rapidly, weeds died, and all the curly-haired baboons huddled around it, their once dull eyes turning scarlet.

This is... a sacrifice!

Having witnessed the Rose School's sacrificial rituals, Liviel was no stranger to this. Each sacrifice would produce such a huge tree, covered with flower buds dripping with pus, its bark like silt, teeming with various severed limbs.

The difference this time was that there were no living people around, and the offerings seemed to be these curly-haired baboons.

The limbs that sprouted from the tree trunk and flower buds spread wildly, reaching towards the red-eyed, curly-haired baboons. These poor creatures seemed to have lost the ability to sense danger, standing motionless in place, waiting for the limbs to grab their bodies and drag them toward the tree trunk.

As soon as the curly-haired baboon touched the bark of the tree trunks, its seemingly hard scales began to wriggle like mud, becoming soft and sticky, swallowing the baboon whole. Soon after, several white bones emerged from inside the tree trunks, signifying that the curly-haired baboon had been completely transformed into nourishment for the evil god.

Livre watched all this silently, feeling an indescribable sense of oppression in her heart.

Although these curly-haired baboons were not human, watching the evil god recklessly plunder lives still saddened her.

Soon, very few curly-haired baboons remained around the altar.

Those feathered limbs stretched out dozens of meters, reaching out to grab the curly-haired baboons that were stationed on the outermost edge.

Finally, the limbs, now fully feathered, reached out to grab the last curly-haired baboon.

Livre's gaze fell on the curly-haired baboon, and she suddenly noticed something different:

Unlike its companions who had perished, this curly-haired baboon still had black eyes and a few tufts of red hair on its head.

It was none other than the curly-haired baboon that was looking at where Livril and Edwina were hiding.

As Livre pondered whether there was any connection, the curly-haired baboon opened its two thick lips:

"Help! Help!"

It bared its brownish-yellow fangs, looked at the bushes where Livia and Edwina were hiding, and howled loudly. The syllables that came out of its mouth were pure Rune!

Livre quickly cast an inquiring glance at Edwina, believing that this knowledge-obsessed pirate general might be willing to save a sentient, communicative baboon, since it could tell them what had happened here.

However, Edwina remained silent and took no action.

Livre immediately abandoned her plan to save the curly-haired baboon, as she had just performed a divination and knew that rescuing it would be too dangerous.

And so, with a resentful look in its eyes, the curly-haired baboon was dragged into the tree trunk by its feathered limbs.

However, its expression did not seem to show the despair of someone facing death, nor did it wail like most animals before they die. Instead, its eyes showed more of a numb feeling.

Could it be that after gaining intelligence, it learned the spirit of facing death without fear?

Livre pondered silently, neither she nor Edwina uttering a word, remaining silent together.

After a few minutes, the huge tree trunk that had devoured dozens of curly-haired baboons returned to stillness, slowly retracting its body back into the altar like a moray eel that had set out to hunt for food.

Soon, everything returned to silence, but the curly-haired baboons were no longer around.

The two women's heartbeats gradually returned to normal, and the sticky desire within them slowly subsided.

Edwina exhaled and cast a small ritual spell to keep herself cool and dry, tidying herself up.

"Let's go."

She spoke softly, and with Livia, quietly turned back to their original route, continuing deeper into the forest.

Shortly after they left, the ground around the altar began to ripple like waves.

The soil, which had been covered with a thick layer of humus, became loose and cracked open with huge fissures.

A hairy hand broke through the soil and emerged from the crack. Short, stubby fingers with nails, like those of a human, gripped the ground, causing the entire hairy body to wriggle out of the ground, like a series of wriggling maggots.

Soon, more hands reached out from underground, and more hairy bodies crawled out of the ground.

These are curly-haired baboons. They look dazed. As soon as they crawl out, they look around, pick up branches and stones from the ground, and bang on them, continuing to repair the central altar.

Finally, a curly-haired baboon emerged from underground, its eyes deep-set and its head adorned with tufts of red hair.

He stood there blankly for a few seconds, then sighed softly like a human, picked up a stone from the ground, and began to tap it like the others of his kind.

……

After walking for a while through the dark forest where the light was extremely dim, Edwina suddenly stopped, glanced to her left, and said in a deep voice:

"If we continue a little further, we'll pass the first entrance to the ruins. A group of highly poisonous butterflies inhabit this entrance. Their strength is roughly equivalent to a Sequence 7 to Sequence 6 Extraordinary Being. Their venom is extremely potent; if they get caught, the best outcome is amputation. Fortunately, their reaction speed isn't particularly fast. Overall, they are rather troublesome Extraordinary Creatures. Shall we go in through this entrance?"

Livre was somewhat helpless:

You've already described them as so dangerous, why would I choose to take this path... wait, are the other paths just as dangerous?

Livre tentatively asked:

Are there any other entrances?

“Yes,” Edwina nodded. “There is another entrance, which requires a slightly longer route. A psychedelic bell tree grows at that entrance. Its strength is roughly equivalent to a Sequence 6 to Sequence 5 Extraordinary, and it has the ability to cause hallucinations.”

Sure enough, the other routes were also dangerous... However, compared to the deadly poison, hallucinations didn't seem so troublesome, and besides, I had some resistance to abnormal states.

After some thought, Livre suggested:

“Let’s take another route. I feel more confident about the psychedelic bell tree.”

"can."

Edwina turned around, picked up her lantern, and headed in a different direction. The two continued to wander through the tall trees covered with strange scales.

Because of the sacrifice just now, Livre has developed a psychological aversion to these tall trees and is constantly on guard to prevent them from suddenly coming to life and stretching out their strange, feathered limbs.

Just then, Edwina suddenly spoke up:

"Speaking of which, feathers actually have symbolic meaning in the field of mysticism."

Livre knew that Ms. Edwina was going to teach again, but this time she asked with great interest:

What does it symbolize?

As Edwina walked, she carefully considered her words before speaking:

"grim Reaper."

"The Grim Reaper?" Liviel asked in surprise. "The Grim Reaper who perished in the Pale Calamity?"

“Yes.” Edwina nodded slightly. “Individuals who are contaminated or affected by the power of death will grow white feathers stained with pale yellow oil. This phenomenon is very common in the Southern Continent. Many regions of the Southern Continent still retain the worship of a supernatural creature called the ‘Feathered Serpent.’ The natives believe that it is a symbol of death.”

Liviel pondered silently. She longed to discuss with Edwina the fact that the tall tree was actually imbued with the aura of that evil god. However, she dared not speak, fearing that her discussion would be overheard by the evil god.

Helpless, she could only ponder in her mind: Could there have been some story between that evil god and the Grim Reaper? Could an evil god like Him, representing licentious desires, have secretly had an affair with the Grim Reaper? If so, that would be something from the Fourth Age... Speaking of which, I still don't know the official name of that evil god. Well, it's better not to know; it's an unlucky thing...

As Livre pondered, she followed behind Edwina. Suddenly, they heard the faint tinkling of wind chimes, instantly giving them a sense of relaxation, as if they were back in their room on the Golden Dream.

Livre keenly sensed that her vigilance and guard were irreversibly melting away; no matter how much she emphasized or repeated it in her mind, she could no longer tense up.

In that instant, she even wanted to lean towards the direction from which the sound of the wind chimes came, believing that there were things there that she cherished and was very close to.

Because they were still quite far apart, the sound of the wind chimes came and went. Livre managed to control herself and turned her head to look at Edwina.

Edwina's face lost its usual composure, and a hint of emotion appeared on her beautiful face, like a tranquil lake disturbed by a pebble.

Her eyes were slightly red, and it was unclear what she was thinking or what emotional state she was in.

I wonder what it would be like if Edwina really fell in love... It would be quite a contrast...

Liviel couldn't help but think.

At this moment, Edwina spoke softly:

"Leave the rest to me."

As soon as she finished speaking, she put down the lantern, crossed her fingers in a simple gesture, and quickly chanted a few incantations. In an instant, a sharp pain shot through Livre's brain.

"Waaah..."

She almost couldn't help but groan. It has to be said that this mental attack really hurt, but fortunately, she has now broken free from the hallucinatory influence.

Edwina then cast a ritual spell, and soon a white mouse jumped out from the illusory magic circle in mid-air.

Using rats as bait to distract the Enchanted Chime Tree and then attack it? Indeed, ritual magic is all-encompassing. With sufficient preparation, it can easily deal with enemies of the same level. However, in close combat, it might suffer heavy losses, just like Edwina's gourmet first mate…

While Livre was thinking, Edwina composed herself, picked up the white mouse, and walked forward. Livre bent down, reached for the lantern, and followed behind her at a leisurely pace.

The sound of the wind chimes grew clearer and clearer, possessing an increasingly powerful force that calmed people down and made them want to run straight over.

After walking a few more steps, Livre finally saw the strange tree.

It was rooted to the side of a dark cave entrance, its brownish-green trunk bearing numerous slender cracks, each containing a deep, dark interior that seemed to harbor different eyes.

Hanging from the outstretched branches are iron-gray objects that resemble wind chimes, swaying on their own and making pleasant sounds. In the center of the branch closest to the trunk and at the top, a fist-sized, colorless, translucent fruit grows.

Edwina stared at the spot, then squatted down and began setting up a magic circle.

Chapter 178 Promotion Begins

After completing the complex magic circle, Edwina turned to Livre and said:

"Once I've taken control of the Enchanted Wind Chime Tree, you can launch an attack as needed."

What does "depending on the situation" mean? Under what circumstances should I attack?

Before Livre could ask, Edwina had already tossed the somewhat cute little white mouse in her hand toward the psychedelic bell tree, luring it to catch it.

Amidst the melodious tinkling of wind chimes, the little white mouse rolled over on the ground and then walked step by step toward the strange tree ahead. Its movements were normal, but its eyes were vacant, exuding an indescribable eeriness.