"Hurry and open it! I… my remains seem to be… gone!" Slytherin's face was filled with fury.
Wade Reynolds had no choice but to wave his wand and open the stone sarcophagus directly.
After waiting for the dust to settle, Wade looked inside.
The sarcophagus was completely empty. There were no remains at all, not even a small stone…
"Um… could it be that after a thousand years, your remains simply turned to dust?" Wade asked.
"Do you think I cannot tell the difference between bone ash and ordinary dust?" Slytherin said coldly.
"Then… something is not right. If your remains are not here, how were you able to sense the location of your tomb just now? And… if your remains have been gone for a long time, why would your ghost still appear here?" Wade asked, puzzled.
Slytherin fell silent for a long while before speaking slowly. "The fact that I awakened as a ghost… may not be so simple. No. Perhaps even my sudden death was not as straightforward as I once believed."
"How complicated is it?"
"Half a minute ago, I could still clearly sense that my remains were here," Slytherin said in a chilling tone.
"H-Half a minute ago... Fuck… now even you are making me feel uneasy," Wade said.
"A wizard of my caliber, even with death approaching, could never be completely unaware. At that time, there was nothing wrong with my body at all. That is precisely why I only began researching immortality so late. This death… it was far too sudden!"
"You suspect you were murdered?" Wade Reynolds said thoughtfully.
"Can we add one more clause to the deal?" Slytherin suddenly asked.
"What do you want to add?"
"Help me recover my remains and uncover the truth. If you agree, I will comply with any request you make!"
"It is not that I do not want to help you. But something this strange… clearly carries enormous trouble with it," Wade shook his head.
"Do you think you are not already entangled in this trouble?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why did I awaken at precisely this moment? Why, as a ghost, was I able to briefly wield magic to attack you? Why did my remains vanish right before our eyes? Boy, my situation is troublesome, but yours is no less so," Slytherin said coldly. "It is obvious that something wanted to use my hand to kill you."
"Aren't you being a bit conspiratorial?" Wade asked hesitantly.
"I know you think I am trying to scare you and use this to coerce you into helping me. But compared to your existing terms, is my promise to agree to any request you make in the future not far more beneficial to you? You and I do not share some deep-seated hatred. After signing a contract and securing my own safety, would I really pay such a heavy price just to scheme against you?"
Wade Reynolds frowned again, because he suddenly recalled the bizarre disappearance of the name of his Senior who also possessed ancient magic talent…
Don't tell me....
He could not help letting out a long sigh. "I just want to grow stronger quietly. Why does that have to be so difficult?"
"Who ever grows stronger in peace and quiet? As long as you are exceptional, trouble will always come looking for you. Learn to accept the trials, boy."
...
Inside the Somnolen wizard's tower.
Nagini was curiously surveying everything around her.
This was her first time inside the wizard's tower.
What intrigued her even more, however, was the unfamiliar ghost standing beside Wade Reynolds.
She had seen most of Hogwarts' ghosts before, but she had never seen this one.
"Old man, what do you think about the Blood Curse?" Wade turned to look at Slytherin.
Back when he had searched through the study Slytherin left behind, a major reason had been to look for a way to cure Nagini.
Now that a "living" Slytherin was standing right next to him, there was no reason not to ask.
Slytherin narrowed his eyes as he examined Nagini, a trace of surprise flashing across his face.
"Her condition is very strange… both body and soul have been greatly weakened, yet she can still retain human sentience. Was this your doing?"
"Yes. My power is somewhat special, as you know," Wade nodded.
"Mm, then that is not surprising. The power of the ancient Sage is always so wondrous…" Slytherin said, looking at Nagini with unmistakable delight in his eyes.
However, Nagini found his gaze deeply unsettling, making her scales crawl.
"She is my friend. Do not look at her like an experimental subject," Wade said displeased.
"Ah… force of habit," Slytherin said, reluctantly withdrawing his gaze from Nagini.
Slytherin had indeed loved research in his lifetime, so whenever he encountered a person or object with the potential to become an excellent experimental subject, he found it difficult to resist.
"A Blood Curse… that is indeed troublesome. I once conducted some brief research into this curse as well," Slytherin said. "It was created by Herpo the Foul, the infamous Dark wizard of ancient Greece. The target was likely meant to punish a woman who betrayed him. This curse is deeply bound to bloodlines, clinging like a bone parasite. Frankly speaking, once someone is afflicted with such a curse, the best course of action is not to have descendants at all."
"From what you are saying… it cannot be cured?" Wade frowned.
"At present, there is no way to cure it," Slytherin said with careful precision.
"At present?" Wade caught the key word.
"Heh! Give me some time, and there is no curse I cannot overcome," Slytherin said with his usual confidence.
When it came to magical research, especially Dark magic, Slytherin truly had reason to be proud.
"Then do you have a direction for your research?" Wade asked.
"Hmmmm... Perhaps you could start directly with the soul. As long as you destroy the beast's soul, she should naturally be able to return to a human form," Slytherin said thoughtfully.
"That will not work. I have tried it before," Wade said with a frown. "The Blood Curse is bound to the bloodline itself. As long as the curse remains, even if the beast's soul is completely eliminated, it will not be long before a second beast soul is generated. That is why I have been considering whether I could give her a new body. Cultivating a new body is not particularly difficult, but transplanting Nagini's soul into it is another matter entirely. I have not overcome that hurdle yet."
"Pfft~ Bahahahaha!!!" Slytherin burst out laughing, then looked at Wade with a face full of mockery.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Ha.. haha.. I am laughing at how foolish you are, boy."
"Foolish?" Wade protested.
Slytherin laughed and said, "You are thinking about how to cure her completely. But even roast lamb needs to be eaten one bite at a time. Why can you not take the first step first? For example, stop worrying about whether the beast soul will regenerate. Kill this beast soul first and let her temporarily regain the ability to return to human form."
"As for the regeneration of the beast soul… think about it. From birth to completely degenerating into a beast, how long does it take for a Blood Curse carrier? With that much time, would you really be unable to come up with a solution?"
"And even if you cannot, you can simply cut away the newly formed beast soul again when the time comes. Are you really going to stand by and let your friend remain a snake the whole time? Let her live properly as a human while waiting for the results of your research. Is that not better?"
"Mother… fucking... holy.. hell.." Wade stared at Slytherin, and for the first time, found his mocking laughter not quite so irritating. "That is right. How did I not think of that?"
"Kekeke. Capable people all share this bad habit. They want everything to be resolved perfectly. But sometimes, an imperfect solution is still a very good one," Slytherin sneered.
_________
o(*￣▽￣*)ブSupport and read 12 Chapters ahead of WN at-
Patreon/Captain69