Diary of a Dead Wizard

Chapter 119: A Mountain of Pale White

Saul hadn't figured it out yet when Bill walked back to Byron.

For some reason, Bill suddenly took an interest in Byron’s mission and proposed to join him.

At first, Saul suspected it might be because of himself.

But after those two brief exchanges, Bill never initiated a conversation with Saul again.

Making Saul feel like he might have been overthinking it.

Byron was initially hesitant about Bill’s suggestion.

But considering the recent strangeness in Hanging Hands Valley and the seeming instability even at the outskirts, he agreed.

After all, with three Third Rank apprentices moving together, as long as they didn’t fight among themselves, they could basically sweep through the outskirts of Hanging Hands Valley unhindered.

“Our mission is to capture a Wraith,” Byron first stated the objective clearly.

“You go catch the Wraith, we’ll scavenge the corpses. Works out fine. Might even find some relics in the tunnels,” Bill raised a brow, acting all cooperative.

Having two more Third Rank apprentices in the team was definitely beneficial for Saul and their wraith-hunting mission.

Before leaving, Bill casually tossed the four people he had just killed into a ground hole.

That took care of the corpses.

The group continued deeper into Hanging Valley. The wooden spiders had to squeeze through tighter spaces now—thankfully, there were no fat people among these apprentice witches.

As they moved forward, the number of ground holes steadily increased.

Some of these holes were as thin as an arm, others three to four meters in diameter. Most of them were so deep they couldn’t see the bottom.

While driving the wooden spiders, they had to be careful not to let the spider legs get stuck in the holes.

“A lot of these holes were dug by wizards during exploration. Since there was no overall planning, they just drilled wherever they liked. The underground is a chaotic web—it’s easy to get lost,” Byron explained while carefully maneuvering the spider, chatting with Saul.

At the same time, he was warning the not-so-familiar Bill and his companion not to wander off.

After about an hour, Nick would occasionally activate the soul wave detector to check for any signs of Wraith activity.

But perhaps because they were still at the outer edge of the valley—or maybe Wraiths were less active during the day—the Soul Wave Detector didn’t show much.

“Is this thing even working?” Bill curled his finger and knocked on the mirror of the soul wave detector device a couple of times.

Byron had just furrowed his brow when Nick suddenly shouted, “I detected Wraith activity!”

Saul leaned over for a look, and sure enough, he could see a faint shadow on the mirror.

What confirmed it as a Wraith and not a regular reflection was the figure’s shape—it was a perfectly smooth humanoid silhouette, without the distortions typical of other mirror reflections.

But this shadow was different from the one Saul had seen alone before.

The one he had seen earlier, although also lacking facial features, had appeared very close to the mirror, as if it were standing right behind him.

Its color had been dark gray, nearly black, unlike this one, which was pale and faint—like a wisp of smoke that could dissipate at any moment.

Byron slowed the spider and glanced at the mirror. “Yep, definitely a Wraith. But it’s so faint—it must’ve passed through a day or two ago.”

Bill perked up. “A day or two? Could it have crawled up from underground?”

Wright, sitting on the far side of the mirror and seeing nothing, still joined in, “Bill, your fingers really work wonders. Wanna knock it again?”

Saul was startled, afraid Bill would actually mess with the device again. If this thing got thrown off, recalibrating it would be a huge pain.

Luckily, once Bill heard there were Wraith traces, his attention shifted.

Before the wooden spider even came to a full stop, he jumped out the window.

“Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s find a tunnel and head down!”

But Byron didn’t respond. Instead, he stopped at a relatively flat area near the cliff edge.

This would be their temporary base.

Saul helped Nick carry the detector down and set it up, then clapped his hands and looked around.

Compared to their original base, this area had way more tunnels. It felt like they were standing on a massive block of cheese—tunnels honeycombed the ground, and even the nearby cliff was dotted with holes leading who-knew-where.

After setting up camp, Byron started assigning tasks.

“I suggest we each search separately for caves with signs of corruption. Afterward, we’ll gather and compare our findings to pick the most promising one.”

But Bill immediately objected.

“Wright and I aren’t good at detecting Wraiths. With your method, we might walk right past key clues without realizing it. I say we all just pick a tunnel and go straight down. If we go deep enough, we’re bound to run into a Wraith.”

Byron looked concerned. “If we go too deep, we might run into something we can’t handle.”

Nick and Saul were both Second Rank apprentices, especially Saul, who only knew a single First Tier Spells—he barely had any means to protect himself.

“If we can’t handle it, we run,” Bill said casually. “Byron, you’re way too cautious—that’s why it’s taken you so long to reach Third Rank.”

Whether intentional or not, Bill slapped a hand on Saul’s shoulder. “If you want to be a wizard, you can’t be afraid of danger.”

Saul had seen how Bill used that purple mist to melt corpses. Now being touched by him made Saul uncomfortable.

But the diary remained silent, which meant Bill hadn’t tampered with him—at least not yet. And it was unlikely Bill would make a move on him in front of Byron.

After thinking it through, Byron finally agreed with Bill’s suggestion.

“You do have a point. Let’s stick together and head straight underground. But someone still needs to stay behind and monitor the Soul Wave Detector. Nick and Saul can take turns.”

Taking the opportunity to assign Saul this task, Byron pulled him aside.

“There’s still something strange about what happened earlier. Tidal storms, even when they occur, rarely reach the entrance of Hanging Hands Valley. So I plan to finish this mission quickly and leave as soon as we can.”

Saul nodded.

“Of course, if we come across a suitable Wraith, we’ll help you capture it—but there might not be time for thorough research.”

Finding a more intact Wraith had always just been a bonus. Since the situation was getting odd, Saul wasn’t going to push his luck.

Besides, just completing this mission would earn him a lot of academic credits. Saul wasn’t greedy.

“I’ll figure it out myself. Don’t worry about the Wraith.”

Saul thought to himself—worst case, he’d have Nick smash the spirit again to enhance his hands. It’d just be a bit wasteful.

Once the new plan was settled, it was already afternoon. But no one wanted to waste the day, so they ate a quick meal and set out.

Nick would stay at the camp today.

Wright crossed his arms, staring at the dense maze of tunnels before them, his pale face looking conflicted.

“Which tunnel… do we go into?”

Bill clapped his hands, “Doesn’t matter. Let’s take the closest one!”

He pointed at a hole just five meters away, nearly two meters in diameter.

Byron, however, chose another one—about three meters wide, with signs of recent activity around it. “Let’s go with one that’s already been explored a bit. Bigger space makes it easier for the group to move.”

Saul didn’t immediately join the debate. He remembered Byron’s initial plan—tracking Wraiths through signs of corruption—and a thought struck him.

Observing corruption… wasn’t that exactly his specialty?

Saul half-closed his eyes and visualized the Human-Monster Movement Diagram.

And the world before his eyes… didn’t change much.

Could it be that there really weren’t many Wraiths on the valley’s edge? Or maybe too many people had explored this area before, leaving everything too clean?

It didn’t look like a burial ground for wizards at all.

There were dozens of large holes and even more smaller ones before him—but not a single one gave off a reaction.

Saul was disappointed. He turned to end the visualization when suddenly, his eyes caught the cliff behind them.

There, on one side of the mountain wall, several caves were lined with strange white phantoms writhing just outside their entrances.

Saul couldn’t help but walk over for a closer look. Just as he tried to study them, the white phantoms suddenly stretched out—becoming thin, bony, white hands.

These hands were long like wooden rods, clustered like wild grass. They grew around the cliffside caves and waved endlessly.

As Saul’s gaze settled on them, they seemed to sense his attention—and began to wave more vigorously.

As if calling him over…

Or crying out for help.

(End of Chapter)