Time flies, in the blink of an eye, it's nighttime again.

Federer in his study slowly opened his eyes, a strange and unpredictable red glow shimmering in his eyes, bone-chilling.

"Restore... Fear..." Quickly, two matchstick-like arms and legs grew out of Federer's spherical body, with which he walked through the palace. His gait was quite peculiar, walking while waving his arms, as if dancing, quite comical.

Federer wandered through the entire palace for a long time, finally found a secluded corner where he discovered a stack of dried yellow straw piled up against the wall. He reached out with his claws and flicked the straw, then used the power of sequences to create a makeshift scarecrow.

He wanted to obtain the power of fear by terrifying everyone in the palace, thereby restoring his body to its peak state.

Next, Federer placed his sickle and iron claws on either side of the scarecrow. After completing all of this, he melted into the scarecrow and began his plan.

It was already midnight, the moon obscured by clouds, and the palace was enveloped in complete darkness, the air still and veiled by a slightly oppressive atmosphere.

The scarecrow pushed open the door, quietly entering a room, it was a bedroom, and inside lay a young girl.

She had silver, silky long hair, fair skin, and a slender, delicate figure, like an innocent young girl untouched by the world.

However, her sleeping position was terrible - she curled up into a ball, one foot propped on another pillow, hands placed on her belly, drool dribbling down her face onto the pillow.

Through the power of sequences, the scarecrow saw the fear in the girl's heart. With a mechanical voice, it lowly growled, "Baixi... Watching... Inappropriate manga..." The scarecrow repeated this line over and over again, its words barely falling, when an endless terror rushed forth, causing the temperature in the room to plummet, a chilling sense of gloom permeating the air, bone-chilling.

Baixi's eyelashes trembled a few times, then suddenly snapped open. She saw a scarecrow by her bed, staring at her, its mouth revealing sharp, white fangs.

"Ah!" She immediately screamed, quickly rolling out of bed and leaping out of the window, fleeing for her life. "Help... Help... Ghost... Ghost... Wah..."

Barefoot, Baixi ran frantically, trembling all over, tears streaming down her face.

Her mind was filled with all kinds of illusions, some of which involved a horrifying, malicious ghost pouncing on her.

"Mother, save me... There's a ghost..."

"It's the scarecrow!" Federer jumped out of the window, pursuing Baixi closely. "Baixi watched inappropriate manga... afraid of Iris..."

As Baixi ran, she cried out, her heart filled with a series of question marks. How did the scarecrow know that she was watching these things? What if her mother found out? She hated herself for watching such messy things!

Baixi's voice soon attracted the attention of nearby patrol guards, who rushed over to protect her.

"Princess, are you okay?" The captain of the guards looked at Baixi, her face stained with tear streaks.

"There's a scarecrow over there, I'm scared..." Baixi choked as she spoke.

The guards followed the direction Baixi pointed, but did not see any trace of the scarecrow. However, seeing the fear on the face of the princess, they didn't dare take it lightly.

"I will send someone to investigate immediately." The captain of the guards ordered promptly, and then he led several subordinates to rush towards the direction where the scarecrow disappeared.

While this was happening, the Scarecrow stood on the rooftop, observing everything, muttering to himself, "Fangs..."

Federer looked at it, surprised to see the demonic claws replacing the matchstick-like right arm. "Fear needs more..."

If this wasn't the Emperor's territory, Federer would have gone on a killing spree.

Immediately after, Federer floated out of the Scarecrow's body, opened his bloody mouth, and swallowed the Scarecrow whole, storing it in his belly for future use.

After finishing the Scarecrow, Federer returned to the study to continue his hibernation, preparing for the next move.

...

Baixi called out to Iris through the Consciousness Space, "Mother, are you in the bedroom? There's something dirty in the palace, I want to sleep with you."

Iris, who was currently looking for the entrance to the Elf Temple, received Baixi's message. "Something dirty? How is that possible in the palace? Could someone have broken in?"

"Yes... that's right. It's a scarecrow made of dry straw and mechanical parts. It holds a black-red battle scythe in its left hand and a mechanical claw in its right hand. Its voice sounds like a tractor, very unpleasant." Baixi immediately described the appearance of the intruder. "Mother, where are you now? I want to sleep with you..."

"I am not in the palace, nor within the territory of the Shuowang Empire," Iris replied. "That scarecrow can only scare you, it won't harm you."

"I don't believe it, Mother... I want you to come back. Your daughter is scared." Baixi's voice sounded tearful, and tears flowed down her face.

"The scarecrow won't actually hurt you. Why not go sleep with Yar?" Iris persuaded her. "In time, I will return."

"Okay..." Baixi hesitated for a long time before reluctantly agreeing. Although she was scared, she knew her mother was really busy, otherwise she would definitely accompany her.

Baixi wasn't very familiar with Yar, so she ran to her great-aunt's room and slept with her.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Li Lanzu pushed open the door and looked at Baixi, whose eyes were teary. She smiled and ruffled Baixi's head. "Little Baixi, what's wrong? Were you bullied?"

"Uh... the palace is not clean... there's a scarecrow. It looks terrifying and says the most fearful things in a voice that sounds like a tractor." Baixi complained to Li Lanzu.

"Oh?" Li Lanzu was a bit puzzled. "What is the most fearful thing in Little Baixi's heart?"

"I can't say... just know that I can't say. What if you scare me with those things?" Baixi absolutely wouldn't tell Li Lanzu about the inappropriate comics she was reading. It would go against family rules and she would be punished and put in solitary confinement.

"Who would be so bored to do that?" Li Lanzu chuckled. "Come in!"

"Mhm." Baixi nodded slightly and walked into the room. Her expression returned to a calm state, but she had hidden worries in her heart.

She was afraid that the scarecrow would suddenly come back and reveal her secret of reading inappropriate comics. Her mother would definitely give her a harsh lesson. And with what happened on the Ruined Land continent, she could lose her life in her mother's hands. Just thinking about it was terrifying.

"Little Baixi, why did you come to me instead of finding Iris?" Li Lanzu looked at Baixi sitting on the bed.

"Mother is not in the palace, so I have to come to Aunt Zuyi for help," Baixi said truthfully, shaking Li Lanzu's right arm twice.

"Sleep, with Aunt Zuyi by your side, nothing can threaten your safety," Li Lanzu stroked Baixi's head, comforting her fearful heart.

"Mmm... Thank you, Aunt Zuyi!" Baixi nodded obediently and leaned against Li Lanzu's embrace.

...

"It seems like Baixi was scared by Fedeley," Iris sighed helplessly.

"Normal. Fedeley needs to absorb the fears of others to restore his own strength, and Baixi is undoubtedly his best prey," Chaos analyzed calmly, "after all, Baixi's bedroom is closest to the study."

"Poor little girl," Iris felt sorry for her.

"Consider it her contribution to conquering the Ruined Land for you. Later, you can give little Baixi some rewards and let her know the truth about the Scarecrow," Chaos suggested.

"That's a good idea," Iris agreed with Chaos.

"Vampire girl, I can sense the presence of the key, it's right in front of you," Chaos suddenly said.

Iris stepped forward quickly and looked at the endless forest with a frown, "Chaos, are you joking? How can there be an entrance here?"

"The entrance is beneath your feet, beneath this forest is the entrance to the Elven Temple. After a day and night of traveling, I'm sure you're tired. Why not rest for a while before facing the demonized elves," Chaos suggested.

"Alright," Iris was indeed exhausted. She had been rushing around this whole way and hadn't had a good rest.

With that, she flew up to a tree branch and lay down, closing her eyes to rest.

A black flame flickered from Iris's right arm, a small part of Chaos, who would keep watch for Iris.

...