Chapter 447

11:50 PM, ten minutes before the end of the week. Xia De toyed with the time key carefully selected by Professor Garcia, sitting in the unlit living room.

The weather tonight was quite good, and moonlight entered the living room from the window. The three-colored moonlight mixed together, and that somewhat strange light shone on Xia De's legs and on the back of the cat lying on his legs.

Little Mia is an orange and white cat; the pattern on its back is mainly orange. According to Xia De's view when he first saw it on the roof, this cat is simply like a white cat draped in an orange blanket.

Its fur has quite good luster; whether in sunlight or moonlight, it seems to be able to reflect light. Because Xia De had to conduct a brand-new time adventure tonight, he couldn't go to bed early, so the cat didn't go to the bedroom to sleep alone but lay on Xia De's lap, feigning sleep.

It definitely wasn't asleep. Xia De even thought that if he suddenly shouted in the quiet of this moment, the cat would definitely be startled and bolt up.

Of course, he wouldn't do that.

Thinking about his relationship with his friends, thinking about the Chosen One and his own path to godhood. When the grandfather clock in the corner and the distant city clock tower rang the midnight bell together, Xia De patted Mia the cat's butt. The latter meowed, unwillingly moving its short legs, climbing up from his lap, and jumping onto the sofa.

"Mia, see you in three seconds."

Saying this, Xia De walked toward the bedroom door. But this time he didn't insert the key directly, hesitating for a moment instead.

【What are you considering?】

"According to past patterns, this time it will definitely involve the Old Gods again. I'm considering which one it will be this time."

【Won't you know in a moment?】

"That's true... May the World Tree shelter me in time."

Turning the key, as the bedroom door opened, white fog drifted out from the door like willow catkins. He thought again about these special spaces:

"Mr. Edmund said that the Light-Guiding Ascetic Order believes the spaces left behind by the thirteen Old Gods are the final sanctuaries. Why is this said?"

Stepping into the white fog, a familiar voice immediately rang in his ears:

【Outsider, you have stepped into the "Corridor of Time."】

【Message from the Old God "Father of the Infinite Tree":】

【Winter, 1784, Fifth Era, Northern Continent, Terror Castle.】

【Event: Gambling - Game of Life.】

【Duration: 20 minutes (13).】

"Southern Continent - Hope Town, Western Continent - Forest of a Thousand Trees, and now Northern Continent - Terror Castle... The fourth key a month later, won't it be the Eastern Continent?"

【You have obtained additional information.】

【The figure of the Father of the Infinite Tree is watching you.】

【The Old God of Time gives you a test.】

【Help the mortal win the "Game of Life."】

【The Father of the Infinite Tree will reward you: Supernatural Art - Breath of Time, a piece of true information - Dark Dungeon.】

"Dark Dungeon? In this mission, there was no mention of a god."

Xia De muttered, and after confirming there was no other information, he took a step forward.

The white fog around him dissipated rapidly, and his feet stepped on uneven stone bricks. The light in the white fog faded, the light dimmed suddenly, and the glow of the dim yellow oil lamp made Xia De feel somewhat uncomfortable.

When his vision fully recovered, he immediately noticed a smell of decay permeating the air. Looking around, he was standing in a long, narrow corridor.

Under his feet was a floor paved with gray bricks, but due to the erosion of time, the bricks were no longer level. The surrounding walls and the ceiling about 3 meters above were all gray-black stone walls that seemed about to turn into dust.

Touching them slightly, he immediately got dust all over his hands.

There were square spaces on the walls at intervals, with oil lamps placed in them. The light of the oil lamps was the size of soybeans, so when looking forward, areas of light and darkness were connected in segments.

Perhaps there were murals on the walls originally, but at this time, nothing could be seen clearly.

The temperature was a bit low, and Xia De sniffed. Because he was not outdoors, he could only choose to move forward or backward. According to the orientation he came from, continuing forward was logical, but Xia De still looked back curiously.

Behind him was the same long, narrow, and ancient stone corridor, except that no oil lamps were lit. Xia De looked at the darkness extending into the unknown area, and then suddenly saw a pair of scarlet eyes in that darkness.

He was not a timid person, and in this world, he had seen scenes far more bizarre than this. But when he saw those eyes, his body instinctively trembled with fear; those eyes possessed the power to directly evoke the fear in one's heart.

It got closer and closer, and the oil lamp flames around Xia De flickered immediately. Although he didn't know the consequences of the oil lamps going out, Xia De immediately ran forward.

The oil lamps behind him went out one by one, and the flames in front were also swaying. Xia De felt a chill that seemed to freeze his soul gradually invading his back, and the chill became more and more obvious.

"Seriously, why can't the 【Father of the Infinite Tree】 just send me directly to the destination? Every time it's like this... Silver Moon!"

Reaching out and pointing behind him, silver moonlight erupted, and the chill behind him indeed moved away a bit. And at the front of the corridor, an end finally appeared—a closed copper-colored metal door with no holes or decorative patterns, only a slightly raised flipped coin symbol.

Xia De was prepared to pick the lock, but he didn't expect that when he rushed to the door, it opened with a gentle push.

He quickly darted into the room and then turned around to close the door firmly. He used his body to brace against the door, but the unknown thing outside had no intention of crashing into the door at all.

Even if he pressed his ear against the door, he couldn't hear any sound outside.

Only then did he feel slightly relieved. Xia De turned to look inside the room and saw a man with a weathered face, who looked like he hadn't washed his hair or bathed for months, standing by a square stone table, staring at him in a daze.

The style inside the room was basically the same as the corridor outside; the floor was uneven square bricks, the gaps filled with ash, and the ceiling and surrounding walls were uneven, unpainted stone walls.

The room was not large, about the same size as the bedroom Xia De lived in. A square stone table was placed in the center, and there was no other complete furniture.

There were some remains of wooden furniture by the wall, but they looked like they had been broken for hundreds of years. On the right wall, there were dozens of corpses. Judging by the degree of decay, the time of death varied, but they all uniformly maintained a posture of leaning against the wall.

On the edge of the stone table near Xia De, an oil lamp was placed, which was the only light source in the room. But the light of this oil lamp was still the size of a soybean, and very strangely, it could only illuminate the half of the room where Xia De and the stranger were, while the other side of the room was completely covered in thick darkness.

"A man?"

While the other party was sizing Xia De up, Xia De was also sizing him up. In the Fifth Era, there were no men who could use supernatural powers, so the other party must be an ordinary person.

He wore a brown robe whose original color was too dirty to distinguish, was barefoot, and had his head wrapped in a turban. His brown eyes were ordinary, but his thick eyebrows left an impression on Xia De.

"H-hello?"

The stranger used the language of the Fifth Era, trying to greet Xia De. His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time.

"Hello, sorry, I don't think you can understand me."

Xia De also replied. The companion this time was not a witch; although there were benefits, the disadvantage was that they couldn't communicate at all.

"No, no, I can understand! There are special rules in this castle; as long as the language used doesn't possess supernatural power, these languages can be understood by everyone! May I ask... are you a human?"

The stranger in the robe and barefoot asked cautiously again. Xia De looked at him in surprise, nodded, and approached the stone square table from the shadow of the doorway:

"Of course I am a human, but are you a human?"

He reached out his hand to the other party. The man flinched and then smiled at Xia De embarrassedly:

"Sorry, I have encountered too many bizarre things here. Yes, I am also a human. It's great to meet a companion here."

He reached out a hand that hadn't been washed for a long time and shook Xia De's hand.

【Ordinary human.】

The smile on Xia De's face became more sincere.

The man's name was Sleigh Riddle, claiming to be a scholar and prophet. And considering the time point of the Fifth Era, his so-called "prophet" was about the same as Sean Asmon, the "demon scholar" Xia De met at the Pink Rose Hotel in Coldwater Port.

Mr. Riddle probably hadn't met a human for a long time. After confirming, or rather forcing himself to believe, that Xia De was not some strange thing, he began to narrate his affairs to him endlessly.

He knew this was Terror Castle in the Northern Continent, but he couldn't explain in detail what "Terror Castle" actually was. On one hand, this bizarre place eroded people's memories; on the other hand, this prophet seemed to really not know.

Mr. Sleigh Riddle accidentally learned the general location of Terror Castle, which "seals ancient knowledge, secrets, and evil," while browsing ancient documents. Thinking that he had nothing else to do, he set out from his hometown in the Eastern Continent and began his adventure.

Although he only considered this trip as a study tour and didn't hold much hope of achieving his goal, after experiencing a series of unimaginable things, this gentleman really found this place.

This middle-aged man in a turban admitted to Xia De that he couldn't remember how long he had stayed in this bizarre place. The constantly changing terrain inside the castle made him lost and flustered, and the terrifying and evil things he encountered made him afraid to even recall them.

Even when Xia De just tried to ask about his experiences during this period, it made him start to scream and pray hysterically out of fear.

Terror Castle, like Hope Town and the Forest of a Thousand Trees, would affect the memories and consciousness of humans who stayed for a long time. And very unfortunately, the man of the Fifth Era was not as lucky as the three children to be sheltered by the Good Gods, nor was he as powerful as the two witches from over a dozen centuries later.

If Xia De had appeared a while later, Xia De might not even have been able to know these most basic situations.