Chapter 1261: Eyes in the Darkness

The sound that was like a sigh piled up together, forming a thick mire, pressing from all directions on Vid.

He was still falling.

Darkness surged from all sides, with no boundary or direction visible, only the cold wind whistling in his ears.

“Ha…”

A long sound came from the depths, like the last breath a person exhales before dying.

Vid’s heartbeat was like a drum, he struggled to open his eyes, but he saw nothing except complete darkness.

Then, he heard another sound.

—Like distant thunder rolling through clouds, like roots breaking in the soil, more like something immensely huge turning over deep within the darkness.

Vid’s heart skipped a beat, and he felt cold all over.

This chill didn’t come from outside, but seeped out from between his bones.

His body involuntarily trembled, not just from the fear erupting from his heart, but as an uncontrollable physiological reaction akin to falling into an icy river.

Suddenly, something swept past his field of vision.

—In front of him, within arm’s reach, there was a sphere like the sun.

It was dark red, emitting a faint yet chilling light, occasionally with mist like flames steaming and expanding on it, then suddenly contracting back.

Vid’s falling speed instantly slowed, soon coming to a halt.

He found himself suspended in a void, all around and above him pitch black, nothing there.

The light from the sphere reached an unknown distance, as everything he could see was darkness.

Vid lowered his head and saw his own hands.

His fingers were slender and thin, nails smooth and neat, pale with a hint of cyan.

The clothing had a silky drape, the cuffs wide, upon careful inspection, the edges had exquisite trim.

However, the robe that reached his ankles, like his body, was pearl white, making the patterns on it inconspicuous.

Thinking of the daytime handshake, Vid suddenly realized, at this moment, he was experiencing everything in front of him from Madam Grey’s perspective.

“Ha…”

The sighing sound echoed once more.

In the darkness, another dim light abruptly illuminated.

It was a woman, in her twenties or thirties, wearing a faded light grey cotton coat, with her hair tied into a loose braid.

Her head lifted, face full of pain and despair, and endless unwillingness.

More lights gradually brightened.

A newborn baby, looking just born, with curved umbilical cord still attached to its belly, hands tightly clenched into fists.

Then a man in his sixties or seventies, wearing a dark grey overcoat, thick deer fur boots on his feet, his chest stained with blood.

Not far away, a woman in a white nurse’s uniform clumsily climbed up from the ground, reaching her hands toward the sky, seemingly pleading for help.

A policeman in a dark grey uniform taking off his cap, staring dumbly at the “sun” in the sky.

Then a vendor with a gaunt face, wearing a checkered short shirt, a towel for wiping sweat wrapped around his head, holding a few coins.

Suddenly, Vid’s heart jolted.

—That man hadn’t set up a stall, why did he feel he was a “vendor”?

He immediately shifted his gaze onto that man, finding he had seen him in his dreams.

In that… dream like an explosion had occurred.

Soon after, he saw the girl in a sari, holding a drink, yet the golden thread lotus embroidery on her skirt had vanished, replaced by tattered cloth and bloodstains.

A young man was striding towards her, in jeans, sneakers, a camera hanging around his neck, but its casing seemed shattered.

Vid didn’t understand, how could he see this clearly—the distance between them was clearly vast.

It seemed like only a few seconds passed, and one to two hundred figures emerged in the darkness, very distinct from one another—

Some were tall, with pale skin, dressed heavily, appearing to be in the depths of winter.

Others were shorter, with brown skin, broad lips, simply dressed, probably from tropical regions.

Yet the confusion, panic, fear on their faces were strikingly similar.

In the air, the red sphere suddenly rotated, emitting a “woo-woo” whistling sound.

No matter what those figures were doing, their actions abruptly ceased.

Soon, a hundred pairs of eyes simultaneously turned toward the sphere near Vid, as if also looking at him.

On their faces were all the agony and despair frozen in the moment before their death.

At this moment, Vid was ice-cold in limbs, his mind a blank.

Another feeling surged up from the bottom of his heart.

It wasn’t his own feeling, but belonged to Madam Grey.

She was killed, eternally pinned in the gap between the real world and the Netherworld, unable to turn back or dare move forward, confined to endlessly wander within the castle, emitting a decaying odor like those old tables and broken wine barrels.

She could never forget that feeling.

Every day and night, when she passed through walls and saw those living people with warmth, despair would resurface, like that ever unhealed wound on her body.

Vid could feel it, the emotions emanating from Madam Grey were identical to those figures crawling below.

The taste of death and despair created a remarkable resonance between them.

“Boom…”

The strange thunder sounded again from afar, the red sphere in the air suddenly expanded several times, releasing a powerful suction.

Those figures below moved.

They opened their mouths, simultaneously emitting silent screams, involuntarily flying towards the red sphere!

Vid watched intently.

One by one the figures were sucked in, the red becoming increasingly vivid, it transformed into a colossal light mass, also like a gem soaked in life, glistening with sinister red gleams.

Even Vid… no, even Madam Grey was drawn to the red light mass, she struggled with all her might, screaming heartbreakingly, but helplessly.

As she was about to get close to the light mass, a warm force suddenly pulled her from behind.

Madam Grey hurriedly looked back.

In the depths of the distant darkness, lights suddenly ignited.

The lights came from Hogwarts, from the castle itself, countless windows emanated dim yellow light, very faint but like an anchor, firmly grasping Madam Grey who was falling into the boundless darkness.

In the next second, the ghost was pulled upwards at a rapid speed by this force.

“Boom…”

The thunder resounded again, Madam Grey turned her head to see—

In the darkness, an eye opened.

The eye was gigantic, with black flames burning in its pupil, it looked toward the red light mass then slightly turned its eyeball towards Madam Grey.

It was approaching, the entire dark world was suddenly trembling.

“Poof!”

Like breaking free from water, Madam Grey passed through thick soil, through countless layers of rock and foundation, and innumerable floors and walls, landing with a “plop” on hard and cold stone ground.

She was pulled back!

The ghost’s mouth was wide open, unable to scream.

She curled up there, shivering all over.

After who knows how long, a voice sounded from overhead—

“Madam Grey?”

It was Luna’s voice.

Vid suddenly opened his eyes wide.