Chapter 930: The Food Pouch

"Yes, let's discuss business."

Miss Te spoke up only then, glancing again at the cat sprawled across Xia De's legs, then signaling her maid to bring over a stack of paper. Xia De wasn't sure how far papermaking technology had developed by the end of the Fifth Epoch, but just visually, the quality of that stack of paper was fully comparable to the paper he had used back home, and the paper even carried a faint fragrance—presumably from special treatment that began at the raw-material stage. "The improvement method for the Magic Fire-Resistance Potion—" She waved the paper in her hand and handed it to Xia De. Four pages in total, including materials and the potion-making process; Xia De scanned through them in less than ten seconds. "I've also finished part of my paper—" Miss Te rummaged through the stack of books behind her and pulled out a rolled-up parchment scroll. This scroll of parchment was much thicker; unlike Miss Te's flamboyant cursive letters, Miss Te's handwriting was extremely neat—these two writing styles could perfectly correspond to the witches' personalities. "This is mine."

Xia De also took out his own paper and handed it to the two witches for inspection. While they read his paper, Xia De stroked Mi with one hand and looked around. Only then did he notice that compared to his last visit, there were far more scattered Sheng Huo Yong Pin around the lakeside camp now. Although he didn't know exactly how much time had passed, the all-female team of eight had clearly already—

Miss Te's complexion looked somewhat poor, and the six maid Young Ladies, compared to last time, had changes visible to the naked eye, though something was affecting them. "Finishing this paper really wasn't easy; I even consulted—" "The three of us each have our own preparations, so at least one should be able to—" Xia De said softly, his voice still somewhat drowsy amid the fire sounds; although he had only just woken, the current environment really was—"I also hope everything goes smoothly."

Miss Te said softly. Miss Te did not hand it to Miss Te, then looked inquiringly at Xia De: "Mr., you left in such a hurry last time. What exactly are we? Stop saying you're an outlander traveler—outlander travelers don't suddenly disappear from the Lost Lake. This lake doesn't permit such things." "Who I am isn't important." Xia De's fingers scratched under Mi's chin; the latter squinted her eyes and tilted her head back, letting out a purring sound from her throat: "What matters is that I've come to help you."

Miss Te's gaze shifted away from the paper written in the Sixth Epoch language and looked toward her distant aunt. She still remembered the academy rumors that had circulated among the three great academies, which the two of them had discussed after Xia De left last time. Although Xia De was not exactly a "well-proportioned lady," he had indeed emerged from the fog and extended a helping hand to them. Miss Te waved backward, and a maid brought over the Night Watchman's familiar sword. The sword was stabbed into the ground beside her by the witch; the anomalous power of the central island of the Lost Lake stimulated this silver sword, causing its blade to emit a holy radiance. The yellow runes of "Sword-Slaying-Demon" lit up, ready at any moment to be drawn by its wielder to face the enemy. "Have you ever used this sword?"

Miss Te asked very directly. Xia De heard "her" laugh, then he raised an eyebrow as well, realizing that this sword possessed the ability to inherit its wielder's skills. Xia De was well aware that his own swordsmanship certainly wasn't worth being recorded and inherited, but his method of amplifying miracles, and the way he borrowed this sword to use the "Moonlight Series Miracles" by leveraging Miss Danst's experience—those might have some value. Thinking of this, and recalling that he had touched this sword last time, Xia De roughly understood what had happened: "So there's actually this kind of method—when I touched the Night Watchman at this point in time, it was equivalent to—" "I was once again recognized as its wielder, so time converged on this sword." Xia De squinted his eyes: "Yes, I did indeed use the Night Watchman once, but not at this point in time."

He admitted it. Miss Te stared at him in surprise, while the witch Emperor showed an expression of "just as I expected": "It seems I guessed right, but what method did you use? I don't believe there's any method that permits this kind of 'adventure.' Even if you successfully crossed over to here, the guardian left behind by the Father of the Infinite Tree should have hunted you down for your violation."

Miss Te asked suspiciously, never once taking the initiative to mention the term "time travel," as if worried about disturbing something. Xia De shook his head slightly: "Sorry, I think I can't say."

Although the Time Key did not forbid investigators from revealing secrets, based on Xia De's understanding of time travel, the Father of the Infinite Tree prohibited any behavior produced by him that might affect the continuity of spacetime on a large scale. "Alright, I know there are some things even I cannot know; I am, after all, still a mortal. But this is truly remarkable—that such a thing could actually happen. Mr., if only you could stay longer; I have many questions I wish to have answered." "That won't do; my purpose is only to help you."

Xia De said apologetically; he also had many things he wanted the witches of the Fifth Epoch to answer. "Aunt, what do you understand now?"

Miss Te, who was standing nearby, asked curiously. She had a vague guess but couldn't be certain. The witch Emperor pressed down on her own hat, her tone slightly sterner: "Shu, graduating from the academy is only the starting point for you as a witch. You haven't even reached the starting line yet—how could you possibly know things that only the witches on the judges' bench are privy to?"

Miss Te opened her mouth but said nothing more. Xia De clearly saw her pouting. Miss Te took the hand extended by her maid, prepared to stand, and signaled that the two of them could set out: "I've had quite enough of this place. Since I took the throne, I've never spent so long in the wild—" "Do you have enough living supplies?"

Xia De asked curiously. "Enough—at least our current consumption hasn't even reached half."

It wasn't Miss Te who gave the answer, but the head maid among the six maids gave it. As for why Xia De knew she was the head maid, it was because only her dress style differed slightly from the others; Fa had once mentioned to Xia De the differences between the head maid and the regular maids. "Before setting out, we specifically brought along the relics: the Inexhaustible Spring, Tristiu's Changing Room, and the Brave's Food Pouch. Although we cannot use those simple, strange ingredients to create the delicacies of the palace kitchen, merely maintaining basic consumption is already sufficient." "You prepared so thoroughly?"

Xia De was somewhat surprised, then realized once again that the witch Emperors of the Fifth Epoch might not all be demigods, but their authority and wealth were absolutely unmatched in the Fifth Epoch. "Before we set out, want to try this—" Miss Te didn't stand up immediately, but had the head maid with the colored long hair bring over a dark-red leather pouch tied at the mouth with a silk ribbon, roughly the size of two of Xia De's palms. What animal's skin this pouch was made from, Xia De couldn't tell; he only knew its surface was densely covered with various—But when it was handed over by Miss Te, Xia De immediately smelled a fragrance. Almost immediately, both he and Mi's stomachs growled. The man and the cat had both set out without eating breakfast; smelling that abnormally enticing aroma now, their bodies involuntarily responded. "Mi, don't be so embarrassing."

Xia De scolded his cat. "?"

The petite cat looked up—"Channeling spiritual power into this relic can obtain food, but the type of food is completely random. In theory, anything that eating a bite of won't cause death counts as food."

Miss Te said with a smile: "The negative traits are relatively simple—the Brave's Food Pouch might produce living creatures, or it might produce food containing deadly plagues." Saying so, she signaled Xia De to try it. In the Sixth Epoch, Xia De had not heard of this relic, but he had heard Priest Augustus mention relics that converted excrement into food. By comparison, although this Brave's Food Pouch was relatively less practical, it was definitely more easily accepted than the latter. The fragrance wafting from the food pouch was also a characteristic of this relic—it would actively attract people to take food from it. The witches could resist this fragrance, but if an ordinary person obtained this relic, they would most likely be stuffed to death alive. From this aspect, this relic was helpful for obtaining the Gluttony Spirit Rune. Xia De reached his hand into the pouch and felt heat rising inside. He soon felt he had grabbed something, so he took it out, and discovered it was an egg emitting steam; the eggshell had already been peeled, with hot mist swirling around the tender, smooth surface of the egg. "…"

He thought of a certain memory; "she" laughed by Xia De's ear, and Mi glanced at the egg, surprisingly showing no attitude of wanting to eat it. Xia De naturally knew what "she" and it were thinking of, so he said nothing, silently taking a bite. "Just an ordinary egg, how boring—" Miss Te said, propping up her face, while Miss Te observed Xia De's strange expression. Xia De didn't respond, reaching out to hand the food pouch to Miss Te, but the latter refused, smiling and suggesting: "Mr., let your cat try it too."

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