章 45: Chapter 45: The Bloodstained Mandrake
As night faded and dawn approached, Sunan left the tavern with Amy at the first light of day.
Amy's master, the mysterious wizard, resided in the Spiked Stone Valley to the east of Clockstone City.
Just over ten kilometers outside the city lay a pine forest. Following the dense trees eastward and crossing two hills, they entered the Spiked Stone Valley.
Once inside the valley, the environment grew increasingly desolate, and the terrain became more rugged.
The ground was almost devoid of vegetation, littered with jagged stones and patches of withered grass and thorns sprouting from rock crevices, creaking as the cold wind swept through the mountains.
Sunan couldn't help but wonder why the wizard chose such a desolate place to live.
However, he reminded himself that a thousand years had passed; perhaps Spiked Stone Valley was not always like this.
Amy lay quietly on Sunan's shoulder, bored, licking her paws.
When the sun finally rose over the distant mountains, the pair reached a riverbank.
"Meow, if we follow the river upstream, we'll arrive," Amy pointed ahead.
Sunan didn't move immediately but ordered the Hidden Dragon nearby to scout ahead.
This place was already known to the Starfire Church, and if they wanted to capture them, they would likely have someone lying in wait here, so caution was wise.
After a thorough search, however, no one was found lurking nearby.
"It seems those guys are still recovering from last night's battle."
Sunan relaxed and confidently walked upstream along the river.
Guided by Amy, he quickly discovered a cave nestled in the middle of a rock face.
Using wind energy particles to enhance his climbing, Sunan easily scaled the rock wall and entered the cave.
Inside, the cave was dark, but the passage was wide and well-constructed, showing clear signs of human craftsmanship.
Sunan pulled out a luminous pearl as a light source and stepped further inside.
At the end of the passage was an extraordinarily spacious circular hall. The floor was laid with square granite tiles, intricately carved with dense, strange patterns resembling a large magical array.
However, many of the patterns had faded and blurred, and the magical array had long since become inactive.
The walls around him had more than a dozen doors.
"That door leads to the apprentice living quarters; most of the wizard apprentices rested there."
"That way leads to the plantation, which used to be filled with all sorts of magical plants and many little spirits, but they're all gone now."
"That door leads to the warehouse, and that's the spell experiment square."
Amy described each door's purpose to Sunan with familiarity.
The entire structure was unusually large, with passages branching in all directions and countless rooms, effectively resembling a castle built within the mountains.
From the remnants of what seemed to be crystal patterns on the walls, it appeared this place used to be a structure akin to a wizard's tower.
But now, it had fallen into disrepair.
Sunan had hoped to find some hidden treasures here, but to his dismay, he found nothing of value.
The Starfire Church's ability to act was even better than he had anticipated; they had completely emptied the place, leaving nothing worthwhile behind.
"It's a pity this place is so remote and desolate; otherwise, it could have been a good spot for an experimental lab and magical plantation."
Sunan thought regretfully.
Since he couldn't find anything of value, he decided not to linger and turned to leave with Amy.
As they exited the cave, Sunan suddenly recalled something and asked Amy, "The Starfire Church said you were wandering in the north of the city; why was that?"
Amy paused for a moment, then exclaimed, "Meow! I almost forgot! There's something I need to retrieve!"
Sunan was puzzled. "What is it?"
"It's the Bloodstained Mandrake! That bunch of bad guys stole it, but for some reason, they left it in a large house. I wanted to get it back, but there's a powerful evil spirit guarding it—I can't handle it!"
The Bloodstained Mandrake!
Sunan was taken aback.
He recalled that this was a notoriously sinister magical plant that thrived on living blood. Each time a stem matured, it turned crimson, eventually resembling blood.
Once fully matured, the Bloodstained Mandrake would emit concealed mental fluctuations, creating illusions to lure nearby creatures and devour their souls.
After consuming enough souls, the Mandrake would give birth to terrifying evil spirits, which would then start killing nearby living beings to consume their souls and grow stronger.
Because of these traits, places cultivating Bloodstained Mandrakes usually required corresponding restraining arrays to prevent disasters caused by evil spirits.
Connecting this with the ghost rumors he had heard at the tavern, Sunan quickly understood.
The large house Amy mentioned was most likely the estate of Lord Kubero.
"It seems the Starfire Church designed a scheme to get the Bloodstained Mandrake into that estate, but what could their purpose be?"
After a moment of thought, Sunan quickly pieced together the details.
Clockstone City was the central city of Silvermoon Territory, and the Silvermoon Viscount was one of the nobles at odds with Marquis Jinyan.
If an evil spirit emerged in their territory, the Silvermoon Viscount would undoubtedly have to find a way to resolve the issue; otherwise, if left unchecked, the threat of the evil spirit would soon escalate and endanger all of Clockstone City.
And relying solely on the knights' strength to eliminate the evil spirit would require a staggering number of lives.
Even if they ultimately succeeded in banishing the evil spirit, the Silvermoon Territory would inevitably be severely weakened.
At that point, Marquis Jinyan and the Starfire Church could seize the opportunity to invade.
This incident with the evil spirit was likely another part of Marquis Jinyan's conspiracy to control the Jinyan Province!
"That guy really knows no rest."
Sunan inwardly cursed, but quickly began to formulate a plan.
Although the Bloodstained Mandrake was extremely dangerous, it was also a rare magical plant with a wide range of uses.
For example, the formula for the Nightmare Potion he had seen in Ang McLean's diary listed the Bloodstained Mandrake's juice as a primary ingredient.
Ang McLean had searched for decades without finding a Bloodstained Mandrake, yet in this situation, it was within his grasp—fate truly had a way of playing tricks.
"The Bloodstained Mandrake is the rarest component for making the Nightmare Potion. All the other materials can be synthesized using the cube. If I can acquire this Bloodstained Mandrake, I'll be able to continuously produce the Nightmare Potion."
Sunan felt a surge of excitement but quickly calmed himself.
"Evil spirits are not easy to deal with; it's best to prepare more trump cards before going."
He recalled the two partially damaged magical items he had acquired last night.
If he could repair these two magical items, he would undoubtedly be better equipped to confront the evil spirit.
Moreover, he shouldn't help the Silvermoon Territory without compensation; he still needed to claim the rewards he deserved.
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