Chapter 226: Time Reversal

This was the first time Xia Duo had perceived such a magical thing; if he hadn't been deliberately looking for anomalies, he would certainly have overlooked it in his daily life. This was simply a conceptual revolution.

Before today, Xia Duo had never felt that conceptual things could be perceived in Reality; what people often called "liking" or "loathing" were merely descriptions.

They were not actually some kind of concrete, existing things like "liking" or "loathing."

But now, "Flow" and "Moist" were truly some kind of concrete things. For a moment, Xia Duo felt a bit disoriented; various images flashed through his mind like lightning, eventually becoming a jumbled mess.

Xia Duo shook his head, temporarily putting aside those things that were beyond his grasp.

The only thing he could be certain of now was that this "path" indeed had an anomaly, and this "path" pointed directly to the so-called treasure of Lao Neil.

Then, was this "treasure" still the "treasure" he had imagined?

A big question mark appeared in Xia Duo's heart, but regardless, Xia Duo decided to continue walking; after all, it was within his own Territory, so he had to take a look.

Moreover, since conceptual existences had appeared, he would not be reconciled if he didn't go take a look.

With various thoughts in mind, Xia Duo quickened his pace, charging forward all the way, his Adamantine Longsword hacking continuously; anything blocking the path was severed by him one by one.

"Hmm?"

Xia Duo stopped suddenly; without realizing it, he had already passed the location of the treasure by only a hundred meters.

But being able to subconsciously pass it was enough to show that he hadn't discovered any anomalies along the way. Xia Duo carefully sensed that conceptual existence of "Flow" and "Moist," which had become increasingly blurred here.

Even when sensing carefully and with concentration, it was faint and elusive, as if it ended here.

And this place was right near the so-called treasure!

Xia Duo took out Lao Neil's map, as well as the Spell map copied from Saville, and compared them carefully with Reality, but any single point on Lao Neil's map corresponded to a fairly large area in Reality.

It was at least larger than two basketball courts.

And the so-called standard location was still a rather thick dot.

Xia Duo first walked a circle on the perimeter, carving marks on the trees, and then searched carefully—every tree, every patch of grass, every stone.

Until the sky was about to turn dark, he still had no discoveries. Not to mention the treasure, there wasn't even a trace of human activity other than his own! Xia Duo couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. Before coming, no matter how much his reason reminded him, he still had some expectations, more or less.

But now there were no discoveries. Although nearly half the area remained to be searched, Xia Duo's expectations had dropped to the extreme.

The only reason that made him want to continue searching was that Lao Neil wouldn't have left a map for no reason, and the conceptual existence he had discovered earlier.

This place was definitely not an ordinary place.

As the sky was about to turn dark, Xia Duo decided to come back tomorrow.

……

Just as he approached the landing point, Xia Duo smelled the scent of scorched earth; the piece of land the size of a basketball court that had been cleared in the morning had been completely scorched once.

In the middle of the land, two tents, one large and one small, had been set up, and supply crates were piled on one side of the tents.

Seeing Xia Duo return, Jibu and Ximeng immediately came over to report.

"My Lord, everything went smoothly today," Jibu said.

"Very good, but we still cannot relax." Xia Duo nodded; he was at ease with Jibu, and then he asked Ximeng, "What about your situation?"

"My Lord, the situation on my side is also going smoothly, except that two people were bitten by poisonous insects, but after using medicine, they are already fine."

There was a bit of a situation on Ximeng's side, but it was within Xia Duo's expectations. Although these people had been Adventurers, they were ultimately not as seasoned as Jibu and the others who had spent years in the wild.

After offering a few words of comfort, he let Jibu and Ximeng notify everyone to rest. Developing a Territory was a long-term plan, and it was not worth fighting over this little bit of time.

In the initial stage, there was no need to exploit these people too harshly. With so few people, not much labor could be squeezed out anyway; of course, if there were more people, it would be a different story.

……

The large tent in the clearing was for others to share, while the small tent was for Xia Duo's individual use.

Entering the tent, there was nothing inside except for two simple wooden crates, though the ground had been covered with a layer of wooden boards.

Putting the two wooden crates together and spreading a blanket over them counted as a bed. After Xia Duo tidied up the bed, he summoned a ball of light and studied his Spell Notes while gnawing on bread.

Not long after, he heard Jibu calling him from outside the cloth curtain at the entrance, "My Lord, may I come in?"

Xia Duo didn't think too much and said casually, "Come in."

Receiving the order, Jibu lifted the door curtain and trotted over, "My Lord, this is what I prepared for you."

As he spoke, he handed over the thing in his hand.

"Where did the roast meat come from?"

Xia Duo looked at the black, charred thing that Jibu was offering on a Dagger and frowned.

There was indeed meat in the supplies, but that was prepared salted dried meat, which could be used to make soup or chewed on, but that had nothing to do with roast meat.

Seeming to prove that he hadn't neglected his duty, Jibu hurriedly explained, "A silly rabbit happened to bump into my leg this afternoon, so I caught it while I was at it."

Such a coincidence? Xia Duo was a bit suspicious, but he didn't delve into it. He believed Jibu knew what was important, but he firmly refused the black, charred roast meat:

"Take this roast wild rabbit and share it with the others."

"My Lord!"

"No need to say more, take it back and share it with the others, and don't forget Ximeng's team."

"This—" Jibu hesitated for a moment, but still left with the roast meat.

Shortly after, Jibu's voice rang out from outside the tent, "The Lord has ordered me to share the roast meat with everyone!"

This was immediately followed by a cheer, "Thank you, Lord Wier Lingzhu!"

Inside the tent, Xia Duo shook his head and smiled bitterly; he didn't know how much of that was sincere, but looking at it from the surface, the situation was looking great.

……

The next day, Xia Duo arranged for Ximeng and the others to start from the Temporary Camp and continue expanding outward, while Jibu and the others remained on guard. For the time being, until the second batch of personnel arrived, they would exist as a security line.

Patrolling day and night to be prepared for any emergencies.

After arranging the matters at the Temporary Camp, Xia Duo went to search for the treasure alone, just as he had yesterday afternoon; there was still nearly half of the treasure area on the map that hadn't been searched!

Following the path cleared yesterday, Xia Duo's speed of advance was much faster.

From the Temporary Camp to the "treasure" location was a little over a mile. Xia Duo didn't stop along the way and soon arrived.

And what he had to do was continue searching along the positions of the traces left yesterday.

Xia Duo looked past the trees one by one; the traces he had left were very obvious and not hard to find, so he quickly reached yesterday's progress.

But he soon discovered an anomaly.

Question: How to ensure every tree, every patch of grass, and every stone is searched without omission?

That, by Nature, requires some planning; the simplest way is like a chessboard, going square by square, and eventually, all places will be searched.

That is exactly what Xia Duo did—simple and crude, but effective.

Then the traces he left yesterday should certainly be in a straight line, and there should be no omissions, but the problem arose—

Xia Duo discovered that there was one "square" that actually contained none of the traces he had left, yet they existed on both sides of it, as if Xia Duo had been drunk yesterday and had simply skipped this one "square."

How could this be possible!

(End of this chapter)