Chapter 1593

【Outlander, you have stepped into the "Corridor of Time."】

【A message from the Ancient God, the "Father of the Infinite Tree":】

【Spring, 923 of the Fifth Era, Central Continent, Lost Forest.】

【Event: The Travelers' Storytelling Session.】

【Duration: Thirty minutes (2/3).】

【You have obtained additional information.】

【The figure of the Father of the Infinite Tree continues to watch you.】

【The trial given to you by the Ancient God of Time shall continue.】

【Assist the travelers in concluding the story with the "God of Journeys."】

【The Father of the Infinite Tree will grant you a reward: Miracle - Enhanced Spatial Perception, and a piece of true information - Dragon.】

Without pausing, he continued to take steps into the thick white fog. As the fog slowly pulled apart to the sides like a curtain, the dense woodland in the black night, drifting with thin mist, revealed itself before Xia De.

The temperature was vastly different from his warm and comfortable home, and the stench of rot made Xia De, who had just finished breakfast, feel very uncomfortable. This time, he did not linger to observe the green glowing patterns on the trees, nor did he look at the corpses nailed to them; instead, he ran forward at the first opportunity.

【Note: The fog in this forest is similar in composition to the fog on the central island of Green Lake.】

Last time, "She" had not given such a reminder; it was likely because when Xia De landed on the island for the second time, he had come into deeper contact with the thick fog on the island.

Of course, now was not the time to think about such things. The malice of the Lost Forest was chasing closely behind him. In the boundless darkness he could not turn back to look at, the lingering thoughts of souls lost on their journeys and the malice this land held for travelers were attempting to make him stay forever in these endless mountains and forests.

In the eerie forest, whispers tempting Xia De to stop and rest were incessant, and hoarse voices murmuring despairing emotions were trying to convince Xia De that the end of the journey was inevitably hopeless death.

His body temperature was dropping rapidly, and his stamina was draining at an abnormal speed. It had only been a short half-minute of running through the forest, yet Xia De was already panting; but it was at this moment that a faint, warm yellow glow of a campfire appeared in a gap in the trees ahead.

At this moment, all the anomalies in the forest vanished. Xia De subconsciously slowed his pace and continued forward, finally arriving at the forest campsite occupied by the campfire and small tents.

It seemed not much time had passed since Xia De last left. The witch Alela Adriana, the maid Clara, the old knight Zafir Yelen from the Nabus Kingdom, and the bard Dika Enrikes who claimed to be a baron, were sitting around the campfire just as they were when Xia De first arrived.

But this time, their spirits were not numb.

The old knight was carefully tending to the campfire, with dry wood he had picked up from somewhere piled beside him; the bard was writing something in his notebook, his expression very serious; the witch was checking her remaining spellcasting materials and other items prepared to complete the journey, which included a very conspicuous card; and the maid in the black dress was leaning against her master, eyes closed in rest, before being awakened by the sound of Xia De's footsteps.

His footsteps drew everyone's attention, and the young brown-haired witch was the first to stand up, a look of relief on her face:

"You're finally back? We've been waiting for you for a long time."

"Long time no see, ladies and gentlemen, sorry to have kept you waiting. Did anything happen while I was away?"

Xia De asked, walking toward the campfire. The witch nodded:

"Some lost souls reached this campsite. But they were all souls, not living people like us; even though I tried to keep them to ask about the situation, they left one by one."

"This woodland can devour souls."

The bard said, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and excitement:

"If we fail to complete the god's seven-day travel story, I think we will also be lost here."

"Calm down."

The old knight patted the shoulder of the dispirited bard with a broad palm; he still looked as reliable as ever:

"The god has given us a chance, and so far we are doing quite well; do not give up hope."

He smiled politely at the approaching Xia De, and Xia De nodded in response.

Xia De, having arrived at the campfire, lowered his eyes to look at the items placed at the witch's feet, specifically the card with the card back he was very familiar with;

"This is... our identity card, didn't they all disappear when the god allowed us to rest?"

Xia De asked curiously, pointing at the card:

"Miss Adriana, is this the 'Game of Life' card you carry with you?"

The witch was taken aback, then shook her head:

"No, I don't play card games. This is my divination card; it guided me here to find Clara's sister."

After the witch agreed, Miss Clara the maid bent down, picked up the card, and handed it to Xia De for inspection. Xia De flipped the card to the front and then saw the face of the card.

A man whose face could not be seen stood with his back to the outside of the card, holding a book in one hand and pointing to the inside of the card with the other, while the background of the card was filled with bizarre, glowing bubbles in an infinite black starry sky.

"Wandering Universals..."

He was shocked for a moment, but blinked and returned the card to the witch.

Miss Alela Adriana asked with some confusion:

"Judging by your expression, do you recognize this card?"

"Yes, according to rumors, the thirteen cards to which this card belongs are the origin of all 'Game of Life' cards. This... is very valuable."

He said, pursing his lips, but ultimately did not suggest that he wanted the witch to leave the card to a specific person or place it in a specific location after this adventure.

Having experienced so many things and come into contact with so many Wandering Universal cards, Xia De had long understood that these cards could only be possessed by those destined to have them. Rather than deliberately creating events to let his future self obtain this card, it was better to let the card travel through thousands of years of history, cross the Fifth Era, and appear in his hands proactively in a reasonable way... if he was truly destined to possess it.

Wandering Universals, universal wanderings; this was not something that could be obtained through deliberate pursuit. Moreover, Xia De had long since learned the lesson of recklessly manipulating time and fate.

Since Xia De had returned, the seven-day story that had reached its second day could naturally continue. The four people by the campfire and Xia De came to the small clearing between the campfire and the tents, and after sitting in a circle as they did last time, Xia De took out the method for using the unicorn's power he had obtained from the elf girl and handed the notebook to the witch.

This high-ranking witch evidently possessed skills like speed-reading, and while she was flipping through the book, Xia De also turned the toy cat in his pocket back into the appearance of Little Mia.

"Meow~"

Although she was somewhat unaccustomed to the surrounding environment, Mia was still meowing happily, constantly squirming in Xia De's arms. The others were also attracted by the cat's meowing, but no one asked why Xia De had brought a cat.

At this time, a sound also appeared in the dilapidated small tent. The traveler carrying a pack walked out of the tent again:

"The traveler under the moon has returned; the short rest period is over, let us continue the story of this boring night."

The god said kindly, then looked at the cat Xia De was holding, and after a slight surprise, said nothing.

He still sat on the ground opposite Xia De, with his back to the campfire. The deck of cards in the pack flew out automatically, landing in the clearing between everyone, and each person's identity card also flew in front of them.

Xia De's identity card, "Traveler Under the Moon," had clearly been a blank card face last time, but this time content had appeared on it.

It was a grassland with a dark blue night sky as the background, and the silver moon, occupying nearly half the area above the card, shone on a tiny figure walking from left to right on the grassland. The figure on the card was truly tiny, like an ant compared to the massive moon. If Xia De were not very familiar with himself, he wouldn't even have recognized that the figure was himself.

"Meow~"

Mia immediately reached out her paws to claw at the card, but after sniffing it and finding it couldn't be eaten, she lost interest.

"Where did the story leave off last time?"

The god asked with a smile, looking at the bard who was keeping his head down, not daring to look around. The bard felt the "weight" of that gaze and said:

"The travelers met the black-robed boatman by the river, and after defeating the Cyclops and obtaining gold coins, the boatman would not let the traveler under the moon board the boat."

"Yes, the travelers' story will continue here. Since you do not want to abandon your companion, is there any other way? The story must continue; if you delay in making a decision, perhaps something terrible will happen."

The god looked at Xia De again, and Xia De nodded:

"Since the traveler under the moon cannot board the boat because he is different from the other travelers, then he will find a way to make himself the same as the other travelers."

He took out the bottle of brown potion, first warningly stroked Little Mia's small head, and only after the cat let out a whimpering sound did he pull out the cork and drink two large gulps under everyone's gaze—to prevent any accidents from the transformation time being insufficient.

The familiar burning sensation in his body appeared, followed by the feeling of his entire body melting. When this was all over, Xia De opened his eyes and saw that everyone seemed to have become taller, and Little Mia was looking at him cautiously, in a manner of wanting to approach but not daring to.

"I am not proficient in transformation magic, so I can only rely on potions."

It was very strange for a man's voice to come out of a cat's mouth, but the witch nodded anyway. Xia De then looked at Little Mia again; the orange and white cat, about a year old, was even smaller in size than this cat Xia De had become.

She hesitated and walked over, then lay down in front of Xia De's front paws, and let out a very gentle "meow" sound. Xia De did not understand cat language because he had turned into a cat, but he at least understood that his "warning" to Mia before his transformation was still very useful.