Wizard: Starting from Escape from the Thorn Garden

Leaving the laboratory and walking down the spiraling, cold stone steps, Chen Lin felt as if every step he took was on the edge of an abyss.

Half a month? Howling Rift? Soul Sand? That was practically a tailor-made execution ground for him!

Returning to the cave in the moss-covered corridor, it is isolated from outside prying eyes, at least on the surface.

Chen Lin immediately entered a state of extreme calm and preparation.

Returning from the Wailing Rift would mean certain death; his only way to survive was to escape!

The first step in escaping is to break free from the omnipresent surveillance!

Private communication time with Ella, especially regarding plans and discussions with Vivian, is extremely rare, and it's only a matter of time before these subtle actions are exposed under the crystal ball's surveillance!

The Seed of Origin was operating at full power, combining its observations from the bottom of the academy over the past six months, information occasionally revealed by Ella, and the energy fluctuations of the crystal ball that it had just sensed up close in the laboratory, and began to frantically deduce the future.

Vivian's crystal ball surveillance was not omniscient.

Maintaining such a wide-ranging and high-intensity surveillance, especially targeting someone like him who has been specifically marked, would inevitably be extremely costly and subject to energy fluctuations or environmental interference.

The energy fluctuations of the crystal ball itself.

In the laboratory, the Seed of Origin detected an extremely subtle periodic tide in its energy—like breathing, with varying strength.

At its strongest, surveillance is all-pervasive; at its weakest... it might be just a crack!

Following the researchers' basic experimental approach, the first consideration was environmental sources of interference.

The fissures in the earth's veins deep within the mossy corridors themselves emit chaotic energy radiation.

Could the faint energy field emitted by those glowing blue corrosive mosses, which persists for a long time, interfere with detection magic on specific frequency bands?

And... on his windowsill, there was moonlight moss, which, after being strengthened by its source, was now radiating a pure silver glow!

Can its purifying energy field form a local shield?

Secondly, there's Vivian's condition! Her power is unstable, the magic vines are withering, and is the crystal ball's stability also fluctuating accordingly?

Especially at night, when the energy tides caused by moonlight, particularly the fixed phases of the moon, clash with the energy tides of the magic vines.

Chen Lin walked to the windowsill and gazed at the moonlight moss.

He carefully peeled a small piece off a leaf, cutting his fingertip as he did so, adding a drop of blood containing the power of the Seed of Origin into the Moonlight Moss juice.

Next, he guided this mixed energy, touching extremely slowly a patch of ordinary blue corrosive moss on the cave wall.

The Seed of Origin is quietly operating:

[Analysis: Fluorescently corrosive moss (subsurface variant)]

[Energy radiation: weak, frequency band XY, persistent.]

[Moonlight moss purifying energy field: Frequency band AB, medium intensity, has a neutralizing effect on darkness/corrosive energy.]

[Crystal ball energy detection (residual analysis): Main frequency band CD, secondary frequency band EF (intensity periodic variation).]

[Cross-interference analysis: When the intensity of the Moonmoss Purification Field (AB) reaches its peak and the Environmental Corrosion Moss Radiation (XY) is in its active phase, it can cause approximately 15% attenuation interference to the crystal ball's sub-frequency detection (EF). The duration of this interference coincides with the low point of the lunar phase and the Magic Vine energy.]

[Current lunar phase: Waning crescent. Predicted low point in Magic Vine energy: Daily from 00:00 to 00:15 (Thorn Garden time).]

"From 0:00 to 0:15... only fifteen minutes!" Chen Lin's heart pounded, and his eyes flashed with a sharp light.

That's it! The daily blind spot in surveillance!

A brief gap created by the combined effects of Moonlight Moss, Earth Vein Moss, lunar phases, the low point of Magic Vine, and Vivian's unstable power!

Although it only lasts for fifteen minutes and can only interfere with sub-band detection, temporarily affecting the transmission of sound and some mental fluctuations, it is enough to conduct some crucial exchanges that cannot be heard clearly!

The blind spot time has been determined, but escape is by no means something that one person can accomplish alone.

Ella, a monster also hunted by death, is the only possible ally.

The showdown must happen tonight, within the blind spot!

Chen Lin used the remaining safe time during the day to prepare frantically.

He extracted more moonshine moss essence and created several miniature purifying shock runes to interfere with detection.

He repeatedly imprinted the secret underground river route of the Bone Swamp, which he had deciphered from the Seed of Origin, especially the information about the entrance to the outer edge of the Pale Woods, into his mental sea.

Finally, he hid a special chaff bomb, made from undead moss powder, between his fingers—a contingency plan for the worst-case scenario.

The early morning bells rang out above the Thorn Garden with invisible magical fluctuations.

Chen Lin was highly focused, and the Seed of Origin was like a precise timer.

As soon as the fluctuations subsided, he immediately activated the moonshine moss on the windowsill!

The soft silver light instantly became bright and penetrating, subtly resonating with the radiant blue fluorescent moss on the walls. A faint but undeniable ripple of energy swept across the cave.

It's now!

Without hesitation, Chen Lin picked up an ordinary stone and tapped it three times at a specific frequency in an inconspicuous corner of the cave wall. This was the emergency communication signal he and Ella had agreed upon when they encountered danger in the Bone Swamp, originating from an ancient way miners transmitted their location.

Time passed second by second.

Outside the cave, only the eternal, mournful sound of the wind echoed from the depths of the earth.

Cold sweat trickled down Chen Lin's temples.

Will Ella arrive in time?

Is she still struggling with the pain of fungal infection? Or is she already under Vivian's complete surveillance?

Just ten minutes later, the shadow at the cave entrance twisted silently.

Ella appeared there silently, like a ghost blending into the darkness.

Her mechanical prosthetic eye flashed a wary red light as it scanned the cave illuminated by the enhanced moonlight moss, finally settling on Chen Lin.

Under the sutures on the left arm, hyphae were wriggling restlessly.

"You'd better have a good reason for summoning me at this time."

Ella's voice remained cold, but Chen Lin keenly detected a hint of hidden fatigue and... discomfort with the enhanced moonshine light.

The power of purification is a double-edged sword in suppressing iron-corroding fungi.

"Only five minutes left, so get to the point," Chen Lin said bluntly, his voice low but carrying an undeniable sense of urgency.

"Every day at this time, I get fifteen minutes of blind spot coverage from the crystal ball here. Then it will start watching us again."

Ayla's mechanical eye suddenly contracted its red light, and the scanning beam instantly intensified, sweeping across the moonlight moss and the blue moss on the wall.

"Blind spot?" She seemed to be performing some kind of internal calculation, her voice carrying a subtle fluctuation. "...Verification passed. Probability 89.7%. How did you discover it?"

"That's not important, Ella." Chen Lin took a step forward, staring directly into the cold, mechanical eye, as if trying to see the struggling soul within.

"The important thing is that we both know what we are! I am the fruit she carefully cultivated, the demonic vine and the seed of the soul tree waiting to be drained of its juice to nourish her! In half a month, the soul sand of the Howling Rift will be my death warrant! And you..."

He pointed to Ella's violently writhing left arm. "How long does your antidote last? Ten days? Fifteen days? For the next mission, she might send you to even more dangerous places to die, until the fungus completely consumes you, or until she drains me of my last bit of value!"

Ella remained silent, but Chen Lin noticed a slight cracking sound coming from her metal knuckles as she gripped them tightly.

The iron-corroding fungi seemed to be stimulated by Chen Lin's strong will to survive and the truth he revealed, and they surged even more wildly under her arm.

"So?" Ella's voice was like a rusty gear, each word grinding painfully against one's eardrums.

"What do you want to say? Kneel down and beg for mercy? Or challenge the Dean with your half-baked symbiote?"

"Run!" Chen Lin shouted decisively, his voice like a sharp blade drawn from its sheath, shattering the silence of the cave.

"Leave the thorn garden! Leave this place that treats us like materials and tools!"

"Escape?" Ella let out a short, mocking laugh, like the scraping of metal. "What do you think the Thorn Garden is? Vivian's senses cover half of the Thorn Forest! The leyline defense array can't even let a ghost fly escape! Where to escape to? To the Bone Swamp as fertilizer? Or to the Pale Woods to be a snack for the undead?"

"The Bone-Rotting Swamp isn't a graveyard; it's a labyrinth, and also a passageway!" Chen Lin's eyes burned with a desperate glint.

"I found the path there! A hidden underground river covered in undead moss, not even marked on the academy's map! It goes deep underground and eventually flows into the Forgotten Stream on the outskirts of the Pale Woods!"

He extended his right hand, palm up, his mental energy focused.

The power of the Seed of Origin was mobilized, and an extremely faint yet incredibly clear map of the underground river route, like a glowing thread, slowly emerged above his palm, highlighting the entrance, the point covered by the undead moss, the underground cavern, and the location where it flows into the Stream of Oblivion!

This is a spiritual map that only he and the Seed of Origin could create!

Ella's prosthetic eye was fixed on the ray of light, its red light flashing rapidly, clearly indicating that it was conducting high-speed analysis and comparison.

The flashing stopped after a few seconds.

"The route...is logically consistent. Some terrain features match incomplete information in the database. Preliminary assessment: 72.5% reliability."

For the first time, her voice showed a noticeable wavering, no longer so cold and inorganic.

"Pale Woods... a place of chaos, teeming with the undead, exiles, and mutated monsters... also the most inaccessible shadowy corner of the Stranglethorn Garden's power."

"Chaos means opportunity! It means hiding and difficulty in tracking!"

Chen Lin pressed on relentlessly, knowing that time was flying by.

"I need your help, Ella! Without you, I can't open the three runic locks that lead to the deep abandoned mine tunnels in the 'Mossy Corridor'! Without you, we can't avoid the guards' patrols when crossing the academy's mid-level defensive nodes! Your mechanical eyes can scan for weak points in energy, and your permissions can briefly interfere with secondary barriers! And I..."

He raised his right arm, the patterns of the Bloodthirsty Vine faintly visible in the moonlight.

"I have the power to clear paths! I can disentangle traps! My moonshine moss can purify the corruption of the undead! And most importantly, I have this!"

He shook the unassuming dimensional pouch at his waist: "Inside are the Dean's generous rewards! Magic stones, potions, materials! These will be our capital for our escape!"

Ella's gaze swept back and forth across Chen Lin's face, the lines on his arms, the dimensional bag at his waist, and the mental map in his palm.

The hyphae on the left arm churned violently, as if engaged in a fierce struggle.

The light from the mechanical prosthetic eye flickered intermittently.

"Risk..." she whispered, as if calculating, "The probability of failure... over 87.3%. Death, or something even more terrifying..."

"Staying here guarantees failure! Death is only a matter of time!"

Chen Lin's voice was like a cold blade, cutting through all hope.

"The monster inside you is also counting down! Come with me, there's at least a glimmer of hope! In the Pale Woods, I'll continue to help you suppress the fungus and find a way to completely eradicate it! I promised, you help me, I help you! And that promise still stands!"

The cave was deathly silent, save for the faint glow of the moonshine moss and the rustling sound of the mycelium wriggling inside Ella's body.

Time ticked by, and there were less than two minutes left before the blind spot ended!

Ella suddenly looked up, her mechanical prosthetic eye fixed on Chen Lin, the red light seemingly burning with a kind of resolute flame, a madness to break free from the fate of being a tool.

"The best time..." Her voice became unusually hoarse, like metal rubbing against gravel, "the eve of Winter Veil."

Chen Lin instantly understood! Winter Veil!

That was one of the most important festivals in Stranglethorn Garden. According to tradition, all mentors and most senior apprentices would participate in a grand ceremony and the annual reinforcement of the defensive array at the main tower, while the guards on the outer perimeter and the bottom layer would be reduced to a minimum!

Moreover, the energy fluctuations of festival celebrations can effectively mask the energy disturbances that may be caused when they flee!

"The eve of Winter Veil..." Chen Lin repeated, his eyes gleaming with astonishing light.

"Seven days left! Enough time for us to make final preparations!"

"I will provide the necessary path planning, access control interference schemes, and defense node scanning data."

Ella spoke rapidly, "You need to stockpile enough high-concentration Moonmoss Purifying Fluid to deal with the undead miasma of the Pale Woods; strengthen your symbiote's control as much as possible, losing control during the escape is tantamount to suicide; prepare all means to conceal your presence and tracks, the more undead moss powder the better! Before you move out, thoroughly destroy all the items the Headmaster gave you—rings, badges, dimensional bags! They are all locating beacons!"

"Understood!" Chen Lin nodded emphatically.

Just then, the silvery glow of the moonspot moss on the windowsill flickered slightly, and the subtle ripples of suppressed detection receded as quickly as the tide.

The radiation from the blue fluorescent moss on the wall gradually returned to normal.

The blind spot period is about to end!

Ella's prosthetic eye instantly reverted to its cold scanning state, as if nothing had ever happened.

She gave Chen Lin one last, deep look, her gaze incredibly complex, containing warning, resolve, and a sliver of hope for a glimmer of life.

"Live on, Chen Lin. At least... live to see the Pale Woods."

Her figure vanished silently into the shadows of the cave entrance, as if blending into the darkness of ink.

Chen Lin stood there, his heart still pounding, his palms covered in cold sweat.

Inside the cave, only the gentle yet lonely silver light of the moonshine remained, illuminating his pale face and the flame of freedom dancing in his eyes.

The eve of Winter Veil! A pale dawn!

Seven days. Life or death, success or failure, hinges on this!