Chapter 1020

Xia De did not ask Miss Chloe questions, to prevent the witch who had turned into a cat from feeling embarrassed. Taking advantage of the remaining time, Xia De inquired about the situation from the other two. Of course, during this time, Xia De had to control his instinct to pet the cat; the half-year he had spent raising Mia had already formed a physical conditioned reflex.

Mrs. Marx decided to set off toward the summit because she wanted to take the missing witch's boots to the top of the mountain and leave footprints on it, so Xia De inspected that boot. Although the boot's craftsmanship was excellent, and the foot was unexpectedly as small as Miss Chloe's, it was merely an ordinary item, so it did not require special attention.

As for the man cowering to the side, the reason he did not speak was because he feared the witch. But when Xia De approached and asked, he was still willing to say a few things. The man lowered his voice, as if afraid of being heard by the witch.

He did not want to reveal his name, but he admitted that he had been exiled here because he had stolen something.

When he was discovered by Miss Chloe, he was almost frozen to death in the snow. Miss Chloe belonged to the type of relatively enlightened witch, so she kept him, letting him do the work if they encountered tasks that required a living person to scout the path or serve as a sacrifice.

And when Xia De asked what exactly the man had stolen, he was too afraid to speak.

The witch, who was drinking soup, gave a light hum:

"It shouldn't have been a very valuable item, otherwise he would have been executed directly. But it shouldn't have been a very ordinary thing either, otherwise it wouldn't have been worth using the method of exile."

The witch's opening caused the man to curl up his body again:

"I stole a... card. The territory witch thought that card was interesting and wanted to study it, but there were no results, so she threw it into the warehouse... After I was caught, the territory witch threw me and that card here together, letting me stay with that card forever."

This was very consistent with Xia De's understanding of the witches of this era, and when the man took out that "interesting" card, he recognized at a glance the sun, moon, and stars on the back of the card, located in three directions of the star map, the star map itself being circular, with the lines intertwined.

"They really are everywhere..."

Flipping to the front of the card, the face of the card was a black humanoid creature, facing sideways away from the card, with no hair on its head, wings extending from behind, and curved spikes at the tips of the wings. Its eyes were like snake eyes, looking obliquely at the person outside the card, and there were traces like scales on its exposed skin.

No matter from which direction he looked, Xia De felt that the snake eye was looking at him.

"Phantasmagoria · Darkness?"

Xia De also had this card; it was a gift to Xia De from Queen Diana. But interestingly, the rules at the bottom of this card, which would only fall into Xia De's hands more than six thousand years later, were not the Luo De Pai rules Xia De was familiar with, but rather—

【Sacrifice your own health points to create a number of black vortices on the card table corresponding to the sacrificed health value. Our side can move through the vortices, receiving a fixed heal each time we move, with the healing amount being one-third of the sacrificed health points, rounded down. If the enemy approaches the vortex, they must roll dice to determine the number of turns they are bound.】

"Cards from the Game of Life?"

Chloe the cat recognized what this was; she had no interest in playing cards, so she didn't even think about taking the card to examine it closely.

Xia De hadn't expected that after crossing nearly six thousand years, he would still be able to see this card. But the appearance of this card could not help the witch and her party change their current situation; they still had to rely on themselves to climb the main peak of the Bai Yin Mountains.

"What is the Game of Life?"

Xia De held the card, vaguely feeling that he could manipulate the card in his hand now just as he manipulated the card in the Sixth Era.

"A game that became popular starting from the early years of the Fifth Era; it's hard to verify who exactly created it, but witches like to use this game to show off their lives... I heard some cards are very valuable."

The cat in his arms said, then saw Xia De commanding the card to fly back and forth, but no one here could realize what this meant.

Mrs. Marx and the cowering man appeared to have nothing special about them, so before leaving, Xia De chatted with Miss Chloe in her cat state again.

Since the evil spirit of the snow mountain had been expelled, the witch planned to rest here for a period of time before continuing toward the higher reaches of the Bai Yin Mountains.

How much distance remained from the current location to the top of the peak, none of the three people here could say clearly. But since the peak was right there, it was enough for them to keep climbing upward.

As for the god who had appeared again just now to help them, not only Miss Chloe, but the other two also had no impression. Although, according to Xia De's statistics, the three unexpectedly discovered that they all worshipped that "Winter Maiden" and had all prayed to this winter maiden for luck, but such ordinary prayers were certainly not enough to summon a god.

Xia De had a lot of contact with the Old Gods; he knew very well that the appearance of a god would not be because the god just happened to descend here.

Even a god who is friendly to humans will only respond when mortals make a request. If the wish is not spoken in front of the god, the god will only watch and will not take action. And the god who appeared just now looked in every way like she was actively protecting them, so in this snow mountain, someone must have actively summoned the god.

He told his thoughts to Chloe in her cat state, but the witch also couldn't explain the matter of the god clearly. She was only an Eleventh Tier, and in the early Fifth Era, this power was not outstanding, so naturally, she was not qualified to understand the secrets of those Great Ones.

"Then what is your status in the Zalas Academy?"

Xia De asked curiously again, and the silver-white cat turned her head slightly:

"Just an ordinary member."

She seemed a bit embarrassed to admit this, and added:

"However, one day I will also become a Thirteenth Tier, and it is not impossible to even surpass the Thirteenth Tier. The Academy has the secrets of demigods, and I have my own research."

Xia De revealed a smile:

"I believe you will definitely have no problem."

None of the people he was able to come into contact with in the past were ordinary people.

Chloe the cat looked at Xia De unexpectedly, and it took a long while before she nodded:

"A man like you really looks quite good... Then do you have any witches you are close with?"

"Of course I do, and I am even her lover. Although that lady and I haven't had anything happen, instead, it was with her maid..."

Xia De raised his right hand and saw that the white mist had already wrapped around his hand. Although this adventure lasted forty minutes, longer than the previous half-hour, time was ultimately limited.

Outside the tent, the gale howled, but the temperature inside the tent had gradually increased. The campfire did not flicker because of the wind, and the aroma of the vegetable soup made everyone feel satisfied; compared to when Xia De arrived, this place had become safe and comfortable.

"Look, I have to go."

Xia De said to Miss Chloe, and the cat twisted her body, looking up at him:

"You promised, you will definitely come back."

In this terrible environment of ice and snow, it was not easy to find an object who was strong enough and could also converse with her.

"Yes, I will definitely come back. Although you didn't ask me to find any information or precious items, my home has a very powerful flame, and perhaps the fire-holding nun has a way to let me turn that flame into a part of myself; this should be able to help you."

Xia De said, politely saying goodbye to everyone in the tent. Mrs. Marx responded to Xia De somewhat nervously; the jasmine scent on this lady was very heavy; the unknown man held that card, cowering as he waved goodbye to Xia De; he was afraid of the cat on Xia De's body.

Miss Chloe jumped down from Xia De and darted into the white blanket from earlier. Unlike Tifa's transformation which only changed the body, this Eleventh Tier witch's transformation technique included clothes:

"Then, until we meet again."

The reddish-gold eyes looked at Xia De, and she extended her hand to Xia De. As the two hands held each other, the swirling white mist completely enveloped Xia De. When the white mist dissipated, the Outsider had already left the warm tent.

Mrs. Marx was somewhat mechanically simmering the vegetable soup, and the cowering man by the wall looked down at the ground without moving. Only Miss Chloe supported her cheek with her hand, tilting her head to look at the position where Xia De had just been sitting, not knowing what she was thinking.

【Outsider, you have returned to the current time.】

"Oh!"

Stumbling out of the white mist door, leaving the snow mountain environment and returning home, the feeling of being frozen stiff made his whole body tremble:

"Fireplace, fireplace, fireplace!"

While Little Mia cast a concerned look, Xia De trotted quickly to the fireplace in the living room, letting the firelight from the fireplace envelop him. Bathing in the warm light, he only then felt that the feeling of his soul being frozen had eased slightly:

"Phew~"

He let out a long breath, only to discover that what he breathed out was actually cold air.

"Meow~"

Because Xia De's body was too cold, Little Mia only approached him and did not jump onto Xia De. However, this cat seemed to have smelled an unusual scent on Xia De, like a cat, but not a cat, which made this cat fall into confusion; it didn't know what Xia De had encountered, so it couldn't be angry at Xia De at this time.

Having left the Bai Yin Mountains, the temporary blessing of "Snow Eating" given to Xia De by that god disappeared, which was why Xia De behaved so uncharacteristically. But fortunately, having moved away from that strange snow mountain, the surrounding environment had also become much more normal, and the warm home still made Xia De feel at ease as it had in the past.

Thinking about it this way, the three-person witch party who could resist that kind of severe cold was truly remarkable, especially that man; as an ordinary person, he actually also...

"What's wrong?"

The blonde girl, awakened by Xia De, appeared at the bedroom door at this time wearing pajamas and slippers; the familiar action of touching her earlobe let Xia De know that this was Princess Lei Qianya.

"Just came back from the snow mountain, it was really cold."

Xia De said, shivering, thinking about whether to go to the attic to swallow some sparks from the kerosene lamp containing the "Sun Fire." But those sparks had finally become flames, and he was still thinking about taking them to Sister Daifulin.

Princess Lei Qianya asked, sleepy-eyed:

"Snow mountain?"

Only then did she realize that Xia De had returned from his adventure in the past.

"Let me help you warm up, Knight; I often see this kind of plot in knight novels."

She walked toward Xia De while untying her nightgown, threw the dress toward the sofa, covering the cat that was staring at the two with wide eyes, and the girl with a high body temperature then held onto Xia De, whose body temperature was somewhat low.

"Very good, this time you only have one type of floral perfume on you."

Her Highness the Princess was very satisfied with this, but also somewhat puzzled:

"However, you are really amazing; in an average thirty-minute adventure, every time you can gain the favor of those ancient old women."

She untied Xia De's coat and hugged him.