The Dementor frantically ran around in panic.
"One Border Collie, one Husky," Ian thought, feeling like he was raising dogs. He sighed and patted his forehead, then returned to the soft big bed.
This bed was indeed very comfortable. The bed frame was crafted from high-quality solid wood, with smooth and elegant lines, both sturdy and radiating a natural aura. The mattress used a multilayer design, with a high-density spring system at the bottom providing perfect support. No matter what sleeping position, one could feel balanced support.
Normally,
In such a bed, Ian could fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. But right now, his mood was rather dreadful, and after getting into bed, he tossed and turned for a long while without falling asleep.
"Let me try again~"
Unwilling to give up, Ian took out a bottle of Draught of Living Death.
He gulped down two swigs.
His eyes rolled back as he collapsed onto the bed. Yet, even though Ian had gone all out, he still couldn't break into the Twilight Zone by sheer force.
He remained in a dream. But the witch Morgan, who used to whip him, was gone.
Instead, things became even more absurd.
"Master, it's time to continue our journey after waking up." Aurora, with a sharp face and covered in fur, carried a stick, looking exactly like a pretty female monkey.
"Goku?"
Ian really couldn't understand why he kept having such bizarre dreams. This time, even after drinking the Draught of Living Death, it was nearly impossible to prematurely exit this absurd dream.
Ian could only stand up, holding his robe.
"Yeah, Master, if we don't go begging soon, I'll starve to death." Good roommate Michael had now turned into Zhu Bajie (the pig character from Journey to the West), and his Spanish black pig-like appearance somehow looked like a mix of East and West.
"Let me clean up the trash first."
William, dressed as Sha Wujing, was lecturing on garbage sorting in a deep mountain forest. Ian looked at his White Dragon Horse, good grief, no horse, only a dragon.
It was the pureblood western dragon Professor Morgan kept outside the castle.
"Today, no pilgrimage! Today we fight the White Bone Spirit!" Ian, having practiced dream control techniques professionally, summoned nearby a black-robed skeleton that made his teeth grind in hatred.
"You...cheater!"
Unexpectedly,
The summoned black-robed skeleton first showed a confused expression then it screamed hoarsely.
"Hm?" Ian glanced at the contract on his wrist.
He noticed something peculiar.
"High magic resistance? You've got high magic resistance?" Ian's expression gradually turned grim.
…
Time flew.
Days passed.
Ian never gave up studying the contract on his wrist, trying to find a way to return early to the Twilight Zone. Even using Easter break for research, he still couldn't uncover this little-known knowledge. Months slipped by.
"You liar! Forty-nine days have long passed!"
Ian had learned to deal with the black-robed skeleton in dreams, so the skeleton was much more obedient now.
"It's forty-nine times, the waxing and waning of the blood moon."
The black-robed skeleton timidly retreated, correcting Ian with a wronged tone.
"..."
Ian was speechless, and kicked it, but despite a flying kick, the skeleton nimbly dodged and only got its knee kicked.
"Get down here!"
Ian looked up at the black-robed skeleton who had climbed to the ceiling, hanging upside down like Spider-Man, ignoring gravity. He angrily started throwing rotten eggs.
No matter how Ian pressured the skeleton, it seemed genuinely unaware of how long a time span the forty-nine blood moon cycles represented.
"Gūlū Gūlū Gūlū~"
Ian even shoved the skeleton into a cauldron, but it still couldn't make sense of the situation. Seeing the skeleton gradually stained from white to chili pepper red, Ian finally believed it truly didn't know.
This matter was indeed unsolvable.
Even Ian's pleas to Albus Dumbledore didn't help.
"Maybe what you need now is patience."
The Albus Dumbledore Ian found, who appeared from some unknown timeline, smiled kindly and spoke calmly, which gave Ian a bit of reassurance.
"What you say sounds just like a message from another teacher I have in the Twilight Zone." The little wizard sighed and grew curious why Albus Dumbledore was so certain.
"Have you already experienced such a future?"
Ian's questioning was met only with a silent smile.
He knew.
This was Albus Dumbledore' way of avoiding temporal paradoxes, Ian had encountered this headmaster multiple times in recent months but never could figure out from which period this Albus Dumbledore came. If this kept going, Albus Dumbledore might become the spokesperson for time travel.
Responding to Ian's complaints,
"I am striving to walk that path. My research has indeed shown me that possibility."
Albus Dumbledore' answer gave Ian a subtle sense of dread.
Before Ian could ponder further,
"Relax a little. You should give yourself some time to rest as well. The final grand event of the first semester is coming up, I'm sure you don't want to miss it."
Albus Dumbledore advised the little wizard again.
Yes.
That black-robed skeleton had seriously screwed over the entire second half of the semester. Now, finals were upon them, and it was almost time for the students to go home and enjoy their break.
"Ah, alright. Thank you, Professor. I'll go water the plants." Ian watched as Albus Dumbledore disappeared without a trace after turning a corner.
He then returned to the Room of Requirement.
By now,
After days of torturing and interrogating the black-robed skeleton, he had unlocked a new way to cultivate plants, watering them with cooled broth made from the black-robed skeleton's stew.
Of course,
No chili could be added.
It was pure bone broth, and although no one knew exactly what had been extracted in the stew, it surprisingly accelerated the growth and development of plants. The chomping cabbage he had grown before was even bigger than a lion.
Its power was formidable.
Professor Pomona Sprout was chased all over the school by the cabbages, but only the Hufflepuff witch's eyes shone brightly. On a moonless, windy night, she struck a seed cultivation deal with Ian.
No one knew the details or the outcome.
But the Hufflepuff witch gave Ian five-star reviews wherever she went around the school. To be honest, Ian's refinement of the black-robed skeleton broth wasn't really to grow chomping cabbage.
"Splash splash~"
He was cultivating seeds brought out from the mysterious tower.
Now,
After several months,
Vibrant green shoots had broken through the soil. Starlight shimmered around the sprouts like tiny stars, making them look mysterious and powerful just by sight alone.
"Tell me, does this count as feeding you some meat?"
Ian was watering the plants with the skeleton's bathwater. He watched the milky white liquid gradually seep into the soil.
His sudden, whimsical thoughts remained just as unexpected.
"World Tree, World Tree, World Tree~"
It was only a single green sprout, But it already possessed magical qualities like the ancieent language.
It could simulate human voices by vibrating.
It repeated the phrases Ian muttered daily while watering it. Perhaps because the watering broth had become bone broth recently, Ian noticed white, bone-like patterns gradually appearing on the surface of the sprout.
"This art style… please don't go off the rails again."
Ian was really worried. His current situation was already dark enough.
(End of chapter)
You can read ahead up to 110 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395