Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 105: God’s Middle Finger

Could this Kai read minds? Myss pretended to lower his head and rest, peering through the gaps in his bangs.

Salaar casually caught hold of his body, supporting most of Myss’s weight. Peyton quietly swept his gaze over the two of them, then returned his attention to Kai.

“You’re quite candid.” Peyton emphasized the word “honest.”

“If I said I was an ordinary person passing through this dangerous uninhabited region all by myself, you would still have to believe me.”

Kai grinned indifferently. “Besides, this is Mondicia, the ‘Kingdom of Chaos.’ Their treatment of the Stargazers Society is not as strict as the Aufon Empire’s. Not to mention, the one I encountered is you, Peyton the ascetic, famed for his benevolence and detachment.”

When Kai said “benevolence,” the corner of Peyton’s mouth twitched, as if he was about to smile, only to return to calm before the smile could form.

Seeing that Peyton didn’t interrupt him, Kai’s words grew increasingly smooth. “With me here, everyone can contact the outside world, yet you still say you have your own matters to attend to. If I have guessed correctly, you all want to continue the ‘Journey to the Old Lands.’ After all, in a certain sense, the Karns family and the Night Scourge are inseparable.”

“That is why I proposed sharing my destination. The Stargazers Society only wants knowledge, and knowledge doesn’t diminish when shared. If you truly want to continue the ‘Journey to the Old Lands,’ cooperation benefits us both.”

Wow, Myss marveled inwardly. Kai had guessed pretty accurately.

Myss himself had no objection, and Salaar didn’t seem to plan on expressing an opinion either.

Father Kalen, however, failed to hide his look of anticipation. His plan had already included searching for Stargazers. Now one had delivered himself to their doorstep on his own initiative. It was simply an unexpected stroke of luck.

As for Mr. Groundhog Owen, ever since they started fighting the Human Mushroom, Owen had used soil to cast himself an upside-down earthen shield shell. That thing’s shape was rather peculiar, and Myss had nearly thought Owen wanted to build himself a grave mound. Now, Mr. Groundhog was still inside the grave… no, the earth shield, waiting for them to finish the battle.

“I don’t mind.” Salaar’s gaze slid over Myss’s face like warm water, and he took a step forward. “Finding a ready-made destination is better than charging around like a headless fly.”

Peyton didn’t answer, only repeatedly sizing up Kai in front of him.

Myss could roughly guess what he was feeling.

Kai was about the same height as Myss, and his figure was even frailer than Myss’s. With that ordinary, gentle face and those bulky suitcases, he looked like some unlucky character who would appear on a comedy stage. This sort of person rarely provoked hostility in others.

Kai pressed while the iron was hot. “Think about it. A large ruin that has never been discovered must contain information related to Saint Salaar. Even better, you have plenty of manpower on your side, so you don’t need to worry about me playing tricks.”

Myss couldn’t help poking Salaar. “Is there really a large ruin nearby?”

Salaar nodded and leaned a little closer. “The geology near the Crimson Marsh is special. It’s difficult to build complete underground shelters there, while large city-states aboveground are difficult to keep warm.”

“So their ruins are extremely scattered, and there was only one kind of shelter structure, called a ‘Double-Layer Tower.’”

According to Salaar’s description, a so-called “Double-Layer Tower” referred to a structure with a large chimney built straight through the center of the tower and up to the sky.

Every level of the tower had air inlets. People threw fuel into the chimney and lived close to the chimney wall, using the smoke and heat it produced for warmth, lighting, and daily life.

Mondicians called Double-Layer Towers “God’s Fingers” and revered them greatly.

Most Double-Layer Towers were built by wealthy nobles, great and small. According to scale, Double-Layer Towers were divided into three types: “thumb,” “index finger,” and “middle finger.” They were tightly hidden by various alchemical devices. In theory, the larger the tower, the harder it was for later generations to discover.

It seemed they were going to look for “God’s Middle Finger.” Myss gave a couple of dry coughs and forcibly held back his laughter.

The moment he thought of Salaar’s information being hidden inside “God’s Middle Finger,” the Chaos Archdemon himself felt like laughing a little. He crooked his own middle finger and felt that the people of Mondicia were rather to his liking.

“…Perhaps you have heard that a large alchemical creature like the Human Mushroom could only be afforded by a ‘Middle Finger Tower.’”

A few steps away, Kai spoke with absolute confidence. “During the Night Scrouge era, it was used to search for survivors. However, it required the intervention of mages from that era.”

“Enough.” Peyton finally spoke. “Does anyone have any objections?”

After saying this, his gaze gradually touched on everyone present, except Owen, who was hidden in his mound of earth, before finally returning to Kai.

“Lead the way, Mr. Stargazer.”

……

“That’s a Stargazer, Peyton. Is this really fine?”

Before Owen had even shaken the bits of mud from his head, he sidled over beside Peyton. It seemed the soundproofing effect of his earthen mound left much to be desired. He had heard everything very clearly.

“Stargazers are only fanatical supporters of doomsday theory and atheists. ‘Indiscriminate killing’ isn’t on their list of madness.” Peyton said lightly, “They understand the Night Scourge more thoroughly than we do. Being able to find a new ruin is a good thing.”

Owen glanced at Kai walking at the front and still looked uneasy.

“Just that Human Mushroom was already so terrifying. What if there are other surviving alchemical creatures in the ruin… I know you’re very strong, but accidents happen…”

Peyton remained unmoved. “That suits me perfectly. I brought you all here for ascetic training.”

Owen looked like he wanted to faint on the spot.

Myss was too lazy to care about Mr. Groundhog’s mental health. He looked curiously at Kai, watching as that guy pretended not to know the two of them and busied himself at the front of the group, tapping around with a magic device.

Perhaps because he looked for too long, Salaar had, at some unknown point, walked in front of him. His solid back occasionally blocked Myss’s line of sight. Moreover, this guy would occasionally turn his head and lick Myss’s face with his gaze, as if observing something.

Myss said irritably, “You’re blocking me.”

Salaar gave an “mm” and continued knowingly committing the offense. Myss had no choice but to quicken his pace and walk beside Salaar. Salaar took advantage of the motion to shift his body and grab Myss’s wrist. Not the ambiguous kind of “grab,” either. Hero Salaar looked as if he was strangling a goose.

Myss grew even more irritated. “You’re hurting me.”

“We’re almost there,” Salaar said. “There are defensive alchemical magic devices near the tower. Be ready to dodge at any moment.”

Myss snorted and swallowed his complaint.

One minute passed, five minutes passed… half an hour passed…

Myss felt like his hand was about to be deprived of blood by Salaar’s grip. Trembling, he turned his head aside. “‘Almost there’?”

Was this kid messing with him? Before Salaar could answer, he struggled to turn his head. “…Talen!”

Father Kalen obediently came closer. “?”

“That antidote for Return to Youth or whatever, I remember it’s with you. Give it to me.” Myss bared his teeth in pain.

“Sorry, sorry. I almost forgot.”

Father Kalen hurriedly fished the small bottle out of his pocket. “I checked it earlier. The potion is safe, and there are no strange ingredients.”

Myss grabbed the bottle, shook his fist at Salaar in warning, then placed it in his inner pocket, squeezing it together with “Brave Salaar”.

Sure enough, it was more reassuring to hold the initiative in his own hands, Lord Archdemon thought.

“Do you need anything else? I brought all the commonly used things.” Father Kalen patted the luggage bundle and asked thoughtfully.

Myss happened to be a little hungry, so he reached out a claw. “Raspberry candy. Do you have any?”

A trace of blankness appeared on the priest’s face. “I didn’t prepare candy. Would cheese or jerky do?”

“…Forget it,” Myss muttered softly. He was a little distracted and nearly tripped over the tangled weeds beneath his feet.

The priest scratched his head with a slight apology, then quickly returned to Kai’s side, eagerly observing this living Stargazer.

“We really are almost there.” After the priest left, Salaar immediately explained. “It’s just that the Stargazer hasn’t noticed and has been circling around nearby.”

Then, a rare look of hesitation crossed his face. Salaar slowly loosened his grip on Myss’s hand, rummaged in his pocket, and pulled out a red candy ball.

“Is this what you wanted just now?” he asked in a low voice.

Myss hummed in agreement and zipped the candy ball away from Salaar’s palm. Its wrapper was a little different from the ones he had eaten before. Who knew when Salaar had restocked.

“It’s rather ironic that the two of us actually have similar tastes.” Before Salaar could react, Myss threw the candy ball into his mouth.

Salaar sighed softly. “This really is…”

He revealed a thoughtful expression and didn’t finish the sentence.

“Really is what?” Myss crunched the candy, deliberately making the sound very loud.

“Nothing.” Salaar gave him a meaningful look. “Actually, I don’t like eating candy.”

Myss raised his brows and scoffed.

He grabbed Salaar’s collar in one hand and directly blocked the other man’s mouth. His sleeve slid slightly with the movement, and there were still dark-red finger marks left on his wrist from Salaar’s grip.

That half-melted candy ball was roughly pushed into Salaar’s mouth by Myss’s tongue. After a bit of friction, Myss leisurely hooked it back out again. Salaar was stunned in place by this unexpected attack and didn’t resist.

The “long kiss” ended. Myss licked the corner of his mouth, crunched the candy apart, and swallowed it all.

He lifted his face and revealed a victor’s smile. “So you don’t like it.”

Salaar was silent for a long while, touching his damp lips. Hard, sharp shards of candy remained in his mouth, and the sweet-sour taste spread across the tip of his tongue.

At this moment, he thoroughly understood why the version of himself three hundred years later had voluntarily taken that dose of “Return to Youth.” It hadn’t been some kind of precaution against an enemy, nor a plan to achieve victory, but…

…It seemed that in three hundred years, he really had changed quite a great deal.

Salaar slowly ground the candy shards between his teeth, so that the unfamiliar sweetness would become even more intense.

Very well. In any case, his conclusion wouldn’t change in the slightest. He absolutely, absolutely wouldn’t voluntarily undo the drug’s effect.

Amid Myss’s happy humming, Salaar silently picked up a stone and flung it backward into the empty space not far away.

Halfway through its flight, the stone abruptly fell, as if it had struck something invisible. At the same time, Kai, who was walking at the very front, let out a surprise “huh?” and suddenly turned around.

“I found it. There’s a Middle Finger Tower here!” he announced cheerfully. “After more than three hundred years, its concealment is still this perfect. It’s definitely a big one.”

However, before he had finished rejoicing, a series of creaking sounds rang out in front of everyone. It was like something heavy was stepping through mud and dead leaves, slowly approaching them.

“Question.”

A dull, cold voice rang out. It came from all directions, echoing through this gloomy, dense forest.

“For what reason do you depart?”

“For what reason do you remain?”

“For what reason do you come?”

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The author has something to say:

By the way, the inspiration for the double-layer tower came from northern heated brick beds (kang beds). (………………

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