“We found a cave entrance on the cliff face of Forest Knoll, betting it was some animal’s den. Unable to agree, we climbed in together to investigate, and then—”
Mr. Riddle showed a sad expression, but his memories became clearer:
“Only I survived. The dragon probably thought we were trying to steal its things and chased me for a long time before being driven away by a Witch living in the Black Forest. But that Witch then said that I had attracted the dragon and caused it to burn down the forest, forcing me to sign a contract. Every year, I have to replant a hundred saplings in the forest until my death or until all the losses are compensated. If I don't go, my soul will constantly feel the pain of being burned. I finished replanting this year’s quota before setting off on this trip. Next year, the year after, and the year after that, I still have to continue. This has become my lifelong responsibility, which is why I can recall this experience.”
Xia De kept a straight face and offered no comment. Judging by the Witches' level of disdain for men in the fifth epoch, Mr. Riddle being merely punished to replant saplings annually was a very minor penalty indeed.
Observing the new playing card again, Xia De, whose body had faint glowing marks, looked at the God across the table. He sat there silently, and as the light flickered, a new card appeared in the groove on the tabletop in front of the God. On the card was a graceful, black-haired Witch, standing with a sword in front of a temple.
From the 【Dragon's Calamity】 card, a crimson light flowed, and from the second Witch's card, a bright white light flowed.
Not only crimson and white, but the black and gold from the first two cards also flowed into more grooves on the tabletop. Eventually, the four colors of light converged in the center of the table through dozens of grooves.
The dragon roared, surrounded by a large number of evil spirits, and began to battle the illusory figures of the two Witches in the center of the table.
The flames spewed by the dragon forced the Witches to resist together. But the holy sword in the Witches' hands could also cause great damage to the dragon and evil spirits.
Spells, dragon flames, curses, holy swords—various strange lights and sounds produced scenes that ordinary people could not even imagine. Although they were just illusions, the light effects caused by the extraordinary power were not diminished at all. Just watching this battle, one could imagine its destructive power.
This battle still lasted for about five minutes before temporarily stopping with a slight victory for Mr. Riddle's side.
Mr. Riddle's eyes widened as he looked at the table, while Xia De, who was keeping track of the time, transformed all the water containers in his pocket from toys back into real objects, then filled them with water using a spell:
“Mr. Riddle, I must leave temporarily.”
The conversation had been a bit long; twenty minutes were almost up. But it was enough; Xia De had already figured out the key point of this time travel.
“What? No, please don’t leave me!”
Mr. Riddle immediately stood up in a panic, wanting to grab Xia De’s hand with a bewildered expression, but saw Xia De floating backward in a strange posture, moving away from the stone table.
The candle across the table extinguished, and half of the room plunged back into eerie darkness.
Mr. Riddle, of course, couldn't see that a white mist, calling Xia De home, had already appeared behind him.
“When I’m not here, please try your best to recall your past. I will help you search for your experiences in another time and space. Mr. Riddle, your life experiences are truly fascinating.”
Xia De waved to the middle-aged man, who was now somewhat terrified and frantic.
“But please don’t leave me! Don’t leave me alone here! Don’t leave me to fear!”
Mr. Riddle tried to grab Xia De's hand again, but missed, as Xia De's figure became transparent.
“Please believe me, Mr. Riddle, I will definitely return. When I'm not here, please do not continue the gamble on your own. Carefully recall your past; that is your life, that is your strength. Recalling will help you overcome fear.”
Xia De shouted loudly, half of his body already swallowed by the white mist:
“May the Father of Infinite Trees and Mr. Huan—”
His voice and figure completely disappeared together. Mr. Riddle stood there stunned until he saw the water-filled containers Xia De left behind, confirming that everything that had just happened was not an illusion. Then he shook his head like an old dog that had fallen into water.
He turned to look at the darkness on the other side of the table. He didn't know if the darkness was empty, or if the black-robed God was still sitting there.
His robe brushed against the wall, and Mr. Riddle walked to the wall somewhat dejectedly, leaning against it like the corpses:
“—bless you and me.”
He finished the words Xia De had left unsaid.
(Mia running)
Xia De walked backward out from behind the bedroom door. Before the cat, who was peeking around, could extend its paw, Xia De bent down and picked her up.
This third experience of time travel seemed simpler than the previous two.
There was no connection spanning thousands of years with Xia De; this experience truly seemed to be just a simple act of helping an unfortunate ordinary person.
This was not difficult for Xia De. He didn't need to consider the impact of the subsequent investigation on himself, nor did he need to worry about his secret being discovered. All he had to do was investigate the life of a person named Slitch Riddell.
Two of the ten grooves had already been filled, which meant that for every four life experiences he found, he could activate a key. And eight sufficiently remarkable life experiences would probably be enough for him to complete the third task from the Father of Infinite Trees.
“But if that’s the case, what’s the meaning of this mission?”
This was the point Xia De couldn't understand. In the first mission, the Outsider left a fairy tale from another land in the past; in the second mission, he helped a Witch of the fifth epoch who held the most important historical position. But this time, no matter how he looked at it, he couldn't see any significance for time and space.
“Strange.”
Stroking the cat in his arms, Xia De frowned:
“Could it be that Mr. Slitch Riddell also played some significant role in history? But was there any famous man with that name in the fifth epoch?”
Spanning over five thousand years of time, if Slitch Riddell wasn't an important figure, Xia De's chances of finding him were extremely low.
“Or perhaps, this time travel simply doesn't need meaning; it's truly just a random arrangement by the Father of Infinite Trees?”
After standing by the window for a while, Xia De thought about writing and submitting this investigation report to the academy before going to sleep.
The events of the fifth epoch in 1784 provided by Professor Garcia were completely unrelated to Xia De's experience. The long letter described the story of an unknown Witch searching for documents to prepare for the ritual of the Flower God's descent.
Xia De planned to write in his submitted report that he met Mr. Riddle, who was preparing to return home from Terror Castle. This way, this investigation would appear to the academy as a genuine Poet Grade incident, which would not arouse further suspicion from the academy, but would also allow the academy to help investigate “Terror Castle” and Mr. Riddle.
“Hmm, I always feel that this matter won’t be that simple.”
