Though Lingsha didn't understand Ge Uncle's sudden change of heart, at least the outcome was favorable. After bidding farewell to the Hunting Team, the trio continued their journey.
It took them roughly two days to cross the desert. As they emerged, a vast, boundless grassland stretched before Lingsha.
Just as there had been a clear boundary between the forest and the desert, the desert and the grassland were sharply demarcated.
One step brought them from the crimson sands to verdant grass.
Unlike the previous landscapes, where the forest was filled with withered, twisted black trees and the desert with strangely red sand, Lingsha found nothing remarkable about this grassland. It resembled any ordinary meadow in the Main World.
Tender green grass carpeted the earth, stretching to the horizon where the sky seemed to drape like a celestial dome, encompassing all directions.
The immense prairie radiated natural splendor and vibrant life, yet its very normalcy felt utterly out of place in this strange world.
Crossing the boundary into the grassland, the oppressive heat vanished instantly. Lingsha could even sense the air becoming noticeably fresher and cleaner.
"Wow~ This place is so beautiful!" Li exclaimed, excitedly taking in her surroundings.
As the group ventured deeper into the grassland, Lingsha noticed footprints and droppings. Eventually, they spotted deer-like creatures grazing and drinking at a riverbank.
If she hadn't looked up and seen the colossal Dimensional Rift still looming in the sky, Lingsha might have suspected she'd secretly crossed over to another world again.
Where the hell did I end up? Is this still the world on the brink of destruction?
After spending the night on the grassland, the group approached the Seventh Laboratory around noon the next day. Lingsha led the way, consulting her map.
Instead of the laboratory, they stumbled upon a village—a dense cluster of wooden houses scattered across the plain, surrounded by numerous Beast-Eared Girls going about their daily lives.
The moment Lingsha spotted them, the villagers naturally noticed her group as well. Two girls quickly detached from the clan and darted toward them, their ears twitching with curiosity. "Who are you?" one of them asked. "People from another clan? Are you lost?"
No wonder Ge Uncle stopped trying to dissuade Lingsha when he heard her destination. It turned out another clan resided in this area.
Unlike Li's clan, whose members all had light yellow, almost golden hair and drooping ears, the two Beast-Eared Girls standing before Lingsha had dark hair and ears that stood straight up.
This wasn't Li's battle-ready posture; their erect ears seemed to be their natural state.
"No, we're here to find something," Lingsha said, glancing at her map. She deduced that the Seventh Laboratory was likely located within this clan's encampment.
"Find something?" One of the dark-haired Beast-Eared Girls tilted her head. "Have you come to worship Lord God?"
"A god here?" Lingsha exclaimed in surprise.
After further explanation, she understood that, more accurately, the god's remains were entombed in this place.
While other clans constantly migrated, hunting down monsters that emerged from Dimensional Rifts, this dark-haired clan was different. They had been stationed here since birth, generation after generation, guarding the remains of their god.
Other clans would occasionally visit to pay their respects, taking a piece of the god's flesh as they left.
The Dark-Haired Beast-Eared Girls only sought to prevent monsters from desecrating the corpse, but this restriction clearly didn't apply to outsiders. If visitors came, these girls would even carve off pieces of the god's flesh as gifts.
"..." As Lingsha listened to the explanation, her expression grew increasingly bewildered. This "custom"... it was utterly bizarre.
By the time the conversation ended, the two Beast-Eared Girls had led Lingsha and her companions into their village. At its very center stood a stark, angular, silver-white laboratory.
The entire village had been built around this laboratory. That was why Lingsha had only seen wooden houses from afar—the laboratory had been completely obscured by the surrounding buildings.
The laboratory was remarkably well-preserved. It hadn't been buried underground, nor was it overgrown with vines. Its exterior was almost entirely free of dirt, as if it had just been thoroughly cleaned.
At the entrance stood a massive stone slab, inscribed with four words: "Tomb of the Gods."
The dark-haired Beast-Eared Girl declared, "Lord God is buried here."
As she spoke, she strode toward the tombstone, seemingly preparing to unearth the buried deity on the spot for Lingsha and the others to see. Lingsha hastily interrupted her, pointing to the laboratory instead. "Actually, we're mainly here for this thing. Do you know what it is?"
The Beast-Eared Girl paused, her expression puzzled. "Why would you want this hunk of metal?"
"We want to retrieve some information from it," Lingsha replied cautiously. She deliberately adopted the girl's term, "hunk of metal," for the laboratory, and referred to their search for information about the Seventh Laboratory as simply "retrieving some information."
Regardless, the Dark-Haired Clan clearly held their gods in great reverence, though their methods of worship differed from what Lingsha had imagined.
With the laboratory situated next to the Tomb of the Gods, it was likely considered sacred as well. Lingsha knew she had to tread carefully to avoid inadvertently violating any taboos.
To her surprise, the Dark-Haired Beast-Eared Girl exclaimed, "You can actually go inside this iron contraption?!"
Lingsha replied, "Of course you can..."
Hearing this, the Beast-Eared Girl's tail began to wag excitedly. "Can I come with you to take a look?"
Lingsha blinked in confusion. What kind of topsy-turvy situation is this? Isn't this your territory? Why are you asking me for permission?
The good news was that the girl wasn't trying to stop them. If these Dark-Haired Beast-Eared Girls had objected, forcing their way through would have been impossible, considering the terrifying combat prowess of the surrounding individuals, comparable to that of a Hunting Team.