What Kind of Good Person Keeps Giving Off Black Smoke?

The streets were deserted.

The night around him was like ink, making the buildings along the road, faintly visible beneath the dim moonlight, seem even more gloomy and terrifying.

Li Weide silently followed behind the flame, walking all the way out of Hogsmeade Village.

Before long, he had left Hogsmeade Village. The Lantern light that had been following his shadow finally stopped at the Stone Bridge at the village entrance.

Following the flame, Li Weide soon turned onto a narrow path and gradually headed deeper into the woods.

As the trees along the way grew denser, the dim moon overhead gradually vanished from sight.

Li Weide raised his head. He could no longer see the night sky, only the dense canopy casting deep shadows through the darkness, like enormous beasts lurking in the shadows, waiting to devour their prey.

At that moment, the only light before Li Weide was the faint glow left by the ghostly blue flame.

"Lumos!"

The white light from the tip of his wand pierced through the darkness of the forest.

With a sufficient source of light, Li Weide's nerves gradually calmed.

Seeing that the flame seemed to be leading him toward the Forbidden Forest—

Li Weide waved his wand.

"Shield Charm!"

A transparent protective barrier suddenly appeared, enveloping Li Weide's entire body.

Although the Shield Charm was an advanced spell, it was not difficult for Li Weide to master with the magical power of an adult wizard.

Not long after moving to Hogsmeade Village, he had specifically sought Aberforth's guidance and learned this highly practical Protective Magic from him.

After all, he had only recently suffered at the hands of the Followers of Grindelwald because of a Shield Charm.

Tom had wanted to learn it too, but unfortunately, his magical power was still insufficient. Even with his exceptional talent, he could only make the Shield Charm partially take shape...

A few minutes later, Li Weide followed the flame into the Forbidden Forest.

There were no paths in the Forbidden Forest at all. Even if there were, they would likely be on the side closer to Hogwarts.

After struggling through the pathless Forbidden Forest for another five or six minutes, the flame finally stopped in front of something that looked like a huge boulder.

Li Weide raised his wand, and its light illuminated the huge stone before the flame.

Only then did Li Weide see clearly. This was no boulder—it was clearly an enormous, intricately carved stone toad statue!

Just as Li Weide was about to take a closer look at what was special about the giant toad—

The Stone Toad suddenly opened its mouth wide and swallowed Li Weide, Shield Charm and all, in a single gulp!

Li Weide's vision went black. However, he discovered that the Shield Charm around him showed no sign of being attacked. In other words, this toad did not seem to be hostile!

"Whoosh!"

Li Weide felt his body spin, then his vision suddenly brightened.

His feet landed on solid ground again!

Li Weide looked around and found that he was no longer in the Forbidden Forest.

He appeared to be inside an absurdly huge stone chamber.

The chamber looked to be half the size of a football field, while the distance from floor to ceiling was nearly ten meters!

Yet this enormous stone chamber was completely empty. There was nothing inside.

Unlike the Forbidden Forest, however, this underground chamber had no visible light source, yet it was brightly lit as though it were daytime...

Li Weide turned around and saw a massive Stone Toad statue standing behind him, nearly identical to the one in the Forbidden Forest.

That Stone Toad was actually a portal?

The method of transportation was just a little strange.

It swallowed him over there, then spat him out over here...

He had no idea where it had transported him.

"If I were you, I'd get away from that big toad as soon as possible. Otherwise, it might send you right back to the Forbidden Forest."

The voice that had once appeared in his dream echoed beside Li Weide's ear once more.

Li Weide looked around, but he did not see anyone in the underground chamber.

Clearly, that person was not inside the chamber.

"Come up..." the voice sounded again.

At the same time, a series of rumbles suddenly came from the ceiling.

Then, a large section of the ceiling slowly descended at an angle, forming a steep upward slope.

After the slope formed, it changed again. Before long, a long stone staircase appeared before Li Weide.

Looking at the endless stairs, Li Weide could not help rubbing his sore, numb thighs.

"Yeah... I just love climbing stairs..."

"Since you love it, climb some more."

As soon as the voice finished speaking, the already long staircase extended by another fifty meters!

Li Weide:?

This time, Li Weide tightly shut his mouth and strode up the stairs.

Only after painfully climbing the entire staircase did Li Weide discover that the level above the huge stone chamber was another enormous stone chamber!

"I'm here. Where are you?" Li Weide asked as he looked around.

The moment his words fell, white mist began to emerge from nowhere...

The mist swiftly filled the entire vast stone chamber!

Looking at that familiar mist, Li Weide's expression immediately turned grave.

"Nightmare Magic..."

The name of the spell had barely surfaced in Li Weide's mind—

When his surroundings instantly changed!

The originally bare stone chamber transformed, in the blink of an eye, into a vast garden filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers!

Li Weide stared at it all in shock.

There was no doubt that the other party's Nightmare Magic was far stronger than his own. It had already reached the point where it could affect other people...

Li Weide did not feel discouraged by this, because he had only been learning this spell for a single day, at most.

He believed that someday, he too would reach this level.

At that moment, however, Li Weide finally understood that the final step described in Nightmare Magic was not false.

"Come over. Let's talk."

Li Weide looked toward where the voice had come from.

There was a gazebo there, with a round table and two chairs inside.

One of the chairs was occupied by a very strange person.

He was strange because he did not look human at all...

What kind of good person would be covered in black smoke?

Li Weide strode over and sat down across from the Strange Man.

Only when he drew close did Li Weide see clearly that it was a Strange Man completely wrapped in eerie black mist!

"We've finally met, Weide. I know you must have many questions. That's fine—you can ask them now."

The Strange Man seemed to be smiling as he said this, but Li Weide could not see his expression.

Li Weide nodded. Without any ceremony, he asked directly, "Who are you? Why did you seek me out?"

The Strange Man sighed. "I'm merely a pitiful man enslaved by power. As for why I sought you out... it's because only you can save my life!"

"Me? I can save your life?"

A Lighter emitting a ghostly blue glow floated out of Li Weide's pocket and gently landed in the Strange Man's hand.

"This Lighter... only you can see the light on it, isn't that right?"