Chapter 1665: The Starting Point of the Journey

"No, no, perhaps you are more powerful than her. But the one fate chose is her."

The dust figure interrupted the unicorn, but the unicorn and the hound were unwilling to give up like this. They were both sincerely wanting to sacrifice themselves to exchange back the petrified girl; this was not an emotion faked.

"You guys wait a moment."

The silver cat on Xia De's shoulder spoke:

"Why don't you ask for her own opinion?"

The claw pointed to the stone statue:

"Her soul is trapped inside, but since the flesh is dead, then the ability of mediumship should be useful to her. Although it is not certain how long the soul can manifest, at least it can let you see her temporarily. Perhaps, you can ask clearly what happened here. Compared to us, she knows the rules here better."

Chloe's words made sense, because the unicorn state could not use undead-type power, and Xia De's miracle mediumship only produced incomplete echoes, so the mediumship still had to be done by Chloe.

The mediumship process went smoothly. The cat's tail wagged a few times, and then Chloe jumped onto the shoulder of the stone statue. As the cat's claws radiated dim gray light, the transparent spirit with the exact same face as the stone statue floated out slowly.

The beautiful girl opened her eyes and looked at the surroundings in shock. She first looked at Xia De and the animals in confusion, and then didn't know what method she used to recognize her teacher and sister:

"Teacher, Clara, you..."

Her spirit was extremely unstable and was about to return to the stone statue again. Clearly, using the mediumship method to let her temporarily gain freedom was also an impermissible method:

"Don't worry about me!"

She raised her hand, wanting to touch the unicorn with tears:

"As long as you are happy, I am happy."

The transparent hand touched the clean white fur and then disappeared. Chloe jumped back to Xia De's shoulder again, and this time she couldn't do anything either.

The parrot flew in the air and watched this scene, and the bard's soul sighed in the parrot's body. A tear fell from the corner of the unicorn's eye. She raised her head again, turned her head, and scolded her maid:

"Don't cry, your sister is right here; do you want to cry in front of her?"

And then looked at Xia De again:

"Sir, you must have a way, right? Please help us; no matter what price we have to pay, please help us."

"Xia De, do you have any other way?"

Chloe also asked, and Xia De really nodded. He was too familiar with this kind of situation. The dust figure at the other end of the table didn't disappear, and the God of Travel leading the story here meant there was a remedy, and the God of Travel wasn't the "God of Tragedy" who wouldn't let the group do anything after risking their lives, only able to watch the tragedy unable to be changed:

"You asked the wrong way just now. It shouldn't be exchanging yourself for someone else; the correct way to ask is—please, how can we save this petrified girl?"

Xia De asked, and the dust figure gave an answer:

"The choice of fate must be redeemed with fate. Place valuable fates on the table; if the fate is sufficient, then I will give you a chance."

"How to give fate?"

The hound transformed by the black-dressed maid asked impatiently, but this time, no answer was obtained.

So she looked at her master, and the unicorn looked at the cat on Xia De's shoulder, hoping that this demigod could think of some way.

"Xia De."

The silver cat asked Xia De again. Chloe knew Xia De must have a way; she fully believed in this magical man.

Xia De also nodded:

"The story of the journey must end with the meaning of the journey. Now it is already the afternoon of the seventh day. Except for tonight, this is the last stop."

Saying that, he took out the card representing "Traveler under the Moon":

"Our group traveling here is probably for this."

He placed the card into the rectangle formed by the carvings on the table, and they found that the area of the rectangle was exactly the same as the area of the card.

"So that's how it is."

The unicorn looked at the positions where everyone was sitting, and then everyone's cards flew over.

"Are you willing to help me?"

She asked her companions, and the parrot expressed its stance first:

"We have already reached the last step; I also want to see if fate can really be defeated."

So the parrot's card was placed parallel next to Xia De's card.

"Let's try it; I came here to investigate in the first place."

The silver cat also said, and her card was placed on the table.

"I must save my sister."

The black hound took the initiative to stretch out its paw and pressed its card, which had not yet fallen, onto the table.

"It definitely will..."

So the unicorn's card also fell, and the five cards were lined up in a row. Golden-silver light flowed out from the surface of the cards, slowly lighting up the entire table along the small grooves connecting the rectangles on the table.

"Not enough."

The dust figure said slowly. Its body was illuminated by the light of the table.

"Xia De."

Chloe said again, wanting to jump into Xia De's arms, but was "driven" up by Mia again.

Xia De then asked the deity who was still sitting in the original position. The god did not look at the table by the campfire:

"Please, can our experiences along the way count as fate? You guided us through seven days; is the meaning here?"

"The meaning of travel needs to be found by yourself, but those experiences are, of course, fate; that is the fate you chose yourself."

The god said with his back to him, so those old cards that didn't know where they went after being flipped flew toward the group in a line from the campfire. 【Candy House Witch】, 【Ferry】, 【Snowy Mountain Cold】... Twenty cards representing various events of the seven-day journey, arranged in five rows and four columns, were displayed above the five identity cards, so the light flowing from the cards made the light on the table even more intense.

"Is this enough?"

Xia De asked the dust figure at the other end of the table. It looked at the light on the table and a total of twenty-five cards, paused slightly, and said:

"Equivalent fate, seven days of travel, so that's it, you are travelers from afar. Your fate has been completely equal to her fate, but everything is unchangeable, and someone needs to pay the price."

It reached out and pointed to the group. At some point, everyone had turned back into human form. Perhaps because they paid the identity cards, perhaps because of the choice they were about to face:

"Use her to exchange back her sister."

The one pointed at was, of course, Clara the black-dressed maid. She was not surprised at all, but rather had a sense of relief.

The maid nodded and turned to the brown-haired witch:

"Miss, please allow me to do this. My sister became like this because of my jealousy and greed. Now it's my turn to pay the price to exchange back my sister. This is my redemption, the ending I deserve. Five people set off from the starting point of the journey, and five people reach the end of the journey; only then does the journey have meaning."

"If you stay here, what meaning does this journey have for me?"

The witch shook her head seriously:

"Do you still remember what the angel said? Ruby and sapphire, I can only choose one. I understood what this meant at the time. Clara, don't you understand me?"

She raised her right hand and clenched it into a fist:

"I want both. If I have to leave you behind this time to exchange back your sister, I would rather not make a choice. Now that I know about this place, in the future, as long as I don't die, I will have decades, hundreds of years to come here again and make another attempt. You and she are equally important to me. Sorry, I didn't say this before, but now I want to tell you, I will not give up one for the other, no matter what."

Chloe held Xia De's hand, watching this scene, and was dazed for a moment. The bard was in a position far away from the witches, taking out paper and pen to continue writing, looking like he wanted to record every detail of this story.

The petite silver-haired witch emperor asked Xia De in a low voice:

"Do you know what the farthest distance in the world is?"

Dorothy had asked Xia De half a month ago, but clearly, the answer had to change this time:

"You are right in front of me, but I am unable to take you away."

"No, it's you right in front of me, but I know that you will always have to leave."

She said to Xia De, and Xia De also looked at her, but the demigod laughed again:

"So I admire that Miss Andriana over there; she has enough determination. Fortunately, I have it too. We will meet again."

After speaking, she said to the witch and maid:

"One person must stay here; this is the thing fate has already decided, and it is unchangeable. Andriana, no matter what method you thought of, as long as you can't break fate, these methods are just as effective as Xia De's spellcasting and my mediumship just now—effective, but only for a moment."

"Your Majesty, you mean, I have to find power that transcends fate?"

The brown-haired witch asked.

"Power that transcends fate, you already possess it."

Xia De reminded:

"If there was no guidance, how could you have entered the Lost Forest, how could you have met the deity, and how could you have come here with us? Think carefully, think about the starting point of the journey. Not the starting point of the seven-day journey, but the starting point of the journey you and Miss Clara took to find Miss Laks. What has been guiding you all along? What pointed out the direction time and time again, leading to all of us standing here?"

That answer was very simple. Speaking of which, even Xia De's appearance this time was because of the guidance the witch accepted at the beginning:

"But you have to think it through. The ending of using that power is probably not as beautiful as you think."

"Guiding me..."

【Vientiane Impermanence · Space】 was taken out by her, and everyone's eyes were focused on this seemingly ordinary card.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1666 =====