Chapter 1435: Night, the Corridor, and the Pebble

"It's right here."

After reuniting with the familiar unicorn, the young elf lady continued leading Xia De toward the east. She seemed to be in a very good mood; as she walked beside the unicorn with her hands behind her back, Xia De even saw her occasionally skip a few steps.

The area nearby consisted of low-lying woodlands, and just outside the woods lay the grassy plains used for grazing the unicorns. Further away, the shadows of snow-capped mountains crouched low in the night.

The two didn't walk far before they spotted a simple wooden watchtower on the edge of the woods: "This is the tower we use for observation when we conduct ecological research on exotic creatures."

Emilia explained, riding the unicorn straight up to it, while Xia De climbed up the ladder with his cat.

The view from the very top was quite expansive, yet Xia De still couldn't observe any areas of spatial anomaly.

"This passage is quite ancient; I don't even know which era it's a relic of, but it certainly isn't from the Sixth Era. This is probably the last time I'll walk this path, but since past matters aren't being pursued, I think this is a good result, so you don't need to apologize to me."

The elf girl said, patting the small beast beside her:

"The entrance is hidden and can only be found at night. Moreover, I've only discovered so far that the horn of a female unicorn can make the entrance appear. I only found out about this entrance when I was chasing Liana around one time and discovered she had come here... I've always suspected that the rumors about unicorns in the Randall Valley were spread because they snuck out."

The young unicorn could understand Emilia's gestures, so it lowered its head, let out an "Ang" sound, and then its golden horn began to emit a brighter radiance.

Xia De thought for a moment:

"If I recall correctly, a unicorn's horn possesses extremely powerful effects for breaking illusions, purification, and opening seals. And among the unicorn population, the females possess greater power than the males."

"Yes."

The elf girl nodded, while Xia De pondered how he could obtain a unicorn horn to take to the Eternal Night City of the Fifth Era. But thinking about it carefully, after a unicorn passes away, its body is certainly handled by Saint Byrons; perhaps Miss Danister could help him obtain one.

However, this final rescue adventure was not a mission from the Tree Father, so even if the path before him truly existed in the Eternal Night City of the Fifth Era and he could find it, whether he could bring such a powerful item into the Fifth Era remained a major question.

The next moment, these thoughts became completely unimportant. Because Xia De saw the small beast gently shake its neck, and then, at the top of the watchtower, that glowing horn seemed to lift an invisible curtain in the air.

【It is not an invisible curtain.】 "She" reminded him gently.

It was indeed not an invisible curtain; what was lifted by that golden unicorn horn—something Xia De hadn't noticed at all before—was actually the night itself. Its horn had lifted the curtain of the night.

"Hmm?"

While Xia De was astonished that the shape and color of the curtain were quite familiar, Emilia said quite proudly: "After Liana and I discovered this passage, I looked up a lot of information at the Academy. Actually, there are many secret paths to leave the Academy without permission, but I'd bet that in our current era, I am the first to discover this path!"

She puffed out her chest and tilted her head back slightly.

"Then, has anyone discovered it before this era?" Xia De asked curiously, and the elf girl nodded:

"Inside the passage, there are some things left behind by students from past eras. One notebook written in the year 351 of the Sixth Era mentioned that two conditions are required to open and use this passage: first, a tool sufficient to lift the curtain, which requires something like a female unicorn's horn, or at least a Sage-level sword relic. Second, one must possess one of the 【Space】 or 【Night】 spiritual runes."

The elf girl before him possessed the Space spiritual rune, and she had even asked Xia De to help purchase materials for a spatial ritual in Coldwater Harbor.

"According to the information left by predecessors, the formation of this passage has a great deal to do with 【Night】. Therefore, it can only be used at night. The usage time varies across different seasons; I usually only come here after it is completely dark."

The elf was still talking, while Xia De had already reached out his hand toward the "curtain of night" that had been parted by the unicorn's glowing horn.

【Yes, that is the one. According to your timeline, about half an hour ago, while you were packing your luggage, this curtain wrapped itself around Fiona Fiona Delage's waist.】

"She" gave the answer Xia De wanted to know directly, and Xia De took a deep breath. In that case, his line of reasoning was correct:

"Let's go. Miss Danister is still waiting for us on the other side. Come to think of it, is the path inside very long?"

Xia De asked curiously, remembering that using this curtain clearly led straight to the destination after passing through, with no such passage for storing notebooks.

"Not long, it takes a minute or two to walk through. However..." Emilia warned again:

"Some parts of this passage have been eroded by the power of the night. Even the most powerful individuals in Liana's population cannot touch that kind of night, or they will be assimilated by it. So, you must follow me closely in a moment. This is no joke; it is truly quite dangerous."

"Meow?"

Little Mia, crouching on the unicorn's head, let out a sound.

The unicorn parted the curtain and walked in first; it was as if it had vanished into thin air. Then came Emilia, and finally Xia De.

And after passing through the curtain, they did not arrive directly at the Randall Valley as expected. Xia De had originally thought he would see scenery similar to the Eternal Night City, but he was completely wrong.

The ground beneath his feet was covered in white ash, leaving clear footprints of the elf, Xia De, and the unicorn. A narrow, ancient stone corridor extended from beneath their feet into the distance, where it could not be seen. Torches with dim light were stuck into the walls, illuminating these ancient ruins that had experienced the passage of long years.

But even those torches could not illuminate the large patches of black areas within the corridor.

That was the color belonging to the night. Far from destroying the integrity of the corridor, they added a strange and ethereal atmosphere to the already ancient passage.

The night had eroded this corridor, but these patches of night were not evenly distributed. The closer they were to the end where Saint Byrons was located, the more eroded areas there were, while looking toward the distance, the black areas clearly decreased, as if someone had splashed black paint from the entrance at Saint Byrons.

"The passage in front of the Witch Council?"

Xia De was startled, then realized that although they were not exactly the same, the architectural style, atmosphere, and even the appearance of the torches and bricks were extremely similar. In other words, the passage in front of the Witch Council that could only be reached by singing was like a corridor in a different location within the same large ruin.

Of course, Emilia didn't know what Xia De was thinking. She continued to speak to herself:

"Very smooth. Let's continue moving forward. I don't really like this place; it gives me a very dangerous feeling. Let's not linger."

Xia De, in shock, nodded, but the questions in his heart grew more numerous. He hugged the cat that had jumped over from the unicorn's head and followed behind Emilia, advancing carefully through the corridor.

Although the night had eroded part of the corridor, there was still enough space to continue forward. The elf lady meant to walk straight ahead, but Xia De suddenly called out to her.

They were currently a quarter of the way through the passage, near a relatively large shadow of night. After Xia De called out to the elf girl, to her shocked eyes, he walked straight into the dark area while holding the cat.

But Xia De did not disappear; his body and Mia's body radiated light together. And in the light of the sun and the moon, these night shadows without a source gradually receded.

"How is that possible?"

The young elf girl couldn't understand the scene she was seeing, while Xia De, who had been in close contact with this night, was completely certain that although the danger level and traces of miracle elements of this night were far weaker than the night of the Eternal Night City, the source of these powers was definitely the Eternal Night City.

In other words, in the previous era, when he fled with Fiona, he had most likely used this passage. "Emilia, you really helped a lot."

As they continued to walk forward, Xia De didn't forget to thank the elf girl again. After she shook her head to indicate it didn't matter, still in shock, she asked curiously:

"Now that there are only the two of us here... and Liana and your cat, can you tell me what exactly is the reason you wanted to know about this passage?"

She blinked her eyes and looked at Xia De. Although she had lost her "secret path" tonight, such a "great adventure" was actually not bad. Compared to the comfortable life of a Saint Byrons student, even if there was no fighting tonight, just participating in matters outside the school was interesting enough:

"If it's very secret, you don't have to say." She didn't forget to add.

"It's not a secret; it really is to help a friend." "A very important friend?"

The elf girl asked again, and Xia De nodded, while he heard "She" laughing in his ear. "What are you laughing at? Isn't what I said correct?"

Xia De asked in his heart, but "She" didn't answer immediately, because Xia De felt something squirming in his pocket. "Mia!"

His first reaction was that the cat's tail was rubbing against him again, but after whispering a warning to Mia, he looked down and saw the cat staring at him with innocent, large eyes.

"Not you? Then what is moving in my pocket?"

So he signaled Emilia to stop again, and then, under her curious gaze, he took out a small glass bottle with an oak stopper from his pocket. Inside that bottle was a small, golden stone that kept striking the wall of the bottle. ===== CHAPTER 1436 =====

"Not you? Then what is that thing moving in my pocket?"

So he signaled for Amelia to stop again, and then, under her curious gaze, he took a small glass bottle with an oak stopper out of his pocket. Inside the bottle was a small golden stone, constantly striking against the glass walls.