At this moment, the two Little Faeries were waving their hands and feet, fiercely debating in a sharp and rapid language.
One of them was holding a walnut-sized stone that emitted a soft white glow.
It raised the stone excitedly, pointing toward the deeper darkness of the Cave, as if insisting that the stone should be taken somewhere.
The other one was desperately shaking its head, its tiny arms flailing as it pointed toward the direction of the Entrance from which Faluxil and the others had come, making “jiji gugu” noises with its mouth.
Faluxil observed calmly.
Her gaze shifted from the two quarreling Little Faeries to the glowing stone they were fighting over, then swept over the strange Blue Mushroom Grove surrounding them.
Her mind raced.
These creatures weren’t monsters; they didn’t have that aura of decay and corruption.
They seemed to be native to this place.
They were arguing, and the core of the dispute seemed related to the glowing stone and the deeper part of the Cave.
Jiang You was still hesitating about what to do next.
Faluxil had already taken action.
She raised her left hand slightly, pressing her slender index and middle fingers together and pointing them in the air at the two arguing Little Faeries.
In the air, a trace of extremely concentrated cold, like an invisible ice snake, slid silently along the ground.
Where the chill passed, the thin film of water on the slippery rock instantly froze into a layer of living Silver Frost.
The two Little Faeries, who had been gesturing and arguing fiercely, froze in place.
Silvery frost started at their bare little feet on the ground, then crept up their ankles by an inch, forming a thin, transparent layer as if they were wearing Crystal Boots.
This layer of frost precisely bound their feet to the ground, restricting their movement without causing any real harm.
A perfect execution of the Freezing Spell.
After doing all this, Faluxil withdrew her hand.
She didn’t advance immediately, but signaled Jiang You with her eyes.
The two of them moved out of the shadows, left and right, forming a standard pincer attack formation at an unhurried pace.
Jiang You clicked his tongue silently.
He considered himself a skilled fighter, but the way Faluxil wielded magic as naturally as breathing was something he’d never seen before.
As their footsteps echoed in the hollow space, the two frozen Little Faeries finally reacted.
But their response was completely unexpected.
There were no screams or roars, not even any surprise at being ambushed and restrained.
The timid Faerie’s fear faded from its wrinkled little face the moment it saw them appear.
Instead, a weary despair, as if fate had descended, took its place.
It drooped its long ears, letting out a long, resigned sigh.
The other Faerie, the one holding the stone with a resolute attitude, was the exact opposite.
When it saw Faluxil and Jiang You, a trace of relief flashed in its beady black eyes.
It straightened its skinny chest, held the glowing stone higher, and cried out a series of urgent, pleading “jiji gugu” sounds at them.
Its expression didn’t resemble someone facing an enemy; instead, it looked like someone welcoming a long-awaited savior.
“This… what’s going on?”
Jiang You’s mind was momentarily blank.
These two little things acted as if they’d rehearsed a script in advance, waiting for them to take the stage.
Faluxil didn’t answer.
Her brow furrowed ever so slightly.
She walked forward and stopped a few steps from the two Little Faeries, crouching to look at them at eye level.
She pointed at the timid Faerie’s frozen feet, then at the resolute Faerie, and finally her finger landed on the softly glowing stone held aloft.
Her meaning was clear: You, it, what is really happening here?
The resolute Faerie cried out even more urgently, its small finger pointing repeatedly toward the deeper darkness of the Cave, then at the stone in its hand.
Faluxil’s gaze finally locked entirely onto the stone.
It was about the size of an adult’s fist, irregular in shape, its smooth and warm surface emitting a milky white glow as soft as moonlight, pulsing in and out with a peculiar rhythm, like breathing.
Faluxil could sense that the stone contained an ancient power she had never encountered before.
“Boss, this thing… is it some kind of hidden quest item?”
Jiang You came closer, lowering his voice.
He reached out, instinctively wanting to grab the stone.
At the instant his fingertip was about to touch the stone, Faluxil’s pupils contracted sharply.
Just before Jiang You’s hand made contact, she saw clearly inside the stone—a blurred light and shadow formed an extremely brief image: a hand wearing a black leather glove reaching toward the stone.
That scene was exactly the same as the action Jiang You was performing at this moment!
The image flashed and disappeared, so fast it seemed like an illusion.
Faluxil jerked her head up and stared at Jiang You, shouting sharply, “Stop!”
Jiang You’s finger halted less than a centimeter from the stone.
He looked at Faluxil in confusion.
“What… were you just about to do?”
There was a hint of uncontrollable astonishment in Faluxil’s voice.
“Pick it up and take a look, of course.”
Jiang You answered matter-of-factly.
Faluxil fell silent.
She stared at the stone, countless fragments of information colliding and recombining wildly in her mind.
The strange reactions of the two Faeries, the mysterious energy of the stone, and the vision that overlapped perfectly with reality—all these things pieced together into a wild yet plausible explanation that struck her like lightning.
She took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, then gave Jiang You a brief, clear command.
“[Shadowfang Breaker].”
“Hmm?”
“Now, follow my instructions.”
“In your mind, think of the simplest, most unexpected action you might take next.”
“Don’t tell me, don’t give any hint.”
“Once you’ve decided, look at this stone.”
Jiang You was full of confusion, but his absolute trust in Faluxil’s judgment made him comply.
He focused his attention on the softly glowing stone.
At first, the inside of the stone was still a chaotic milky white.
But just a second before he prepared to act, the chaos shifted.
Light condensed and twisted at the stone’s core, forming a new image: his own right hand, index finger bent, flicking lightly against the black armor on his left wrist, producing a faint “tak” sound.
Jiang You’s breath stopped completely.
His scalp tingled, and a chill shot up his spine.
He hadn’t yet performed the action—not even a muscle contraction—but the stone had already displayed the entire sequence of what he was about to do.
He stiffly raised his head to meet Faluxil’s gaze.
From her ice-blue eyes, he saw the same shock reflected back at him.
“This thing…”
Jiang You’s voice was dry.
“It can… see the future?”
“Yes.”
Faluxil’s voice was equally low and grave.
“For now, it looks like… around ten seconds.”
They finally understood why the two Little Faeries hadn’t been surprised by their arrival.
Because before they stepped into this hollow and before the ice magic crept over, these two little creatures had already seen their own frozen fate inside this stone.
They also understood why one Faerie had desperately tried to run deeper, while the other tried to escape in terror.
Because perhaps the resolute Faerie had seen a glimmer of hope within the stone—one that could only be realized by outsiders like them.
“It… might be some kind of brainwave reading technology… but if a game engine can pull this off, that’s amazing…”
Jiang You muttered to himself.
…He’s speaking in words I can’t understand again.
Faluxil rolled her eyes internally and turned to the two Faeries.
The timid one, realizing they had uncovered the stone’s secret, simply closed its eyes, trembling all over and letting out broken cries.
The brave one gazed at Faluxil with a burning look of hope.
The stone in its hand seemed to shine even brighter with its emotions.
It was time to communicate.
Faluxil slowly stood up, careful not to startle the two already-fragile creatures.
She extended a finger, first pointing to the brave Faerie, then to the stone in its hand, and finally, she pointed resolutely toward the deeper reaches of the Cave in a questioning gesture.
“You want us… to go there?”