On Zhou Huai's face, a hint of surprise appeared just at the right moment.

The Lord of Senluo, Lin Zhu.

One of the only two surviving SS-Rank Professionals on the surface of Great Xia Nation.

Who would have thought that the somewhat sharp-looking old woman in front of him would actually be such a legendary existence.

No wonder Zhang Donglai said that only this place is the safest in Great Xia Nation.

With her holding down the fort, no matter how bold those lunatics from the Dawnbreaker Guild were, they wouldn't dare to step foot here for even half a step.

Seeing that he already understood, Zhang Donglai's expression relaxed as well.

"There's nothing much, so Old Zhao and I will be leaving first."

He patted Gandalf on the shoulder.

"Rest assured and stay here, get some good rest."

"Tomorrow, I'll arrange for a student from Imperial Capital Academy to come and take you to the dungeon area."

Zhou Huai manipulated Gandalf and nodded at the two of them.

"Thank you both, Generals."

Hearing this, Zhang Donglai waved his hand, a sincere smile appearing on his face.

"What kind of thanks are you talking about."

"If anyone should be thanking anyone, it should be me thanking you."

He sighed with emotion.

"If it weren't for you turning the tide in the National Examination, I might have already been suspended and investigated by now."

"If it were any more serious, I'm afraid a prison sentence would be inevitable."

"So, it is I who should be thanking you."

As he spoke, he fished out a badge with a rustic design from his jacket pocket.

The badge was forged entirely from mithril, with a pure blue gem embedded in the center.

"A small gift, please don't mind it."

Zhang Donglai handed the badge over.

Zhou Huai manipulated Gandalf to take it.

It felt slightly cool to the touch.

【Badge of Clearing Heart (Epic)】

【Type: Accessory】

【Spirit + 200】

【Affix 1: Active Skill: Purification】

【Effect: Consumes 100 Mana Points to instantly remove all control effects on oneself. Cooldown: 2 minutes.】

Zhang Donglai looked at Gandalf and explained with a smile.

"I saw your performance on Triple Island."

"Your skills are very strong, and your shields are very thick, but you lack crowd-control-clearing methods."

"If you encounter a crowd-control Professional like Guo De again, you will easily fall into a passive state."

"This badge should be able to give you some help."

Zhou Huai felt a warmth in his heart.

This General Zhang turned out to be a meticulous person.

Indeed, as he said, although Gandalf's profession was powerful, it was not perfect.

Once controlled, no matter how thick the shield is, it's just a living target.

This piece of equipment came right on time.

Zhou Huai manipulated Gandalf to wear the badge on his chest and thanked him once more.

"Thank you, General Zhang."

Zhang Donglai smiled and waved his hand, turning to leave together with Zhao Menghai.

After sending the two off, Lin Zhu's slightly impatient voice came from the courtyard.

"What are you still standing there blankly for?"

"Follow me into the house."

Zhou Huai manipulated Gandalf to follow behind Lin Zhu into the eerie villa wrapped in vines.

The moment the door was pushed open, the corner of Zhou Huai's eye couldn't help but twitch.

The scenery outside the house was already bizarre enough.

The scene inside the house could simply be described as grotesque.

There was no sofa in the living room; instead, it was replaced by a huge fungal mat woven from soft moss and fungi, which was slightly undulating as if breathing.

The light overhead was also not an ordinary light bulb.

Rather, it was a strange plant growing upside down, with countless glowing spores scattered across its umbrella cap, casting a soft fluorescent glow.

The television hanging on the wall actually had a screen made of a huge, smooth tree burl, on which unknown black-and-white images were playing.

What made his scalp tingle even more was beneath his feet.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of dark green vines that felt soft when stepped on, and even made a slight squeaking sound.

Those vines were still constantly writhing and intertwining, like countless snakes weaving beneath his feet.

Only one thought remained in Zhou Huai's mind.

It makes sense that Marshal Zhao doesn't want to see you.

Who would be willing to stay in this kind of ghost place all day.

"Pay attention when you walk."

Lin Zhu instructed without looking back, her voice aged.

"Don't step on them too hard."

"If these little fellows complain to me, you can just get the Hell out of here."

Zhou Huai curled his lips in his heart.

You're the powerful one, you're always right.

He could only carefully follow behind, trying to make his footsteps lighter.

The two of them went one after the other, following a staircase formed by winding giant tree roots, and came to the second floor.

Lin Zhu pushed open the door of a bedroom.

"From now on, you will live here."

Zhou Huai poked his head in to look.

The bed was still relatively normal, just an ordinary wooden plank bed.

But hanging down from the ceiling directly above the bed were densely packed vines.

Those vines were still slowly twisting in mid-air, like countless earthworms, looking extremely disgusting.

Lin Zhu didn't seem to feel anything wrong with this at all.

She leaned against the door frame, crossed her arms over her chest, and began to announce the rules.

"After eight o'clock in the evening, go to sleep on time."

"You are not allowed to make any noise."

"Solve the problem of eating by yourself."

"Don't look for me if you have business, and definitely don't bother me if you don't."

She lifted her eyelids, her turbid eyes looking at Gandalf.

"Did you hear and understand?"

Zhou Huai manipulated Gandalf and nodded expressionlessly.

"Understood."

"Mhm."

Lin Zhu acknowledged with a sound and turned around to leave.

"Rest early."

"Bang!"

The door was heavily closed.

Looking at this bizarre bedroom, Zhou Huai arranged for Gandalf's Intellect Core AI to idle in the room, and then immediately transferred his consciousness back to his main body.

Evernight Guild, third floor.

Zhou Huai opened his eyes, looked at his bright and clean room, and let out a long sigh of relief.

An illusion of returning from Hell to heaven spontaneously arose.

Fortunately.

Fortunately, he himself didn't have to stay in that ghost place.

Otherwise, he had no doubt that he would definitely go crazy.

...

In the blink of an eye, time reached the morning of the next day.

Zhou Huai once again transferred his consciousness onto Gandalf.

He pushed open the bedroom door and left that eerie villa almost as if fleeing.

The morning sunlight sprinkled upon him, dispelling the last trace of gloom in his heart.

By the fence at the entrance of the villa, a young woman had already been waiting respectfully for a long time.

She wore shoulder-length short hair with the ends slightly curled inward, looking neat and crisp.

She wore the white uniform long dress of Imperial Capital Academy, outlining a slender figure.

Her facial features were exquisite, her skin was fair, and her face carried a just-right smile.

Although in terms of appearance she was still slightly inferior to Ye Xi, she was definitely a beauty of campus-belle caliber.

Seeing Gandalf walk out from the villa, the smile on her face became a bit brighter as she took the initiative to welcome him.

"You must be Gandalf, right?"

Her voice was crisp, like an oriole.

Zhou Huai manipulated Gandalf and nodded calmly.

"It's me."

"May I ask, how should I address you?"

The woman extended her hand toward him gracefully and poised.

"My name is Lu Zhiyi."

"I was arranged by General Zhang to specifically act as your tour guide."

Gandalf shook hands with her lightly and then released.

The two walked side by side on the academy's wide shaded path.

Lu Zhiyi seemed to be a very talkative person, introducing all kinds of buildings and anecdotes of the academy all the way.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, she leaned close to Student Gandalf and asked in an extremely small voice, her tone carrying unsuppressible shock.

"Student Gandalf, you... you actually slept in Principal Lin's villa for a whole night?"

Zhou Huai was somewhat baffled.

"Is there a problem?"

"Problem?"

Lu Zhiyi's eyes widened round, as if looking at a monster.

"Don't you think Principal Lin's villa... is very terrifying?"

Zhou Huai manipulated Gandalf, his face still maintaining that nonchalant expression.

"It's alright, I guess."

"It's all minor scenes."

Hearing this, Lu Zhiyi's gaze toward him instantly filled with admiration.

"You really are something."

She lowered her voice and continued mysteriously.

"It is said that a senior female student was once arranged to stay temporarily in Principal Lin's villa before."

"And guess what happened?"

"As soon as she fell asleep at night, she felt something moving."

"Opening her eyes, she discovered that all those vines on the ceiling had hung down."

Speaking up to this point, Lu Zhiyi couldn't help but shiver.

"On those vines, there were also tongue-like things growing, constantly licking her neck."

"That senior student was so scared that she collapsed on the spot and ran out of the villa overnight."

Zhou Huai's heart skipped a beat.

In his mind, some... unhealthy images he had seen in his past life suddenly surfaced.

Tentacles, ravishment, bondage...

A very bad premonition spread in his heart.

It's over.

My Gandalf...

Won't be dirty, right?