Chapter 755: The Flower

Similar to his departure for the Dark Domain two months ago, when Xia De set out from home on Wednesday morning, he carried almost all of his belongings.

But this time, he did not bring the 【God's Gift Box】. After all, he did not need to prepare for imprisoning a demon, and this box was useless against Joey Barton. However, while packing, he realized he hadn't tried to retrieve a gift this week. He reached into the gift box and pulled out a book.

It was not a book for reading, but one that could be cut up for jigsaw puzzle training. This was a contemporary printed item, and children from noble families were very fond of such books, so the price was not exactly affordable. As the cost of the gift, Xia De needed to complete at least two of the puzzles before the end of the week.

"Once the matter in Midhillburg is resolved, I will have plenty of time this week to deal with these puzzles."

Besides not bringing the 【God's Gift Box】, because he still had two pieces of 【Youth-Preserving Leaf】 in his possession, Xia De did not go to Dorothy to borrow any leaves.

He did want to ask Luvia to look after Little Mia again, to prevent himself from being unable to return home tonight. But this cat struggled surprisingly hard this time and refused to leave Xia De no matter what, so Xia De could only turn the cat into a toy and carry it with him.

If he weren't worried about Dorothy discovering that he was going on another adventure, it would actually have been better to board Mia at Quill Street.

Of course, most crucially, Xia De also brought the 【Soul Fishing Rod】. Even though this rod could telescope, carrying it around was still very cumbersome. But this time, Xia De had to bring it. The relic's hook now had two parts: one was the relic's original hook, and the other was the curved hook he had retrieved from the gift box last week, which was made of the exact same material as the gift box.

Xia De had a rough guess as to why this gift had appeared.

There was a small interlude before his departure; the carriage stopped downstairs, and the visitor was not a rare client, but Tifa, who had rushed over:

"Xia De, thank goodness you haven't left yet."

At this moment, the coffee table in the living room was covered with relics and spellcasting materials, and the coat spread over the sofa was piled high with small toys.

The black-haired maid followed Xia De into the living room and handed him a red velvet jewelry box she was holding in both hands:

"My lady says, borrow this."

Xia De opened the jewelry box, and inside lay the Sage-level relic, 【Ancient Witch's Golden Necklace】.

"This is..."

"My lady says she knows what will happen in Midhillburg today, so she guessed you had things to do. Borrowing this is a token of gratitude for the rose you sent to my lady at the racecourse."

Tifa smiled:

"Look, you really are leaving. I was worried on the way here that I wouldn't be able to get this to you in time."

Xia De didn't know what to say:

"Thank Miss Galina for me."

He said solemnly and put the golden necklace away. With this relic, he felt even more confident about his upcoming actions.

"My lady says she will not stop you from taking risks; after all, a Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi's growth cannot be without risk."

Tifa leaned closer to Xia De and reached out to hug him, separating after only a light embrace:

"My lady asked me to hug you on her behalf and wishes you a smooth journey."

Xia De nodded:

"Tifa, every time you accompany me to play cards with others, my luck is better than normal. I think perhaps you are my lucky lady."

The black-haired girl blushed slightly:

"My lady says, if there is a chance, kill Joey Barton. Others don't know what you are actually going to do, but my lady says you must be doing what you are about to do for the sake of the Chosen One. My lady and I both know you have incredible power, but please take care of yourself."

She leaned forward slightly and kissed Xia De on the cheek.

"Did Miss Galina ask you to bring this to me too?"

"Of course not."

Tifa shook her head slightly, the stray hairs on her forehead swaying:

"This is my kiss for you, wishing you a smooth journey... As for my gratitude for that flower... next time you visit the manor, would you be willing to go to that secluded corridor with me again?"

Even though she was very shy, Tifa still looked up at Xia De with her black eyes. Her skin was fair, her eyes seemed to hold light, and the curve of her lips was heart-stirring.

Xia De quickly recalled that secluded corridor after the candle had been kicked over and felt himself blushing:

"Is it still five minutes?"

Her curved eyes revealed a smile:

"This time, it can be ten minutes. So, you must come back safely."

After bidding farewell to the maid, Xia De entered the Sicard Mountains from the abandoned tower and headed down the mountain through the thick fog. The witches were likely departing for the Rift around ten in the morning, so Xia De met Sister Daelin at the Blind House before they left, having already written to make an appointment yesterday.

The matter of the Chosen One had already been discussed with her, so there was no need to say more. Xia De had come this time to ask the nun to help, to have the 【Spirit Cult】 assist in opening another passage so he could enter the Rift alone.

"Why not travel with the witches?"

The nun stood by the window, her hands folded and hanging in front of her, head bowed as she asked softly. Behind her was the thick fog of Midhillburg. Today, the City Hall had issued a city-wide martial law order, clearly to cooperate with the church's actions.

"There are some things I don't want the witches to know."

For a moment, Xia De thought the nun in front of him had smiled, but looking closely, she still had that expressionless look.

Her head tilted slightly, her textured silver-gray long hair braided into an unusually complex style hanging behind her. Her silver blindfold was aimed at Xia De; that exquisite and elegant silver ornament was still as breathtaking as ever:

"Mr. Hamilton, you are participating in an epic."

"No, I am just going to witness the epic. The protagonists are you; I am just an audience member for this scene."

This time the nun really smiled; the smile under the blindfold was very faint and very gentle:

"The way you are fully armed right now doesn't look like you're going to be an audience member at all."

Xia De glanced at himself: two guns tucked at his waist, the 【Soul Fishing Rod】 on his back, the 【Night Watcher】 in his left hand, his right fingers almost covered in rings, the witch's golden necklace around his neck, and his bulging coat stuffed with various toys and relics.

"No need to explain, Mr. Hamilton. Perhaps others would think you are just an audience member outside of fate, but as one who watches the Primordial Fire, I can understand that you are the hero of this world."

This was the first time someone had called Xia De that:

"I am no hero."

The nun did not refute:

"I am the Fire Keeper who watches the Primordial Fire. I seek firewood for the fire, seek new sources of fire, and the fire feeds the power of the world back to me. The Spirit of the World is reminding me that many incredible things will happen tonight."

"Then do you know who the dead Chosen One actually is?"

Xia De asked, and the nun shook her head slightly:

"Perhaps the answer is completely different from what you think."

The degree of overlap between the Rift and the real world now far exceeded the time when Xia De first came to Midhillburg at the beginning of autumn. Therefore, opening the passage to the Rift did not need to be as complex as when rescuing Priest Augustus.

Sister Daelin needed to accompany the witches to the mountainside of the Rift, but she arranged for three other high-ring nuns of the cult to help Xia De. Furthermore, she divided a portion of her flame and sealed it in a worn-out portable kerosene lamp obtained from the 【Sin Mansion】.

This lamp was a relic that could store any form of flame. At this moment, it contained a portion of the Primordial Fire, the slender flame dancing quietly inside, making the already old bronze-colored kerosene lamp look even more marked by time and history.

The cult could send Xia De into the Rift, but leaving the Rift required the guidance of the Primordial Fire. With Sister Daelin unable to look after Xia De now, sharing a portion of the flame with him was the best choice at the moment.

Bidding farewell to Sister Daelin on the foggy street, the carriage the nun took soon disappeared into the thick fog, and Xia De unexpectedly discovered that the Primordial Fire kerosene lamp in his hand could actually slightly disperse the surrounding fog.

"However, carrying a kerosene lamp on my body seems even more inconvenient for fighting."

Sister Daelin would notify the others in the Spirit Cult to prepare to open a one-time Rift passage, and all Xia De needed to do was wait patiently for news at the Blind House.

The city was not under martial law, but travel was restricted, so even at the Blind House, not many disabled citizens with eye ailments came to visit. Sister Michelle, who was in charge of managing the Blind House, arranged a separate lounge on the top floor for Xia De. Xia De then turned Little Mia back into her real cat form, held the cat, and read "The Pink Book" to pass the morning.

The city was very quiet, and the autumn sunlight could not penetrate the white fog that held whispers. On the other side of the thick fog, the Orthodox Church, the Academy of Thaumaturgy, the Witch Council, and even those Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi groups whose names Xia De did not know, were surely all in action.

When Xia De occasionally looked up from the knowledge in the book toward the window, he wondered in his heart whether the actors on that unknowable stage of fate would know how people would evaluate today thousands of years later.

The city in the morning was very quiet; except for a squad of soldiers passing through Luff Lane, nothing happened.

After lunch, the cat napped by Xia De's hand. Xia De put away the parchment and took out "The Book of Wild Thunder" to continue reading. This was the book for the 【Thunder】 spiritual rune prepared for Xia De by Saint Byrons, belonging to the second-year curriculum.

At 1:30 PM, a knock on the door temporarily ended Xia De's study process. But it wasn't that the Spirit Cult was ready to "open the door," but that Sister Michelle had something to ask Xia De for help with.

The matter was this: this morning, Mr. Beirut, who lived in the southern district of Midhillburg, visited the Blind House to receive treatment and psychological counseling. Because the fog became thicker at noon, the carriage that came to pick him up did not arrive, so Mr. Beirut, who was a teacher at the school for the blind, took a nap at the Blind House.

But after he had napped for an hour, the servants at the Blind House could not wake him up again. Later, after an examination by Ring Mages, it was discovered that he had dreamed his way into the Rift.

"Need me to go deep into the Rift to bring him back?"

Xia De pointed at himself in surprise.

"Bringing back an ordinary person who has dreamed into the Rift does not require truly entering the Rift. The cult has a formal method, but it requires at least a Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi above the 6th Ring to perform the ritual at the risk of having their spirit contaminated by the Rift."

Sister Michelle seemed a bit troubled. The 【Blind House】 was a local stronghold of the cult, and she was the highest-ranked person there; the others were mostly low-ring.

"I understand, then let me do it; it's just a small effort."

Saying this, he put down the book and stood up. The movement startled the cat on the sofa. It opened one eye to look at Xia De, and seeing that he wanted to leave, immediately got up yawning and chased after him.

When this cat yawned, its mouth opened especially wide.

Rescuing ordinary people who have dreamed into the Rift is done through means similar to "mediumship," reversing the process to let living people in reality see the scene in the "dream," and then communicating with them in the dream to wake them up.

This didn't even require Xia De to lie down. He sat on a chair against the bed, and after drinking a potion with the Spirit Cult's emblem, placed his hand on the forehead of the sleeping Mr. Beirut.

The low-ring nun of the 【Blind House】, who had her eyes wrapped in linen strips, lit incense in the room, while Sister Michelle spread parchment in front of Xia De.

He leaned back slightly against the chair, his eyes fixed on the strange image on the parchment that looked like a goat but also like a unicorn. His mind gradually became groggy, and then he fell into a semi-comatose state.

He could perceive that he was still sitting in the chair, but at the same time, he saw the blurred scene of the Rift.

His gaze followed Mr. Beirut, who was running up the Sicard Mountains along the stone steps. And in front of him, in the blurred fog, a transparent woman's figure was constantly moving forward. The surrounding scene was very familiar; dark forests stood on both sides of the stone steps, and the stone steps looked as dilapidated as if no one had stepped on them for a hundred years.

"Are they heading to the top of the Sicard Mountains?"

But it was not that there were no traces of human activity around. On both sides of the stone steps at the top of the mountain, traces of rituals arranged by the church had already appeared, and even divine runes were carved on every step underfoot. There were no evil spirits in the surrounding thick fog because a large squad of Ring Mages from the Five Gods Church was conducting a final inspection of the rituals at this time.

But these living people who had gone deep into the Rift did not notice Mr. Beirut and the soul of the woman in front at all. After all, the former was just dreaming, not even as real as Xia De's state yesterday, and the latter was just a phantom born of longing.

Souls lingering in the Rift cannot enter death through the three passages in the Rift. But phantoms born of longing can lead living people to fall into death. Once one follows the longing to fall in the world of dreams, then Mr. Beirut would truly be dead. Midhillburg had such urban legends long ago, but recently such things had become more frequent.

PS: The number of people who sent flowers in the previous chapter was counted, and the one from Princess Lei Qianya and Dorothy was forgotten, which has been corrected. There are still two flowers left, and Xia De's flower-buying count has been adjusted to eight.

Changing the extra update rule a bit, because the updates have been too frequent recently, the author is a bit overwhelmed. So from now on, a full reward from a Guild Leader will get an extra update; once the cumulative total reaches a Guild Leader, there will be no more extra updates for the time being. The author needs to slow down.

Thanks to reader @Qibao Lajiao for the Guild Leader reward, thank you for your strong support all along. ===== CHAPTER 756 =====