Chapter 68: The Phantom Concealment Trait of the Demiguise
Snape's eager-to-leave look made even Hermione start to suspect that Harry's previous guess might really be right.
No matter how you looked at it, it looked like he had taken something and was preparing to run away.
Harry stared at Snape's receding figure and couldn't speak for a long time. In the end, he still suggested, "How about we go find Professor Dumbledore? Right now, only he can make Snape hand over the Potion."
This idea quickly gained the approval of the others, except Hodu, who did not agree.
"You guys go ahead, I have some things to do this afternoon."
He hesitated obviously when saying this. Hoduinstinctively was somewhat reluctant to approach that seemingly amiable old Wizard. What's more, he indeed had other arrangements for the afternoon.
Although he hadn't carried out any fusion these past few days, he hadn't been idle either. He had long since selected the next magical creature to fuse with.
The ability of the Soft-claw Land Shrimp was indeed quite good, but after thinking about it, Hodu temporarily put it aside.
During this period, he had been taking time to search for the Bai family's secret family treasury, while also confirming the whereabouts of the True Dragon remains. Now he had locked onto a few suspicious locations; although things like Dragon claws and Dragon heads were never found, some of the bones emitted a not-weak fluorescence, which looked very likely to be the remains left by a True Dragon.
When he found a suitable time, he was ready to go over and check.
It was just that the Bai family's secret family treasury could not possibly be completely unguarded. To say there was no protective magic there was something Hodu himself wouldn't believe.
Therefore, he decided to fuse with the Demiguise first. With this ability, when exploring the family treasury afterward, his confidence would be much greater. This afternoon, he planned to go to Diagon Alley to try his luck and see if he could buy materials of the Demiguise.
"Fine then."
Seeing that Hodu had already made his decision, Harryand the others didn't continue to persuade him. They were just going to find Dumbledore anyway, not doing anything dangerous, so missing one person didn't affect anything.
After the meal in the Great Hall ended, the few of them separated on the spot. Harry and the others were in a hurry to find Dumbledore, while Hodu returned to his dormitory first.
Relying on the Self-Transformation trait, he turned himself into the appearance of an adult, then cast Apparition, appearing directly in Diagon Alley.
Unfortunately, he searched all the magic material shops in Diagon Alley from top to bottom, but still didn't see any materials of the Demiguise.
Hodu stood on the street, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings, feeling somewhat puzzled in his heart.
The number of the Demiguise was actually not small. It wasn't like the Demiguise whose fur could be used to make Invisibility Cloaks; its demand and value were not high to that extent. Coupled with the fact that this creature mainly lived in North America, it wasn't so strange not to find related materials in Diagon Alley.
Did he really have to make a special trip to the North American Magical World?
Going there was certainly not difficult for Hodu, but arriving in a strange place was always troublesome. Just as he was pondering, he suddenly raised his eyes to look at a desolate alley by the street.
That road could lead to Knockturn Alley.
Since Diagon Alley didn't have it, he might as well go over there and try. If Knockturn Alley couldn't find it either, he would consider North America then.
Hodu hid his figure in a black robe and strode over.
As he left Diagon Alley, the bustling sounds around him grew more and more distant. Knockturn Alley was not dead silent; people were still active on the street, but the environment was noticeably much worse. The road underfoot was filthy, and the buildings on both sides were mostly gloomy dark gray, completely different from the bright shops in Diagon Alley.
Hodu had lived here for nearly ten years, but this was still the first time he had walked on the streets of Knockturn Alley like this. To call it open and aboveboard was actually not quite right; he was hidden in a black robe from head to toe, and even his face was changed into an adult's appearance.
The Wizards in the nearby buildings cast prying gazes at him from time to time, but Hodu didn't care. He didn't think these people could pose any threat to him.
After walking for a while, he took a fancy to a somewhat dilapidated shop, pushed the door open, and walked in.
The bell on the door was shaken, making a series of crisp sounds. Not long after, a hunchbacked old man shuffled out from the depths of the shop.
The old man was short in stature, dark-skinned, and his face was covered in wrinkles, but only that pair of eyes was frighteningly bright.
Hodu got straight to the point: "Are there any materials of the Demiguise?"
"Of course there are."
The old man grinned with a smile, revealing a mouthful of black teeth. Hodu took a look and immediately felt somewhat disgusted.
The old man didn't mind and walked inward slowly. After a moment, he came back holding a large glass jar, inside which was soaked a head that looked like a monkey.
That head had its mouth open, constantly spitting out bubbles, and its eyes were wide open, still spinning nonstop. Obviously, this thing had been forcibly preserved by some kind of Dark Arts.
Hodu's pupils contracted slightly.
Just a head would have been one thing, but this head was soaked vividly alive in the jar, which was truly uncomfortable.
By comparison, Hannah was simply overly normal.
However, as long as it was indeed a Demiguise, any state of the materials could be accepted. Hodu suppressed the discomfort in his heart and asked: "How much?"
"This number, fifty Galleons." The old man reported the price with a smile.
"Fifty? Ten pieces, sell if you want, otherwise forget it."
Hodu sneered on the spot. Daring to ask fifty Galleons for a broken jar, they really took him for some gullible fool who didn't understand anything.
The old man didn't get angry; instead, he nodded: "Then ten Galleons."
Hodu stared at him for a glance, reached out to fish a money bag from his black robe, and scattered ten Galleons onto the table in one handful.
Exactly ten pieces.
The smile on the old man's face deepened. He picked up the money one by one, slowly finished counting, then looked at Hodu, and lifted his chin toward the glass jar, signaling that he could take the things away.
Hodu, however, was not in a hurry to make a move.
He grew up in Knockturn Alley. Although he had never truly walked out of his home to come here before, Hannahhad once told him quite a few "interesting anecdotes" about Knockturn Alley.
There were very few outsiders here. Once someone broke in, they would often immediately be treated as a target that could be preyed upon.
If the other party was proficient in the Dark Arts, the Wizard in the shop might restrain themselves a bit. But if they knew nothing about anything, they could only consider themselves unlucky.
Wizards in Knockturn Alley liked to set up tests during the trading process. As long as the newcomer failed to pass, they would take advantage of the situation to make a move.
For example, some shopkeepers would tamper with the traded items in advance, quietly leaving behind Dark Arts. People who knew nothing would pick up the things and easily fall victim on the spot. Changing to a real Dark Wizard, they would usually check whether there were problems with the items first.
This could be considered an unspoken rule among Dark Wizards; transactions were full of probing and traps. Even if seen through by someone, no one would get angry because of it, as this was inherently the custom of Knockturn Alley.
Those who fell for it either had too poor vigilance or were white Wizards coming from the outside.
The former kind of people falling for it deserved it. The latter kind of people falling for it deserved it even more.
Of course, this type of trap generally wouldn't directly take a person's life. At most, it would strip the victim clean of everything on their body, not even leaving their wand, and then throw the person out of Knockturn Alley.
Even going to the Ministry of Magic to complain was useless. People weren't dead, and Aurors couldn't be bothered to care at all.
There were only so many Aurors and Hitwizards in total, and everywhere in Knockturn Alley were Dark Wizards. For a few items of property, they wouldn't rashly barge in; instead, they would say to the victim: "Don't you know what kind of place this is? Since you knew, why did you still go in yourself?"
Hodu looked at the glass jar in front of him, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly, and finally walked over.
The expectation in the old man's eyes could hardly be concealed.
Hodu reached out his hand and directly touched the body of the jar.
In an instant, a beam of black light bounced out from the glass jar, heading straight for his body. Before Hodu had time to react, the black light had already crashed into him.
At the same time, the old man had drawn his wand at some unknown moment.
"Stupefy!"
An aged, hoarse voice sounded, and a beam of spell light shot out from the tip of the wand.
However, under the old man's gaze, Hodu's figure suddenly vanished, and then flashed next to him. When he reappeared, he had already dodged that spell.
"How could this be!"
The old man looked at him in shock, completely unable to figure out how Hodu had managed to do it.
Just as he was preparing to wave his wand again, his movement suddenly stopped, and a hint of bewilderment also appeared in his eyes.
Hodu gently shook his head.
He wasn't afraid of the Dark Arts at all. Those Dark Artscould even block a Dragon, let alone himself who now possessed the ten-thousand-fold traits.
However, he had no interest in standing in place and taking it hard. That move just now was simply Apparition, and what he dodged was nothing more than an ordinary Stupefy.
As for the Unforgivable Curses, these Dark Wizards could not possibly use them casually in Knockturn Alley.
First, not everyone knew them.
The Unforgivable Curses themselves were extremely advanced Dark Arts, and the related knowledge was strictly restricted. It was not easy even to learn them, let alone truly master them.
Most Dark Wizards were actually just ordinary people; how could every single one of them be Lord Voldemort, and every single one of them a Death Eater?
If there really were so many powerful figures, back then they would not have been scared so miserably by Lord Voldemort, let alone allowed Lord Voldemort to easily control most of the Magical World.
Second, once someone cast an Unforgivable Curse here, the Ministry of Magic would quickly surround Knockturn Alley.
Usually, they could turn a blind eye, but if an Unforgivable Curse truly appeared, Aurors and Hit Wizards would definitely assemble immediately.
After all, this was no longer the era ruled by Lord Voldemort.
Just as these thoughts flashed through his mind, Hodu had already controlled the old man with oblivion venom.
Toward this kind of Dark Wizard who ambushed him, he had no favorable impression, nor did he intend to do things according to any conventional rules.
Since the other party struck first, he naturally would not show mercy.
Under the effect of a large amount of oblivion venom, the memories of the old man were erased in large part, and his entire person looked somewhat demented.
But Hodu was not satisfied with just this.
The old man looked like he could not live much longer, which made him just right to use for an experiment.
He had always wanted to know what degree the ten-thousand-fold special effect oblivion venom could actually reach, and now he had finally encountered a suitable experimental subject.
Hodu suddenly sneezed.
The colorless and odorless oblivion venom was released with the airflow, drilling into the nasal cavity of the old man almost instantly.
The ten-thousand-fold effect erupted fully.
In the blink of an eye, the memories of the old man were completely cleared, without even a trace left behind.
This time, the confusion in his eyes instead disappeared, and his entire person appeared extraordinarily clean.
What was wiped away was not only his memory, but also his original personality.
The old man at this moment was like a completely blank sheet of paper, and it would be no exaggeration to call him the living dead.
"Take two steps and let us see." Hodu casually commanded.
The old man turned his head to look at him, but stood motionless in place.
Hodu was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted.
The other party probably did not even know what "walk" meant, nor could they necessarily understand what he was saying.
He suddenly felt somewhat annoyed.
Had he known earlier, he would not have wiped it so cleanly.
Originally, Hodu thought this was just a formatting-like effect, but he did not expect the result to be more like directly burning down a computer, failing to retain even the most basic functions.
However, this failure also gave him some new ideas.
If he only erased the personality of the other party while retaining the original mobility of the body, that would be closer to formatting.
The data was cleared, but the machine itself was still there.
By then, he could completely treat this kind of person like a computer, inputting data back into them to control the other party.
The more Hodu thought about it, the more interesting he found it.
If after formatting, he directly told the other party that he was his master, would the other party believe it?
He could also try Legilimency.
He had heard that when this magic was cultivated to a high level, it could not only invade the brains of others, but also create false memories.
If he could really achieve this, he could fabricate a new section of memory for the emptied person and completely control them in his hands.
Doing this would definitely land him in prison.
However, if the target was a Dark Wizard like the one before him, Hodu felt not a single burden in his heart.
Unfortunately, the old man right now had already been ruined by the oblivion venom, completely losing research value.
Hodu could only leave carrying the glass jar.
As for the other unattended things in the shop, he could not even be bothered to take a second glance.
The things inside were all bizarre gadgets, and bringing them home would only disgust him.
The next moment, Hodu appeared in the villa in Beijing, still holding a glass jar containing a head of a monkey in his arms.
This scene looked bizarre no matter how one looked at it.
He lowered his head to look at the head in the jar, feeling equally uncomfortable inside.
The fur of the Demiguise could also be used for fusion, but unfortunately he had no other choice at all.
Just at this moment, the familiar prompt sounded in his mind.
[Fusionable item detected, starting analysis task.]
[Current fusion item: Demiguise]
[Analysis difficulty: C-grade]
[Analysis progress: 1 / 2000]
[Current extracted trait: 1. Phantom Concealment]
[Phantom Concealment: Can make the designated target unable to see the goal, and unable to touch the goal.]
[Note: The strength of this trait is related to the analysis progress, and ten-thousand-fold traits can be obtained after analysis is completed.]
[Current analysis efficiency: increases by 1 point daily, analysis progress can be improved through related tasks.]
"C-grade?"
Hodu frowned slightly.
He had previously guessed that the analysis difficulty would likely fall between C-grade and D-grade, but when he truly saw C-grade, he still could not help feeling somewhat disappointed.
The gap between the two was truly not small.
But immediately after, his attention was attracted by the extracted trait.
This was Phantom Concealment, not invisibility in the ordinary sense.
Not being seen was one thing, but what did being unable to be touched mean?
If it were just invisibility, it would be normal for others not to see him.
But invisibility did not mean the body did not exist.
Even the Disillusionment Charm only made the body blend into the surrounding environment as much as possible, similar to the principle of a chameleon changing color.
As long as one looked carefully enough, traces could still be found.
Let alone reaching out to touch.
The body was merely hidden into the environment, how could even the sense of touch disappear?
The more Hodu thought about it, the brighter his eyes became.
Could this Phantom Concealment refer to disappearance in the true sense?
Not invisibility in the magical concept, but completely hiding the body from reality?
If even touching could not be done, would he not turn into an illusory existence?
The name Phantom Concealment was also very easy to understand.
Phantom meant looking illusory; Concealment meant hiding the body together with the physical entity itself.
Thinking of this, Hodu immediately began to try.
He activated Phantom Concealment, lowering his head to look at his own body, but did not feel any changes.
Was it just because he could still see himself?
With a peculiar expression, Hodu turned around and rushed into the bathroom, standing in front of the mirror to examine himself carefully.
His figure was clearly reflected in the mirror surface.
Still that handsome face, azure blue eyes, and hair that almost covered his forehead.
Ever since entering school, he had not cut his hair again.
Moreover, relying on the Treasures All Over trait, he no longer intended to cut it now.
When his hair continued to grow longer, perhaps he could use his own hair to make a wand, using the hair as the wand core.
Ever since possessing Tough Skin, he discovered a visible benefit—he would not lose hair at all, not even a single strand.
This was quite nice.
Of course, these were all digressions.
Hodu stared at himself in the mirror, and in his heart he could not say for sure what the situation was right now.
Perhaps he could see the figure in the mirror because he could observe his body after Phantom Concealment; perhaps... he had not succeeded at all.
Just as he was wondering, he suddenly remembered a word he had ignored in the system description.
Designated target.
In other words, Phantom Concealment was not launched indiscriminately, but required determining the target first.
This target should not be limited to Wizards, nor did it necessarily have to be life.
Hodu looked at the mirror in front of him again, a thought moving in his mind.
The figure in the mirror vanished instantly.
The target he designated was this mirror, and the effect appeared immediately.
At least from the perspective of the mirror, he had completely disappeared.
Excitement showed in the eyes of Hodu as he slowly raised his hand, stretching his palm toward the mirror surface.
The moment his fingers contacted the mirror, they actually passed straight through.
But before he could continue reaching forward, his fingertips touched an obstacle and could no longer move forward.
It was as if something was blocking the way.
Yet Hodu was not disappointed at all; the excitement on his face instead became even more obvious.
This Phantom Concealment was even more exaggerated than he had expected.
Others being unable to touch him meant he similarly could not touch others.
In this way, he practically became an invisible and untouchable ghost, able to even walk through walls besides not being able to fly.
He certainly had not forgotten the two words "designated" in the description, but this was not a problem at all.
As long as everything was treated as a designated target, would that not be equivalent to having no designated scope?
Chapter 69: Phantom Concealment Test in Front of the Bee Whisper Garden
Hodu first focused on the exclusive task of the system.
[Exclusive Task: Phantom Concealment
Perform a Phantom Concealment escape when in danger. Each time the task is completed, the analysis progress increases by 1 point. The task can be completed repeatedly.
Note: This task is only open to Demiguise fusion users.]
Perform Phantom Concealment when facing danger?
Hodu stroked his chin and pondered for a moment. To what extent would the system judge something as danger?
With his current Tough Skin, there were truly not many creatures and things that could actually hurt him. However, Tough Skin was a trait attached by the system, and the system could not possibly count that as his own ability.
If it were changed to an ordinary eleven-year-old first-year student, the dangers would be a lot more. More importantly, he also had to consider how to grind the task faster. The more concentrated the source of danger, the easier it would be to complete.
As long as he provoked some kind of social creature, waited for them to chase him, and then activated Phantom Concealment to dodge, it should be considered complete.
Hodu quickly thought of bees.
Slap a beehive, and all the bees in the entire hive would rush out. At that time, as long as he disappeared in front of the swarm of bees and avoided the risk of being stung, wasn't this an escape in danger? If there were enough nearby beehives, he could even complete the task continuously.
Thinking of this, he immediately went to the villa in the magic City.
Hodu rummaged through the house for a long time, and finally found a business card from a certain corner. That was the contact information of his agent, Gao Lin. Gao Lincould get a salary from him every month, but Hodu hadn't contacted him for a period of time.
There were two numbers left on the business card, one belonged to the company, and the other was the phone number at Gao Lin's home.
Hodu picked up the phone in the villa and dialed. The phone rang for five or six seconds, but the person who answered was not Gao Lin, but the grocery store in the hutong where he lived.
A few shouts quickly came from the other end of the phone. After twenty-odd seconds, hurried footsteps came from far to near, and someone finally took the phone.
"Hello? Is that Mr. Huo?"
The person speaking was English with a bit of an accent, and his voice suppressed obvious excitement.
Gao Lin almost thought Hodu had forgotten about him. After all, the salary for this job was frighteningly high, but the boss hadn't come to look for him for so long, which instead kept him feeling uneasy all the time.
Hodu didn't make much pleasantry with him, and directly instructed: "Help me find a few Bee Whisper Gardens nearby, just sort out the addresses, you don't need to worry about anything else."
Hearing that it was just looking for Bee Whisper Gardens, Gao Lin's voice immediately perked up, patting his chest to guarantee that he would handle it with the fastest speed.
"You don't need to look today." Hodu glanced out the window, "It's dark outside, go tomorrow. Send the information to the villa after you find it."
"Alright, Mr. Huo, rest assured!"
Putting down the phone, Hodu was in a good mood. Employees hired with high salaries were indeed enthusiastic about doing things.
The magic City side had completely entered night, and he turned to swim for a while in the Beijing villa, watched some television by the way, and only then returned to Hogwarts again.
At this time, it was already dawn, and it was still early. Hodu returned to the dormitory, but found that there was not a single person inside.
Logically speaking, even if Harry and the others went to find Dumbledore, they wouldn't not return for such a long time. However, today was Friday afternoon, students had already begun their holidays, so it was normal for the dormitory to be empty.
Hodu didn't continue waiting, pushed the door open to leave the dormitory, walked down the stairs all the way, and after leaving the Castle, walked towards the Forbidden Forest.
He originally wanted to find Hagrid to ask professional questions about magic creature hybridization.
Hodu felt that he should almost open a zoo. If he could produce some hybridized varieties of magic creatures, he might be able to get many strange and practical abilities.
The Demiguise was a very good example. It was hybridized from the Demiguise and Ghoul. If he only fused with the Demiguise, he might not necessarily get the Phantom Concealment trait.
Hagrid's hut quickly appeared in front of his eyes. Hoduraised his hand and knocked on the door, but there was not the slightest movement in the room, and even Hagrid's pet Fang was not there.
It seemed Hagrid went on patrol in the forest again.
Hodu waited outside the door for a while before seeing Hagrid coming back from the Forbidden Forest direction with Fang. Hagrid's face was livid, obviously holding back a belly full of fire.
"Oh, Hodu, you're here."
After seeing Hodu, Hagrid barely greeted him. His unhappiness was obviously not directed at Hodu, otherwise that face would only be uglier.
"What happened?" Hodu asked.
Hagrid rudely pushed open the wooden door, his movements much heavier than usual.
"A Unicorn died in the Forbidden Forest!" He said through gritted teeth, "It must be those damned Dark Wizards who did it, besides them, who would do such a thing? Unicorns are so cute and so kind!"
Speaking of this, his anger became even stronger, but then he showed confusion.
"But the scene is also wrong. That Unicorn only left a wound on its abdomen, and everything else is fine. If it were really a Dark Wizard who made a move, how could they only leave this kind of trace?"
Hagrid's voice was so loud as if he wanted to lift the roof off, so angry that his previous and subsequent words were somewhat disconnected.
A Unicorn died?
Hodu's expression froze slightly, and the first thing he thought of was Lord Voldemort. If Lord Voldemort was still around, absorbing the Unicorn's power, it was indeed very likely that he would do such a thing.
But Lord Voldemort had already fled.
Hodu frowned tightly, and another thought popped up in his mind. Could Lord Voldemort have run into the Forbidden Forest?
"And those bite marks." Hagrid continued, "Looking like they were left by some kind of animal. Who would kill a Unicorn and gnaw away its flesh and blood? A Unicorn's blood carries a curse!"
After saying these, he himself also felt the matter was weird.
From the traces, it looked like a fight broke out between magic creatures. But ordinary magic creatures had some wisdom, and wouldn't go to gnaw on the Unicorn's flesh and blood. If it were really a Dark Wizard who came for materials, it was impossible not to even take the Unicornhorn, as that thing was worth quite a bit of money.
After listening, Hodu couldn't be sure whether this matter was really done by Lord Voldemort.
With Lord Voldemort's current state, wanting to control a powerful magic creature was probably not that easy. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had to hide all these years.
After all, this matter didn't have much to do with himself. Hodu originally wanted to ask questions about hybridization, but Hagrid was in the heat of anger, so he had to temporarily put aside his plans and took the initiative to leave after a while.
When Hodu returned to the dormitory, it was still empty inside. Feeling bored, he simply ran to Beijing to watch television again.
When he returned to Hogwarts again, it was already dinner time.
This time Harry and Ron finally appeared, but Nevilledidn't come back with them.
"Hodu, you're back?" Seeing him enter the door, both Harryand Ron became happy, with undisguised joy on their faces.
Hodu could tell at a glance that they must have encountered some good things.
Harry said impatiently: "Your Potion really works!"
After listening to Harry's narration, Hodu finally knew where they went in the afternoon.
They temporarily decided to go to the Principal's office to take a look, but because there was no password, they were blocked outside the door. No way, the two had no choice but to turn to look for Professor McGonagall.
At first McGonagall didn't believe their words. If there really was a Potion that could solve that kind of pain, the Crucio would not have been listed among the Unforgivable Curses.
In his anxiety, Harry expressed his guess, thinking that Snape wanted to swallow that bottle of Potion privately. As a result, as soon as he finished speaking, he was reprimanded by Professor McGonagall.
However, when McGonagall heard that Snape had indeed been studying that bottle of Potion all along, her expression also changed.
These past few days, she hadn't seen Snape in the Great Hall. If the Potion had no effect at all, Snape had no reason to spend such a long time studying it.
Professor McGonagall instantly became excited.
She knew Neville's parents; they used to be her students and also partners fighting side by side. After the two were harmed by Death Eaters back then, McGonagall would go to visit them every once in a while. Every time she came back from there, she would stay alone in her office in silence for a long time.
Now, even if only a trace of hope for healing remained, she could not continue to wait, so she immediately took Harryand the others towards the Principal's office.
She didn't go directly to find Snape because, in her view, having Dumbledore step in to handle it would be much safer.
After listening to McGonagall and Harry's explanation, Dumbledore's attitude was not as eager as McGonagall's, but instead appeared very calm. He asked McGonagall to fetch Snape, while he stayed in the office to continue asking where this bottle of Potion came from.
Speaking of this, Harry suddenly remembered another thing.
"Right, Hodu. Those portraits in Professor Dumbledore's office seem to know you. After hearing your name, they were all particularly excited, and even shouted your name, seeming to want to say something. But Professor Dumbledore stopped them."
Hodu's complexion changed instantly.
Portraits?
He almost completely forgot about this matter.
When he cleared the Professors' memories earlier, the portraits of all the past Principals did not speak throughout the process, so naturally, he conveniently ignored them.
Obliviate Potion couldn't do much against portraits without physical bodies.
If he really wanted to shut their mouths, I'm afraid the only way was to find an opportunity and secretly burn all those portraits to ashes using Dragon Breath.
"Hodu, what's wrong with you?" Harry noticed his expression was off, stopped his narration, and asked with concern.
Hodu quickly suppressed the change in his heart, stared at Harry, and asked, "You mean, they shouted my name, but Professor Dumbledore stopped them?"
"That's right." Harry recalled for a moment and nodded earnestly.
Hodu's brow furrowed once more.
This indicated that Dumbledore likely knew there was something wrong with him for a long time.
As long as Dumbledore pieced the events together, he would discover that the Philosopher's Stone had been taken by him, and the Professors' memories had also been quietly wiped by him.
Judging from Dumbledore's reaction at the time, the other party obviously hadn't just noticed it now.
Yet Dumbledore hadn't come looking for him these past few days, which could still be considered good news.
Perhaps Dumbledore knew he could use Apparition and understood that it would be difficult to catch him without preparation, so he was waiting for him to slip up on his own?
What Hodu cared about even more was that, as Dumbledore's confidant, Snape didn't seem to know about this.
Otherwise, given Snape's temper, he couldn't have resisted casting dark curses at him long ago.
Hodu's expression turned gloomy, then ugly, before finally returning to calm.
He had been unwilling to face Dumbledore before because he was wary of the other's Legilimency, worrying that his own secrets would also be seen through.
But now, he no longer had such concerns.
Besides, what could Dumbledore possibly do to him?
The other party was not a Dark Wizard like Lord Voldemort and wouldn't casually use the Killing Curse on him.
As for other spells, even if the caster was Dumbledore, they wouldn't necessarily break through his defenses.
Facing Lord Voldemort, he might not be truly invincible yet; but facing Dumbledore, he was invincible.
Since Dumbledore hadn't come looking for him proactively for the time being, Hodu could completely pretend as if nothing had happened.
After these thoughts passed, he felt much more relaxed all over, turned his head, and said to Harry, "I'm fine, go on."
Harry nodded and continued recounting the rest of the events.
After asking about the source of the Potion, Dumbledorefell silent for a while.
Just then, Snape and Professor McGonagall also rushed to the office.
With Dumbledore inquiring personally, Snape could only answer honestly.
He had already confirmed that the bottle of Potion truly had good effects; although he couldn't guarantee it would cure Neville's parents, it at least wouldn't cause them harm.
As for why he had studied it for so long, Snape also explained the reason.
First, he was trying to decipher the ingredients within the Potion.
If he could find the source of the formula, naturally he could brew it again following it in the future.
But he gained nothing, because the true source was Hodu's saliva.
Second, he had been analyzing the actual effects of the Potion.
This part did allow him to find out some things.
Where this bottle of Potion truly took effect was not in healing, nor in simply soothing emotions like a sedative, but in making people forget.
What it made one forget was not the memory itself, but the negative emotions attached to the memory.
When a person remembered a harrowing experience, what they remembered was never just the scenes that occurred at the time, but also the pain, fear, and despair of that moment.
If all these emotions completely vanished, even if the memory still existed, it could no longer bring the same torture.
That memory would be like losing its roots and water, leaving behind only an empty shell.
When Harry spoke up to this point, Hodu's gaze shifted slightly.
He hadn't expected that Snape actually managed to analyze the crucial part from that bottle of Potion.
And after listening, a strange glint flashed within Dumbledore's aged eyes, as if he had thought of something because of this.
Since the Potion was indeed effective, and moreover given to Neville by Hodu, Snape naturally couldn't continue holding onto it.
Dumbledore had originally intended to study it for a bit longer to try and crack its components.
After all, Neville's parents weren't the only Wizards who were hit by the Crucio back then and were still residing in St. Mungos Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries to this day.
But looking at Neville, who was crying so hard he could barely breathe, Dumbledore ultimately sighed.
He could understand the significance of continuing the research, yet he likewise understood that standing in Neville's position, there was no reason whatsoever to make him wait another day.
As long as his parents could be freed from torment today, no one had the qualification to stop him.
Thus Dumbledore and McGonagall took Harry and the others to St. Mungos Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, and Snape followed along as well, with the purpose of course being to witness the effects of the Potion firsthand.
Before giving the medicine to Neville's parents, Dumbledore asked for Neville's opinion once more.
If the Potion really could restore them, and there was still some left over at the end, could the excess portion be handed over to Snape to continue his research?
Before Neville had time to answer, his grandmother agreed on his behalf.
As long as his parents could be saved, the remaining Potion could naturally be taken away for research.
That being said, before actually ingesting the Potion, no one could guarantee it would definitely be effective.
Dumbledore confirmed once more with Snape that the Potion was harmless before personally administering it to Neville's parents.
The wait did not last very long.
Not long after, Neville's parents truly regained consciousness.
When Harry recounted this scene, his eyes turned slightly red as well.
Ron likewise fell silent for a moment.
As for Neville, at that time he cried so much his eyes were swollen, and he tightly hugged his newly awakened parents, refusing to let go no matter what.
In the end, there was indeed some Potion left over.
Harry and Ron subsequently followed Dumbledore and the others back to Hogwarts, while Neville stayed behind at St. Mungos Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Neither Dumbledore nor Professor McGonagall raised any objections to this.
Listening to these events unfold, Hodu could already imagine the scene at that time.
If he had been at the scene as well, he probably would have been happy for Neville too.
For this matter to successfully come to fruition, his credit was undoubtedly the greatest.
Thinking of this, a sense of satisfaction sprouted within Hodu's heart.
Just as the few of them were deeply engaged in conversation, Ron's stomach suddenly rumbled.
Only then did they realize that dinner time had long since arrived.
The group hurriedly left the dormitory and ran toward the Great Hall.
Knowing that Dumbledore had already perceived his identity through the portraits, Hodu paid attention along the way to those ubiquitous portraits throughout the Castle.
Paying attention this way, he indeed discovered that some portraits were secretly observing him.
Those peepers were not the original owners of the portraits, but fellows who had run over from other portraits.
Hodu narrowed his eyes, but didn't take it to heart, still pretending as if he hadn't noticed anything and walking toward the Great Hall as if nothing was wrong.
There was no sign of Dumbledore in the Great Hall, and there weren't many students left either.
After all, they had arrived much too late.
Early the next morning, Hodu left Hogwarts and headed for Modu.
A letter was placed on the floor at the villa's entrance, and the sender was none other than Gao Lin.
After opening the letter, inside, besides the detailed addresses of several Bee Whisper Gardens, there was also a map.
Gao Lin had already marked out the locations of the Bee Whisper Gardens one by one, doing a quite thorough job.
Hodu was very satisfied with this information and immediately performed positioning according to the markings on the map.
The next moment, his figure vanished from the spot.
He entered that Bee Whisper Garden soundlessly; the staff on site didn't notice anyone coming in at all.
Yet standing within the bees' line of sight, he was still clearly and distinctly exposed.
Looking out, beehives were neatly arranged one after another, with countless bees moving in and out among them. The buzzing sound of vibrating wings blended together, appearing exceptionally noisy.
If someone with trypophobia stood here, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to bear the scene before them at all.
Of course, ordinary people probably wouldn't feel comfortable either.
Hodu walked straight up to the beehive.
As he drew closer, the sound of the swarm visibly heightened, as if they had already discovered the fellow who had broken into their territory.
The next second, he raised his hand and struck hard toward the beehive.
Simultaneously as the beehive shook, swarms of bees gushed out from inside, densely pouncing toward Hodu!
Hodu immediately activated Phantom Concealment.
Right in front of the swarm, his entire person vanished into thin air.
The bees, having lost their target, fell into chaos in mid-air.
Chapter 70 Test of Phantom Concealment
The apiary staff were completely dumbfounded. The bees in the beehives seemed to have collectively gone haywire, swarming out en masse and flying around blindly in midair, a scene that made one's scalp tingle just looking at it.
Hodu had originally thought that this quest was far too easy to grind.
But when he glanced at the system, the fusion progress hadn't moved an inch. Logically speaking, to this extent, it should have been full long ago.
"No effect?"
He stopped in his tracks, staring at the chaotic swarm of bees and pondering. Could it be that because Tough Skinwas active on his body, these bees weren't considered much of a danger?
Thinking of it, he decided to test it.
Hodu instantly withdrew Phantom Concealment, then recast it immediately. The numbers in the system jumped up by dozens of points on the spot.
It really was Tough Skin that messed things up.
Hodu simply turned off Tough Skin and continued to repeatedly use Phantom Concealment among the bee swarm.
"Ow!"
Not long after disappearing, he suddenly cried out in pain, lowering his head to see a bee clinging to his arm. He hurriedly swatted the bee away, but the stinger had already pierced in, remaining embedded in his flesh.
Hodu instantly wanted to cry.
He just wanted to finish grinding the quest quickly; if he revealed himself for even a few more seconds, he would be targeted by even more bees. Who could have imagined that one would sneak up from behind out of nowhere and launch a sneak attack on him?
He pulled out the stinger and casually threw it on the ground. A throbbing pain had already risen in his arm, and even if he turned Tough Skin back on, the pain wouldn't subside immediately.
He just had to endure it.
Hodu quickened his pace to make up the remaining progress. He had been careful enough this time, but a few more bumps successively appeared on his body. Bees were everywhere; even if he showed his face for just a second, there might happen to be one nearby lunging to sting him.
When he finally ground it to completion, several more swollen bumps were added to his body. The most conspicuous one was on his temple, where a red lump protruded, both itchy and painful.
Since the progress was full, Hodu didn't want to stay a single second longer and used Apparition directly to rush back to Hogwarts.
He couldn't care about anything else at all. He materialized outside the Hospital Wing and hurried inside to find Madam Pomfrey to treat his injuries.
When he came out again, Hodu had already returned to his normal appearance.
He took a sip of lethe river water to calm down his mood from being mobbed by bees, and only then did he have time to check the system.
The fusion had indeed ended.
Unfortunately, the second trait was not extracted.
Hodu calmed his mind to experience the ten-thousand-fold enhanced Phantom Concealment. Compared to the beginning, this ability was much smoother to control; relying on instinct, he could cast Phantom Concealment on several designated targets in an instant.
In other words, it was so fast there was almost no interval.
Hodu suddenly raised an eyebrow, astonishment welling up in his eyes. It was as if he had stumbled upon something incredible.
Phantom Concealment was supposed to only be able to hide oneself and couldn't hide others, though the things he carried on his body would be counted into the effect.
But at this moment, he inexplicably felt that what could be shielded by Phantom Concealment might not be just the body.
Even the soul, it seemed, could be.
As a thought flashed through his mind, Hodu concealed his soul along with it. There was no change to his outward appearance; he still looked the same as before.
The first thing that came to his mind was Legilimency.
If even thoughts, memories, and souls could be hidden, what else could Legilimency see from him?
It's just that his Phantom Concealment trait was Untouchable; whether magic could actually touch him or not, he really couldn't say for sure.
He had to find someone to test it out.
As long as he confirmed that magic couldn't hit him while he was in the state of Phantom Concealment, Legilimencynaturally wouldn't be able to do anything to him either.
Even magic like the Unforgivable Curses, he might likewise be able to exempt himself from. A person without a soul and protected by Tough Skin—even ordinary magiccouldn't pierce through him—what could Avada Kedavra, Imperio, and Crucio possibly do to him?
Thinking of this, Hodu perked up entirely, the excitement in his eyes impossible to suppress.
After a brief deliberation, his figure appeared at United Academy.
This time, he was different from the last time.
It happened to be Saturday. Hodu used Spirit Treasure Perception to lock onto Huo Yunqi's location, his expression instantly turning a bit speechless.
Why is he at the stone tower again?
Aside from that place, does this brat have no other pastimes?
The moment Hodu materialized, his body transformation was already complete.
At the same time, in the Dean's office on the second floor of the United Academy Library, an old book opened by itself. The pages turned backward one after another, and amidst the flipping, one could see densely packed records of many names on them.
The pages quickly stopped in the middle section.
This page only had a single name written on it.
Unknown (Former names: Hodu, Feng Jun, Li Shang, Huo Yunqi)
Exception Records:
1. Entered without authorization
2. Appeared and left without warning (suspected Apparition, and did not trigger the Anti-Apparition Charm)
3. Two Huo Yunqis existed simultaneously, unable to distinguish the true from the false
Status: In school
A phantom suddenly floated above the parchment, reflecting none other than the transformed Hodu. He was walking in the direction of the stone tower.
But the next second, the Hodu in the image suddenly stopped and glanced in a certain direction.
Immediately after, the figure directly vanished. That segment of the image also seemed to be suddenly cut off, dispersing cleanly in the blink of an eye.
The two words "In school" on the old yellow paper were immediately replaced with "Left school". The book slowly closed and returned to peace once again.
Hodu looked at the magnificent buildings before his eyes, a thought suddenly popping up in his mind.
There must be monitoring-type magic laid out in United Academy. He might be able to use those things to test the effect of Phantom Concealment.
Once the thought arose, he took action immediately.
However, whether he succeeded or not, Hodu himself couldn't be certain. He shook his head, too lazy to continue dwelling on it, and still walked toward the stone tower unhurriedly.
After arriving near the stone tower, Hodu found that it was still crowded with students.
Only unlike before, the Five Great Families no longer monopolized the place. Students of all sizes, both male and female, were all full of joy as they stepped on a peach wood sword and flew toward the entrance of the stone tower, no longer having to wait for one person to finish before they could enter.
There were quite a few people entering the stone tower at the same time.
Some who flew slowly on their swords were directly overtaken by the people behind. Occasionally they would collide with each other, but basically no one made a fuss over it.
Hodu looked at this group of students, his heart stirring.
Except for Huo Yunqi, he shrouded all the surrounding students in Phantom Concealment. In other words, the only person who could see Hodu at this moment was Huo Yunqi.
He swaggered right up in front of Huo Yunqi just like that.
"You're here?"
Huo Yunqi's expression was very complicated. Last time, he had thought he was going to become the first direct descendant of a major family to be expelled from United Academy, but in the end, absolutely nothing happened.
Hodu didn't beat around the bush with him and spoke directly: "Do me a favor. I just learned the Disillusionment Charm. After I turn invisible, cast an offensive magic spell at the spot where I'm standing now."
He didn't need to specifically find someone to cast Unforgivable Curses on him, after all, he wasn't stupid. If ordinary magic couldn't touch him, after his soul was concealed, the Unforgivable Curses probably wouldn't be an exception either.
Huo Yunqi was completely blank-faced, unable to figure out what connection there could be between the Disillusionment Charm and attacking Hodu.
"Test it right here?"
But he didn't press further. Hodu was always mysterious; not understanding him seemed pretty normal as well.
However, a lackey beside him looked over quizzically, scratching his head and asking: "Boss, who are you talking to?"
Huo Yunqi abruptly turned his head to look at the lackey, then swiftly looked back at Hodu, blinking twice.
Was he seeing things, or was there something wrong with his lackey's brain? Such a big living person was standing right here, who else could he be talking to?
Suddenly, Huo Yunqi's pupils constricted. Looking again at Hodu's smiling face, he couldn't help swallowing a mouthful of saliva.
Is there any possibility that the one with the problem was actually himself?
Hodu said with a taken-for-granted expression: "Didn't I say it already? I recently learned the Disillusionment Charm. They can't see me, which shows that I've practiced this Disillusionment Charm quite well."
It really was his own problem!
Huo Yunqi was immensely shocked. Could this even be called a Disillusionment Charm? He felt that if he asked any further, Hodu would most likely fob him off with that perfunctory explanation from last time, which was nothing more than the magic over there being somewhat different from here.
Fortunately, his acceptance capacity was indeed strong enough; before long, he reined in his expression and put on an act to tell the lackey: "Go mind your own business; I was just talking to myself just now."
Hodu urged: "Alright, hit this position of mine."
The next moment, Hodu in Huo Yunqi's eyes vanished abruptly.
He didn't even hear the sound of Hodu chanting a spell, let alone see any wand movements. This was the Disillusionment Charm, advanced magic, which he hadn't learned to this day. Wandless and nonverbal spellcasting was simply too exaggerated.
"Hurry up!"
Seeing the expressions on Huo Yunqi's face shifting back and forth like he was acting in a solo play on the spot, Hodu couldn't help feeling a bit speechless and vocalized to urge him along.
Huo Yunqi's expression grew even more complicated. His right hand gripped the fan at his waist, with a gentle pull, he drew the fan out, and then swiftly waved the closed fan.
A magic spell shot out instantly.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
The magic spell missed completely.
Hodu watched with his own eyes as that beam of light passed right through his body.
The lackeys turned their heads to look over here one after another, and Huo Yunqi impatiently waved his hand: "Keep watching your own stuff!"
Hodu's expression suddenly gave a start.
Just as he had guessed, magic spells simply couldn't hit him while he was in the state of Phantom Concealment. The untouchable effect couldn't even be reached by magic.
In that case, Legilimency would be useless as well. He didn't even need to hide his body; he just had to conceal his thoughts, memories, and soul. To outsiders, he was still his usual self, but in essence, he was like a person without a soul.
How could magic like Avada Kedavra, Imperio, and Cruciopossibly harm someone whose skin was tough, whom no magic could penetrate, and who simultaneously had no soul?
In the blink of an eye, Hodu reappeared in Huo Yunqi's field of vision, in the exact same spot as before, without having moved at all.
Huo Yunqi could also tell. Although Hodu had been invisible, he had all along been standing right in place without leaving.
There was already little expression on his face, but his heart was completely numb.
Just which place's Disillusionment Charm could be outrageous to this extent? He wanted to learn it too.
Chapter 71: The Moving Secret Clan Treasury
After confirming that Phantom Concealment could indeed disable magic, Hodu left in satisfaction.
However, this ability was not without limitations.
Phantom Concealment targeted specific objects; even if everything around him was included in the target range, it had to be cast anew when changing to a new environment.
Therefore, Hodu's current approach was to treat everything around him as specific objects and then continuously conceal his soul and other aspects of his existence.
As long as he did not change locations, this state could be maintained indefinitely.
After returning to the villa, he had already decided to investigate the most suspicious location in the Bai family's secret clan treasury tonight.
As the sky grew completely dark, Hodu first transformed himself to look like an ordinary passerby and donned a black robe.
After confirming his Apparition landing spot, his figure vanished from the spot in the blink of an eye.
The next moment, he appeared in a dark Chamber of Secrets.
As soon as he materialized, a low, muffled sound reached his ears.
Before Hodu even had a chance to react, his entire body was sent flying backward by some sort of force.
"Bang!"
His back heavily slammed against the stone wall, and immediately following that, several sharp sounds of breaking air swept over from the front, so fast they practically merged into one.
Hodu immediately activated Phantom Concealment.
Those objects passed through his body, hit the wall behind, and bounced back.
"Lumos!"
The light from the wand dispersed, instantly illuminating the dim Chamber of Secrets.
Inside stood rows of wooden shelves of varying heights, filled with various items.
Sitting on the ground, Hodu first looked into his arms.
An iron-tipped arrow had landed right there, and several identical arrows were scattered on the ground nearby.
The clothes on his body, created through Transfiguration, had a hole forcefully torn open at the chest.
The things that had ambushed him just now were clearly these arrows.
The arrows were no longer than a palm, and their appearance wasn't exaggerated, yet such small things had just blasted him flying.
That feeling of impact was practically like being hit head-on by a speeding car.
Had Hodu's skin not been tough enough, the arrowheads would likely have pierced straight through his body.
He picked up one of them and brought it in front of his eyes to examine closely.
A small amount of black liquid stained the tip of the arrow, and upon moving closer, a nauseating stench immediately drilled into his nose.
"It's even poisoned?"
Hodu narrowed his eyes.
The person who set up the mechanisms had no intention of leaving intruders a way out.
That liquid was likely no ordinary poison, and it probably carried some sort of Dark Arts.
Even if the wound were treated promptly with a Potion, the Dark Arts would still be enough to cost someone their life.
At that moment, the surrounding stone walls suddenly split open, and square holes appeared simultaneously.
A rustling friction sound came from the holes, and then figures slowly crawled out.
At first glance, they were huge cyan snakes as tall as a person, but instead of snake heads, they bore beautiful human faces.
Human-headed snake-bodied creatures?
This was the first time Hodu had ever seen such a thing.
They had no hands or feet, only human heads, and their bodies were propped up by snake tails. Their postures looked quite elegant as they slowly slithered into the Chamber of Secrets.
There were eight in total, each with a different face, including both men and women.
Yet regardless of whether they were male or female, their facial features were exquisite without a trace of flaw.
That kind of beauty was not brought on by makeup at all; if such a face were placed on a human, they could easily become an internet celebrity.
After the eight human-faced snakes came in, they slithered back and forth in the Chamber of Secrets, as if searching for something.
Although they clearly hadn't discovered any anomalies, they didn't leave immediately either.
Hodu quietly approached one of them and observed it for a moment, a thought even popping into his mind: Should he take one back to serve as a reserve member for his hybrid zoo?
But he knew nothing about how dangerous this magical creature was, and after thinking about it, he decided not to make a rash move.
At this moment, a whistle sounded from afar.
The eight human-faced snakes reacted immediately, crawling back through their original holes one after another.
A moment later, the holes on the stone wall closed up again, as if they had never been opened.
After a while, the heavy stone door of the Chamber of Secrets slowly rose.
Hodu immediately put away Lumos, and the surroundings sank back into darkness.
The stone door only opened halfway when the candlelight in the corner suddenly lit up on its own.
A white-haired old man walked in from outside, patrolling the Chamber of Secrets with a gloomy face, then stopped at the spot where Hodu had fallen earlier, bending down to pick up the arrows on the ground one by one.
The old man's expression grew increasingly ugly.
There was no trace of an intruder here, nor was there any blood on the ground.
The mechanisms had clearly failed to keep the person, yet he completely couldn't figure out how the opponent had bypassed the front defenses and sneaked directly into the depths of the clan treasury.
The mechanisms in the secret clan treasury were originally just the final line of defense; nobody had touched the front arrangements at all, yet the enemy had burrowed in from the rear.
This feeling of being breached at any moment made the old man's heart tighten.
He put away the arrows, checked the Chamber of Secretsagain, and turned to leave after confirming there were no other anomalies.
Throughout the entire process, Hodu remained standing in place.
The old man even walked straight through his body, and he did not make any reaction.
Phantom Concealment could make people unable to see him, but it couldn't simultaneously erase the noises he made.
Only after the stone door completely dropped and the candlelight disappeared did Hodu move again.
At the other things on the shelves, he only glanced roughly, finally stopping in front of a small box.
The box was no larger than a palm. Upon opening it, no mechanisms sprang out; the bottom was lined with a yellow silk cloth, and a section of bone resembling white jade lay quietly on the silk cloth.
This was precisely Hodu's target for coming in this time.
He could not be certain whether that was the legendary True Dragon remain, but with the aid of the light of Spirit Treasure Perception, he could still determine that even if this thing did not belong to a True Dragon, it surely came from some powerful magical creature.
Hodu picked up the bone piece, stuffed it directly into his portable money pouch, and closed the box lid again.
As long as it wasn't opened for inspection, it should be very difficult to tell that something was missing inside.
The whole process did not trigger any anomalies, going smoothly beyond his expectations.
With the target in hand, Hodu did not linger and immediately cast Apparition to leave.
After returning to the villa, he took out that piece of bone and examined it repeatedly.
The bone piece was only as big as a pigeon's egg, but its shape was very strange.
Just how was one to judge whether it was a True Dragonremain? Did he really have to fuse with it to know?
Hodu hesitated for a moment.
What if his judgment was wrong, wouldn't rashly fusing with it spell trouble?
After thinking for a moment, he put the bone away first and decided to continue searching for other suspicious items.
Soon, he targeted a location once more, preparing for Apparition.
This time, having learned his previous lesson, the very instant he appeared, Hodu re-cast Phantom Concealment, yet the surrounding defenses were still triggered.
A strange cry sounded in the darkness, sounding like a baby wailing.
Following closely, a massive, faintly glowing figure emerged from the darkness.
It was as big as an ox, with the body of a sheep and a human face, but its actual eyes grew under its armpits, and its four claws were also very strange, looking somewhat like human palms at first glance.
"Xuanming?"
Hodu had once read some ancient legends and quickly recognized it.
However, that light was not emitted by Xuanming itself.
The entity before him had no true flesh and blood at all; it was merely a ghost-like soul body.
Like a monarch patrolling its territory, Xuanming slowly circled the Chamber of Secrets.
After discovering nothing, it leaped up fiercely, passing straight through the wall to leave, and in the blink of an eye, it disappeared to goodness knows where.
Hodu was quite astonished.
Today's trip at least opened his eyes, though he didn't know what abilities Xuanming in a soul-body state actually possessed.
Being arranged to guard treasure, it certainly wouldn't just look scary.
If it weren't a soul body, Hodu might have already included it on his zoo's reserve list.
After Xuanming left, Hodu cast Lumos once again to illuminate the Chamber of Secrets.
This time no Wizard came in to check; the surrounding setup was quite similar to the previous Chamber of Secrets, likewise displaying rows of antiquated wooden shelves holding various treasures.
He walked over to a shelf and quickly found this time's target.
That was a broken bone section fully an arm's length long, its surface showing a grayish-yellow due to the passage of time.
Hodu reached out and picked it up; the bone was much heavier than it looked.
Yet the moment the broken bone left the shelf, an accident suddenly occurred.
A piercing screech suddenly exploded with the wooden shelf as its center, the sound spreading in all directions.
Hearing this commotion, Hodu immediately thought of the Screaming Charm he had once seen; the two sounded very similar.
With the item already in hand, he had originally intended to leave immediately.
However, the next moment, Xuanming rushed out from the wall of the Chamber of Secrets once again.
Its speed was astonishingly fast, and in the blink of an eye, it arrived at the corridor where Hodu was located.
Hodu had originally prepared to cast Apparition, but the changes occurring on Xuanming made him stop.
That previously weightless, glowing soul body was rapidly becoming solid.
In just a few breaths, it had transformed from a soul back into a true physical body, its four claws firmly planted on the ground, and the eyes beneath its armpits swept toward Hodu's direction.
Hodu was truly somewhat surprised.
He had previously thought Xuanming was merely a departed spirit, not expecting that the other party could actually convert between the virtual and the real; could this be its most special ability?
Xuanming suddenly let out a low roar, opened its large mouth full of sharp fangs, and lunged fiercely forward.
Hodu was startled by it to a shiver, instinctively wanting to use Apparition to dodge.
But the moment the thought arose, he remembered that he was currently in a state of Phantom Concealment.
Even without casting Phantom Concealment, based solely on a magic creature's teeth, it might not necessarily be able to hurt him.
Therefore, he did not dodge, only watching Xuanming lunge right in front of him.
The sharp fangs pierced into his body, yet bit onto nothing.
Xuanming's body overlapped with Hodu's, as if what it bit was merely a mass of air.
Hodu's eyes rolled, and he quickly understood the reason.
What Xuanming was truly eyeing was not him, but the broken bone in his hand.
Although the bone was held by him, it did not mean it would automatically enter the state of Phantom Concealment.
Just now, he had only focused on hiding himself and actually omitted this item.
As his thoughts turned, that section of bone in Xuanming's eyes vanished out of thin air.
Xuanming instantly flew into a rage, opening its mouth to emit a burst of roars.
Yet this sound did not sound like it had much deterrence, instead sounding more like an infant crying even louder.
Hodu looked it over, already having a judgment in his heart.
Xuanming obviously possessed no low intelligence; it knew there was some invisible fellow in the Chamber of Secrets, yet consistently could not find the target, nor did it have any intention of leaving.
This ability to switch between soul body and physical entity made Hodu secretly remember it.
He even listed Xuanming into the zoo's candidate list, perhaps trying to fuse in the future.
Of course, now was not yet the time.
Without even figuring out what abilities the opponent truly had, thinking about subduing it was tantamount to actively looking for trouble for himself.
Hodu did not waste any more time.
Right in front of Xuanming, he stuffed the broken bone into his money bag, and then directly cast Apparition to leave.
This time, he headed to the third location, which was also the last suspicious spot.
That place was obviously different from the previous two, but exactly where it differed, Hodu could not tell for the time being, only by seeing it in person could he be certain.
Judging from the feedback of Spirit Treasure Perception, that treasury seemed to have been cast with a large number of Undetectable Extension Charms, with many things all compressed and gathered at a very small point.
Ordinary Undetectable Extension Charms could not block Apparition; he originally could lock onto the specific location inside, but this place stubbornly would not allow it.
Therefore, the location where Hodu appeared this time was not inside the treasury, but landed outside.
As soon as his figure manifested, he immediately brought everything around him into the scope of Phantom Concealment.
This time there were no suddenly attacking mechanisms, instead giving him an indescribable and bizarre feeling.
Hodu looked around, and before his eyes was actually a desolate and secluded mountainous wilderness.
Moonlight leaked down through the leaves, and the moon in the sky could be seen.
Trees were everywhere around, their age not exaggerated, about as tall and large as trees on ordinary mountains.
The ground was covered with withered leaves and broken branches, and the chirping of insects and birds sounded from near and far.
This place looked simply completely defenseless.
Although the previous two clan treasuries were hidden covertly, they still arranged guardians and did not truly let them be exposed outside.
Yet this place before his eyes seemed as if it had been casually tossed into a barren mountain, completely without worry that someone would harbor thoughts.
But it was precisely this undefended attitude that more closely resembled what a secret clan treasury should look like.
Because it was confident that even if others found it, they would not be able to tell that things were hidden here.
Hodu turned around, looked toward the location where the treasury was, and subsequently discovered an ancient stone tablet standing there.
The characters on the tablet had decayed severely, and only one character could be vaguely seen.
He cast Lumos, letting the bright light fall onto the tablet's surface, and then stepped closer to identify it.
This was not because Hodu was illiterate, but rather because that character was truly blurry, only a little better than those completely invisible traces next to it.
He stared at it for a long time before speaking somewhat uncertainly:
"Liu?"
This judgment was most likely correct, because that was a traditional Chinese character.
It was just that Hodu still felt it strange; no matter how one looked at it, this was a surname, and it happened to appear right at the very beginning of the inscription.
What he had clearly come to find was the Bai family treasury, why would a "Liu" character appear on the stone tablet?
Soon, Hodu discovered again that something seemed to be buried beneath the stone tablet, with large patches of withered leaves tightly covering the bottom.
"Wind Sweep Clean!"
As the spell fell, a strong gust of wind swept across the ground, all the withered leaves were blown aside, and the things underneath were also revealed.
That was a stone carving.
A turtle with a dragon's head was carrying a stone tablet on its back.
Hodu recognized its origin at a glance.
Xuanwu, also known as Bixi.
The image of a dragon-headed turtle carrying a stone tablet was not uncommon in ancient times; it could only be considered a common stone carving and was nothing rare.
Yet Hodu could sense that the thing he was looking for was right inside this tablet.
The question was, how should he get inside?
He reached out and pressed against the tablet's surface, intending to try whether he could directly extract the things inside just like back then when he took out the Philosopher's Stone through the mirror of erised.
The moment his fingers touched the stone tablet, the entire stone tablet suddenly moved.
Hodu was startled, and when he lowered his head to look, he discovered that Xuanwu, which had originally been treated as a statue, had opened its eyes at some unknown time, and both its head and body were slowly shaking.
"Alive?"
A shock stirred in his heart.
Who could have imagined that what was placed here was not a stone carving, but a living magic creature; this was completely unexpected.
Xuanwu first looked around, found no trace of any person, and then raised its head to look at the ball of light produced by Lumos in mid-air, a trace of confusion in its eyes.
Afterward, it slowly moved its four claws, turning its body while carrying the stone tablet, still failing to discover Hodu's existence.
It shook its head again, as if it had slept for too long and had not fully sobered up right after waking.
But the next second, Xuanwu suddenly made a move.
One of its front claws fiercely dug into the ground, and its entire body instantly burrowed into the dirt at an astonishing speed.
Before Hodu had even recovered his senses, Xuanwu had already vanished before his eyes, and not even a pit was left behind on the ground.
This fellow ran quite cleanly, unwilling to even leave behind tracking traces for people.
Hodu immediately opened Spirit Treasure Perception, pursuing in the direction of Xuanwu's traces.
Xuanwu moved underground with exaggerated speed.
Not long after, it had already run out the scope of a province.
More than ten minutes later, Xuanwu, which had originally been in the southwest direction, had unexpectedly already appeared in the northeast.
This kind of speed left Hodu dumbfounded as he watched.
Can magic creatures all run like this?
Only until this moment did he suddenly realize that the thing before his eyes might not be the Bai family's clan treasury at all.
The reason it appeared in the southwest direction was probably just because it could move by itself and happened to pass by there.
Hodu's interest instead grew even stronger.
Right now, he very much wanted to know whether this Xuanwu belonged to some family's secret treasury, or simply possessed a special hobby of collecting treasures like magic creatures such as Mingming.
However, the appearance of the stone tablet obviously bore traces of artificial carving, so the former possibility remained quite high.
Xuanwu advanced continuously underground, yet Hoduwas not anxious at all.
Although Spirit Treasure Perception could not lock onto Xuanwu itself, it could sense the treasure guarded by Xuanwu.
As long as the treasure was still there, no matter where Xuanwu ran, it could not shake him off.
After another while, Xuanwu finally stopped.
Hodu immediately located and cast Apparition, appearing before Xuanwu the next instant.
When arriving here, the Phantom Concealment on his body still had not been lifted.
The surroundings were still a scene of desolate mountains and wild ridges, and Xuanwu had already closed its eyes once more, falling into a deep sleep just like before.
It looked like it had even intentionally chosen a place with a nice environment suitable for sleeping, at least not running into the Muggle world.
A secret treasury that could move by itself was indeed very suitable for hiding things.
Looking at Xuanwu sleeping once again before him, Hodu couldn't help but sigh with emotion.