Chapter 2569: Creekwood Town Weaving Time

"You don't need to worry about me; I won't do anything detrimental to you or your family."

Since he had shared his story, Xia De also declared:

"I am just investigating the tree hole. It seems you have learned a lot from these hermits?"

After speaking, he glanced at the hermits who were busy with their own tasks. The Baron was quite grateful to them:

"I used this book to travel through time completely uncontrollably at first, and I didn't know about the curse at that time..."

After speaking, he looked at Xia De, and Xia De nodded:

"I know about the time curse, and everyone's manifestation is different."

"Yes, I triggered the curse at this point in time and fainted in the forest under the scorching sun. Thanks to them, they saved me. These hermits are all good people. I informed them of my identity, but they didn't pry, and they were even a bit afraid to hear information about the future."

"They told me the common knowledge about time travel and warned me that it was best not to continue doing this... They probably encountered similar people before and knew I wouldn't give up."

Xia De understood:

"So you know how to use the tree hole in a limited way because the hermits shared their knowledge?"

"They probably felt that it was better to teach me something than to let me experiment randomly. I also worried that they wanted that book, but they never had that thought; they are very in awe of the power of time."

Xia De took back the two talismans in the snow so that the following conversation could be heard by the hermits:

"They didn't ask for any reward?"

"No, they just asked me to try not to destroy the stability of time, and if possible, never to travel through time again."

Hearing the sound of voices, the leading High-Ring Shushi walked over again and sat down by the campfire:

"You seem to be talking quite well."

He nodded to Xia De:

"Let me introduce myself formally: Prada Augur, the current Grand Elder of the 【Hermits of the Woods】."

"We have one more requirement for this gentleman: he can only contact us in one era. Since we in 1802 have already given him help, he cannot go looking for us in the time where he is. This is our way of protecting ourselves."

Baron Cumming nodded:

"I have kept my promise. I don't know much about time; I will obey whatever you say."

Thus, Xia De, who was already short on time and had no time to talk in detail with this group of people, completely gave up on establishing a connection with the 【Hermits of the Woods】 in this era.

Anyway, he already had Old John's letter, and coupled with the favor gained from returning that holy emblem, going to the woodlands in 1854 to find the hermits would be the same.

Therefore, the series of questions he originally wanted to ask could not be spoken at this time. Xia De just asked:

"Mr. Augur, do you possess a method of time travel that does not use the tree hole?"

The hermit shook his head:

"Besides the Time Key and the tree hole, there might be other methods of time travel in the material world, but we certainly don't know them. If you are asking about the method he used to come here this time, it essentially still used the tree hole, but without direct contact."

"But he paid a more painful price for this. Fortunately, the one chasing him is not an enemy."

"Then what is the situation with this?"

Xia De took out the box that the Baron had dug up in the woodlands in 1854 from his pocket. The latter sighed:

"Just like you, someone else discovered my secret. The other party existed in the space-time of 1809, seven years later. He found me and threatened me to help him pass something to many years later. I know you are curious about what I went to 1809 to do again; recently I discovered some other things to investigate."

He pointed to the box:

"The person in 1809 was clearly different from you; he directly threatened me that if I didn't agree to him, he would kill my whole family. Although 1809 is only seven years after now, the meeting time I agreed upon with Mr. Augur and the others is limited to between 1801 and 1803. In 1809 and our real time point, I couldn't find the hermits to help."

"So I was forced to accept his blackmail. That book had already lost the power to go to 1809 at our time point. Fortunately, I had other methods. I went to deal with this box this morning, dug it out in the afternoon, and then you came... I had thought about leading him to this time point and letting Mr. Augur and the others help deal with it."

"I will help you solve this trouble."

Xia De didn't hand the box to him but kept it himself:

"Because of me, you were forced to pay the price of the curse deepening and came to this time again. Since you have already paid the price, then I will help you solve this matter. Moreover, I am also very curious about the other party."

Baron Cumming certainly wouldn't refuse. Since the man with the owl before him was acknowledged by the hermits, he certainly wasn't a bad person.

"Mr. Augur, I won't seek the secrets of time from you at this time, but please at least answer one question for me: have the Hermits of the Woods always been stationed in the Vesta Woodlands, and is it related to the tree hole?"

The High-Ring hermit nodded, but then shook his head:

"I know what you want to ask. Yes, we have indeed always been helping those innocent people who accidentally traveled through time or had to travel through time."

"Since the Sixth Era, we have done similar things many times, and the sect has been implicated because of this, nearly destroyed several times. This is not a task assigned to us by anyone, but such things always need someone to do them."

"We ourselves don't want to travel through time, nor do we intend to get involved in the grudges and stories of time travelers; we just warn them of some basic rules. Since we cannot stop it, then at least let them know what consequences their actions will bring."

"Has Creekwood Town had many time travelers since ancient times?"

Xia De asked again, and this time the Baron answered him:

"I have investigated this matter. Although the Cumming family is not a local family in Creekwood Town, because of my wife, it can be considered half a local."

"I didn't find any written information; I can only say that the water in Creekwood Town is deeper than anywhere else. Those families that have been entrenched locally for a long time each have the suspicion of having contacted the tree hole."

"Looking at the city from the current perspective, everything is normal and developing prosperously. But all of this is because of complex stories like mine piled up, which wove into the 'Present'."

"Yes, Creekwood Town is very peculiar, quite peculiar."

The High-Ring hermit also nodded in agreement:

"I cannot tell you more. Just as the next generation of hermits will not know the story of this gentleman, past stories have never been passed down, only leaving records that 'there once were'."

"The Vesta Woodlands, with Creekwood Town as the center, may be the place with the weakest time stability in the entire material world. This gentleman can come, you can come, and others should also be able to come."

"Doesn't the local church know about this?"

Xia De frowned, and Mr. Augur threw the firewood on the side into the fire again:

"In the era when Creekwood Town was first built, the church of the Nature Sect has always existed here."

"The sheriff of Creekwood Town, the mayor of Creekwood Town, the chairman of the Lumberjack Association, and the bishop of the local church are the four pillars of the town. You guess, can it be that not a single person in the local church knows about things that ordinary people might know?"

"But such news has never come out of the Nature Sect..."

Xia De stopped talking. Either the Nature Sect's headquarters has always been hiding this earth-shattering secret from partners like the other four churches, three academies, and the Seer Association, or the insiders in the local church have never let this news leave the Vesta Woodlands.

And compared to questioning whether the entire upper echelon of the Nature Sect has problems, Xia De is more willing to believe that the local church is hiding it.

"You don't seem to intend to seek help from us in this era."

The hermit by the fire spoke up, interrupting Xia De's train of thought:

"I must remind you that although we are giving reminders to those time travelers we can encounter, we only help those who have not done evil because of greed and desire, and we are not inclined to help non-ordinary people."

He paused:

"You and your animal partner are very powerful, or rather, stronger than all the Ringed Shushi I have seen in this town. If you want to communicate with us in the future, don't state that you traveled through time at the beginning, otherwise it will cause vigilance."

"Then if I take out the garland directly like just now, can I gain your trust?"

Xia De asked again, and Mr. Augur shook his head:

"I don't know what we will be like in the future. I have elven blood, so I can see that this is a garland recognized by the forest, but whether there is still someone like me among the hermits in the future, then you can only find the answer yourself."

Xia De nodded, calculated the remaining time of forty minutes, and asked the last question:

"Since you know the secret of the tree hole, have you really never used the tree hole in the entire Sixth Era?"

The hermit didn't answer immediately this time but was silent for a few seconds:

"There is no way to use the tree hole without avoiding the curse, so hermits of all generations know that this power cannot be used."

"I can only guarantee that my generation hasn't used it, and the records don't say that previous hermits used it. As for others, I cannot guarantee it to you. After all, traveling through time to change those regrettable things is too tempting."

"The Ringed Shushi of the sect should be able to resist temptation, but there are not only Ringed Shushi in the sect. Everyone has regrets, it's just that the size of the regrets is different... even if you don't change the past, just going to see relatives you didn't get to see for the last time, going to that date that was destined to have no results, going to watch the truth that everyone is hiding... that's about it."

"Sir, do you have any regrets about the past?"

The Baron then asked Xia De, and Mr. Augur also looked at him. Xia De opened his mouth, then smiled at them. There were many meanings in that smile that they couldn't understand:

"I have no past." ===== CHAPTER 2570 =====