It was not yet dawn.
But light had already begun to spread across the horizon. The Morning Star hung between the daylight and the darkness, like a tiny hole pricked by a needle in a silver-black curtain, allowing a point of dazzling light to shine through.
Zhu Si was wrapped in a thick, long-haired cloak, looking like a hibernating bear as she curled up on a bench beside a pavilion. The cold wind whistled past her ears. She stared blankly at the patch of ghoul-face grass below her. Five blades clustered into a human face, forming a strange grin that seemed to silently mock the witch.
"—I should have known those little bastards would never have any sense of time... Why did I come so early!"
The witch muttered under her breath, looking gloomy.
With less than a week remaining before the mission to Xuanhuang Small World, Zhu Si had gathered her team today, intending to let them get used to working together internally first. That way, they would not embarrass themselves after arriving in that Small World.
The agreed time was five in the morning.
But it was nearly six, and she was still the only one in the pavilion—even Hermione Wesley, who looked somewhat reliable, was late. It left her utterly speechless and made her increasingly worried about this mission.
"—Sorry, sorry!"
A panting voice rang out in the distance. Along with it, a figure rushed into the pavilion like a gust of wind, nearly crashing headfirst into one of the pillars.
Hermione stopped rather ungracefully. As she frantically tore off the Jia Ma Talisman hanging from her leg, she hurriedly explained, "I stayed up too late last night previewing my lessons and didn't hear my alarm this morning... This Jia Ma Talisman was also my first time