301: Chapter 295: A Series of Twists and Turns, Invited to Visit the Magical Creatures Class

Early morning.

As the sky just began to pale, the Queen left her warm bed and dressed with the assistance of her servants.

Dressed in full regalia, she stepped outside where the royal motorcade was already prepared and waiting.

She bent down to enter the car as Butler Lee held the door open; the motorcade slowly set off toward Kings Cross Station.

The Queen gazed through the window at the shops receding rapidly, a look of joy in her eyes.

It certainly wasn't because of the commercial streets she had long grown tired of.

Last night, an Owl had flown into her bedroom to deliver a handwritten letter from the Headmaster.

The letter stated that as the supreme leader of Ying Country, Hogwarts had reserved a spot for her to observe a magical creatures class.

The Queen was nearly a hundred years old, yet at that moment, she was like a little girl receiving a favorite gift, nearly crying out in surprise.

Carefully tucking the letter—which also served as a ticket—into the breast of her nightgown, she had chatted with the Owl perched at her bedside for quite a while.

It was mostly rhetoric like "the palace has plenty of delicious food" and "I can introduce you to beautiful Owl ladies," attempting to entice the Owl to stay at the palace.

She didn't know that the incredibly realistic Owl was actually a "puppet" controlled by someone.

So the result was obvious; the Owl simply spread its wings and departed.

The disappointed Queen quickly composed herself, for her dream of obtaining a magical pet still had a chance to be realized.

"Your Majesty, we have arrived." Butler Lee's voice, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, woke her from her thoughts.

The Queen's blurred vision cleared. Once the car door was opened, she stepped out, holding both sides of her long skirt with her hands.

At the same time, passengers from the other cars in the motorcade emerged one after another, gathering behind the Queen.

Aside from the Guards responsible for security, there were over a dozen men and women dressed in suits.

The group was relatively uniform: reporters with press badges around their necks and cameramen carrying video cameras.

They were all staff members belonging to the Royal Press Industry, accompanying the Queen to Hogwarts to record the sights and sounds of the journey.

The Queen turned to face the crowd: "Although I have obtained the Headmaster's permission to film, remember not to wander off distracted by the novelties of the Magic Academy.

If you unintentionally violate the taboos of Hogwarts, no one knows what the consequences will be. Do you understand?"

The group, which had been quite relaxed, suddenly grew tense, nodding their heads vigorously to show they understood.

Seeing this, the Queen turned and walked toward the station, which had already been cleared. They obediently followed in a long line, with Butler Lee walking by the Queen's side.

Inside the station, they reached the entrance to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters—a wall built of red bricks.

From the lady's leather handbag slung over her wrist, the Queen pulled out the letter from the previous night.

As soon as it was taken out, the wall immediately lit up with a glow.

Taking a deep breath to calm her excitement, the reporters followed the Queen into the light. The security Guards all remained in the hall, waiting for their return.

As their vision returned from the white haze, a 19th-century style train platform appeared before their eyes.

A scene that only existed in novels had become reality; witnessing it with their own eyes, the reporters even forgot to marvel.

Watching the pedestrians hurrying on and off the train with curiosity and excitement, one reporter couldn't suppress his restless heart: "Your Majesty, is filming allowed here?"

The Queen did not answer, but Butler Lee said dryly, "Gentlemen and ladies, at Hogwarts, please modify your professional habits slightly.

In the Kingdom, you have the right to film without consent, but not at Hogwarts."

These words, carrying a slight hint of warning, did not dampen the crowd's desire for work; instead, it allowed them to find a hidden meaning—so we just need to ask for permission?

They asked the conductor by the train door; there was still half an hour before departure.

The group's spirits soared. After receiving a nod from the Queen, they dragged their cameramen and scattered, randomly striking up conversations with passing pedestrians.

Before inviting the Queen, Zhang Mu had already anticipated this scene.

Therefore, when creating the Jinshui Town puppets, he had also made a batch of train passengers.

Not only that, he had very thoughtfully equipped this batch of passenger puppets with morphable appearances and skeletons—allowing for subtle adjustments to facial features and physique.

This way, no one would notice anything unusual—why were the passengers on the train always the same group of people?

To make it more realistic, Zhang Mu added differentiated interaction mechanisms to the puppets' Core.

Simply put, the personality displayed by each puppet would be different.

Some were cold, some enthusiastic, some sensitive and alert, and some gruff and irritable.

Consequently, the feedback each reporter received after striking up a conversation varied greatly.

For instance, there was a reporter here who was the first to initiate an interview; he was brave but lacked a bit of discernment.

"Hello sir, I am from the United King..."

"Stay away from me, Muggle!" A burly man with stubble bypassed him with great disdain.

Then there was the reporter over there who was more clever. Combining the cold reception his colleague suffered, he approached a kind-looking old lady pulling a suitcase.

"Hello, beautiful lady. There is still some time before the train departs. May I have the honor of chatting with you?"

"What a sweet-talking young man." The old lady covered her mouth and chuckled shyly, acknowledging his flattery. "I'm glad there are still young people willing to chat with an old-fashioned person like me."

Seeing her agree, the reporter mentally cheered and hurriedly waved over the cameraman nearby.

"Beautiful lady, do you know about Hogwarts?"

"Of course. We are under the protection of Hogwarts, as is this world."

The old lady seemed to know the reporter was an outsider, so she didn't mock his seemingly idiotic question, but instead answered patiently.

"Do you have any family members enrolled at Hogwarts?"

The young reporter's emotional intelligence was somewhat low; asking such a blunt question without testing the waters clearly pained the old lady.

Her expression visibly dimmed: "I very much wish I could tell you yes, but unfortunately..."

"Oh, I'm sorry." The reporter realized his mistake and apologized profusely, then continued to ask.

However, the old lady seemed to recall some painful memories, so her enthusiasm vanished, and the conversation became half-hearted.

The reporter was embarrassed and kept telling interesting stories to try and make up for his mistake, but it had little effect.

The old lady bid him a low-spirited farewell and boarded the train pulling her suitcase.

Regretfully giving himself a slap, he quickly moved on, preparing to stop another passenger.

Butler Lee's voice interrupted him: "Everyone, it's time to board. How long do you plan to keep the Queen waiting?"

The Queen wasn't impatient, standing quietly on the platform, but Butler Lee, who had practically watched her grow up, keenly perceived that displeasure.

He understood that due to her status, the Queen couldn't appear harsh, so it was his turn to be her spokesperson.

The two knew each other well; the corner of the Queen's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly before immediately settling back down as she played the 'good cop' to smooth things over: "It's fine, there's still some time. Everyone can enjoy themselves."

No one, no matter how stupid, would take those words literally. The reporters all hurriedly ran back to assemble and board the train, embarking on this day-and-night journey.

...

Jinshui Town Jail.

Luo Xiling leaned against the wall, while the other four stood against the wall in the next cell.

Ye Ming leaned his back against the wall, assigning tasks to the five while making final refinements to the plan before starting.

"The Prodigy will come to the scene, have no doubt about that. It is no match for you, that much is also certain; otherwise, it would have fought us directly instead of attempting a conspiracy."

Ye Ming crossed his arms over his chest, his tone troubled: "The only problem is that we have no way to see through the Prodigy's disguise.

Um... have you five learned any?"

A girl's voice came from next door: "The secret manual Immortal Xu gave us focuses on slaughter; it's all various sword techniques. Uh, what about Senior Sister?"

Luo Xiling, who was deep in thought, was startled: "Everyone practiced the same sword manual, why do you think I would know it?"

"Immortal Xu thinks so highly of you, going personally to recruit you as a disciple. Didn't he give you any private lessons?"

Luo Xiling went blank for a moment. Coming to her senses and seeing Ye Ming looking at her with a curious gaze, she stiffened her neck: "Yes, he did!"

"Really?!" Ye Ming broke into a smile. "Then the biggest difficulty..."

"I haven't finished yet."

"What's wrong?"

"The private lessons Master gave were also related to attacking."

Although she talked tough and held her chest high, Ye Ming still saw through her lack of confidence.

He considerately didn't expose her, saying: "Then there's no other way, we'll just have to improvise."

The primary goal of this trip was to slay the Prodigy, yet they lacked skills to lock onto it; no matter how one looked at it, the plan felt crude.

But Ye Ming had exhausted his ideas; however forced it was, they could only bite the bullet and go through with it.

With all the details communicated, the six of them closed their mouths and eyes to rest and build up their strength.

Half an hour later, as the sun was about to climb to its highest point of the day, the Head Constable arrived late leading a squad of constables.

"You lot, go Guard the door."

"Yes!"

Once the constables disappeared at the end of the corridor, the Head Constable bowed with hands cupped: "On the grounds of closing the case early to appease public anger, this lowly official persuaded the County Magistrate to have you all executed at the Vegetable Market at noon today.

The hour has come. I wonder if you are prepared, sir?"

Hearing his words, Ye Ming's gaze sharpened. This was getting interesting...

Whatever his internal thoughts were, he replied, "Let's go."

"Yes."

The Head Constable straightened up, his face regaining its majesty. He called the squad of constables guarding the door to open the cells, placed heavy wooden cangues on the five, and escorted them to the execution ground.

Walking down the dim corridor, Luo Xiling glanced left and right at the prisoners in the cells on both sides and whispered: "I remember in the period dramas I've watched, there's a parade through the streets before the beheading.

We won't have eggs thrown at us, will we?"

The five were ordinary people, and the so-called cultivation was just Zhang Mu's trickery, but at least their Mental Energy was influenced by the longsword Cores, making them a bit more resilient than average people, and their bodies were slightly stronger accordingly. Walking with the cangues wasn't too strenuous.

Ye Ming was a bit worse off.

In the spirit of doing the act thoroughly, he had even specifically instructed the Head Constable not to use lighter, specially-made cangues.

Now that he was locked up, not only was his neck heavy, but the skin in contact with the wood rubbed back and forth as he walked, causing a burning pain.

Propping the wooden cangue up slightly with his hands, he also replied in a low voice: "Don't worry, if they throw anything, it'll be rotten vegetable leaves. Eggs are precious nutrients in an era of low productivity."

"Huh? No way. We're currently the murderers who killed their daughters. Would they still be stingy with a few eggs?"

"Sometimes... human life isn't worth as much as an egg."

"No talking!" The constables on their left and right shouted sternly.

"Who's talking..." Luo Xiling muttered dissatisfiedly, then fell silent for the sake of the Prodigy-slaying plan.

The escort team proceeded along the main street, and the scene Luo Xiling feared did not occur.

The street was empty, so naturally, no rotten vegetable leaves flew their way, let alone eggs.

All six were puzzled, but with constables accompanying them on both sides, it wasn't convenient to ask the Head Constable.

However, they soon got their answer.

Arriving at the Vegetable Market, they were stunned to find that the not-very-wide street was so packed with people that not even a fly could get in.

Seeing the prisoners arrive, the crowd immediately became agitated: "Give me back my daughter!"

"Behead them! Behead them!"

The constables, possessing martial arts, drew their sabers to intimidate those in front, forcibly carving a path through the crowd. Only then could the team step onto the execution platform.

According to the plan, the six all kept cold, silent faces as if unwilling to accept their fate. The constables pulled them into a line and forced them to kneel on the ground.

Behind the execution platform was a set of steps leading to a platform made of wooden planks. A wooden table was set up there, and the County Magistrate, wearing an official's hat, sat behind it.

He squinted at the sky, pulled a token from the tube on the table, and threw it down heavily: "Execute!"

The token hit the floor. The executioner walked slowly to Ye Ming, who was first in line, and raised his great sword. The blade reflected a piercing cold light under the sunlight.

With his head about to fall, Ye Ming's expression was frantic, but his mind was entirely focused on the crowd below the platform.

With the conspiracy successful and even extra gains, the Prodigy would surely be triumphant.

He wouldn't just be excited; he would be joyful, ecstatic.

Ye Ming's sharp gaze passed through the gaps in his messy hair, quickly scanning face after face with various expressions.

Not that one, not this one, not him either. Where is it? Where is it...

It's her!

In a flash, Ye Ming's gaze landed on the face of a woman—the very woman who had gone to report to the authorities yesterday.

She was smiling, smiling heartily.

Theoretically, it wouldn't be too much to laugh out loud when the murderers of one's daughter were being punished.

But Ye Ming saw many parents' faces filled with sorrow.

True, even if the murderers were beheaded, their daughters were gone after all. As parents, how could they possibly smile?

"It's her! The woman who reported to the authorities yesterday!" Ye Ming bumped the executioner aside and stood up, shouting.

The boiling crowd suddenly went silent, clearly not knowing what was happening, but the five did not daze. They all forcefully broke out of their wooden cangues and performed sword gestures.

"Sword, come!"

As soon as the words fell, five longswords—one green and four white—shot out from beneath the execution platform, heading straight for the woman.

"Watch out!" Ye Ming knew he was powerless to help, so he backed away while shouting a warning.

The five instantly understood; he meant to be careful not to hurt the innocent mortals watching the spectacle.

As for why he didn't say it bluntly, Ye Ming wasn't stupid. Saying "don't hurt the mortals" to their faces would be equivalent to telling the Prodigy "you can grab mortals as shields."

Luo Xiling had the quickest reaction. She stepped forward, her fingers constantly changing gestures. The speed of the moon bright sword surged, leaving the other four's swords behind as it swept away the crowd around the woman.

She wasn't very skilled at controlling her strength; they would be injured.

However, the situation was urgent, and she couldn't worry about that now.

She continued to control the moon bright sword to circle around the woman, intending to trap her in place to prevent her from escaping.

"Go, go, go!"

The crowd was frightened by the shooting swords and rushed outward. Once Luo Xiling was sure there would be no accidental injuries, she excitedly shouted for the four to launch their attack.