Vid quietly stood beside Professor Morry, and heard the professor urge him, "You don't need to follow me, Vid, you can roam freely and see what items you like."
Vid shook his head, didn't speak, nor did he leave.
— After all, he's still a child.
Professor Morry thought to himself, smiled gently, and stopped urging Vid to act alone.
He admired the inscribed stone tablet and quietly explained to Vid:
"Gul previously mentioned the items he planned to exhibit this time, and this is one of them... a stone tablet unearthed from Ancient Egypt, said to possibly contain content personally inscribed by Democritus."
"The magic power of that era was very primitive and pure, much closer to the essence of magic, the truth of nature, than now. It is said that miraculous techniques existed back then that could make humans equal to divine beings."
"Such as this stone tablet?" Vid asked.
Professor Morry laughed, "Of course, this needs to be translated and researched to know what is actually written on it. But I can temporarily interpret part of it..."
While speaking, Professor Morry began to scrutinize the inscriptions, muttering under his breath and gesturing with his fingers, trying to understand the content.
The text on the stone tablet was unlike any known language, and often ancient characters could use a simple symbol to express complex meanings.
Professor Morry found it very difficult to interpret, and after a few minutes, he mumbled, "What's going on... It's really strange..."
The old professor returned to re-interpret it once more.
"Strange... It's correct... Could it be that these inscriptions are wrong?"
He observed the stone tablet, clearly marked by the passage of time, and after pondering for a moment, suddenly sighed.
"What's wrong, Professor?" Vid asked.
"The inscriptions are incorrect."
He turned to Vid and said, "Gul might have been deceived, this is a forgery. Let's go look at others."
Vid turned his head and looked, the wizard in the red robe was smiling as he stood beside the wooden-carved bronze mirror, talking to Orlando from Beauxbatons, with several young alchemists around them looking at the mirror with eyes full of awe.
The elevator to this place had been shut down, and the display screen for the floors above was dark, without any text.
Vid could see that the chain-shaped magic pattern was entwined on the elevator door.
Upon closer examination, the ancient portraits hanging on the walls, which were originally in a normal sleeping state, now had some with half-open eyes, looking as if they were secretly observing.
Even the position of the statues had subtly changed.
"Professor, something's not right..." Vid said quietly.
However, the alchemists in the hall were absorbed in the exhibits, paying no attention to these changes.
Professor Morry asked, "What did you say, Vid?"
"Look at this, Terence!"
An alchemist came over, loudly saying, "This Thorny Wreath looks like an ordinary wreath, but actually, it might be related to the legendary Great Mage Merlin..."
Meanwhile, some decorations on the wall suddenly moved slightly, faintly revealing some dark holes.
— Guns?
Vid's heart froze, and he closed his mouth.
Professor Morry smiled and said, "The Nymph of the Lake, Vivian, used the Thorny Wreath on her head to confine Merlin, preventing him from finding his way, and finally imprisoning him forever in an oak tree..."
Suddenly, his voice paused, staring at the wreath within the barrier for a long time without speaking.
Under the magic barrier protecting the exhibits, the alchemists could not use detection magic to further test these items, and could only appreciate and imagine with their own eyes.
But for an experienced Great Alchemist like Professor Morry, he had an almost intuitive sense of alchemy items, even by only seeing the appearance, he could sense something unusual.
Professor Morry's fingers gently slid through the air, outlining the shape of the Thorny Wreath through the barrier.
Then, the old man laughed angrily.
"How could this possibly be from a thousand or two thousand years ago... It's probably just made a day or two ago, right?"
Professor Morry's expression turned sharp, "Vid, what do you say about an alchemist with thirty or forty years of experience in this line of work making a mistake twice in a row?"
Vid whispered, "Under threat or control, I'd say. Look, Professor, others have noticed the problem too... We'd better not act rashly."
Professor Morry originally thought the wizard in red robes, Gul, was betting decades of reputation on a fraud, and was very angry. Upon hearing Vid's words, he immediately calmed down.
Then, he also realized the problem.
The young people were still wandering and admiring the exhibits, while the older alchemists were almost all frowning, exchanging glances.
Only Orlando was still discussing the legend of the God of Death with Gul, casually probing if the mirror could be discounted.
An old man with wrinkled clothes and a spotty face quickly scanned all the exhibits, then went straight over to interrupt the conversation between the two.
"Gul!" he demanded unpleasantly, "What kind of nonsense are you exhibiting? Are you expecting to fool our eyes with this junk?"
It seemed he was angrier at the thought that someone believed such things could escape his eyes rather than the fact that "the exhibits are all forgeries".
Gul paused, smiling and asking, "What? Mr. Matthias, which one are you referring to?"
"All of them!" the old wizard said angrily, "For example, the damn mirror in front of you! It's not a magic mirror at all!"
"What?!" Orlando was horrified, immediately rushing to inspect the barrier closely.
Gul paused again, his smile still enthusiastic, "How could that be? This mirror is an ancient object, with the function of communicating with the spirits. If you're interested, I can introduce you in detail..."
"I'm not interested in forgeries at all!" Matthias shouted loudly, "Did you hear what I'm saying?!"
Gul's smiling expression slightly changed, then his mouth curved again, and he countered:
"Are you questioning my professional level? I've been in this business for thirty-nine years! My friend, trust me—if it wasn't authenticated beforehand, I would never put it in my exhibition."
Matthias didn't rebut this time, he stared blankly at Gul, gazed for a moment, then became even more furious: "Imperio curse?! Who dare use the Imperio curse on people?!"
No sooner had he finished speaking when a "thud" sounded in the hall.
Suddenly, a young wizard fell.
Then came a second, a third...
The alchemists dropped one after another; some hit the stone platforms, bleeding profusely.
Gul, as if not seeing, was still smiling, "…you can rest assured, I bet my life that the exhibits I sell are genuine!"
Someone yelled, "Run!"