Chapter 33: The Sorrow of the Earth Spirit's Beautiful Male Form

  Ada's words made Xia Ya and Ke Liang both feel a chill, the natural indifference that flowed out of this guy's tone made both of them feel a bit hairy in their hearts.

  Xia Ya thought even deeper: this Ada is absolutely a ruthless and merciless villain who devours people without spitting out their bones!

  The poor worm looked at Xia Ya, she was thinking of how to persuade Xia Ya to dispel the idea of going to find that dragon, from the beginning she didn't think much of this adventure, if there were other options, she wouldn't have followed this turtle here.

  And now, this mysterious Ada's tone, somehow sounds like continuing forward is a dead end.

  "What's up?" Ada's stunning face, with a hint of cold smile at the corner of her mouth, was full of mockery: "You guys want to go find that dragon too? Do you need me to show you the way?"

  "Xia Ya!" The poor worm hastily called out, she sternly stared at Xia Ya: "Don't go!!"

  Xia Ya didn't say anything.

  "Don't go!" The poor worm's tone softened a bit, even with a hint of soft and pleading: "If even a few magicians are not our opponents, then we are even less likely to be. We don't have the chance - the treasure is tempting, but you need to be alive to spend it! I promise you, if you need money, after we get back, I can pay you a large sum of reward!"

  "... Xia Ya fell silent for a moment, then the hint of hesitation in his eyes finally dissipated, replaced by a firm determination: "Go take a look!"

  "You!?" The poor worm was a bit frantic: "Have you gone mad?!"

  "Of course not." Xia Ya pouted: "I certainly know that life is the most important thing. However, since we've come this far, if we just turn back and leave now, it's a bit regrettable. Let's go take a look, we don't need to get close, let's see the situation first. Besides... maybe those mages have already succeeded? None of us saw whether those mages really died or not."

  Ada looked at Xia Ya, making sure he wasn't joking, a hint of a satisfied smile appearing at the corner of her mouth: "Alright, I'll take you over... but first, let's make one thing clear, I have a condition."

  "What?" Xia Ya looked at him suspiciously.

  "You must be after the dragon's treasure, right?" Ada said calmly: "If there really is a chance... The dragon's treasures all belong to you, and as a reward for bringing you here, I only want one thing from the dragon's cave."

  Xia Ya listened, dissatisfied with a cold laugh: "Hey, Ada, don't forget, you are now my Sasori! You eat my food, wear my wolf skin, and even your life is saved by me! What qualifications do you have to make conditions with me?"

  Ada listened and didn't even object. He glanced at Xia Ya, suddenly sighed, shook his head and said: "What a pity, what a real pity..."

  As he spoke, he actually ignored Xia Ya and slowly walked to the side of the pit, quickly pulling down the piece of dog skin from his waist - this action made the poor worm scream and quickly turn its head away with closed eyes.

  Ada jumped into the pit with a thud, just exposing her head outside the pit, looking up at Xia Ya and opening her mouth very calmly: "Come on."

  "Huh?" Xia Ya's mouth opened wide.

  "Since you won't agree, then just bury me here, as if you never saved me." Ada's tone was calm, with a hint of disdain: "Look at you three, carrying yourselves, simple and crude, you must have suffered a lot to get here, experienced many hardships. Hmph... Without my guidance, you can go find it yourself. This mountain range isn't too big, the three of you can search one mountain head at a time, and after three to five years, if you're lucky, there might be a 20-30% chance of finding it."

  Xia Ya stared silently at the guy, their eyes locked for a long time. Xia Ya's eyes had some anger in them, while Ada's gaze remained calm and clear. The two of them locked eyes for a long time, until finally Xia Ya gave in. He shook his head in dissatisfaction: "Alright, alright! I admit defeat. There are actually people in this world who voluntarily ask to be buried alive... Whatever, my goal is those treasures anyway. I'm not interested in anything else."

  Ada heard this and climbed out of the pit again, putting on his dog skin - Xia Ya muttered in her heart, with a hint of self-satisfaction: This guy may be slightly more handsome than me, but that thing of his is smaller than mine by a bit! Hmph! The old man said, as long as that thing is big, it can cover up all ugliness!

  The old fellow continued smiling all the way down to the Ninth Spring...

  With the addition of new partner Ada, the group continued to venture into the mountains.

  "Hey, since we're all companions now, you should share some more information. Like what that dragon looks like?"

  Ada walked ahead of Xia Ya, seemingly familiar with the terrain, leading everyone into the mountains. Upon hearing this, his footsteps slowed down slightly, and he turned around, furrowing his brow as he looked at Xia Ya: "You don't know anything about this dragon, yet you're running here to find treasure?"

  "I don't know." Xia Ya replied very honestly.

  "Alas." Ada sighed, looking at Xia Ya's eyes with some sympathy: "Now I feel a little sorry for you. Is money really that attractive? You don't even know what kind of power that dragon has, and yet you dare to come here?"

  "What's the point of knowing?" Xia Ya smiled freely: "I also know that dragons have varying strengths. But I'm even more aware of my own abilities - even if I were to encounter the weakest dragon, I'd still be no match for it. So what does it matter whether that dragon is strong or weak? My approach is just to take advantage of the situation and muddy the waters, not actually try to be a heroic dragon slayer."

  "Dragon Slayer." Ada heard this term and a faintly mocking glint flashed in her eyes: "You're still a bit short. From what I know, among humans who can slay dragons are the strongest on the continent. And you? A rookie little warrior?"

  Xia Ya's temper seemed to be unaffected by these taunts, he tightened his belt and hummed: "A rookie is a rookie, did you come out with all your pubic hair intact?"

  Ada's face suddenly became very colorful, he looked at Xia Ya with a strange gaze, and turned his head to ignore this rough man.

  But after walking for a while, he still threw over a few words from the front without looking back.

  "That was an earth-based green dragon, a mature mother dragon, skilled in earth-based magic, and its physical attack and defense capabilities were top-notch by human standards. If I had to say so, then the earth-based dragon's defensive power was slightly weaker when facing water-based magic. And none of the magicians I encountered were water-based. So I said they were dead for sure."

  Xia Ya immediately became excited: "That... I heard that the dragon seems to be in a weak state, what's going on?"

  Ada's calm voice came: "It seems you're not completely ignorant - that dragon, its eyes are blind."

  ……

  Along the way, Ada seemed to have lost interest in chatting with Xia Ya. This guy's temperament was quite strange. Although his tone of voice wasn't too harsh when speaking, he would occasionally flash a smile on his face. However, whether it was Xia Ya or the poor bug, they both felt that even when Ada smiled, the light shining from his eyes was so sharp that it seemed to be able to see through people thoroughly!

  Moreover, they always feel that Ada's behavior and demeanor seem to carry a kind of natural noble pride.

  This noble and proud demeanor is not intentional, but rather an unintentional emanation of his natural aura in every word and action. Although he doesn't put on a haughty air, the more relaxed and composed he appears, the more it gives people the feeling that he seems to be above everything.

  Is he really carefree? Or... is everything actually under his control?

  Leaving all these aside, Ada at least told one truth.

  He is really familiar with this place!

  He led Xia Ya and others to shuttle through the mountains, walked over the mountain stream, crossed the dense forest, passed through the rugged mountain slope, and climbed one by one steep cliff.

  It took six days on the road.

  During these six days, Ada also showed a strange expression:

  He occasionally talks to Xia Ya too, and even when facing the lowly earth spirit, his attitude is always gentle and amiable.

  However! But for the poor worm, Mr. Ada always had a bad face. Thinking carefully, there was even a vicious look, with cold eyes and an undisguised hint of disgust.

  This made the poor worm feel extremely depressed.

  Tortoise just thought of himself as an ugly creature. But this stunning Ada, on the other hand, seemed to think he had a virus or something, as if even looking at himself would sully his eyes! This attitude...

  How can this be?!

  As Adeline, she didn't expect that the two human men she met on the Wildfire Plains would be such abnormal guys!

  By the sixth day, Ada's hateful attitude towards Kusuo had even Shuya looking on in disapproval.

  "Actually... don't be too biased against the poor bug." Xia Ya had a kind intention to advise, after all, no matter what, everyone was now considered partners in the same profession.

  "I dislike people who are ugly on the inside." Ada's reply was icy cold.

  This answer almost made me vomit blood.

  This is too unreasonable!

  The tortoise is nothing! Is this Ada also blind and perverted?!

  Even... at this moment, even the poor worm herself couldn't help but feel a little crazy, she would even doubt her own appearance and wonder: Am I really an ugly person? Were those men just flattering me with lies because of my status?

  "Hmm... actually, he's quite pitiful too." Xia Ya still showed a thick-skinned attitude: "Looks are given by parents, can't blame him for being ugly."

  "I abhor all unlovely things in this world." Ada's reply was firm and resolute, with a hint of devoutness: "If it weren't for the remaining bit of wildness in you that still retains some manly qualities, I wouldn't be talking to you either."

  Xia Ya suddenly became happy, and even the grievances of the poor worm were forgotten. He patted Ada's shoulder with force: "Haha! Of course, we are all handsome men!!"

  But then he suddenly frowned: "Yi... you dislike poor insects, that's fine, but why are you so kind to Ox? The appearance of Ox..."

  Ada shook her head: "By the cultural standards of dwarves, Ox is indeed a handsome man among dwarves."

  Alright!

  Pitiful insect's internal injury: This turtle still thinks I'm a bit stronger than the earth spirit, but this Ada actually thinks I'm not even as good as that ugly earth spirit?!

  Oakes tears streaming down his face: Oakes Oakes ~ handsome and refined man

  By the time it was late in the day, the group arrived at a vast and open marshland under Ada's lead.

  The terrain here is very strange, this swamp is about nearly a hundred meters wide, and on both sides are large areas of mud pits that stretch as far as the eye can see.

  "To get to the Dragon's Lair, this is the only entrance." Ada pointed to the opposite side of the swamp - about two hundred meters away was a forest: "Walk across the swamp, through that forest, and behind it is a mountain, which is the Dragon's Lair."

  Xia Ya looked at the swamp in front of her, and suddenly a sense of vigilance arose in her heart. The air here was filled with dry heat, and the temperature was so hot that it made people sweat!

  He looked at the mud pits on both sides again: "Here..."

  "You see? The mud pits on both sides can't be crossed, and if you step on them, you'll sink deeply. Below is a bottomless pit. This vast expanse of mud pits can't be circumvented. There's only this narrow 100-meter-wide strip of marshland with a thin layer of hard soil on top. We need to run quickly across it; if we're slow, the hard soil will collapse... If you fall in, I guarantee you'll definitely die."

  Ada smiled: "However, this swamp's hard soil is not easy to pass through."

  As he spoke, he casually pulled out a wild chicken from a leather bag in Xia Ya's hand - this wild chicken was caught by Xia Ya just last night, and was meant to be kept for the midnight snack.

  Just then, Ada grabbed the colorful wild chicken and threw it forward. The chicken let out a few happy cries and ran along the hard ground of the marsh... It had only run about 10 meters when suddenly the hard ground in front of it collapsed, and then...

  A loud explosion! A column of fire shot up from underground, and the flames rose to a height of four or five meters!!

  After the flames, I saw that the colorful feathered wild chicken had turned into a charred chicken block! The fire column dissipated and the hard soil on the ground covered it again. After flipping over several bubbles, it returned to its original appearance. However, Xia Ya smelled an extremely strong smell of sulfur from afar, and the hot air rushed towards her face, making it difficult for people to breathe.

  "What the...?! What in the world is this?!" Xia Ya exclaimed, changing color in shock.

  "Are you clear?" Ada turned her head, looking at Xia Ya with a changed expression, and smiled: "This is a dangerous passage. Under the hard ground is an underground flame, these flames will erupt at any time, when you run over, it's possible that your feet will suddenly burst out of a ball of fire and burn you directly into charcoal!"

  "Damn it!" Xia Ya was furious: "You still say this is the safest passage?"

  Ada's face was stern, and she said coldly: "I guarantee this is the only safe passage... other roads are more dangerous than here, unless you don't believe me and want to try somewhere else!"

  "Can... is this place safe?" Xia Ya swallowed his saliva: "Rushing in would turn us into roasted meat!"

  "Want to find the dragon's lair, it's not that easy." Ada narrowed her eyes, a cold smile on her face: "This is a magic array, originally this mountain was just a piece of underground flame, I told you before, that dragon is good at earth-based magic, this magic array made some special changes to the terrain and land here, making the hard soil underneath become extremely fragile, only then would it become like this."

  Xia Ya looked at Ada's cold eyes, he coughed, this turtle's eyeballs rolled around, then suddenly turned his head, staring at the trembling Wang Fei, while stroking his chin and grinning strangely:

  "Hey! Ox! You go first!"

  "Huh??"

  The princess's legs trembled and her face turned pale, she sat down on the ground immediately.

  Divider line route

  First of all, let's talk about something very sad. This weekend, I have some things to attend to, so I can only update one chapter today.

  However! This chapter is extra long and has more content!!! Don't believe me? Check the word count for yourself!

  Um, let me say something off-topic about this book.

  First of all, I'd like to clarify that some readers have questioned whether the Earth Spirit race is a reference to a certain country... I absolutely deny it! How could these adorable Earth Spirits be compared to Japanese people?! Although they're not human, they're still somewhat better than Japanese people, right?

  For the Gnome Protest

  As for the style of the Terran language, it's actually just set up as a simple subject-verb-object inverted sentence.

  Moreover, several of the fabricated earth spirit languages also have special origins.

  For example, the pronunciation of "suo suo", hehe... actually, the word "suo suo" was originally taught to us by an expert when we were in a writer's class, and it is a single word from some minority ethnic group's shamanic language. However, in this shamanic language, the word "suo suo" actually has a very evil meaning: specifically referring to male *... haha~~~

  There is also "sikti", which was actually a Uyghur phrase I occasionally learned at the beginning. In Uyghur, "sikti sikti" is a profanity, similar to the meaning of San Zi Jing...

  There is also the true name of the poor worm, Adeline, which I explained in my text as meaning "noble" in the Byzantine aristocratic language. A reader pointed out that the Byzantine word for noble and beautiful is not this (this reader is great~)

  The truth is, Adeline means "noble" in Germanic languages.

  Hehe, I guess this counts as a bit of an explanation... I did put in a bit of thought when writing the book.

  Still working hard for votes~~~

  Voting is a noble movement, more votes are good for physical and mental health.