"Xixi!"
Seeing the beautiful butterfly knot, the little sprite happily hugged the Wanderer Wizard's finger and let out a cheerful cry. The translucent wings on her back fluttered slightly, their surfaces gleaming with captivating light.
"It's all right, it's all right... Everything's fine."
The old wizard muttered as his fingertips gently stroked her head. Yet a pale gray spell-light surged from his palm, winding upward around the little sprite like a great hunting snake. The sprite, who had only just recovered, slowly closed her eyes within the spell-light. Her skin gradually turned grayish white, but a grateful smile still lingered on her face.
Watching everything unfold, Zheng Qing said nothing. He swung a fist and smashed it heavily into the old Wanderer Wizard's face. His fist sank deeply into the old wizard's head. The boy only felt as though he had thrust his hand into scalding water, making him grimace in pain, while the other party did not seem to notice at all.
It gave him an intense sense of frustration, as though both his mind and body had suffered a double blow.
"Hypocrite."
The other guest in the private room, Crow Number Three, commented sharply, "If you had no intention of letting her live, why did you treat her injuries? Was it just to satisfy your absurd sense of presence, or to earn that little bit of cheap gratitude?"
The Wanderer Wizard took a silk handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wrapped the little sprite's gradually stiffening body.
"You killed her."
The old wizard's hands did not pause, nor did he raise his head. His tone remained mild. "I truly wanted to treat her... If you hadn't appeared in the wrong place at the wrong time, she wouldn't have had to die."
At those words, the crow's momentum stalled.