Although she did not plan to stay here that night, Dorothy decided to have dinner with Shad before leaving.
So during the evening trading, Dorothy was still at 6 St. Teresa's Square, helping Shad observe the entire square through the living room window.
Xia De calculated the time and went outside with the suitcase of money. As the sun was setting, pigeons were waiting to be fed in the square, and the vendors who had not left were waiting for the last batch of customers of the day.
As Shad walked past the flock of pigeons, they suddenly flew up and flew over his head when Shad reached the fountain.
After waiting for a while, I saw Mr. Randall walking towards me from the intersection on the west side of the square with a briefcase.
"I will not reveal the secrets of your organization, but I also hope that other people in the monastery, except for the people I meet, will not know my identity."
This was the request that Shade put forward before the transaction. The two men shook hands in front of the statue of a girl holding a water bottle in the sunset. Half of their faces were illuminated by the sunset, and the rest were hidden in the darkness.
"Of course, please don't mention the Priory to anyone. We haven't shown up for a long time. But if you want to trade again in the future, you can go directly to the address on my business card to find me. We welcome any fair trade. If you can't find me, you can also go to this person, but be careful, this old gentleman's temper is not as good as mine."
Mr. Randall handed Shad a business card, the business card of Old John's Pawn Shop.
The corner of Xia De's mouth twitched, and he actually felt that he was not surprised at all:
"Mr. John, do you know my identity?"
"I know. He asked me to write it down. That's the look on your face when he gave you the business card."
After exchanging the items with Mr. Randall, neither of them checked them on the street, as they both believed that there would be no problem with the transaction.
"Also, these bills are not in consecutive numbers, so you can spend them as you like."
Xia De said, and the secretary of the University Union nodded with a serious expression:
"Okay, Mr. Hamilton, I also want to remind you. Although I know you are only doing this for research, if you are really crazy enough to try this summoning ritual, you must be careful. Even among the summoning rituals we have come across, this is an extremely dangerous one. The ritual is divided into two stages, and once you forget a very important thing, it will cause extremely bad results."
"Of course I won't call on the gods. But forget..."
Xia De narrowed his eyes. The questions that had arisen under the giant tree were actually answered at this moment.
"Mr. Randall, is the second stage the fairy tale you mentioned?"
The middle-aged man nodded:
"Yes, it's 'The Kiss of the Tree'. In some versions of the story, the entire content of the ceremony is clearly stated. For example, 'The Coconut Story Collection' published in 1200, 'Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales Appreciation' by Carsenrick, and 'The Complete Collection of Ancient Fairy Tales of Delarion', of which only a few manuscripts are currently circulating."
For some reason, Xia De didn't feel surprised at all at this moment:
"A Complete Collection of Ancient Fairy Tales from Delarian?"
"Do you have this book?"
Mr. Randall asked in surprise.
"I see."
It all makes sense.
When the time came to midnight, Xia De, who was lying on the sofa with his face covered with a book, sat up suddenly, forcing the cat that was lying on his stomach to jump aside.
He took a look at the scattered documents on the desk. In addition to the information that Shade had bought at a high price, there was also a reply from the librarian, the Red Moon Witch. Shade had asked Miss Danister about the original founders of the academy, but she did not give a specific answer, but gave some information about the tradition of the librarian's position.
Everything was almost as he thought, and at the same time, many doubts in the past could be explained.
After tidying up the clothes that were wrinkled from lying down for too long, Xia De picked up the cat that had been woken up and became energetic again, and comforted it. Then he left the cat on the sofa and walked towards the bedroom door alone.
Take out the cracked key of the Universal Calendar Year 3005:
"This is probably the last time I see Miss Feliana... May the World Tree protect me in the infinite time... Mia, don't scream. You've seen me do this before. See you in three seconds."
"Meow~"
Xia De complained about his cat, yawned, turned the door in front of him, and walked into the white mist door in front of him.
Stranger, you have stepped into the "Corridor of Time".
Message from the ancient god "Father of the Infinite Tree":
Autumn of the year 3002 of the Fifth Era, Western Continent, Forest of Thousand Trees.
Event: God-summoning Ritual - Contact the old god "Gate of Transformation".
Duration: thirty minutes (3/3).
You get additional information.
The figure of the Infinite Tree Father continues to watch over you.
The tests given to you by the Ancient God of Time will continue.
Assist mortals to complete the ritual of summoning gods - contact the old god "The Gate of Transformation".
The Father of the Infinite Tree will give you rewards: the truth of a piece of history (the Witch War at the end of the Fifth Era), Thaumaturgy - Space Stability Aura.
There was white mist all around, but Shade did not immediately step into the Thousand Trees Forest.
Any other questions
She asked softly in his ear.
Xia De looked at the white mist in front of him:
"I was just thinking, in front of the old gods, even a powerful mortal like Miss Filianna would make such a mistake. Mortals are too fragile in front of gods."
She chuckled in his ear, and Shade shook his head. He took a step forward, and the white mist slowly dissipated. The dark forest gradually became clearer, and the whispers came almost immediately. At the same time, in the deep darkness, the twisted branches were like the hands of a corpse in a horror story, and the dense tree trunks seemed to have grown terrible eyes.
"Silver Moon!"
He spoke softly without panic, the moonlight from his fingertips barely illuminating the front. Like the lower cabin of the fishbone pirate ship, this forest could also suppress the moonlight of Shade, a phenomenon that had occurred last time.
The red-gold bonfire light could not be seen through the gaps between the surrounding trees. If we walked around rashly, we would get lost in the forest of thousands of trees.
Last time, I unexpectedly encountered the Moon Witch. The silver moon represents the opposite concepts of holiness and evil, while the yellow moonlight represents the opposite concepts of guidance and confusion. The Moon Witch can move in the forest, but Shade cannot.
Fortunately, the witches had told Shade what to do last time.
Keeping the light on his fingertips, Shade pulled out the holy silver two-handed sword from the air around him. With one hand, he stabbed the sword into the soft soil under his feet, and the feeling was very much like stabbing into flesh and blood.
Keeping this posture unchanged, he chanted quietly:
"The moonlight guides me, may the silver moon be with me."
After waiting for a long time, the light of the campfire appeared silently in the gap between the trees in front of him. The Moon Witch left power around the open space under the giant tree. As long as Shade activated similar power nearby, he would be able to get guidance.
Xia De put away his sword, walked over, pushed aside the bushes, and finally came to the open space under the giant tree.
Under the tree trunks, a bonfire flickered and someone was singing softly, and the rustling treetops seemed to be singing along with the song:
"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?"
"Holding up the snow on the top of the snow, watching the sun in the depths of the desert."
"If you could meet us, dear girl~~"
“Please call our names softly and ask any questions you have.”
"Where the lilies are in bloom, or, westward where the sunflowers are."
"Please wear your beautiful dress and hold the purple thyme."
"The people who love you and the people you love are all here, in this palace filled with sunshine."
This was probably a folk song among witches from the Fifth Epoch, but it sounded a little sad for some reason.
Three hooded ladies sat around a campfire, and it was Miss Felianna who was singing.
As the singing stopped, only Miss Feliana turned to look at Shade, while the other figures just trembled. It seemed that the forest was increasingly encroaching on them.
Everything here is still the same. Powder is sprinkled on the ground with the campfire as the center for warning. Next to the campfire where the witches are sitting are two small tents, a kettle, a small mirror, a wooden box, a basin for soaking clothes and other daily necessities.
The wood was piled up into a small hill on the side, but no matter how bright the bonfire was, it could not save the dull spirit.
Shade nodded to Miss Feliana under the hood, stood there hesitantly looking at the giant tree, and then walked over.
The positions of the three witches are very interesting. They are not close together, but sitting in different directions. The giant tree witch sits under the tree trunk, 90 degrees counterclockwise is Miss Feliana, and the moon witch sits opposite the giant tree witch.
Xia De walked over quietly, not wanting to disturb the peace at the moment.
Sitting down by the crackling campfire, Shade chose a seat opposite Miss Feliana and next to the two young witches.
"Good evening, ladies."
He whispered in this place without daylight.
"Good evening."
Miss Feliana responded. The bonfire was not very strong and the two could see each other's faces.
There was no concept of time here, so Shade did not ask how long he had been gone. He looked at the faces of the witches under the light of the campfire, each of them looked exhausted.
After a long while, Xia De sighed slightly, reached into the inner pocket of his coat, and took out the "Derraion Ancient Fairy Tales Collection" from his pocket.
Placing the book on his lap, he asked softly:
"Can you still hear my voice now?"
"Can."
Still only Miss Felina was speaking.
"Ms. Feliana, I've been a little curious since the first time I came here. Why, why are there only two single-person tents here when there are three of you? Did they get lost when we entered the forest, just like the ritual items?"
The three faces under the hoods all looked at him, two of them with beautiful eyes filled with confusion.
Obviously, they were not aware of this problem until Xia De brought it up.