Seeing that it was getting late, Shad and Miss Benannis no longer had the idea of looking for the so-called "gold mine", so they returned to the cave and climbed back up to the narrow platform on the cliff where the Temple of Night was located.
Expecting that they would not be able to return to the city until very late, Miss Benannis first used magic to pass a message to Miss Lathers, and then she and Shad set up camp on the cliff to prepare for dinner.
Now that Shade had sacrificed the ruby, the Red Dragon Maid's kitchen service was only for the last time, and he didn't think of staying, so he just used it. Therefore, although the environment was a bit simple, this dinner was still very good.
The setting sun initially shone on the side faces of the two, but soon completely disappeared below the distant forest. When the night completely fell, the stars hung upside down in the sky like an ocean, and the three moons tried hard to shine behind the clouds, the light of the campfire illuminated the faces of the two.
Shade planned to wait a little longer, until late at night, before taking action. Miss Benanis looked at the flames and suddenly asked:
"Speaking of which, I also bought some of the fabrics that Sylvia made."
She glanced at Shad and was quite sure that Shad definitely understood what she wanted to say.
Xia De did understand. As "she" chuckled, he tried to ask:
"Then... will I have a chance to admire you... in that fabric?"
The witch avoided Shade's sight, tilted her face to the side and lifted the hair beside her ear:
"Um."
When she nodded slightly, she didn't know if the blush on her face was an illusion caused by the light of the campfire.
I just said, she is the simplest witch you know.
"She" chuckled and whispered in Shade's ear. Shade sat on a rock, poking the firewood in the campfire with a stick, and looked up at the three moons looming behind the dark clouds:
"You must help me when I look for the remaining power of the Night Temple later."
I am with you forever.
"She" whispered a blessing.
"I have a feeling something incredible is going to happen tonight... What is going to happen?"
The two chatted until seven o'clock in the evening. After noticing that the clouds above their heads were drifting away from the front of the moon, Shad stood up and signaled Miss Benannis that they could start.
The location where they built the campfire camp was at the cave exit, very close to the first arch. In the cold night, the remains of the arch, which was only illuminated by the edge of the campfire light, did not show anything special.
So the two of them held torches and passed through the three archways again, arriving at the somewhat abrupt open space at the end of the Temple of Night.
The moonlight sprinkled on the ground, and this time, Shad's eyes finally caught a slight trace of light on the ground, but the trace was not very obvious, and Miss Benannis could not see it at all.
"This shows that the power of the ancient gods still exists here, but we have not activated it."
The witch guessed, so Shade stood in the middle of the open space at the end, opened his arms to face the starry sky, and called out his life ring. The three moons echoed with the three-moon spirit runes on the life ring. This time, even the witch saw a little light rising from the flat ground, passing over Shade's head and flying high into the sky.
“That’s not enough.”
Miss Benanis said with considerable experience. After careful consideration, she motioned Shade to return to the bonfire, which was the starting point of the temple.
"Maintain the life ring and pass through the three arches again. By the way, do you know any magic related to the ancient god of the moon and the night?"
"Originally, I would have. The best choice is Silent Moonlight. It suppresses the surrounding light and enhances the recovery of one's own spiritual and physical strength. But this magic has disappeared."
In fact, it was given to Miss Orlanod in exchange for the Yellow Moon Spirit Rune.
"But... wait, I do have one more!"
Xia De waved to the people around him, and the translucent bookshelf with the color of the illusory sea of stars appeared again:
"Silver Moon Library, corresponding to the Moon God's recorder power."
The two returned to the campfire together. This time, the witch did not walk side by side with Shade, but fell slightly behind him.
Shade held a torch, and the strange brass ring behind him slowly rotated. He controlled the bookshelves around him to move forward with him, and as Shade walked, the bookshelves became more and more.
"Say something."
The witch reminded.
So Shade came to the first arch and walked through it:
"Praise the recorder of the world, may the world live forever."
Step through the second arch:
"Praise the original moon, may the silver moon shine on me forever."
Finally, we passed through the ancient third stone arch:
"Praise the night, praise everything in the quiet night."
The witch, who fell behind Shade, looked at the three arch ruins glowing slightly with satisfaction. The starry sky seemed to flicker for a moment, and then, in her astonishment, the moonlight completed the broken parts of the arches, outlining the ancient inscriptions and murals that had originally existed.
At this time, Shade had already arrived at the center of the open space at the end of the three arches. The ground under his feet was glowing, but the change that Shade wanted had not yet occurred. He looked at the witch standing not far away with some confusion. Miss Benanis then reminded him:
"Do you have any other way to demonstrate the power of the ancient gods?"
Xia De thought about it, and this time, he threw out the Silver Moon:
"I have passed through three arches and entered the realms above the night. I will praise you and you will protect me."
Although he could not control this card, it did directly represent the Silver Moon Sage, one of the thirteen ancient gods.
The cards floated in the night wind and fell in front of Shade, but nothing unusual happened. Just when Shade thought he was wrong, the cards touched the ground.
Just like a drop of water falling into a pool of water, the light stream instantly spread out from Xia De's feet to the surroundings. The diffusion of energy completely cleared the dust on the platform. The golden and silver lines together outlined a strange circular pattern composed of the sun, moon and stars under Xia De's feet. The patterns were connected by lines and dotted with flowers.
It looked like a star map, and also like the basis of some mysterious ritual, but Shade recognized it as the card back of the Rhodes deck at a glance, except that the "moon" pattern was obviously larger and clearer than the other patterns.
The night around him became even darker at this moment. Shade still remembered what he was going to do. He took out the pepper-pot-filled Sand of Time that he had bought from Old John, held it in his hand, and said softly:
"Praise the goddess of night. Please grant me the night to moisten the dust of time."
The cold night wind blew towards the cliff from afar, carrying yellow sand, passing by Shade like flowing water. The night was showing its power, and the deep night was even older than the night of Evernight City.
When the wind blew, the yellow sand in the pepper shaker, which originally had a silvery luster, was now covered with a deep black color, as if the shadow was imprisoned in this small bottle.
Stranger, you have touched miracles. You have understood the "night".
“Success!”
Shad felt that his joy could no longer be expressed in words, but it was not over yet, because at this moment, he heard a voice that did not belong to him or Miss Benannis.
Although the voice was vague, it was very familiar to Xia De. He looked around in surprise, but did not see any familiar figures:
"Did I hear you right? What's going on?"
The land of the Randall River Valley is imprinted with the oldest memories, and as the center of the earth, this land can retain more memories. This place is extremely special.
"I know, so..."
The story that happened in this dark temple, which was deeply engraved into the depths of the earth, was reactivated because of the manifestation of the power of the ancient gods.
"The memory of the earth again? Do I still need to use the power of the earth to spy on it?"
He thought about the Moon Worship Ruins near Oxenfurt Manor, when he witnessed the memory and obtained the Miracle Spirit Rune, which was half a week ago.
No, the power of the night has already emerged. Go through the veil of night and witness the stories that happened in another night.
Although Xia De didn't quite understand, he still nodded:
"So what do I do?"
Pray, pray to the earth, the moon and time.
"Three ancient gods..."
Xia De thought to himself and signaled Miss Benannis not to come closer. He coughed to clear his throat, then stood above the clearest moon pattern among the glowing sun, moon and stars on the ground, looked up at the moon and said:
"Praise the Mother Earth, may you show me the memory of this land! Praise the Silver Moon Sage, please tell me the stories that happened in your temple! Praise the Father of Infinite Trees, may you protect me and let me peek into the mystery of time again!"
As soon as the words fell, the cold moonlight shone on Xia De, and the earthy yellow air currents swept up from Xia De's feet. The moonlight and the spiritual energy of the earth blended in front of Xia De. Xia De waited for a while, and then he took out a piece of the eternal youth leaf from his pocket.
He threw the leaves towards the light, leaving only two youthful leaves in his hand. The originally beautiful silver-yellow light, with the addition of green leaves, instantly turned into a deep black like the night sky. The flowing light stream gradually expanded until it formed a black curtain with a very textured feel in front of Xia De.
"It feels like déjà vu. If Fiona wasn't here... But today is Sunday. Wait a minute... Oh, please wait a moment. I have to watch a memory."
He turned to Miss Benannis and said, the witch asked with some concern:
"Do you know what you are doing? As I remember, you just want to find the power to infect the Sands of Time. What are you trying to do? This is not how Sirius and the others went to learn the memories of the earth."
"Don't worry, I'll be back soon. They used the magic of the old gods, and I used the power of... the ancient gods."
Xia De said this with great confidence, bent down to pick up the Founding Silver Moon to prevent it from being blown away by the wind, and then tried to take a step towards the night. His body seemed to pass through a layer of cold water curtain, and then he found himself still standing on the open space on the cliff, and in front of him was still the night and the starry sky, but there were two more people here.
Long-haired Luvia stood on the edge of the cliff, with her hands behind her back, looking at the starry sky; Miss Lathers sat on the edge of the cliff with her hands on the ground, her legs stretched out to the outside of the cliff. Both of them had their backs to Shade, but they were very close.
There were no clouds in the night sky, as if the two girls were standing in the starry sky.
Xia De tilted his head, and for a moment, he was unable to react to what was happening.