Chapter 2933

After a slight sigh, the ancient witch with pointed ears explained to Xia De again:

"I mentioned to you just now that the power of the Goddess of the Hunt is related to the moon and trees. The weapon most often used by the Sage of the Moon is the bow and arrow, which often appears in fairy tales of various eras; and after the power of the forest is contacted by mortals in the form of divine arts, I am afraid it has become the source of 'perceiving the spirit of the forest'."

So nowadays, the power of the World Tree is more likely to affect these people with weak faith.

What she meant was that the hunter was affected by the tree, and the reason might also be related to faith. However, these are no longer important. If you only look at what the hunter did, besides accidentally killing the boy at the beginning and triggering a series of problems, he can actually be said to have done nothing bad.

But if one can straighten out every event that has happened in the Vista Woodland for nearly a hundred years, or even nearly a thousand years, perhaps in some small task, he has already played a role that has influenced a thousand years.

"This temple is very interesting."

While Xia De was still thinking, Miss Olanode said again suddenly. Seeing Xia De looking at her, the witch pointed to the square platform in front of her:

"I have visited more than one temple and shrine of 【Lady of the Hunt】. In the middle of the Fifth Era, the faith of this lady existed very commonly in the Southern Continent. Generally speaking, in a temple of this size and scale, the central core position is not a statue or a holy emblem, but an altar for sacrifice."

"But the hunter just now said that when they offer sacrifices, they are usually outside the temple facing the entrance."

Xia De pointed out, so Miss Olanode nodded:

"So their inheritance had problems in a certain generation. In short, although the gods have gone away, maybe this temple still exists with power. The abnormal miracle element reaction we saw on their longbows just now is evidence."

"Want to try it now? Hunt something casually nearby, and then offer it, how about it?"

Xia De suggested. The gentle lady shook her head gently:

"Let's go do the right thing first. Come back and take a look later. The temple that was very common in our era is now only ruins. This is really a pity."

Professor Hope, who was sneaked up on and fainted by Miss Olanode just now, woke up quickly, but he did not see Xia De and the two who were hiding again.

The professor was confused about the situation here, but seeing that all three hunters had been subdued, he quickly woke up the poisoned young people, and then led everyone to withdraw from this area.

After confirming the safety of the Zalas Academy of Literature party, Xia De went to the city area with Miss Olanode. The target was of course No. 8 Vanilla Garden Alley where Anthony Winslet lived in 1819.

More than thirty years ago, during the city's vigorous expansion period, that place was already considered a remote alley in the Old Town. And now, more than thirty years later, it has become a "no-man's land" in the true sense of the city.

Even the local poor had long since moved away from that area. At present, the largest slum in Vista City is actually in the southwest of the city. And the ancient alleys like Vanilla Garden Alley that have existed since the Creekwood Town era, besides poor tenants from other places, are mostly inhabited by elderly people. This is a place that carries their childhood and even lifelong memories, and they will not move away easily.

The buildings on both sides of the alley are not even the three-story apartments that often appear in the steam age, but low single-story houses connected together. Alleys intersect with alleys, and crisscrossing clotheslines have become the most common sky scenery.

And No. 8 Vanilla Garden is one of the unremarkable low building complexes in this area, without too many features. Xia De originally thought that the investigation would encounter difficulties, after all, that was more than thirty years ago, but he did not expect that after knocking on the door and explaining the purpose to the old man who opened the door, the old woman who was blocking the door with one hand on the door frame actually nodded and indicated that she knew:

"The male tenant in 1819? Yes, I have seen the person in the photo in your hand. He rented a house from me for a year that year, paid a three-month deposit first, and then paid rent once a month. But he only rented it for three months and then disappeared... Are you here to ask for the deposit back?"

After finishing speaking, she did not give Xia De a chance to speak:

"Even if you want it, I don't have it anymore. Now I live alone here, without relatives or friends. If I die one day, I am afraid it will take a long time for the neighbors to discover it. You shouldn't make things difficult for an old person like me, right?"

The old woman with gray hair asked. So Xia De took out a few coins and handed them to her very sensibly:

"The deposit or something has nothing to do with me. I just want to know his whereabouts. Disappeared? Where would he go?"

"He should have run away and left Creekwood Town. Not long after he disappeared, the police came to the door. The police said that someone died in the alley two weeks ago. Later, they found an eyewitness. The eyewitness proved that the deceased robbed a young man, but was accidentally killed by the other party in self-defense.

If you ask me, there is no need to run away. This should be considered self-defense... I have already forgotten whether there was this law more than thirty years ago."

The old man shook her head while clutching the coins:

"Besides, don't think about asking me for his personal belongings. Things with value have all been sold by me, even notebooks and books have long since turned into furnace ash."

Miss Olanode then smiled and asked on behalf of Xia De:

"Don't worry, old lady, we don't want anything. It's just that that person is very important to us. Can you still think of anything about him?"

Even without using any miracle spells, this witch also had a natural affinity. Although the outsider's charm is also very powerful, it is mainly aimed at specific groups of people, but Miss Olanode's affinity is aimed at everyone.

So the old man at the door thought carefully again:

"Too much time has passed, and I am also old, memory..."

Xia De gave her a few more coins, and the old man then said as if she suddenly remembered:

"That person last appeared on the 18th of the Month of Birth in 1820, and he seemed very anxious a week before he went missing. I lived in the room next to him at that time and heard him talking in his sleep for several nights in a row."

"What sleep talk?"

Miss Olanode asked.

"I don't want to become a cat, no, I don't want to become a wolf? No, it's not this either... I don't want to become a bug! Yes, it's this sentence."

The old man said very affirmatively, but Xia De raised a question:

"But the date he last appeared, how do you remember it so clearly?"

The old man looked at him:

"Because that day was the fifth anniversary of my only son's death. Back then, I saw that he looked very much like my son when he was young, so I rented the house to him cheaply."

So Xia De stopped talking, and Miss Olanode continued to ask:

"Do you have anything else about him that you can tell us?"

This time, the old woman standing at the door did not ask for coins again:

"Probably in the summer a year or two after that man went missing, I don't remember clearly whether it was 1821 or 1822, someone else came here to look for him. That was a woman as beautiful as you, and her temperament was also very similar. She wore a beige sun hat with a wide brim, and her hair was black... Of course, there was also a very handsome young man beside her. Thinking about it carefully, he is also very similar to your male companion.

However, I don't remember what we said at that time. I only remember that it was a rainy evening. The temperature in the summer of that year was very high, and many people died of heat here. It wasn't until that heavy rain that the city returned to calm."

After saying goodbye to the old man, Xia De and Miss Olanode took a carriage and moved towards the direction outside the city. On the carriage, Miss Olanode and Xia De sat on the same side, and Xia De held her hand and put it on his knee:

"If Anthony Winslet really killed someone in 1819, then paradox bugs will definitely appear in his soul. In this way, his disappearance in early 1820 is very likely that the bug is about to hatch. If we can continue to investigate his whereabouts, I have a premonition that not only the identity of the masked person, but even the secret of the paradox bug may be revealed."

Miss Olanode asked with a smile:

"If I guessed correctly, the beautiful woman who came to look for her mentioned by the old lady just now, you should know her."

Xia De was a little embarrassed, but still told the truth:

"Yes, that is Miss Danister's teacher. She passed away long ago at the current point in time. Miss Danister originally came to the local area to trace her whereabouts. I have traveled through time and met her several times..."

"Just met?"

The yellow-haired Moon Witch continued to ask with a smile, and Xia De had to admit:

"We danced together, it can probably be considered... the relationship is unusual."

The gentle witch smiled and narrowed her eyes:

"So, you fell in love with your teacher's teacher?"

"This... just now the old lady said that when Miss Helena Carter went to find her, there was another person following her. I think that is highly likely to be me. I have been there many times in 1821, and I am very familiar with that place. It's just, should I use the tree hole or the Time Transit Station to complete this journey?"

If you don't count the wooden board with the story of Ginder and the Dragon Beast—this tree hole is locked, then Xia De has a total of four tree holes that can be used, which are the cabinet originally discovered in the hotel, "Opening the Forest Gate: Our Animal Partners" used by James Cuming, the door connecting to 1821, and the trapdoor connecting the Condor family and the Hoy family.

These tree holes now only have one chance of use left, so if Xia De wants to safely open the door to 1821 again, he needs to destroy one of the doors to charge the tree hole connecting to 1821.

Besides that, 【Sand of Time】 and 【Philosopher's Stone】 also need to be consumed, so if Xia De makes up his mind to use the tree hole, then this time he will really have to pay a great price.

Considering that the old lady suspected that she really saw herself in 1821, this time travel is also a must-go. He plans to discuss it with Luweiya and the others after going back, and then decide on the way to start this journey.