"Stop. Here."
After circling around in loops large and small, then burrowing through more than a hundred centipede tunnels, Wolf Bu'er finally called for a halt before a small town in a canyon.
This canyon town was rather large, roughly ten square kilometers, shaped like a crescent moon. Five sides faced mountains, five sides faced abysses. Six large centipede tunnels connected to this place, along with a number of smaller ones.
It was also about three thousand meters below the surface—namely, the mountaintop Wang Wu and the others had initially climbed down from.
Its defining feature was one thing only: it could run fast!
"Flap flap flap!"
A fat, round crow flew over. The instant it landed, it could not even keep its footing, rolling over several times on the spot before coming to a stop.
But right afterward, it transformed into a plump little dwarf with a crow's beak and feathers behind it. Even as it walked, it swayed from side to side.
"You two must be distinguished guests from afar. Forgive my presumptuous interruption, but are you merely passing through, or do you intend to stay for a while?"
Wang Wu did not know how to answer, but Wolf Bu'er took out an odd bone talisman made from bone, gave it a shake, and said coldly, "Scram!"
The little dwarf transformed from the crow did not get angry. Instead, it burst into hearty laughter, chattering a long string of incomprehensible bird language before turning back into a fat crow and struggling into the air.
"These are Wailing Birds unique to Centipede Ridge. They are all down-and-outs whose cultivation has gone nowhere, who have no property, cannot seize spiritual energy, cannot obtain resources, and lack the ability to make a living outside."
"So they can only do some lowly,