Evacuating Windmill

Beneath the large round bed was pitch-black, but Li Ziran could sense its complicated structure.

Three wooden poles supported the round bed, while four powerful springs gave it a distinctive comfort.

Li Ziran was not a carpenter, nor did he have the mind to waste on the round bed's unique structure. All his senses flowed through his tongue, locking onto the mice darting between two wooden poles.

Hisss!

He instinctively flicked out his forked tongue. The peculiar sound and the eerie aura emitted by a snake startled the two mice, even warping their fleeing movements.

Their four claws failed to grip the wooden poles, and they fell to the ground. Yet with a nimble roll, they slipped into a palm-sized mouse hole beside the bedframe.

It was rather ridiculous.

Li Ziran had no intention of eating mice. There was no need for them to be so terrified.

Yet strangely, after turning into a snake, the scent given off by rodents kept stimulating his appetite.

Could they really be that delicious?

Thud, thud, thud!

Li Ziran hurriedly gathered his thoughts and, through a gap in the bed sheet beneath the round bed, saw the Centaur's four powerful hooves.

"What's going on? Why are you dawdling? What did you see?" the Centaur captain roared as he charged into the room.

He had already prepared to give them a harsh scolding, at least enough to satisfy the Elves. But the moment he crossed the doorway, he froze.

At a glance, there was not a single person in sight.

The Centaur boss had vanished, and so had his subordinates.

"Hey, come out! If you don't come out, I'll skin you alive!" The Centaur captain panicked. How was he supposed to explain this situation? Wouldn't those three Elves burn him alive?

"What happened?"

A gloomy voice appeared in the doorway like a nightmare.

The Centaur shuddered and practically sprang over, wearing the most respectful smile of his life. "The three of you... I don't know. They simply vanished."

"Vanished?" A fireball ignited directly in the palm of the tallest Elf in the middle. "You're telling me they vanished from this sealed room?"

"Yes, I'm not lying." The Centaur captain nodded repeatedly and backed away. That neither-large-nor-small fireball seemed ready to take his life at any moment. Before he knew it, he had reached the edge of the round bed, bracing both hands against the wall in a vain attempt to use the distance to avoid the fireball.

But the instant his hand pressed against the bed sheet, a sticky ** smeared across his palm. Turning his head, he saw it was vivid red blood.

Whether it was quick wit or a flash of inspiration, the Centaur captain immediately cried, "This is bad! They must have been harmed! That human must be the problem!"

The instant he raised his hand, the expressions in all three Elves' eyes changed. They stared fixedly at his blood-covered palm.

In a few strides, they crossed from the doorway to the round bed. One Elf directly seized the Centaur's hand and pulled it before her eyes.

Li Ziran saw three pairs of delicate little feet.

They wore emerald-green woven bamboo shoes, each pair embroidered with a Mithril butterfly. Centered on those Mithril butterflies, tiny runes extended outward.

The Elves' favorite adornment.

Li Ziran instinctively shrank back, hiding himself in the darkness as much as possible. With his tail, he pushed the two frogs wrapped in life leaves toward the mouse hole.

"God bless!"

Li Ziran prayed silently in his heart, hoping these people would not overturn the large round bed.

"The scent of Elves!" This was the first thing the Elf said. Her voice was delicate, but that delicacy had changed somewhat, like the voice of a drake. "All of them, lock them up! Without my orders, not one is allowed to leave!"

The three Elves sprawled directly on the **, their noses nearly pressed against the sticky blood.

The soft round bed sank down. At this moment, Li Ziran seemed to smell the distinctive woody fragrance of three Elf women, and he unconsciously curled back even farther.

The Centaur captain watched the three Elves lying on the ** and constantly sniffing, inwardly snickering.

He had not expected Elves to have such a fetish. He had heard this was a private room for a pair of human lovers.

Could it be that while humans pursued Elves, Elves themselves were also curious about humans?

Just as his thoughts ran wild, the three Elves rose at once and stared fiercely at the Centaur captain. "Where are the people here?"

There was no longer a trace of kindness on their faces. In its place was a chilling viciousness that seemed ready to eat people alive.

The Centaur captain finally sensed that something was wrong. He even felt it would have been better if they had turned him into a torch.

"I don't know," he said truthfully. He had already emphasized that when he entered.

Contrary to their usual behavior, the three Elves did not question him further. Instead, they swiftly leaped into the corners, forming a triangle and pointing their staffs at the round bed.

In an instant, emerald-green light gathered together into a sphere. With the sphere as its center, ring-shaped green halos spread outward. In the blink of an eye, they formed an emerald barrier that enveloped the entire Windmill.

The Centaur captain wanted to speak, only to find that his mouth seemed sealed with tape, unable to open. He wanted to move, yet could not take a step. His entire body seemed submerged in that oily green light.

"Could it really be an ancient Elf?"

"It must be! How could it be here? Weren't they stolen away by those treacherous humans? The Queen is still negotiating!"

"Liar! A sanctimonious, hypocritical liar!"

"The sensing was correct. It is ancient Elf blood. I can even smell the aura of Moon Elves—so strong it is frightening."

"I smelled it too. Did those Moon Elf traitors appear here?"

"Don't make wild guesses. Hurry and report this. This is no longer something we can interfere with. I can also sense that the Elf aura is very close to us, as though it is right beside my feet."

That sentence gave Li Ziran such a fright that he feared the Elf would suddenly overturn the bed. These Elf women's senses were far too sharp, even better than a dog's.

Even with the life leaves concealing it, they could still sense the existence of an ancient Elf.

This was not a place to linger!

The beam of light outside, imbued with some unknown magic, was definitely not a good thing.

Li Ziran instinctively glanced at the mouse hole where the mice had vanished. He was unwilling to crawl into a mouse hole, but when he saw blood continuously seeping out from the life leaves, he knew that once the emerald light spread over, he too would likely be frozen in place.

Clearly, the three Elves had used some kind of restraining or sealing spell.

He had to leave as soon as possible.

Nicole's and the Elf's wounds had only received simple treatment. If he delayed any longer, both living beings would lose their lives.

He had to quickly find somewhere to complete the operation.

But the two lives could not endure being jostled around.

I'm doing it!

Li Ziran had never felt so disgusted with himself. Opening his mouth and closing his eyes, he swallowed the two frogs along with the life leaves in a single gulp.

Snakes did not rapidly digest their prey. His stomach should be a good place to preserve them.

He clenched his jaws desperately. This was his first time swallowing something with a snake's body, and his skull felt as though it were about to split apart.

Li Ziran desperately gulped in air, silently swearing that he would definitely learn how snakes swallowed prey in the future.

He had possessed Snake Transformation for too short a time and had not developed the habits of living as a snake after transforming.

Fortunately, the distinctive elasticity of snake flesh barely ensured that Nicole made it into his stomach. His belly bulged as though stuffed with stones, more like he was pregnant.

There could be no hesitation now, nor was there time to hesitate. He heard the violent beating of wings, and the sounds were densely packed.

He glanced at the pitch-black mouse hole, shut his eyes tight, and burrowed inside.

Bang!

The instant Li Ziran vanished, the Windmill's ceiling was torn straight off. A massive two-headed Chimera beat its wings, four eyes staring into the tiny room.

Acid occasionally dripped from the corners of its mouths, corroding a head-sized black hole the moment it struck the ground.

The Chimera, also known as the Two-Headed Dragon, was a subspecies dragon even more unusual than a Wyvern. It lived in primordial forests and fed on venomous beasts. The saliva at the corners of its mouths was the Red Soil Continent's finest corrosive agent.

At this moment, seated atop the enormous creature was a silver-haired Elf.

He was not especially burly, draped in a colorful mage robe. Perhaps due to injury, his complexion was somewhat pale, but he possessed an imposing presence without needing anger.

Neon Archmage, titled Grand Mage, Jon.

At this moment, the old man quietly surveyed the crime-stained Windmill and asked in a low voice, "Where is he?"

The Centaur leader found that he could suddenly move again, but he felt it would have been better if he could not. The old man's gaze was like a bayonet, capable of piercing straight through his body. "I... I... don't know! I... I... didn't see him!"

Before he could finish speaking, he discovered that light was radiating from his body. His fur, shell, flesh, and even soul all transformed into brilliant multicolored light.

It was beautiful. Strands of peculiar light floated through the air like ribbons.

But to the Centaur soldiers, this sight was a nightmare. That light had actually been transformed from their most respected captain.

In that single instant, their captain had evaporated where he stood.

Even the Elves present took a slight step back in fear.

"Speak. Where is he?" Jon's gaze shifted toward the other Centaurs, including the laborers who had remained behind.