With trembling hands, he reached into his coat's pocket to find the toy, but even with three layers of heavy cotton clothing wrapped around him, the bone-chilling cold was still unbearable.
Xia De then realized that this kind of coldness was a characteristic of this special place called "Dead Silence Valley". Otherwise, with his current physical fitness, he would not be able to endure this kind of coldness.
If you hadn't drunk the blood brew of the "Ice Crystal Butterfly" at the God's cocktail party to increase your cold resistance, the situation would probably be even worse now.
"She" also reminded in my ear.
Now is not a good time to discuss issues standing in the snow. Although the snow layer in the valley in front of us is almost completely flat and there is no trace of human activity, the light of a campfire can be vaguely seen in the cave ruins on the curved cliffs on both sides of the valley in front of us. At the same time, it seems to be the entrance to the entire library ruins.
Generally speaking, although the Infinite Tree Father likes to drop Shade at a distance from the real event location, it is never too far from the real event location. Since he saw the fire, Shade knew where his destination was.
"It's really cold..."
I sighed in my heart and walked forward in the snow with difficulty. I had just taken two steps when I felt myself tripped by something hard under the snow.
After a second of hesitation, he put his hand into the snow and pulled the heavy, cold object out of the snow. What he saw was a completely stiff, frozen corpse. It was a male corpse, wearing a robe, with dark skin and eyes staring upwards.
"oh!"
Xia De quickly threw the body away and was no longer curious about what was under the snow.
The main entrance of the library has long disappeared, and only black holes remain of the library carved into the cliff, standing quietly in the snow like an abandoned beehive.
The deep building was dead silent, and a crackling bonfire was lit on the flat stone floor inside the main entrance. Around it were crooked and abandoned graystone bookshelves, as well as relics left by adventurers of past generations. Even the huge rectangular entrance door frame seemed a little crooked. Only the faded murals on the walls and the traces of the ether lamps on the ceiling could show the former glory of this place.
Sitting by the warm campfire were three witches who looked young.
The witch with yellow hair was wearing a brown robe, holding her legs with both hands, staring at the fire in front of her absentmindedly. Her ears were a little pointed, and because of the action of holding her legs, the edge of the robe that seemed to be burned was pulled up, revealing a pair of black lace-up women's long cloth boots. She sat facing the heavy snow outside the door.
A girl with red hair and a thick red tail behind her, wearing a white shirt and a thin plaid skirt that were not suitable for the season, was kneeling on the right side of the yellow-haired witch. The only clothing she had was the fur vest on her shoulders to keep warm. She leaned forward towards the bonfire, seemingly tending to the fire, but also like she was observing something through the flames.
The third witch, who had long golden hair that looked like it hadn't been washed for a long time, sat on the left side of the yellow-haired witch. She looked the most... ... slovenly, also wearing a brown robe and a pair of round-framed glasses. She sat on a pile of old books, and beside her was a pile of old books that was as tall as her body after she sat down, protecting her from the wind and snow blowing from the door.
Because the wind and snow kept sweeping in from outside the huge old door of the library, traces of unmelted snow and wet marks could be seen on the pile of old books.
None of the three witches spoke, only the whistling sound of the wind outside the door continued to echo. They all looked unwell, and their numb expressions showed that they had probably stayed here for a long time.
Suddenly, the red-haired girl tending the fire moved her ears, then turned her head sharply to look outside the door:
"Teacher, there are footsteps!"
The yellow-haired witch with pointed ears facing the door and the blonde witch sitting among the books also looked up. In the almost pure white world, behind the goose-feather-like snow curtain, a black figure was walking towards them step by step with difficulty.
"oh?"
The witch wearing round-framed glasses squinted her eyes with the help of the special glasses and was the first to see the figure walking in the snow:
"Why do you look like a man?"
The figure was getting closer and closer. Although it looked a little funny that he occasionally tripped over things under the snow, he was undoubtedly walking towards here.
"Teacher, I didn't feel the man approaching."
The red-haired girl with a tail said to the yellow-haired witch, who stared absentmindedly at the snow outside the door, then stood up with the help of the ground, the hem of her robe covering her pair of black lace-up cloth boots.
At this time, the three of them also saw the approaching man, who was raising his arms to cover his face to block the cold snowflakes from hitting his head.
"He is..."
The yellow-haired witch walked around the fire and headed towards the crooked and deformed door.
"Brianne, is this someone you know?"
The witch with round-frame glasses asked curiously:
"You actually met someone you know in this kind of place? Fiona, when did your teacher meet a man?"
The red-haired girl shook her head slightly, and then the two of them stood up and followed the yellow-haired witch with pointy ears to the door.
The huge door frame, where the door panel could no longer be found, seemed to be a dividing line. None of the three people stepped out, but watched the man in bulky clothes approach step by step.
The yellow-haired witch gradually showed a surprised expression on her face, and then that expression turned into a gentle smile. As Xia De approached, he also noticed the three ladies standing at the door.
Even though the pendant that can detect witches cannot be brought to this era, he can still determine that these three are witches.
"Am I dazzled? Why does that young red-haired girl have a big tail behind her?"
He looked at them from under his arms, examining the faces of the three people one by one. Then he paused, walked across the heavy snow, and looked at the yellow-haired lady in her twenties who was standing in the front.
Both of them stood there in a daze, and then Shade quickened his pace and walked forward. In the surprised eyes of the blonde witch with round-frame glasses and the red-haired witch with a tail, he finally arrived outside the door.
The yellow-haired witch stretched out her hand, grabbed the somewhat cold right hand that Shade extended, and pulled him into the door from outside the defense and alert rituals they had set up.
It was as if a layer of water film had been broken through. Although they were two interconnected spaces, the inside of the door frame was unusually dry and warm. Even the crackling sound of the burning bonfire made Xia De feel comfortable.
He stamped his feet to shake the cold snow off the bottoms of his boots, and also patted his hair and shoulders to prevent the melting snow from soaking his clothes.
Now I have time to look up and say hello:
"Hello, ladies."
Not caring whether the other party could understand him or not, he greeted the strange red-haired girl with a tail and the blonde lady with round-framed glasses. Then, with some nostalgia, he looked at the witch with long yellow hair and pointed ears.
The pointed ears are a symbol of elven blood, and the patterns on the robe that look like vines and branches sewn with fine threads are unique decorations of elves. These are all told to Shad by the elven knowledge.
And there was only one witch with elven blood that he knew in the past:
"Long time no see, Miss Britney Olanord."
"haven't seen you for a long time... ... "
The Moon Witch said the same thing, she seemed to understand the Draerion language, and there was an indescribable feeling in her golden eyes.
This lady, who was one-eighth elven, looked the same as she did 22 years ago. Her rosy lips slightly opened, and she read out the name in a hoarse voice:
"...Shad Suren Hamilton."