I am the Clone of a Death Row Inmate

Chapter 189: Chapter 170: The Girl

These desert beasts were often vicious by nature. Unable to gain the approval of the Oasis Mother Tree and enter the inner circle, they were still far better off in the outer circle than in the barren desert.

The Oasis Commerce Association’s hunting forces also operated mainly in the outer circle, regularly culling the beasts there to reduce their numbers. Otherwise, the favorable conditions would only attract more and more of them.

The Hunters who paid to enter Miracle Oasis also operated exclusively in the outer circle.

The Oasis Commerce Association didn’t bother keeping an eye on those Hunters, because even a Butterfly Stage evolver who rashly entered the inner circle to wreak havoc would be courting certain death.

There was no shortage of powerful Spiritual Plants in the inner circle!

Su Ze and Mr. Ya didn’t sneak in. Instead, they openly passed the Oasis Commerce Association’s screening, paid the fee, and entered.

”This Miracle Oasis is so vast, yet the Oasis Commerce Association has it completely sealed off, with a post every five steps and a sentry every ten. What a massive undertaking,” Su Ze remarked.

The investment in manpower, materials, and funds must have been unimaginable.

After they entered Miracle Oasis, the yellow sand underfoot gradually gave way to soil, and specks of green began to dot the yellow earth.

Su Ze knew that Bai Guishou and the Tiger King General would head straight for the inner circle, so they didn’t waste time in the outer circle and made a beeline for it.

As they went deeper into Miracle Oasis, the soil underfoot gradually turned black. Green grass, red flowers, and leafy trees became a common sight.

And this was still just the outer circle.

They began to encounter beasts, too. The density of beasts here was far greater than in the outside world. Out in the desert, you could walk for twenty or thirty minutes without seeing a single one. Here, however, a beast would attack them every few minutes.

Neither Su Ze nor Mr. Ya had any interest in these first and second-tier beasts. They weren’t here to hunt, so they simply avoided them instead of wasting time on fights.

After walking for a while, Mr. Ya suggested, ”We should use Earth Escape to travel.”

As long as they didn’t enter the inner circle, using Earth Escape in the outer circle was no problem. Flying would be too conspicuous and make them a target, while walking on the ground was too slow and would attract beast attacks.

”Sounds good. We’ll search the perimeter of the outer circle and find out from which direction they entered the inner one.”

With that, the two of them tunneled to the edge of the inner circle.

Su Ze looked at the inner circle of Miracle Oasis, just a few feet away. There were no signs posted, but the boundary was still distinguishable at a glance.

The soil in the inner circle was more fertile and radiated with vibrant life. The vegetation was also noticeably denser, and some of the plants were clearly evolved Spiritual Plants.

On the periphery of the inner circle, the most common types of Spiritual Plants were the extremely aggressive varieties that had evolved from carnivorous plants like pitcher plants.

Third-tier Trap Pitcher Plants, second-tier Beast-Catching Flowers, third-tier Binding Silk Vines...

These Spiritual Plants were distributed along the outermost edge of the inner circle, as if to deter beasts and humans from trespassing.

Su Ze and Mr. Ya didn’t rush into danger. They began to circle the inner ring, searching for traces of the Tiger King General and Bai Guishou. Every time they tunneled for a certain distance, Mr. Ya would bring Su Ze back to the surface so he could check for any scents.

Bai Guishou’s stench was impossible to conceal. When Su Ze pushed his sense of smell to its limit, he could detect odors from several hundred meters away. Anywhere Bai Guishou had passed, he would have inevitably left a scent behind.

But before they could find the Tiger King General, they happened upon a young woman.

Just as they emerged from the ground, they saw a woman with dazzlingly white skin. She had a slender, delicate figure and stood barefoot in front of a small tree. Her white gauze skirt revealed calves as smooth as jade and exquisite, fair feet.

She had a clean, pure aura, seeming to blend as one with the natural surroundings, like an elf straight out of a fairy tale.

On her, Su Ze detected an exceptionally unique fragrance. It was fresh and aromatic, making one feel as if they were in a forest after a rain, the air a mixture of the scents of trees, soil, and flowers.

In her hands, she cradled a small beast about the size of an adult man’s fist. It had snow-white fur, like a plush toy, and a pair of fiery red wings on its back that clashed with its coat.

The little beast was sticking out its small pink tongue, licking the nectar from the flowers on the tree.

The woman turned her head and saw Su Ze and Mr. Ya emerging from the ground. She gave a slight smile by way of greeting, seemingly not the least bit surprised by their appearance.

Su Ze and Mr. Ya were stunned for a moment. They exchanged a glance, both knowing that for a young woman to appear here was definitely unusual.

After feeding the little beast, the woman turned and walked toward the inner circle.

The little beast fluttered its wings and landed on her shoulder.

Seeing the woman walk barefoot into the inner circle of Miracle Oasis, Mr. Ya couldn’t help but call out a warning, ”Uh... the inner circle is very dangerous!”

The woman turned back and chuckled lightly. ”All the Spiritual Plants and beasts here are connected to the Mother Tree’s will. As long as you mean them no harm, this is the safest place.”

’Is that so?’

Su Ze and Mr. Ya were both skeptical.

’Those ferocious-looking carnivorous Spiritual Plants certainly don’t look friendly.’

For example, a Serrated Pitcher Plant’s trap was probably large enough to hold an elephant, and the serrated lid at its opening looked like a beast’s bloody, gaping maw.

Then, the two men watched as the woman floated gracefully past several carnivorous Spiritual Plants. Not only did the plants not attack her, but they even extended their leaves to gently caress her cheeks.

’Are these Spiritual Plants all perverts?’

Su Ze and Mr. Ya exchanged another glance, now even more certain that this woman was by no means ordinary. However, neither of them dared to weave through the Spiritual Plants of the inner circle as she did.

”Care to come in for a look?” the woman’s bell-like voice called out, extending an invitation.

Su Ze hesitated for a moment but still politely declined.

It wasn’t that he thought the woman harbored ill intentions. He had a gut feeling that if she truly wanted to harm them, they most likely wouldn’t be able to escape.

’Still, compared to wandering aimlessly through the inner circle, finding the Tiger King General is the top priority right now.’

The woman didn’t insist. She waved, turned, and walked into the depths of the inner circle, her figure disappearing among the dense Spiritual Plants.

Su Ze couldn’t help but speculate about the woman’s identity. ’Could she be a Spiritual Plant that gained sentience?’

’A Flower Fairy? A dryad?’

He sensed an aura of closeness to nature about her.

”Let’s go.” Su Ze tugged on Mr. Ya, signaling for them to continue their search for the Tiger King General and Bai Guishou underground.

「A dozen or so minutes later...」

Su Ze called for Mr. Ya to stop. He sniffed the air hard, his expression turning serious.

”Found it!”

He had caught the familiar stench.

The intensity of this stench was comparable only to that of Feng Bqing. It was definitely the foul odor emitted by a Saint-level polluter.

The two of them concealed their figures and drew closer in the direction of the stench.

Judging from the trail of the stench, the elder from the Filth Earth Organization had definitely entered the inner circle.

The two circled along the edge of the inner circle, getting as close to the stench as they could. Before long, Su Ze signaled for Mr. Ya to stop.

From behind a massive tree so thick it would take four or five people to encircle, two heads popped up, revealing only the eyes of Su Ze and Mr. Ya.

Su Ze activated his Eye of Truth. His Perception Tentacles wrapped around the large tree before him, sensing the scene behind it.

The Tiger King General was at the border between the inner and outer circles, hidden in a pile of fallen leaves, lying quietly in ambush.

If Su Ze’s Eye of Truth hadn’t directly ”locked on” to him, he would have been almost impossible to find.

As for Bai Guishou, he was nowhere to be found.

However, this was something Su Ze had already expected. Judging from the trail of stench leading away, he knew Bai Guishou wasn’t here. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to carelessly use his Eye of Truth to investigate, as there was a risk of being detected by a Saint-level expert.

’Is the Tiger King General afraid to enter the inner circle, so he’s standing guard here at the border for the Filth Earth Organization’s elder?’

Su Ze realized this was a perfect opportunity!

’Kill him, take his treasures, and get revenge all at once. What’s there to hesitate about?!’