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HP:BSG - Chapter 687: The Mist
🕑 Added 2025-11-07 11:30:02 +0000 UTCA strange golden mist shrouded the entire road. On the left was a dense forest packed with plants, while on the right lay a deep pit and the trees inside almost reached Clementineâs line of sight.
The girl bit her lip, hesitant.
The golden mist ahead looked bizarreâit was clearly a trap. She had already cast seven or eight spells in a row, but none of them managed to disperse the fog or reveal what it actually was.
Every spell simply passed straight through the mist, as though it were nothing more than a harmless, ordinary natural phenomenon. But Clementine was far too cautious to think that.
If she didnât want to go through, sheâd have to take a detour.
But if she turned back to find another path⌠without the compass, she would definitely lose her way.
The centaur had said that if she kept following this road forward, she would see the trophy.
âShould I take the risk? OrâŚ
After thinking for a long while, the girl suddenly gritted her teeth, cast a Shield Charm on herself, raised her arm to shield her face, and charged straight in!
âŚ
A gray mouse curled up beneath a thick cluster of wild garlic, hiding its presence behind the strong garlicky scent. Through the gaps between the leaves, its black eyes nervously watched the scene ahead.
A huge gorilla sat crouched in the clearing, making a low âgrrr-grrrâ rumbling sound, grumbling about the person who had escaped right under its nose. Even the little flower on its head drooped listlessly.
It was absurd, yet the mouseâJabariâalmost thought he was hallucinating: the gorilla looked like a sulking, pouting child.
From a nearby elderberry bush, a lizardâs triangular head slowly poked out. Its eyes rolled as it peeked toward its master, sneakily watching his expression.
A cheetah padded gracefully over to the gorilla, and let out a short, mocking snort. It straightened up and lightly patted the gorillaâs drooping head with its front paw.
The gorilla roared angrily, shoving it away. The cheetah rolled once on the ground, then quickly got up again and crouched by Wadeâs side, lazily licking its paw as if nothing had happened.
Seeing this, Wade chuckled softly. He reached out and rubbed the gorillaâs rough head. âI see⌠youâve all had a hard time.â
He casually plucked a flower bud from the ground. Without any noticeable movement, the flower bloomed in his handâthe pale purple petals unfurled and released a faint, delicate fragrance.
Wade tucked the flower behind the gorillaâs ear, then glanced at the dense, thorn-covered forest ahead.
âIt doesnât matter if she got away. As long as she still wants the trophy, weâll meet again sooner or later.â
In his hand, the compass needle pointed toward the thick bramble ahead. In this forest, even ordinary creatures seemed to have turned dangerous. The thorns ahead formed a wall bristling with steel-like spikesâso dense that even a Bowtruckle couldnât move freely within.
It was as if the forest itself were saying: âContestants, this path is blocked. Take a detourâthere are plenty more traps waiting for you.â
But Wade didnât want to keep circling around the forest. He reached out to stroke the cheetahâs soft ear and said,
âIâll take care of the rest of the path myself. You go deal with that little mouse trailing behind us. Donât let anyone throughâexcept Harry.â
He paused for a moment, then sighed softly as he remembered the still-missing mantis.
And added quietly:
â...Do your best. If you really canât hold them back, itâs fine to let them throughâI can handle it.â
The three magic dolls fixed their gaze on him. After a brief moment, they lowered their heads slightly in acknowledgment.
Then, the gorilla turned its head and bared its teeth in a ferocious snarl; the lizard twisted around and flickered its tongue seemingly sensing the air; and the cheetah crouched low and its eyes gleamed faintly in the darkness.
Their gazes all shifted toward the direction where the mouse was hiding.
Jabariâs fur instantly bristled. He didnât dare gamble on the chance that they hadnât spotted him. Panicking, he bolted from his hiding spot and dove into a crack between tree roots with his tiny claws scraping up a trail of dust as he fled.
A rumbling roar echoed behind him as the magic dolls launched their pursuit, crushing everything in their path. The gorilla crashed through trees with brute force, the lizard sped across the forest floor like lightning, and each of the cheetahâs steps left deep claw marks in the earth.
The sounds of the chase quickly faded into the distance. Wade didnât look back to check on their battle, nor did he care how many competitors were still capable of catching up.
He waved his wand, and the thick wall of thorns ahead seemed to be pulled apart by invisible hands. The spiked branches twisted and curled to the sides, revealing a narrow passageway just wide enough for one person to pass through.
Wade stepped into the passage. A glowing orb hovered in front of him, and wherever its light reached, the thorns recoiled, opening up a straight path forward.
âŚ
The gray mouse darted frantically through the forest. A boulder hurled by the gorilla grazed his tail before slamming into a tree, sending wood chips flying everywhere.
He made a sharp turn, narrowly avoiding the cheetahâs claws that gleamed with cold light.
But the most terrifying thing was that the lizard had vanishedâhe had no idea when it disappeared, only that it could leap out from any corner at any time.
Jabariâs whiskers trembled with fear. If not for his small size and ability to squeeze into narrow gaps, he wouldâve been caught by those creatures five minutes ago.
Just as he was fleeing for his life, a figure suddenly appeared from behind a large tree aheadâClementine. The girlâs face was pale, her expression tense. She quickly waved her arm, signaling the direction he should run.
Without hesitation, Jabari rushed toward her. Just as he was about to pass her by, Clementine shouted and swung her wand sharply. It was as if an invisible rope had lassoed the mouse, yanking him violently to the side!
The pursuing cheetah couldnât stop in time. It burst out of the underbrush and straight into the seemingly harmless golden mist ahead. The moment it entered, its movements frozeâits hind legs twitched, its tail stiffened, and its spine arched upward in a sudden spasm.
Jabari didnât understand what had just happened to the cheetah, but he knew an opportunity when he saw one. He immediately transformed back into human form and raised his wand. Clementine, already prepared, shouted in a sharp voice:
âIncendio!â
It seemed she had set up something on the ground beforehandâat the instant the spell struck, flames whooshed up with a roar, instantly engulfing the cheetah doll in a wall of fire.
âROARâ!â
The gorilla bellowed furiously and charged forward, slamming into the cheetah and knocking it out of the golden mistâs range. It stopped short right at the edge, and for the first time, a very human expression of fear appeared on its face.
In that instant, the gorilla finally understood why the cheetah had suddenly frozen earlier:
The entire world seemed to flip upside downâthe ground beneath its feet felt like a ceiling, and the sky above seemed like solid earth. It felt as if just one step forward would send it tumbling into the endless skyâor even into the pitch-black void of space itself.
The thoughts that had given it a trace of humanity⌠also made it capable of feeling fear.
At the moment when the gorillaâs whole body trembled and it could no longer move, the flames had already swallowed it completely. Jabari and Clementineâs spells struck one after anotherâ
âDiffindo!â
âConfringo!â
âBombarda Maxima!â
The gorilla stood within the mist. It finally understoodâ the golden mist hadnât truly inverted heaven and earth. All it had to do was lift its foot, and it could free itself from the illusion.
But in the instant it lifted its foot, its remaining body cracked apart with a sharp crash, collapsing to the ground where it burned quietly, sending thin trails of black smoke curling into the air.
One of its yellow gemstone eyes rolled twice across the dirt. For a moment, a faint light flickered within itâthen went completely dark.
Jabari let out a long breath of relief, only to realize that his heart was pounding wildly, every muscle in his body twitching with adrenaline.
The cheetah had been rolling on the ground, finally extinguishing the flames that had consumed its body. Standing beneath a beech tree, it witnessed the gorillaâs disintegration.
Then, it raised its head. Through the shimmering golden mist, its pair of glowing green eyes locked onto the two wizards across from it.
âAll right, it wonât dare come closer for now,â Clementine said quickly. âLetâs moveâget out of here!â
But before she could finish speaking, a strange whistling sound sliced through the air.
She whipped her head aroundâ just in time to see a long, slender tongue lash out like a venomous snake and coil tightly around Jabariâs neck!
Jabariâs expression still carried the traces of relief turning to dread. He instinctively reached up to scratch at his neckâbut before he could even react, his entire body was yanked into the air, boots flying off as he kicked helplessly.
Thud!
Clementineâs gaze froze in shock.
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