Chapter 2235

The situation now was different from when they had just arrived. Xia De had specially prepared a "toy reserve" for each time exploration that was different from going out normally, most of which were daily necessities needed by ladies like these.

Miss Sander continued to take care of the elderly elf who was gradually regaining consciousness. Miss Mester sat on the side, watching Xia De and Miss Knight sort clothes, toiletries, bedding, sheets, and even miscellaneous items like teacups and saucers into boxes; she herself had no intention of helping.

While tidying up these miscellaneous items, Xia De also chatted a few words with the taciturn female knight, who regarded Xia De as a "special witch," so she also used honorifics when speaking to him.

"What exactly is the demon that your country encountered? I actually have some experience in hunting demons."

"Sorry, we do not know. This is the conclusion given by the witch investigator dispatched by Her Majesty the Witch Emperor to investigate this matter. The duchy I am in is not very large... it only has one city."

"I see. It is truly remarkable that you are willing to come to such a dangerous place. Why hasn't your country considered other methods? Compared to letting ordinary people break into such a place, it would actually be more convenient to move the whole country and sell off the family property, right?"

Xia De asked again. Miss Knight pursed her lips and moved the box of fresh apples to the bench:

"This is Her Majesty the Queen's order. I have offered my loyalty to my Queen, and I will complete her order, not question it."

Everyone has their own attitude toward life, not to mention that this remarkable female knight had already come this far; perhaps she could really succeed, so Xia De did not continue to ask, but spoke to himself:

"Actually, I also have a knight title, but I am loyal to my princess, a very beautiful redhead."

This refers to Princess Lei Qianya. Although Xia De was also loyal to Margaret, that was in the capacity of "Gray-Headed Eagle II," not "Hamilton of Lei Jiede."

"Since you are loyal to the princess, don't you execute all of that princess's orders and requests?"

The knight lady with gray-white hair could not help but ask. Xia De thought for a moment:

"Hmm... orders are not really the word. She generally does not give me any excessive requests, and even if there are requests I do not like, we can all talk about it; after all, we are all family."

Miss Mester, who was listening to them talk on the side, covered her mouth and laughed. Miss Knight blinked, and after understanding the meaning of Xia De's words, she was not very surprised:

"So you became a princess knight as the princess's husband. But you must be a very good match; it is rare to see a princess who can choose her husband in this way."

By the time they finished organizing the large amount of supplies Xia De provided, Granny Sienode was able to sit up with Miss Sander's support.

Counting the time, the round trip just now took Xia De more than 20 minutes, plus the time spent understanding the situation at the beginning, his time exploration this time was also nearing its end.

"Although we encountered some accidents on the way back, fortunately, there were still gains. Let Granny Sienode explain what happened on the road in a while; this involves her privacy. Now, let us take a look at these things first."

Everyone gathered around, and the female knight Miss Knight took the initiative to support the elderly elf.

Xia De then displayed half a stone tablet, a roll of parchment, and a piece of strange metal brought out from the ruins.

Everyone did not know what the one-third circular metal object was... Miss Mester must have known, but she did not speak. But the remaining half of the stone tablet and the parchment roll could both be deciphered.

The content of the two documents was not much, and the characters belonged to the early Fifth Era, which both Xia De and Granny Sienode could translate. As for the mermaid girl, she scratched her sleeve embarrassedly:

"Hmm... my grades in ancient languages have always been bad."

This was very similar to Yiluna.

Xia De translated the parchment, and Granny Sienode translated the stone tablet with fewer letters. She understood the content on it in two or three minutes:

"The stone tablet tells the story of that ruin."

To prevent memory loss, while Granny Sienode dictated, Miss Knight recorded the content with a pen.

"That temple ruin originally belonged to the believers of a god who did not leave behind a title. The temple was located inside an ancient kingdom in the Western Continent, but one day, after the god punished his believers and sent down divine punishment, the entire kingdom turned into a barren desert overnight.

So most of the people in the kingdom left their hometown and began to live in exile, leaving only a few priests and shrine officials who remained in the temple, praying for the god's forgiveness.

They waited and waited, waited and waited; eventually, after two generations, only the last shrine official remained in the temple. He carved this stone tablet alone, hoping that their story would not be completely covered by the wind and sand."

The elf's aged hand touched the surface of the stone tablet:

"The missing second half of the stone tablet should be a detailed description of the last shrine official's own experience, but it cannot be seen now."

"Granny, you said that the temple ruin was originally in the Western Continent? Then how did it come to this desert now? Could it be that this strange desert we are in is actually in the Western Continent?"

Miss Sander with blue hair asked curiously, and Granny Sienode shook her head with a smile:

"I cannot tell you directly where we are. Elves usually call this kind of area a 'border'; this is not a normal space, so there is no need to explore the specific location."

"Border?"

Xia De's ears twitched, and he also put down the parchment roll in his hand:

"I have also figured out the content here; it is not complicated. Although those remaining priests and shrine officials wanted to pray for the god's forgiveness, some people also thought about using other methods to turn the cursed barren land back into its original appearance."

"Is it related to this?"

Miss Mester pointed to the piece of metal, which was considered to give herself some sense of participation. Xia De knew that she had known everything from the beginning:

"Yes, through various channels, they eventually learned about the strange creation called the 'Heart of the Oasis'..."

Everyone looked at Xia De expectantly, and Xia De hurriedly shook his head:

"No, no, this piece of metal is not the Heart of the Oasis, but one-third of a compass that can point to the Heart of the Oasis.

Until the last shrine official passed away, they did not find the remaining part of the compass. Because the shrine official was worried that their behavior of wanting to bypass the god and change the desert themselves would bring about more severe divine punishment, he eventually hid the parchment roll that wrote about this matter and that one-third of the compass in a remote location in the temple."

Miss Knight recorded quickly, and Xia De read out the method of using the complete compass written under the parchment. Actually, it was very similar to a normal compass, just needing some water and sunlight.

"The harvest from this trip is great. It should be said that it is definitely not a coincidence that we were able to find this fragment in this boundless desert."

Granny Sienode was very rational. After recovering her spirit, she was still the leader of this team, and her eyes swept over everyone's faces:

"Since a compass fragment can appear unexpectedly, perhaps a second or third piece can be found nearby."

"Granny, are there any other ruins worth exploring nearby?"

Xia De asked, and Miss Sander with blue hair answered for her:

"Although before you appeared, we did not find valuable areas every time we went out to explore, besides your destination this time, there are indeed at least four areas nearby that can be explored. But the distance to other areas is not close; we used to set out only after night fell."

Looking at the sunlight outside, it was clear that Xia De would not be able to experience the desert night this time.

"Let us go to that one first."

The lady with light brown skin said with a smile; the god was clearly guiding them:

"Granny, do you remember? It was the time when Miss Sander, me, and Miss Knight all went out."

The elderly elf nodded with a smile:

"Remember, remember, that was the only time all three of you went out. I remember you found a tomb with a knight statue standing, but could not get close to it? Yes, this is indeed worth investigating."

"Tomb? What was the specific situation at that time? Why couldn't you get close?"

Xia De asked, not expecting the knight lady to give the answer:

"You must wear armor to get close to the statue. At that time, I was wearing that armor and found that the other two ladies were blocked by an invisible barrier. After I gave the armor to them, I was directly bounced away from the front of the statue, but Miss Sander, who was wearing the armor, was able to get close."

"Because we were not sure what was going on, we did not dare to stay nearby for long. Now that I think about it, that was one of the few locations we found in the desert that had supernatural power."

The mermaid girl with blue hair also said, and Xia De nodded:

"Alright, next time I come, I will bring a few sets of extra armor."

Actually, just bringing the set of golden knight armor given by Miss Gao De at home would be enough. After all, even if he went to visit that statue, Xia De would not let everyone go together.

"Next time?"

The mermaid girl asked hesitantly:

"If I did not misunderstand, you mean..."

"Yes, I am going to leave for a while. The time of return is uncertain, but I will definitely come back."

Miss Sander wanted to ask, but was stopped by Granny Sienode. After the illusion just now, she probably understood where the young man with the Tree Father's blessing came from:

"Next time you come, do not consider bringing extra food and water. I have figured it out; this desert neither lets us live nor lets us die, just lets us roast and suffer here. Your supplies this time are enough. Before you come next time, help investigate the information about the 'Heart of the Oasis'."

She pointed to everyone here:

"Although we are all here to find that thing, in fact, none of us know what the 'Heart of the Oasis' actually is."