Chapter 1793

"Butterfly? The Old God—the Butterfly God 【Thousand-Eyed Illusion Butterfly】, is related to the power of the earth and nature, not space. But the holy emblem of the Old God—the Twin Gods, is also a butterfly. Are you saying the Church therefore suspects the Chosen One might be related to that Old God?"

Xia De asked, and Yin Yi Yi Lu Na nodded:

"We all know the Grace and Helen sisters are definitely involved in this."

"I understand... I will be prepared."

Yin Yi Yi Lu Na suddenly asked again:

"Speaking of which, is Sister Daifulin coming with Grandmother Cassandra? I have some private matters I'd like to discuss with her."

"She is coming with Grandmother, but Sister Daifulin also has an official status. To liaise with the Church, the 【Spirit Cultivation Sect】 she leads probably won't appear together with Grandmother Cassandra, but you will be able to see her this weekend."

The two walked down the stairs together. Yin Yi Yi Lu Na looked back and forth, confirmed there was indeed no one around, and asked again:

"One more question, Xia De. Do you know what can represent 'Time and Space'?"

Xia De thought this was a strange question:

"Are you referring to the power that symbolizes time and space? Are you trying to find a god?"

"Most likely not."

Yin Yi Yi Lu Na shook her head:

"It could be an Unknowable-level relic, or it could be something else."

Xia De thought carefully:

"I don't know much about Unknowable-level relics, but if it's not a relic, I can think of one—the World Tree."

He explained while walking downstairs with Yin Yi Yi Lu Na:

"You see, the World Tree itself carries the meaning of supporting the world, which represents space; and the World Tree is said to be the Tree Father, which is time."

"The World Tree seems to have withered away at the end of the First Era and the beginning of the Second Era. The ones planted now by the elves who worship that Old God are just saplings transplanted from branches that fell before the World Tree died; they have absolutely none of the true tree's power."

Yin Yi Yi Lu Na shook her head, and Xia De offered another idea:

"Then the only option is to see the Shadow of the Tree Father. This Old God of Time is the most unique among all the Old Gods. Although she has already departed, she used her own trunk to connect all of time and space, which is why the Time Key exists. Because of this, unlike other departed Old Gods, the Tree Father's power influences our world more clearly. After completing the Time Key mission or crossing time illegally, it is possible to see that shadow connecting heaven and earth... What do you want to ask? I'll ask for you; it just so happens that the key in my hand is about to be completed."

But Yin Yi Yi Lu Na refused; she already had an idea. Just as she wanted to see the "Lady of the Lake" in the "What If Game," she only needed to know the method without actually having to do it. Now that she had found the method, she only needed to verify its reasonableness.

"However, there are actually other ways. Since you are the guardian of time and space, if you violate the rules of time and space, you can probably also discover the people coming to arrest you."

Xia De said with a smile. This was a joke, but Yin Yi Yi Lu Na thought it made sense. Since it was a matter within the game anyway, the seventeen-year-old girl was quite adept at utilizing the rules:

"The Time Key is easy to find... but whether it's a legal crossing or an illegal one, I need the 【Time】 Spirit Rune... As for violating the rules of time and space, the 【Time of Retrospection】 Xia De mentioned, at the Dawn Cathedral... even if there is no Xia De in that Sixth Era, since Tobesk still exists in the game, it means this relic—which Xia De revealed and warned not to mention to Luweiya—that once reset the Tobesk region, was still contained..."

She pondered in her heart, then asked the final question:

"Xia De, there's one more thing I'd like to ask your advice on. If, and I mean if, I encountered a relic related to storytelling, and every time I tell a story, I adventure based on reality, only the world in the story is completely different from the present, filled with danger everywhere, where even opening a familiar door could lead to death—do you have any good suggestions?"

Sentences starting with "if" like this usually meant it was real. Xia De was a bit worried, but Yin Yi Yi Lu Na's expression was very relaxed:

"According to what you said, wouldn't it be possible to encounter danger as soon as the story begins?"

"No, no, when the story begins, the story scene and my situation in reality are exactly the same, but once I start acting, then..."

The girl with long brown hair was startled, then suddenly realized. The first time was the mission to search the warehouse, the second time was just getting off the train, but in the game, it was exactly the same as reality. This was definitely not a coincidence. The starting phase of the "What If" game was part of reality, not that time and space where the past had already disappeared:

"I understand!"

Because she was too excited, she couldn't even control her voice:

"This idea is so right! Detective, asking you for help was indeed the right choice!"

She kissed Xia De on the side of his face as he stood on the step below her. Only after the kiss did she realize what she had done. Her face turned red, and she stammered as she thanked Xia De and agreed on a code for their next meeting, then left while covering her face and laughing.

Xia De felt that Yin Yi Yi Lu Na was very strange today.

【A young girl's feelings are always like this.】

"Hmm... that doesn't sound like something you usually say."

When he turned around to go upstairs to see the witches, he saw that Ms. Helena Green was behind the counter. The latter had just seen Yin Yi Yi Lu Na's expression after kissing Xia De at the stairwell, and now had an expression that said "youth is truly wonderful."

Xia De thought for a moment, then walked to the counter and lowered his voice to ask:

"Ms. Green, you saw the girl who just came downstairs with me, right? In your opinion, if I wanted to give such a girl a birthday gift, what would be better?"

Yin Yi Yi Lu Na's birthday was getting closer, and he intended to ask for others' opinions. Although he had given Ajelina a gift like the severed-arm stone statue for her birthday, he couldn't replicate the statue.

The female shopkeeper behind the counter laughed, feeling that the man her aunt had found was truly interesting:

"What a strange question. In my opinion, she would be very happy with whatever you give her."

She could see Yin Yi Yi Lu Na's feelings. Having helped her father manage the inn since she was a teenager, Helena Green had seen too many stories and too many people... Actually, except for Yin Yi Yi Lu Na herself, everyone could see her feelings.

"Anything is fine?"

"However, if you can use that gift to highlight her uniqueness, she would probably be even happier. You need to put some thought into it; it's best to show your good impression of her. Although some girls care more about the price of the gift, in my opinion, that girl with brown hair just now should value the meaning of the gift more."

Although saying this was very unfair to her aunts, the female shopkeeper still believed she should help the shy girl just now, which reminded her of her own youth.

Xia De was suddenly enlightened again:

"Uniqueness? Good impression... What do you think of a Golden Apple? Just the kind from the stories."

"Not bad, not bad. Apples themselves have very good symbolic meaning... I didn't tell you anything."

The female shopkeeper raised an eyebrow, very much hoping that Megan and Audrey would never know that this was her idea.

When Xia De returned upstairs, the witches had already produced a preliminary plan for the "Green Lake Inn Renovation Project." According to the rituals Megan and Audrey had set up earlier, they were going to reinforce the entire building, then deal with the doors, windows, and walls separately, and in the basement—which was where Xia De appeared every time—they would use witch secret arts to set up the ritual core, making it convenient for high-ring sorcerers to rely on this building to hold out against 13th-ring or even stronger enemies in desperate moments.

This plan was mainly executed by Miss Miss Jia Lin Na, who was active on the north shore of Green Lake, and Megan and Audrey, though Miss Sylvia and Miss Beiya would also send personnel to help.

"So, can't you create a stable space door between the Glass City and Green Lake City?"

When Xia De returned from downstairs, the great witches had already reached this topic, and Miss Miss Jia Lin Na asked Miss Sylvia:

"Otherwise, coming and going every time is very troublesome."

"Miss Jia Lin Na, do you think this is still the Fifth Era? Furthermore, with the Green Lake region's chaotic spatial state, what madman would dare to create a space door? This is almost equivalent to flying by detonating a weapons warehouse."

Miss Sylvia, who was preparing to hold a ritual to advance to the 11th tier in the near future, pointed at herself:

"If I didn't have some talent, I wouldn't even be able to perform long-distance spatial teleportation between the two cities. And even so, it's not something that can be done at any time."

"Why do I feel like you're bragging about yourself?"

Audrey, holding a porcelain teacup, asked, and Miss Sylvia was quite self-satisfied:

"What's wrong with bragging about myself? Besides, I am indeed very capable."

Seeing that Xia De had returned, she said again:

"Xia De, Margaret is watching a play at the 'Glass Bottle Opera House' in the Glass City tonight. It's a performance by the 'Golden Dawn Opera Troupe,' and she invites you to go together. This play-watching is ostensibly an invitation to Audrey; Margaret wants to create the impression that she is related to 'Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals'."

"I have already accepted the invitation just now."

Audrey said, and Xia De also nodded:

"Okay. There's nothing going on today anyway."

Xia De saying there was nothing going on today was not a lie. Regarding how to get that half of the skull, he currently had no clues at all, so he simply decided to wait until Priest Priest Ao Gu Si arrived tomorrow.

He had been in Green Lake City all day. After lunch, he took a walk around the city, chatted a few words with the people lagging behind in the parade, looked at the newly released cards at the local Divination Association, and bought some local souvenirs at a local shop. In the afternoon, he even encountered the maids around Miss Miss Jia Lin Na dealing with a task on a piece of parchment at a porcelain shop.

But overall, not many interesting things happened that day.

It was only in the evening, after having dinner with Dorothy in Tobesk, that Xia De, who had asked the blonde girl to look after Little Mia, happened to run into the doctor returning from outside when he arrived at the main entrance of the inn:

"This city is truly dangerous."

The doctor said, shaking his head:

"I should have been back at noon, but as I was walking, I found myself trapped in an alley that was looping forever."

"That is truly dangerous. How did you get out?"

Without spatial power, facing such a problem of spatial disorder, even a high-ring sorcerer would find it very tricky.

"I activated the maze to reshape the space, and then I encountered a relic that was about to descend and cover that alley. Fortunately, I had that bottle with me when I went out, otherwise, I would have really been in trouble."

This made Xia De very suspicious about whether letting the doctor stay in Green Lake was the right choice.