Chapter 2233

Granny Sienode and the others watched the pit of white bones beneath the sand dune together; her body trembled slightly, and then, leaning on her cane, she slowly sat down on the dune.

As her cane fell onto the sandy ground, she covered her face and began to sob.

"Granny, what is wrong?"

After asking, Xia De felt his question was foolish; Granny Sienode was naturally grieving because she had seen the tragic deaths of so many of her kin.

But the reality was more complex than he had imagined.

"These, these are all... elves of the Moon Creek Clan. I saw it, that necklace, that scar, and... the resonance of bloodlines. I left them to wait while I and the others went out to find a new place to live. They were all just children, all just young people... how could this be, how could this be?"

She spoke intermittently while weeping, and Xia De could only understand fragments of what she said.

"But no matter how you think about it, this must be fake. With so many elves, how could they all appear in this desert together, and how could we just happen to run into them?"

Xia De comforted her from the side, glanced at the silent Miss Mester, and then tried to help Granny Sienode up:

"This is an illusion. Even if the other elves of the Moon Creek Clan really met with misfortune, their bones should not appear here. This desert is not a graveyard, and this is not the only path to death; it is clearly all false."

Logically, a 13th-tier witch should not have her spirit broken so easily, so it was clear this illusion was specifically targeted at her; Xia De could not sense any further mental corruption.

His comfort, as expected, had no effect. Although Granny Sienode was helped up by him, she still covered her face and sobbed in despair. She must have heard Xia De's words, but she did not believe them at all:

"It is all real—those bones, those ornaments, those traces. The Moon Creek Clan has perished."

Those bones were indeed very realistic; at least Xia De could not tell that they were the product of an illusion.

He looked at Miss Mester again. The lady with light brown skin also looked at him with a smile, and her voice appeared directly in Xia De's heart:

"Why, do you want to ask me for help?"

"Not for now. I am not coveting any reward, but this matter has only just begun, and I do not believe it cannot be solved."

Xia De thought to himself, supporting Granny Sienode as he tried to walk forward:

"Anything can happen in this desert, Granny. Perhaps you need to calm down—I mean, physically calm down—to think clearly. Let us go back first, back to the temple, okay? We cannot stop here. Or, I can produce evidence to prove that the Moon Creek Clan has not perished; will you listen to me properly?"

The old elf tried hard to control her trembling, but she could not take in Xia De's words at all, clearly believing that Xia De was just comforting himself.

She struggled to lean on her cane and rely on Xia De's support to continue moving forward. The intense emotional change made her look even weaker under the scorching sun, and her pale skin made her already aged face look even more decrepit.

Of course, this could also be a result caused by the illusion.

【How are you so sure this is an illusion?】

"She" asked in Xia De's ear, and upon hearing "her" voice, Xia De, under the blinding sun, actually felt the chill of the night:

"Because isn't that exactly why I came here?"

The sand pit filled with eerie white bones was the only way to continue forward. Trying to go around it would take more time, but time was exactly what they lacked.

Therefore, although Granny Sienode resisted intensely, the three of them eventually slid slowly from the top of the dune to the bottom. Even though he knew it was an illusion, Xia De still whispered an apology before supporting the elf granny into the white bones.

Miss Mester followed behind them, watching the old elf tremble with every step. When the white bones touched their legs and feet, even though Granny Sienode was supported by Xia De, her body went limp and she fell into the white bones, then began to sob again.

She knew that this emotion was wrong, but the fact that her clan had perished lingered in her mind and would not go away.

She tried to stand up, but the corpses of the familiar younger generation around her made her want to stay there forever to accompany them.

Suddenly, she felt her body lighten, and then she discovered she was being carried on Xia De's back.

"Granny, hold tight to my neck."

Xia De said. He leaned on the relic cane himself, greeted Miss Mester behind him, and then continued to walk through the bone pit:

"Granny, let us talk about something else to distract ourselves. Do not think about what is under our feet; these are all fake.

You just said that you came here to find the Heart of the Oasis for the Saint Byrons Witch Academy in the Jibei, in exchange for that powerful witch academy's protection of the Moon Creek Clan. I actually know about the witch academy you mentioned. What happened to Saint Byrons, and why does it need the Heart of the Oasis?"

Although the Jibei sounded unsuitable for survival, the land of Saint Byrons was once the city of that God of Night. Xia De had personally stepped foot there and knew that the region did not need any Heart of the Oasis; it was a place very suitable for human survival once the night was dispelled.

The aged elf answered in Xia De's ear:

"It is not Saint Byrons that needs it. The Zalas Academy of Literature, which rose into the sky in the form of a floating city, encountered some problems and needs some precious materials to maintain the floating city's ecology. The headmaster of Saint Byrons promised to help them find some of these materials, and the Heart of the Oasis is one of them."

Xia De continued to ask while struggling to find a place to step among the white bones. Even in the pit under the dune, he did not feel cool at all; it was even hotter here:

"Then why doesn't the Moon Creek Clan join the Zalas Academy of Literature? Wouldn't it be more direct to take the Heart of the Oasis directly to the floating city?"

"Elves are a race that lives on the earth; a rootless tree can never live long."

She explained this, closing her eyes on Xia De's back, but her body was still trembling:

"The Moon Creek Clan itself had clues about that Heart of the Oasis, which is why we accepted this task; it is not that Saint Byrons is making things difficult for us. After I bring it back, the Moon Creek Clan will officially become a part of the Saint Byrons Comprehensive Academy."

"Granny, then you are the... in the clan?"

"Before we set out, I was the clan leader. When we set out, I left the responsibility of the clan leader to my daughter; she is my most..."

"Oh!"

Xia De exclaimed, interrupting her words, because beneath those eerie white bones, two hands had clearly grabbed his feet. Even though he had been vigilant about the dangers from the bone pit, he had not expected the attack to come so suddenly.

The strength of those two hands was immense. Xia De, caught off guard, fell directly into the white bones while carrying Granny Sienode. But after he fell, the two hands that had grabbed his feet disappeared, and they did not suffer any subsequent attacks.

"Goodness... Granny, are you alright? Oh, thank you."

A hand reached out from beside him. Xia De grabbed the hand and climbed up, only to find it was Miss Mester.

Just now, Granny Sienode had slid from his back to the side. When Xia De wanted to pull her up, he discovered that the old elf was staring blankly at the white bone she was pressing beneath her body.

The wrist of that white bone wore a silver bracelet, and on the skull was a flower crown woven from fresh flowers.

The other white bones around them did not have these things, so Xia De immediately understood the meaning represented by this white bone, and he gained a new understanding of the disgusting nature of this illusion:

"This..."

"Lia..."

Granny Sienode hugged the white bone and began to sob again. While Xia De cursed the illusion in his heart for not playing fair, he also held his forehead; the feeling of heatstroke caused him to have a slight dizzy spell, and they had to go back as soon as possible.

Seeing that Granny Sienode was hugging the white bone and unwilling to get up, Xia De bent down to pick up the white bone, and then carried the stunned Granny Sienode on his back:

"If you believe this is real, we will take it back. Miss Mester, let us continue walking. You lead the way in front; I do not believe we cannot walk out of here."

"Alright, follow me closely."

The smiling lady then walked in front. Xia De, holding the elf skeleton and carrying the old elf on his back, stepped exactly where Miss Mester had stepped as he moved forward. Sure enough, no more hands grabbed him from underground.

"I actually admire you very much."

He spoke while walking, wanting to distract himself and keep himself awake:

"For the future of an entire clan, you walked here alone. Your persistence and compassion are both worthy of my respect."

"Moon Creek..."

The hoarse voice was interrupted by Xia De just as it was uttered:

"Believe this is an illusion, and then follow me back to the temple. It is okay, please do not think too much... Granny, do you know any elf nursery rhymes? I am too tired now; can you sing me a nursery rhyme to make me feel more relaxed?"

He was panting heavily, and he could no longer speak complete sentences. Granny Sienode on his back looked at the skeleton that Xia De was holding in his arms—its skull resting on his shoulder—and then looked at the sweat on his head:

"No problem."

And so, an aged but gentle voice sounded behind Xia De. It was a nursery rhyme describing a young elf playing with a unicorn on a summer afternoon, taking a nap together on the grass, and finally saying goodbye by the lake at dusk.

This song did not bring Xia De any coolness, nor did it make him sober. On the contrary, the elf's lullaby even caused hallucinations to appear before his eyes; he kept feeling that Emilia was riding a small unicorn, jumping around in front of him.

And so they continued forward. The bone pit, which did not look very large from above, seemed to have no end as they walked through it.

The nursery rhyme echoed within the bone pit. Xia De, already a bit delirious from the heat, found that the white bones around them seemed to be piling higher and higher. But in a trance, seeing Miss Mester walking in front, he gritted his teeth and continued to follow.