February 2nd, 4:40 p.m.
With a Gray Cloth Bag hanging from his waist, Zheng Qing slipped silently into the basement and set off down the pitch-black road back to school.
This time, of course, he was leaving alone.
This was Zheng Qing's third time using the Clockwork Passage, and his first time using this form of long-distance travel magic without the assistance of any other wizards.
To ensure everything went smoothly, Zheng Qing had specifically asked Deng Xiaoxian to use Polyjuice Potion and act as his double while his parents saw him off to the station. It was all for the sake of plausibility—though in fact, he could have chosen simpler ways to leave home, such as giving his family a pleasant dream or casting an illusion. But every easy solution came with one side effect or another.
Zheng Qing did not want his parents to suffer from nervous exhaustion or mental disorder just because he went off to school. So he would rather spend a little more effort on this matter.
At exactly 4:44:30 p.m., a faint blue glow suddenly appeared in the cramped basement.
The dim blue light traced the outline of a grandfather clock onto the basement's iron door.
A clock face, hands, and faint, intermittent ticking.
Zheng Qing twisted the iron door's handle and pulled hard.
Behind the door were not the basement's piles of clutter, but a long, slender brass pendulum. Behind the pendulum stood a wooden door decorated with opaque colored glass.
At that moment, the pendulum had stopped swinging, but the grandfather clock still seemed to be trembling faintly.
Zheng Qing quickly stepped around the pendulum and pushed open the wooden door.
Behind him came the loud slam of the basement's iron door closing.
"4:45 p.m. Student Zheng Qing, from Yunhua Residential Area,