Chapter 4: Chapter 4

The Forbidden Zone of Magic

"Boss, grill me two chicken wings and five meat skewers, then bring two bottles of beer and a pack of cigarettes."

At seven in the evening, Liushu finished a day's work and headed to a barbecue joint near the academy.

"Sorry, sir, we haven't sold cigarettes here for quite some time."

The boss walked over with an apologetic look.

"Ah, that's all right. Just bring me a bottle of beer then—the cheapest kind you have."

Liushu glanced at his cigarette box; only three sticks left.

Liushu took out a cigarette, lit it, and held it between his lips.

This action drew a few glances from other tables, but after a moment, people averted their eyes.

"Here's your beer, sir."

The boss brought over a full glass of beer, looking quite plentiful.

"This smoke and booze really are heaven's last bit of mercy for me. If it weren't for them, I couldn't go on."

Liushu took a swig of beer and let out a long sigh.

One after another, the other items Liushu ordered were brought to the table.

"Let's see what news there is lately—hope it's not too boring."

Liushu pulled out that morning's newspaper.

Though most people now used their phones, Liushu still preferred newspapers.

《The Destruction of the Liuguang City Family》

Such a headline caught Liushu's attention.

"Yesterday, a long-established family in Liuguang City suddenly erupted in a bizarre riot. Many people, acting strangely, broke out, attacking pedestrians on the street without any rationality. The knights quickly suppressed the chaos. When the knights entered their residence to investigate, they found even more of those crazed people inside. The knights were attacked as well; fortunately, there were no casualties. The knights searched the entire family estate, but couldn't find a single person to converse with. It's safe to say the family is destroyed. Is this the result of a curse, or did they trigger some forbidden spell? The knight order is investigating, and we await further developments."

The newspaper briefly covered the destruction of a minor family, which ought to have been a trivial matter, but Liushu perceived the seriousness behind it.

People don't turn into monsters for no reason, much less an entire family.

And, to wipe out a whole family, it wouldn't be caused by some minor curse.

"This incident... I think I've seen something similar."

Liushu muttered to himself. This felt a lot like what he'd read in Shuang Yun's student file.

Shuang Yun's student record detailed her past: her family had been wiped out by a curse, and she was the last and only survivor.

Liushu pulled out Shuang Yun's student record.

Shuang Yun was from Liuguang City.

Isn't this talking about Shuang Yun's family?

"I should ask her about this tomorrow."

Liushu took another sip of beer.

"Actually, maybe I shouldn't. It's not right to dig at someone's wounds like that."

Upon reflection, Liushu dropped the idea.

Two big beers were almost gone, but the barbecue on the table was barely touched.

"There should be a rule at school that teachers can't drink, right?"

Across from Liushu, a blonde-haired girl approached.

"Oh, Lina, long time no see—well, not really, we just met yesterday."

Liushu grinned and waved at the girl named Lina.

"Hey, hey, isn't that the knight order's leader, Zhuina Lina?"

"Is that her in person?"

"Why would the head of the knight order be here?"

Lina's appearance immediately stirred up whispers all around.

Anzelona Knight Order Commander, Zhuina Lina.

She commanded all knight orders throughout the Anzelona Empire—this young woman right here.

One could say, apart from the Empress of Anzelona, she held the greatest power.

Naturally, her arrival turned heads.

"Next time you ought to show up with sunglasses and a scarf—what do you think?"

Far from being nervous in the presence of the knight order's leader, Liushu was relaxed.

"You really haven't changed a bit from before."

Lina sat down across from him.

"If you don't live freely and unrestrained, what's the point?"

Liushu smiled at Lina.

"You really do take that to the extreme."

"Boss, get me two more beers—and bring this lady across from me a glass as well."

"I'll pass. I still have official business to handle, and it's not appropriate to drink here."

Lina declined his offer.

"Then how about adding some food? I bet you haven't had dinner yet,"

"Do you even have money left? The academy's salary doesn't come in until the end of the month."

"I'm really out of money. Didn't you see I'm only drinking the cheapest beer?"

"But as a master, you shouldn't say that in front of your student. The dishes that should be ordered still need to be ordered."

"Boss, bring... uh..."

Liushu looked at the menu, calculating how many Naye he had left.

"Boss, put this meal on my tab."

Lina said to the boss.

"Of course, commander Lina."

The boss brought over two more dishes.

"It's on you? Then, boss, give me three more servings of what I just ordered, and two more beers."

Seeing Liushu's antics, Lina helplessly covered her head.

"Thank you, my good disciple. Your master will love you forever."

Liushu flashed Lina a shameless smile.

This guy really has no shame at all.

"I'll love you forever too, my dear master."

Lina didn't even take any utensils; she just sat quietly watching Liushu.

It wasn't any affectionate confession—just ordinary conversation.

"Can you tell me more details about the Liuguang City family's destruction?"

Liushu lifted his beer, eyes on the girl before him.

This child, after all these years, had grown into a beautiful, elegant woman.

"For example, what were the characteristics of those crazed people? What was the situation inside the family?"

As the grand commander of all knight orders, Lina definitely knew more than he did.

"They've all been eliminated—everyone in that family."

"All? Not even one survivor?"

"There was one, but they died not long after."

"It wasn't us who killed them; they just died, naturally."

Liushu's face, for once, was grave.

"I wasn't on scene myself, so I can't give a detailed account. But from what the knights reported, as soon as they entered that family estate, all the family members rushed out, attacking them like wild beasts—completely irrational, beyond any communication.

"To defend themselves, the knights killed many attackers, but also captured a few alive."

"None of the captured lived more than three days—every one of them died under strange circumstances."

"During later searches, we found many human bones inside that family's estate, impossible to identify."

"How did those people die?"

"Their bodies decayed and aged, turning to rot, leaving only skeletons."

"Rapid decay and aging?"

"Yes, at least as far as I saw it."

"There was one more thing: among the attackers, we identified the family's former head. According to records, he was already fifteen hundred years old." This update ıs available on noᴠelfire.net

"The normal human lifespan is only five hundred years—unless his strength hit some extraordinary level, he couldn't possibly have lived that long,"

"Yet, when we checked his magic power, his actual abilities were quite weak—nowhere near strong enough to live fifteen hundred years,"

"When we checked their bodies, there was no sign of them having used Sky Crystal Id anomalies to extend their lives."

Liushu lifted his beer and pondered.

"Lina, be very careful with this matter,"

Liushu said, unusually serious.

"This is just my speculation, but this seems related to time magic. That family head clearly absorbed the time of others to live so long."

Lina frowned, having already guessed part of it.

The way those people died was like having huge swathes of their time cut away until they aged and decayed on the spot.

"You know, time magic is the domain of the gods. Somehow, these mortals touched that field, leading to this tragedy."

"Apart from my boss, no one in this world can control time."

"Dreamscape Academy once accidentally obtained a time-related forbidden book. No one who studied it met a good end, so it was sealed away forever."

"Lina, you must be cautious. Never get involved with time magic—it's beyond both your and my control."

"I understand. You've said that many times already,"

"What can time magic do?"

Lina asked Liushu out of curiosity.

"Stop time, revert time, accelerate time."

"We always say, there's no such thing as a regret-reversing medicine in this world."

"But time magic can give you that. My boss can change something by traveling through time."

"That's a power ordinary life can never master. If everyone had time magic, this world would be destroyed."

"Time, order, fate, death, life—"

"These are magics that must never be explored,"

Liushu earnestly explained to his former disciple.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Who's the Forgotten Girl?

And what's the Silhouette of Time?