Chapter 1217: The Weeping Miss

"However, the power that sent me out doesn't seem like the power of space."

【This is also a kind of 'Earth Power.' It wasn't that you moved, but that he made the earth permit it, allowing you to cross a greater distance in a single step.】

The wind carried "her" voice, the moonlight shone upon Xia De, as though draping a veil of mist over him, and as though someone were gently embracing him.

Xia De squinted slightly. In other words, the undead Mr. Lasser, whom he had just met for the first time, had immediately demonstrated three different kinds of Earth Power: "Healing Spirit Qi," "Spring's Arrival," and something similar to spatial translocation.

"Could it be that Mr. Thomas Granger is not the Chosen One, but Miss Lasser's father is? The two of them definitely know each other. How interesting — what secret could be hidden here…"

While Xia De was pondering, the disordered sound of hoofbeats rose in the distance. Clearly more than one horse was galloping at full speed along the path toward this place.

Xia De hurriedly dodged to the side, but soon discovered that the one leading the group was the blonde witch Vanessa Benares, who should have been waiting for him and Miss Lasser at the "Rulejiaotang." At this moment the witch's face was full of anxiety; Xia De believed that even an elephant standing in her way would be crashed straight through.

"Here! Here! Stop!"

He waved both arms at the witch leading her followers over. Although there were no lights in the countryside at night, the witch still spotted Xia De at a glance:

"Oh, Xia De!"

She leapt down while the horse was still running, and as she hugged Xia De, the impact nearly sent him flying. After stumbling back several steps the two of them barely steadied themselves. The witch looked at him with some worry, afraid he might spit out a mouthful of blood and collapse on the spot.

"I'm fine. Oh, Miss Lasser is fine too. Miss Benares, you'd never guess who I just ran into!"

He said at once, then added with some puzzlement:

"Why did you come?"

"You made such a huge commotion — how could I not come?"

The witch held Xia De tightly, then suddenly realized what she was doing and shoved him away.

Miss Hilary Lasser was Vanessa Benares's close friend and the second-in-command of the Golden Dawn, while Xia De was the special being favored by a quarter of the council's witches. No matter what, not a single one of them could afford to have anything go wrong.

"What on earth happened…"

The question had barely left her mouth when the blonde witch noticed something off about Xia De's body:

"Why is your temperature so high?"

She reached out and touched Xia De's forehead, then suspiciously twitched her nose. Her face immediately flushed red — she knew that scent all too well:

"How much did you drink?"

Her vermilion-gold eyes looked at Xia De with a hint of panic; the experience from last time she feared she would never forget for the rest of her life.

"All of it."

Prompted by the witch's reminder, and stimulated by the "Witch's Scent" perfume, Xia De finally noticed the abnormality in his body. The situation earlier had been urgent, and all his attention had been focused on the Holy Grail in his hands. Now that the battle was over and everything was safe, those stray thoughts surged up all at once.

And the moment he became aware of "desire," an almost instinctive bodily reaction had already appeared. But at least Xia De performed better than Miss Benares had last time — he managed to stop himself from forcibly embracing the beautiful lady before him, yet as he stepped back he actually felt the world spin.

The witch immediately supported him, and the Golden Dawn Misses also dismounted one after another and crowded around. The dizziness grew more and more severe. He raised his right hand to cover his forehead, but soon discovered that at some unknown point he had actually grabbed Miss Benares's right wrist.

The night wind blew past the hair hanging by the witch's ears; the golden strands brushed against her ears along with the wind. In her vermilion-gold eyes was a look of concern, and that face — so beautiful it hardly seemed human — was, at this moment, so alluring.

Xia De's gaze gradually grew hazy. Then, still gripping Miss Benares's wrist with his right hand, his body tilted forward slightly. The witch froze for a moment, wanting to push him away, but thinking of his current state, and recalling what had happened last time at the "Saint Perri Cemetery,"

she gently bit her lip and watched him draw closer and closer.

Although the surrounding Misses were surprised, they still laughingly formed a circle, shielding the two inside. The bay horse impatiently pawed at the snow with its hooves. Tonight's moon was so bright and clear, the wind carried the biting cold of winter across the land, for the coming year…

"Stop!"

Xia De's left hand suddenly pressed down on his right. His consciousness had successfully triumphed over desire. Panting heavily, he stared at his own hand:

"Good thing, good thing I've seen true desire before, otherwise this time would have been truly terrible. Ha, the human will can overcome those evil thoughts — that's the greatness of humanity! This is what's called the Golden Spirit: even when faced with the most tempting of choices, one must make oneself choose what is right, and absolutely never give up hope!"

Miss Benares could almost feel the scorching breath of Xia De's exhale against her skin. She hadn't heard a single word Xia De was saying, nor could she explain what she had just been feeling — she only knew that, for some reason right now, she wanted to punch Xia De.

"The essential oil's effect hasn't worn off yet. This won't do — what are you going to do?"

She was surprised to discover that her tone was so calm.

"Don't worry. Desire of this level can't affect me. I've experienced far more…"

He took several deep breaths of cold air to calm himself down. Unlike Miss Benares, he had once eaten the flesh of "Desire" and gazed upon Desire's true form; the desire he could withstand far exceeded anyone else's imagination.

While breathing heavily, he once again caught the scent of the witch's perfume. He forced himself not to let his thoughts wander — there was still much to handle tonight:

"I had just arrived at the manor when I found Miss Lasser, with people, together with the Zhengshen Sect, fighting against the 【Blood Spirit School】 and cultists who worship the evil god 【Stone-Heart Demon】. Didn't she go to pick up the goods? How did it turn into this?"

"I'm not sure either, but Lasser has always had a sense of measure in what she does."

Miss Benares said. Although she was quite displeased with what Xia De had just done, she was still worried about him:

Are you really sure you're all right? I've tasted that essence — I know exactly what it's like.

"It's fine for now."

Xia De insisted; he wouldn't lie about something like this:

"Miss Lasser should be coming out soon, but she didn't see who it was that helped me — the light was too bright at the time."

"Who helped you? Thomas Granger again? Did you ask him?"

"Not him, but another soul that has already departed — and the strength of his soul was equally powerful. It's Miss Lasser's father, identical to the statue inside the Rulejiaotang."

Miss Benares's mouth fell slightly open:

"What?"

It wasn't that she hadn't understood — she simply couldn't believe what she was hearing.

An hour later, at ten o'clock on Sunday night, the silent moonlight passed through the hole in the roof and shone into the Rulejiaotang. As the tightly shut metal door was pushed open with effort, the three of them entered the church together — Miss Benares had not allowed the other members of the Golden Dawn to enter.

Miss Lasser had already learned, from Xia De's halting description, what she was about to see. Tugging at Xia De's sleeve, she followed him inside with some unease. Upon seeing the church, she was not even as surprised as Miss Benares had been a few hours earlier.

Pressing her lips together, she watched the statue with its back to the door drawing ever closer, her teeth nearly biting through her own lips. She struggled to keep herself calm, but when she truly saw the statue seated on the front pew, her emotions collapsed in an instant.

Wilun Lasser had been missing for so many years that she had thought she had already accepted reality. But now she understood that, in her heart, she had always still harbored the hope of her relative's return. In a low sob she called out "Father," then sank down against the statue's legs and wept uncontrollably.

"Father, why did you have to leave? Do you know how hard it has been, holding up the Golden Dawn all on my own all these years? Father, Father!"

Both Xia De and Miss Benares stood behind her, watching the young Miss weep as she poured out the hardships and grievances of all these years.

Xia De asked the witch with his eyes whether they should say something now — he trusted the witch could read his meaning, for she shook her head.

Xia De also felt that Miss Lasser should be given time to cry. He beckoned to Miss Benares, and the two of them took seats in the third row on the left side against the wall. The spot wasn't far — they could see the statue and Miss Lasser's silhouette. The witch tossed down another Fu Zhou of silence, to keep from disturbing Miss Lasser's grief:

"So every time you come to the Randeer Valley, you have to pass through here... it sounds quite romantic, passing through the old church of the old gods, watching the unfamiliar city from the doorway of the desolate temple. Xia De, tonight's events may be a turning point. Although I didn't get to see the situation you described, I think the 【Blood Spirit School】 and the evil god's believers alone are not enough to trigger such a serious problem... the madness of the earth is spreading, this is beyond doubt, the situation is worse than imagined."

"Regarding that evil god, Miss Bernanis, do you know anything else?"

Because he had learned from the 【Silver Moon Library】 about the Chosen One ritual 【The Feast of the Earth Mother Goddess】, and Lu Lu Weiya's special divination had shown that the banquet ritual was divided into 【Contact with the Old God Thousand-Eyed Phantom Butterfly】, 【Contact with the Old God Earth-Shaking Worm】, and 【Contact with the Old God Stone-Heart Demon】, Xia De had some understanding of this evil god, but still wanted to hear the witch's opinion.

"I have some understanding, but it's not very comprehensive..."

The witch frowned and thought for a moment, then asked another question instead:

"Xia De, do you know about the ancient evil spirit demon of the Third Era, the existence known as the 【Stone Mirror Demon】?"

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