Chapter 19: Gulingge

Hagrid finished speaking and went ahead.

Harry followed closely behind, then came Dali.

After passing through the archway, what lay before Dali was a winding cobblestone street with no visible end.

The sides of the road were lined with various shops, but the goods sold here were no longer ordinary merchandise; instead, they were a dazzling array of magical items.

"Wow."

Harry let out an exclamation, his gaze continually scanning the surroundings; everything here seemed incredibly novel to him, filling him with endless delight.

In Dali's eyes, a hint of interest also showed.

"Interesting, many things here possess a spiritual aura—that is to say, most of the extraordinary items here can be purchased directly."

"You should know that, in that strange world, extraordinary items are strictly regulated. Obtaining one requires a considerable cost, especially powerful sealed objects; ordinary Extraordinary Ones can hardly come into contact with them."

"But here, merely the things Dali's eyes fell upon included many that were extraordinarily precious."

Behind Dali, Vernon and Penny's faces were full of terror.

Everything here seemed utterly strange and eerie to them, making them feel uneasy and fearful.

Especially the crowds moving along the street, dressed oddly, many seemed to live as if in a middle world.

"Let's go; we need to go to Gulingge to get money." Hagrid said to Harry, then looked at Vernon: "You should come with me too; there you can exchange Muggle money for wizard coins. I hope you brought enough cash."

After Hagrid finished speaking, regardless of whether Vernon understood, he led Harry straight onto the cobblestone road.

"Let's go."

Dali told his parents, then hurriedly followed.

Along the way, Dali occasionally activated his Spiritual Sight to observe the surroundings.

Most people here are wizards, but there are also a few Muggles; this can be seen even without Spiritual Sight, just from their attire.

As for the wizards, in Dali's Spiritual Sight, one could more or less see the energy emanating from their souls.

The amount of this energy allows a simple judgment of a person's specific strength.

Since the Supernatural Sequence and the Magic World are entirely different power systems, Dali currently cannot easily judge which wizards are strong enough to reach which level of the Supernatural Sequence; this will likely only become clear once he truly begins studying magic.

Shops selling dragon liver, magic books, flying broomsticks… along the way Dali saw many things he had never seen in that strange world, finding it quite fascinating.

"Later I can buy more books; that will let me understand this magical world more quickly."

Dali thought to himself.

"We've arrived at Gulingge."

Not long after, Hagrid led the group to a stop before a towering snow-white building.

At the gleaming bronze doorway stood a short figure dressed in a scarlet-and-gold uniform.

"A goblin!"

Dali's eyes flickered slightly.

This short creature was obviously the goblin Hagrid had mentioned earlier.

He quietly used his Spiritual Sight to observe them; these goblins are also extraordinary creatures.

Hagrid led the group inside; as they passed the goblin, Vernon and Penny kept their distance, fearful of contacting such a strange creature.

"As I said, if anyone wanted to rob Gulingge, that person would surely be mad."

Hagrid said this while pointing at the inscription carved on the door.

Dali glanced at it; the general meaning was that theft would incur severe punishment, warning people not to steal.

"Saying that, I always feel as if someone is about to come rob Gulingge right away." Dali said.

Hagrid had already mentioned more than once that Gulingge is extremely safe, the safest place in the world besides Hogwarts, with no one able to break in and take anything.

But the more he said it, the more it felt like setting a flag.

Hearing this, Hagrid glared at Dali.

"Watch your words; if the goblin hears you, you'll be in big trouble."

Hagrid warned.

Dali frowned, looked around, and saw no goblin paying attention to them.

"Let's go; first I'll take you to exchange Galleons, which are the wizard coins—one Galleon equals seventeen Sickles, and twenty-nine Knuts equal one Sickle." Hagrid finished, glanced at Vernon, then continued: "I recall that Muggle currency is pounds, right? It seems five pounds exchange for one Galleon; you can ask the goblin about it later."

After Hagrid's words fell, Fonu and Penny exchanged a glance, both eyes showing a hint of fear.

They actually had to deal with goblins, which was worse than being killed.

Dali's mouth twitched slightly, and he couldn't help but say: "With such a complicated currency exchange, are you sure this wasn't thought up by a baboon with its foot?"

"What?"

Hagrid frowned at Dali.

"Never mind, it doesn't matter." Dali shook his head.

Such a non-decimal currency system practically drives people mad.

After Hagrid found the place to exchange Galleons with Vernon, he then took Harry away.

Dali didn't linger either; he left the currency exchange entirely to his parents and followed Harry, wanting to see what the interior of Gulingge was like.

Not mentioning any future robbery plans, at least we need to understand how this place operates.

Soon, Hagrid found a goblin, explained that he wanted to take Harry to withdraw money, and also produced a letter indicating they needed to retrieve something else from Vault 713.

"What's inside Vault 713?"

Harry asked curiously.

"I can't tell you; it's absolutely confidential." Hagrid said mysteriously.

Dali was a bit curious, but he didn't dare to ask further.

After a while, a goblin named La Huan led them deeper into Gulingge.

After passing through the gate, what appeared before their eyes was a narrow stone corridor, the burning torches lighting the surroundings brightly. The stone corridor was a steep downhill slope, with a small railway track at the bottom.

La Huan blew a whistle, and a small mine cart came speeding up, stopping in front of the few people.

"Come up."

La Huan got on first, then said to the others.

Harry got on first, Dali followed closely behind, then Hagrid, who struggled hard to squeeze himself in.

"Sit steady."

La Huan called out, and the small mine cart sped off, racing downward underground.

A cold, yin wind whistled past Dali's ears, and he slightly furrowed his brow.

For some unknown reason, after entering this place, he always felt as if he were being watched, and he even faintly sensed a trace of evil, mad aura.