"Help me do something very simple."
The lake surface, which had been frozen by Shade's return from the snowy mountains, slowly melted. The shaking lake water pushed the floating ice and a small pink bottle to the edge of the firelight on the shore. The bottle looked like the kind of extremely high-end perfume bottle that would appear on the dressing table of aristocratic ladies.
The bottle is shaped like a heart, and the stopper is made of the same frosted material that looks like glass.
It was the size of a high-end perfume bottle, which could be completely held in one hand. The bottle was now empty, without any liquid.
“That island in the middle of the lake is about to become a stage for people with insatiable desires. What is about to be performed is a great drama interwoven with many desires.”
The pretty head did not urge Shade to pick up the pink bottle, but smiled and explained:
"Take this bottle to the island, witness people's crazy and greedy desires, and catalyze those desires to reach a climax. This small bottle can transform desires into high-grade essential oils. Bringing it to the island will allow me to taste this rarely seen intertwined desire... ... The essential oil brewed by desires can not only increase one's own charm, but can even restore one's spirit after drinking it."
Shade frowned slightly. At least in the current era, there is almost no way to restore the spirit through external forces. After all, the so-called "spirit", "mana" and "ether" are not pure energy, but information, energy, and elements. They are the sum of everything in the world that a ring wizard can understand, and are one of the manifestations of the mind interfering with matter. Even holy water, except for No. 1 and No. 2, is not particularly effective in restoring the spirit.
“I won’t use your essential oils.”
He said, and the beautiful woman smiled:
"I didn't let you use it either. When you return to this shore, you can return it to me."
The whispering elements on the bottle are no less than those of ordinary relics, but Shade has never found any information about desire through any channel, so he doesn't know whether this can be considered a derivative of the relics.
The existence of desire itself is a terrible polluting force. Whether it is the church, the college, or the Guiding Light Hermitage, the spiritual sect and other organizations, they will not easily open information to anyone. Even though Shade almost has the highest reputation and goodwill with Sister Defulin, she still refuses to talk to Shade about desire.
"I can take it to the island, but I won't catalyze any desire."
Xia De emphasized again, and the beautiful woman's head showed a perfect smile:
"Yes. You know, you are actually very suitable for my power. The first time you 'tasted' me, you gained the power of the great sin, which is enough to prove it."
Xia De immediately shook his head, not even willing to open his mouth to refute. The woman's head continued to tease:
"If you want to deny this, then throw away the ice cube with lipstick marks on it. If you do this, I can take back my words."
The cold and dark lake water continued to ripple on the shore. Even though Iluna was hiding behind Shad at this time, she could fully imagine the expression on her face.
Xia De held the ice crystal tightly in his hand, still unwilling to dwell on this topic:
"Since I have agreed to help you, can you please stop blocking other people from landing on the island?"
With a pleasant laugh, she whispered:
"Of course I want you to realize your wish, but I want to accompany you to the island in the middle of the lake."
That is to say, when Shad and Iluna walked across the water, Desire would always be at their feet. Just thinking about this terrifying and strange thing swimming in the deep water under his feet made Shad shudder, but he still agreed, because he knew that at least this time, Desire would not attack him:
"I'll go with you, but let Iluna go first."
He said in a deep voice, and the laughter that followed was just the right amount of mockery. But even though it was mockery, the voice was still so charming:
"Please rest assured that I am not very interested in the girl behind you. This is not only because she is the chosen one, but also because..."
Shade and Iluna, who quietly poked her head out from behind Shade, looked at the smiling head of the woman on the dark water.
"She is really, too simple."
Iluna Emilia Beas admitted that, at least at this moment, her irritation even outweighed the wonderful physical desire.
There wasn't much luggage to pack. After extinguishing the campfire, Shad picked up the pink bottle, asked Iluna to continue holding the silver-glowing Night Watchman, and helped her turn over and climb onto the horse.
"Let's go."
He held the reins and used the spell "Walking on Water" to step onto the terrifying Pantanal Lake, which was shaking but calm on the surface, in the heavy snow.
The yellow orb was suspended above his head, illuminating him and breaking through the darkness of the lake. The knight leading the horse walked in front, and the weak girl lay on the horse's back. In the background of the heavy snow, the voice on the lake was singing softly:
"The princess in the castle will never understand that the freedom to walk in the world is what we pursue."
"If you meet a witch at a road crossing covered with lavender, where will you go to pick a handful of herbs?"
Desire hummed the witches' ballad softly, accompanying the knight and the girl forward.
The snow and wind blurred their backs, and everything around them was dark and cold. Under the yellow moonlight, they were like the only actors illuminated by the lights on the stage, and this cold-toned oil painting-like scene was actually a knight and a girl being forced forward by the evil demon.
Every step Xia De took would leave ripples on the dark water, and the beautiful woman's head would just follow them in parallel. Although Xia De was afraid of desire in his heart, he had to admit that she sang really well.
Amid the singing, Shad and Iluna, holding the reins, actually crossed the peaceful lake safely.
When he and the skeletal horse boarded the foggy island in the middle of the lake, the woman's head said goodbye to them on the shore:
"Looking forward to your performance, interesting soul."
The head stared at Shade as it slowly sank into the water, but the sound was still crystal clear in the snow and wind:
"On the stage where desires intertwine, what kind of performance will you have in the audience?"
She disappeared, leaving only a huge strange black shadow flashing underwater. The sound of the huge tail slapping the water actually sounded like the sound made by the legendary mermaid.
Neither Shad nor Iluna wanted to recall what they had seen. Shad stood on the shore holding the reins for a long time before he suddenly let out a long sigh through his nose. The heat from his body caused white smoke to come out of his nose, but it soon disappeared.
After all, it was not the first time he had seen desire, and the "blessing of the wise" he had received on the island in the middle of Lost Lake was indeed very effective for negative mental states. Shade turned around and wanted to check on Iluna's condition, but as soon as he turned around, he felt his lips kiss something soft.
He raised his eyebrows in surprise, only to find that it was Iluna, who was lying on the horse's back with a blanket on her body, hugging the skeleton horse's neck and kissing Shade, who was standing in front of the horse.
The kiss only lasted two seconds before it stopped. The 17-year-old girl jumped off the horse with a red face and covered her mouth:
"I, I... Is that desire? It is indeed terrible. Even if I have the power of the Chosen One, I cannot resist her influence."
The flushed face turned to the side deliberately, not looking into Shade's eyes, and lowered his head to kick the stone on the shore into the lake:
"Don't tell Luvia about the kiss just now... I know about your relationship... It was just an accident."
Desire was right, she was indeed very simple.
"She" said with a smile in Xiade's ear, but Xiade did not comment on it.
There are many rumors about the island in the center of the Pantanal Lake, most of which involve bizarre legends and horror stories. Even ordinary people have heard of the rumors about the "unrestricted area" deep in the swamp.
The seal core of the Pantanal evil creature is on this island, making the whispering element on the island in the middle of the lake stronger than in the swamp. The spiritual pollution of the evil creature has begun to affect every person who lands on the island. The whispers from the bottom of their hearts and the decaying land under the snow are reminding them of what the most terrifying enemy tonight is.
The edge of the Pantanal Lake was covered with vines, and the blizzard was a little weaker. Once we reached the island, the blizzard was even weaker. The snowflakes were still as big as goose feathers, but the wind was much weaker. Starting from the shore, the ground was covered with gravel and pebbles that were repeatedly beaten by the lake water. Going deeper, there were no footprints on the ground covered with white snow.
Before landing on the island, the Great Swamp Lake Island was wrapped in a thick milky white fog in the middle of the night, and nothing could be seen except the light of the lighthouse. But when they really entered the interior of the lake island, they found that the fog was not as thick as expected. At least Shade and Iluna's vision could extend to an area 30 meters away in the deep snow at night.
They did not set out from the shore immediately, but made some preparations first.
Miss Chloe's teardrop ice crystal was collected by Shade using a toy. After all, it was just a piece of ice. If it was not preserved in the form of a toy, it would melt sooner or later. But after this incident, alchemical techniques could be used to process it so that the ice could last for a long time.
Now that they have landed on the island, they can only provide guidance in the complex terrain and cannot help with finding objects. The source of chaos was also taken away by Xia De.
Iluna handed the Night Watchman back to Shade and took out her own Holy Bell of Judge. She did not cancel the summoning of the Skeleton Horse but let it continue to exist. Iluna asked Shade who was preparing the materials for the spell:
"No one came to stop us... Do you think we were the first to land on the island?"
"Probably not."
Xia De put his hand on his chest:
"But Miss Carina and the others haven't arrived yet, and my badge isn't heating up."
Iluna nodded:
"I've read the church's information. The area of this island is about 1.2 times the size of St. Teresa's Square and the Jodel Palace. We still have a long way to go."
"Just now, in order to prevent any accidents from happening while crossing the water, I chose the shortest route, so we landed on the island from the southwest, and the lighthouse is in the northeast of the island."
He looked up at the ray of fire deep in the fog. Iluna could not see the light of the First Fire.
"It's 00:07 on Thursday morning, and we still have about an hour and a half."
"Um."
Iluna nodded and looked at Shade's profile. The falling snow streaked across his face, and in the dark night he was still so "dazzling", as if always attracting her attention.
She saw Shade recheck the bullets in the magazine, hang the small crossbow on his waist, and hang the slender arrows in the quiver specially sewn on the inside of his coat. His face was more solemn than ever before. The quiet night did not mean that tonight was safer than the Battle of Midhill Castle in the fall.
On the contrary, no one knows what kind of story will happen on this snowstorm night in the swamp far away from human civilization.