At this moment, Wade's mind was far from calm.
If someone truly had the ability to treat a wizard like Slytherin as an experimental subject, that person would be extremely dangerous.
And if that individual could keep both Slytherin's body and soul alive for over a thousand years without showing any signs of aging, then what about the person himself?
Slytherin's current state could essentially be described as remaining exactly as he was at the moment of his "death."
Considering the connection between body and soul, if Slytherin's body were still alive somewhere, then it would likely be just like the senior's, having undergone almost no change even now.
One must remember that even the legendary alchemist Nicolas Flamel could not prevent the decay of his own body.
The Philosopher's Stone merely allowed him to live longer. His body still aged and deteriorated as it normally would.
Nicolas Flamel's body had become so fragile that even shaking hands with Jacob could result in broken bones.
In other words, if Slytherin's guess was correct, then that person had already solved the problem of immortality a thousand years ago.
True immortality.
That raised another question.
Why was Slytherin's grave located beneath the Somnolen Wizard's tower? Was it really just a coincidence?
Why had Slytherin's ghost suddenly awakened and then attacked him?
There was no doubt that if he had not learned Nightmare Magic, he would truly have died.
Could it really have been because he carried the remains of the basilisk, accidentally causing Slytherin to awaken?
No... Slytherin had told him that after awakening, he had drifted upward in a daze. Only after noticing the basilisk remains in Wade's hand had he launched his furious attack.
Could it be that someone had predicted a thousand years ago that a wizard's tower would be built above Slytherin's grave, and that the tower would eventually end up in Wade's hands?
So that person had deliberately arranged everything a thousand years in advance, waiting for Wade to move in before letting Slytherin's ghost kill him?
Wasn't that absurd? Someone capable of ambushing Slytherin at will and living for over a thousand years.
If such a person wanted to kill him, would they really need to go through so much trouble?
They could simply come and kill him directly. Why bother setting up such an elaborate scheme?
And if such a person truly existed, then could ancient magic and parallel worlds have something to do with them?
The more he thought about it, the less sense it made.
This matter was full of doubts and contradictions.
Wade felt as if his brain were about to explode.
Slytherin suddenly sank downward, passing straight through the floor and disappearing.
"Where are you going?" Wade asked.
"To dig up the grave!" Slytherin's furious voice echoed back, already from the ground floor.
Wade had no choice but to Apparate down to the ground floor.
Slytherin raised his wand and dug open the floor that had previously been repaired.
Wade stood to the side without speaking.
He knew very well that at this moment, the furious Slytherin needed to vent.
Only after releasing that anger would he be able to calm down and discuss the matter rationally.
Slytherin was far more skilled at digging up graves than Wade.
Wade had simply torn up the entire floor before, but Slytherin created a smooth tunnel.
It was obvious that Slytherin had done this kind of thing many times before.
Then again, exploring ruins required this sort of skill as basic training.
"Isn't this tunnel a bit narrow?" Wade asked.
"It's for you to crawl through. Making it smaller saves time," Slytherin said. Then he sank downward again, his entire figure disappearing through the floor.
"Wait... how are you carrying your wand through the wall?" Wade asked in confusion.
"Just a small trick. Are you coming down or not?" Slytherin's voice echoed up from the tunnel, sounding muffled.
Wade sighed. When he had buried the grave again earlier, he had been rather rough about it.
To avoid the miserable possibility of Apparating directly into the soil, Wade obediently slid down through the tunnel Slytherin had dug for him.
Wade soon reached the bottom. The wand in his hand emitted a white glow, illuminating the surrounding area.
At that moment, Slytherin was using magic to reopen the place that had previously been buried.
Before long, the stone coffin that Wade had opened earlier appeared before them once again.
Wade stepped closer to take a look. He had already examined it once before, and even looking at it a second time, his conclusion remained the same.
It did not look like a corpse had ever lain inside. In fact, it did not even look as if a living person had rested there for a long period.
"This is an empty coffin," Slytherin said after sniffing it.
Back when Slytherin had still been in a ghostly state, he could not smell anything. Now, with the aid of the Obscurus cloak, he had regained the ability to touch objects and perceive scents.
"There is no smell of a corpse inside," Slytherin added.
"So there's no possibility that your body was temporarily teleported away from here?" Wade asked.
"That's right. This is a new stone coffin. But why did I believe that my bones were inside it?" Slytherin said, frowning.
Wade waved his wand, clearing away the dust and remnants of cloth inside the coffin. At the bottom of the stone coffin, more than a dozen strange runes appeared.
The arrangement of these runes was extremely peculiar, resembling a magical array.
"Do you recognize these runes?" Wade asked.
"No. I have never seen them before," Slytherin said as he examined them with a furrowed brow.
After a long moment, he finally spoke again. "These runes seem to be missing several key strokes. They are incomplete."
Wade looked closely as well. Sure enough, faint traces could be seen in certain places among the runes, as if someone had deliberately altered them.
However, the alterations were so extensive that the runes could no longer be restored.
Moreover, the runes themselves had already been damaged. From the remaining strokes alone, Wade could not determine how long they had existed.
After all, he had no knowledge of archaeology or ancient artifacts.
Slytherin, however, did have some expertise in that area.
"These runes have existed for a thousand years," Slytherin murmured as he carefully examined the strokes.
Hearing this, Wade suddenly had a flash of inspiration and came up with a new idea.
"Is it possible that this stone coffin was not meant to store your body, but your soul?"
Slytherin suddenly turned to look at him.
"Think about it. If that person separated your body and soul, then your soul would need somewhere to be kept. And this coffin just happens to be a brand new one that has never held a corpse."
Slytherin slowly nodded. "If my soul had been sleeping inside this coffin for many years, and these runes were meant to preserve, no, to seal my soul, then it would make sense. That would explain why I believed my bones were here. Because after staying inside for so long, my soul had instinctively come to regard this coffin as my body."
Based on the clues they currently had, this seemed to be the most reasonable explanation.
Next, Wade and Slytherin spent some time clearing away the debris throughout the tomb chamber. They then used the Repairing Charm to restore the collapsed sections.
Before long, a complete tomb chamber once again appeared before them.
Afterward, the two of them continued examining the chamber. Soon, on the cleaned floor and walls, they discovered more runes similar to the ones they had seen earlier.
"Who exactly was it... that let my soul sleep here for a thousand years, and then awakened me again?" Slytherin stared blankly at the tomb chamber.
Meanwhile, Wade had already begun dismantling part of the wall. He wanted to determine the age of the materials used to construct the chamber.
However, after removing a stone brick, Wade paused in surprise. From the brick, he sensed a familiar magical presence.
"Old man... this brick once contained traces of ancient magic. If this tomb was built a thousand years ago..." Wade said as he turned his head.
Slytherin spun around in shock. "What did you say? Ancient magic? The power of an Ancient Sage? That... that's impossible. If it really were him..."
"Do you think it could have been the Ancient Sage from your era?" Wade asked with a frown.
Slytherin's expression became despondent. "If it were him... then yes, it would have been possible. But it can't be. A person like him would never do such a thing."
Wade felt equally conflicted.
According to what Slytherin had previously explained, the Ancient Sage was someone from his era who possessed the talent for ancient magic.
That person had even briefly taught the four founders.
From the way Slytherin had spoken about him before, it was clear that he deeply admired the Ancient Sage. That was why the evidence now pointing toward that very figure left Slytherin unable to believe it.
"Then after I leave here, I'll try to look up information about this Ancient Sage. Perhaps there are records in documents unearthed from ancient ruins," Wade said with a frown.
"What was this sage's name? Was he a man or a woman? Where did you meet him? And where did you learn magic from him?"
As Wade fired off a string of questions, Slytherin froze once again.
A sense of unease immediately rose in Wade. "Don't tell me you've forgotten everything!"
"I... really have forgotten," Slytherin murmured.
"Damn it... how are we supposed to continue like this..." Wade ran his hands through his hair in frustration, feeling on the verge of collapse.
They had only just found the slightest lead, and now Slytherin was saying he had forgotten.
Could this also be related to the parallel worlds? Could it be that the Ancient Sage, like the senior, had his soul and body separated into different worlds?
Otherwise, how could Slytherin possibly forget such crucial information about someone he admired so deeply?
"No... that can't be it." Slytherin turned his head and spoke calmly. "I know very well that he would never do such a thing."
Wade raised an eyebrow. "Even if you've forgotten his name and everything related to him, and only remember that such a person once existed, you still believe he didn't do it?"
"Wade, you simply do not understand how great the Ancient Sages were. It's only because the legacy of the Ancient Sages has been lost in this age that you can even have such doubts. Otherwise, you would not question my judgment at all."
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