The two of them went downstairs together, and when they reached the first floor, Ms. Helena Green and Mr. Soren Green were already waiting for them at the stairs.
The innkeepers greeted Audrey, and the witch also made a formal introduction to Shade:
"These are my nephews and nieces. They are the youngest daughters of the fourth generation, the grandchildren of my aunt Maria Edwards."
Mr. Soren Green, who had communicated with Shade this morning, winked at Shade, and Shade pretended to understand this:
"Oh~ So that's how it is. That's really surprising."
"Look at what you said. Didn't you guess it a long time ago?"
The brown-haired girl patted Shade's arm, then said to the siblings:
"Let everyone in the kitchen leave for now."
Mr. Soren Green went to inform the chef and the helpers to come out for a midnight snack. After everyone left the kitchen, Shad and Audrey entered the kitchen together, then entered the narrow storage room from the kitchen, opened the trap door and entered the underground storage room.
The summoned white light ball guarded them. Shade led the somewhat puzzled witch to the wall at the end of the underground storage room:
"Now call out the Life Ring."
Then the eleven-ring life ring appeared behind Audrey. The gorgeous life ring was embellished with more than 50 spirit runes. Every time Megan advanced, it was more than the level of one ring and four spirit runes:
"Let the spiritual light of the space locked by the spiritual rune illuminate the wall in front of us."
The witch did as she was told, and then she saw that in the light, the wall had "melted away" to reveal a dark hidden passage:
"This... I can't even sense any elements or spirits when I'm standing in front of the wall! How is this possible?"
"There's a hidden wall ahead—come this way."
Shade gestured to invite him in, but he went in first. Audrey followed closely behind him, and when her eyes met the statue in the center of the hidden space behind the passage, the light of the statue illuminated the surroundings.
There was nothing beside the curved wall of the circular space, except for a white stone statue placed in the center of the space. The base was a circular platform, on which stood a statue of a man with two heads, both heads without faces. He held a book in his left hand and pointed forward with his right hand. The direction his finger pointed was the direction of Shade and Audrey.
"Ancient God!"
Audrey was startled, and then she understood what it was in the huge mental pressure. The witch, surprised and frightened, subconsciously wanted to retreat, but Shade held her hand. Her golden eyes reflected the image in front of her. The two-headed man was wearing a long robe that dragged on the ground, barefoot, and the faceless head facing outward seemed to be looking directly at her.
The impact of the miracle element and the ancient god's posture caused Audrey's spirit to surge uncontrollably in her soul, but she did not retreat. Instead, she stared with her eyes wide open as if frozen in place.
After a long while, she let out a breath and turned to ask Xia De:
"Is this the legendary space maze?"
"Yes. Legend has it that before the thirteen ancient gods left behind strange spaces, such as the Inquisitor's Court, the Dark Dungeon, the Witch Council, and the Space Maze..."
When Shade mentioned the "Witch Council", the witch's expression obviously stiffened.
Shade pretended not to notice and took Audrey closer to the statue, then took her hand and placed it on the warm stone:
"Please recite with me: May the original rift protect me in infinite space."
"May the original rift protect me in infinite space."
White mist rose up around them, instantly surrounding the two of them. In the mist, the trail stretched forward. To Shade, there were seven signposts on the trail, but to Audrey, there was only one.
"A spatial labyrinth, a plural existence. By touching the statues at different locations to establish landmarks, you can then teleport between different landmarks. You can carry anything except other lives. When I was not in Green Lake, I returned home through here."
Xia De introduced the function of this place. Audrey listened carefully and asked again:
"You still say you are not the chosen one of space?"
"To enter here, you only need a space-type spiritual rune, or even a power related to the ancient god's 'Original Rift'. I was able to discover the secrets here only because one of the hidden spaces is in my basement. When my house was renovating the first floor, the cat ran around, so I entered the basement and discovered something unusual... ... Your family is likely to be the chosen one, not me."
Audrey also knew that what Shade said was right, but she just couldn't help but want to ask.
When Xia De answered the question, she also laughed. Looking at the white misty space, she gave Xia De a hug:
"You've worked hard today, go back and have a rest. Tomorrow... you don't have to come to see me for now. I have to entertain my friend, who is a very troublesome woman, but I believe I can deal with her."
She was really worried that Shade would meet other witches who had already arrived in the area:
"I'll send someone to pick you up at the hotel on Friday night, and then we'll go to the banquet together."
Her red lips were imprinted on Xia De's cheek, and she pursed her lips and asked:
"Or maybe, do you want to kiss me one more time before you leave?"
"No, no, this kind of thing can't happen too often. I'm afraid of having strange dreams. See you the day after tomorrow, Megan, Audrey."
Shade waved his hand as if to escape. The witch smiled and said goodbye to him. She also threw him a wooden key, which was the time key:
"Since you have the power of time, this should be useful to you. A small gift, thank you for everything you have done for us."
Xia De looked at her in surprise, then smiled and waved goodbye. After Xia De left, the witch turned around and looked at everything in the white mist, then she placed her hand on the road sign.
Because he was delayed at the Green Lake Hotel, by the time Shad returned home, the lunar eclipse had already entered its fading phase. The city was illuminated by the moonlight again, and it was another peaceful night for Tobesk.
Luvia's stargazing work was almost finished, and Shade used magic to prepare dinner, and he and Luvia talked about what happened today while eating. Of course, Mia also took this opportunity to get her own midnight snack.
The appearance of the demon was something that Shade had expected, and the confrontation between him and the Mirror Man was something he had thought of a few weeks ago. The only surprise today was entering the Silver Moon Library again and the appearance of the Thirteen-ring Fortune Teller.
Luvia did not comment much on the space left by the ancient god of the moon. She was more concerned about Laplace Klein Howard, who called himself the "chosen one". Shade, who was in a state of overflowing divinity, fought him head-on. Although the two sides were still far apart, Shade still sensed the other party's situation:
"He doesn't look like a human, but a monster with a human appearance. We don't know what he did to himself in the past few hundred years, but since he conducted human transmutation experiments on his descendants and claimed that the pile of divination cards in his hand were sealed with the results of the experiments, there is no reason for him not to do it to himself."
Speaking of this, Shade actually has a deeper thought. Laplace Klein Howard released the monster through the divination cards, which is very similar to his release of the twin lovers.
"I am sure that he became stronger by giving up his human identity."
As she spoke, she scooped out the broth with a spoon and put it into her mouth. The dragon maid's cooking skills were really good.
"Surpass the Thirteenth Ring? Demigod?"
Luvia pursed her lips and asked, if that was true, the situation was worse than expected. A demigod fortune teller as an opponent was a situation no one wanted to see.
"No. Luvia, you said that the evil creature in Pantanal is so powerful, would we call it a demigod?"
The girl with purple eyes understood immediately:
"You're saying that Lapras Klein Howard isn't even necessarily a ring wizard?"
"Yes."
Xia De nodded slightly:
"I didn't see his life ring, and he just released a card..."
"I know this. The Association has recorded his abilities. Before he defected from the Association, he had already mastered the Laplace Sealing Technique, a powerful technique for sealing and releasing monsters with divination cards, at the twelfth ring stage. This ability is very similar to the angel-level relic, the Fasha Cursed Mirror, of the Mirror Association that the doctor mentioned."
Luvia said, and then added:
"Yes, this magic is named after him. He combined a variety of high-level magic to develop the Laplace Sealing Technique on his own. This man is truly a genius. If he hadn't taken the wrong path, he might have become the president of the association in his time."
What Xia De was concerned about was not the sealing technique itself, but the fact that today was the last day of the Sowing Month. After midnight, it would be May of 1854, traditionally known as the "Rain Prayer Month".
According to tradition, rainfall in this month has the greatest impact on the autumn grain harvest, so people call this month "rain prayer", which also carries the meaning of expectation.
Of course, Shade didn't need to pray for rain. What he cared about was the black time key, which could finally be opened for the second time. At the same time, the brand new time key that the witch had just given him could also be opened in the early morning of tomorrow, Thursday, which would be a brand new adventure.
"We only have one coin in our hands right now, so many questions cannot be divined. But fortunately, I will be able to get some other coins soon, and by then I will at least be able to figure out what the combination of the top two space selectees is... Speaking of which, since it's the rain-praying month, Yin Luna's birthday is coming soon."
Luvia suddenly said, not knowing what Shade was thinking. Shade, who was trying to feed carrot cubes to Mia, was startled:
"Birthday? Oh, yes."
The stranger came into this world on the 22nd day of the Sunshine Month last June, and it has been almost a year. After a year, it should be Yin Luna's birthday.