Lin Ze held the key and looked at Yilai.
"What else do you want to say?"
"No."
Yilai When he shook his head, the bones in his neck made a tiny crackling sound, like a dry branch blown by the wind.
Lin Ze held the key in his hand and walked behind it.
Yilai's neck stretched forward slightly, and his back arched into a thin arc.
The colorless old robe slipped from the shoulders, revealing a small piece of skin on the back of the neck, which was gray and black, as if something had eroded it from the inside out.
Lin Ze Put the key up.
"I'm offended."
The tip of the key was pressed against the middle of the back of Yilai's neck. The movement was very light, like throwing a copper plate into a donation box.
Yilai's body trembled.
No screams, no twitching.
Starting from the point where the key touched it, its body collapsed like a sandcastle being washed away by the tide. The gray-white powder peeled off layer by layer, flowing down the stone bench to the ground and spreading into a thin layer.
The robe had no support and fell limply, covering the pile of powder.
The pottery bowl cracked at the same moment.
There was a crisp sound, and five cracks spread from the bottom of the bowl, as evenly as if they had been measured with a ruler.
The clean water in the bowl seeped into the cracks Silencio, and dried completely in a few seconds.
The key was still clutched in Lin Ze's hand, the warmth faded away, and the cold metal pressed against the palm of his hand.
Mia walked to him and looked down at the robe on the ground.
"Let's go."
The silver-white light on the walls of the stone chamber began to dim, as if someone had turned off a dimmer switch.
Darkness gathered from the corners of the wall to the center very quickly.
Lin Ze Lifted the key up, and the teeth of the key glowed a little, like sparks struck by a match at night.
The moment darkness rushed over, the ground beneath his feet disappeared.
The feeling of falling came again.
Lin Ze I couldn't tell the difference between up, down, left and right for a moment.
The wind poured into my ears from all directions, and my head was buzzing.
He wanted to shout Mia and Sirius, but he opened his mouth but no sound came out.
Then he felt his hands were empty and the key was gone.
Then his back hit something, making a muffled sound, and his breathing was cut off for a moment. He lay on a hard object, his face pressed against rough particles, and his nose was filled with the smell of earth and grass.
Lin Ze propped up his elbows and turned over, facing up.
The sky above our heads was blue, too blue to be true, with not a single cloud or sun.
The light fell evenly from all directions, making the dew on the grass blades shine into tiny diamonds.
He was lying on a gentle slope. At the bottom of the slope was a gravel road. In the distance, there was smoke, a thin wisp rising from behind the trees.
He sat up and looked around.
Sirius is not here. Mia is not here.
"Sirius! Mia!"
The shouts echoed up the slope, but there was no reply.
The wind rustled the grass, but otherwise it was unbelievably quiet.
Lin Ze stood up and patted the dirt on his body, and found that there was a tear in the hem of the robe, the wand was still on his waist, and Undetectable Extension Box was stuck in the inner pocket.
He touched it again and found that everything inside was there except the key.
Looking across the gravel road in the direction of the smoke, I vaguely saw a settlement, with low houses scattered among the trees, with thatched roofs and walls that seemed to be made of mud and wood.
The scale is small, about ten households.
Just as he was about to lift his legs and walk forward, the corner of his eye caught something moving at the edge of the woods nearby.
A shadow swayed from the shade of the trees.
Lin Ze's first reaction was to touch the wand. His right hand quickly pressed on the handle of the wand until he saw the dangling shadow clearly.
That's a child.
He was about ten years old, as thin as a bamboo pole, wearing a gray coarse cloth shirt, barefoot, and his trouser legs rolled up to his knees.
Her hair was disheveled, like a ball of dried straw on her head.
Apparently the kid saw him too.
The two people looked at each other across a river for a few seconds.
Then the child turned and ran, running back into the woods as fast as a frightened rabbit.
"Hey--"
Lin Ze's shout was blown away by the wind.
He stood there, watching the swaying trees on the opposite side gradually stop, feeling a little dumbfounded.
Yilai said that this key will take him back to the place he misses most in his heart.
Is this what he misses?
He was very sure that he had never been here, and besides, this place looked nothing like London, let alone Ministry of Magic.
"We have to figure out where this is first."
He walked down the slope, stepping on the gravel and stinging his feet.
The grass on both sides of the road grows waist-high, with heavy tassels hanging down, rustling when the wind blows.
After walking for about a quarter of an hour, the settlement was closer.
A dozen mud-wood houses were squeezed together, with low stone walls separating the houses into small courtyards. Several animal skins were drying in the courtyard, and a black dog was lying on the wall and taking a nap. He raised his head when he heard footsteps, but did not bark.
Lin Ze took a stand outside the settlement.
He saw an old man sitting on the threshold of his house, weaving straw rope. His fingers were so nimble that the grass stems were flying between his fingers.
The old man wore a burlap shirt, a leather rope tied around his waist, and a pair of straw sandals on his feet.
"Hello." Lin Ze shouted.
The old man raised his head, looked at him with squinted eyes, and swept his eyes from the outline of his face to the robe.
The old man said nothing.
"Excuse me, where is this?"
"Avalon." The old man's voice was hoarse, as if something was stuck in his throat.
Lin Ze was stunned for a moment.
"Avalon?"
"Yes, Avalon." The old man lowered his head and continued to weave the straw rope without stopping, and the grass stems made a fine rustling sound between his fingers.
"Where are you from?"
"London."
The old man's movements stopped for a moment, and then he continued to write.
"London? Never heard of it."
Lin Ze felt a thump in his heart.
"Then... is there a larger city nearby? Or, is there a place where wizards live?"
The old man raised his head and glanced at him, his cloudy eyes a little more wary.
"Wizard?" he repeated the word.
"Are you a witch hunter?" the old man asked.
"Witch hunter?" Lin Ze's pupils shrank.
"If you're not a witch hunter, why are you looking for a wizard? And wizards are generally not in big cities. They usually hide in remote jungles or mountains."
"Well, no matter who you are, if you want to get information, I suggest you go somewhere else." The old man put the braided straw rope on his knees and stood up.
He is not tall and his back is slightly stooped, but he stands very steadily.
"You go east along this road and walk for two or three days. There is a larger town called Carl. There are many people there. Maybe someone will know if you go there and ask."
"Thank you." Lin Ze said thank you.
The old man didn't answer, just waved his hand, turned around and entered the house, and the door closed behind him with a muffled sound.