Gao Fei and his party came ashore one after another. When they looked back at the group of crocodiles, they were surprised to find that their figures gradually faded and disappeared collectively in front of everyone's eyes.
It was only then that everyone suddenly realized that the whirlpool that suddenly appeared on the river and the group of crocodiles were actually created by magic.
Recalling Panda's dream warning, it is not difficult to guess that the guy who secretly cast spells and had no good intentions is probably Istna, the daughter of the old hag Evanora!
Except for Istna who is hiding somewhere, everyone has a more pressing problem that needs to be solved.
Where the raft docked, there was a green grassland spreading along the river bank, and further away there were sparse shrubs.
The scenery in this area is beautiful, but the yellow brick path that led everyone along has disappeared.
"We must get back on the right path, otherwise the further we go, the further we may get from our destination."
Dimitri the lion said worriedly.
Scarecrow Vita looked up at the direction of the sun, then turned to look at the river, thinking: "Judging from the perspective of the sun, this river flows from north to south. We took a raft to cross the river from the east bank, and the raft was washed away by the river during the process.
Downstream, so we should walk north along the river bank. If nothing else happens, we can find the Yellow Brick Road before sunset."
"You are very smart, Vita, and we should do what you say."
Tin Man Nick nodded appreciatively.
"I hope it wasn't a bad idea."
Perhaps affected by the curse, the Scarecrow lacked confidence in his own judgment and looked back at Ma Yun.
"Miss Mage, it's up to you to decide what to do next."
Before Ma Yun could speak, a strange woman's voice suddenly came from the forest behind her.
"Young travelers, it seems you are lost. Maybe I can give you a good idea."
Gao Fei and Jiang Feng looked at each other with surprise on their faces.
Since they were in danger in the river, both of them had stepped up their vigilance. There was someone hiding in the nearby forest, and they couldn't have been unaware of it.
Where did this woman come from?
Under the vigilant gaze of everyone, three vague figures slowly emerged in the dark forest covered by branches and leaves, and their outlines gradually changed from illusory to solid.
"Is this the 'invisibility' technique?" Jiang Feng guessed in a low voice.
"No!" Ma Yun, who knew more about magic, shook her head and denied it, looking nervous, "These guys drifted over from the spirit world!"
The so-called "spiritual world" is also called the "etheric plane".
Similar to the "Fairy Wilderness", the spiritual world is also a parallel plane that is closely connected with the material world, but the spiritual world is more desolate than the Fairy Wilderness, and most of the space is a void shrouded in "etheric mist".
Except for a very small number of natives in the spiritual world and travelers from other worlds, there are only incorporeal undead spirits such as ghosts wandering in the void of the spiritual world, which can be described as a "life forbidden zone" in a literal sense.
Mortals cannot cross the boundary between the material world and the spiritual world.
Even with the help of magic, only a few high-level magics such as "transformation of spirit body", "traveling in the spirit world" and "transportation to other worlds" can allow people to shuttle between the material world and the spiritual world.
Spellcasters who are good at such methods are definitely not something that everyone with an average level of less than 5 can fight against.
The three shadows in the forest broke away from the spiritual world and transformed into entities.
Standing in the center is a girl wearing a black velvet cloak, holding a black heart-shaped crystal that shines with magical light in her right hand. It seems that it is the power contained in this gem that allows her and her companions to freely travel to the spiritual world.
The mysterious girl holds the reins in her left hand, leading a horse that exhales sulfur smoke from its muzzle and has four hooves stepping on fire. Its unmarked fur is like dark and smooth satin.
Not far behind her, there was a big black dog as strong as a calf.
This strange dog had an unusually long neck, a face with vaguely human features, and its eyes shone with a scarlet fire-like light.
The mysterious girl led the horse and hound slowly out of the woods. She took off the hood of her cloak with her backhand, revealing her long hair hanging down to her waist and a charming face.
"If I guess correctly, you are the daughter of Evanora, the Witch of the East, Estna?"
Ma Yun grasped the "color spray wand" tightly and stared at the strange girl opposite with all her vigilance.
I have to admit that, except for the slightly weird blue skin and aquiline nose, this young mixed-race hag is quite beautiful.
The mysterious girl was stunned for a moment, with surprise in her eyes, and replied in a slightly hoarse voice: "Little girl, since you recognize me, let's talk."
"What's there to talk about?"
"I'm going to make a deal with you," Istna said.
"What deal?" Ma Yun asked warily.
"I heard that you are planning to go to the Emerald City? I can lead you and escort you to your destination safely. In return, you have to return Evanora's magic book and magic shoes to me. I think I am qualified to inherit this
A legacy.”
Of course Ma Yun didn't want to accept this unfair deal, but she didn't refuse immediately. She turned around and cast a questioning look at Gao Fei and Jiang Feng.
"Brother Fei! Sister Feng! This witch has bad intentions. What should we do?"
"I definitely can't give her the magic book and silver high heels. There will inevitably be a fight in the end." Jiang Feng held the battle ax tightly.
"Don't rush to take action. Let's investigate her details first."
Goofy opens the astrolabe to detect Istna.
However, he soon received a system prompt informing him that he was currently unable to detect high-level NPCs.
Gao Fei has become accustomed to this phenomenon.
Even if he couldn't detect it, based on the information provided by Dream Tapir Panda and his own experience, he could tell that Istna, who has the blood of a night hag and a level 8 mage profession, would never have a challenge level lower than level 8.
.
As for the black horse and black dog beside Istna, they can be directly investigated.
The black horse is the legendary nightmare horse, a war horse from the devil world. Only night hags and high-level devils can tame this large, violent magical beast.
The nightmare pony has a challenge level of 4. It is naturally immune to fire damage. Its hoof kicks and bites are equivalent to natural weapons with "blazing" special effects. Its attacks add 1d6 burning damage. It can also cast the 9-ring magic "Wandering in the Spirit World" at will.
Carrying the owner on its back to and from the etheric plane freely.
The big black dog behind Istna is the "night barking hound" that Panda mentioned. It is an evil goblin type creature, and its challenge level is also level 4.
Before Gao Fei could take a closer look at the investigation data, Istna yelled impatiently.
"Have you discussed it yet?"
"It's been discussed." Gao Fei winked at his companion and said loudly to Istna: "I'm sorry, madam, we don't want to make this deal with you."
"Oh, my God! What a shame!" Istna shrugged in feigned surprise, "In this case, I can only wish you good luck."
After saying this, she turned around and walked towards the forest.
