Owen Bertram didn't know what Little Loach wanted to do, but since the ancient corpse had already suffered heavy damage, it wasn't stopped.
Under the funnel-shaped whirlpool, the ice-blue light shattered into fist-sized flames and flew into Little Loach's mouth.
Naturally, the ancient demon corpse wouldn't just sit and wait for its demise. It tried to raise its arms and strike back with the official seal or command token, but its injuries were too severe. As the blue light was continuously devoured by Little Loach, its power weakened more and more.
And consequently, the cold, gloomy feeling it emitted weakened as well.
Finally, after the struggle had lasted a full tea-time, the ancient demon corpse's hands fell powerlessly. The last ice-blue light on its body shattered and turned into five balls of light, which fell into Little Loach's mouth.
Little Loach closed its mouth, and the funnel-shaped whirlpool disappeared. Little Loach burped in the water, and a bubble floated to the surface.
Owen Bertram also breathed a sigh of relief.
...
Under the low wall at the entrance of the village, Owen Bertram shifted his position sleepily, then continued to doze off.
The familiar warmth flowed from Little Loach's body. However, this time the warmth made him feel uncomfortable. After circling his whole body, it drilled into the large acupoint in his right chest.
The responsive object here was a fairy peach. After this strange warmth entered and circled around the fairy peach, it seemed somewhat antagonistic. It formed a new heterotext on its side, deep and mysterious, seemingly a "death" character.
Even after suffering heavy damage, the power of the ancient demon corpse was immense. When Little Loach consumed it and nourished Owen Bertram, the flow of warmth formed a clear heterotext.
And Owen Bertram was quite sure that if a similar stream of warmth entered, this heterotext would immediately transform into a responsive object and rival the fairy peach!
One dead, one alive; two opposing yet interdependent forces existed, much like yin and yang.
After digesting the ice-blue light, Little Loach, under Owen Bertram's control, swam gently to the ancient demon corpse's side. Only now could he closely observe this evil creature.
Upon looking, Owen realized that it was tough to describe this thing. Its official robe, the seal and token in its hand, were all fused with its body—these things and the corpse made up the "ancient demon corpse" and couldn't be separated anymore.
If he forcibly took the official seal and token, they would be obviously damaged and incomplete.
Owen was initially worried that Little Loach would want to eat the seal and token, but Little Loach only sniffed them and then walked away with a disgusted look.
Owen recalled the whole process of his "encounter" with the ancient demon corpse and vaguely felt that it didn't seem to have formed a real "consciousness."
It might have just condensed a trace of spirituality.
Owen deduced that it was most likely due to some accident that it had emerged from the coffin ahead of time.
And then, guided by this trace of spirituality, it had flowed downstream to the Muddy River Underground Palace.
"What attracted it to the underground palace?" Owen wondered but didn't have the slightest motivation to return to the palace to find out the reason.
The Iron Spear was too terrifying.
Suddenly, a fierce fish half a zhang long came out of nowhere and rushed towards the ancient demon corpse. It bit down hard, only to have all its tusks shattered.
Owen secretly laughed, while Little Loach swam up indignantly, swallowed the fierce fish in one bite. To the current Little Loach, the fierce fish was just something to fill the gaps between its teeth.
Owen was completely at ease now. His soul returned to his body, basking in the sun at the entrance of the village, and continuing to slack off and fish.
...
When the sun was overhead, there was a sudden sound of thunder in the sky. A flaming wheel rolled through the clouds above, reaching its zenith within moments.Cersei Bertram scolded in a soft voice and raised her hand to release a streak of divine light.
The Flame received the summon and rolled down to Cersei Bertram's side. The flame retracted, revealing a brocade pouch hanging beside the wheel.
Cersei Bertram opened the brocade pouch and took out three items.
Owen Bertram saw the Howling of the Wolf for the first time, a powerful weapon that the Wood Dynasty army would never leak.
In Owen Bertram's eyes, this thing resembled the three-eyed guns of the Ming Army in his previous life, clumsy and heavy. If a person were to use it, they probably would have to carry it on their shoulder.
On the barrel as thick as a child's arm, a lifelike wolf's head was carved.
At this time, the wolf's mouth was tightly closed, sealing the muzzle.
In addition to the Howling of the Wolf, there was also a Vajra Talisman made of a special kind of metal. After wearing this talisman, it would automatically protect the wearer when encountering a lethal attack. The talisman would release a "Vajra Divine Light" capable of resisting one hit from a Second Level expert!
This kind of protective treasure was very valuable anywhere.
The third item was a peculiar lock buckle with an unknown purpose.
Cersei Bertram called Owen Bertram and the others over and, while holding up the Howling of the Wolf, explained in detail how to use it. She then locked the Heavenly Lock on the center of this powerful standardized magical instrument.
"Now this Howling of the Wolf can be activated once. This 'Heavenly Lock' needs my authorization to activate the second strike. If you want to take the Howling of the Wolf and run away, this thing will be completely locked and turned into a pile of scrap iron."
"If you try to forcefully destroy the Heavenly Lock, the Howling of the Wolf and the Heavenly Lock will explode together! Even a Second Level expert would be blown to pieces on the spot!"
Vanessa Thoughts of Shadow felt that this arrangement was a bit improper. Owen Bertram had to deal with that powerful Demon Beast, and if he failed to hit it with a single shot, he had to withdraw and apply to Cersei Bertram in order to fire a second round.
This greatly increased the difficulty and danger.
Moreover, after killing the Demon Beast, the Ancient Corpse probably wouldn't obediently follow Owen Bertram back. Situations requiring the use of the Howling of the Wolf were numerous.
Nevertheless, she did not say anything more, as this was the only solution the Wood Dynasty's army could accept.
Owen Bertram could understand this.
To make a not-so-apt comparison: The various standardized magical instruments of the Wood Dynasty were like the firearms of his previous life.
The chain locks used by the Government Official Team Leader were just small artillery pieces, but the Howling of the Wolf was an RPG!
Owen Bertram took it and put it on his shoulder, saying to Cersei Bertram and the others, "The reward is too little, you need to add more money."
Cersei Bertram and the Chief exchanged glances but did not refuse. The journey Owen Bertram was about to undertake was indeed too dangerous.
"What do you want? If you want to leave the Extinct Village, we can arrange a job for you, ensuring that you and your sister can live a well-clothed and well-fed life."
Owen Bertram certainly did not want to leave, at least not at the moment.
If he left, what would happen to Little Loach? Where would he find so many fierce beasts and demons to feed it?
Furthermore, there were so many Demon Beast Glyph Bones in the Iron Spear Underground Palace. Little Loach had always felt that those were its snacks. Even if Owen Bertram wanted to leave, Little Loach would never agree to it.
"If I go out, what can I do?" Owen Bertram bitterly smiled, "Don't think I don't know that you will closely monitor everyone who leaves the village."
This was what Master Basil and the other old people had told him. With cold poison in the body, even if one left the village, there would be no good outcome. The Imperial Court would also send people to watch you.
Of course, there would not be too much restriction on moving around near the village.
Cersei Bertram and the Chief did not deny this, and Owen Bertram continued, "Give me three more Spirit Jades as well."