Chapter 2459: Dance Under the Moon

Xia De instinctively stopped in his tracks and even held his breath; he could not immediately find the right words to describe the figure of the witch gazing at the moon within the Spirit Temple. He only knew the music had stopped.

Thus, Vanessa Benanis under the moonlight turned around, lowered her head somewhat shyly, touched the Moon Ring on her left finger with her right hand, then looked up at Xia De with a gentle smile. She was much calmer than before:

"Xia De, you have found me. I wish to offer you a dance."

"What dance?"

"The Southern Kingdoms have a traditional 'Moon Dance Festival' offering ceremony. It is an autumn festival; I think you have not seen it yet."

The wind blew her long robe, and her shadow swayed on the ground. Although there were no lights or fires, the moonlight had already illuminated this place. Two shadows tilted on the ground under the moonlight. The former sanctity had long vanished; all that remained now was desolation and bleakness.

"Please allow me to offer you the Dance of the Moon, Xia De Suren Hamilton."

She spoke softly, then raised her right hand upward and lowered her head. When her right wrist dipped downward, she closed her eyes and suddenly tilted her head back, facing the moon.

The dance music started again. Her bare feet leaped lightly, making her appear like an elf dancing under the moonlight. Her steps were elegant and fluid. Accompanied by music like cold spring water dripping drop by drop, her body seemed to merge into the tranquil moonlight of this night.

As the music flowed, her dance posture became even more beautiful and moving. Her arms stretched out toward the night sky, as if touching the moonlight. Her Bai Xi bare feet trampled the ground of the Spirit Temple; this was a tribute to the night.

Her body swayed gently, her shadow and the moonlight harmoniously blending. The perfect body wrapped in linen cloth radiated a soft glow under the moonlight, like a rare orchid blooming beneath the night sky.

This was a dance offered to the moon, an ancient ritual dance. Xia De stood there quietly, watching the figure under the moon, watching the holy yet primal dance, leaping only for himself on this uninhabited cliffside in the Randel River Valley.

When the dance music offered to the moon ended, Vanessa Benanis, wearing a laurel wreath, a white robe, and barefoot, was already standing before Xia De.

Her eyes were now frighteningly bright, yet even after dancing, her aura remained very steady. This dance was far less seductive than the solo dance she once performed for Xia De, but in Xia De's view, this "Dance of the Moon" pleased him even more.

She looked at Xia De, and Xia De was also looking at her. After a brief pause, the witch asked softly:

"I wonder, are you satisfied with the dance I have offered you?"

"Yes, very satisfied."

Xia De replied:

"If there is an opportunity, I would be delighted to participate in the Moon Dance Festival activities in Carsonlick this autumn."

The witch, wearing a linen robe, showed a smile:

"Although I am not a priestess of any god, tonight I acted as a priestess or a holy maiden, offering my prayers to the moon. Now the prayers have ended, and the moon seems to have responded to me."

Generously, under the moonlight, she extended her left hand, which wore the ring, toward Xia De:

"Knight, you have found me, so you may pluck that most beautiful delicate flower."

It seemed she had not forgotten Hilis's "setting." After speaking, she added:

"I have already received Luvia's permission."

Her golden long hair, woven into a large braid, wrapped around her neck and rested on the front of her left shoulder. The linen white robe on her body fluttered in the night wind. The most famous female opera singer of the Old Continent, the director of the Golden Dawn Opera Troupe, the Earth Witch of the Witch Council, winked at Xia De, her pink lips slightly parted:

"So, is it okay?"

Whether it was an illusion or the influence of the Moon Ring on her hand, Xia De felt that she, bathed in moonlight, truly resembled the devout priestesses in legends and stories who lived only for the gods. Her outfit was also carefully considered; up close, embroidery patterns of the moon and laurel leaves could be seen on both the left and right hems and the cuffs.

"But..."

Xia De hesitantly looked at the forest sea, looked at the starry sky, looked at this spot on the cliffside:

"Are you sure you want to do it here?"

"That's right... Oh, Luvia was truly right. Every time like this, you are always hesitant. I will take that as your agreement."

Saying this, she hugged Xia De's neck, and the "devout" "priestess" kissed him passionately.

In the center of the empty, desolate ritual ground behind her, which was also the center of the sun, moon, and stars, the earth rose upward. Under the witch's control, it transformed into a stone bed protruding less than half a meter above the ground. Perhaps she herself did not realize that this stone bed in the dark Spirit Temple clearly resembled an altar.

While kissing Xia De, she opened her eyes and looked behind him. Hilis stood behind the stone pillar of the last broken archway. Shadows covered most of her body. She was watching the two of them, so Vanessa waved at her, signaling her to come over.

But the young blonde Miss shook her head slightly. Hilis Rathers just stood there smiling, forming words with her mouth to offer blessings:

"Must be happy, Vanessa."

Hilis, who had always believed she had delayed Vanessa's happiness by helping her revive the order and search for her father, stepped back. Having learned her friend's true feelings, Vanessa no longer hesitated. Amidst Xia De's not very vigorous opposition, she pulled him to the center of the open space at the end of the Dark Spirit Temple.

She reached her left hand behind her head and gave a slight tug; the bound golden hair immediately cascaded down.

Biting her lip somewhat shyly, she still looked at Xia De:

"Tonight, I offer everything to the moon, and to you."

Thus, the long robe fell to the ground, and on her Bai Xi body, only the laurel wreath on her head and the Moon Ring on her left hand remained. Even the most skilled sculptor could not replicate the perfect body under the moon before Xia De's eyes by any method.

Removing the long robe meant a change of identity. She was no longer the priestess offering a dance to the moon; at this moment, she was the goddess under the moon.

Vanessa Benanis met Xia De's gaze, took the laurel wreath from her own head, and placed it on Xia De's head:

"I offer all this to you."

She repeated her previous words, but this time even her voice trembled:

"My hero, my knight, my champion, my lover. Please... enjoy the Ji Pin I offer tonight. I offer my purity and soul to you..."

Xia De did not let her finish the sentence; he actively embraced and kissed her.

Thus, the witch welcomed his initiative. Moonlight flooded the forest sea, and the wind blew the treetops, swaying together. Two sparrows resting on the branches in the forest cuddled together. In the mottled moonlight, two young deer moved through the forest together.

The towering Shanfeng were caressed by the night wind. The stream under the mottled moon shadows flowed coldly yet peacefully. Pebbles rolled down with a pata-pata sound; beast hooves moved, causing only shadows to sway in the forest.

Three moons hung above the mountain peaks, shining down on the sacred scene within the ancient Spirit Temple under the starry sky.

The sea of stars twinkled with starlight; the silver moon illuminated the shadows. Moonlight spilled over his and her bodies. On this day ten thousand years later, the Dark Spirit Temple welcomed a long-awaited sacrifice once again.

(Mia is running...)

Gentle embrace, sweet kisses, cold moonlight, mountain night wind, and his... strength and warmth. Vanessa Benanis felt she might never walk out of this night.

Her body was slightly cool, but the feeling was just right. The morning sunlight was not glaring, but shining on her body covered by a thin quilt, it was exceptionally warm. The summer morning breeze of the Randel River Valley was as exhilarating as ever, but what finally made Vanessa open her eyes was not these, nor the chirping of the birds in the forest, but Hilis's voice:

"Vanessa, I know you are awake. Open your eyes."

The charming golden eyes finally opened. The lady lying on her side instinctively pulled the quilt to cover her chest, then sat up and looked around, at the ancient Spirit Temple ruins and the cliffside. The marks on her body made her recall what happened last night without needing to remember; the lingering tenderness and warmth made her very reluctant to accept the fact that time must move forward.

She sat up, pulling the quilt, and looked at Hilis, who stood helplessly by the bed, her face slightly flushed, in the center of the stone platform in the morning Spirit Temple clearing.

The young Miss looked at her friend, who had just woken up with a tired expression but a remarkably rosy complexion and skin more tempting than milk and eggs, and could not help but say:

"Good morning, Vanessa. Don't look for Xia De anymore. He originally wanted to wait for you to wake up before returning to Moon Bay together, but he said something very dangerous and powerful was looking for him, so he had to use his relic called 【Noble Crimson】 to summon me, asking me to take care of you."

She looked at her stunningly beautiful friend and wore a half-smile:

"I've been standing here for ten minutes now."

The witch, who had been so bold last night, asked with a blushing face:

"I didn't... say anything strange in my sleep just now, did I? Oh, Hiris, you wouldn't..."

She hugged the blanket tight:

"You wouldn't have been here watching the whole night, would you?"

This time it was Hiris who blushed:

"What are you saying? After you two began, I confirmed the anti-reconnaissance, scrying, and defensive rituals we set up in advance were fine, then I left. I slept very well last night... Vanessa, I was originally worried you didn't rest well last night, but looking at you now, your complexion is really wonderful—more moving than a flower at dawn covered in dew."

Saying so, she set the clothes she'd brought by the bedside, then waved a hand in the air and summoned a water mirror.

Vanessa raised her hand to touch her own face as she looked at herself in the mirror, then for some reason actually started giggling foolishly.

Hiris didn't interrupt her friend's silly-looking display, but instead gazed somewhat wistfully at her surroundings—no one knew what she was thinking at that moment.

Just then, footsteps suddenly came from beyond the three arches behind her. Hiris was about to turn and see who had dared to come here against her orders, but the voice that spoke first made her stop:

"Vanessa, how was Xia De?"