Chapter 2631: Altered Rules

Flora Wen Si Lai Te stood there holding a wine glass, watching Xia De and the slightly green eighteen-year-old girl on the dance floor. In Xia De's repeated turns, she even caught a glimpse of a corner of that banquet from 33 years ago in a trance.

Halos obscured the crowd serving as background. When her attention was focused on Xia De, her powerful inspiration as an artist could actually outline his possible movements and dance steps during the period he "disappeared" based on his actions.

And as imagination and judgment filled in those blanks, the slight time talent triggered by the "time curse" made the disappearing man's figure become clear bit by bit.

Until she, like an audience member under the stage, watched the classical and modern wedding banquets being stitched together by that man, watching him dance and converse with two ladies separated by 33 years amidst his constant turning.

At this moment, she suddenly had a strange feeling—not jealousy toward that immature eighteen-year-old girl or that old woman in the black dress, but surprise that she could actually see this wondrous scene.

On the path of pursuing art, she had already crossed peaks that most people could only look up to, but she still wanted to see more and obtain more. Perhaps the initial curiosity she felt toward Xia De stemmed only from a witch's primitive instinct and a longing for the temperature of that burning soul, but at this very moment, she understood completely—

"I must stay by his side; only then can I see more of this world's scenery, see those stories and images I look forward to. His soul attracts me like a candle flame attracting a moth; his life is the most beautiful gem, attracting me like a thief."

"Since I have already seen this gem, I must never let go."

【But what about Jia Lin Na?】

The other self in her ear asked softly. The witch staring at Xia De only hesitated for a moment before not caring anymore:

"There will be a way when the time comes. Besides, I see that Jia Lin Na can't control this man at all, so I'll come help her."

Unlike other witches who would fall into moral inferiority in such situations, Flora Wen Si Lai Te had no such problem.

Xia De, who was dancing, only needed to care about the emotions of his dance partners, but Miss Dan Dac Nisi Te, who was searching for that black ball, had much more to consider. This incident, which happened by accident, was ultimately heading toward its end without any danger.

At 8:30 PM on an autumn night in 1854, just as Xia De took Yin Yi Yi Lu Na's hand once again, the eighteen-year-old girl smiled and told him a piece of good news:

"Miss Dan Dac Nisi Te and the others have already found that ball, but the situation is a bit complicated; it requires me to go personally to get it into my hands. You stay in the past for a while and go directly to the corresponding location to meet up with me."

She explained the specific location where the ball was found, then pushed Xia De's hand away with a light, good-humored shove. Xia De turned around to face the lady in the black dress and black skirt:

"No need to worry anymore; Miss Dan Dac Nisi Te has already found the ball. The ball really was in the space-time of the future."

While speaking, he took the other party's hand and moved toward the periphery of the crowd:

"Let's go directly to the corresponding location to wait; we shouldn't hand over a relic derivative in a place like this."

"But will it really be this easy?"

The lady in the black skirt asked:

"Even if your era already has a method to deal with the Hide-and-Seek Boy, according to my experience, there has never been any humanoid relic that could be dealt with so simply."

That black ball was still within the scope of the Collins Manor, but not inside the manor; it was in the woodland immediately adjacent to the east side of the manor. That was the Collins family's private woodland, which had become an unimportant hunting ground due to the abandonment of the Old City District in 1854.

And in the era when Vista City was just rising in 1821, that place was an orchard meticulously cared for. And obviously, no matter how lively this banquet was, no guests would appear in the orchard. After all, even if young men and women couldn't endure the desires in their hearts, the garden behind the courtyard was more suitable for a tryst than the woods.

Because there were truly bears and venomous snakes inside the Vista Woodland.

Xia De and the lady in the black skirt arrived in the orchard just like that, far away from the noisy banquet and the rowdy crowd. Standing under an apple tree and looking at the manor under the night sky nearby, a feeling of relief welled up in his heart for some reason.

The only thing left to do was wait, but the lady in the black skirt asked Xia De again at this moment:

"Judging from your description just now, your relationship with Dan Dac Nisi Te is quite good, isn't it?"

"Yes, Miss Dan Dac Nisi Te has helped me a lot and even helped me hide many secrets from the Academy."

Xia De did not stint on his praise for the red-haired female sorcerer:

"The students and professors at the Academy also hold her in high regard; Miss Dan Dac Nisi Te can be considered one of the most popular professors of our era."

"No, what I want to ask is, is your relationship with her just a simple student-teacher one?"

The lady in the black skirt turned her head to look at him, a teasing smile on her face:

"Just treat it as me, as Dan Dac Nisi Te's elder, wanting to care about my student's private life. I bet Dan Dac Nisi Te has also asked about your private life.

Do you and Dan Dac Nisi Te have other feelings? In the cursed state, the age gap between you two isn't very large."

Xia De felt a bit embarrassed. He was speechless for a long time before hesitating and saying:

"I think we don't have other feelings for the time being."

But the lady in the black skirt was relentless:

"But when you talk about her, your tone doesn't sound at all like you are talking about someone you respect. And I noticed something very interesting: you have never called her 'teacher' in front of me. Yes, not even once."

"This..."

The lady in the black skirt had already narrowed her eyes with a smile. She liked this night very much; even though she hadn't found the Astrologer's tracks in the Vista Woodland this time, she was still very satisfied to be able to come here this summer:

"I won't interfere with things in the future, but chatting with you about Dan Dac Nisi Te is really interesting. In my view, she is still in the distant Far North Academy, happy because of the arrival of summer vacation. The teaching assistant work I gave her really puts a lot of pressure on her.

But with your description, I seem to have truly seen her step by step becoming a mature young lady, becoming a librarian who can shoulder responsibilities."

"So, do you really not want to see the grown-up Miss Dan Dac Nisi Te?"

Xia De asked, still unwilling to give up, but the lady in the black skirt shook her head again:

"The eighteen-year-old her has already been seen. Young man, the future belongs to you all; there is no need to look back because of someone like me who is destined to go far away. I am very happy that I can become a step for Dan Dac Nisi Te to step onto a further and higher path, but I do not hope that she always dwells on the path she has walked... She should look toward the distance."

"You are truly a teacher worthy of praise."

Xia De praised. The lady in the black skirt did not answer, only standing under the apple tree, her eyes unfocused as she looked at the Collins Manor illuminated by the lights.

If she had really done that well, she wouldn't have left without saying goodbye in the future.

The two talked for a while longer under the apple tree about the application of Moon-series spells, and then a strong sense of being spied upon let Xia De know that Yin Yi Yi Lu Na and the others had succeeded.

He said goodbye to the lady in the black skirt once more, then tried his best to grasp the feeling of "returning to the future."

After the white light flashed, the orchard turned into a wild woodland. Yin Yi Yi Lu Na, Miss Wen Si Lai Te, Miss Bei Er, Miss Dan Dac Nisi Te, and the five witch followers were all here, and Yin Yi Yi Lu Na was already holding that black ball.

Just now, when the 【Hide-and-Seek Boy】 first appeared in the manor, Xia De hadn't had the chance to observe this thing carefully. At this moment, the light orbs summoned by the female sorcerers illuminated the woodland, and he could clearly see that the surface of the ball actually had the shape of a painful human face.

This was not the time to discuss how this ball was made. Seeing Xia De appear, Yin Yi Yi Lu Na reached out and handed the ball to him:

"Hurry and end this matter. I hope there won't be a second accident tonight... If an accident happens, it's best to wait until I'm at work tomorrow to come find me!"

Xia De smiled and reached out to take the ball, but the moment his hand touched the ball, a "click" sound rang out in the void, and the power of solidified time froze all the ladies behind Yin Yi Yi Lu Na in place.

The eyeless boy's hand appeared out of thin air, wanting to touch the ball, but to the relic's surprise, Xia De and Yin Yi Yi Lu Na simultaneously threw the ball upward with all their might, and the ball was thrown directly into the sky.

Xia De's figure instantly disappeared from the ground and appeared in the air, wanting to hug the ball, but the ball dodged it like a living creature.

By the time Xia De landed again, the solidified time began to flow. He, Yin Yi Yi Lu Na, and the ladies behind them, who didn't know what had happened in that instant, watched together as the ball landed on the ground and bounced a few times, and the eyeless boy walked out from the shadow of the large tree behind the ball.

"What is the meaning of this? Are you going to violate your own rules?"

Yin Yi Yi Lu Na asked with a frown:

"You said to find the ball, and we have already found it. Now, as long as this ball is in Xia De's hand and then passed to me, the game is over. What are you doing?"

The boy kicked the ball, and it slid forward and disappeared into the woods under the night sky, but only Xia De and Yin Yi Yi Lu Na could tell that it had been kicked into 1821:

"You need to find it in two space-times. You have already found it in the present; next, you still need to find it in the past."

The boy pointed at Xia De:

"I never violate my own rules, but I need you to prove that He choosing you was correct."

Xia De also pointed at himself:

"You talk like a child who hasn't grown up. Did you not get a gift yourself, so you blame me instead for getting one?" ===== CHAPTER 2632 =====