novelonline Chapter 2543: Vista Woodland and Tree Hole
Chapter 2543: Vista Woodland and Tree Hole
Chapter 2543: Vista Woodland and Tree Hole
As Shade's voice fell, white fog rolled in from all directions, completely covering the circular space. The statue of the ancient god disappeared in front of him, and a path appeared in the thick white fog ahead, with 10 dilapidated wooden signposts on the path.
[Stranger, you have entered the "space maze". ]
[Message from the ancient god "Original Rift":]
[Existing space landmark: 10.]
"Home, Coldwater Harbor, Mount Sikar, White River Valley Vineyard, the Lighthouse in the Great Swamp, the Forgotten Church, the Temple of the Night, Green Lake Inn, Green Lake Lighthouse, and the Dragon's Nest in Moon Bay."
Xia De glanced at the road signs, drank the soy milk that was actually milk, and then lifted the white stone crystal in the mist:
"Offer a sacrifice to the Space Labyrinth."
The crystal melted in the mist, and at the same time "she" reminded:
[New information obtained: New spatial landmarks can be searched. Please choose a direction. ]
"southeast."
As soon as he finished speaking, the trail in the thick fog stretched out a new distance, making the originally short trail now fifty meters long. In the new area of the trail, the decayed road signs that seemed to have been destroyed by time for a hundred years gradually appeared.
After making sure he had enough supplies, Shad walked forward and touched the new signpost.
[The original rift will guide you. 】
As her gentle voice fell, the surrounding white mist quickly dissipated and the light quickly disappeared.
The new dark space was dry but not stuffy at all. When Shad's eyes looked at the ancient god statue in front of him, the two-headed statue lit up and illuminated the surroundings.
It was still the same circular space as in other cities, but this time there were scattered debris along the walls.
Because this hidden space leading to the "space maze" is not a place where time stands still, most of the things in it have decayed and appear to have been placed here hundreds of years ago.
Xia De packed up the things simply. There were no relics and only two items that could be used.
One was a lantern, but it was not the lantern-style kerosene lamp that he had obtained from the Sin Mansion that could hold fire, but an exquisite elf-style lantern.
The craftsmanship of the excellent elf craftsman made the lantern very well sealed, so there was even a lot of oil left inside.
The other is a holy emblem made of wood, with a large tree painted in white paint.
Shade recognized this immediately:
"The holy emblem of the old god, the White Sacred Tree, the god of luck and the god of oak? I remember that the group of hermits in the forest still believe in this god."
Shad was no stranger to this small group of ring sorcerers. They had a good relationship with Old John. The [Oak's Lucky Potion] and the relic derivative [Empty Bottle Fruit] that Shad had used were both provided by this organization.
The wooden holy emblem did not decay because it contained a miraculous element. But although it contained power, the power it contained was not strong enough, so it could not be sacrificed to the [Holy White Chapel]:
"Have any members of the Hermits of the Forest ever been here? I remember Old John saying that the Hermits of the Forest were located in a forest area in the middle of the Old World, so it can't be here."
He carefully checked the holy emblem and the lantern but did not take them away, leaving them where they were. Then the life ring emerged from the steam mist behind him, and the [Time and Space] spirit runes flashed and illuminated the wall in the direction of the statue.
The melted wall revealed a hidden passage, and Shade walked out carefully with his sword in hand.
As expected, it was pitch black outside the passage, but now Shade's "dark vision" allowed him to see his surroundings clearly.
I took a deep breath, and the smell of earth rushed into my nose. I looked around and found that this was a small space the size of a foyer.
The ground, the surroundings and the ceiling were all paved with exactly the same short, rectangular gray-white stone bricks. There was a torch hanging on the wall on the right, and Shade threw out the flame to light it.
The bright yellow flames danced and completely illuminated the place, and Xia De was able to confirm that there was really nothing in this extremely small space.
Behind is a brick wall where the hidden passage is located, and not far in front is a spiral stone staircase, which is also paved with those gray-white rectangular stone bricks:
"The end of the staircase is so small that it can't be used as a storage room. Therefore, this staircase and this narrow space were built entirely to lead to a hidden passage behind the wall."
[Echoes of the Past] could not hear any sound, but [Strong Spatial Perception] told Shad that he was currently underground.
He used the map of the Old World and the map of the Vista Woods area in his hand to locate his destination, and finally determined that this was his destination. The specific location was in the vast forest outside Vista City/Riverwood Town.
"Is this the basement of a woodcutter's cabin? Or perhaps the basement of an ancient ruin in the forest?"
Guessing in my mind, I walked up along the spiral stone steps. The narrower stairwell was suffocating, but fortunately, I reached the top after just one turn. Sensing the space again, the height at this time was equivalent to standing on the ground.
At the end of the stone steps was also a brick wall, but after Shade touched it a few times, he found that the wall was actually a door that needed to be opened in a specific way. It could be a key or a spell.
"Looks like a variation of the Elven Rune Lock."
Although Shade didn't have the key, this rune lock was far less powerful than the elven ruins in the "Vulture Mountain Creek" in the Moon Bay area, so he held the Night Watchman with both hands and pressed the tip of the sword against the wall:
"【Key to the Door】!"
The wrist twisted the sword little by little, and with a series of clicks, the light green ritual array gradually appeared with the point where the sword tip touched the wall as the center. As the sword turned further, the runes in the ritual array that seemed to be engraved on the surface of the brick wall also wandered and changed positions, until all the emerald green runes left the line of the outermost circle of the ritual array.
"Whoo~"
Xia De retracted his sword and watched as 4×12 bricks disappeared from the brick wall in front of him, revealing a rectangular exit leading outwards.
The moonlight was now pouring in from outside. Xia De reached out to catch the moonlight and couldn't help but smile. Then he lowered his head and turned sideways to walk out of the narrow exit.
Under my feet are the tiles of ruins that are almost covered by dirt. Looking forward is the woodland under the moonlight. The moonlight shines through the gaps in the still lush treetops in early autumn, leaving mottled moon shadows on the edge of the ruins that only have half a wall and a few stone tiles left.
Although the forest at night is quiet, it is not absolutely silent. The chirping of insects and the rustling of wind through the treetops and grass tips form a perfect melody.
Turning around and looking behind him, a tall giant tree stood alone in the center of the ruins, which only had the last trace left. The tree was very thick, and Shade felt that even if there were five of him, he couldn't hug it together. But apart from standing alone in this small open space, it was not conspicuous in this forest, because there were many such tall and thick trees in the forest outside the ruins:
"I finally understand why the wood from Vista Wood is so famous."
Shade reached out and touched the rough bark of the giant tree he had walked out of, but did not feel any elemental reaction. However, after using the "Key of the Door" with the Night Watchman again, he was still able to open the spiral staircase leading to the underground:
"So this is a tree hole? This time the location is underground in the tree hole, which is really unique."
Although he would choose to throw the crystal slippers back home later, he still took a few steps back and memorized the clearing in the forest where the tree was, the bricks on the clearing, and the location of the half wall.
Afterwards, he made a quick check in the vicinity and determined that the ruins, with only floor tiles and half a wall left, were not worth investigating at all.
"Then let's go."
Unlike the Yuewan area where the terrain is extremely complex, the terrain near the "Music City" is relatively flat. Although there are a few small peaks, the overall terrain ups and downs are not significant.
Therefore, after transforming from the ground into a group of butterflies and flying to the top of the giant tree with a hidden tree hole, standing at the highest point of the tree canopy and looking towards the southwest, you can see the lights of the city at the end of the forest.
The name "Ximu Town" is no longer suitable for this "City of Thousand Trees" and "City of Music" which became an important node of the water network after the advent of the steam age due to the invention of steamships. Even if he only saw the distant view of the city lights, Xia De knew that although this place was not as good as Yuewan, it was also a genuine modern city in the steam age.
At least this place is much more prosperous than backward areas like Green Lake City.
It was late at night. After estimating the distance, Xia De did not think of walking to the city. Instead, he transformed himself into a group of butterflies again on the treetops and flew straight towards the city.
Although this place is quite far from the city, if he flies in a straight line in the air, Xia De estimates that he will be close to the edge of the city in no more than half an hour.
Because almost the entire city is surrounded by forests, there are no large tracts of farmland around Ximu Town. Reaching the edge of the city is equivalent to entering the urban area. After all, this was originally just a small town where lumberjacks gathered.
I just thought it would only take some time to get into the city, but as I flew, Xia De felt that the lights in the distance had no intention of approaching him.
At first he thought it was because he had remained in the "butterfly swarm" state for too long and something was wrong with his brain, but after changing back into human form and resting for a while on the treetops before continuing on his journey, he still felt that the distance between the distant lights and himself had not changed at all.
After making sure that this was not an illusion, he stopped on the treetop and looked up at the moon above his head. He probably realized that he had encountered trouble as soon as he arrived.
"Isn't the lucky soy milk on now? Why is my luck so bad?"
(End of this chapter)