Hao Xuan and Gavril walked along the hallway for over 10 minutes before coming to a stop.
Gavril turned to his right and faced the wall. He kept staring at it with an intrigued gaze, as if inspecting something out of the ordinary but all Hao Xuan could see was a normal stretch of wall with one object on it.
There was absolutely nothing on it other than a framed water painting of a landscape . At first glance, it didn't seem anything special but the more Hao Xuan looked at it, the more entranced he became.
It showed a lush green valley. There were no animals or beasts inside it, only a stretch of simple green pasture that was just a few inches tall. A single stream passed through the river but it wasn't water that was inside it but milk.
The two mountains on either side of the valley were so tall that their peaks were hidden in clouds.
After a couple of seconds Hao Xuan noticed that the grass was moving with the occasional gusts of wind and the milk stream flowed normally. The painting was alive!
"It's here," Gavril mumbled while running his hand around the painting's frame.
"What? What's here?" Hao Xuan asked in a hushed voice, looking left and right warily.
"The source of the magic, it's this painting. Didn't you notice? We walked past it over thirty times in the last few minutes. It's the only thing that keeps repeating. It looks like whoever is behind is really an amateur. But with this much power? How is it possible..."
"So what do we do then? Can we get out of this....spell or whatever?"
"We will see. Let's go," Gavril spoke softly while putting his right hand over the painting.
Hao Xuan looked at him with a cautious frown, "Go...where?"
Gavril extended his left hand and grabbed Hao Xuan by the shoulder before answering, "Into the painting."
As soon as he finished speaking, a ripple of translucent energy spread out from his body and a white light enveloped both of them. Hao Xuan quickly closed his eyes and when he opened them, he was standing inside the valley.
There was no sun or moon in the sky but it was bright enough to resemble the time of dusk. The wind gently blew across the meadow without pause. The sound of the milk stream came from the right side.
"Wow, it really is the painting..." Hao Xuan muttered under his breath while looking around. To think all this was created by some sort of magic, and by an amateur nonetheless.
He raised his right foot and stepped towards the milky stream but suddenly started floating. His body felt light as a feather and he jumped over four meters with just one step.
'The gravity is much weaker!'
It was almost like walking on the moon. With the slightest force he could push himself into the air. He looked towards Gavril who was standing in one place with his eyes closed.
"Where to now?"
"There, the origin of the magic is in there," Gavril pointed towards the milk stream. Wherever it was coming from was where they had to go.
Hop by hop, the due moved along the milk stream for over two hours when they saw a giant oak tree in the distance. It was about 5-6 meters in diameter and the top half of it was cut down.
Slowly and silently they went towards the tree. The milk stream was coming out from one of the roots of this tree. As they got close, the tree trunk opened up and revealed a staircase leading upwards.
Hao Xuan looked at Gavril for confirmation and walked up after getting a nod. The staircase wasn't very long and it only took them a few seconds to reach the top. There was nothing here other than a small basket, placed in the center trunk.
With furrowed brows, Gavril was the first one to go up to it but he quickly froze as soon as he saw what was inside it. Curious, Hao Xuan walked up behind and peaked over Gavril's shoulder to see an infant sleeping inside the basket, wrapped in a small white blanket.
Black hair, chubby cheeks and as cute an appearance as an infant could have, he sucked his thumb quite enthusiastically while some drool spilled out from the side.
Hao Xuan had much the same reaction as Gavril. He grabbed him by the arm and dragged him back towards the stairs.
"Is that tubby kid the source of the magic?" Hao Xuan pointed towards the basket.
Gavril nodded hesitantly, his brows still scrunched up. He couldn't believe it himself.
"There is no mistaking it. You can't but I can feel the magic that's coming off of him. It's like a deep and endless ocean. This kid....he is dangerous!" a cold light flashed through Gavril's eyes and a sliver killing intent leaked out.