"The lock that this key corresponds to is here? In other words, the heart of the earth is here?"
Shade guessed, but there was no keyhole on the door, so the key was useless. However, there were four hexagonal depressions on the door, which seemed to be used to place stones or gems.
"Four stone keys? Why is it always this kind of mechanism?"
Shad muttered.
Do you like five keys
"No, no, let's have four."
He put Mia on the ground temporarily, then rolled up his sleeves and put his hand on the door:
"Fossils to mud!"
The stone under his palm really turned into mud, and Xia De quickly stretched his hand towards the inside of the stone door. But the next moment, a huge force came from the door, and Xia De, who was unprepared, was thrown out. He flew five or six meters away before falling to the ground, and rolled on the ground for several times before stopping.
"Oh, that's really exciting~"
"Meow!"
The cat trotted over to Shade's side, and when it saw Shade using his muddy right hand to support his body and climb up, it took a step back and did not approach again:
"I knew it wasn't that simple."
He picked up the cat with his left hand, which was not covered in mud, and placed it on his shoulder:
"Butterflies and the Earth... I'm afraid we have to ask the Granger family for the key to this place."
Do you think this is...
"Mr. Laiman's tomb is most likely here."
Xia De did not look at the stone door again, but summoned his life ring, letting the spiritual light of the time and space spirit rune illuminate the wall. Sure enough, the smooth wall on the left side of the stone door gradually disappeared under the spiritual light, revealing the hidden road. Xia De breathed a sigh of relief, which meant that today's journey was still fruitful:
"At least we found the statue of the ancient god."
"Meow~"
Mia cried out, and Shade, who knew the cat well, said:
"I know it's time for dinner. We'll eat after we finish exploring this place."
With the silver moonlight lighting up his fingertips, he held the cat in one hand and cautiously walked into this very familiar hidden road. The passage was not long, and he soon arrived at the circular space at the end. When Shade's eyes were fixed on the statue in the center of the circular space, the statue began to glow on its own, illuminating the space.
"No. 6 Saint Teresa's Square, below the cliffs of Coldwater Harbor, the old tower on Mount Sikar, the vineyards of the White River Valley, the lighthouse of Pantanal Lake, the Church of the Forgotten, and now here, the seventh one."
Xia De was very satisfied with the result. Besides the statue, this circular space was not empty.
Opposite the exit, on a stone pulpit that looked like a place where priests in a church would place their books, was a thick book with a red cover. The book itself showed no signs of being damaged by time. When Shade got closer, he saw the gilded title on the cover:
Butterfly Family: My Life.
“Sure enough, this is Mr. Laiman’s grave.”
Xia De sighed slightly, then opened the book's title page. The dark blue ink seemed to be mixed with gold powder, making the cursive letters sparkle.
Memoirs of Fred Haus Lehmann.
I continued to flip back, and the next page still had a few lines of text on white paper, but the letters were smaller:
Thank you to Ms. Brachett and the order for helping to build the cemetery; thank you to Sister Perry for taking care of me all the time; thank you to my wife, Lillian, Mira and Lifany for accompanying me throughout my life; finally thank you to that gentleman, that god, and everything. May the earth be with you and me.
"Three were taken away... Sister Perry said that Mr. Lyman died of heart failure at the age of 63... ... that's also impressive."
Xia De smiled, closed the book, and planned to take it home and read it slowly. This book was left by Mr. Leiman in the last era. Because it used special ink and paper, it could survive thousands of years without being damaged. It contained Mr. Leiman's memoirs and stories about butterflies. If Xia De guessed correctly, reading this book should give him a chance to obtain spiritual runes or magic.
After picking up the heavy book, he discovered that there was a groove on the stone platform below the book, and in that groove was a hexagonal red gem. Xia De picked up the gem and measured it with his fingers, then turned to look in the direction of the exit:
"I found one of the four. The answer is right next to the riddle. It's really interesting."
There should be some information about this cemetery in the memoir. Since Xia De has nothing to do recently, he plans to take it home and study it carefully.
Of course, before leaving here, Xia De did not forget to temporarily turn Mia into a toy, and then touched the ancient god statue to formally establish the seventh space signpost. After doing all this, he was satisfied and held the book in his hand and left the passage behind the crack.
When Shade walked a few steps into the cave and looked back, the crack had disappeared. Surprised, Shade moved closer to the crack again, and it reappeared when he got closer:
"It seems that this is not a one-time thing. I don't have to climb to the top of the mountain every time."
When Shade happily climbed to the top of the cave with Mia and the big book and came to the narrow cliff where the Temple of Night was located again, the last ray of sunset had disappeared on the horizon.
The three ladies were standing together and talking at the end of the three arches, on the open space with the sun, moon and stars. The camp had been moved here, the bonfire was burning, and the symbols of the ceremony had been placed on the ground. It seemed that everything was ready.
They soon noticed Shade who was walking over excitedly, but the ladies did not immediately ask about the book Shade was holding. The purple-eyed girl said rather sadly:
"Shadow, we asked you to go out and play by yourself this afternoon, what were you doing?"
They all looked at Shad, who was now covered in dirt and snow, with several obvious tears on his clothes, his right hand covered in mud, his boots had almost changed color, and his hair seemed to be covered with a layer of dust.
Although the question was a bit strange, Shade said happily:
"I did a lot of things this afternoon! I fought a tiger and won, then played a round of Rhodes with a soul under a tree... well, two rounds. Then I climbed to the top of the mountain to sweep the snow, watched the sunset with Mia in my arms, and found the fragments of a poem left by the Witch Queen. Finally, I went to the bottom of the mountain again, and I found the statue of the ancient god and the hidden passage, and I also found this!"
He showed the book in his hand to the three ladies in front of him:
“The benefits of this trip are really huge.”
"Really? You're still just like a kid."
Luvia said as she walked towards Shade:
"Change your clothes. You must take a good bath when you return to the city. I will ride Miss Benanis's horse in a while."
Shad was really dirty, but Luvia still pulled Shad's sleeve and dragged him towards the camp.
The blonde witch smiled and said:
"Just now we were discussing what you might do this afternoon. Luvia said with certainty that you would find someone to play Rhodes cards with. Even if you can't find anyone, you will play cards with strange things."
"It seems that Luvia is right."
Miss Lathers at the side also said with a smile, and they returned to the campfire in the camp together. After Shad took out a new shirt, pants and boots, they helped him change his clothes together - winter clothes were very thick, and there were other clothes inside Shad's pants.
"Actually, I can change my clothes by myself..."
He muttered quietly, but no one seemed to want to pay attention to him. After changing clothes, Luvia combed Shad's hair with a comb, and Miss Benanis called out a large ball of water to wash Shad's hands, and the four of them started to eat dinner.
They sat around the campfire, eating the sumptuous dinner bought with the ruby, while listening to Shad telling about his experiences this afternoon. The ancient fairy tale Cinderella, the stone tablet toy, the key that no longer glowed, the memoirs, and the red ruby were all taken out by Shad. When he finished telling the story beside the crackling campfire, the dinner was almost over.
"I'm still very curious about what you know that made you so sure there must be secrets nearby and that you actually found so many things."
Luvia said in a low voice, but she didn't mean to ask. She played with the scarlet gem:
"So, do you think there are other secrets in the tomb of Mr. Leiman, who married three butterfly girls in the Fifth Era?"
"Yes, Sister Perry said that Mr. Lyman left me something in the cemetery that might help me. Moreover, the secrets here are not only the cemetery of butterflies."
According to long-haired Luvia, there is a power near the Temple of Night that directly represents the ancient goddess Mother Earth.
Shade suspected that the antique key he got from Earl Granger was meant to be used here. The evidence was that the text used on the stone tablet on the top of the mountain was obviously earlier than the time when Mr. Lyman lived. Shade suspected that the crack already existed here, but Mr. Lyman converted the part behind the crack into his own resting place.
"I still need three gems to open the door, but I think there should be clues in the memoirs. I even think that the lock corresponding to the key is deep in the cemetery. It just so happens that I still have to wait for a week or two before I can meet and solve the demon. Only after solving the demon will the guardians be willing to show up. As for the chosen one of the earth..."
Shade did not continue, and Miss Benaness said:
"Are you and Luvia really sure that the Guardians are the chosen ones of the earth?"
She was holding the stone tablet toy. Since it was related to the Witch Emperors, the parliament would of course keep the stone tablet away.
Before this, Shade did not reveal the relationship between the chosen ones and the guardians, but the witch could vaguely guess it, after all, all of Shade's actions revolved around those guardians.