The slender, soft tentacle slowly withdrew from before Zhang Jixin at last.
But it did not retract into the house.
As it passed the cauldron, the tentacle paused for a moment. Then, before everyone's eyes, it snapped off with a plop, falling into the boiling Mushroom Soup together with the Gold Bean stuck to its tip.
The thick mushroom slices were flipped over by the severed tentacle and Gold Bean, but soon began bubbling again under the churning broth. The tentacle struggled in the soup for a long while, only gradually settling down once its color took on a faint golden hue.
Because the whole process had been so sudden and horrifying, the young wizards stood staring blankly at the cauldron for a long time, unable to react.
Behind the door, the blurry face made a hissing sound, as though drawing in a cold breath—though Zheng Qing was not certain of that, since the other party's voice had always been abnormal. In that slightly noisy, blended voice, it reminded them, "Find that Gold Bean. It will lead you home."
Zheng Qing cautiously glanced at the cauldron.
"What do we have to pay?" He had not forgotten the most important rule of trading with a Dark Wizard and repeated his earlier offer. "Gold, knowledge... or the life you mentioned before?"
The Little Banshee behind Nikita let out a low groan, seeming to curse this damned world.
"Gold... heh." The face behind the door gave a trembling, mocking laugh. "This is the Illusory Dream Realm. What use is gold here to me?... As for knowledge... my trouble now is that I know too much and can give up too little. Too much knowledge is like a rope; it will slowly strangle you amid your books."
"Then what do you want?" Jiang Yu