Chapter 61.2

With bubbles streaming from his nose and ears, a certain silly dog surfaced from the lake, his face a mask of embarrassment.

He floated along the water, shaking the water from his wings. "It's more useful to take a shower," he sighed.

Kevin snorted coldly. "In fact, cutting weeds and roots is better than taking a shower."

The silly dog was silent for a moment. "If I didn't lose my mind just now," he said, "did you also get some reaction from me?"

Kevin's lips curled into a sardonic smile. "I don't think you're awake," he said flatly.

Oswald glanced at him, his lupine features twisted into an expression that was both quizzical and inscrutable. "Then why are you still in the water, unable to go ashore?"

Kevin's sneer deepened. "Of course I have to watch, lest someone sink to the bottom of the lake like a canine plank."

Oswald shook the water from his head with a careless flick of his tail.

But then, he looked at Kevin again, his eyes narrowing slightly. "What's wrong with your neck?" he asked, his voice tinged with curiosity. "Why are you covering it all the time?"

Kevin arched an eyebrow and said, "Someone plunged into the lake with such haste that I fear I might sprain it."

Oswald glances at it, not paying much attention.

Kevin quickly goes ashore, sits on a rock, wrings out his soaked clothes, and says to Oswald, "Why did you change back again? Can you control your form now?"

Oswald lets out a low "hmm" and replies, "After all that, I managed to master it."

Mid-sentence, their conversation halted as they both turned their heads in unison.

Their eyes scanned the dense foliage and trees, searching for whatever had caught their attention.

Kevin's fingers twisted together, wet with sweat, as he stared intently into the forest. His brows furrowed, his expression one of growing concern.

"Did you hear that?" Oswald silently steps out of the water and whispers beside Kevin.

Kevin squinted and nodded, his brow furrowed in concentration. The voice that had faded away suddenly became clear as day, as if it were right next to him, no longer needing to travel through the ground to reach his ears.

Kevin's face turns serious, and he says to Oswald without looking back, "Dry yourself and follow me through the woods."

Oswald shook off the water droplets that clung to his skin, his movements fluid and graceful. He joined Kevin at the edge of the forest, his eyes scanning the dense foliage.

The trees here were tall and imposing, their branches intertwined like the fingers of a giant. The sunlight was filtered through the leaves, creating a dappled effect that was both beautiful and eerie.

The air was filled with the sound of birdsong and insect chatter, a symphony of nature that was somehow both soothing and invigorating.

This dense forest serves as perfect cover for Kevin and Oswald.

The cries of the birds drowned out the sound of their footsteps as they grazed on the grass and trampled on the dead leaves.

The distance from the edge of the lake to the end of the forest was much longer than they had imagined, but the speed of one man and one beast was swift.

Soon, the trees began to thin out, and through the branches and leaves, they could see the dark water surface in the distance, as well as some vague figures.

Kevin gestured to Oswald to be quiet, but he did not slow down his pace.

After a while, a man and a beast stood behind the thick branches of a tall tree. The leaves that hung down like long hair were intertwined, forming a curtain that just covered them.

Kevin gently lifted the long leaves that hung in front of his eyes with his fingers and squinted to look out.

As Oswald had said before, they had reached the southernmost coast of the mainland. This piece of virgin woodland afforded a view of a natural beach when one stepped outside.

The guardrail looked like the simplest pier, but the water outside the pier was calm and empty, with no boats moored.

And right next to the pier, there was surprisingly a "bustling" scene.

At first glance, the crowd seemed to have no end, and it was impossible to estimate how many people had gathered here. The so-called "bustle" was only on the surface.

In fact, these people were not noisy, and they did not even speak much. There was an ineffable sense of gloom in the air.

They were not all gathered together. In fact, a group of people had already stood at the entrance of the pier, and two of them had even stood on the stone platform.

Many people had seen that stone platform, but very few had actually stood on it. This was because the boat waiting at the pier was leading to the settlement of the Spirit Race.

The Spirit Race had always been famous for witchcraft, and the way to go to their island was naturally not as simple as one might imagine. No one was willing to take the initiative to send themselves to that island.

The people standing on the stone platform were mostly blocked by the crowd, so Kevin and Oswald could not see who they were. However, they heard the sound of the seawater suddenly churning at the edge of the pier, as if something had resurfaced from the water.

There was a faint exclamation from the originally listless crowd, and some people near the pier began to stir.

"Look! That's Peter!" Kevin said in a low voice.

Oswald's face immediately turned cold. Peter was the commander of the Imperial City Patrolling Army, and he had been in charge of the safety of St. Antis. His presence here meant that even the people of St. Antis had been bewitched by the palace.

"Sinia!" Oswald suddenly called out again. "The one on the pier is Ian holding Sinia!"