Chapter 44: Confrontation in the Treasury

Exiting the Sacred Heart office, Jane felt almost dizzy. She knew very well it was not from exhaustion, but from the immense shock that had struck her heart.

What the professors of the Magic Academy said were facts, but she had not anticipated that the academy's administration would adopt such a hardline stance regarding the Polaris Silk.

Should the Polaris Silk be used to construct a so-called time machine, it might not only destroy the country but potentially plunge the entire world into a state of enslavement.

Even if there were only a one percent chance, the Clin Magic Academy would never take that risk.

She knew the academy's guiding principle was to defend freedom at all costs.

Yet, after all, ordinary people were innocent.

Those people were not all adults; there were children as well. In the event of earthquakes and floods, those children would inevitably...

Jane dared not think any further. She gripped the infinitely magical Codex of Star-Rainbow tightly in her hand. She thought it might be better to check the treasury once more; perhaps she could find a new clue to the theft of the Polaris Silk in some corner of it.

That violet-gold thread left behind in the treasury might truly be a misunderstanding.

As long as the Polaris Silk was found, or its whereabouts at least determined, this massive catastrophe could be temporarily averted.

The academy's treasury was built beneath the alchemy campus, which represented "talent."

Just as the Louvre possessed the greatest treasures of Paris, the negative space behind the Louvre was the alchemy campus representing "talent."

Jane picked up her magic broom and flew swiftly to the alchemy campus.

Crossing the lawns and corridors within the campus, several familiar classmates greeted her along the way, but she failed to respond to any of them. Her heart burned with anxiety, for she had only one day left. If she could rummage up any powerful new clues in the treasury, she could avert the disaster.

Jane hurried into the ancient castle situated at the center of the alchemy campus, passed down a long spiral stone staircase, and descended deep underground.

Following the routine procedures, she explained her purpose to the guards at the entrance, registered her name, and entered the treasury.

The place resembled a vast underground archive, with a dazzling array of treasures neatly placed on wooden shelves. Given the importance of the Polaris Silk, naturally it was not casually placed on those wooden shelves, but stored within a treasure chest deep inside the vault.

Jane took out her wand and chanted a spell. With a flash of beautiful blue light, the chest sprang open.

Just as before, the chest was completely empty.

All of this was within her expectations, but Jane pulled herself together, determined to spend half a day turning the treasury upside down from inside out.

The Polaris Silk was too small; perhaps it really had been overlooked in some corner.

"Who knows?" She sighed.

Jane used her wand to emit a bright white light, illuminating the surroundings of the treasure chest. She lowered her posture, pressed herself to the ground, and carefully inspected the surrounding floor tiles, leaving not even the gaps between the tiles unchecked.

Then she began to search the shelves, poking into inconspicuous corners.

Just as she finished checking the gap between the bottom of the second shelf and the floor tiles, she suddenly heard an abnormal sound at the entrance.

Someone had walked in.

No way!

Jane remembered clearly that she had pulled the stone door of the treasury shut when she entered. Even if she had forgotten, the guards at the entrance would have helped her close it; they would never have left the treasury doors wide open.

Could someone else have come to the treasury?

Just as Jane wanted to stand up from the ground, she heard a reprimand in Chinese echo by her ear.

"Hurry up!"

She quickly lowered her body, crawling flat against the floor tiles.

That's right! It was a sentence in Chinese!

Jane drew a sharp breath and quickly hid in a dark corner.

The person speaking Chinese had walked into the treasury, and judging by the tone, they seemed to be driving someone ahead of them.

The guards would never let outsiders into such a vital place.

Unless... Jane thought, the guards had already been dealt with!

She peeked out through a gap and was shocked to see Abel, the brown-red curly-haired boy. Although his magic scores at the school were mediocre, the moment he heard she was going to the Academy of Taoist Arts to demand the Polaris Silk, he had followed her without the slightest hesitation.

Abel walked with his head lowered, being driven forward. The person who had just spoken clearly was not him.

Jane carefully controlled her posture, doing her absolute best not to make the slightest sound. She peered past the boy named Abel through the narrow gaps between the shelves.

A teenage boy and girl had followed them inside!

Although they wore magic robes and pulled their hoods down very low, it was obviously to deliberately conceal their faces.

The girl had golden-brown hair, yet possessed the features of an Oriental. The boy was unmistakably an Oriental as well! Both appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen years of age.

Jane found them looking familiar, and suddenly memory struck her.

Wait! She had seen these two yesterday at the Academy of Taoist Arts in the East! Especially this male, who had been holding a remarkably formidable iron rod at the time.

How did they end up running all the way to Paris?

Jane pondered inwardly; the Academy of Taoist Arts was truly no simple place. Could it be that yesterday's events were pre-planned, and they had followed her here?

She blamed herself somewhat for being too careless. Only magic students knew the pathways into each campus; if they hadn't tracked her, how could these two students from the Academy of Taoist Arts have possibly found the negative space in Paris?

The boy named Abel had his hands tied, and with a push from the boy behind him, poor Abel tumbled to the ground.

"Detestable!"

Jane cursed inwardly: "The professors were right not to worry for nothing; once Orientals gain power, they will surely enslave us!"

Abel moaned as he collapsed on the floor.

The boy and girl began searching for something within the treasury, talking as they rummaged, completely unaware that someone else was hiding in the room.

Perhaps they were the thieves of the Polaris Silk! Jane thought, could they be here to steal something else again? This time she would catch them red-handed!

Taking advantage of the two walking deeper into the treasury, Jane moved forward slowly, shielded by the shelves. She crept stealthily to Abel's side.

Then she extended her wand and whispered softly: "Release!"

With a soft snap, the ropes binding Abel's hands broke apart.

Seeing Jane suddenly appear out of nowhere, Abel was so pleasantly surprised he almost fainted.

"Oh! My goodness! Thank God! Jane, you're actually here!"

Jane made a gesture for him to lower his voice and asked, "Where is your wand?"

Abel replied, "They knocked it away and it fell into the Seine."

Hearing this, Jane shook her head helplessly.

Seeing that Abel's wand was not with him, Jane handed her own wand to Abel; she still had the Star-Rainbow Codex and could perform magic just the same.

Jane whispered her suggestion: "While they aren't paying attention, let's ambush him..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the clumsy Abel stood up and accidentally knocked over a nearby magic pot. With a loud clatter, the metal pot crashed to the ground.

"Damn it! Jane, I'm sorry!" Despite having caused trouble, Abel still wore an innocent expression.

"I told you to eat less!" Jane complained, simply standing up to shield Abel in front of her.

Facing that pair of uninvited guests.

The teenage boy and girl were naturally none other than Hua Sheng and Mieying.

They had originally only hoped to find some clues in the treasury. To avoid raising a commotion, they hadn't even dared to turn on their mobile phone flashlights.

While they were sneaking around on the ground searching aimlessly, the loud crash rang out, and Hua Sheng nearly scared himself wet. He and Mieying turned back and saw Jane and the curly-haired fatty.

Mieying recognized Jane instantly and shouted, "I remember you!"

She pointed at Jane: "You're the one who likes flipping through dictionaries!"

Jane pointed at the two of them and scolded: "You thieves! Bastards! The Academy of Taoist Arts came here to steal the Polaris Silk once, and now you've come to steal it a second time! Have you no shame?"

"Pui!" Mieying was just about to curse back when she suddenly remembered something and said to Hua Sheng, "She cursed me in Chinese, so I must curse her in a foreign language! What's the harshest way to curse a man? What's the harshest way to curse a woman?"

Hua Sheng thought for a moment and replied, "I don't know French. But the French should understand English. For a woman, you call her a Bitch. For a man... probably Son of a bitch."

Mieying pointed at Jane and cursed: "Bitch!"

Then she pointed her finger at the curly-haired Abel standing next to Jane and cursed: "You! Son of a bitch!"

Jane and the curly-haired fatty exchanged glances, their faces instantly flushing red with anger.

Upon hearing this, Hua Sheng praised: "Mieying, your cursing level is truly legendary! Not only did you curse each of them, but you also made them curse each other!"

Abel, burning with irrepressible fury, brandished his wand and shouted, "Take this, my ma—"

"Hurry as decreed by the statutes! Wind Control Art!" Hua Sheng reacted faster, pointing his hand at the fatty. Abel flew backward, crashing into the wall, and before he could finish chanting his spell, Hua Sheng knocked him unconscious.

Naturally, he had no time to use the wand he had just acquired.

Seeing that the other party was no ordinary opponent, Jane hurriedly raised the Star-Rainbow Codex in her hand.

Mieying pointed at the red codex and shouted: "Hurry as decreed by the statutes! Freeze!"

The Star-Rainbow Codex was instantly frozen mid-air. Jane tried to flip through it, but the book wouldn't open at all. Not only that, but the codex seemed embedded in the air; whether pushing or pulling, Jane was utterly helpless.

Struck by a sudden flash of inspiration, she reached out, and Abel's dropped wand came flying toward her hand at high speed.

Hua Sheng shouted at the wand: "Hurry as decreed by the statutes! Freeze!"

That wand was also frozen in mid-air at a distance, completely out of Jane's reach.

Jane suddenly took a deep breath and screamed at the top of her lungs: "Sécurité!"

Hua Sheng laughed and said, "Do you think we're fools? We wouldn't come without preparations. A Soundless Immortal Array has already been cast outside this treasury. Inside this array, even if you scream your throat out, no one will come to save you!"

Jane gritted her teeth, glaring at him, and spat out a few words through clenched teeth: "Damn it!"

Seeing that Jane could use neither her codex nor her wand, Hua Sheng rubbed his hands with a cunning smile and stepped forward: "We actually wanted to find you this time, but who would have thought you'd deliver yourself right to our doorstep. Without that massive dictionary and the wand, let's see how I tie you up, hehehehehehehe..."

To his utter astonishment, however, Jane delivered a fierce, hard kick straight to his crotch with lightning speed!

Bang! That kick landed with real force.

"Ouch-ow-wow!!!"

Hua Sheng was entirely unprepared. Struck squarely by the kick, he instantly saw stars, feeling a pain as if a hundred and fifty bones in his body had broken simultaneously.

He collapsed face-first to the ground, convulsing.

The moment Hua Sheng fell, the immobilization spell lost its effect.

The wand previously frozen in mid-air instantly regained its freedom and flew straight into Jane's hand.

With the wand in hand, a surge of hope rose in Jane's heart. Chanting a spell, the wand instantly sparked with lightning.

She whirled around, intending to swing the wand at Mieying, but before she could take even half a step forward, a cold, gleaming fire-tipped spear was pressed firmly against her throat.

Looking closer, the golden-brown-haired girl had somehow transformed into someone with long, white hair, standing expressionless while holding a fire-tipped spear against her neck.

If Jane were to move forward by even half an inch, her neck would be pierced right through.

The white-haired Mieying wore a cold expression, her eyes glancing down at the wand Jane had just retrieved.

Realizing there was no chance of a counterattack, Jane had no choice but to release her grip and drop the wand to the floor.

Seeing this, Hua Sheng clutched his crotch with both hands, rolling on the floor as he intermittently praised: "Fourth... Fourth Sister, you're truly... formidable!"

"Stop talking nonsense! Meeting this barbarian woman makes your bones turn lighter than four ounces, look at that pathetic bear-like state of yours!"

Without even glancing down at the floor, the white-haired Mieying coldly said: "Seventh Sister said before that pretty girls all love taking baths; we should have just let Seventh Sister tie her up when this wretch was stripped naked! It would have saved us all this trouble!"

The pain in Hua Sheng's lower body had yet to subside, and he was still lying on the ground taking heavy breaths.

Seeing that Hua Sheng couldn't get up for the moment, the white-haired Mieying had no choice but to chant an immortal spell, binding Jane tightly with hemp rope.

"Why are you tying me up?!" Jane demanded angrily, beside herself with fury.

The white-haired Mieying said coldly: "Cut the crap! Of course we're tying you up! We came all this way to find someone to help clear our names of the theft of the Polaris Silk! Among a bunch of foreign devils, you speak the most fluent Chinese. If we don't tie you up, who else are we going to tie?"