Chapter 223: The Second Signpost

When Xia De opened his eyes on Monday morning, the first thing he heard was the sound of rain hitting the bedroom window, while his mind was still recalling the banquet from last night, as if he could still smell the perfume on the girls' hair.

Perhaps because of those dances at the banquet, he had a strange dream last night.

The dream began with the melodious background sound of a saxophone, and he was playing Luo De Pai with someone whose face he couldn't see clearly. Then Miss Beiyasi crawled out of Xia De's cards, tossed Xia De's entire deck into the air, and pulled him to dance together in the rain of cards falling from the sky like snowflakes. But as they danced, the girl with beautiful long brown hair suddenly turned into Xiao Miya.

Not the Miss Xiao Miya Sang Gao De he hadn't met yet, but the gluttonous, lazy, and cowardly Xiao Miya cat.

Xia De, realizing he was dancing with a giant cat, was severely frightened in the dream. Then, because of the grotesque reality, he immediately realized he was in a dream.

And it was only after realizing this that he returned to the familiar field path in his dream, looking up at the giant silver moon disk above his head.

Because the experience in the dream was too wonderful, he still had a headache after waking up.

He sat up from the bed to collect his thoughts and plan for a brand new day. The cat lying beside the pillow was startled awake by Xia De's movement. The small cat darted up, looked around for a while, and then jumped onto the quilt.

It stretched its two front paws forward, pressed its upper body down, and raised its lower body, doing a stretching pose. Then it meowed at Xia De, walking back and forth on the quilt, looking like it wanted Xia De to prepare breakfast as soon as possible.

"Good morning, Xiao Miya..."

Then he immediately thought of the strange dream last night.

"You really are the cutest when you maintain this size."

He sighed.

"Meow?"

The cat was rubbing its small head against the back of Xia De's hand.

Summer itself was the rainy season in Tobesk. Located in the fog city in the north of the Old Continent, it was affected by cold air blowing from the extreme north all year round. Due to the lack of tall mountain ranges blocking the way from the west coast to Tobesk, warm air currents from the ocean could reach the inland area unimpeded, intersecting with the northern cold current over Tobesk, resulting in the local summer monsoon climate with plenty of rain.

After breakfast, Xia De read the newspaper for a while. Seeing that the drizzle outside showed no sign of stopping, he picked up Xiao Miya and went out with an umbrella.

This orange cat rarely went out on rainy days and kept the posture of huddling in Xia De's arms throughout the entire journey.

By the time Xia De knocked on the door of Feather Pen Street and was led by Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha into her apartment, the cat finally relaxed a little, looking around at the slightly unfamiliar environment.

"Knight, what brings you to see me so early?"

Because it was raining today, Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha had no plans to go out. She was wearing casual clothes and entertained Xia De in the living room. The first sentence she said was teasing. Xia De saw that the newspaper on the coffee table had been turned to the second page, which had a photo of him receiving his knighthood.

Limited by printing and photography technology, that photo was not very clear. As long as Xia De didn't walk around wearing this outfit, it was basically impossible for strangers to recognize Xia De just by the photo in the newspaper.

And the King in the photo really did look taller than Xia De.

"Do I need to congratulate you? Although the knight class has disappeared for hundreds of years and people today no longer consider knights to be nobles, this also represents a big step forward for you."

The blonde girl asked while preparing tea for Xia De.

"It is I who need to thank you, Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha. I heard from Miss Jia Jia Lin Na that it was Princess Lei Qianya..."

"She was just thanking you for saving her mother."

Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha said, and then her eyes met the cat Xia De was holding. The small orange cat immediately meowed softly; this was the animal's way of intimidating enemies.

Only then did Xia De bring up the real business.

"I didn't come here specifically to thank you today. There is something I would like your help with; it's really embarrassing to say."

He placed the cat he was holding on the armrest of the sofa. The orange cat meowed uneasily, shaking its tail to pat Xia De's arm. Xia De looked at the cat and said to Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha, who was already sitting opposite him:

"I am going on a long trip today and am not sure when I will be back. It might be immediately, or it might take a day or two."

Xia De was not sure if the teleportation waiting time for the ancient god 【Primal Crack】 statue in the basement existed, but because of the "Red Moon Witch's" divination, he believed that even if there was an interval for the statue's use, it wouldn't be long.

"So, I would like to ask you to temporarily help me take care of this cat. Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't have time. Priest Ao Gu Si said that the nuns at the Dawn Church could also help take care of it, but you are more reliable after all."

As he spoke, he reached out and stroked the head of Xiao Miya the cat. The orange cat crouched there, squinting its eyes and accepting the petting.

"Temporarily take care of this cat? Of course, no problem."

Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha thought for a moment and nodded, saying very casually:

"This is not a big deal, but you must come back as soon as possible. Although I know you probably won't tell me your destination, you might encounter danger, right?"

"Of course, there is danger in doing anything."

As he spoke, Xia De took out a yellow envelope and placed it on the coffee table.

"Inside the envelope is the fee for taking care of Xiao Miya. Don't refuse; I was originally paid by the client to take care of it."

Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha didn't care about the money. She looked at the detective who was sighing at the cat:

"Xia De, if there is really any danger, remember to come to me for help."

"Of course. I will be back as soon as possible; don't worry about me."

He stroked Xiao Miya's head again with some reluctance and stood up to leave. The orange cat noticed that Xia De was about to leave and immediately grabbed his clothes, wanting him to hold it.

But this time Xia De didn't pick up the cat.

"Xiao Miya, I'll be back soon. Can you stay here for a while?"

Xiao Miya certainly couldn't understand human language, but it probably understood that Xia De didn't intend to take it with him. When Xia De left Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha's apartment, the orange cat was held in the arms of the blonde female writer, looking pitifully at Xia De as he walked away with his umbrella.

"Meow~"

That aggrieved meow could actually travel far in the sound of the rain. Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha laughed while holding the orange cat, while Xia De turned back to look one last time, waved at the person and the cat, and then truly left.

After finding someone to temporarily take care of Xiao Miya, Xia De officially began his plan to go out. Because he didn't know where he would end up, for safety, he first had to organize his 【Relics】 and choose suitable ones to carry with him.

The 【Count's Left Eye】 and 【Another Face】 certainly had to be left at home, while the 【Gun of Kindness】, 【Pirate's Blood Coin】, and 【Fate's Twenty-Sided Die】 were carried on his person. As for the page that could contact the Academy, Xia De thought about it and also brought it along just in case.

Besides the above items, that bag of unused frog legs and the brooch with the holy emblem of the Sun God were also very important. As for the Luo De Pai, Xia De considered it and decided to bring the cards as well.

All these items were packed in a suitcase. In addition, he also prepared an extra umbrella, a very sturdy hemp rope, and several sharp table knives, matches, candles, and a whole piece of smoked meat.

Seeing that the suitcase was not yet full, he stuffed in some warm clothes and finally felt at ease.

After finishing the preparations, it was already ten o'clock in the morning. He locked the door downstairs from the inside, then passed through the small door behind the stairs to enter the basement.

The Ring of Fate appeared, making the hidden wall disappear. After entering the circular area, he took out the white stone crystal from the small box placed by the wall.

He took a deep breath to adjust himself, then approached the statue of the two-headed man and reached out to touch it.

"May the Primal Crack protect me in the infinite space."

White fog immediately surged, wrapping Xia De within it. He entered the world wrapped in white fog again and as expected, heard the whispering sound in his ears:

【Outlander, you have stepped into the 'Space Labyrinth.'】

【Message from the ancient god "Primal Crack":】

【Existing space signposts: 1.】

"Sacrifice this white stone crystal."

Without hesitation, Xia De immediately held the white crystal up. As soon as he finished speaking, it disappeared silently from Xia De's hand, as if it had merged into the thick fog.

And with the disappearance of the white stone crystal, on the path in front of him, there was still only one wooden signpost representing "Saint Deran Square."

【New information obtained. You can search for new space signposts. Please choose a direction.】

"Direction?"

Xia De stood in the fog and thought for a while.

"Can I only choose the direction? Can I choose the distance?"

【Information from this space: You can only specify the direction vaguely, after which this place can connect to another random statue of the ancient god 'Primal Crack.'】

He wasn't worried about encountering other statue users, but he was worried about another matter.

"The Academy forbids Ringed Shushi from stepping onto the New Continent. What if I accidentally run to the New Continent?"

【The next ancient god statue randomly linked is more likely to be closer. The possibility of you running to the bottom of the ocean is greater than you entering the New Continent.】

"Alright then, West."

Xia De said casually. In fact, east, west, south, and north made no difference to him. He just wanted to try and see what kind of role this place could play.

【Ancient God - Primal Crack, has accepted your sacrifice.】

【Randomly linking space signposts.】

【Link successful. Existing space signposts: 2.】

A new signpost appeared abruptly on the path in the white fog, still in that dilapidated style that seemed to have been ravaged by time for a hundred years. The arrow on the signpost pointed to the west.

Xia De walked over quickly, stood there with his suitcase, and waited for a while. After confirming that nothing else appeared, he reached out and touched the new signpost.

【The Primal Crack will guide your direction.】

The white fog around him dissipated. ===== CHAPTER 224 =====