Leading to the swamp area?
A question mark of confusion popped up on Chen Yu's round, rolling head.
He knew that the distance between planar rifts did not strictly follow their relative positions in the Prime Material Plane.
Unless calculated precisely by a high-level mage and deduced through complex spells, it was very difficult to locate and connect two planar rifts that were far apart.
But according to what the Heart-Stealing Shadow said, the rift controlled by the vampire clan and this rift that appeared deep within Gore were not only close in position, but also coincidentally connected to each other.
The probability of that was even lower than a slime disliking basking in the sun.
What was even stranger was that if the vampire clan had known this secret all along, they could have quietly infiltrated the heart of Gore through this rift, creating far greater trouble for the Stone Descendants than just dropping a single Heart-Stealing Shadow. Why would they expose the rift's existence in such a manner?
Suspicious, extremely suspicious.
Chen Yu felt like he was smelling the scent of a conspiracy.
After another round of "patient" communication from Yano, and the comforting threat of "another beating if you don't cooperate," the Heart-Stealing Shadow intermittently described the situation inside—the frozen snowfield, the huge castle, the spiritual chains locking the planar rift...
This reminded Chen Yu of the wandering castle that could move, mentioned by the Ice Elemental during their previous expedition.
What did it want to do by linking so many planar rifts together?
Wanted to escape the elemental plane?
Nilly crossed her arms, her fingertips lightly tapping her elbow as she thought for a moment before speaking. "On the vampire clan's side, that guy Salacha must know the situation of this castle quite well."
"I think their real goal probably isn't simply to create chaos, but to... lure us into the rift to explore that castle."
She put her hands on her hips, looking like "I'm very smart," her tone certain. "They likely know some secrets about that castle, understand the threats hidden within it, and don't dare to approach it easily themselves. That's why they're using this roundabout method to get us to scout the path and step on the mines for them."
"This perfectly explains why they aren't using this rift to infiltrate themselves, but instead had the Heart-Stealing Shadow expose the rift's existence to attract our attention."
"However, it has indeed piqued my interest. Come on, Yano, you come with me to the rift for a field inspection."
"Let's go take a look." Chen Yu hopped and bounced back onto Yano's broad shoulder. He was also very curious about the current situation inside that rift.
"Okay, Boss." Yano nodded, recalling the wandering Heart-Stealing Shadow from nearby.
"Follow."
Nilly acted decisively and efficiently, with no unnecessary words. Her figure flickered, transforming into a flowing shadow that skimmed the ground, racing towards the direction of the forest boundary at a speed far exceeding running.
Yano was stunned, not fully understanding how to follow, but his body had already reacted first.
He felt the shadow beneath his feet turn into a bottomless entrance, his body falling into the pitch-black shadow, swiftly sliding forward to follow.
The surrounding scenery instantly became bizarre and kaleidoscopic. The scenery of the real world stretched into colorful streaks flying backward, while tree shadows formed the channels for their rapid traversal.
This speed was much faster than running on two legs.
"Boss, I can traverse shadows too!" Yano's excited voice came through.
He finally understood how those assassins felt. Different from the steady feeling warriors and knights gave him, the freedom and exhilaration brought by this extreme speed were truly intoxicating.
Then, following Chen Yu's prompts, Yano proceeded to test his newly acquired abilities.
Besides the basic Shadow Traversal and simple manipulation of his own shadow, he also discovered he possessed the abilities of the Heart-Stealing Shadow.
His shadow seemed to possess an independent life, able to briefly detach from his main body and silently parasitize other shadows.
This not only allowed him to share vision and hearing through shadows for reconnaissance, but also, at critical moments, temporarily interfere with or even control a target's actions through their shadow, or tear the target's shadow, causing mental impacts, confusion, fear, and other negative effects.
It was like having a knight squire who followed him like a shadow.
Of course, Yano was also aware that the power system of shadow assassins was vast. What he had mastered now was merely entry-level ability.
The Stone Descendant family's long history contained many more assassin skills related to shadows. To become a qualified shadow assassin, he still had a long road ahead.
Nilly glanced back at Yano, who had already adapted to shadow perception, and said nonchalantly, "Gaining new power is good, but Auntie has to remind you, our enemies are often more cunning and changeable than the deepest shadows. Don't get complacent and carried away just because of a little progress."
"In a few days, after we finish handling the follow-up matters of the trial, you'll come with me to the Stone Fortress again."
"What are we going to the Stone Fortress for?" Yano asked.
"To access the secrets of the gargoyle army left behind by Duke Castor, of course. I think the little fellow on your shoulder should be quite interested too." Nilly said openly, seemingly not worried about outsiders knowing the secret.
Not long after, they returned to the boundary guarded by the knight statues, passed them, and ventured deep into that pitch-black, lightless world.
However, in shadow perception, this depth wasn't just a patch of darkness. It was more like an uneven shadow highland, and they were located beneath this highland.
Nilly was accustomed to this.
She slowed down, took a small crystal bottle containing colorless, transparent liquid from a small leather pouch at her waist, and gently twisted the brass cap engraved with a complex emblem.
With a soft "pop," the liquid inside the bottle seemed to activate, instantly emitting a soft, hazy glow that slightly dispelled the surrounding darkness.
Although this light wasn't enough to illuminate the path ahead, in Yano's shadow perception, the original shadow highland underwent a huge change.
Centered on the fluorescent potion bottle, the shadow highland seemed to be pressed by an invisible force, sinking into a depression with clearly defined boundaries—a valley.
The reflections of the stones around the valley and their own shadows were stretched, forming shadowy paths like signposts, extending deeper into the darkness.
The naked eye could only see things within three meters at most, but with the help of these reflections, shadow perception could see much farther than the naked eye, clearly perceiving things within twenty meters.
They followed the direction indicated by the stone shadows and soon, a spatial rift with edges that contracted and expanded like breathing appeared before them.
Because it wasn't stable enough, a biting chill still lingered around the rift.
"This is that rift?"
Curious, Nilly circled the rift once, even poking her head in to take a look.
"Whoosh—"
A gust of icy cold wind blew out, making her shiver involuntarily. She shrunk her neck and hurriedly retreated.
Yano asked Chen Yu on his shoulder, "Boss, should we go in and take a look?"
Chen Yu thought for a moment.
The situation on the other side was unknown, and there might be unknown dangers. Of course, he couldn't let Yano rashly enter.
"You stand guard here, stay alert. I'll go in and take a look myself." Chen Yu made the decision.
Having said that, he jumped down from Yano's shoulder, ready to bounce into the rift emitting cold air, but was gently lifted by a soft, mysterious icy force.
Looking back, what held him was a humanoid figure with an outline somewhat similar to Nilly's.
Nilly put her hands on her hips and said to Chen Yu, "This is my shadow companion. Let it follow you. If you encounter any trouble inside, it can help a bit, at least bring you back quickly."
"See you later." Chen Yu patted her shadow companion with his gel hand in thanks, then resolutely plunged headfirst into the planar rift.
His round, rolling figure was instantly swallowed, like a mini warrior embarking on an unknown journey.
The familiar icy wind howled immediately. Chen Yu found himself back on that dead, silent ice field once more.
But unlike before, he saw a huge spiritual chain extending from the distant horizon, firmly locking the rift in place, as if anchoring it here.
Amidst the vast snow, such spiritual chains were far from just one. They rose from various directions across the ice field like giant pythons emerging from darkness, ultimately converging on the hazy giant shadow deep in the snowfield.
That was the outline of a castle!
The towering spires, the shadows of thick city walls, flickered faintly in the wind and snow, like a mountain seated at the edge of the ice field.
"So big..." Chen Yu couldn't help but marvel inwardly. Its scale far exceeded his imagination.
The humanoid figure beside him murmured, saying things he couldn't understand, then picked him up and tried to move towards the direction of the castle.
However, the basic principle of Shadow Traversal was to use shadows in the real world as springboards and channels. There needed to be light to have shadows.
And on this ice field without an obvious light source, "shadows" themselves became difficult to grasp.
Nilly ran hard for quite a while, but their movement speed was frustratingly slow. After running for half the day, the outline of that castle in their vision didn't seem to have gotten any noticeably closer.
By this time, Chen Yu was almost frozen stiff, his consciousness gradually blurring.
Nilly also seemed to notice his poor condition. She stopped to think for a moment, then quickly changed direction, running towards another rift.
This time the distance was much closer. Soon they arrived beside the rift.
The humanoid figure poked its head in and out to observe, looking rather sneaky. It seemed to confirm the safety on the other side, then carried the frozen-stiff Chen Yu out of the rift.
The Western Swamp at night.
The clear, mercury-like moonlight quietly spilled onto the frost-covered ground, making the frost crystals glitter like scattered diamonds everywhere, shimmering with a cold luster.
The Poison-stinger Wasp swarm buzzed as usual, patrolling the air above the frosty ground, harvesting any magical creatures daring to intrude.
Beside the rift, Peachy was leisurely grunting, using her giant nose, comparable to a plowshare, to root through the soil mixed with ice chips, digging out deeply buried tubers and tree roots. She squinted her small eyes, chewing contentedly.
She adhered to the King's command, enjoying her midnight snack while guarding the planar rift not far away.
But what puzzled Peachy was that this glowing crack seemed to be in a bad mood tonight, flickering on and off as if hiccuping.
Curious, she put down the half-eaten tree root, took heavy steps closer to the rift, lowered her huge head, and tried to poke her head in for a look.
"Hum!"
The planar rift suddenly fluctuated violently, its light flashing to the extreme, then it spat out a pitch-black humanoid figure.
"Snort?!"
Peachy's eyes met those of the figure. They stared at each other, big eyes meeting... well, shadowy figure. The surroundings instantly fell silent.
It was clear both parties were utterly bewildered.
Before Nilly could prepare to make a run for it, Chen Yu's gel body gradually warmed up, his consciousness regained clarity, and he slowly opened his eyes.
"Huh? Peachy?" Chen Yu blinked his round eyes.
...
Riftrock Fortress, inside the newly built court tree house.
The fluorescent mushroom lamps woven from flexible vines emitted a soft yellow light, spilling onto a bed spread with thick, dry moss.
Chen Yu slowly opened his eyes on it.
Outside was still pitch black, dawn was still far off.
His loyal guard, Little Ka, was curled up beside him, hugging its own tail and snoring soundly, shiny drool hanging from the corner of its mouth, as if dreaming of delicious Moss Monsters.
Chen Yu carefully wriggled, preparing to bounce out quietly without disturbing this dutiful guard.
But the movement still startled Little Ka awake.
It abruptly lifted its head from sleep, looking around alertly. Upon realizing it was Chen Yu waking up, it relaxed, emitting affectionate "kaka" sounds, and gently nuzzled him with its head.
"Since you're awake, come with me to the Obsidian Mining Area." Chen Yu said.
"Kaka!"
Little Ka shook off its drowsiness, excitedly patted its wings, indicating it was ready at any moment.
Once Chen Yu skillfully jumped onto its back, Little Ka moved its short legs, rushed out of the tree house, then flapped its wings vigorously, carrying him aloft and merging into the night.
Over at the frosty ground, after resting, Nilly had already taken his clone back to Gore with her.
But Chen Yu felt her intentions might be similar to the vampire clan's—planning to personally investigate this unknown force that suddenly emerged from the swamp.
However, with Yano as a trust link between both sides, plus his understanding of the Stone Descendant clan's way of doing things, Chen Yu felt establishing a cooperative relationship with the Stone Descendants was far more reliable than dealing with the treacherous vampire clan.
If they could form an alliance, it might be a good choice for dealing with the Goblin Army and various potential future threats.
Of course, these were matters to consider only a few days later.
After getting the latest intelligence on the Goblin Army from Casimir, he always felt that those chaotic green-skinned fellows, after lying low for so long, would soon make a bigger move.
He also planned to completely drive those guys out of Riftrock Pass.
As for the rift, it was quite good to use as a passageway. He hoped there wouldn't be any changes for now.
At least, he hoped that strange castle wouldn't bring him major trouble.
Little Ka flapped its wings across the sky, casting a small shadow in the light of the fortress's burning torches.
Chen Yu's heart suddenly stirred, remembering the new talent he had just acquired.
[Shadow Traversal]
In just an instant, he and Little Ka seemed to fall into a pitch-black abyss, swiftly darting towards the outside of the castle until they left the range of the torchlight before stopping.
"Kaka!!!"
This scared Little Ka half to death. Thinking it had suffered a magical attack from an enemy, it frantically beat its wings, fleeing the spot.
Chen Yu quickly used his gel hands to tightly grasp the scales on Little Ka's back, his heart also filled with astonishment.
This speed was too fast!
It just consumed a bit too much Mana.
If he could level up "Shadow Traversal," perhaps he could traverse shadows freely like Nilly, even moving over longer distances.
While Chen Yu was still pondering, Little Ka had already stabilized, and following his guidance, carried him flying into the dungeon passage leading to the Obsidian Mining Area.
After flying through the winding, deep, and dark passage for quite a while, faint "clink-clank" sounds of metal striking gradually came from ahead. The air also began to fill with the herbal scent of pill fragrance.