Eerie Instructor

Lu Yuan quickened his pace.

The corridor grew darker and darker, and an inexplicable sense of oppression filled the air.

As they approached the exit, Lu Yuan suddenly stopped.

A person stands in the shadows ahead.

The Deep Blue robe gleamed with a dull luster in the dim light.

Not Calvin.

He is another Alchemy Department instructor.

A man in his forties, with a gloomy face, deep-set eyes, and a gaze as sharp as a venomous snake, stared at them.

At the edge of my field of vision, grayish-white text slowly emerged.

[Detection Target: Alchemy Department Instructor (Under Spooky Contamination)]

[Transcendence Path: Eerie Path]

[Status: A pitiful creature corrupted by a strange entity; more than one soul resides within his body.]

Lu Yuan's gaze darkened slightly.

Eerie Path.

Miss Laurina.

The mentor spoke, his voice hoarse.

"Your advisor is very worried about you. Come back with me."

Lu Yuan stepped in front of Laurina and accepted the silver medal.

"It's the principal's authorization," he said calmly. "She doesn't need to go back."

The mentor glanced at the medal, a cold smile creeping onto his lips.

"Excuse me, Night Watcher. Within the Tower of Erudition, you have no authority to prevent a tutor from recalling a student."

His gaze lingered on Lu Yuan for a moment, carrying a hint of disdain.

"Besides... you're all alone?"

The tutor shook his head, as if mocking something.

"The Night Watcher are still as arrogant as ever. Sending a conscripted field medic to escort the target, aren't they afraid something might happen?"

Lu Yuan did not answer.

The mentor's gaze shifted to Laurina, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"Come back with me, there's something better for you there."

His voice was slow and leisurely, as if he were appreciating some rare treasure.

"With your talent, it would be a huge waste not to participate."

He paused, his tone becoming meaningful.

"If this is all there is to it, you can come back with me. Your advisor won't give you any trouble."

Laurina's body tensed slightly, but she didn't say anything.

Lu Yuan stood in front of her, raising the silver medal once more.

"Authorization from the principal."

"That's really all you can say."

The professor's smile vanished.

"That thing might be useful to Professor Calvin, but it's useless to me..."

He spread his hands, his tone turning cold.

"Sorry, I don't acknowledge it."

The next second, an unusual aura began to surge from his body.

A nauseating wave spread through his body.

Something was wriggling beneath his skin.

Then, eyeballs began to emerge from his arms, neck, and even cheeks.

It was densely packed, covering every inch of his exposed skin.

All those eyes opened at the same time, staring at Lu Yuan and Laurina.

Eerie Transcendence power began to be released.

"Oh, so that's the strange invasion of the Tower of Erudition. The Night Watcher has the right to kill it."

"Heh, are you out of your mind?"

Just then, a small bottle flew out from behind him.

Laurina.

She pulled a glass bottle from her pocket without anyone noticing and threw it forcefully at her tutor.

The bottle exploded in front of the instructor, releasing a cloud of grayish-white gas.

The moment the gas filled the air, all the eyeballs on the instructor's body trembled simultaneously.

Then, they began to shrink.

The mentor's Transcendence burst of energy was instantly abruptly interrupted.

His expression changed drastically, and he looked at Laurina in disbelief.

"You--"

"Eerie Suppressant." Laurina's voice came from behind Lu Yuan, tinged with coldness, "Specifically designed to target Eerie Path."

Then she whispered to Lu Yuan, "Let's run."

However, Lu Yuan didn't move at all.

The mentor's expression twisted for a moment, then returned to its somber state.

"Okay, very good."

His voice lowered, carrying suppressed anger.

"As expected of Miss Laurina, you truly live up to your reputation. Carrying something like this with you... it seems you've been on guard against us all along."

The shrunken eyeballs struggled under the suppression of the medication, and a few began to reopen.

"Pity."

The mentor's lips curled into a ferocious smile.

"It's just an inhibitor!"

He's right.

The grayish-white gas is dissipating rapidly.

The trembling of those eyeballs gradually subsided, and a few began to rotate again, staring in the direction of Lu Yuan and Laurina.

Ten seconds? Or fifteen seconds?

The mentor took a step forward, his eyeballs widening in disbelief.

"Once this thing loses its effectiveness, I'll show you what happens when you anger a Transcendence with Eerie Path."

He looked at Lu Yuan, his eyes filled with contempt.

"Especially you, Night Watcher. A mere conscripted doctor, how dare you block my way?"

Lu Yuan remained silent.

Because the time Time Bestower on the chest has already begun to rotate.

"I'll count to three, then get out of here!"

The instructor's voice turned icy.

"One..."

"You can die for attacking the Night Watcher."

Deprivation.

An invisible wave emanated from the Pocket Watch.

The air seemed to freeze.

Centered around the mentor, a distorted field quietly took shape.

The instructor froze.

He sensed it.

The world has changed.

The air became thick, as if we were in deep water.

My limbs felt incredibly heavy.

A sharp pain shot through his chest.

That's the feeling of my heart withering away.

He looked down, staring incredulously at his chest.

My heart is still beating.

But each pulse became difficult, as if something was sucking away its life force.

Those eyeballs widened simultaneously, then quickly dimmed, like grapes that had been drained of water, shrunken and withered.

"How... is this possible..."

The mentor's voice was barely squeezed out of his throat.

He raised his head, his gaze falling on Lu Yuan, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"You're clearly just a..."

He didn't finish speaking.

He clutched his chest with both hands, his body suddenly stiffening.

The expression on his face froze.

With fear, with confusion, with a bewilderment that remained unresolved until death.

Then, his body fell straight down.

A muffled thud echoed in the empty corridor.

At the edge of my field of vision, the Gray-White Text was pulsating violently.

[Sanity: -80...40/120]

Lu Yuan's body swayed slightly.

The world before my eyes became somewhat blurry, and a wave of dizziness surged from the depths of my mind.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the surging discomfort, and turned to look at Laurina.

Laurina stood there, her gaze fixed on the corpse on the ground.

There were no wounds, no bloodstains.

The tutor lay there quietly, as if he had suddenly died.

Lu Yuan had expected her to be scared, to scream, or at least turn pale.

But she didn't.

Her expression changed.

It wasn't fear, it wasn't panic.

Rather, it was a pure, irrepressible curiosity.

Her eyes gleamed slightly as she shifted her gaze from the corpse on the ground to Lu Yuan.

He moved back to the body and scanned it back and forth, as if trying to analyze what had just happened.

Looking at her expression, Lu Yuan felt a subtle sensation.

This girl...

"Walk."

Without saying anything more, he turned and walked towards the exit.

Laurina looked away and quickly followed.

The two walked through the last section of the corridor and arrived at the outer exit.

A night breeze blew in my face, carrying a damp scent.

It started to rain.

A light drizzle fell from the darkness, pattering softly on the stone path.

Several horse-drawn carriages were parked at the exit.

There was no driver, no guards; it just sat there quietly, as if it were reserved for certain people.

However, not everyone can leave smoothly.

Not far away, Lu Yuan saw several figures blocked at the corner of the corridor.

A Night Watcher was protecting two students, surrounded by three instructors dressed in Deep Blue robes.

The two sides are locked in a standoff, and the atmosphere is tense.

"Let's get out of the way..." Laurina whispered.

Lu Yuan glanced at Laurina with some surprise.

I originally thought Laurina would ask if we wanted to help them.

Of course, there's nothing I can do to help them.

With only 40 points of sanity remaining, the world before my eyes has begun to show slight distortion.

He must leave here first.

"Walk."

Lu Yuan's tone was calm, but carried an undeniable air of authority.

"We won't hide..."

Laurina glanced over there and bit her lip.

Then, he decisively followed Lu Yuan and quickly walked towards the carriage.

The rain intensified.

Lu Yuan strode to the nearest carriage and opened the door.

"Go up."

Without hesitation, Laurina lifted her coat and slipped into the carriage.

Lu Yuan closed the carriage door, turned over and sat in the driver's seat, and grabbed the reins.

The horse seemed to have been waiting for this moment; after he gently flicked the reins, it immediately took off galloping forward.

The carriage sped through the rain.

Rain pattered against the car roof, making a soft, rustling sound.

Behind me, the outline of the Tower of Erudition gradually blurred in the rain.

Lu Yuan gripped the reins, his gaze fixed ahead.

My rationality is down to 40 points.

He could feel a slight dizziness lingering in his mind.

Things that shouldn't be there started appearing at the edge of my field of vision.

He saw countless inexplicable characters rising up from the top of the Main Tower of the Tower of Erudition.

As if drawn by some force, it flew towards the dark sky and then disappeared into the rain.

The characters were twisted and deformed, struggling in the air like living things.

It's all an illusion.

Lu Yuan told himself.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to refocus his gaze on the road ahead.

A hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle.

These are the Sanity Potion distributed by the Night Watcher a couple of days ago.

Lu Yuan uncorked the bottle, tilted his head back, and drank it down.

The medicine entered my mouth, and a cool sensation slid down my throat into my stomach.

My previously chaotic thoughts cleared up a little.

The distorted hallucinations at the edge of my vision gradually faded.

Although it hasn't completely disappeared, it's at least no longer as real.

[Sanity: +8...48/120 (Total)]

Lu Yuan stretched his neck and casually tossed the empty bottle aside.

I feel much better.

Although it's still very low, at least I can hold on until I can find a safe place to rest.

I didn't expect you to be so amazing.

Laurina's voice came from behind.

Lu Yuan didn't turn around, but he could tell from her voice that it wasn't fear, but curiosity.

What ability did you just use?

Her voice came from behind the carriage curtain, filled with an irrepressible thirst for knowledge.

"That mentor... just like he died suddenly. No wounds, no blood, he just collapsed. Was it a time-manipulation ability? Or some kind of Curse?"

"No, Curse are unlikely to work on the supernatural, and time is even less likely."

Lu Yuan remained silent for a few seconds.

We'll talk about it later.

Laurina did not press the matter.

But Lu Yuan knew she wouldn't give up.

Once that thirst for knowledge is ignited, it is very difficult to extinguish.

He was also very curious about the formula of the bottle that Laurina had thrown out, which could instantly suppress the Transcendence release of Eerie Path.

"That bottle of potion you made yourself, the Eerie Suppressant?"

There was a moment of silence in the carriage.

Then came Laurina's soft laughter.

"I guess so. The original recipe was from my mentor, and I modified it."

How much do you have left?

"Enough."

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

Laurina is not a weak woman who knows nothing.

She's an Alchemy Department student, and a genius at that.

Who knows how many strange Alchemical Product she might be carrying in her arms.

No wonder she dared to come looking for him alone that night.

So they had something to rely on.

The carriage continued its journey through the rainy night.

Rainwater trickled down the edge of the car roof, forming small streams on the ground.

The outline of the Tower of Erudition had completely disappeared into the darkness behind us.

Lu Yuan gripped the reins, his gaze fixed on the road ahead, blurred by the rain.

The matter of the Tower of Erudition has come to a temporary end.

But he knew this was just the beginning.

The people from Imperial Headquarters will arrive tomorrow.

He killed an Alchemy Department instructor.

There's trouble again.