Chapter 48: What Good Person Just Constantly Billows Black Smoke?

The streets were desolate and freezing.

The surrounding night was as thick as ink, making the dim, hazy buildings under the faint moonlight appear even more eerie and terrifying.

Livid followed closely behind the flickering flame, walking all the way toward the outskirts of Hogsmeade.

Soon, he left Hogsmeade behind, and the light of the Put-Outer, which had been trailing his shadow, finally came to a halt on the stone bridge at the edge of the village.

Following the flame, Livid quickly turned into a narrow path, gradually making his way deeper into the woods.

As the trees along the path multiplied, the dim moon in the sky slowly vanished without a trace.

Livid raised his head, unable to see the night sky; he could only perceive the thick, heavy shadows cast by the dense tree canopy in the dark night, resembling gigantic beasts lurking in the shadows, waiting to devour anyone who crossed their path.

At this moment, the only illumination left before Livid was the faint, ghostly blue glow of the tiny flame.

"Lumos!"

The white light erupting from the tip of his wand pierced through the darkness of the woods.

With a reliable source of light, Livid's racing heart gradually calmed down.

Seeing that the flame seemed to be leading him in the direction of the Forbidden Forest, Livid waved his wand.

"Protego!"

A transparent protective barrier suddenly materialized, enveloping Livid entirely.

Although the Shield Charm was an advanced spell, for Livid, whose magical strength was on par with an adult wizard, mastering it was not overly difficult.

Shortly after moving to Hogsmeade, he had specifically consulted Aberforth and learned this exceptionally useful defensive magic from him.

After all, he had just suffered the consequences of the Shield Charm at the hands of the Acolytes back then.

Tom had wanted to learn it too, but unfortunately, his magical power was not yet sufficient; despite his prodigious talent, he could only manage a partial formation of the Shield Charm...

A few minutes later, following the flame, Livid stepped into the Forbidden Forest.

There were no paths whatsoever in the Forbidden Forest, or if there were, they would likely be closer to the Hogwarts side.

After struggling through the pathless Forbidden Forest for another five or six minutes, the flame finally stopped in front of what looked like a massive boulder.

Livid raised his wand, and the radiance from the wand illuminated the large rock in front of the flame.

Now, Livid could see it clearly—this was no mere boulder; it was unmistakably a meticulously sculpted, gigantic stone toad!

Just as Livid was preparing to inspect what was special about the giant toad, the stone toad abruptly widened its mouth and swallowed Livid whole, along with his Shield Charm!

Livid felt a sudden pitch-black darkness envelop him. However, he noticed that the Shield Charm surrounding him showed no signs of being attacked whatsoever; in other words, this toad did not seem to possess any offensive properties!

"Whoosh!"

Livid felt his body spin rapidly, and then a bright light flashed before his eyes.

His feet felt solid ground once more!

Livid looked around. Incredibly, he was no longer in the Forbidden Forest from moments ago!

At the moment, he appeared to be inside an exaggeratedly large stone chamber.

The stone chamber looked to be at least half the size of a football field, and the distance from the floor to the ceiling was nearly ten meters high!

Yet, in such a massive stone chamber, it was completely empty, with nothing at all.

However, unlike the Forbidden Forest from before, this underground room lacked any visible source of light, yet it was brightly lit as if it were daytime...

Livid turned around to look and saw, standing right behind him, a gigantic stone toad statue, almost identical to the one in the Forbidden Forest.

This stone toad was actually a portal?

It was just that the method of transportation was rather peculiar.

The other side swallowed you up, and this side spat you out...

He had no idea where he had been teleported to this time.

"If I were you, I'd step away from that giant toad quickly. Otherwise, it might just send you right back to the Forbidden Forest."

The voice that had once appeared in his dreams echoed in Livid's ears once again.

Livid looked around, but could not see a single person in the underground chamber.

Clearly, that person was not inside the room.

"Come up..." the voice sounded again.

Simultaneously, a series of rumbling sounds erupted from the ceiling.

Then, a large section of the ceiling slowly descended at an angle, forming a steep upward slope.

Once the slope formed, it shifted again, and shortly after, a long stone staircase appeared before Livid's eyes.

Looking at the long flight of stairs, Livid couldn't help but rub his aching thighs.

"Right... I just love climbing stairs..."

"If you love it, climb a bit more."

As soon as the voice finished speaking, the already long staircase actually extended by another fifty meters!

Livid: ?

...

This time, Livid firmly kept his mouth shut and strode resolutely onto the staircase.

After painstakingly climbing the entire flight of stairs, Livid discovered that the upper level of that giant stone chamber was yet another massive stone chamber!

"I'm here. Where are you?" Livid asked, surveying his surroundings.

The moment Livid's voice trailed off, a series of white mists emerged from who knows where...

The mist rapidly filled the entire gigantic stone chamber!

Gazing at the familiar mist, Livid's expression instantly turned grave.

"Nightmare Magic..."

The moment the name of this magic crossed Livid's mind, the surrounding environment instantly transformed!

The previously barren stone chamber morphed, in the blink of an eye, into a massive, vibrant garden filled with the chirping of birds and the fragrance of flowers!

Livid looked at all of this in shock.

Without a doubt, the other person's Nightmare Magic was vastly superior to his own, having reached the level where it could influence others...

Livid didn't feel discouraged by this, because he had only been studying this magic for a grand total of one day.

He believed that sooner or yet, he would reach this level.

However, Livid now understood that the ultimate stage of Nightmare Magic described in the texts was by no means false.

"Come over, let's have a chat."

Livid looked toward the source of the voice.

There was a pavilion, inside of which stood a round table and two chairs.

Sitting on one of the chairs was a very bizarre person.

To call him bizarre was an understatement, as he hardly looked human at all...

What decent person constantly billowed pitch-black Qi all over their body?

He strode over and sat down opposite the strange figure.

Only upon drawing closer did Livid see clearly that this was indeed a strange entity whose entire body was intertwined with eerie, dark malevolence!

"We meet at last, Vade. I know you must have many questions. No matter, you can ask them now."

When the strange figure spoke, he seemed to be smiling, but Livid could not see the expression on his face.

Livid nodded, dispensing with formalities, and asked directly, "Who are you? Why did you look for me?"

The strange figure sighed. "I am merely a pathetic wretch enslaved by power. As for why I looked for you... that is because only you can save my life!"

"Me? Save your life?"

A cigarette lighter emitting a ghostly blue glow floated out from Livid's pocket and gently landed in the strange figure's palm.

"This lighter... you are the only one who can see the light upon it, aren't you?"