Chapter 3369

The wolf ears twitched lightly, the large tail sweeping back and forth behind her, dark brown hair cascading unbound over her shoulders. Behind him stood Miss Hibel Bist, the wolf girl he hadn't seen since Ashen River Valley; seeing Xia De stare at her in shock, she reached out and poked his arm again.

"Now's not the time to daydream. It's been a long time, Xia De."

"It's been a long time... right, this is a dream!"

The wolf girl blinked her beautiful eyes:

"It's a dream, but also reality. While chasing the Primordial Moon, I caught a glimpse of you, also gazing at the moon—and so we met. That makes me quite talented, doesn't it?"

Though he was certain this was a dream, Xia De still couldn't tell if the girl before him was real or merely a construct of his own mind:

"I've received the bark of the World Tree... you're chasing the moon? So, where are you now?"

The wolf girl shook her head with a smile:

"I merely follow the Path of Wildness, running beneath the Silver Moon—I don't even know exactly where I've run to. But a group calling themselves Time Guardians say I shouldn't wander freely through time—they can't catch me, they're not as fast as I am. No, no, none of that matters.

Since I entered your strange dream while chasing the moon, it means the Silver Moon is guiding me to help you."

She placed her hand on Xia De's shoulder; though she had only recently come of age, even as a witch and a wolf person renowned for physical strength, she was still shorter than Xia De:

"What's wrong? You look downcast. Did you forget to pray to the moon?"

Xia De was somewhat dazed by this barrage of information, but he still remembered what he'd been thinking before falling asleep:

"Just some minor annoyances in life, and lately the pressure's been high, with the Final Moment drawing ever closer—so my mindset's been unbalanced. I thought a good sleep would fix it."

Hibel Bist's wolf ears trembled again a few times:

"When you're feeling down, run wild beneath the moon—it helps you forget everything. That's what I do."

She stood with her hands behind her back, tilting her face up to observe Xia De's expression:

"Life goes on day by day. Don't be so troubled—eat well, admire the moon, sleep well, and play well. Happy days will come soon. I don't have any special tricks for comforting others, but I'm still glad to see you."

Xia De was also genuinely glad to see her again; after the Ashen River Valley adventure, some became angels, some returned to the academy, some went back to their own timelines—but only the wolf girl remained in that era. Xia De had even wondered whether she'd forget the entire adventure at the Strange Tree Academy once she returned to reality.

The wolf girl waved at Xia De:

"There's still so much to say, but it seems you're about to wake up. Goodbye, Xia De—remember to pray to the moon when you're troubled."

"Goodbye... so are you real, or just my dream?"

Xia De still didn't understand—his powerful perception had no effect whatsoever in this dream.

The wolf girl laughed happily:

"I'd love for you to dream of me on your own, but unfortunately, your current location seems to make it easier for you to connect with all sorts of strange ties beyond time and space. Xia De, take this."

She cupped a small orb of light in both hands and offered it to Xia De:

"I've been studying basic spellcraft lately, and sometimes when I run too far, I need to look back. I heard from Yi Lu Na and Emilyia that you move too fast—your foundation isn't solid enough. So consider this a gift."

Her wolf tail and her hand both wagged happily behind her:

"Say hello to Yi Lu Na and Emilyia for me—oh, and your cute cat too."

Snow and wind obscured her waving figure; like the girls before her, she vanished into the snowy mountains. Xia De reached out and grasped the hand beside him, then slowly sat up from the table, still half-dazed.

【Foreigner, you have acquired the Arcane Spell—Moonlight Ray: Fire a beam of pure moonlight. Corresponds to the 【Silver Moon】 Rune.】

The hand beside him belonged to Miss Larson, who had been trying to drape a coat over Xia De as he slept sprawled on the table.

Seeing Xia De awake, she let out a soft "Ah~!" like a startled rabbit, immediately snatching her hand back and turning to run. This made Xia De, still half-lost in the dream, almost believe he was still dreaming.

"What's going on?"

【You have woken from your dream.】

"She" spoke softly. Xia De looked around dazedly, then at his own hands, and finally extended a finger toward the front:

"Moonlight Ray."

A silvery-white beam shot forward; unlike sunlight, which carries heat and destructive force and causes damage upon emission, the gentle moonlight, even when projected, did not directly damage objects—instead, the spot touched by the moonlight ray began to glow faintly. Only direct beams of sacred moonlight reacted to evil.

"Not a dream..."

He clutched the coat Miss Larson had brought, gazed out the banquet hall window at the night now fallen, and felt he truly needed more sleep.

Everyone had already returned; as Xia De stood up yawning, Elder Harald and the others entered the banquet hall:

"You're awake? I saw you sleeping soundly, so I was talking outside with Claire."

Not only had the elders and Claire returned—Emilyia, Sylvie, and Ely had come back too. They had all been standing in the castle's entrance hall; Claire had sent her apprentice to cover Xia De with the coat.

Miss Larson thought she had woken him, but she hadn't.

This was Xia De's second nap of the day; he felt refreshed upon waking, but he had no intention of staying for dinner—he wanted to go home for supper.

Knowing Lei Lei Qianya as he did, after learning of his morning behavior from Miss Jia Lin Na, tonight either she or Dorothy would come to visit him at home.

Seeing how exhausted Xia De was, Elder Harald and Claire didn't press him to stay. But before Xia De left with Sylvie and Emilyia, the elder gave him some good news:

"We followed the location you gave and searched the bottom of the Dark Lake—we found the hand bone you mentioned. Our Fatu people have secret techniques to trace bloodlines. Though the 'rebellion' happened centuries ago, and he and his brother left no descendants, fortunately, after he left, his parents had a daughter—and that girl had descendants.

We'll soon know whether this fragment of bone belonged to that young priest. If it did, then the other two relics he took away are likely still on the island."

Xia De bid farewell to Claire and Miss Larson; the latter apologized quietly for "waking" him, and the witch said with some concern:

"If you're very tired, you don't need to come every day for the next few days—rest first. There's nothing urgent right now; if you need the tear-gland fern, we'll find it for you."

"It's fine. I'm just tired today—I'll sleep it off at home."

Xia De smiled, and then Sylvie tore open space, creating a portal leading to the mountaintop. The golden-black vortex wasn't transparent; from one side, you couldn't see the other. She didn't want anyone besides witches to know the secret of her Gao Ta—the Fatu people were clearly "outsiders."

Only when the three reached the snowy ridge's stairway beneath the moon did Sylvie frown and ask Xia De:

"Claire just mentioned the tear-gland fern—is that the plant whose surface looks like droplets hanging down?"

"Yes... did you see it today? Wait—this herb only grows at high altitudes in the snowy mountains. The castle isn't even halfway up the mountain."

"We didn't see that plant today."

Emilyia immediately shook her head, and Sylvie explained:

"But my Gao Ta is located at high altitude in these snowy mountains. I rarely gather herbs here, but I've definitely seen this plant near my tower—if you need it, I'll take you to collect it right now."

Xia De blinked—he hadn't expected this problem to be solved so easily.

As for the portal matter, progress has been very fast.

When Sylvia and Emilia followed Ellie to the castle, they thought the portal in the Ancient Witch Emperor's castle was unusable due to long-term disrepair, but after checking upon arrival, they discovered the portal simply needed its coordinates adjusted to be reactivated.

Reactivating the portal in the Ice Castle is not difficult, but if those portals are to be enabled for two-way travel, a portal must also be installed in the Gao Ta to connect with them.

There is still a "Disordered Portal" in the portal room inside the tower, but Sylvia does not wish to use it. Therefore, she needs to set up another portal herself; although she can imitate the technology of the tower's portal and the castle's portal, this is still not a simple matter.

So Sylvia plans to ask Grace and Helen for help; of course, if Audrey and Megan at the Paradise Island Pharmaceutical Headquarters in the Milson Duchy are free, it would be good if they could come to help as well.

"The technical feasibility has already been verified, and I am not short on materials; the Bai Shi crystals you helped me acquire some time ago will come in handy this time. If all goes smoothly, I can craft a portal connecting to the castle within the tower in one week."

"Won't that delay your affairs?"

"There are not many situations over in Welandel; if it weren't for the Chairman asking to let Xi Wei come over to help first, I actually would have wanted to come directly myself."

She said with a smile, and the three of them returned to Tobeske through the Ancient God statue.

When they walked out of the basement and saw the lights on in the house, everyone knew someone must be waiting for Xia De to return. After going upstairs, they indeed saw Miss Jia Lin Na and Princess Lei Lei Qianya, but Ajelina was not there.

(End of this chapter)