It was 11:50 PM, ten minutes before the end of the week. Xia De sat in the unlit living room, toying with the time key carefully selected by Professor Garcia.
The weather was pleasant tonight, and Moonlight streamed into the living room through the window. The three-colored Moonlight blended together, casting a somewhat peculiar glow on Xia De's legs and on the back of the cat sprawled across them.
Mia was an orange and white cat, with her back patterns predominantly orange. As Xia De had observed when he first saw her on the rooftop, she looked like a white cat draped in an orange blanket.
Her fur had an excellent luster, seeming to reflect light whether in sunlight or Moonlight. Since Xia De had a new time adventure tonight and couldn't sleep early, Mia didn't go to the bedroom alone but instead dozed on Xia De's lap.
She certainly wasn't asleep. Xia De even thought that if he were to suddenly shout in the current silence, the cat would surely jump up in fright.
Of course, he wouldn't do that.
Thinking about his relationships with his friends, and about The Chosen and his path to godhood, the grandfather clock in the corner and the City clock tower in the distance simultaneously chimed midnight. Xia De patted Mia's backside, and she meowed, reluctantly moving her short legs to climb off his lap and jump onto the sofa.
"Mia, see you in three seconds."
With that, Xia De walked towards the bedroom door. But this time, he didn't immediately insert the key; he hesitated for a moment.
【What are you considering?】
"According to past patterns, this will definitely involve an Old God again. I'm wondering which one it will be this time."
【Won't you know soon enough?】
"You're right. May the World Tree bless me in time."
He turned the key, and as the bedroom door opened, white mist floated out like willow catkins. He thought again about these special spaces:
"Mr. Edmund said that the Guiding Light Hermitage believes the spaces left behind by the Thirteen Ancient Gods are the last refuges. Why exactly do they say that?"
Stepping into the white mist, a familiar voice immediately sounded in his ear:
【Outsider, you have entered the Time Corridor.】
【Message from the Old God, Father of Infinite Trees:】
【fifth epoch, 1784 Winter, North Continent, Terror Castle.】
【Event: The Bet - Game of Life.】
【Duration: Twenty minutes (1/3).】
"South Continent - Hope Town, West Continent - Thousand Tree Forest, and now North Continent - Terror Castle. The fourth time key a month from now, surely it won't be the East Continent?"
【You have gained additional information.】
【The Father of Infinite Trees watches you.】
【The Old God of Time gives you a trial.】
【Help a mortal win the 'Game of Life' bet.】
【The Father of Infinite Trees will give you a reward: Miracle - Breath of Years, and a piece of real information - Dark Dungeon.】
"Dark Dungeon? This mission actually doesn't mention a god."
Xia De muttered, and after confirming there was no other information, he took a step forward.
The surrounding white mist quickly dissipated, and his feet landed on uneven stone bricks. The light from the white mist faded, and the light suddenly dimmed. The dim yellow light of an oil lamp made Xia De a little uncomfortable.
Once his vision fully recovered, he immediately noticed a decaying smell permeating the air. Looking around, he was standing in a narrow, elongated passage.
The ground was paved with gray flagstones, but they were already uneven from the erosion of years. The surrounding walls and the ceiling, about 3 meters high, were all dark gray stone walls that seemed about to turn to powder.
A slight touch immediately covered his hand with dust.
Square niches were placed at intervals along the walls, each holding an oil lamp. The light from these lamps was no bigger than a soybean, so looking forward, areas of light and darkness connected in segments.
Perhaps there were once murals on the walls, but nothing was visible now.
The temperature was a bit low, and Xia De sniffed. Since he wasn't outdoors, he could only choose to go forward or backward. According to the direction he came from, continuing forward made sense, but Xia De was still curious and looked behind him.
Behind him was an identical narrow and ancient stone passage, but no oil lamps were lit. Xia De looked into the darkness that extended into an unknown area, and then suddenly saw a pair of crimson eyes in that darkness.
He wasn't a timid person and had witnessed far more bizarre sights in this world. But upon seeing those eyes, his body instinctively trembled with fear; those eyes possessed the power to directly evoke the deepest fears within a person.
As it drew closer, the oil lamps around Xia De immediately flickered. Although he didn't know the consequences of the lamps going out, Xia De immediately ran forward.
The oil lamps behind him extinguished one by one, and the flames ahead also swayed. Xia De felt a chill, as if to freeze his soul, gradually encroaching upon his back, and that chill became increasingly pronounced.
"Seriously, why can't the Father of Infinite Trees just send me directly to the destination? It's always like this, Silver Moon!"
He pointed a hand behind him, and as the silver Moonlight erupted, the chill behind him indeed receded a bit. And the end of the passage finally appeared ahead: a closed reddish-brown metal door, with empty spaces and decorative patterns on it, only a flipped coin symbol.
Xia De was ready to pick the lock, but to his surprise, when he rushed to the door, it opened with a gentle push.
He quickly darted into the room, then turned and firmly closed the door. He braced his body against the door, but whatever was outside showed no intention of impacting the door.
In fact, even pressing his ear against the door, he couldn't hear any sound from outside.
Feeling slightly relieved, Xia De turned to look inside the room and saw a man with a weathered face, who looked like he hadn't washed his hair or bathed in months, standing by a square stone table, staring at him in astonishment.
The interior style of the room was basically consistent with the passage outside: the floor was uneven square flagstones, with Ashes filling the cracks, and the ceiling and surrounding walls were rough, unplastered stone.
The room wasn't large, roughly similar to Xia De's bedroom. A square stone table was placed in the center, and there was no other complete furniture.
There were some wooden furniture remnants by the wall, but they looked like they had been broken for hundreds of years. Along the right wall were dozens of corpses; judging by their state of decomposition, they had died at various times, but all uniformly remained in a position of leaning against the wall.
An oil lamp was placed on the edge of the stone table closest to Xia De, serving as the room's only light source. But the light from this oil lamp was still as small as a soybean, and strangely, it only illuminated Xia De and the stranger's half of the room, while the other side of the room was completely covered by thick Darkness.
"Man?"
As the other party scrutinized Xia De, Xia De also scrutinized him. There were no males capable of using extraordinary power in the fifth epoch, so the other party must just be an ordinary person.
He wore a dirty brown robe whose original color was indistinguishable, was barefoot, and had his head wrapped in a turban. His brown eyes were ordinary, but his thick eyebrows left an impression on Xia De.
"You...hello?"
The stranger used the language of the fifth epoch, attempting to greet Xia De. His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time.
"Hello, I'm sorry, I don't think you understand me."
Xia De replied. This time his companion wasn't a witch, which had its advantages, but the disadvantage was that they couldn't communicate at all.
"No, no, I understand! There's a special rule in this castle: as long as the language used isn't one with extraordinary power, everyone can understand it! May I ask, are you human?"
The barefoot stranger in the robe asked cautiously. Xia De looked at him in surprise, nodded, and approached the stone square table from the shadow of the doorway:
"Of course I'm human, but are you human?"
He extended his hand to the other party, and the man flinched back, then gave Xia De an embarrassed smile:
"Sorry, I've encountered too many strange things here. Yes, I'm also human. It's great to meet a companion here."
He extended a hand that hadn't been washed in a very long time and grasped Xia De's hand.
【Ordinary human.】
The smile on Xia De's face became even more sincere.
The man's name was Slitch Riddell, and he claimed to be a scholar and a Prophet. Considering the time period of the fifth epoch, his so-called "Prophet" was probably similar to the Demon Scholar Sean Asmon whom Xia De had met at the Pink Rose Inn in Coldwater Port.
Mr. Riddell had probably truly not met another human for a long time. After confirming, or rather, forcing himself to believe that Xia De was genuinely not some strange entity, he began to tell him his story voluminously.
He knew this was Terror Castle on the North Continent, but he couldn't explain in detail what "Terror Castle" actually was. On one hand, this bizarre place eroded people's memories; on the other, this Prophet genuinely seemed not to know.
Mr. Slitch Riddell, while poring over ancient documents, accidentally learned the general location of Terror Castle, which "sealed ancient Knowledge, secrets, and evil." With the thought that he had nothing else to do and might as well go out and explore, he set off from his hometown on the East Continent and embarked on an adventure.
Although he originally considered this outing merely a study tour and didn't hold much hope of reaching his destination, after experiencing a series of unbelievable events, this gentleman truly found this place.
This turbaned middle-aged man admitted to Xia De that he could no longer remember how long he had stayed in this bizarre place. The constantly changing terrain inside the castle had made him lost and panicked, and the terrifying and evil things he encountered within it made him not dare to recall them at all.
In fact, Xia De merely tried to ask about his experiences during that time, which caused him to start screaming and praying hysterically out of fear.
Terror Castle, like Hope Town and Thousand Tree Forest, affected the memories and consciousness of humans who stayed there for long periods. And very unfortunately, the men of the fifth epoch were not as lucky as the three children to be blessed by a benevolent god, nor were they as powerful as the two witches centuries later.
If Xia De had appeared any later, he might not even have been able to learn these most basic facts.
