“This marking should be the Demon King’s Castle, but what’s with this maze of routes?”
“Hiss… could this be a map?”
“What does this stone tablet want us to do?”
“I feel like this stone tablet is full of mystery. I wish there was a manual!”
Within the cavern passage, bursts of spiritual energy surged as the young women drew closer.
Rumble~
With a loud crash, a new stone tablet abruptly rose from the ground.
The commotion naturally drew the attention of the group exploring the Saint Ruins to this new tablet.
Unlike the tablet Su Lulu had seen earlier—which was engraved with news and a timeline of the Demon King’s revival—this one was even larger.
But what baffled everyone was that this tablet didn’t contain words. Instead, it was more like a regional map.
Marked on it were various routes, and at the center, a skull was highlighted in bright red dye—as if encountering a boss in an RPG game—with three Chinese characters written beneath: Demon King’s Castle.
Staring at this game-like map carved on the stone, the crowd was momentarily stunned.
After all, encountering something akin to opening a map panel in a game was novel no matter how you thought about it.
What place was this map describing?
And while it was novel, ordinary adventurers might not recognize the location.
But as Lin City’s S-rank Hero Party, they had previously ventured boldly into the Fourth Plane.
Although that exploration only covered the upper and middle layers before they turned back after encountering the Golden Dragon, now, looking at the map on this tablet, the Hero Party members soon noticed something familiar.
“Could this map be of the Fourth Plane? How did Dr. Su and Prophet Lin manage to safely explore such a perilous region?”
As the hero marveled, Ye Fufu and Mo Yu, after studying the map, couldn’t help but shiver.
Because before their exploration of the Fourth Plane, their conventional thinking had assumed the Demon King’s Castle would be at the deepest part of the Fourth Plane.
But if this map was accurate, then during their last exploration of the Fourth Plane, they had already been alarmingly close to the Demon King’s Castle.
If the Golden Dragon hadn’t attacked then, and they had rushed into the castle, it could have led to a major disaster!
While the crowd silently pondered this map of the Fourth Plane,
Xixi~
The two little ones in Su Lulu’s arms seemed to have discovered something. After a brief exchange, they jumped to the ground.
Su Xixi began digging at the dirt near the base of the tablet, her fluffy little bottom wiggling.
Little Red Pupil, who couldn’t dig, initially tried but gave up after two scoops, plopping down on the ground.
However, the clever little one soon realized she couldn’t dig and instead started pushing aside the dirt that Su Xixi had dug up.
Heave-ho~ Heave-ho~
Watching the two little ones busily playing house in front of the tablet, the adventurers found them adorable and soft.
Since the tablet was hard, most didn’t pay them much attention, still focusing on the map, tapping and probing the thick stone for other clues or treasure.
After all, in many previous passages, hidden treasures were often in plain sight.
Time passed, and just as the adventurers were getting nowhere,
Xixi~ Ning~
From a small hole dug deep beneath the tablet came two cheerful, delighted childish voices.
Hearing this, Gu Wen Yin stepped forward and saw the two little ones, who had been clean white before, now with smudges of dirt on their cheeks, like children who had been playing wildly in a mud pile.
Seeing them like this, Gu Wen Yin’s lips curled into a helpless yet doting smile.
It seemed that tonight Su Qi would have to give these two mischievous little ones a good bath.
With them being this naughty, it would be quite a workload.
Well, she’d see. If it came to it, she could help out tonight.
While Gu Wen Yin was contemplating her evening bath-sharing plans with Su Qi while watching the two little ones,
“Xixi (I can’t open this~)”
“Ning ning~”
The two little ones crawled up a bit more, and hearing Su Xixi’s plea for help, Gu Wen Yin’s eyes brightened.
Upon closer inspection, she saw that the two little ones were holding up a treasure chest together.
As they lifted the chest above their heads, blinking their clear, big eyes like curious babies wanting to see what was inside, the others also curiously gathered around.
But surprisingly, no one felt greedy.
Why was that?
The reason was simple: first, Su Qi and Su Lulu’s mother, Lin Zhi, was a senior who had awakened the Prophet ability.
With Su Lulu’s arrival, the appearance of these two stone tablets had likely been foreseen.
Moreover, this treasure had been deliberately buried underground, seemingly prepared specifically for Su Xixi, the Saint Ash Rabbit.
Given this tailored situation, no one would snatch it.
Rather than the contents of the chest, everyone was more curious about what clues were hidden inside and why the Demon King’s Castle was marked on the map.
Gu Wen Yin took the chest handed over by the two little ones.
The chest wasn’t locked, only loosely secured with a simple piece of wire, clearly not meant to be heavily guarded.
With a slight effort, she opened it.
Dust-covered inside, the chest held three items.
The first was a pure white night pearl necklace with a small rabbit pattern.
As the chest opened, it emitted a soft, glowing white light, matching Su Xixi perfectly.
The second item was a cute pink baby outfit resembling a Christmas suit, with openings left for a tail and wings.
Upon closer inspection, faint spiritual energy clung to it.
Just one glance told everyone that this outfit was for Little Red Pupil—after all, normal children didn’t have tiny wings and a cute little tail.
While both items appeared precious, most of the group’s attention was on the final item: a well-preserved envelope.
Looking at the letter, Gu Wen Yin hesitated for a moment but didn’t open it. Instead, she handed it to Su Lulu beside her.
Su Lulu didn’t hesitate and quickly tore it open.
The letter was a bit aged.
Even though the chest had protected it from dirt and the envelope offered further protection, the paper still carried a stale smell, indicating it had existed for many years.
Unfolding the letter completely, Su Lulu saw her mother’s familiar delicate handwriting and took a deep breath before reading.
Lulu,
By the time you read this letter, we should already be inside the Demon King’s Castle.
Unlike ordinary Saint Ruins, where each plane is independent,
the Demon King’s Castle in the Fifth Plane is the convergence point of all Saint Ruins.
In any Saint Ruins, as long as you find the hidden entrance to the Fourth Plane, you can advance toward the Demon King’s Castle. However, you’ll likely get lost and won’t find your way back. If you do find an exit, it might be far from the city you entered from.
In fact, the Demon King’s Castle is just a general term.
Specifically, the Fifth Plane was originally supposed to be the World Tree region.
The reason it’s marked as the Demon King’s Castle on the stone tablet is that the World Tree has been struggling against the Demon King, but this balance will soon be broken.
After many years, even though the World Tree is highly restrained, as a plant, its instinct will cause it to bear the next World Tree fruit.
If the Demon King seizes this fruit, the scales of balance will tip.
The World Tree will be unable to suppress the Demon King. Once he escapes the Fifth Plane, he might also invade Lin City, where Xiao Qi—who ate the other fruit—lives.
By then, it will be too late. Also, something worth noting:
Unless necessary, try not to let Xiao Qi go to the Fourth Plane.
If the Demon King catches the scent of the World Tree’s sweet fragrance on Xiao Qi and captures him, it will likely cause the scales to tip prematurely.
Alright, that’s enough for business. (Family chatter~)
The last three items are gifts for Xiao Qi’s little ones. The box itself counts as one too.
—Lin Zhi
After reading the entire letter, Su Lulu, along with Gu Wen Yin, Ye Fufu, and Mo Yu—four beautiful young women—stood frozen, lost in thought.
Though they had never seen a “World Tree fruit,” or even heard that the World Tree could bear fruit before reading this letter, the fruit of the World Tree sounded mysterious and powerful.
And from the letter’s implications, once the Demon King revived, his first target would likely be Su Qi.
After all, no matter how you thought about it, Su Qi, who had eaten the World Tree fruit, in every sense—whether physically devoured or intimately consumed—would be a potent tonic.
It felt like things were starting to develop in a very bad direction!
While the adventurers were pondering how to deal with the impending revival of the Demon King, the protagonist of this letter,
Su Qi, was currently wrapped in a small blanket, watching two fragrant, beautiful young women draw closer.
His entire small body trembled with shivers.
Because now, he had nothing left.
Really, nothing!
You guys, don’t come any closer!!!