"Door Key... but what does this spell have to do with the Old God's story?"
The voice in his ear didn't answer Xia De; instead, thick white mist had already appeared behind him.
The three Witches' singing didn't stop. They stood by the bonfire, watching the Outsider gradually being swallowed by the white mist. Each of their eyes seemed to glow as they offered Xia De their sincere blessings:
"Traveler from a foreign land, may your figure always be in the wind that sweeps across the world."
"Man of the future, may you always see the rising sun each morning."
"Unexpected guest, may time be with you, and may the silver moon always favor you."
Amidst the sound of the piano and singing, the white mist swallowed Xia De. He departed, but the Witches' voices seemed to traverse that forest, cross the river of time. Even though Xia De was already standing in Saint Delan Square, those songs still seemed to Echo in his ears.
"Meow?"
The Mia cat, lying on the sofa, saw Xia De emerge from the door with a thoughtful expression. She rolled over, revealing her snow-white belly, meowing to attract him.
Xia De sighed and walked towards the Mia cat, who was acting spoiled on the sofa:
"Their singing..."
"How was it?"
"It was even better than an opera."
"Are you worried you won't hear it again?"
She chuckled softly.
"Of course, I wouldn't think that. Your voice is even more pleasant than theirs. I was just thinking, we know Felianna will not die in the Thousand Tree Forest, but I wonder if the other two Witches will be able to leave there alive."
The establishment of Saint Byron's dated back to the previous epoch. Due to the loss of history, even if Xia De had consulted the material, he couldn't confirm who the students beside Felianna were when the academy was first founded.
It had just passed midnight. Xia De sat on the sofa and picked up the spoiled Mia cat:
"Even though this time travel isn't facing a Old God, I feel the pressure isn't any less than the first time."
"Do you have confidence in completing the mission?"
She asked softly in his ear.
"Of course, I have confidence. At worst, I'll delay it by a month. Although it's a waste of time, Felianna helped me, and I will help her too."
He lowered his head and realized that the Metamorphosis Ring was somehow on Mia's tail.
Xia De smiled and took off the ring. Amidst Mia's dissatisfied meows, he placed the Mia cat back on the sofa. He then took the ring into the hidden wall in the basement and placed it by the wall.
He didn't leave but looked at the sage-level relic, god's gift box, also placed there. It was Monday, and the children could receive one gift from the box each week.
Xia De really liked this kind of "lucky draw" activity. Although he had to complete some tasks to get a gift, he was quite confident in himself.
For a sense of ritual, he specifically carried the box to the coffee table on the second floor. After washing his hands, he gently pushed open the lid and reached his arm inside.
"What will it be? Do I have the luck to get a relic?"
Under Mia's curious gaze, Xia De's hand slowly withdrew. Both the man and the Mia cat looked at that hand, which held a plump, red apple.
This was not a special item disguised as an apple; it was truly just an apple. Xia De looked at it, took a bite, and the taste was quite good. Mia saw Xia De eating and immediately pawed at him, so Xia De gave her a small piece.
"But why would it give me an apple?"
Xia De fell into deep thought, and the task to obtain the apple was to brush his teeth thoroughly before bed for three consecutive days.
(Mia sleeping Zz...)
The key to completing the 3002 time key was for Xia De to complete the ritual in the sixth epoch—contacting the Old God - yaobian gate. Among the current two approaches, finding new blood money would likely require going to Coldwater Port, as Luvia had already searched Tobesk and its surrounding areas thoroughly and had already placed a bounty in the black market. As for finding the ancient organization Guiding Light Hermitage, he would need to ask friends involved in academia for help. Academic groups studying doomsday theories couldn't be found by simply placing an advertisement in a newspaper.
So, on Monday morning, Xia De visited Professor Manning, who lived at 17 Cat Tail Lane. He and Professor Manning had initially met because of the dream pen of joy, but later they met again at an academic conference and got along quite well, so it was acceptable to call them friends now.
Since it was Monday, Xia De arrived very early, worried that the professor might be out. Soon after he knocked, the familiar plump maid opened the door. The professor had just finished breakfast and was wearing casual clothes and slippers, sitting in the dining room reading the newspaper. It seemed he had no plans to go out that morning.
When Xia De approached him, the professor was still pointing at the obituary of Antony Wograve, the chief of police of Leedweich Field, in the newspaper, complaining about Tobesk's public safety:
"Detective, I've lived in this City for fifty years, and this is the first time I've encountered Cultists killing hundreds of people in one night, even killing the chief of police. I even suspect I've returned to my youth, running off to a remote town where I was excavating ruins, and getting involved in the death of the town's sheriff and the local foolish townsfolk..."
He mumbled, not clearly finishing the latter half of his sentence, but Xia De seemed to hear the words "gunfight" and "corpse." It seemed the archaeologist's youth was not as peaceful as that of an ordinary scholar.
Professor Manning was very talkative, so Xia De didn't immediately state the purpose of his visit. Instead, he and the professor discussed the terrible events of the previous week. Professor Manning fully accepted the newspaper's narrative, cursing the Cultists while also expressing dissatisfaction with the sluggishness of Leedweich Field, MI6, and the church.
In his opinion, citizens should be protected since they pay taxes. And the events of a week and a half ago fully demonstrated that the City Hall definitely did not use all the tax money in appropriate ways.
It was then that Xia De realized the professor's true complaint was about the kingdom's tax policy. He believed that professors' salaries should enjoy special tax exemptions, instead of paying full taxes like ordinary people.
To ask Professor Manning for help, Xia De used the excuse that he was handling a troublesome commission and therefore needed to obtain some information from scholars who studied doomsday theories.
Professor Manning was a very optimistic person and somewhat disliked the so-called "doomsday theories," but since Xia De was only doing it for a commission, he was certainly willing to help. Professor Manning had met many friends during his archaeological expeditions around the world when he was young, and they could help Xia De gather information.
"Of course, it's best not to make this matter too public. I also don't want to expose my client's information because of this."
Xia De said sheepishly. Seeing the professor agree, he took out the prepared envelope, which contained 10 pounds:
"Things are a bit urgent. I hope you can give me news within a week. Please take this. No, don't rush to refuse. The client will reimburse this expense, so you are actually taking money from my client, not from me."
Xia De would not let the professor help him for nothing. Although they were friends, constantly asking for favors for free would gradually weaken their friendship.