My body passed through the curtain and I immediately noticed the sound of raindrops, but my body did not feel the raindrops falling.
The art gallery had only dim lights just now, but now the lights were bright enough to be blinding. Shade and Fiona both squinted their eyes subconsciously, and then they saw that they were not on the street at all, but appeared high up in a building.
"Is this... the terrace?"
Looking behind me, I saw a rainy city below me, with only a few buildings and streets still lit. In the darkness of the city, some strange figures were wandering around. There were even some giants walking in the city, but all their movements were silent.
Their luck was actually pretty good, as they didn't encounter the most difficult enemies.
The location they were currently in seemed to be the top terrace of a huge obsidian palace building. The terrace was quite large and was semicircular in shape. The curved side was the fence, while the straight side was the wall and the tightly closed double metal door.
There is a lamp in each corner of the terrace. The color of the light is like the brightest sunset before sunset. It is this light that illuminates this place. On the two metal doors, there are paintings of dusk and sunset, and stars in the sky. On the door of dusk and sunset, there is also writing in ancient characters:
Dusk Place
"It is the place of dusk, so when you open this door, it is night."
Shade said softly, and Fiona nodded nervously:
"Yes, the final destination should be behind the door."
"I do not feel the power of the Great One."
As Shade spoke, he glanced at his own hands, but saw no trace of the divine afterglow:
"We are still in 'dusk', so 'night' has not yet arrived. If I am not mistaken, after opening that door, the monarch of this city, the old god who symbolizes the night, should appear."
Fiona nodded nervously:
"So will you accompany me in and then leave, or shall we go in next time?"
"Maybe next time. After all, it's still unclear what bargaining chips Miss Felena has prepared, and I don't have much time left."
Shad said:
"You should rest here for a while. It would be best if you can recall what Miss Feliana told you through the Moon Dream."
"I need to sleep again."
Fiona said this with a sad face, but she knew that there was nothing that could be done about it.
Shade only had a few minutes left, and no time for small talk. Fiona recovered the curtain, but the compass was left in the art gallery and could not be retrieved.
Xia De helped her set up the camp, laid out soft bedding in the tent, and put up a fence outside the tent.
The three-colored moonlight thorn bushes climbed up the fence, protecting the tent. Fiona sat in the tent with a pitiful look on her face, and stretched out her hand to Shade. Shade was stunned for a moment, then he remembered to take off his coat and hand it to her. The previous one had been burned in the "dragon egg".
He turned Mia, who was watching everything around her, into a toy and put it in the chest pocket of his shirt. There was only half a minute left, it was time to leave:
"See you next time then, Fiona."
"Want to see my new skills?"
The red-haired girl asked. Her golden eyes had already noticed the white mist rising around Shade, so she didn't give Shade a chance to answer before saying:
"Perhaps because of the ritual materials you used, I can now paint in the dark. Yes, all I have to do is stretch out my finger and light up the moonlight."
Her fingertips, with a little light, gently moved in the night, leaving a trail of light.
The name of Shad Suellen Hamilton was written in cursive between the two of them. Shad smiled as he watched the scene, then reached out and gently hugged her:
"Next time will be the last time, and it will definitely go well. Oh, and if you can't sleep, you can try painting in the night, and you can admire it carefully when I come back."
The red-haired girl bit her lower lip:
"Well, goodbye, Shade, and please wish me good night... I've been sleeping too much lately."
"Good night."
He leaned his head forward slightly, and the red-haired girl closed her eyes and moved her face closer, but she didn't feel the touch for a long time.
When I opened my eyes again, Shad had disappeared.
"Really... I won't let you go next time."
(Little Mia is running...)
When Shad stumbled out of the bedroom door of Luvia's rented room in the Land of Plenty Inn, Luvia was still sitting in front of the dressing table looking at her face.
After hearing the voice, she finally shifted her gaze from herself in the mirror to Xia De:
"Where's your coat?"
But she didn't want to get an answer from Xia De, instead she stood up and walked towards Xia De with a smile:
"Let's go downstairs and have breakfast. I really like the small sugar cookies that are a specialty of the Randall Valley. I won't be able to eat them when I return to Tobesk. I can't find maple syrup in Tobesk..."
Suddenly she stretched her head and sniffed at Xia De's neck, then looked at him suspiciously. Xia De wanted to explain, but the purple-eyed girl covered his mouth with her hand:
"Shad, you've worked so hard."
When they went downstairs to have breakfast, Shade asked Luvia a very important question:
"Last time Miss Danister came here to see you, did she tell me where she lives now?"
"As I said, St. Byrons also has college assets in the local area, a ship repair factory. Miss Danister and several other professors sent by the college all live in the manor listed in the factory asset list. She said that if I get into trouble or danger, I can go to her."
Luvia told Shade the exact address, and then watched Shade feed the cat with a sad face:
"Are you planning to go find Miss Danister? Although she may have guessed something about you, it's still a little inappropriate to let her know that you can run around anywhere, right?"
"This time key is in trouble."
He glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them, and Mia took the opportunity to snatch away the whole cookie that Shad had intended to break into pieces and feed it.
Shade wanted to reward the cat, so he didn't care. He picked up the knife and fork and started cutting the sausage:
"Miss Fiona Drago still hasn't remembered something. We are going to make a deal with an old god, which will determine the founding of Saint Byrons. If Fiona can't remember what the price is, I will need to ask Miss Danister."
“It’s an amazing feeling.”
The purple-eyed girl smiled and said:
"On an ordinary morning, in a corner of an inconspicuous hotel, while eating a relatively cheap breakfast, I heard you say these things."
She shook her head.
"Don't ask me for my opinion. No one except you can participate in the events of the last era. Ask yourself, Shade. You will have the answer."
Shade nodded, and while he was thinking, Mia took away the freshly cut sausage. It bit the sausage timidly and looked at Shade, thinking that Shade would stop or scold it, but Shade just glanced at it indifferently and picked up the spoon to stir his soup.
This made Mia a little afraid to continue eating.
After breakfast, Shade first sent Mia home, then opened God's gift box in the basement and took out this week's gift. After the precious bottle of holy water No. 1 last week, this week's gift was just an ordinary ivory comb.
Although expensive, it was of little use to Shad. The task was to wash his hair twice a week, which was easier than going to church.
Shade did not stay at home for long. He went to Coldwater Harbor and picked some fresh Houttuynia cordata at the beach to prepare for the underwater breathing potion, which he was about to complete as an assessment for his fourth-year Potions class.
After returning from Coldwater Harbor, he returned to the Randall River Valley. It was already ten o'clock in the morning. He borrowed a horse from the Wilde Opera House and then rode to the old cemetery of the Granger family in the northeast outside the city.
Because the location was a bit far, Shad didn't arrive at his destination until almost noon. Now this is Earl Granger's private forest. In order to avoid being considered a poacher or illegal logger, Shad found the ranger's cabin and showed him the certificate written by the earl.
The forest ranger was a sturdy man in his forties who also worked as a lumberjack in summer and autumn. He was very friendly to Shade and pointed out the location of the old cemetery deep in the woods.
However, he kindly reminded Shade that although the old site had not been planted with trees or developed as required, it was already in a state of disrepair. The valuable things in it had been taken away by the Granger family themselves and the occasional thieves a hundred years ago, so apart from the possibility of encountering hibernating animals, there was nothing else worth visiting.
This old cemetery was destroyed by the Randall River Valley earthquake in 1498. Before that, the Granger family was already a prominent family in the area, so the cemetery was very large.
Shad left his horse outside the guard's cabin, and then, following the guard's instructions, he walked alone in the woods. At around 11:30 noon, he saw the cemetery surrounded by iron fences.
The fence must have been renovated in recent years, and it looked better than the haunted Watson Manor. But the inside of the fence was almost in ruins. Even though the Earl would arrange for people to clear the weeds every year, the three hundred years of abandonment were enough to erase most of the traces of the past.
Since he got the key from the guard, Shade went in directly from the main gate. The weather was getting warmer, but the snow outside the city still showed no signs of melting. On the snow, countless crooked stone tablets stood. In addition, there were the remains of a small church building in the cemetery, and there was no trace of the gravekeeper's hut.