"Are you okay, Gita?"

Fang Hong stopped and made a gesture on his chest. Seeing this, Gita blinked lightly and then hurriedly patted her left shoulder—though the Communication Crystal was ineffective, they had agreed on a signal before entering the Ancient Castle. Seeing the signal match, Fang Hong finally breathed a sigh of relief, walked over, knelt down, and checked Gita's injuries.

It wasn't that he was overly suspicious, but this place was just too strange. Moreover, during adventures, meticulously executing the pre-set plans is the only way to increase Survival chances. Many Invokers have met with failure due to momentary negligence.

He might have been somewhat careless in the past, but since becoming Captain, he has grown more cautious and meticulous.

Gita's injury was mainly on her shoulder, a scrape, not serious but looking quite alarming. Everyone in the team carried Recovery Potion; she probably already used it, as the wound showed signs of healing. However, her robe had torn, faintly revealing her small and fragile shoulder.

Gita blushed a bit, kept her head down, but did not object, letting Fang Hong examine her wound.

Seeing her delicate appearance, Fang Hong felt a faint sense of guilt. He had been too careless, not considering that Gita, being only level six, could easily become a target for Attack.

"Don't worry, this won't happen again next time," he said awkwardly, unsure how to comfort a girl.

If someone else was here, they might scoff. But Gita kept her head down and timidly replied, "Okay."

"By the way," Fang Hong remembered something, "how did you get into this place? What about the Vampire?"

Gita finally raised her head and looked at him. "Miss Daisy brought me in," she answered softly.

"Daisy?"

Fang Hong suddenly felt something.

He turned around and saw a pair of glowing eyes watching him, as pretty as sapphire. The owner of the eyes walked out of the darkness, stepping gracefully, shaking its white fur on its neck. With a small black spot on its pointed ear, wasn't it the cat they picked up earlier?

"Meow—"

It meowed gently, as if being coquettish.

Miss Tata sat on Fang Hong's shoulder, holding his neck, greeted it: "Good afternoon, Daisy."

Lady Cat walked up with her tail held high, circled Fang Hong, tilted her head and gently brushed against his pants leg, then looked up with curious eyes at him. Unlike Miss Fairy's calmness, Fang Hong asked incredulously, "How did you get here, little one?"

Could it have followed them all the way here, but how did such a small thing manage in knee-deep snow overnight, which would be exhausting even for adults?

He furrowed his brow, suddenly recalling the white figure he saw before. Now thinking about it, wasn't that Miss Daisy? Could it be that she had been around them at that time?

He couldn't help but wonder about the origin of this cat, appearing during a snowstorm was strange in itself.

Moreover, this cat had appeared twice before, seemingly guiding them deeper into that room each time—and coupled with the painting in the room of a girl with a cat like Daisy in her arms—even if Fang Hong were slower, he couldn't help but suspect.

Besides, he wasn't slow, even slightly sensitive to such details and clues. He immediately thought about whether Daisy and the cat in the painting were the same, which might sound absurd, but Eteliria is ultimately a magical world.

Fang Hong believed that once all possibilities are eliminated, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the answer.

Perhaps Daisy is the descendant of the cat in the painting, living in this castle all along, thus returning to this place? This isn't impossible, but it doesn't explain why she'd repeatedly guide them into that room to see the painting.

It could be coincidence, but if everything is explained by coincidence, when there are too many coincidences, there's likely an underlying logic behind it.

Fang Hong stared into Daisy's sapphire-like eyes, as if trying to glean some emotional expression from them—wondering if she possessed intelligence, with intentions?

Yet Lady Cat looked at him with curiosity and then walked to the side, meowing as she turned around, wagging her tail at them.

"Miss Daisy wants us to follow her," Gita suddenly said.

Fang Hong was a bit surprised. "You understand?"

Gita shook her head. "Earlier she led me to this place, there are some strange things outside... they might Attack us, but it seems Miss Daisy can avoid them."

Fang Hong knew she referred to the Shadow Beasts outside. The system termed them 'Dragon's Shadow,' though aside from the cold dark Cold Steel Fragment, he still hadn't figured out their relationship with Dragons.

The eerie Shadow was neither as powerful as Nikopolas nor Toragotos, nor did it share the Dragon Kind's physical characteristics.

If anything resembled Dragons about them, it was the persistent fear Fang Hong felt battling the Shadow Beasts—a chilling presence.

This feeling was not as prominent when facing Nikopolas and Toragotos but still existed, which might be the fear of Dragons—Giant Dragons being the highest rank of creatures in Eteliria, exerting dominance over lower beings.

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