“Hey! How many witch potions did you all buy? I only dared to buy one; too many and I’d probably have to take out a loan.”
“Risk takers get rich, while the timid starve. I bought three bottles, planning to drink them all tonight. Who knows, I might just hit the jackpot and become a witch in one go!”
“I really want to be the wife of an older sister: The potions are so expensive, and the loan interest is so high that I can’t dare to buy more. Are there any methods to become a witch without drinking the potions?”
“Count me in! If you find any, kick me!”
“Count me in! If you find any, kick me!”
“I don’t want to wear skirts: Count me in! If you find any, kick me!”
…
It seems everyone was troubled by the witch potions.
Meng Lian lay on his bed, looking at the messages in the group chat, and felt a stirring in his heart.
Should I mention the Shadow of the Shenchong Dragon?
But he quickly dismissed that thought.
The Shadow of the Shenchong Dragon could only be seen by those with talent in illusions. Even if he told them, they wouldn’t be able to use it. Moreover, he didn’t know these people well, not even their names. To put it bluntly, whether or not they passed the entrance exam had nothing to do with him.
After all, he was an undercover agent sent by the Alliance. Helping these people successfully become witches would only complicate things for the Alliance.
It was better to remain silent and observe.
The group chat was lively with discussions about the potions. Many people were copying and pasting messages, including Jia Baili’s blue bird avatar among them. Seeing this, Meng Lian also typed “count me in” to blend in.
Soon, a series of “count me in” messages were interrupted by an avatar of a black-and-white chicken plush toy.
Kunkunzi: “Interrupting! I actually found out about other methods that can help us pass the exam.”
“Really? What’s the method?” asked Baocui Xiaofei.
Kunkunzi: “Have you been to the end of that street? I wandered there today and discovered a souvenir shop.”
Kunkunzi: [image]
Meng Lian clicked on the image, and it was indeed Tao Zhuo’s shop.
Kunkunzi: “At that moment, I was puzzled. All the other seniors were selling witch potions, so how did a souvenir shop suddenly appear?”
Kunkunzi: “I thought there must be something fishy about it, so I went in. After entering, I asked the shopkeeper if there were any other methods to help us become witches, and the shopkeeper said yes, the method is…”
At this point, Kunkunzi suddenly paused.
“I want to be the wife of an older sister: What’s the method? Hurry up and tell us!”
“Yeah, hurry up! Are you trying to trick us?” the Dog Licker chimed in.
“I don’t want to wear skirts: Stop asking! I’ve been to that shop too, and the owner asked us to see if we could see anything in her hand, but the problem is she had nothing in her hand. I thought it was just me, but when I asked my friends, they couldn’t see anything either.”
Little Skirt, hee hee hee: “Yeah, I can vouch for that. I suspect that the shopkeeper is just messing with us because we didn’t buy anything.”
Of course, you couldn’t see anything; you have no talent.
Meng Lian felt secretly pleased upon seeing this.
What concerned him was the photo Kunkunzi had taken. It was dark in the picture, indicating it was taken after Meng Lian had left. But at that time, Tao Zhuo still had the Shadow of the Shenchong Dragon to test new students, which meant that the Shadow of the Shenchong Dragon wasn’t unique.
Meng Lian recalled Tao Zhuo’s words and understood.
No wonder Tao Zhuo had so easily given it to him; it turned out this thing was quite common!
Meng Lian took out the Shadow of the Shenchong Dragon from his pocket and examined it closely.
The Shadow of the Shenchong Dragon was a fist-sized glass ball glowing with golden light. Its surface was engraved with several twisting golden patterns, and now and then, a small golden dragon flashed inside.
This reminded Meng Lian of an ancient text in the Alliance: “The Shenchong, a type of jiao, resembles a snake and has a dragon-like shape with red manes, its scales reversed below the waist, and it feeds on swallows. It can exhale air to form towers and city walls, causing rain to appear, thus called ‘Shenchong Tower’ or ‘Mirage.’ Its fat and wax can be made into candles that emit fragrance for a hundred steps, and in the smoke, there are shapes of towers.”
The Shenchong was extremely mysterious, with a proud and capricious nature. The Shenchong was a born illusionist. Meng Lian pondered the name “Shadow of the Shenchong Dragon” and couldn’t help but feel odd.
Could this thing actually be made from the shadow of a Shenchong?
If a regular person could see the shadow of a Shenchong, that would be suspicious!
The group chat continued to discuss.
Kunkunzi: “No, the shopkeeper might be telling the truth. She might have really had something in her hand; it’s just that we lacked the talent to see it.”
Kunkunzi: “I asked other seniors, and they told me that the shop was opened by a third-year senior’s client, specifically to find talented new students. We’re not the right fit and not the people they are looking for, so of course we can’t see anything.”
Kunkunzi: “According to the senior, talented individuals are extremely rare. Last year, only one new student passed the test, and it caused quite a stir.”
Little Skirt, hee hee hee: “What talent? Are the other seniors trying to trick you too?”
Kunkunzi: “It shouldn’t be. I took out a loan of ten thousand credits and sold myself to her. She has no reason to trick me. As for what talent it is, that senior didn’t know either. After all, she went to see it last year and realized she couldn’t see anything either.”
“I don’t want to wear skirts: I see… wait, how much?! You said you took out a loan of how much? Ten thousand credits?! Are you crazy?!”
“I want to be the wife of an older sister: !”
Dog Licker: “I thought taking out a loan of six thousand credits was a lot, but it turns out there’s a pro among us. Impressive, impressive.”
Kunkunzi: “There’s no choice. For people without talent like us, this is the only way. Otherwise, if we fail the exam, we’ll be sent to the slave army. You all know that the witches are at war with the galaxy now, and the front lines are fiercely contested. Going to the slave army means becoming cannon fodder for the witches.”
Kunkunzi: “Sigh, I really envy those with talent.”
Baocui Xiaofei: “I envy them too! With five percent interest a day, I can’t even imagine it. Sigh.”
“I don’t want to wear skirts: Sigh.”
“I want to be the wife of an older sister: Sigh.”
Dog Licker: “Sigh.”
Little Skirt, hee hee hee: “Sigh.”
…
Seeing the group filled with sighs, Meng Lian raised an eyebrow and also typed a “sigh.”
He stretched and tossed his phone aside, feeling a bit dizzy from being in the group chat for so long.
Meng Lian sniffed himself; while he didn’t smell bad, he felt a bit weary after a day of running around.
He picked up a towel and walked into the bathroom for a shower.
As the bathroom door opened, a wave of steam wafted out, making Meng Lian feel refreshed.
He instinctively opened the wardrobe and saw the black lace lingerie inside, causing him to freeze for a moment.
Without any desire, he closed the door and dried his hair, wrapping himself in a towel before climbing into bed.
Sigh, forget it. I’ll just sleep naked tonight.
As for clothes…
Meng Lian held up the Shadow of the Shenchong Dragon, and under the light, it cast a golden glow on his face.
Meng Lian sighed, holding the Shadow of the Shenchong Dragon, turned off the light, and gradually drifted into slumber.
If Tao Zhuo wasn’t lying to him, then by tomorrow morning, he could wear the clothes in the wardrobe.
But why was he feeling a bit excited?
Ugh… it’s all the witches’ fault!
…
Night fell, and the two moons in the sky echoed each other, the bright moonlight shining through the window onto Meng Lian’s face, as if draping him in a light veil. Meng Lian’s long eyelashes fluttered, and his brows furrowed slightly, as if he were dreaming of something unpleasant.
Suddenly, Meng Lian’s eyes snapped open, and at that moment, his pupils had completely transformed into golden vertical slits.