Chapter 1485: May the Earth Be With You and Me (End of Volume)

Doctor Shi Nai De naturally knew what Xia De was asking. He sat up straight and took out the newspaper he had just put into his pocket. Leaning back, he unfolded the newspaper and used it to block his face:

"I have already met Mr. Fernandez, the curator of the Randall Valley City Statue Museum. After that mirror was defeated by you, the curse on him has also disappeared. Although the lost lifespan cannot be made up, at least in his short remaining life, he has gained freedom. I talked to him briefly, and he asked me to thank you. Originally, he wanted to give you a sum of money as a reward, but I helped you refuse it."

"It's good that you refused. Mr. Fernandez should use that money to enjoy the rest of his life."

Xia De breathed a sigh of relief. He did not look at the Doctor behind the newspaper but took a handful of cat food from his pocket. After bending over, he threw the crushed cat food onto the ground in front of him. One person leaned back, and the other leaned forward, as if he and the Doctor were not talking at all.

The pigeons at the church entrance were really attracted by the cat food and gathered around:

"That curator reminded me that the cross could deal with that mirror, and he helped a lot. That's good, then what about the captain?"

A sigh came from behind the newspaper:

"I found all the demon summoning materials in the safe of the Ousenferte Manor. Originally, I wanted to go see if I had missed anything else yesterday, but the church had already sealed the place. So, I went to visit Captain Woody outside the city yesterday, but unfortunately, he passed away."

"Hmm?"

Although he made a questioning sound, Xia De, who was feeding the pigeons, did not change his expression. He was still watching the pigeons eating:

"When? How did he pass away?"

"The great earthquake early Saturday morning caused the house on Captain Woody's farm to collapse. By the time people dug him out, he had already stopped breathing."

"But he..."

Xia De, who was sprinkling cat food to the pigeons, wanted to say that the captain had magical abilities given by an unknown ocean demon, but then he remembered that most of those abilities were only effective in environments with rivers or oceans.

"Because he had just died and hadn't been buried yet, I went to see the body."

The Doctor's voice continued to come from behind the newspaper. The noisy street and the pedestrians walking back and forth in front of them did not affect their conversation:

"The captain's soul has disappeared, and there are obvious signs of demonic power. That demon took the captain's soul... There is no way to track it for the time being. The other party's power will not be weaker than that stone mirror."

Xia De pursed his lips. He had thought that even if he couldn't break the contract between Captain Woody and the demon, he could at least help him, but he didn't expect it to end like this.

"Signing a contract with a demon, one should have thought about what the ending would be. You don't have to be sad for him. I got a letter from the captain's old servant, which Captain Woody left for you or your friends."

The Doctor said. The early spring sun shone on them, and the warm feeling was exceptionally comfortable. Although the temperature of the past winter was very low, now that the first Randall flower had bloomed, the temperature was also rising quickly.

"Me or my friends... It seems Captain Woody didn't hold much hope for me either. Doctor, what did the letter say?"

"Some things about demons, and the details of summoning demons. He probably didn't explain this part clearly to you last time. At the end of the letter, the old captain said that he calmly accepted his fate; what one gains must be paid for. He said if you really succeeded in solving Stone Ousenferte and that demon, please take their stories and live well. Although he was not afraid of death, he was afraid of being forgotten."

The Doctor's tone was very monotonous, which was probably not a very novel story for him. Before meeting Xia De in the summer of 1853 and inviting him to enroll, Bill Shi Nai De himself had solved many troubles related to demons. He had seen too many such stories.

"I will remember that old captain."

Xia De nodded and sprinkled another handful of cat food, watching the pigeons lowering their heads and fighting for the crumbs of cat food in front of him.

Although his sigh was very light, the Doctor still noticed it. He turned the newspaper in his hand to the next page and looked at the statement and notice of the temporarily sealed area of the river valley outside the city announced by the City Hall:

"I know what you are sighing about, but Detective, this is life. There are always people coming to our side, and there are always people leaving."

"Two leaves falling from a tree, crossing in the air, means they will soon part. And the friends we meet in life, the day we meet, means there will be a day of eternal parting."

Xia De said, and the Doctor tilted his head from behind the newspaper, looking at his bending back:

"Who said that? It sounds good. Maybe I can write it down."

"Dorothy. The ending of the Miss Norma Disappearance Case in the 'Hamilton Detective Story Collection', but this story has not been published yet, probably to be in the newspaper next week."

The Doctor nodded and wrote down the name of the story. He looked up and let the warm morning sunlight shine on his face, then continued to look at the newspaper and asked with a smile:

"Although you didn't write it yourself, looking at you like this, it seems you have a lot of feelings about this adventure in the Randall Valley."

"Yes."

Pedestrians were like weaving in front of the two, but no one stopped to notice the young man feeding pigeons and the middle-aged man reading the newspaper. Behind them, the ripples on the surface of the Ailong River reflected the golden sunlight. Upstream of the river, the shadows of ships had appeared, and on the edge of the river, washerwomen gathered in twos and threes, beating clothes while chatting about interesting things they had heard in vulgar slang.

Spring was really coming.

The crowd on the street in front was like weaving. Xia De continued to crush the cat food in his hand with his fingers and even felt that the sunlight was a bit dazzling:

"I have seen many stories here: the hatred between the Anru royal family and the Stonemason Society that has lasted for more than ten years, the tragic marriage story of Stone Ousenferte and Hela Watsonte, the tragic comedy of the Enrikes couple's love, and the legends of the Granger family that spanned two eras. Of course, there are also noble souls who sacrificed voluntarily, the unlucky curator cursed by demons, the girl chasing her father's footsteps..."

Another handful of cat food crumbs was sprinkled, and the white pigeons immediately followed the cat food and came to the feet of Xia De and the Doctor. Xia De watched their white feathers squeezed together, and the Doctor's voice came from behind the newspaper again:

"You remembered these stories, and the people in these stories will not disappear because of your memory. You are a witness, just like the earth under our feet, just like the sky above our heads. Although you cannot tell these stories to more people, you have witnessed them, and they remain in your heart. Those people, those things, are not meaningless."

"This passage is also very interesting."

Xia De shook his head gently while feeling the wind blowing through his hair.

The wind blew the cat food crumbs on the ground to one side, letting the pigeon flock crowd to chase them; the wind swept gently over the tender green buds cared for by the church nuns in the flower bed behind the bench; the wind swept over the crowd in front of the Dawn Church, so the gentlemen held down their hats, the ladies gently pulled their skirts, the flower-selling girl held down the fabric on the basket, and the newspaper-selling boy covered the newspaper in his bag.

Xia De looked up at the crowd and the church in front of him. He still had many stories to share with people and many things to look forward to telling his friends. The story of the Chosen One of the Earth was not the story that made him feel the most in the Randall Valley. Those people and things in the corners of his memory, perhaps as Doctor Shi Nai De said, would remain in his heart forever.

He sighed softly, and then met the eyes of Old Hake, who was walking toward the church steps in the crowd but turned his head by chance. This old stonemason, who had assassinated Prince William Anru at the banquet but was released from prison under another identity due to Margaret's operation, felt in a trance that the handsome young man sitting on the bench looked like some agent who had interrogated him. But after shaking his head, he found that the two faces did not seem to be the same.

Xia De nodded politely to him, his gaze continued to look up at the slightly busy church entrance, then his gaze raised again, looking at the stained glass on the front of the church, looking at the spire of the church, looking at those white clouds, until he looked at the sun.

"The weather is really good."

He muttered softly, then lowered his head to look at the pigeons eating at his feet. The sound of newspaper turning rang in his ears, but this time Doctor Shi Nai De did not speak.

The sunlight shone on him warmly. If possible, Xia De wanted to sit here for a while longer and let time rest. In the wind, "She" smiled gently and whispered in Xia De's ear:

【Present World · Sixth Era, General Calendar 1854, Spring, Month of Rising Wind. The early spring wind blows over the earth, and your eyes have witnessed the story of the ancient river valley. The love carved in stone is shattered, the girl destined to sacrifice survives for you, the Guardian of the Earth holds up that noble golden cup, and the banquet of gods and men is your myth. Kiss the soil, kiss the delicate flowers, kiss the world, the earth and I will both witness your story. When the beautiful witch clings to you standing on the earth, in this ancient city where spring arrives, traveler who has traveled through the earth, facing the sun, have you really seen the ending you expected?】

"Yes, this is the ending I wanted... probably."

While giving the answer in his heart, for some reason, a feeling of loss suddenly arose, as if this story had no meaning.

【The old story ends, and a new story must always begin, just like the earth where spring arrives.】

"Her" voice was even gentler than the early spring wind.

"Yes."

Xia De said with a smile in his heart, crushed the last few grains of cat food, and threw them on the ground.

Sunlight shone on Xia De, who was bending over, and Doctor Shi Nai De, who was reading the newspaper, on the bench on the bank of the Ailong River. Pedestrians walking on the street were in a hurry, and carriages were busy on the street as usual.

The roof of the Dawn Church reflected dazzling light, and the windows with stained glass on the walls of the church also reflected strange colors that were not present on rainy and foggy days.

When the young nun pushed open the window on the second floor of the church and wanted to fix the window with an iron bolt, she crossed the bustling street and saw the young man bending over to feed pigeons in the distance. For some reason, her face blushed. And on the side of that bench, on the pole of the black iron gas street lamp, the lower right corner of the advertisement for "Stonemason Society Recruiting Workers to go to Weilundaier" rustled in the slightly cold wind.

On this sunny morning, the scenery at the church entrance was simply the best oil painting depicting early spring. And Xia De, who was lowering his head in the center of the picture, suddenly said to the Doctor beside him:

"Speaking of which, after returning to Tobesk, please go with me to see Detective Sparrow Hamilton. Last autumn, we also buried a flower seed by his grave."

"Of course you can. I think that seed should have taken root and sprouted. But, why not invite Louisa or Annette?"

The Doctor asked curiously, and Xia De looked at the pigeons with a blank expression and shook his head slowly:

"I don't want Uncle Sparrow to know what I did in the house he left behind."

The Doctor holding the newspaper laughed:

"You see, the detective is dead, but he still exists. Exists in the earth, exists in your heart."

Xia De nodded. At this time, large, cotton-like white clouds floated slowly in the blue sky above their heads, and the pigeons that should have been soaring in the blue sky were gathered on the earth with their heads lowered under the attraction of cat food.

"Born of the earth, died of the earth, buried in the earth."

Xia De suddenly remembered Mr. Lathers' epitaph, so he straightened his waist slightly and turned his head, his gaze moving from the ground to the Doctor beside him:

"Doctor."

"What's wrong?"

The blue-eyed middle-aged man also turned his head, looking at Xia De from the side while maintaining the posture of holding the newspaper.

"Although I know we will part one day, I hope that day comes as late as possible."

"Hmm... Thank you?"

"Are you willing to accept my blessing?"

"Of course."

Xia De winked at him:

"I have often heard this sentence in the Randall Valley recently—May the earth be with you and me."

The Doctor nodded with a smile, but suddenly saw a huge golden holy cup flash behind Xia De. Because the sun was good, the blurred shadow of the holy cup was very much like a hallucination.

Bill Demon Shi Nai De did not delve into these, but continued to look at the newspaper in his hand leisurely. After all, the newspaper was interesting, and the phantom behind Xia De was not the first time it had appeared.

Xia De lowered his head and continued to look at the pigeons at his feet. His mood gradually improved, so he thought about what he should do in the spring of 1854.

Going for an outing in the suburbs with Princess Lei Qianya, accompanying Dorothy to the city for material, holding Miya to find Luweiya for divination at the Diviner Society, or going to the Jia Lin Na Manor to spend a wonderful afternoon and evening with the beautiful witch. Of course, I can't forget the honorary degree, the Ring Tobesk Equestrian Competition, and visiting Miss Gao De. The life of a traveler is always so busy.

A smile could not help but appear on the corner of his mouth, and then he looked up and saw the elderly bishop walking out of the shadows at the church entrance, walking toward the church steps facing the sun.

Xia De tugged at the Doctor's sleeve, stood up, and waved to the old man. The early spring wind blew again, blowing his clothes. In his ear, "She" whispered gently:

【Traveler, you have gained new power】.

(End of Volume)

PS: Ask for votes! ===== CHAPTER 1486 =====