The forest stretched before their eyes in varying shades of green.
Dark green tree canopies, erald green shrubs and vines intertwined, and vibrant green moss covering stone cliffs...
Wind rustled through leaves with a gentle whisper. Occasionally mixed with clear bird songs, making the forest seem even more tranquil.
In such a prival forest, an ancient stone house stood abruptly in the deep woods.
A black crow passed through the thickets, finally landing on the wooden rack in front of the house.
"Caw! Caw! Caw!!"
It let out dry, unsettling cries from its beak.
Not long after, the stone house's main door opened.
A "person" wrapped entirely in cloth erged from inside.
He silently approached the wooden rack, picked up the envelope delivered by the crow,
And incidentally placed several small pieces of still-bleeding at beside the crow.
Then he turned around, closed the door, and went back inside.
"Thump!"
The door shut.
The spacious main hall was piled high with various clutter.
This strange man moved skillfully through the clutter, finally arriving before the door leading to the cellar.
"Cough! Cough!"
He didn't head toward the cellar, but instead made a raspy, wind-like sound at the passageway.
"Co down."
Upon receiving the command, the strange man stiffly walked down the stairs toward the cellar.
The stairs were pitch black, with only faint blue candlelight emanating from the cellar at the end of the passageway.
Though it was light, the bluish-blue hue couldn't provide any warmth or reassurance. Instead, it carried an indescribable bone-chilling cold and unsettling feeling, as if entering an ice room.
Compared to the cluttered main hall, the cellar space was much more organized.
A large bed stood in the center, with a workbench pressed closely against it. Looking carefully, the workbench held various operating tools: small knives, bottles and jars, handsaws, pliers...
On the other end of the workbench, several transparent glass jars were neatly arranged, filled with dark green turbid liquid, vaguely showing distorted, writhing biological tissues and organs soaking inside.
Several thick, heavy books bound with so kind of rough parchnt were scattered nearby.
Dozens of ticulously drawn yet strangely unsettling human anatomy diagrams and rune array diagrams were nailed to the walls, their ink dark and heavy, resembling dried bloodstains.
The air was thick with the strong sll of preservative solution.
The strange man walked to the workbench, respectfully placing the letter in his hand on the surface.
"Go out and continue watching."
"Cough, cough."
The woman speaking was completely shrouded in a lead-gray robe, but looking closely at how the fabric conford to her body's curves, one could see the full, voluptuous figure beneath. Yet paradoxically, such a youthful body was topped with a face covered in age spots and wrinkles.
She opened the envelope, quickly scanning its contents.
Then she placed the letter in her hand on a nearby candle fla, burning it to ashes.
"Chloe is looking for again, but I'm at a critical stage right now, how would I have ti to go out? Don't you agree? My little Abby..."
She turned her head to look at the cage in the corner of the cellar.
Inside the cage, a girl sat on the cold ground.
Discovering she was being spoken to, the girl's pupils rapidly contracted in terror.
"Tap—tap, tap—"
The prematurely aged woman walked to the cage.
Leaning down to look at the golden-haired girl, she couldn't help but lick her lips again, revealing an expectant expression.
Once she swapped to this healthy, beautiful, vibrant body, she could escape her current aged appearance.
Moreover, this body's mana adaptability was even better than she had imagined.
Perhaps it could endure longer than ordinary bodies.
"It should be about ti."
She calculated the timing in her heart.
If it weren't for needing ti to cultivate this body before officially beginning the surgery, she would have already been impatient to leave this aging body.
"You'll like my body, won't you? Little Abby?" The woman let out a hoarse laugh.
As she spoke, she let her gray robe slide down, revealing the body beneath.
Her curvaceous figure was covered with various dark brown pignt spots, as if afflicted by so unknown disease.
"This body is becoming less and less usable."
The woman sighed.
Her current body had only been used for over ten years since the last surgery ended.
Normally, the original body owner was under twenty years old, far from old age, yet the current body functions had aged like soone nearly a hundred years old.
She hadn't bothered counting exactly how many brain transfer surgeries she had undergone.
But in her mory, the first surgery didn't have this premature aging side effect;
on the contrary, she lived to nearly seventy or eighty before showing significant signs of aging.
With each subsequent surgery, the speed of aging appeared faster and faster.
She had tried many thods to maintain youth and vitality, but ultimately couldn't find a way to improve it. Aging seed like a curse brought by the surgery, deeply ingrained in her soul, persistently following her through body after body exchange.
"It seems after this surgery, I'll have to continue finding ways to solve its side effects."
"But, I think our mother-daughter compatibility should be quite high."
Thinking this, the woman smiled.
This truly was a coincidence even she hadn't anticipated.
Half a month ago, when she went to that village sharing similar bloodlines to select her next body, she coincidentally discovered this treasure before her—a girl with exceptional magic affinity.
And, very coincidentally, she was actually the offspring born from her current body.
This ant her upcoming surgery would proceed very smoothly.
Bodies with closer blood relations could reduce rejection reactions from surgery—a valuable experience she had personally verified through repeated practice.
This was also why she was willing to protect that village as her birthplace.
As long as the village continued reproducing, she, as an "Brain-Transplanting" Wizard, could continuously extend her lifespan.
"You... mon... ster!"
The girl in the cage suddenly spat out curses word by word.
Facing the girl's curses and bone-deep hatred, the woman wasn't angry. On the contrary, she smiled, happily laughing out loud.
"To briefly break free from the restraints, it seems Abby, you're almost mature."
Normally, Abby shouldn't be able to control her body now, but perhaps due to overly intense emotions, she actually broke free from the rune restraints.
But this also indicated her body had reached the stage suitable for surgical transformation.
"Don't worry, don't worry, we can start tomorrow."
She swallowed saliva.
Though most of her power resided in her developed brain, the body exchange period was also her most vulnerable ti.
Like arthropods molting their shells.
She urgently hoped to quickly complete the body transfer process, escaping this weakened state.
Fortunately, this process was about to arrive.
Thinking about this coincidental treasure before her, she couldn't help but laugh.
"It's simply like a gift from fate."
The woman let out a hoarse, satisfied sigh, her wrinkled face showing an almost obsessed expression.
Suddenly, the puppet above made "cough, cough, cough, cough" sounds again.
She frowned, understanding the aning it conveyed.
Soone had approached the house!
Her face darkened, filled with annoyance at being disturbed.
But...
At this critical mont, who could be visiting?
The village chief?
Unlikely—she had already instructed that little guy not to disturb her recently.
So, was it a passerby? Or... an enemy?
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
She picked up the fallen robe from the ground, putting it back on.
Then she walked toward the cellar exit, pressing a button at the doorway. The runes on the wall slowly lit up.
The entire cellar room instantly underwent changes, as if hidden and disappeared.
"This is the place."
Shadow said softly.
Gauss's team looked through the gradually thinning afternoon sunlight at the stone house that clearly looked peculiar.
It appeared both abrupt and concealed.
Abrupt because—the house stood alone deep in the forest, where surviving independently would be nearly impossible for most ordinary people.
Concealed because—if Shadow hadn't specifically brought them here, this house would be extrely difficult to discover, as if shrouded in a perception-blocking mist, making people subconsciously overlook its existence even when passing by.
"Be careful." Gauss heightened his alertness.
He knew this house definitely had problems.
Suddenly, a stream of icy energy flowed through his body.
"We've been discovered. There really is soone in the house."
Gauss turned to warn his companions.
He originally wanted to investigate further, but unexpectedly, even at this distance, the house owner had set up a Detection Barrier.
"Should I go scout ahead?" Shadow looked at Gauss and asked.
"No need, let's all go together." Gauss shook his head.
"Prepare for combat."
The group walked toward the stone house.
"Knock, knock, knock?" Gauss knocked on the main door.
Since they'd been discovered, he didn't plan to hide anymore.
He couldn't rule out the possibility that this was just a retired elderly professional's secluded place.
"Coming."
After a good while, the main door slowly opened.
Gauss saw a hunched, elderly woman.
Her face was covered in wrinkles, but her eyes were exceptionally bright, without the cloudy gaze of the elderly.
"You are..."
The old woman looked confusedly at Gauss and the others.
"We're passing adventurers. Our food is almost gone. While traveling through the forest, we happened to see this house and wanted to trade for so food."
"Food? This old woman doesn't have much to eat either. Usually, kind people from the neighboring village bring supplies. I'm afraid..."
"No problem. Then could we have so water to drink? I'm quite thirsty."
Gauss's gaze followed the old woman into the house interior.
It was dark inside, but his exceptional vision still allowed him to see the room's arrangent.
Various clutter filled the main hall—firewood ashes, clothing, miscellaneous books...
The walls also hung with portraits of young won, each with different appearances.
It felt sowhat uncomfortable.
"In that case... would you like to co in?"
Gauss and the others subtly exchanged glances.
Then they followed the old woman inside. Above everyone's heads, the already hidden Shadow released a clone, following Gauss and the others infiltrating into the house.
As for her main body, it remained outside, ready to assist Gauss and the others at any ti.
"Cough! Cough!"
Gauss coughed twice.
There was a very pungent sll in the house.
He followed the sll's source, looking toward the corner—it was a pile of dolls.
"Elder, were you an adventurer before?" Gauss asked while she turned toward the kitchen to fetch water.
"Hehe, that was a long... long ti ago." The old woman said hoarsely. "Now I'm just an old woman waiting to die, not like you young people who can travel the world."
The old woman fetched several cups of water, placing them on the table.
Gauss didn't reach for them, instead looking up at the hanging paintings on the wall.
A row of female portraits.
At the very edge, beside a portrait of a golden-curled woman, there was an empty fra.
"Elder, did you paint these?"
Gauss's gaze lingered on the paintings.
"Yes, hehe." The old woman showed a reminiscent expression. "When I adventured in the past, I stayed with an extrely famous song and dance troupe. Now that I'm old, I just want to paint down those colleagues from mory."
"When you're old, you always rember your youth."
"Is that you?"
Gauss looked at the golden-curled woman portrait beside the empty fra. From the facial features, he could vaguely recognize the old woman beside him.
"Hehe, young man, you have good eyesight."
"Ti is truly cruel. So beautiful when young... but old age turns into stinking skin." The old woman muttered to herself.
"Everyone goes through this process." Gauss said softly.
"Tap—"
Aria accidentally stepped on a paper package at her feet.
Several kumquat candies wrapped in transparent syrup rolled out from the package.
"Sorry, elder, I didn't notice there were candies on the floor."
Gauss's gaze followed Aria's voice.
The golden fruit syrup stuck to the floor, emitting a light kumquat fragrance.
He vaguely rembered sothing, his face showing a thoughtful expression.
"It's fine, it's fine. Probably sent by villagers nearby. This old woman isn't at the age for eating candy anymore."
"By the way, weren't you thirsty?"
Seeing that none of them had touched the water on the table, the old woman proactively nudged the cups.
"Drink up?"
Gauss glanced down at the clear water cup.
In the dark brown ceramic cup, the water surface rippled slightly from the movent.
"Alright, thank you, elder."
He reached for the water cup, picking it up from the table.
The old woman blinked, watching him.
But just as it approached his lips, he suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?"
"Elder, I suddenly rembered our horses are still outside the forest. I wonder if anything happened to them?"
"Don't worry, it's very safe around here, no wild beasts. When kind villagers from nearby bring food, I always hire them to sprinkle beast-repelling dicinal powders around the area."
"That reassures ." Gauss nodded, slowly raising the hand holding the water cup again.
The old woman blinked, a flash of anticipation deep in her eyes.
Suddenly, a shadow slid across the floor like a spirit snake, then climbed up Gauss's right leg.
"As expected..." Seeing this, Gauss's face remained expressionless.
The next mont.
He suddenly crushed the ceramic cup, his right fist simultaneously punching forward.
The fist tore through the air, muscles rapidly expanding during the punch.
Energy dragon scales instantly covered his arm skin, releasing dazzling light in the dark room.
Ti seed to slow down. Gauss could see the old woman's face flash with shock, her loose, wrinkled skin churning under the powerful Wind Pressure impact coming straight at her.
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