"Xisone... we can have him help us leave..."

Professor Hagrid recalled the betrayal that clawed at his heart.

"He's one of the camp."

Professor Hagrid shook his head gently: "Xisone is pure, I know that, it's my wife... Mim who has bewitched him. Maybe I can have him help us."

"Where to find him." Lu Li said no more.

"I don't know..."

The dim house fell silent.

Lu Li moved to the window, peering into the outside world through the dust-laden glass.

Red glows flitted by occasionally; the camp's Heretics trusted the eyeball completely, and there were no patrolling figures on the distant streets.

"Let's go back." Lu Li said.

The door opened a crack, and like Lu Li, Professor Hagrid extinguished the oil lamp, silently stepping onto the dark noon surface.

In the distance, the silent Midnight City seemed both near and unattainable, with the shadow of the World Tree symbolizing human civilization alongside the four Alchemical Towers flickering with dim light.

Professor Hagrid composed himself, tightly following Lu Li as they retreated to the camp's depths.

As the eyeball atop the church tower swept past at its fixed rhythm, Lu Li and Professor Hagrid had already hidden in the cramped, narrow alley between houses.

At first, everything went smoothly. The problem arose midway.

As the most frequently swept area, this part of the route required speed and agility. For Professor Hagrid, who was just an ordinary person without mystical powers, it was challenging.

An accident occurred; as the red glow briefly moved away, Professor Hagrid followed Lu Li as they ran into the alley a dozen meters ahead when he tripped over a protruding stone, falling with a thud at the alley's entrance.

The distant red glow swiftly approached as Lu Li caught the oil lamp before it crashed and made a louder noise, grabbing Professor Hagrid and pulling him into the alley.

The red glow followed closely after, leaving behind only a puff of dust and a shoe receding into shadow.

The unwanted scenario unfolded as the red glow paused at the alleyway, its dangerous light probing the alley's edge.

Deep in the narrow alley, only centimeters from the red glow, a calm Lu Li and a pain-enduring Professor Hagrid remained silent.

After an extended pause, just as Lu Li thought the Heretics might have been alerted, the red glow departed, and no footsteps approached.

Professor Hagrid relaxed his body, catching his breath, about to speak when the red glow chillingly returned.

Lu Li and Professor Hagrid held their breath.

After a tense ten seconds, the red glow slowly withdrew, seemingly returning to its routine.

Lu Li patiently waited a few minutes, confirming the eyeball was no longer observing, then left the hiding spot, swiftly guiding Professor Hagrid through the dangerous path, and after evading the red glow twice more, returned to the initial house.

Cre-eak—

The door closed quietly, Lu Li reignited the oil lamp.

The spreading yellow light illuminated the room, and the Heretic bound on the wooden frame startled the relieved Professor Hagrid.

He was now in a sorry state, with his clothing and palms scraped from the fall, his ankle twisted, dirt, gravel, and flesh mixed together uncleaned.

They had more urgent matters to attend to.

"After I enter the dream, whisper the scene of our arrival by the Heretic's ear repeatedly."

Lu Li instructed Professor Hagrid on what to say, leaned against the corner, and gradually fell into a dream.

A faint, blurry halo floated over the position of the Heretic, and Lu Li merged into the mist-like dream. The Heretic's consciousness scattered, without a main body, nothing at all.

"I see Lu Li and Professor Hagrid being brought to the camp..."

A booming echo abruptly resonated from above, the mist seeming to thin.

"I see Lu Li and Professor Hagrid being brought to the camp..."

After several seconds, the echo resonated again, the mist further thinning. Lu Li lowered his head, seeing soil appear.

With every repetition, the dream would change, the mist thinning to reveal more of the camp's outline.

"I... see... Lu... Li..."

The elongated echoes from above gradually became indistinct through repeated repetitions.

And the Heretic's dream had turned into the camp, where a carriage slowly approached—

Mim, Professor Hagrid's wife, and Xisone drove the carriage into the camp, and Lu Li and Professor Hagrid were escorted from its cabin. Heretics leaned towards them politely, then Lu Li and Professor Hagrid were guided into the camp's depths, Mim drove the carriage away, Xisone holding a bag walked toward the warehouse at the camp's edge.

Remembering the warehouse Xisone entered, Lu Li exited the dream.

"Lu Li and Professor Hagrid were brought—have you found the location?"

Professor Hagrid inquired as Lu Li opened his dark eyes.

"Hmm."

Recall the bag Xisone took; it should contain his belongings. Even if Xisone couldn't break free from the bewitchment, Lu Li could retrieve the Doomsday Apocalypse, Spirit-Calling Gun, stomach pouch, and the eyeball.

Provided the Heretics hadn't discovered the power of the Doomsday Apocalypse.

And they needed to cross the eyeball patrol territory once more.

Lu Li checked the unconscious Heretic, confirmed he wouldn't wake shortly, and with Professor Hagrid left, evading the eyeball's patrol, sneaked into the room where Professor Hagrid was held.

Beyond lay the camp square; Professor Hagrid with his sprained ankle couldn't go there, only Lu Li could disguise in a black robe as a Heretic. And it could only be a distant observation, getting close would trigger a unique human scent.

"You stay here. If the Heretics appear, think of a way to delay them."

Lu Li donned the black robe, leaving the oil lamp and Professor Hagrid behind, stepping out of the room.

Silently departing from the eyeball's patrol zone, Lu Li mimicked the Heretics' slow stride, resembling a moving drape—

At the camp square, a few bonfires burned, dispelling the cold and darkness, some Heretics gathered by the fire, murmuring and praying.

Lu Li's appearance did not draw any attention or suspicion.

Under the shadow of his black robe, black eyes watched the taller warehouse on the camp's edge and slowly approached.

Just then, a disciple emerged from the edge house.

Facing Lu Li, he raised both hands... vertically placed against his chest, palms spaced apart.

Lu Li subtly circumvented, keeping distance. Mimicking the Heretic's gesture, with hands vertically spaced.

This action, typically associated with the church, had its hidden threats... but Lu Li had no time to worry.

The Heretic did not notice anything odd about Lu Li, and following that, Lu Li encountered no further trouble, arriving smoothly at the warehouse's tall wooden door, pushing a gap open, stepping in sideways.

Darkness surged within the barn.

At that moment, flames burst forth, igniting a familiar face.

"As expected of His Excellency Lulian... even relying on one's own strength, you could escape the prison."

Professor Hagrid stood at the warehouse's wooden ladder, his expression full of admiration and respect, as always.

Alongside him, two torch-bearing Heretics.

"This is a trap, you're the plot's orchestrator." Lu Li's black eyes mirrored their silhouettes.

"Indeed... the ritual is complete."

Professor Hagrid spread his arms fervently, his voice surprisingly low and slow.

"Light and dark, trust and betrayal, friendliness and hostility, abduction and escape, hope and despair, life and death... we call it, balance."

"Esteemed His Excellency Lulian, you are the finest offering to our lord."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.