The continuous reminders made Xia De even more surprised. The "Green Blessing" was probably the power left by the Tree Father. It couldn't bear the strong power of death in Xia De, so it "cleaned" him a little.
The subsequent perception of so many spiritual runes also showed how powerful the power of the ancient gods was. Just a simple blessing allowed Xia De to almost have eight more spiritual runes.
“Is this a loss or a gain?”
He shook his head, because the half-hour time was counted from the moment the door was opened, so he couldn't delay too long. Feeling the surging and abundant vitality in his body, Xia De took a step forward.
The white mist dispersed, and the light around him dimmed immediately. As the cold wind blew, Shade looked up at the dark night above the valley, at the blood-red moon that seemed like it would fall at any moment.
It was not a blizzard, nor was it the black snow that came with a death curse. What was floating in the darkness was red snow. The ground was completely dyed red, and the red snowflakes as big as goose feathers continued to increase the thickness of the snow underfoot.
The blood-red night was quiet and eerie. Even in the most terrifying stories, it was hard to describe such a horrific scene. No matter where you looked, you could see the blinding red color, and even the air had a faint smell of blood.
This scene, which is enough to drive ordinary people with a strong will crazy, is the "red snow" in the four snowing stages in the Dead Silence Valley. In this weather, the valley will rarely enter the night, and during this period, some strange guests will visit here. Maybe it is a humanoid relic, maybe it is an evil spirit or a demon, or even something more terrifying.
"Except for the safest light snow, I have experienced all the weather conditions here."
The red snow itself did not have a curse, it would only stain clothes, so this time Xia De was not attacked immediately. In the dark night of the silent valley, the light of the bonfire at the entrance of the library in the distance could be seen more clearly.
Because he opened the key in a hurry, he was still wearing thin autumn clothes. The coldness rushed into his body with the strong wind, but Xia De didn't feel how cold it was because of his strong vitality.
He put one hand in front of his face, bent over and walked forward in the snow.
There were countless terrifying things hidden in the darkness. The whispering elements were unprecedentedly abundant around, even more terrifying than the rioting narrow space. Shade didn't dare to light up the silver moon and let the witches come to pick him up. He was afraid that he would be greeted by something else.
He stepped deep and shallow in the red snow, and there was a rustling sound in the violent snowflakes. Xia De felt as if he was being stared at by something, but he didn't dare to look around.
After walking about ten steps, a hoarse voice came from the side:
"Young man, save me."
He glanced to the side and saw an old woman with gray hair, wrinkled face and half-dressed body lying in the snow, holding out her hand to Shade. She looked older than Granny Cassandra, and her hoarse voice and tired expression simply showed that she was about to die.
Relic.
"She" reminded him softly, and Xia De nodded, ignoring the voice and continued to move forward. But the old woman kept chasing him, and she grabbed Xia De's ankle, and the heavy force almost made Xia De think that his right foot was stuck in the ground.
"Young man, save me."
Shade kept his mouth shut and didn't answer. He suddenly lifted his right foot and pulled it out of the boot. Then, with one foot bare, he ran forward:
"Save me, save me~"
The hoarse voice followed closely, as if the old woman with disheveled hair was floating behind him. Xia De didn't know what this relic was, let alone its characteristics, so he didn't even dare to turn around to see what was happening behind him.
Soon they had run halfway, and the light of the bonfire in the red snow was getting closer. But a figure appeared in the snow ahead, a standing figure. When Xia De got closer, he saw that it was a gentleman with a stiff face, melancholy eyes, wearing a decent black suit and walking stick, with a silver badge like a compass hanging on his chest:
“Do you need... help?”
There was no emotion in the tone, and it was actually the demon language used by Dr. Schneider. Shade was shocked and at the same time felt sorry that the doctor was not by his side.
He changed his direction and bypassed the strange man, and the persistent voice for help behind him disappeared after Shade saw the man.
In the short journey that followed, Shad met a merchant holding a basket, a woman hiding in the shadows, and a headless little girl. The human head balloon in the girl's hand looked like her head.
Xia De could only confirm that the merchant was a relic, but could not tell what the latter two were. As if in fear and caution, those strange "people" did not actively attack Xia De, but tried to communicate with him in various ways, but Xia De avoided them one by one.
It was only a few minutes' journey, but when Shad stepped over the warning ceremony set up by the witches at the door and entered the huge entrance hall of the Gaddis Library illuminated by bonfires, he felt that this journey was more difficult than crossing the narrow space of Midhill Castle.
"Finally back again, huh?"
When the light of the bonfire illuminated Shade, he did not hear any voice welcoming him. The Red Dragon Witch was still sleeping in the ice coffin by the wall, and the shrine on the pile of old books was shrouded in firelight, but there was no sign of Miss Orlanod or Miss Becky Samuel of Zalas Academy beside the bright bonfire.
The huge entrance hall of the library had become even more dilapidated than the last time Shade came. Not only that, there were even some sword marks and obvious signs of being hit by heavy objects on the walls. A part of the ceiling was missing, revealing the sunken rock wall behind it, and the floor underfoot was full of stones and gravel, as if a fierce battle had taken place here.
After hesitating for a moment, he first walked to the ice coffin to confirm that Miss Fiona Drago was still sleeping, and then came to the campfire. The flames were still so warm, but the clear yellow moon floating above the flames was gone.
"Where did they go?"
The luggage beside the campfire and the supplies that Shade brought last time were still there, but a lot of them had been consumed. In addition, there was a stone platform with five grooves, which should be the altar that sealed the "Unknown Sacrifice Book", but he did not find any clues such as the notes left by the witches.
In the shadow of the campfire, Shade accidentally found some bloodstains that had been trampled. He did not bother to collect the bloodstains, but took out a wine bottle from his pocket:
"Blood brew!"
The blood automatically flew into the bottle mouth, and Xia De quickly plugged the bottle mouth with a stopper. After gently shaking it a few times, he found that there was very little liquid inside, but there was still a faint aroma of wine after removing the stopper.
He used a spell to draw out the "blood brew" drop by drop, tilted his head back and let it drip into his eyes. Sure enough, very faint red traces appeared in the air, and those bright traces indicated that the witches had gone deep into the ruins of the library.
Xia De hesitated for a moment, picked up a torch beside the campfire, lit it, and followed with the torch in his hand.
I was originally worried that most of the half an hour would be spent searching for the witches, but after leaving the hall, I saw a faint firelight as I turned a corner along the damaged ruins corridor. I hurried over and found that the end of the corridor had collapsed and had become a dead end. If I wanted to move forward, I could only go through the hole in the wall on the side.
In front of the collapse, Miss Samuel sat next to a glass bottle containing a small fireball, sweating profusely as she faced a skinny guy in a black robe.
Miss Orlanod was lying on the other side of the bottle, covered with her black cloak, with her eyes closed and no movement at all.
Hearing the footsteps, Miss Samuel immediately turned around and saw Shade coming with a bonfire. She shook her head to signal Shade not to get close, and Shade also realized that the guy in the black robe was a humanoid relic.
"Miss Orlanod is in a coma? What's going on now..."
He stopped hesitantly, but then walked forward again. When he got closer, he found that between Miss Samuel and the black-robed man, there were three cards arranged in parallel. The cards were a circle larger than the Rhodes cards, and seemed to be facing up, with khaki question marks on the patterns.
The man in black robe had a sallow face and a bald head. When Shade approached, he looked at him:
"Do you want to join in, too?"
The other party's sound was very strange, like the belly of a reptile rubbing against the sand. Being watched by him, the mental pressure was immediately apparent. The other party's level was not lower than the sage level.
"What rules?"
"I am a fortune teller. I have three sets of cards, three cards in each set. You can choose any one to predict your fate. This lady has reached the last set. If you wish, you can replace her..."
"Don't replace me. If you make the wrong choice, you will be cursed by fate!"
Miss Samuel tried to stop him, but Shad still sat down. He didn't have that much time to waste. There were many things to do this time. Not only did he have to free the "Unknown Sacrifice Book" and continue the unfinished story last time, but he also had to learn from the witches the skills to defeat Joey Barton.
"I'll choose the last card for her, but I don't think you're some kind of fortune teller. This is clearly a gambling card."
He handed the torch in his hand to Miss Samuel. In the light of the fire, the witch with glasses looked particularly haggard.
"Choose one of three?"
He confirmed.
"Yes, choose one out of three, but since you are choosing the cards for others, if you choose the card that indicates bad luck, bad luck will befall you both."
Xia De snorted, squinted his eyes and looked at the three cards in front of him. He opened his right hand and swept it over the three cards. He looked very professional, but in fact he felt nothing:
“This one.”
He pointed to the card on the left, and without waiting for the other party to react, he turned it over. But there was nothing on the card, it was a blank card.
"What's the meaning?"
Shade asked, and the fortune-teller in a black robe reached out and took back the card:
"You are lucky."
He stood up, stepped back into the shadows that the firelight could not illuminate, and disappeared.
"What's going on?"
"The black snow turned into red snow without any signs. Britney and I have encountered this situation countless times. It is even more terrifying than what is written in the academy's materials."
Miss Samuel said softly, and when Shade looked at Miss Orlanod, she said again:
"We encountered a demon. Although we repelled it temporarily, we no longer had the strength to fight again, so we had to temporarily leave the hallway and hide here. But then, some terrible things came again..."
She suddenly covered her head:
"I'm sorry, I can't even remember what it was. Britney was unconscious, but she wasn't injured, and I couldn't wake her up."
Shade handed Miss Samuel some water, then reached out and held Miss Orlanod's hand. Her palm was soft and still warm, so the "false immortality" could not work:
“What can you feel?”
Wait a minute... This half-elf's soul is corrupting. She must be healed as soon as possible.
"Soul corruption? This is not a simple injury."
Shade told Miss Samuel the result and then suggested:
"Let's go back to the bonfire first. The demon you were talking about has left. When I came by the fire just now, it was safe there."
He helped Miss Samuel up, and seeing that she was in a bad condition, he bent down again and took the initiative to pick up the unconscious Miss Orlanod. Although the height of this witch with elven blood was only slightly shorter than Shade, her weight was surprisingly light.
Miss Samuel took the small bottle of flame and held the torch in front of her to illuminate the way, and the two of them returned to the bonfire in the hallway.
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