He was still pressing his fingertips against the item, for a moment not knowing whether to let go or not.
They left?
Why did they just leave?
That guard had clearly seen Cen Yao just now, so why did he suddenly seem blind?
He subconsciously turned back to look at Cen Yao.
Cen Yao stood behind him, her hood slightly lowered, as quiet as a silent shadow.
If Senel could hear her inner thoughts, he would probably hear a completely calm reply.
Weren't they indeed blind?
Cen Yao quietly let go of her wand.
She had cast a Shielding Spell on herself just now.
It didn't make her completely invisible, but rather made the people around her subconsciously ignore her existence.
This kind of spell might not work on strong-willed powerhouses or certain special rules, but it was just right for fooling ordinary guards.
If she hadn't been afraid of drawing Senel's attention, she would have preferred to just turn invisible.
That would have saved a lot of trouble.
But she couldn't expose too much just yet.
She needed to see what this player actually wanted to do.
Senel suppressed the shock and suspicion in his heart, a smile returning to his face. “It seems the palace guards are a bit negligent today.”
Cen Yao gave him a calm look.
Senel suddenly felt that what he had said was a bit foolish.
But he quickly adjusted and continued to lead the way.
After passing through a long white-stone corridor, walking through a courtyard filled with roses, and bypassing a fountain, the two finally arrived at a side palace.
This place was some distance away from the main palace hall, but the environment was not bad.
A few trees covered in silver-white blossoms were planted in the courtyard. The petals fell with the wind, blanketing the light-colored stone steps like a layer of fine snow.
Maidservants stood guard outside the side palace.
Senel had obviously made arrangements in advance. When the maidservants saw him bringing someone over, they only bowed their heads in greeting and did not ask any questions.
The Shielding Spell on Cen Yao was still active.
She had only adjusted it slightly so it wouldn't affect Senel's perception of her.
Otherwise, it would be quite awkward if Senel forgot about her halfway while walking.
“This is your room.”
Senel pushed open a door carved with vine patterns.
The room was very spacious.
The window faced the courtyard directly, with heavy, light-gold curtains half-drawn. The bed was soft, a fire burned in the fireplace, and fresh fruit and a pot of hot tea were placed on the table.
It was more than just a little better than that cold, damp room at the Decapitated Goose Inn.
Senel stood at the doorway, but his tone suddenly became perfunctory.
It was as if he had finally completed some task and couldn't even be bothered to make an effort to maintain his politeness.
“You must be tired after traveling all day. You should rest.”
“If you need anything, you can find the maidservants outside.”
“If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving first.”
Cen Yao was busy inspecting the room and didn't care about the change in his tone.
She first checked the window, then under the bed, before scanning the fireplace, wardrobe, carpet, and the oil painting on the wall.
This place looked beautiful, but beautiful didn't mean clean.
Especially inside a dungeon.
Seeing that she had no intention of speaking, Senel's eyes darkened slightly, and he turned to leave.
The door was closed.
The sound of footsteps gradually faded away.
Only after Cen Yao confirmed that he had truly gone far did she raise her wand.
First, a Shielding Spell.
A faint, transparent ripple spread from the tip of her wand, covering the entire room and isolating any potential prying eyes from the outside world.
Second, an Alarm Curse.
A few tiny silver runes landed on the gap under the door, the window sill, the mouth of the fireplace, and the edges of the mirror.
If anything tried to enter from these places, she would detect it immediately.
Third, a Protection Spell.
A gentle yet resilient magic power wrapped around the room from the inside out like an invisible film.
Only after finishing these did Cen Yao focus her attention on the room itself.
The oil painting above the headboard depicted a young girl holding a harp.
The girl's eyes were lowered, her smile gentle.
But the moment Cen Yao entered the room, she had noticed something wrong with the painting; the sinister energy on it was so dense it was almost overflowing.
A bit of sticky black mist was hidden at the bottom of the wardrobe.
The fire in the fireplace burned too quietly, and occasionally, a very, very soft laugh would drift from inside.
Behind the curtains, a blurry shadow was also huddled there.
Looking at this room full of uninvited guests, Cen Yao remained very calm.
The room the palace arranged for its guests indeed had a very distinctive dungeon flavor.
She raised her wand and said softly,
“Purify.”
A silver-white light lit up from the tip of her wand.
The smile on the girl in the oil painting froze instantly, her eyeballs shrinking back in terror.
The black mist at the bottom of the wardrobe writhed frantically.
The laughter in the fireplace stopped abruptly.
The shadow behind the curtains tried to flee, but it was blocked by the Protection Spell.
In the next second, a gentle yet powerful white light flooded the entire room.
Before these filthy things could even scream, their sinister energy was washed away bit by bit, and they dissipated into faint wisps of smoke.
It was not the devouring of the dark element.
Nor was it the impact of an offensive spell.
It was more like repeatedly washing a dirty rag until there were no more stains left on it.
The orb clapped softly in her mind. “Host, the room is clean now.”
Cen Yao withdrew her wand.
“Mhm.”
She checked it over once more, and only after making sure nothing was missed did she finally feel satisfied.
Living in the boss's lair, one could never be too cautious.
Especially since she hadn't fully recovered yet.
Resting was out of the question.
At least, not right now.
She hadn't forgotten that the orb had previously reminded her to collect more materials to brew offensive potions.
The quality of the herbs in the dungeon might not be as good as those in the System Mall, but why pass up on free resources?
She wasn't exactly wealthy right now.
In the Horror Game, points and shock points had to be spent sparingly.
For things she could resolve by herself, she shouldn't always think of buying them from the mall.
Cen Yao walked over to the window and pushed it open.
Behind the side palace was a garden of decent size.
In the distance, she could see the high walls and tree shadows even deeper in.
The rules at the city gates had mentioned not to approach the old western garden of the palace before the feast began.
The more they were forbidden to approach, the more it indicated there was something there.
Of course, she wouldn't foolishly rush into the forbidden area of the rules right now.
But the palace was so big, she was bound to find some usable materials in other places.
If all else failed, there were still places to go outside the palace and outside the royal capital.
She could have originally summoned the light phoenix to travel.
But after thinking about it, she gave up on the idea.
The light phoenix was too eye-catching.
Even if she cast a Shielding Spell on it, its inherent deterrence and suppression against ghosts and monsters would still exist.
This was the palace, not the Black Forest.
Ghosts, NPCs, players, and rules were all mixed together.
Making too much of a stir would only invite trouble.
Besides, there were quite a few players in the royal capital.
If she summoned the phoenix and other players noticed, it would inevitably lead to probing and entanglement later on.
It would be better to fly by herself.
Perhaps she could even earn another wave of shock points along the way.
Thinking of this, Cen Yao opened the live stream bullet chat.
As soon as the bullet chat popped up, it was as lively as a boiling pot.
【Hey hey hey! Lady Witch finally remembered us!】
【Wifey, do you know what I just went to do?】
【Get lost! Who cares what you went to do? Don't block my view of Lady Witch.】
Rate on N.U.
