“Can a cat use this relic too?” Xia De asked curiously.
“Of course, any creature with a normal digestive system and a mouth can theoretically use this relic. You can pay the Spirit in advance; your lovely pet is just a normal animal.”
Miss Teresa pushed up her glasses and said, while Miss Violet and the young maid behind her also looked over with interest.
Xia De then held the food bag with both hands and offered it to Mia. The cat unceremoniously stuck its head into the food bag. If Xia De hadn't grabbed its tail, the greedy cat might have completely burrowed inside the bag.
The front half of the cat's body wiggled in the food bag. When Xia De pulled out the displeased Mia, it was holding a piece of dried sausage in its mouth. After Xia De's inspection, he confirmed it was ordinary beef sausage.
This greatly disappointed Miss Violet, who had hoped for a more interesting scene.
“An interesting scene means danger,” Xia De pointed out as he stood up from the bonfire.
“For me, there is no danger,” the Thirteen-Tier Great Witch said with great confidence.
Just like last time, the six maids stayed behind to guard the camp, while Miss Violet set off with the Ten-Tier Miss Teresa and Xia De.
The next part of the journey would be very dangerous, so Xia De turned Mia, who was gnawing on the dried sausage, and the dried sausage itself into a toy and put them into his pocket. Miss Violet led the way, holding the relic 【Item-Finding Compass】 and 【Lucky Iron Cross】, with Miss Teresa and Xia De, who was holding the 【Night Watchman】, following behind her.
The thick fog on Lake Heart Island in Lost Lake was as terrifying as last time, but fortunately, there was no terrifying “giant object falling from the sky” like before. However, Xia De noticed that Lake Heart Island seemed to have changed. Although he occasionally saw plants when he ventured into the fog last time, most of them were short and withered, much like the scenery in the western Huntington area near the Pantanal Great Swamp in early winter.
But this time, as they followed the Witches deeper into the Island, they found that it was covered everywhere with undulating, withered, hard thorny bushes. These thorns were even harder than the special alloy used in steam engine pressure chambers, and just touching them would immediately cause bleeding points on the fingers.
Even the Witch’s flames could hardly burn them away in a short time. Xia De, holding the 【Night Watchman】, used “Moonlight Greatsword” to attach the Moonlight Greatsword to the physical silver sword to clear the path, barely managing to keep their journey from being delayed.
These thorny bushes appeared shortly after Xia De left last time, when Miss Violet and Miss Teresa had already returned to the bonfire camp by the lake. With a muffled thud from the ground, the previously barren land immediately grew lichens, green grass, and flowers, then small ferns, until shrubs and then trees appeared.
Because it was difficult to judge time here, the eight Witches couldn't say how long the “plant evolution” they witnessed actually took. But the appearance of those plants was not to green the area, but to absorb nutrients from the earth, and after the primeval forest appeared, they spawned terrifying evil creatures similar to “corrupted treants.”
In Miss Violet’s words, they were mobile plants covered in disgusting vines and emitting green flames. After these monsters were born, they came into conflict with the eight Witches, followed by a fierce battle.
The thorny bushes covering the Island now were a product of that battle, and although Miss Violet looked fine, she was actually severely depleted. Furthermore, in the Lost Lake area, the recovery of Spirit and stamina becomes incredibly slow. If it weren't for the bag of holy water Xia De brought last time, Miss Violet might not have been able to maintain her current dignified appearance.
Nevertheless, relying on Xia De's “hacking through thorns and brambles” along the way, the three safely arrived at the very center of Lake Heart Island. The hard, withered thorny bushes that covered the ground, like the thick fog on the Island, did not invade the area around the obsidian tower. Therefore, upon arriving at the base of the tower, the three could finally rest for a short while.
Miss Violet adjusted her condition, and Miss Teresa nervously prepared herself to meet the great one again, hanging the relic 【Proof of Faith】 around her neck and praying softly.
Only Xia De looked up at the obsidian tower in front of him. Miss Violet hadn't noticed him at first, but then suddenly realized something:
“I remember last time when you came with us, you didn’t dare to look directly at this tower,” she said softly, standing behind Xia De, afraid of disturbing the existence within the tower.
“People always progress. The me of last time is not the me of now. How interesting, the great one is not on the first floor now, but on the second.”
Xia De frowned slightly:
“What does this mean? A symbolic display that we have to complete the trials step by step? Or does it mean that the great one is moving away from this land, so we need to hurry?”
He turned to ask the Witches, but they didn't know the answer either. Even though they had been living by the bonfire on the lake, able to see the blurry silhouette of the obsidian tower from the edges of the thick fog and thorny bushes, they hadn't constantly paid attention to the tower.
“Yes, hurry up. I really don’t want to stay here for another moment. I miss my soft bed,” Miss Violet said softly. The three tidied their appearances. The Witch Emperor was about to push open the dilapidated wooden board at the base of the tower, but Xia De stopped her:
“No, my condition is better this time. I’ll do it. Miss Violet, you should conserve some stamina. You still have to live here for a long time.”
Xia De left the 【Night Watchman】 outside and stepped forward first. Miss Violet did not contend with him and watched as Xia De pushed open the door. Inside the sealed space, there was wind, and humid water vapor rushed out with the wind, calming the mind as it was inhaled into the lungs, as if all worries had been instantly cast aside.
Miss Violet was about to step forward when she saw Xia De’s profile, which seemed to have a crack blown into it by the wind. Then, golden light surged from the crack in his profile, and specks of light dragged out golden afterglows.
Xia De turned around and waved to the Witches:
“Ladies, I’m going first. Come with me quickly.”
Miss Teresa looked in surprise at Xia De, who was covered in golden cracks, as if burning with golden flames:
“Wasn’t it red flames last time?”
“No, this is not fire,” Miss Violet said, watching Xia De cautiously.
“Although I don’t know what this is either, this is much greater than the fire from last time. Alright, sir, you go first. This time we are going to the second floor of the tower, so please be extra careful ahead.”
“No problem. Although I don’t intend to boast, I have experienced this kind of thing more than once.”
“Sir, we still don’t know your name,” Miss Teresa still remembered this.
Xia De hesitated for a moment:
“Xia De · Su Lun · Han Mi Er Dun.”
“Suren,” Miss Violet looked at him with some surprise, while Miss Teresa nodded, indicating she remembered.
“You just told them your true name?”
“Felianna and Olanorde also know, besides…”
Xia De stepped into the tower, the abundant water vapor almost making him feel as if he were immersed in water:
“The Father of Infinite Trees seems to be intentionally erasing my traces from past epochs. Otherwise, Saint Byron's should have discovered my abnormality long ago.”
The first floor of the tower was still that small lake, with dense water mist swirling on the calm surface, but the table and the great one behind it were no longer in the center of the tower.
“As expected, he went to the second floor,” Xia De thought to himself, turning to look behind him. Miss Violet and Miss Teresa had also caught up.
“The great one is not here,” Xia De said softly. The two Witches nodded slightly.
The three surveyed the first floor of the tower and saw no stairs leading upwards. Looking up, they couldn't see the ceiling at all, only increasingly dense fog.
“Something is wrong there.”
It was still the Thirteen-Tier Witch Emperor whose perception was keen. She pointed to the area opposite the door. As the three approached, Xia De also noticed that the water mist in that area was abnormally dispersed.
He reached out to touch it. When his fingers touched a solid, the shape of steps appeared in the water mist with a mercury-like texture. But when Xia De withdrew his hand, the steps disappeared again.
“Invisible stairs?” Xia De asked in surprise. Miss Violet nodded:
“I once saw the relic 【Stairs to Heaven】, which is very similar to this one in front of us.”
As she spoke, a ball of light flew out of Miss Violet’s right hand. The ball of light appeared from the spot where the steps had just emerged, and then completely passed through. Xia De frowned, tucked his hand into his sleeve, and then used his clothes to touch that area, but he didn't touch anything. When he tried to touch it with his hand again, he touched it immediately.
“It only appears with direct physical contact; without contact, it's as if it doesn't exist. The abnormality of the water mist should be a clue deliberately left for us by the great one, otherwise it would take some effort to find the steps.”
He came to a conclusion.
“But why would the great one do that?” Miss Teresa asked softly.
“Do you think meeting the great one is like visiting a neighbor?” Miss Violet retorted, then looked at Xia De:
“Will you go first or shall I?”
“I'll go first,” Xia De said, bending slightly and reaching out with both hands. After a few probes, with the touch of his palms, mercury rippled, outlining a small part of the stairs again. Xia De noted the position, but when he lifted his foot to step again, he found he was still treading on air.
“Yes, shoes.”
Xia De immediately understood and took off his boots and socks.
He then turned to the two ladies and said:
“You two should also take off your shoes and socks like me. Oh, this really feels like going on a pilgrimage. Some time ago, when I visited a White-robed Lady who lived in the lake, the blind nun accompanying me took off her boots; and I heard that in some rural areas, people specifically clean their feet before entering a church and walk barefoot towards the holy emblem. I should turn my head.”
He slapped his own head. Miss Teresa, her face slightly red, then awkwardly bent down to take off her shoes and socks. Miss Violet looked at Xia De’s back with great interest; it was her first time seeing such a man.
Even in the fifth epoch, ladies’ feet were still a part of the body that should not be casually seen.
