After the dark purple had spread across the entire oil painting, the banshee inside had completely vanished.
"Rather impressive capturing technique? You must have acquired this specifically for that purpose."
Leilin leaned toward the old witch. "I'm quite interested in this banshee. How about selling it to me afterward? I'll offer twenty percent above market price!"
"As long as you help me explore this secret realm and find what I want, I can just hand it over to you for free!"
The old witch glanced at Leilin.
Just then, at the center of the oil painting, a silver point of light suddenly appeared.
The silver light grew larger and larger, the surrounding void rippling faintly, until it finally formed a passage suffused with silver radiance.
Resentment! Wailing! A frigid aura of soul energy surged outward from the passage in an unending torrent.
A thin layer of mist drifted around the entire wooden building, and voices of men, women, old, and young echoed from all directions.
If the old witch hadn't already used her sorcery to put every last person in the small town to sleep, this supernatural phenomenon would have caused no small amount of chaos.
"Although it's unlikely that any ancient wizards still exist inside the secret realm, there are certainly still plenty of leftover curses and traps that remain functional. We must be careful… Also, the ancient Soul-Slaying Cult was a wizard organization renowned for its Spirit Research. We need to be prepared for that…"
The old witch gave her instructions in careful detail.
"By now, shouldn't you tell us exactly what you're looking for?" Leilin stared at the old witch.
"Heh heh heh… Don't worry. When the time comes, you'll know!" The old witch answered, as always, with her sinister laugh and evasive deflection.
"Honestly, old ghost, if you still won't tell us, I'm starting to feel uneasy about this…" This time, Tonghuan sided with Leilin. "If you won't tell me now, then I don't dare accept your original promises either…"
"You…" The old witch grew flustered, but quickly broke into violent coughing, her hunched frame bending even further, as though her spine might snap from the effort.
"Cough… fine!"
After a long while, the old witch finally caught her breath, but her face had gone deathly pale.
"It's an altar-like structure. There's only one in the entire laboratory—you absolutely can't miss it!"
She spoke, her voice tinged with helplessness.
"And then? Is that all the information you have?" Tonghuan pressed immediately.
"What, were you expecting more?" A green glint shot from the old witch's eyes, locking directly onto Tonghuan. "I only learned from a few ancient texts that this secret realm might contain that altar. How would I know the specific details?"
Fearing the old witch might erupt again, Tonghuan wisely chose not to ask further.
"Then what does this altar do?" After Tonghuan fell silent, Leilin took up the question. "Don't tell me you don't even know what the altar is for, yet you want to go searching for it."
"Of course not!" The old witch's expression flickered darkly before she finally spoke. "That altar was a late-era creation of the ancient Soul-Slaying Cult, called a Soul Altar. It can significantly alleviate the injuries I currently bear—and might even cure them entirely…"
"As long as you help me reach it, Blood Hand's materials, Tonghuan's Thunder Flame Stone, and Jay's Sighing Lake Water—none of it will be short by a single milligram!"
The old witch once again made her guarantee.
But Leilin wasn't entirely convinced. This old witch seemed to have some other scheme up her sleeve.
"You've been my close friend for years—who else would I help if not you?" Jay spoke first among the other three, his voice neither male nor female, carrying a strangely peculiar cadence.
"Fine! I was only asking!" Tonghuan began to yield as well.
"And you? Blood Hand?" The old witch turned to Leilin.
"As long as you're not deliberately using us—sending us to risk our lives for your own ends—then I have no objections," Leilin snorted coldly.
"Good!"
The old witch glanced at the silver-glowing passage. "All right—the passage should be fully stable by now. Let's go!"
With a burning, fervent desire in her eyes, the old witch stepped directly into the passage.
Leilin and the other three exchanged glances, then followed.
A blinding silver radiance erupted, engulfing all four of them completely.
*Bzzzz!*
Leilin swept his gaze across his surroundings.
Before his eyes stretched a dark corridor, seemingly forged from some unknown metal. On the wall surfaces, he could see the reflections of himself and his companions.
Only the shadows appeared distorted, seeming to let out a bone-chilling laughter.
"Solidified hallucination control?" Leilin smiled faintly. A flash of dark light flickered in his eyes, and he instantly broke free from the state.
Then he heard a swarm of buzzing sounds.