"Diggory, do you have anything to say?" Ryan asked with a frown.
"I… I don't know." Cedric took a deep breath and said, "I swear on my Wand, I still don't know why Wade did that… I can't tell if Miss Amina is telling the truth."
Amina exploded, "You think I'm lying? You think I'm deceiving you? Look me in the eye when you speak!"
Cedric: "…" He silently shifted his gaze away.
Well… Amina really doesn't seem to be lying, but Wade is a fellow student from my own institute…
Cedric sighed inwardly, gripping his Wand, ready to act at any moment.
Though there's not much hope of winning even against one of five…
Ryan reached out and stopped Asada Chinatsu, who was about to cast a spell, then looked at Cedric and said, "Leave, Cedric."
"Go to the other side. If you can, handle the situation yourself and return with a Golden Egg."
In such a narrow passage, a sudden fight could easily lead to casualties on their own side.
With Wade Grey lurking ahead and countless traps, and new competitors constantly pouring in from behind, fighting here before even seeing a Golden Egg would only benefit others.
But they couldn't continue traveling with Cedric either. Otherwise, once they encountered Wade, the person next to them would immediately turn from an ally into a landmine ambushing their own side.
So Ryan repeated, "Let's not attack each other. Please take the other path, Cedric."
Fleur pursed her lips, Asada Chinatsu was expressionless, Dige's eyes glinted with eager aggression, and Amina…
She was still caught in a mix of embarrassment and anger, gritting her teeth, her eyes blazing.
Cedric looked around at everyone, then gave a bitter smile and said, "Alright… I hope you manage to get the Golden Egg from Wade."
He slowly backed out of the passage, rounded the corner, and once the stone wall blocked their view, both sides simultaneously let out a sigh of relief.
"Let's go." Ryan turned and said, "Be careful, Wade Grey is an Alchemist. There might be more traps waiting for us up ahead!"
Suddenly, Asada Chinatsu let out a soft "Oh?"
"What is it?" Fleur asked.
"Look over there…"
Asada Chinatsu pointed at a dark shadow in a fork in the path. It was suspended in the air in a strange posture, like a puppet being hung.
Asada Chinatsu whispered, "Doesn't that shadow look like a person?"
…
While Cedric and Ryan's group were clashing, three more figures appeared near the Compass.
The three from Salem Institute happened to face the Dragon at roughly the same time. So, after Abby Williams was the first to rush into the Chamber of Secrets, she patiently waited for a while and then saw the other two also being teleported in one after another.
Hope crouched on the ground, shaking her Wand and softly chanting. Some crisscrossing footprints appeared on the ground, emitting a faint glow.
Samuel, another competitor, leaned over, supporting himself on his knees, and looked. He said, "It looks like most people went into the right passage. The group ahead should have five people."
"Everyone chose the right…" Hope looked up, her eyes peeking through strands of hair, and whispered, "Is there something scary on the left?"
"I don't think so. It's probably a coincidence. Because the people before didn't use a Tracking Charm like you did." Samuel looked up at the red-haired girl and asked, "Abby, what do you think?"
"Go left." Abby said decisively.
Soon after the three entered, they ran into Viktor Krum, who was returning. Both sides were momentarily stunned, then quickly drew their Wands and simultaneously cast the Shield Charm.
Invisible shields condensed in the air, collided, defended nothing, and then dissipated almost simultaneously.
Both sides were stunned again.
Seeing that the other side's first reaction was defense rather than offense, just like their own, they developed a faint sense of trust in each other.
Krum spoke first, "I only took one Golden Egg. There should still be six or seven inside. You can go look for the others."
Samuel retorted, "How do I know you're not lying?"
"No need." Krum said with a straight face, "I'm leaving soon. Taking more Golden Eggs violates the rules."
Samuel was somewhat unwilling to let this person take the honor of first place. The hand gripping his Wand twitched, but Abby suddenly pressed it down.
"I believe you're not lying." Abby said to her companions, "Let him pass."
This passage was not wide. Krum hugged one wall, while the three from Salem hugged the other. They slowly passed each other, and they could even hear the metal buckles on Krum's leather armguards scraping against the stone wall with a harsh sound.
They separated and continued forward.
…
"Kill him… kill him…"
Amina's shouts, refracted by the stone walls, turned into a strange whistling sound.
Wade shook his head, "Looks like he was rescued, but is there a need to be so angry?"
The Crab Golem beside him waved its pincers, indicating its strong agreement with a "clack-clack" sound.
As he spoke, Wade had already solved the last puzzle and retrieved the Golden Egg hidden in the box.
The Insect Golems were small and light. Even if they found the Golden Egg's location, they couldn't bypass certain mechanisms, so they had to bring Wade to solve it.
By now, all eight Golden Eggs on this path had fallen into Wade's pocket.
Wade put one Golden Egg, the one he needed, into his pocket. The remaining seven he casually transfigured a stone platform to pile them on.
This was a spacious cavern, over a hundred square meters, that previously belonged to a Ghoul. Even now, the clinking of chains could be heard not far away.
A Ghoul with grayish skin and sparse hair on its head dragged chains, pacing back and forth. Its body, covered in festering sores and rotting flesh, emitted a disgusting odor. Its long, slender arms occasionally swung, and its nails looked incredibly sharp.
Sometimes it would crane its neck and let out a low roar towards the tunnel; other times, it would lean against the wall, making grunting noises.
Despite their simple minds, Ghouls are dangerous dark creatures. They often attack travelers in the dark or roam graveyards, possessing a strong appetite for human corpses. Sometimes, they even capture living humans to eat.
They were originally human, but through prolonged consumption of human flesh and corpses, they gradually devolved into monsters.
Of course, to a Wizard like Weasley, a Ghoul was just a slightly noisy, somewhat ugly pet. But to Wade, this creature was a guard dog he could barely manage to use.
Amidst the noise made by the Ghoul, Wade calmly set up his arrangements in the cavern, then waited for the Champions who wished to claim the Golden Eggs to step inside.
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