Time passed silently in the castle, and no one knew the date of each day except for the wall clock on the wall, and Ning An would carve a mark on his desk every day that passed.

Looking at the still gloomy sky outside the window, he slowly lowered his head and stroked the desk with his palm, which had been occupied by four hundred and one inscriptions, which represented the time he had brought here, four hundred and one days.

For more than a year, Ning An's face looked more mature than a year ago, the retro wizard robes he wore had also become worn, and the black fabric on the cuffs had faintly worn gray, which was caused by the friction caused by his frequent crouching on the table and flipping through the books.

Slowly getting up from his chair and putting a copy of Beelzebub's Secret Ritual back on the bookshelf behind him, Ning An stretched.

He didn't have much time left, and in the last few days, the most obvious feeling in his body was that the chill from the outside world was deepening, and the warm current provided to him by the resurrection stone was becoming less and less, and the stone seemed to be gradually losing its energy.

According to Sandak's explanation, this is because of the repulsive effect of the resurrection stone in the world of the dead, and as the effect intensifies, eventually the resurrection stone will be "squeezed out" of the place with its carrier.

Ning An had a hunch that this day was coming.

He reached out with his left hand and reached for a small silver box pinned to his waist, about half the size of a fist, and cast the Traceless Stretching Charm and many protective spells, which Ning An used to store the ice coffin containing Calidora's soul.

He had made a magical pact with Sondack, and as long as Ning An resurrected "Sephant", the serpent, and "Anagram", the gargoyle, he would complete the deal and truly obtain Carly's soul.

There is an extra silver ring shining with black light on the index finger of his right hand, the ring is made of silver, and the black gem on the setting is the resurrection stone, Ning An does not have the idea of resurrecting anyone with the resurrection stone, naturally it will not trigger any curses and magic, he purely relies on the resurrection stone to provide him with the energy to continue to exist in the world of the dead.

Because it was a little inconvenient to hold it in his hand all the time, he remade the ring, but this is no longer "Mavolo?" Gaunt's ring", Ning An decided to give it a new name - "Resurrection Ring".

"Snorr—go and ask Mr. Sephant to come over."

The purr is a tall candelabra, and most of the housework in the castle is made of all kinds of furniture that has been brought to life by magic, and they are like servants and maids who live in the castle.

Snoring turned around, pushed open the door and jumped out of the study, while Ning An opened the drawer under the desk and took out a stone statue of a woman from inside.

She was about the height of a normal person's forearms, and it was exactly what Gentak called "Anagram", the witch who turned herself into stone.

Whether it was Sephant or Anagram, Ning An was sure that it was just a pseudonym, and he had more or less guessed the identity of one of them.

Over the past year, he would go to Sandak from time to time to ask some magical questions, and in order to ensure that Ning An could successfully resurrect the two, Sandak still guided him very carefully.

But Ning'an had never seen "Sephant" this year, and according to Scineck, "Sephant" would spend time in a deep sleep until Ning'an left.

"It's normal, it's a last resort to live in the body of a snake in the form of a remnant soul, so don't bother him until you leave here." That's what Sandak said.

In order to live forever, he used an evil magic to separate his soul, no matter how he listened, Ning An dared to confirm that this was very similar to some kind of black magic he knew.

Voldemort did the same when he made the Horcruxes, "committing murder in an evil way, so that his soul was broken and divided, and then stored in a prepared vessel." ”

"Sephant" undoubtedly made a Horcrux to separate the soul in the body, and did not completely die out after death, I don't know how, he was taken to the castle by Zendaq and given him a parasitic body.

There are only a handful of dark wizards in history who have made Horcruxes, and Ning An still remembers Sephant's fierce argument at the beginning, claiming that "this is just imperfect magic!" ”

This shows that the creation of Horcruxes should have just appeared in the time of "Sephant" or was a magic invented by himself.

"Despicable Helbo" - the name is rightfully remembered by Ning An, this dark wizard is considered one of the first dark wizards, and importantly he is said to be the first person to successfully make a Horcrux, and possibly even the inventor of the method of making it.

The possibility that "Sephant" is "Helbo" has become infinite here in Ning'an, but in any case, this is not important for the time being, the important thing is that he must fulfill his oath so that he can truly obtain the soul of his friend.

Just as Ning An was thinking about where to put the stone statue of "Anagram", the door was pushed open after three knocks on the door.

Snoring and holding an empty base of a sharp needle with a listless short-tailed pit viper dragging on it, Séphant had changed his body at some point, but it seemed that he was not in good shape now.

"It's time for us to go, huh? Gremlin? ”

The pit viper made a hoarse sound, like an old man who was being pinched to speak, and Ning An stepped forward and stretched out his left hand, allowing Sephant to climb up his arm.

"I'm not sure, but I think it's going to be soon—"

Just as they spoke, the warm current from the resurrection ring on Ning An's finger weakened again, and it seemed that the time to be "squeezed out" of this world was a little closer.

"Better hurry up...... I've been ...... lately. It's better to live than to die. ”

Ning An believed what Sephant said, a person who exists in the form of a remnant soul cannot be described in words about the great suffering he suffers, and it is better to die a happy death.

"Don't we have to see Shendak again?"

Ning An said as he recalled in his mind what else he needed to bring, although he didn't think there was any need to see Scientak.

"Hiss-"

Sephine kept spitting out the snake letter as if laughing, and her voice trembled like a broken gong:

"Hey, you can go if you want to—you're still a kid after all—"

Then he complained in a strange voice: "δεναξ?ζειαν?λογαμε"

"Either way, you'll have to rely on me, Sephant—"

Ning An rummaged around his desk, hoping to find a box or something, he really didn't like the feeling of a cold snake coiled around his neck.

He also understood what Sephant just said, and in order to read those magic books more conveniently, he also studied various Chinese languages during the year, and Greek was naturally among them, and many ancient magic came from Greece, and there were many on the shelves of the Scientak collection.

Ning An didn't care about Sephant's complaint that he was not a child to rely on, he was never a person who cared about other people's evaluations, all he wanted to do was to achieve his own goals.

Just as Ning An was rummaging through it, there was a clear tremor from the resurrection ring on the index finger of his right hand, as if he was going to drag Ning An up at any time.

Ning An hurriedly grabbed the stone statue of Anagram that he had just put down, and Sephant, who was coiled around his neck, closed his mouth and said nothing, and then after Ning An took two deep breaths, a dazzling black light emitted from the resurrection ring.

Unlike coming to this world through the other side of the veil, Ning An only felt that the scenery around him quickly retreated in an instant, and then he seemed to plunge headlong into the sea.

The sea water gushed into his mouth, he could only spit out bubbles helplessly when he opened his mouth wide, he was about to suffocate, but immediately, he was falling rapidly in the dark and endless sea, falling, falling until he felt weightless.

Then, like those who surfaced after holding their breath underwater for a long time, Ning An felt as if he had fallen to the bottom of the sea, and the bottom of the sea was the level of another world.

He craned his neck desperately and poked his head out, trying to peek it out of the sea.

"Whew-"

Take a deep breath - Ning An felt his lungs suddenly filled with oxygen, giving him a feeling of being reborn.

Ning An didn't know if everything before was an illusion, but he did appear on the sea now.

It seems to be some unknown seaside resort, and the climate is warm, as if it is also in summer.

The morning sun has just risen in the sky, and it is still a hazy blue-red, there is no one on the sea, and a few meters away from Ning'an is the beach, and there are two small tents on it, I don't know if it is inhabited by people who come to the beach to camp.

He could see the concrete steps behind the beach and the shops with the shutters closed, and it was either 4 or 5 a.m., most of them still asleep.

Ning An found that the water surface was only up to his waist, and looked around, if it weren't for the stone statue in his hand and the cold touch on his neck reminding him, Ning An would have thought that everything in the Hades Castle was just a dream.

For more than a year, Ning An had never thought that more than a year would be so long, and he almost forgot what the human world looked like.

As if suddenly remembering something, Ning An's left hand quickly touched his waist, the small box was still there, he took the box off, and then slowly opened it, the space in the palm-sized box was the size of a bedroom, and Calidora's Xiaoice coffin was suspended in the center.

Ning An breathed a long sigh of relief, tied the box back to his waist, touched his wand again, and after confirming that everything was in place, he waded through the cold water step by step.

He was barefoot, stepping on the sand and making a small "rustling" sound, and along the way he passed two tents, and he could hear the snoring of "purr-purr" from inside, like thunder.

"What is this?"

Sephant poked her tongue out from under Ning An's hood, stared at a tent, and then tilted her head to look at the steps of the cement embankment next to her, and hissed and said:

"It's a big change...... What are these strange buildings......"

Sephant's life may have been quite long ago, and Ning An knew it, but he didn't intend to popularize the common sense of modern life for him now.

Because he has so much to do that he doesn't even know where he is now.

"Go back—"

He said simply, Ning An had put on the cloak behind the black robe, and after going ashore, he used a small "quick-drying charm" for himself to evaporate the seawater on his body, and put on a hood so that the cameras of the monitors on the beach would not catch his face.

Because what he did next might break the "slightest" law, Ning An didn't want his appearance to be recorded by the local police station, so that he was approached by the Ministry of Magic and the Aurors.

He didn't even know what his current condition was, and if the Ministry of Magic had pronounced a sentence on him? Did you hunt him down? What happened to Daphne and Samantha? Did Parney escape?

Ning An still didn't know anything about these situations, so he planned to collect some information in a low-key manner before launching an operation.

Sephant muttered a few words unwillingly, but he also knew that now was not the time to say this, because he saw Ning An take out his wand from his pocket

"Is there an enemy around?" This was Sephant's first thought, so he wisely shut his mouth, if Ning An was attacked and killed by the enemy, his fate would definitely not be much better, this self-knowledge Sephant still has.

Ning An walked a few hundred meters on the beach to a concrete staircase that led to the pedestrian street above, and he climbed the stairs to be flanked on both sides of the pedestrian street by shops selling snacks, swimsuits and local specialties, although none of them were open yet.

Ning An stood barefoot in front of a shop, he looked up at the bells and whistles signboard on it, writing the name of the store in two words, and the line below was in English Ning An understood

"Bernard Clothing – Order your own beach style"

He pointed his wand at the shutter and whispered a spell:

"Alajo Cave Open"

After a crisp sound of "pop", Ning An slowly stepped forward, squatted down with both hands, and pulled the roller shutter door up, and after a screeching sound of "Zla", the entire roller shutter door was pulled to the extent of halfway.

Sephant knelt on Ning An's neck, with a pair of small snake eyes, staring at everything in front of him without blinking, although he didn't know what Ning An was doing, but all this was unseen to him, so novel, if it weren't for the fear of possible enemies, Sephant would have asked Ning An a long time ago.

Even the pain that I had been forcibly enduring seemed to have been alleviated a lot by the sight I had never seen before.

Ning An bent down and got under the roller shutter door, the shop was pitch black, and he could barely see the layout inside from the light shining through the door.

It is a shop that sells a wide variety of beach T-shirts and shorts, and the shelves are full of goods, including clothes and pants, as well as small toys and crafts such as conches and shells.

Ning An took off the wizard's robe that was covered outside, this kind of robe was really not suitable for wearing on the street, and it would attract Muggle onlookers, so Ning An planned to find some more ordinary clothes to change into.

He found a white short-sleeved T-shirt with a less complicated pattern, and he barely found a pair of gray cropped shorts with open pockets and a pair of slippers that fitted him.

The pockets in his trousers were big enough for him to put Anagram's stone statue in, but the magic box was still pinned to him, and the wand was stuck at his waist, and Ning An pulled out a paper bag from behind the counter.

After some heated exchanges and threats, Sepiphor finally agreed to stay inside.

Ning An also noticed that after returning to the world of the living, Sephant seemed to be much weaker, and he was even weak to argue with Ning An, so he was naturally defeated quickly, but he must not die for a while.

After finding all the things he wanted, Ning An casually took a white mask with big ears and small eyes on the shelf at the exit, Ning An didn't know who it was, but he just wanted something to block his face.

Then he put on his mask and left.