Chapter 2630: Dance of the Three

The flames seemed to dance along with the lively atmosphere and lighthearted music of this summer evening banquet in 1821. After spinning in place, the black-haired lady leaned her back against Xia De's chest, then took his raised right hand and spun back around:

"Don't worry about the ball; I am already looking for it. As long as that ball is still in this manor or nearby, it is impossible not to find it."

This Thirteenth-Order lady had the confidence to say such things. Xia De nodded:

"Then I will head back first to tell my companions; they are very worried about me."

He released the black-haired lady's hand, turned around, and took hold of Yin Yi Yi Lu Na's hand. The scene shifted to 1854, and Xia De found that he seemed to have mastered the trick of it.

As for Yin Yi Yi Lu Na, she was startled at first by Xia De "appearing out of thin air" and wrapping his arm around her waist again, but she immediately understood he had returned:

"How did it go?"

"I found a helper in 1821; she will help me find that ball. But what about 1854 now? Should we let Miss Wen Si Lai Te and Miss Bei Er go look for it?"

Compared to the lighthearted dance music of 1821, the current piece was much more soothing, so Xia De had to adjust his dance steps.

Yin Yi Yi Lu Na shook her head while leaning her body forward against him:

"If an incident caused by a Secret Keeper-level relic of this humanoid type could be solved just by deploying manpower, then it wouldn't be worthy of its Secret Keeper-level rating. Fortunately, we have already mastered the method to deal with this relic. This was a discovery by the Church of Peace twenty years ago; the Secret Keeper-level relic 【Ball-Catching Glove】 currently kept at Saint Byron's naturally counters this kind of hide-and-seek game."

She looked toward the periphery of the crowd. Miss Bei Er was already gone, leaving only the witch still holding a wine glass and watching the two with an unreadable expression:

"The message has already been sent out; that lady in the hotel should be back with the glove very soon."

"That's good. I'll go tell that lady in the past as well."

Saying this, he released Yin Yi Yi Lu Na's hand, turned around, then turned his body to the side and once again took hold of the black-haired lady's hand. Her rose-red eyes looked at him with curiosity:

"Your time talent is even stronger than I imagined."

"Thank you for the compliment, but there won't be any problems in the future either. The Orthodox Churches discovered the method to counter this kind of relic over a decade ago; that was..."

"Do not tell me about things in the future."

Said the lady who had already put away the beige sun hat, which was the Angel-level relic 【Tree Shade Dream】. Her black hair appeared very lustrous under the night sky and firelight:

"Even without a method to deal with it, there would be no problem on my end. But compared to the method for dealing with this relic, I am actually more curious about Dan Dac Nisi Te's situation in the future."

She leaned a little closer to Xia De, and the two assumed the same posture as the people around them:

"I have been pondering these past few days what exactly will happen in the future to cause you all to come to the Vista Woodland together. Judging from the times you asked me whether I wanted to see Dan Dac Nisi Te, I think I have guessed the truth."

She looked at Xia De from a quite close distance, a gentle smile on her face:

"The future me goes missing one day, right?"

Xia De was silent for a moment:

"May I ask what the content of the time curse you received is?"

Miss Hai Lian Na Ka Te continued to look at him with a smile:

"I think if I really were to leave Dan Dac Nisi Te without saying goodbye one day, it should have nothing to do with this curse.

But since you asked, young sir, then very well: I am irreversibly transforming into a large tree. This process is not instantaneous but happens slowly. During this period, my power is unaffected, but the moment I die, my body will completely turn into a large tree."

This curse was consistent with her status as a Thirteenth-Order.

"Miss Dan Dac Nisi Te and I investigated from the future that you used a relic that delayed the curse until the very moment of death."

The black-haired lady nodded slightly, signaling to Xia De that it was time to move his feet:

"Yes. And because I used the relic, this caused the relic's power and the time curse to deepen together. The moment I die, both my body and my soul will turn into a cursed large tree, rather than an ordinary tree. I myself can imagine how powerful that tree will be, so I will arrange for the handling of my corpse while I am still alive."

"... I notice you are smiling while telling me this."

"That is all a matter for after death. If Dan Dac Nisi Te really can find me, I will have to trouble you to confirm the state of my corpse with her. If the cursed large tree still exists, please destroy that large tree and do not bring trouble to others."

Her tone remained relaxed, but Xia De only wanted to sigh at this moment:

"Please do not casually hand such an important task to me. Can you tell Miss Dan Dac Nisi Te yourself? She told me that no matter what, she wants to see you one more time."

The black-haired lady shook her head slightly, her rose-red eyes fixed on him:

"She is indeed as stubborn as before. Then I can only ask you to stop her. She is different from you; she already knows me in the current era, while you haven't even been born in the 'present.' Having too much interaction with her will lead to... Is there someone watching us from behind? How strange; I can clearly feel it, but I cannot see anyone."

Xia De was startled. He maintained the dancing posture with the black-haired lady and turned his head naturally, but he also saw no one spying on them.

Then he suddenly thought of something:

"I will go back once more to confirm the situation."

Saying this, he released her hand, and then, after that flash of white light, he took two steps forward and grabbed Yin Yi Yi Lu Na's hand. The brown-haired girl's left eye was glowing faintly:

"That black-haired lady is very beautiful~"

She said this, and Xia De laughed:

"Yin Yi Yi Lu Na, you wouldn't have been able to see us, would you?"

The eighteen-year-old girl nodded, pretending to be relaxed in tone, which was very different from the truly relaxed tone of Miss Hai Lian Na Ka Te just now:

"Seeing that you hadn't returned, I wanted to know what you were doing, and then I saw you dancing with that black-haired lady... Who is that? I don't seem to have seen her before. Does Lu Wei Ya know her?"

Xia De did not feel embarrassed but explained softly:

"That lady has already passed away in the present; she is Miss Dan Dac Nisi Te's teacher."

While dancing with Yin Yi Yi Lu Na, he briefly explained the matter and also instructed Yin Yi Yi Lu Na that she must keep it a secret; if Yin Yi Yi Lu Na hadn't asked, he certainly wouldn't have said anything.

The eighteen-year-old girl had originally been a bit unhappy, as someone else had occupied her dancing time. But knowing the other party's identity, she became sentimental instead. Yin Yi Yi Lu Na Bei Ya Si was a kind girl who knew how to be considerate in this Sixth Era.

Only then did she speak about the situation here:

"Miss Dan Dac Nisi Te has already brought that relic over, and Miss Bei Er has gone to assist her. Miss Wen Si Lai Te just told me to stay here and not move; she is worried that the relic will stare at the two of us and prevent the 【Ball-Catching Glove】 from taking effect."

"I understand."

He gently pulled Yin Yi Yi Lu Na into his arms and swayed with the music. Looking over Yin Yi Yi Lu Na's shoulder, he saw Miss Wen Si Lai Te still standing alone outside the dance floor, watching them.

She was also looking at him at this moment, and the two looked at each other in silence. Thinking of the newly acquired spell "Telepathy," Xia De wanted to try talking to her at this moment. He had originally thought it would be very difficult, but perhaps because Flora Wen Si Lai Te was an owl, the attempt succeeded on the first try:

"Would you like to dance together in a while?"

"Aren't you busy right now?"

The witch's voice also appeared in Xia De's mind. He continued to hold Yin Yi Yi Lu Na, moving forward and backward:

"I mean after this matter is resolved. I have figured out some things about York Bronte; there is nothing else to do at this banquet."

"I don't want you to invite me to dance just because you think I'm lonely."

The witch said this again, and Xia De asked:

"So, do you really think I invited you because of that?"

Flora Wen Si Lai Te did not answer again, only turning her face slightly to avoid looking at Xia De, and Xia De took it as her agreement.

To prevent the lady from 1821 from worrying, Xia De danced with Yin Yi Yi Lu Na for a while longer, then released her, turned around, and took hold of the black-haired lady's hand behind him.

The night of the summer evening in 1821 seemed to grow deeper. The various figures around them, like fleeting shadows, seemed to have become unimportant backgrounds obscured by halos of light. For the Outlander, in this era where he absolutely did not exist, only this black-haired lady was real:

"Don't worry about the spying; it was my companion from the future seeing you."

He explained softly, and the lady dancing with him asked with a smile:

"Since you used such a description, then the one dancing with you is not Dan Dac Nisi Te. Tsk tsk~ So, is that young lady angry? I saw you were gone for quite a while this time; were you explaining my identity?"

"She isn't angry; she was just worried about my situation."

He continued to answer in a low voice, his dance steps never stopping.

The searches in the two sides of time proceeded "simultaneously." Next, Xia De frequently traveled between the banquets held at the same location but separated by 33 years, to confirm whether the black ball had been found in the corresponding space-time.

In the 1854 space-time, he danced with Yin Yi Yi Lu Na while whispering to her about the Death Apostles and Bronte, sharing his speculations about Theodore Ben York;

While in 1821, Xia De continued to chat with the lady who still hadn't asked his name about the grown-up Miss Dan Dac Nisi Te, sharing little things about his time with the "Witch of the Red Moon," and even talking about the gifts they exchanged at the end of last year's Winter Festival.

And the grown-up Dan Dac Nisi Te Gustav was someone this lady was destined never to see.

Light and shadow flickered, the night grew deep, the moon was bright and the stars sparse. The two banquets separated by 33 years seemed to have become one as Xia De kept turning.

This was not just Xia De's own feeling, nor was it just the feeling of Yin Yi Yi Lu Na, who possessed a peculiar left eye capable of seeing the past; it was also the feeling of the Great Witch who died in 1854. ===== CHAPTER 2631 =====