I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 450 What's more terrifying than death is forgetting.

What happened?

Zhang Xiaolin leaned against the wall, secretly peeking inside.

The town's residents are a very diverse group, coming from all over the country and representing all races.

The clothing worn also has distinct characteristics of the era, from the early Middle Ages to the Renaissance and the last hundred years.

From wizard robes to Muggle suits, linen clothes, casual wear, and so on.

This reminded her of the sailboats she had seen on the walls of the whirlpool when she first entered it, sails that seemed to be from another time period.

Meanwhile, the townspeople in the church looked like people from hundreds of years ago, wearing corsets, with their upper garments embroidered with exquisite patterns and designs, and their skirts with a rather complicated design, featuring multi-layered hems and pleats.

Her gaze and actions were vacant; she was numb, like a beautiful doll. Blood dripped into the jar, yet there was no change in her muscles as if she were in pain.

This is very abnormal—no matter how much pain a person can endure, the body doesn't lie. You may not make a sound, but your muscles will involuntarily twitch and contract. This is a biological instinct to heal the injury and stop the blood from flowing out.

Zhang Xiaolin frowned.

Is this town finally about to reveal its eerie side?

Instead of rashly alerting the enemy, she slowly retreated to the side, leaning against the wall. She gently tapped herself with her folding fan, and instantly her figure became ethereal and transparent, as if erased by an eraser.

Although, when my fingers lightly touched the wall, I felt as if I were melting and being absorbed into it.

She watched coldly from behind the wall.

About two minutes later, the back door of the church was opened, and the kind and amiable bishop walked in calmly.

Without saying a word, he bent down to pick up the can from the ground, then turned around and walked out the back door.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaolin immediately followed.

Leaving the church, she discovered that the bishop was heading towards the mountains behind the town.

Could there really be some secret hidden in the mountains?

I investigated for several hours but found nothing unusual.

She even resorted to some special methods, but to no avail.

Never mind—she shook her head.

Anyway, the secret is about to be revealed.

With that thought in mind, Zhang Xiaolin suddenly quickened her pace.

Muggles are not supposed to walk very fast, but the bishop walked with the speed of a race walker, which forced Miss Zhang to jog in order to keep up.

They ran all the way out of the town, and after taking another look at the high mountains and clouds in the distance, Zhang Xiaolin couldn't help but worry that this person might be planning to walk to the top of the mountain.

That could exhaust a person to death.

Fortunately, Zhang Xiaolin's worries did not come true.

About several tens of minutes later, they arrived at a small hill.

The terrain at the foot of the mountain is very undulating, and it's normal to have 'bulges' like this everywhere.

Suddenly, the bishop stopped in his tracks, and then, as if sensing something, turned around sharply to look.

Ms. Zhang was startled.

The blue glow emanating from the surrounding willow trees illuminated his face, revealing a pale, bluish complexion and cloudy eyes.

A moment of shock flashed through Zhang Xiaolin's mind, and she instinctively gripped the folding fan tightly. A strange fear washed over her, but she was very confident in her illusion spell and didn't think the bishop, who didn't exude any magical energy, could see anything.

Sure enough, those cloudy eyes scanned him unfocusedly, lingered for about ten seconds, then turned around, immediately knelt down, placed the jar aside, spread his arms, and murmured some kind of prayer.

The next second, as if the earth were breathing, the ground turned into some kind of swamp, and everything softened, enveloping the small hill like a girl's belly, rising and falling. It wasn't an earthquake; no disaster occurred.

"This—" Miss Zhang looked at everything in front of her in confusion. There were indeed spells that softened the earth, and even spells that turned the earth into a swamp, but that bishop—he clearly did not cast any spells or magic, he just knelt there and chanted a few prayers, so why did it cause such a huge reaction from the earth? She was puzzled—how could a Muggle do such a thing—unless the other party was a legendary wizard far superior to her, whose spellcasting technique was as natural as breathing, and she could not detect it at all, or there were wizards around, and someone was helping him in secret.

Or perhaps—there's some kind of magical trap here?

Zhang Xiaolin's lips were slightly parted, her white teeth biting her lip. The slight pain brought her incredibly clear thoughts, and she began to feel the magic of this place.

Magic will always leave a trace.

This is a consensus among all wizards, but powerful wizards can easily find those traces, while ordinary wizards find it very difficult.

A few seconds later, her eyes suddenly lit up; something seemed to be about to emerge from the bottom of the hill.

Sure enough—as the bishop prayed.

The grass on the ground seemed to have gone mad, growing wildly like countless tentacles.

Upon closer inspection, the grass gradually became rough and hard, growing sharp thorns, resembling some kind of thorny bush.

The thorns were growing faster and faster. Before long, the thorns, as thick as an arm, began to intertwine and weave together to form a door.

The gate was made entirely of plant roots and stems, with small white flowers growing from the crevices. Upon seeing this, the bishop suddenly grinned.

The door was opened from the inside.

Someone stood in front of the door. It was a man whose head was wrapped in countless thorns, whose upper body was bare, and whose skin was reddish-brown, as if he had been whipped by countless thorns.

He looked to be at least twelve or thirteen feet tall, incredibly strong, like an ancient Greek statue.

The thorny man lowered his head, seemingly gazing at the bishop.

However, because his face was completely wrapped in thorns, his eyes could not be seen at all.

After confirming the person's identity.

The thorn-wielding man stepped aside and remained silent.

The bishop quickly picked up the jar beside him, got up, and went inside.

"It seems the secret lies here."

Zhang Xiaolin's eyes revealed a hint of excitement.

That was a cat-and-mouse game.

It's good if there's a flaw.

Do you really think all the memories in your head are correct?

She stared at the bishop's retreating figure, thinking to herself.

Clearly, he has a memory problem.

Maybe it's all fake, maybe it's a mix of truth and falsehood, but it definitely hides a lot of things.

Without hesitation, the witch took a step forward, moving even faster as the vine-woven door rapidly crumbled.

In a split second, she chose to Apparate.

The moment he landed, the folding fan suddenly opened, and the surging tide, like a giant net, instantly swallowed the thorny man.

Zhang Xiaolin didn't take this burly guy seriously at all.

So what if you can punch through a steel plate? A binding spell can still trap you in place, unless your skin can resist magic like a dragon's. Besides, her water prison spell isn't just a simple binding magic.

Zhang Xiaolin gazed ahead.

Before us was a passageway entirely composed of plant roots, about fifteen feet high and five or six feet wide.

It slopes down clearly, so the real secret must be below the hill.

I calmed myself down.

She stabilized the nearly collapsed illusion spell. The future was still full of unknowns, and it was always good to be cautious.

With this thought in mind, she took a step forward, ready to continue exploring.

Just then—a dark shadow appeared.

Like lightning.

A large hand suddenly grabbed her neck.

Ms. Zhang was stunned. Before she could cast the spell, a powerful force came from her neck and almost made her bite her tongue.

"you"

She glared angrily at the man in front of her.

His face was filled with disbelief.

Fast—too fast.

The man's movements were faster than her reflexes could react.

And their strength is terrifying.

"Thunder!" Zhang Xiaolin struggled desperately, muttering the incantation, "Thunder Emperor, summon me!"

The next moment, a large amount of lightning suddenly surged around her.

Thunder and lightning struck straight at the thorny man.

Then, crackling arcs of electricity, like sharp blades, easily sliced through the man's skin.

But—he held her hand tightly, and didn't let go.

Even though the lightning charred his entire body, leaving streaks like tree branches and oozing blood, he still wouldn't let go.

They even used more force.

"Waaah—" She didn't even have time to whimper.

The folding fan in his hand also lit up with lightning, but this time, the lightning was completely gathered together, turning into a sword blade.

A flash of sword light, and the man's arm was severed from his shoulder.

Zhang Xiaolin ripped off the severed arm, then raised her lightning sword and slashed at the thorny man's neck.

The methods were extremely brutal.

She swung her sword incessantly, like a madwoman.

"thunder"

"Here comes the Thunder Emperor!!!"

The lightning roared again.

With the next strike, the thorny man's head was severed.

Thorns were scattered all over the ground.

The headless corpse spewed out countless drops of blood, like rain.

"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!"

Zhang Xiaolin was panting heavily, a ferocious smile on her face.

Half fear, half anger.

Everything happened too fast, like a flash of lightning; in just a few seconds, it was all over.

She lowered her eyes and looked at the corpse on the ground.

A flash of anger crossed his eyes. He raised his foot and kicked out with tremendous force, striking the man's corpse and sending it crashing into the tree root wall beside him.

That force caused the wall to cave in.

"call--"

He rubbed his neck.

Only then did her mood calm down a little.

Looking down at the blood covering his entire body, his slightly calmed mood turned sour again.

"Completely cleaned up!"

The witch closed her eyes, and a whirlwind blew up, stirring the filth on her body.

Her hair was flapping wildly. A cold wind brushed her face, masking all the restlessness in her heart.

"Um?"

Suddenly, Zhang Xiaolin opened her eyes.

To her horror, she discovered that the bloodstains on her body had not disappeared; instead, green shoots were sprouting from her blood.

A piercing pain came over me.

It felt like something had burrowed into her skin.

The girl stared wide-eyed at her feet in disbelief.

There, the thorny head of the thorn man that had rolled off suddenly opened, but inside there was no head at all, only twisted branches and a blooming spirit flower radiating purple light.

The next moment, the thorny headgear on the ground suddenly jumped up.

Zhang Xiaolin immediately swung her longsword and slashed at it.

But to everyone's surprise, the thorns seemed to have anticipated the girl's sword strike. They scattered in the air, but after dodging the sword, they gathered together again.

Then it wrapped around her head.

"wait"

The next moment, countless branches grew out of the thorn helmet.

The girl's body—like a puppet with its strings cut—fell limply to the ground.

--------

"Get back to the ship!"

Sirius noticed Mr. Basil's panicked expression; half an hour earlier, he had been fidgeting, unable to sit or stand still, and frantically running around the town.

"You need to rest; we can't stay in this town," Sirius continued.

"But--"

"She's probably still in the mountains," he emphasized. "Nobody here knows magic, so she won't run into much trouble."

"Alright—" Mr. Basil nodded.

Ms. Zhang often goes missing, and whenever she encounters something or a place that interests her, she will try it without hesitation.

Everyone around her knew this during the time they traveled with her.

"We need to discuss a plan," Sirius said again. He then immediately used Apparition.

On the ship, a "plop plop" sound rang out.

The next moment, all the wizards who had left the ship returned.

The Camelot is a giant ship.

Each time they go out, they carry a huge amount of supplies. Moreover, with the wizards' methods, anyone who has received a Hogwarts education will not starve to death.

Below deck were many rooms. A small group of people returned to the ship to rest, exhausted and overwhelmed by what they believed to be the truth. Their heads were spinning, as if they were about to collapse at any moment.

Meanwhile, the other wizards, led by Sirius Black, gathered in the ship's conference room.

They discussed countermeasures together.

This discussion was tedious and fruitless.

No one knew what to do, and silence was the prevailing atmosphere. After a while, everyone left the meeting room to rest.

so tired!

Everyone felt so tired!

Most people fell asleep almost immediately after lying down.

A few hours later, Sirius opened his eyes again.

Through the porthole, the sea outside was glowing, the light shining up from beneath the water, making the surface shimmer like a bowl of golden broth.

After a quick wash, he went to the captain's cabin.

Several wizards on shift were dozing off in the chairs at the monitoring station.

Sirius walked over, his footsteps making a crisp sound on the metal deck.

This startled the wizards, who quickly rose and looked at Captain Camelot.

Have you tried the contact methods we discussed yesterday?

He still desperately wanted to contact the "outside world".

After the Camelot's own means of communication failed, they discussed several new ways to communicate during their bedtime conversation, all of which were ancient magical methods.

The group of us looked at each other, bewildered. Try? Try my ass!

They fell asleep after everyone left the meeting room.

I just woke up, I don't have time to try it.

However, that's definitely not how you should put it.

Immediately, the group quickly sat back in their chairs, ready to operate the Camelot and begin their experiment.

only--

One minute —

Two minutes —

Three minutes passed, and several technicians from the federation had beads of sweat on their foreheads.

His eyes were filled with terror, frozen in place, and he remained motionless for a long time.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked.

"I—I—I've forgotten how to operate a ship."