Evacuating Windmill

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

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

Li Ziran was no carpenter, nor was he in the mood to waste his thoughts on the bed's peculiar structure. All his senses passed through his tongue, locking onto the rats scurrying between the two wooden rods.

Hiss, hiss, hiss!

He instinctively flicked out his forked tongue. The peculiar sound and the eerie aura exuded by snakes startled the two rats, even twisting their fleeing movements out of shape.

Their four claws failed to grip the wooden rods, and they fell to the ground. But with a nimble roll, they slipped into a palm-sized rat hole beside the bed frame.

It was rather ridiculous.

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

Yet strangely enough, 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 calmed himself. Through a gap in the sheet beneath the round bed, he saw the Centaur's four powerful hooves.

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

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

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

That 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? Those three Elves would not burn him alive, would they?

"What happened?"

A gloomy voice appeared in the doorway like a nightmare.

The Centaur shuddered and practically bounced over, plastering the most respectful smile of his life onto his face. "The three of you, I don't know. They just vanished like that."

"Vanished?" A fireball ignited directly in the palm of the tallest Elf standing 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 again and again. That neither-large-nor-small fireball seemed ready to take his life at any moment. Before he realized it, he had reached the edge of the round bed. He braced both hands against the wall, hoping to use the distance to avoid the fireball.

But the instant his hand pressed against the sheet, a sticky substance coated his palm. Turning his head, he saw that it was bright red blood.

Whether it was quick wits or a flash of inspiration, the Centaur captain immediately cried, "Not good! They must have been murdered! That human must be suspicious!"

The instant he raised his palm, the expressions of the three Elves changed. They stared fixedly at his blood-covered hands.

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

Li Ziran saw three pairs of delicate little feet.

They wore emerald-green woven bamboo shoes. A Mithril butterfly was woven onto each pair, with tiny runes extending outward from the Mithril butterfly at the center.

The Elves' favorite attire.

Li Ziran instinctively shrank farther back, hiding himself in the darkness as much as possible. Tail nudged the two Frogs wrapped in the Life Tree Leaf toward the rat hole.

Heavens, bless me!

Li Ziran prayed silently, hoping these people would not overturn the huge round bed.

"The aura of Elves!" This was the Elf's first sentence. Her voice was delicate, but that delicacy had gone somewhat wrong, as though she had a drake's rasp. "Everyone, seize them all! Without my orders, not one of them is allowed to leave!"

The three Elves climbed directly onto the bed, their noses almost pressed into the sticky blood.

The soft round bed sank under their weight. At that moment, Li Ziran seemed to smell the unique woody fragrance of the three Elf women, and he unconsciously curled himself even smaller.

Watching the three Elves lying there and continuously sniffing, the Centaur captain laughed strangely in his heart.

He had never 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 stood up at the same time and glared at the Centaur captain. "Where are the people here?"

There was no longer a trace of kindness on the Elves' faces. What replaced it was a chilling savagery, as though they wanted to devour him alive.

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

"I don't know," he said truthfully. Besides, she had already emphasized that when they came in.

Contrary to usual, the three Elves did not question him further. Instead, they swiftly leaped into the corners, forming a triangle as their staffs pointed toward the round bed.

In an instant, emerald-green light gathered together and formed a sphere. Centered on that sphere, rings of emerald light spread outward. In the blink of an eye, they formed an emerald-green barrier that enveloped the entire Windmill.

The Centaur captain wanted to speak, but his mouth seemed to have been sealed shut with tape, unable to open. When he wanted to move, he could not lift his feet. His entire body seemed submerged in that oily green radiance.

"Is it really Ancient Elves?"

"It must be! How could they be here? Didn't those treacherous humans steal them away? The Queen is still negotiating!"

"Liars. Sanctimonious, hypocritical liars."

"The sensing is correct. It is Ancient Elf Blood. I can even smell the aura of Moon Elves, and it is terrifyingly strong."

"I smell it too. Did those traitors, the Moon Elves, appear here?"

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

That sentence gave Li Ziran a fright. He feared that this Elf would suddenly flip over the huge bed. These Elf women's senses were too sharp, even keener than Doug's.

Even hidden by the Life Tree Leaf, they could still sense the presence of Ancient Elves.

This was not a place to linger!

The beams of light outside, filled with some unknown magic, were definitely no good thing.

Li Ziran instinctively glanced at the hole where the rats had disappeared. He was reluctant to crawl into a rat hole, but when he saw blood continuously seeping out from the Life Tree Leaf, he knew that once the emerald-green light spread over here, he would probably be frozen solid as well.

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 find a place to complete the surgery as soon as possible.

But the two lives could not endure any more jostling.

I'll go all out!

Li Ziran had never felt so disgusted by himself. Opening his mouth and closing his eyes, he swallowed the two Frogs along with the Life Tree Leaf in one gulp.

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

He clenched his jaws desperately. This was his first time using a snake's body to swallow something, and his skull felt as though it would burst apart.

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

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

Fortunately, the peculiar elasticity of a snake's flesh barely allowed him to send Nicole into his stomach. His belly bulged as though stuffed with stones, or more like he was pregnant.

There was no time to hesitate, nor could he hesitate. He heard the violent beating of wings, and the sounds came densely one after another.

He glanced at the pitch-black rat hole, then squeezed his eyes shut and burrowed inside.

Bang!

The instant Li Ziran vanished, the ceiling of the Windmill was ripped away. A massive Two-Headed Chimera beat its wings, its four eyes staring into the tiny room.

Acid occasionally dripped from the corners of its mouths, and the instant it hit the ground, it corroded a black hole the size of a human head.

Chimeras, also known as two-headed dragons, were a more unusual type of Lesser Dragon than Wyverns. They lived in primeval forests and fed on venomous beasts. The saliva at their mouths was the Red Soil Continent's most potent corrosive agent.

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

He was not especially burly and wore a colorful mage robe. Perhaps due to past injuries, his face was somewhat pale, but his entire bearing commanded awe without anger.

Neon Magus, a Title-Class Grand Mage—Jon.

At that moment, the old man quietly examined the scarred Windmill and asked in a low voice, "Where is it?"

The Centaur leader discovered 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 it!"

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

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

But to the Centaur soldiers, such a sight was a nightmare. These lights had actually been transformed from the captain they respected most.

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

Even the Elves present took small steps back in fear.

"Speak. Where is the person?" Jon turned his gaze toward the other Centaurs, including the laborers who had remained behind.