Noticing Saul’s gaze resting on the front of his shirt, the man shifted his arms uneasily.

“Heh, looks like you’ve already noticed,” the man said without anger. He tugged slightly at his collar, and the pattern on his chest changed, morphing into the image of a wolf’s head.

The wolf’s head then opened its mouth and spoke in a hoarse, low voice: “You’re even more capable than I imagined. Looks like you can help me with this.”

“Sorry, I haven’t detected any serious pollution on you. Would you mind if I took a closer look?” Saul didn’t outright refuse, keeping his tone measured.

“No, you’ve misunderstood.” Though it was the wolf’s head on the shirt speaking, the man wearing the shirt continued to move naturally.

He reached out and pulled his collar further open.

Beneath the collar was a large hole—no flesh, no blood—only a string of golden pearl beads resting inside.

“This is an ancient artifact I came across during a recent expedition. But it’s been tainted by a rather foul pollution. I haven’t found a way to purge it without damaging the artifact itself. And if I don’t purge it soon, the pollution will completely corrode it.”

“I happened to hear from Jiajia Gu about you. So I wondered… Since you can draw out pollution from the human body, could you also remove the pollution clinging to a magical artifact?”

“Brother Saul! Don’t go over there! That artifact—what’s on it isn’t pollution, it’s a curse!”

“A curse?”

“Yes! I don’t really understand the details, but I’ve seen that golden pearl bracelet before. It’s called Halima’s Love Letter. But there’s actually an extremely powerful curse on it. Anyone who receives this ‘love letter’… ends up meeting an untimely death.”

A pearl bracelet… yet it was called Halima’s Love Letter?

There had to be a twisted, melancholic love story behind that name.

The exchange within the mental realm was quick and efficient. From the man’s perspective, Saul only took a blink before smiling and shaking his head.

“Pollution on magical artifacts isn’t within my field of expertise. I’m a wizard who specializes in the Dark element. For an artifact like this, you’d probably be better off seeking out someone with the corresponding element.”

Saul’s straightforward refusal caused the wolf’s head on the man’s shirt to close its eyes, seemingly displeased.

Not giving the man another chance to negotiate, Saul continued, “If I force it, chances are I’ll fail to cleanse it and destroy the precious artifact in the process.”

Then Saul’s tone shifted again. “Of course, if you’re willing to bear the risk, I could give it a try. I haven’t had a chance to research how to clean a polluted artifact yet.”

With that, Saul snapped his fingers, conjuring a simple operating table between the two of them.

He gestured to the other wizard—if he was willing to accept the risks, he could place the bracelet on the table.

But not everyone had Jiajia Gu’s kind of gamble-it-all courage. Especially when failure could mean losing everything.

The man hesitated for quite a while, but in the end, he didn’t dare take out the pearl bracelet.

He buttoned his collar all the way up, covering the gaping hole in his throat, and gave Saul an apologetic shake of the head.

“You make a good point. Since you specialize in the Dark element, you’re more skilled with corpses and souls. I was out of line bringing this to you so abruptly. I’ll look for another solution.”

As the wolf’s head spoke its final words, the threads that composed it unraveled, returning to an elegant pattern on the shirt.

The man wearing the shirt pressed both hands to his chest in a traditional wizard’s salute toward Saul, then flew off into the sky, quickly disappearing behind a distant hillside.

Saul simply watched him go, making no move to stop him.

“That artifact looked valuable—likely something passed down from ancient times. If you’re going to stick to your principles and refuse to get involved, then I’ll just take it from him myself.”

The Old Witch’s voice came from the mist. Before long, she was stepping onto the lakeshore, riding her own Little Algae brand wooden raft.

Seeing Saul turn to look at her, the Old Witch waved a hand dismissively.

“Relax. I waited until he was far enough away before coming out. If I snatch the treasure now, no one will suspect you.”

Saul hesitated briefly, then, just as the Old Witch was preparing to take off, he asked, “Old Witch, have you ever heard of Halima’s Love Letter?”

The Old Witch’s stubby leg, mid-step, trembled—nearly causing her to fall flat on her face.

She widened her already round eyes at Saul, her jaw nearly dropping to her chest.

“You’re saying that bracelet is Halima’s Love Letter? But the legends say Halima’s Love Letter is a woven metal bracelet!”

She furrowed her brows tightly, drawing in her neck as she gave Saul a suspicious glare. “You’re not just making that up to stop me, are you?”

Saul smiled and raised a hand to gesture.

“Be my guest.”

…

The wizard in the blue formal robe flew past a series of low hills before finally descending.

He turned back to look in the direction of Rhine Lake, a calculating gleam in his eyes.

“His strength is decent. He saw through my little test quickly. But his personality… hard to read. Is he truly cautious? Or just pretending to be cautious?”

The clothes on his body began to shift, morphing from an elegant blue suit into a black half-armor. The chest piece bore a relief of a wolf’s head—so lifelike it seemed ready to devour a man whole.

He carefully adjusted the armor, preparing to take off again.

But the moment he took his first step, his body lurched forward.

Bang!

He crashed to the ground, raising a faint puff of dust.

The wolf-emblazoned chest armor swayed slightly, then, like its wearer, went still and silent.

A moment later, a thumb-sized multicolored butterfly floated down from the sky.

Everywhere it passed, silence followed.

It was as if both sky and earth had fallen asleep.

The butterfly fluttered down to the man’s body, as if sensing something.

It landed on him momentarily.

Then, it lifted off and continued eastward.

And in its wake, a breeze blew past.

The man’s body turned into white powder and scattered in the wind.

Only the black half-armor remained, its glow dulled—no longer the magnificent artifact it once was.

Inside the armor, the golden pearl bracelet still gave off a gentle, luminous glow.

As if waiting for its next owner.

…

The Old Witch, of course, had not gone after him.

She was already used to Saul’s way of speaking.

Whenever he smiled mischievously and told her to do something—it always meant the opposite.

Just as the two of them were paddling their Little Algae raft back to the island in the center of the lake, they were both struck by a wave of dizziness.

Or rather—it was more like drowsiness.

An overwhelming drowsiness, impossible to resist.

The Old Witch collapsed to her knees, propping herself up with her hands.

Terror flashed in her eyes, and she looked at Saul with a complex expression.

But Saul, also struggling to resist the sleepiness, didn’t notice her look.

Soon, the Old Witch’s eyes closed. She surrendered to the irresistible wave of sleep and fell unconscious.

Only then did Saul realize—the Old Witch had succumbed even faster than he had.

But he was still standing.

He had to return to the Wizard Tower, immediately.

Yet under this immense fatigue, he couldn’t even tell which foot was supposed to move next.

The waters of Rhine Lake churned, and the fog twisted like clouds and mist.

Someone outside was exerting overwhelming force, pressing down on the rules of Rhine Lake.

Only a Third Rank wizard could do such a thing!

“Third Rank… drowsiness… it’s the Dreammaker, Clark!”

Saul forced his mental realm to tremble violently, sending shockwaves to stimulate his brain—just barely keeping himself conscious.

His mental strength was formidable. If the Dreammaker Clark had only been Second Rank, Saul would have endured the drowsiness and even feigned weakness to set up a counterattack.

But Clark was Third Rank. The moment Saul relaxed, he would fall into slumber like the Old Witch.

And Saul refused to fight on someone else’s turf.

His outstretched hand finally touched the door of the Wizard Tower.

The door swung open—and a hand reached out, catching Saul’s teetering body.

(End of Chapter)

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