From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 426 Shadows in the Woods
The path to the Verdant Woods was not much of an obstacle, save for a white puppy and a young owlbear.

The former's owner was a messenger, but he had died at the hands of goblins a long time ago. Even though his body was already highly decomposed, the puppy named Scratching had no intention of leaving.

After Yingxin's persuasion, the little animal followed the smell of the crowd and went to look for the gravekeeper. Everyone believed that it would appear in the camp tonight.

The situation of the young owlbear was more complicated. After crossing a tributary of the Chongsa River, the adventurers saw the cave of its parents. The noisy footsteps angered the injured beasts, and two owlbears, one male and one female, rushed out of the cave one after another, causing some shock to the team.

However, with the close cooperation of the adventurers, the owlbear couple was unable to cause any casualties.

The adventurers found a broken short spear on the mother owlbear's back, and a rotten eyeball was poked on the spear. It was the pain caused by the injury that made the mother owlbear so emotionally unstable that it indirectly killed her husband.

"We shouldn't touch these things." Shadowheart looked at the exquisite little box in front of him. The adventurers were in the cave of the owl bear, which once belonged to the believers of Selune. The protective magic on the box and the statue of the Silver Madonna proved this.

"If possible, we should destroy them all." Shadow Heart continued to express his opinion, "They are all Selune's garbage. At best, they are useless. In the worst case, they may even be cursed."

"Ms. Shar's teachings are clear. Getting entangled with the Moon Witch will only lead to trouble."

"I think you are the only one in the team who is entangled with the Moon Witch, Shadowheart." Minsara suddenly laughed softly and stared at Shadowheart's collar with interest, where a pendant was hanging. "Otherwise, how to explain the moonstone pendant on your neck? It is one of Selune's sacred objects."

"You are undoubtedly over-interpreting it." Yingxin turned her head and stuffed the necklace deeper into her collar. "It's just a little childhood toy, nothing more."

"In my childhood, in a dark forest, Mammy saved my life from a wolf. Since then, I have become a believer of Ms. Shar." Yingxin was eager to prove the purity of her faith and even took the initiative to share her few memories. "Ms. Shar took away many of my memories, but only kept that one. I think she was reminding me to always remember her gift."

Yingxin's sharing failed to convince Minsara, who was once a paladin and priest of Rose. Her light red eyes stayed on the corners of Yingxin's pursed lips for a short moment, and continued: "God is the source of your suffering. Both physical and spiritual. Shar's teachings are turning you into an empty shell. I am very much looking forward to that day. When the lies of God are shattered, how will you deal with yourself? But what makes me more gratified is that even without knowing who you are, you still learned to pity yourself. Your entanglement and piety are more impactful than the red wine specially provided by the royal family of Calimshan. Perhaps it is for this reason that the Night Singer chose you."

Mingsala's words were like a heavy hammer, hitting Yingxin's not-so-firm belief hard. Ivy noticed that her thin and dense eyelashes were fluttering like a small fan, and her lips were starting to turn white. She must be thinking about refuting Mingsala's words.

"A statue of Selûne!" Xie Nian had already taken care of the protective magic on the treasure chest. Behind the statue of the Silver Madonna, she found a piece of paper with a prayer on it. After reading the words on it, the magic protecting the treasure chest automatically dissipated.

"Put it away, Evil Thoughts." Ivy glanced at Shadow Heart who was trying to change the subject, then interrupted her conversation with Minsara. "Seeing the statue of Selune reminded me of this. When the drow were exploring the traps in the adamantium furnace, they found a statue of the Nightsinger - carved entirely from obsidian. For such a fragile material, it must have taken a lot of effort on the craftsman's part. I thought you would like it, so I put it in the mediocre treasure chest. If you don't intend to refuse..."

"Of course I'll take it! I want it now!" Yingxin's expression could almost be described as impatient. In response, Mingsala sneered again.

But Yingxin remained unmoved, and was obviously not prepared to continue this kind of conversation with Mingsala before finding a suitable excuse.

Ivy smiled gently, soothing Yingxin's nerves. "Bacchus and Bedron took good care of the mediocre treasure chest. After all, there is rune gunpowder in it. So I am sure that the obsidian statue will not be harmed before we are blown away by the violent shock wave. Let's go, they are waiting for us outside."

Before the team set off again, Yingxin took the obsidian statue of Shar from Ivy.

"You don't allow us to talk about faith in the camp, but you..." Yingxin held the statue wrapped in darkness. It reproduced Shar's razor-sharp perfection. "Thank you... I will find a suitable place for it in my tent."

"No one has ever given me such a gift - at least not in my remaining memories." Yingxin looked at Ivy with shining eyes. "Whenever I look up at it, I will always think of you - of course, after Ms. Shar."

"I think this is not a coincidence, but a signal from Lady Shar." Yingxin continued, "There is a lot of information about the Dark Night Judges in this land. We can even see the temple where she trained the Dark Night Judges on the broken bridge of the Adamantine Furnace!"

"With the help of your magic, I can easily enter that temple, devote myself completely to Lady Shar, and serve her as a Dark Night Judge, but we still..." Yingxin paused and let out a brief sigh.

"I remember we have discussed this issue." Ivy watched the evil thoughts come out of the owl bear's cave, holding an owl bear egg in her arms. "It is not difficult to reach the temple, but it is not so easy to return. The refugees in the green forest and Harsin will not wait for you to complete the trial of the Dark Night Judge and the Moonrise Tower. Besides, we don't know what the devil in the temple is. It is unwise to provoke another powerful enemy before solving the problem we are facing."

"But..." Yingxin was a little anxious, but Ivy didn't stop, but continued speaking in a steady voice.

"If the Night Singer really arranged for you to become the Judge of Dark Night, then you just need to move forward. When everything is settled, I will know the truth of the matter." Ivy looked at the hillside not far away. They were getting closer and closer to the green forest. "Now, we still have a long way to go."

With the help of Ivy's magic to hasten the journey, the adventure team saw the gate of the woodland before the sun set.

Before Xie Nian, who was standing in front of the gate and waving at the sentry, could speak, he heard the voice of the tiefling from above: "That's... Archdruid Harsin! Thank God! You are finally back! I will open the gate now!"

"I knew you could do it!" Hearing the noise, Hell Knight Sevro also appeared above the gate and waved his hands downwards. "We have been waiting for your return since the temple where the goblins camped collapsed. Some druids said you killed Harsin, but I don't believe that! Great! The last time I felt this good was when Eltoril returned to the main material plane!"

The adventurers and the Ironhand dwarves entered the woodland, and Sevlo came to greet them: "I just noticed that your team is much larger than before, and there is even one more drow! But... never mind. Halsin, now that you are back, the ceremony in the woodland can definitely be stopped. Although we have already loaded all our belongings into the car."

"I'm sorry that you were treated unfairly while I was away. Now that I'm back, this matter will be corrected," Harsin assured Sevlo. "I'm sorry, but I have to return to the Sacred Pond. There are still some disputes that I must deal with personally. Perhaps you would like to stay one more night? And hold a banquet for our hero?"

"A victory celebration banquet is indeed a suitable start for the journey... but we are just a group of outsiders, will it be..." Sevlo hesitated. "I promise, there will be no more discrimination and violence. I even plan to bring two assistants with you on the journey." Harsin shook his head and dispelled Sevlo's concerns. "That's it! Let's use up all the beer in the forest!"

The sacred pool of the Greenwood Druids is built in a quiet river valley, hidden between sandstone hills.

There are many ancient stone carvings in the circular space. The most eye-catching ones are the three animal stone statues inside the circle, a brown bear, a gray wolf and a stag. Together, they guard the stone platform in the middle. On top of the stone platform is the statue of Silvanus, who is guiding the emerald green magic wind. Outside these stone statues are druids preparing for the thorn ceremony.

When the druids saw Halsin's angry face, they involuntarily stopped what they were doing and temporarily suspended the guidance of their magic power.

Harsin looked around and asked in a deep voice: "Where is Kaha? Ask her to come out to see me!"

A dark-skinned druid wearing a deer horn hat stepped forward: "I thought you were already... She's in there, right where you were before... I'll go find her right away!"

"No, Lars." Harsin changed his mind. "I want to go to her in person and listen to her excuses!"

After a pause, Harsin extended his hand to Lars again: "I remember the Wolf Rune is there, right? Give it to me. The adventurers have done a lot for our forest. I want to personally hand over what they deserve to them."

"They rescued you from the goblin camp, and they really deserve a reward." Lars nodded and took out a palm-sized stone from the bag behind him. There was a wolf pattern carved on it with light lines.

Harsin waved behind him, inviting the adventurers to come in together: "I can't come back here without you. We should witness this scene together."

After passing through an ancient stone door carved with intricate patterns, the adventurers and Harsin met Kaha, an orange-haired elf, who was giving orders.

"Haven't those refugees left the woods yet? I've clearly warned them that today is the deadline!" Kaha slammed her fist on the stone table, but the halfling druid standing next to her did not respond. Instead, she looked in surprise at the direction of the gate behind Kaha.

"Explain! Kaha, explain everything to me!" Harsin said loudly as he slowly walked down the stone steps.

After the initial shock, Kaha quickly calmed down and said loudly: "I don't owe you any explanation! When goblins swarmed towards us like cockroaches, you were still stumbling for the past!"

"You chose to abandon us, and I chose to protect the forest!" Along with Kaha, the poisonous snake coiled on her shoulder was waving its limbs. Its mouth full of creepy protrusions was opening as wide as possible, revealing four sharp fangs.

"Protect the woodland?" Harsin had already come down the stairs. "Through the Rite of the Thorn, through the embrace of the Cult of Shadows?"

Kaha took a step back and bumped into the stone table behind her. She didn't expect to hear the word Shadow Sect from Harsin.

"The ceremony is over, you want to..." Harsin continued, but he was very surprised to see Ivy walk straight past him, "Ivy? What are you going to do?"

Ivy didn't answer, but just stopped not far in front of Kaha.

Before Kaha could say anything about this uninvited guest, he heard a low hissing sound from Ivy's mouth.

The sound gave goose bumps to everyone who heard it, as if the slippery scales of a poisonous snake were moving up their spine to their neck.

The terrifying poisonous snake coiled on Kaha's body suddenly launched an attack, but its target was not any creature standing on the ground, but a mouse that was fleeing to the outside world.

The mouse and its two companions were all confused by the sudden attack of the Kaha snake companion.

Under the threat of the fangs, the rat rolled into a ball with the poisonous snake and began to emit white light. Soon it turned into a female halfling with black stripes tattooed all over her body. Judging from her attire, she was also a druid.

"Kaha! Get your venomous snake out of here!" The white-haired halfling druid shouted angrily while pulling the venomous snake. The venomous snake, which was ordered by Ivy's snake tongue, was coiled around her neck and kept tightening its muscles, trying to strangle the prey which was several times its size.

"Ms. Eurodan!" Kaha screamed, "No! Not me!"

"It seems that your woodland has been infiltrated by Shadow Druids." Ivy turned to look at Harsin and spread her hands.

"I really don't know how to thank you..." Harsin sighed, and then spoke loudly to Kaha again, "Think about Silvanus's teachings, Kaha, this is your last chance to turn back!"

"When... when the darkest moment comes, we will bring light..." Kaha murmured to himself, "Silvanus wants us to illuminate the darkness, not hide in it... How could I be so blind..."

"How dare you question me! Kaha!" Shadow Druid Orodan still failed to shake off the poisonous snake on her neck, but this did not prevent her from cursing Kaha loudly, "The shadow never forgives!"

(End of this chapter)