Chapter 653: Lost Moon

That witcher's sword hidden in the Xikar Mountains originally belonged to the previous owner of the 【Witcher Seal】 in Xia De's hand, which was the ancestor of the ophthalmologist in the distant past.

As for why that high-level Ringed Shushi didn't put these two relics together, the parchment Xia De got from the ophthalmologist Mr. Alfred didn't write it clearly. The parchment only recorded the location of the sword, as well as the concealment and defensive measures taken to prevent others from taking it.

Although that was already something from eight hundred years ago, it was, after all, an arrangement by a high-level Ringed Shushi, so Xia De thought the possibility of that sword being taken away by others was very low. But time changes everything, and even the Xikar Mountains themselves had changed a lot in eight hundred years of time.

So, even with the location determined by the twilight sunlight and the detailed map of the Xikar Mountains, Xia De still couldn't guarantee that he would definitely find it.

Setting off from the Red Water Camp at five o'clock in the afternoon, he went down the mountain along the Wind-Rising Path, then drilled into the mountain forest. He spent a few minutes solving an evil spirit that didn't know where it came from, and then very unfortunately, encountered a black bear with one blind eye foraging in the mountains.

Xia De didn't intend to kill it, but it attacked the Outsider very brutally, and then its head was cut off by the moonlight.

However, Xia De didn't waste the corpse of this bear that was fattening up for autumn; instead, he turned its corpse into a toy and carried it on his body, thinking that whether selling it to local merchants or bringing it to a restaurant in Tobesk would be fine.

Hazy mist appeared from somewhere at dusk. Although it was not as white as the avalanche-like white mist Xia De encountered in the mountains last time, it still brought evil spirits drifting out from the Narrow Space.

This made Xia De's sword-seeking plan even more difficult, but fortunately, before the sun went down, he successfully found the stream described by the Ringed Shushi eight hundred years ago, and with the cooperation of the compass, continued to head due east.

Although he didn't find the "huge cedar tree" mentioned on the parchment—that place had become a hunter's cabin—he subsequently found the "Black Wood Forest" mentioned on the parchment under the starlight. The so-called "Black Wood" was not a certain variety of tree, but trees that had mutated into black due to geological conditions and soil environment.

Xia De guessed that this was a special tree growth environment produced because of the influence of volcanoes and the Narrow Space. As long as the problem of the Narrow Space was not solved, this "Black Wood Forest" would always exist.

After wandering around in the mountains, the sun also disappeared completely from the sky without knowing it. But the arrival of night didn't make Xia De become panicked and terrified; on the contrary, walking in the mountain forest and bathing in the moonlight in the sky made him feel that his state was getting better and better, and the feeling at this moment was even better than taking a hot bath, holding an interesting storybook, and lying on the bed holding a cat.

【Strange metaphor.】

The road in the forest was not easy to walk, and when Xia De reached out to push aside the grass again, the view suddenly opened up. This was a cliff standing on the mountainside. The cliff was devoid of grass, but it was completely illuminated by the starry sky and moonlight.

He found the right location; it was this cliff.

"Moon..."

Coming to the edge of the cliff on the mountainside, Xia De looked up at the brilliant galaxy above his head, as well as the three moons. Looking up at the moon from the cliff in the mountains, the star sea was so close to the top of his head. This scene, like a painting, was something that couldn't be seen in the city.

Having found the destination, Xia De also felt a bit relaxed in his heart. He looked up at the moon and remembered what Luweiya had once said: because ancient stargazers were overly worshipful and obsessed with the moon, they finally fell into madness, to the point that even their bodies mutated into monsters of piled flesh and blood that only crazily worshiped the moon.

"But this moon is so holy, how could it make people go mad?"

Narrowing his eyes and looking at the moon in the starry sky, with every breath, Xia De even felt that the moon was getting closer and closer to him. In a trance, he seemed to be standing on the ridge of the huge wilderness in his dream again, looking at the huge moon disk above his head.

His spirit gradually dissipated. The yellow moon and the red moon didn't change, but that silver moon seemed to be really getting closer and closer to him at the edge of the cliff.

In a trance, Xia De stretched out his right hand, wanting to touch the silver moon that was almost close at hand.

But a woman's hand grabbed Xia De's arm from behind, preventing him from truly "touching" the sky.

"You..."

Xia De woke up from that strange state with a start.

【It wasn't me.】

That arm wasn't transparent; under the woman's fair right hand was the sleeve of a black silk nun's robe.

"Oh, I just..."

Xia De turned around panting, and what he saw was Sister Daifulin.

Seeing that Xia De had returned to normal, the nun withdrew her hand, and her two hands were clasped together and hung down naturally in front of her. Under the starry sky, the silver-decorated eye mask with complex and fine patterns on her face looked even more divine than usual.

And behind Sister Daifulin, two teams of "Blind Nuns" in the same attire stood on both sides. Although their heights and hair colors were different, they all maintained the same standing posture.

Clearly everyone was wearing an eye mask, but Xia De still felt as if he was being seen by more than twenty pairs of eyes. He was a bit embarrassed, but also very curious:

"Good evening, Sister Daifulin, you all are going to..."

"Going to that lake on the top of the Xikar Mountains to hold a ritual and observe the current situation of the Narrow Space."

The nun said softly, her head moving slightly from bottom to top, "observing" Xia De:

"Mr. Hamilton, do you know what happened just now?"

"I was looking at the starry sky and was in a daze for a few..."

He wanted to say "a few minutes," but suddenly discovered that it was already past eight o'clock in the evening. He had actually stood on the mountain cliff for more than an hour, and didn't notice it at all.

This was almost impossible for Xia De, who possessed the 【Time and Space】 core spirit rune and the arcane—time perception.

"Why didn't you remind me?"

【Why remind you? This doesn't have much danger for you anyway.】

The wind brought "her" voice to his ears.

"Although you are illuminated by the silver moon, you must also be cautious when facing it. Don't be deceived by the appearance of the moon."

The nun reminded.

"It's really the first time this kind of thing has happened. Yes, what happened just now was indeed not right."

Xia De patted his head:

"If I really touched the moon, it's hard to imagine what would happen. Oh, Sister Daifulin, how did you find me?"

The location of this mountainside cliff was in the deep mountains, and any road up the mountain was very far from here.

"My eyes 'saw' the strange moonlight here, so I found you."

She said softly.

"I understand."

Xia De still felt his head was a bit dizzy and didn't understand at all what had happened just now, but being interrupted by Sister Daifulin from touching the moon was definitely a good thing.

"If you want to get closer to the moon, we can guard you on the side. Do you want to go up the mountain with us? By the lake on the top of the mountain is the best moon-viewing spot in this area."

Xia De thought for a moment and shook his head:

"Thank you for your kindness, but I have other things to do."

Using the arcane 【Silent Moonlight】 【Cindia's Silver Moon Grace】, while the moon above his head seemed to project a beam of light to cover him, he pressed his glowing fingers toward his temples:

"I have other things to do in the mountains, so I won't go up the mountain with you this time. Thank you for your kindness, Sister Daifulin."

"You are welcome."

The nun nodded slightly. Her voice was very harmonious with the quiet mountain forest at night:

"In addition, you need to be careful when acting in the Xikar Mountains at night. It's not just the evil spirits that have become more powerful, but the blood-sucking species in the city also often appear in the mountains recently."

"Blood-sucking species?"

Xia De thought of the uncle and nephew Bernhart:

"The local blood-sucking species group hasn't always been very peaceful? Are they wanting to get involved in the matter of the Chosen One, or do they also want to make a contribution to the problem of the Narrow Space?"

"Neither. Actually, we don't know what those people are doing. But there is evidence to prove that the blood-sucking species that originally only lived here have three more Sage-level relics in their hands. There is reason to believe that they were obtained from other clans."

"Oh? Three Sage-level?"

Xia De was a bit surprised. When he first came to this world, for a Sage-level 【God's Gift Box】, it had already made Tobesk full of wind and rain.

"Sage-level—Blood Crown, Sage-level—Blood-sucking Species Ring, Sage-level—Blood Thorn Scepter.

The first one represents the power of the blood-sucking species clan. Any blood-sucking species that gets it will have their own level unconditionally raised by 3 levels, but they cannot achieve breakthroughs in the middle and high rings, and the holder will therefore fear sunlight.

The second one is a racial transformation ring. If held by a non-blood-sucking species, it is regarded as a blood-sucking species, and if held by a blood-sucking species, it significantly enhances all race-specific arcane arts, such as turning into a swarm of bats. But the holder will fear silver.

The third one is a powerful weapon. The holder's curse arcane arts are comprehensively enhanced, and the enhancement related to blood is more obvious. But the holder will lose their own immortality and rapid recovery ability, and when using it, they will feel as if they are being pierced by thorns.

In people's traditional superstition, it is believed that blood-sucking species fear sunlight and silver, actually because of the first two relics."

The nun introduced.

"What are the local blood-sucking species doing... wait, blood-sucking species ring."

Xia De raised his eyebrows:

"Sister, the activation incantation of the ring you mentioned, wouldn't it be 【The replacement of blood and flesh is the sublimation of flesh and soul】?" ===== CHAPTER 654 =====