touchnovel Chapter 191 Tracking
Chapter 191 Tracking
Chapter 191 Tracking
Lin Qi quietly returned to the stairwell.
The place remained deserted, with only the flickering light of torches casting shadows on the walls.
Without wasting any time, he fumbled in the inner pocket of his trench coat and pulled out a pair of oddly shaped sunglasses.
The sunglasses frames were meticulously carved from ebony, the lenses were as black as the deepest night sky, and the edges were inlaid with fine silver runes that shimmered faintly in the dim light.
These specially made sunglasses can capture the most subtle fluctuations left by Snape's specially made potion.
The moment he put on the sunglasses, the surrounding light seemed to be absorbed into the lenses, and the whole world was instantly shrouded in a dark filter, with only traces of magic shimmering within.
In this unique perspective, the castle's structure becomes hazy and illusory, with stone walls and columns appearing as indistinct outlines, while the traces of magic are as clearly visible as the Milky Way in the night sky.
Silver light meandered between the walls and pipes, outlining clear tracks—a thin film formed on the inner wall of the pipes by Snape's specially made potion, leaving a mark on any creature that passed by.
He first walked to the node closest to the staircase, behind a suit of ancient armor.
The potion flowed evenly along the inner wall of the pipe, like a stream under the moonlight. Besides the evenly flowing glow of the potion, there were also some intermittent traces scattered in the field of vision—those were the tiny scratches left on the potion film by small creatures that were common in the castle when they brushed past the pipe.
The second node is hidden in a recess in the sidewalk corridor, where a farmer's portrait in the frame emits a soft snore, completely unaware of Lynch's passing.
The third node is near the abandoned classroom, and the situation is similar; the silvery light flows calmly along the inner wall of the pipe, undisturbed by the large area.
When Lynch arrived at the fourth node—a pipe opening cleverly hidden at the base of a dripping beast stone sculpture—the scene in the lens made him suddenly stop.
A brand-new, wide trail swept across, not only disrupting the silvery light but also leaving a deep mark on the potion's membrane. This was no trace left by a mouse or any other small creature—
Its width and depth both point to a completely different, much larger existence.
The mark was so fresh that it still gleamed brightly in the lens, pointing straight into the depths of the pipe.
A smile appeared on Lin Qi's lips: "Found you."
He straightened up and gently touched the stone wall in front of him.
The stone rippled outwards like water, silently decomposing and recombining, revealing the intricate piping system behind it.
Lin Qi stretched out his finger, and a tiny light shone from the tip.
Then, he stepped into the temporarily opened passage, and the wall behind him immediately returned to its original state after he passed by, as if nothing had happened.
Lynch walked within the walls of Hogwarts Castle, and wherever he went, thick stone walls, crisscrossing pipes, and ancient wooden beams all spontaneously made way for him.
Through the specially made glasses, the traces of the potion shimmered ahead, like a silver ribbon winding its way through a complex network of pipes, guiding him deeper into the maze.
The deeper you go, the older the surrounding buildings become.
The texture of the stone gradually changed from smooth modern stones to rough, ancient stone, and the pipes changed from metal to stone, with some blurry carving marks appearing on them.
The once crisscrossing network of pipes gradually converged and merged here, until finally only one exceptionally thick ancient stone pipe remained, stubbornly extending downwards into the deepest part of the earth.
The traces of the potion here have become extremely faint, like a candle flickering in the wind.
However, on this last pipe, Lynch discovered a huge, irregular crack on the side wall of the pipe, with jagged edges, as if it had been forcibly broken open by some enormous force.
He leaned closer to examine it and could clearly see that the edges of the crack were stained with nearly dried remnants of a magic potion, which still shimmered faintly.
"It seems it changed course here—" Lynch mused.
Beyond the crack, within the solid rock strata, lies a deep, wide natural crevice, from which a cold wind carrying a primal, damp scent blows.
Without hesitation, he nimbly stepped over the broken section of the pipe and onto this natural path hidden outside the building structure.
The crevice was narrow at first, but with a steady glow emanating from his fingertips, he carefully moved forward. After extending downwards for a while, the crevice suddenly opened up before him, and Lin Qi reached the end of the crevice.
Ahead lay a bottomless void and darkness. He stopped, stood at the edge of the stone path, and gently flicked the ball of light from his fingertip forward—
Like a firefly imbued with life, the sphere of light suddenly accelerated, piercing through the thick darkness and flying forward. As it flew, the light spread out, instantly illuminating an unimaginably magnificent underground space.
This is a huge natural cave.
The sphere of light flew to the center of the space, illuminating the towering cave ceiling. Countless stalactites, as thick as the ribs of a giant beast, hung down from above, connecting with the enormous stalagmites rising from the ground, forming the ancient skeleton supporting this world. The rock walls bore mottled patterns eroded by flowing water over millennia, without any trace of human intervention.
After confirming the environment below and potential footholds, Lin Qi lightly leaped down from the end of the stone path, his feet landing on the solid and wide ground of the cave.
The damp, heavy air, carrying the primal scent of earth and rock, rushed towards us.
The ball of light, having completed its mission of scouting, flew back to his side, hovering above his head and illuminating the surroundings even more clearly.
"This is a naturally formed grotto—its scale is astonishing," Lynch thought to himself, his gaze sweeping over the magnificent and ancient geological wonder. "It's probably buried hundreds of meters underground in the rock strata of Hogwarts Castle, hidden beneath the unknown foundations of this ancient castle. Slytherin certainly found a good place; no wonder no one has been able to find his secret chamber for a thousand years. Who would have thought it would be hidden so deep underground?"
He lowered his gaze and looked at the ground.
The faint trace of the potion that had been extending from the broken pipe had completely disappeared.
However, another trace began to appear exceptionally clear from below the crack in the stone—a wide, long, smooth path that seemed to have been repeatedly rubbed and dragged across the ground by some incredibly heavy, soft object.
Without a doubt, these were the tracks left by the basilisk, winding their way into the depths of the cave.
Take off the sunglasses and put them in your pocket.
Lynch followed the tracks on the ground and continued forward.
Until a huge stone gate appeared before him.
The stone door was tightly shut, and the crawling traces left by the serpent monster disappeared into the gap at the bottom of the stone door.
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