Crossing the Plank Bridge

Under Beman and the Priest's strange gazes, Mordo returned to the group and silently sat beside the fire. He ignored anyone who tried to speak to him, wholly immersed in his own world.

Mordo pondered what Li Feng had told him earlier. Whether openly or subtly, Li Feng had compared him to the present-day Church—a conservative Church that could not tolerate dissent.

At the same time, he understood that Li Feng wanted him to keep up with the times and not cling to outdated principles when judging the present.

Just as the Church would make many changes in the future, Li Feng had used it as a metaphor to accuse some of Mordo's ideas of needing change. Otherwise, there would eventually be people like Beman who resisted the Church, followed by countless Bemans who dared to rebel against it. In the end, the old Church would be crushed into dust beneath the wheels of history.

Glancing at Li Feng, who was yawning, Mordo silently thought, Should I change my way of thinking? Is it a matter of being crushed into dust or rising from the ashes? Is that what Li Feng wanted to tell me?

Was a person's way of thinking so easily changed? No, it was not.

Just look at the future Kamar-Taj with Wi-Fi installed. Ancient One had already demonstrated through her actions that one needed to keep up with the times, yet Mordo still remained conservative and extreme in his thinking.

Of course, the current Mordo was not the Mordo of ten years later. Many of his deeply ingrained beliefs had yet to take shape.

What Li Feng wanted was not to toss Mordo's beliefs into a blender and grind them to bits with just one conversation. Rather, he wanted to plant doubt in Mordo's mind, then use that doubt as a fulcrum to slowly pry apart Mordo's extreme views.

The fact that Mordo had not immediately turned hostile and pulled out his Short Staff to beat Li Feng senseless was, to Li Feng, an opportunity—an opportunity to change Mordo's future betrayal of Kamar-Taj.

After a long while, Mordo suddenly recalled that he had only meant to remind Li Feng to beware of Demons and not make deals with them. How had things somehow turned into Li Feng educating him instead? Where had this gone wrong?

Casting a glance at the Demon, who had been locked back inside the Prison Wagon, Mordo silently stood and crouched atop the wagon. Whether Li Feng's ideas were right or wrong, a Demon was still a Demon that loved deception. There were plenty of ways to learn dark magic; he could not watch Li Feng learn magic from a Demon.

Hadn't this Demon, hiding inside Anna's body, still found a way to kill Ekkehard even after losing most of its power? Mordo felt that he should personally guard the Demon. Even if Li Feng wanted to learn general dark spells, he had to do so under Mordo's supervision. At the same time, Mordo would prevent Li Feng from coming into contact with spells exclusive to Demons, lest the Demon find an opportunity to kill him.

The Priest and the others did not question Mordo's decision to sit atop the Prison Wagon. After all, Anna had already escaped from it earlier. If Mordo and the others had wanted to let the Dark Witch go, that had been the best opportunity. Instead, they had searched for the witch alongside them and locked her back in the Prison Wagon.

At dawn, after hastily burying Ekkehard's body, the group continued onward.

Thanks to Ekkehard's death, the group had gained another horse. This made Li Feng quite happy, though his happiness came a little too soon—he had forgotten that he did not know how to ride.

In the end, Felson could not bear to watch any longer and offered a few pointers on riding. Only then did Li Feng learn how to control the horse beneath him and trot along behind the group.

Honestly, if Li Feng had possessed enough stamina, he would rather have jogged behind the group. Riding a horse was fucking cold when all he wore was a sleeveless shirt.

Running would at least train his body and keep him warm.

Li Feng shot a resentful look at Mordo, who was crouching atop the Prison Wagon, and grumbled inwardly, You don't have to ride a horse and chafe the skin off your inner thighs, you can use Mana to withstand the cold, and you even get to sit leisurely on top of the wagon and enjoy an environment free from car exhaust. Are you escorting a Demon, or are you on vacation? If you're on vacation, then could you please stop staring at me with that dead face when I'm learning magic from the Demon at night? Do you have any idea how terrifying your dark face is in the pitch-black night?

Two days later, led by their guide Hegma, the group arrived at the edge of a cliff. Clearly, if the convoy wished to reach the other side, aside from taking a detour, their only option was to cross a precarious bridge of rotting planks connecting the two cliffs.

Li Feng leaned over and glanced into the bottomless abyss before silently retreating to the side.

Although Li Feng knew that in the movie, the dangerous bridge had held out until everyone crossed before finally collapsing into the abyss, there were now two extra people—Li Feng and Mordo. Who knew whether the extra weight would make the bridge say goodbye to everyone ahead of schedule?

Li Feng looked at Mordo and asked with his eyes, A bridge like this is terrifying even for people to cross, let alone a Prison Wagon. How about we open a Portal to the other side?

Mordo leaned over to look at the bottom of the cliff. Just as he was hesitating over whether to reveal his identity as a Mage and open a Portal, Beman led his horse onto the plank bridge, putting on a heroic display of using his own life to scout the way for everyone.

Everyone present froze for a moment. Felson even prayed inwardly that his old friend would make it safely to the other side.

Only after Beman safely reached the far side and confirmed that the plank bridge was temporarily secure did the Priest and Felson finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Mordo climbed down from the Prison Wagon and walked to Li Feng's side, signaling for him not to reveal their identities as Mages for now. He truly could not stand the Priest calling him a heretic every other sentence.

Under Beman's direction, Beman and Kay slowly pulled the Prison Wagon carrying the Demon onto the concave plank bridge. A rope meant to prevent the wagon from falling into the abyss was tied to its rear and held by the others. At the same time, the rope could slow the wagon's advance, preventing it from moving too fast and causing the plank bridge to break.

After the Prison Wagon had moved only a few steps, its weight caused the already sunken bridge to sag further, requiring greater force to pull the rope. The Priest clearly did not have that kind of strength. As the rope sliced open his hands, he cried, "I can't do it!" and released it.

The moment the Priest let go, the force on the rope spread across Li Feng's hands suddenly increased. Li Feng failed to hold it steady and released the rope as well.

Fortunately, though the plank bridge looked perilous, it stubbornly held on even after the Prison Wagon lost control and did not collapse ahead of time.

Li Feng noticed that after the wagon went out of control, both Beman and Kay had fallen and nearly plunged into the abyss. Fortunately, they grabbed the aged ropes on the plank bridge in time and ended up dangling over the cliff.

As a battle-hardened Knight, Beman could climb back onto the plank bridge by himself. Kay, however, could not. If the Demon had not grabbed Kay with one hand, the guy would have fallen to his death.

Li Feng curled his lip. He guessed that the Demon had deliberately grabbed Kay with one hand so everyone would believe it was the witch. After all, how could a little girl pull an adult with one hand?

Li Feng muttered, "The Demon probably doesn't want someone who wants to release him popping up on one side and someone who wants to drive him away popping up on the other. So he simply revealed that he was the witch, making everyone feel at ease about escorting him to Sefrak Abbey, right?"

Mordo glanced at the Prison Wagon in the middle of the plank bridge, then walked to Li Feng and asked softly, "What are you talking about?"

Li Feng shrugged and shook his head. "Nothing. I was just marveling at how comfortable the Demon has it. He doesn't even have to walk across a dangerous bridge himself. He gets to stay in the Prison Wagon, watching Beman sweat while enjoying the view of the abyss."

Mordo rolled his eyes at Li Feng and said irritably, "If you like it so much, how about one day I lock you in a Prison Wagon and parade you around Kathmandu?"

Glancing at the Demon, Mordo narrowed his eyes. "After observing him for the past two days, I feel that aside from whether he can reach Sefrak Abbey, he does not care about anything else. That includes knowing full well that we are Mages and yet not worrying in the slightest that we might ruin his plan. Does the Demon think his strength is enough to handle us?"

Li Feng looked at Mordo with an enigmatic smile. He did not believe Mordo truly had not thought of the reason. Mordo had raised the question merely to tell Li Feng that Demons could not be trusted. Even if the two sides signed a cooperation contract, they could not be trusted—let alone when Li Feng had not signed any contract at all.

Was the Demon not worried that Li Feng and Mordo would ruin his plan? He was, but the Demon knew that worry was useless. After all, he was a Demon, born to stand on the opposite side of Mordo.

The Demon understood clearly why the two sides had not started fighting yet: neither Li Feng nor he had seen the prize they wanted—the spellbook of The Key of Solomon.

Before the spellbook appeared, the Demon felt that fighting would be meaningless. Not only would his identity be exposed, but he would also lose his chance to enter Sefrak Abbey.

Li Feng, meanwhile, wanted to extract a few more spells.

At the same time, both the man and the Demon knew that once they entered Sefrak Abbey, the two sides would immediately tear off their masks and have a real fight, relying on their own strength.

Patting Mordo on the shoulder, Li Feng smiled. "I know what you're worried about, but I would never underestimate a Demon's strength. Besides, haven't you noticed? After his last escape, his strength inexplicably dropped by quite a bit. I'm guessing that what's hiding inside Anna is no longer his true body, but merely a projection."

"I think a Demon's projection should be nothing more than an easy kill for you."

Mordo smiled faintly. "The Demon's goal is merely to destroy the spellbook that restrains him. Sending a projection to complete the task really is the best choice. If he destroys the spellbook, his true body can descend upon Earth, and no one will be able to do anything to him. If he fails, he can simply hide and wait for another chance to destroy it."

At that moment, the Prison Wagon came to a steady stop in the middle of the plank bridge. Beman shouted at the Priest and the others, "Tie the rope to the horses. You and the horses pull the Prison Wagon forward."

With two more people than in the original pulling the Prison Wagon, the scene of the wooden plank bridge collapsing never occurred. Still, Li Feng cut the ropes securing the bridge. After all, the bridge was about to fall apart. If some unlucky fool tried to cross it now, it would be a one-way trip—bridge collapsing, person plunging into the ravine.

After crossing the wooden plank bridge, everyone collapsed onto the ground. Beman and the others were sprawled there from sheer exhaustion, while Li Feng had been frightened out of his wits when he stepped on a plank and snapped it in half while crossing. Damn it, if I'd known crossing the bridge would be this exciting, I would've used taking a dump as an excuse to hide somewhere far away. Once Beman and the others got across, I could've just opened a Portal and come over directly.

After a while, Felson looked at the forest of bizarre, withered trees, where cold gusts of wind howled through the branches, and asked, "Where is this?"

Guide Hegma panted heavily as he replied, "Wormwood Forest."

After speaking, Hegma discreetly glanced at Demon. He had seen Demon save Kay with one hand earlier, which made him firmly believe what Priest had said: Anna was the Witch.

At the same time, Hegma began plotting to find an opportunity to kill the Witch. The reason? He believed that every life-or-death crisis he had experienced had been caused by that damned Witch. As long as he killed the Witch, the danger would naturally end. Did that count as a reason?