Chapter 610
Léimèidàisī spoke, and a shadow enveloped her completely. Under the cloak of darkness, her figure elongated, appearing from a distance like a mysterious figure draped in a shadowy robe.
This form bore a slight resemblance to the humanoid shape of the An Chóng (暗虫, "Dark Worm").
However, Léimèidàisī's reminders...
Why did they seem like something she would do herself? This hardly counted as a warning; a normal person wouldn’t just shove something into their mouth to taste it.
After donning her disguise, Léimèidàisī led Xià'ěr and Sàdànà through a narrow path, arriving at an expansive garden. Opposite the garden stood several massive castles—Xià'ěr seemed to have reached the pinnacle of a tower.
It looked like a paradise, and as the highest level of the tower, it almost absorbed all the sunlight released by the "Cocoon of Light" (光明之茧).
Sàdànà, who had been following Léimèidàisī, hesitated, as if she wanted to remind her of something, but ultimately held back.
Only when her gaze met Xià'ěr's did Sàdànà raise a finger to her lips, signaling him to keep quiet.
Soon, Léimèidàisī brought Xià'ěr to the front of a castle, where they unexpectedly ran into a few students just exiting.
“Léimèidàisī! How dare you come to the Natural Academy!”
Léimèidàisī's clever disguise was instantly unraveled. A girl in a red robe adorned with golden patterns pointed angrily in the direction of the shadow, shouting, “Léimèidàisī is here! Everyone, hide your stuff!”
The other students, who had intended to go out, turned tail and fled at the sight of Léimèidàisī, glancing nervously back at the shadow as if they were escaping from a thief, clearly rushing to hide their “thesis.”
“You walked in like this last time too, Léimèidàisī,” Sàdànà chuckled at the scene, “I’m right beside you, and everyone can tell it’s you!”
Sàdànà seemed to think she had finally struck back at Léimèidàisī’s usual teasing, feeling unusually pleased.
Léimèidàisī, however, merely lowered her head slowly, glancing at the girl with a hoarse voice, “I’m not... Léimèidàisī.”
Léimèidàisī seemed to have a strong conviction about acting.
“Heh, go tell the dean,” the girl huffed, turning to report, but in the next moment, several shadows surged from the ground, completely binding her shadow and dragging her to a nearby pillar, her mouth covered by a mass of darkness.
Léimèidàisī walked step by step toward the bound student, the shadows swirling as if brewing something within. The girl’s vision was entirely shrouded in darkness, a tremendous sense of oppression bearing down on her.
After a few seconds of turmoil, a delicate white hand slowly emerged from the shadows, holding a crisp stick.
After a moment of hesitation, she broke the stick in half and shoved one half into the student’s mouth, threatening, “Don’t you dare report this.”
The girl chewed desperately, swallowing the stick, and just as she was about to say something, a gentle voice floated down from the staircase at the center of the castle.
“What are you doing? Léimèidàisī?”
Xià'ěr recognized the somewhat familiar voice and looked up to see a young woman in a splendid dean's robe.
This was...
The hazy features in Xià'ěr's memory began to sharpen, the once unclear face aligning with the images in his mind.
Most of those memories were from a first-person perspective, often being held or perched on shoulders or arms.
Hékǎtè... the woman who created the "Touch of Fate's Betrayal" (命运变节之触).
At that moment, perched on Hékǎtè's shoulder was a striking raven, its feathers glossy black, fading into a bright azure at the tips, which emitted a faint glow.
The raven, nearly the length of a forearm, lowered its head to preen its feathers, then tilted its head to glance at Xià'ěr. Its azure eyes quickly contracted.
“Caw—caw—!”
It let out a heart-wrenching cry, as if it had seen something terrifying, flapping its wings in a panic to escape.
In its frenzy, a flash of blue light erupted, and its body transformed into a beautifully crafted feather pen, landing in Hékǎtè's palm, trembling violently.
“Touch of Fate's Betrayal”...
Upon witnessing the raven's reaction, Xià'ěr immediately confirmed its identity.
He had once “killed” it in the other realm.
With the interference of the other realm, he had forcibly extracted the “Exceeding Limit Gear” from its eyes, and he had done this both in simulation and in reality.
Could the “natural enemy” actually chase him back to the old days?
Then...
Could other pocket watch abilities, like the “Kiss of Time Erosion” from the Snake Chain, also be “observed” after Xià'ěr arrived in the old days?
In the future, could powerful characters be killed in the old days, and could powerful characters from the old days attempt to kill in the future...?
Xià'ěr seemed to have grasped some new uses for the Snake Chain.
However, at that moment, Hékǎtè was more puzzled. She held the trembling feather pen, looking at the unfamiliar red-haired girl.
In the red-haired girl’s eyes, she saw only a calmness like still water, as if there were no threat at all... Why would the “Touch of Fate's Betrayal” react so fearfully?
Ignoring Léimèidàisī, Xià'ěr took two steps forward, looking up at Hékǎtè standing on the stairs, and spoke:
“Miss Hékǎtè, I read your paper and completely agree with your point that ‘the creations of alchemy are also life’... May we have a chat?”
“Of course, I was just about to take a break...” Hékǎtè seemed not to know how to refuse, instinctively nodding in agreement, then realized, “Could we wait in Seminar Room 1 for a bit?”
“Sure.” Xià'ěr nodded, then turned to Léimèidàisī, saying, “Please lead the way.”
Just moments ago, Léimèidàisī had untied the girl and given her nearly half a bag of snacks, finally convincing her not to report to the dean.
Now, hearing Xià'ěr call her, Léimèidàisī lifted the shadow covering her and said, “Sigh... Is there really no class in Seminar Room 1? No tea break either.”
As they passed Hékǎtè, Sàdànà gave a slight bow and greeted her, indicating that Hékǎtè seemed to have a good reputation in the academy.
Léimèidàisī led Xià'ěr through the corridor on the first floor and directly into a room.
It was a hall of about three to four hundred square meters, filled with several crystal round tables, and at the far end stood a podium, presumably for lectures.
However, at this time, Seminar Room 1 was completely empty. Xià'ěr and Léimèidàisī chose a table that caught their eye and sat down.
While waiting, Léimèidàisī looked at Xià'ěr, curiously asking, “Have you met Hékǎtè before?”
“Never met her,” Xià'ěr shook his head, “but I’ve sort of seen her.”
He wasn’t being cryptic on purpose; he truly hadn’t met Hékǎtè. His only impression of her came from memories recalled through the feather pen, which had been facilitated by a creature from the other realm.
However, Léimèidàisī didn’t press further, as if her earlier question had just been casual.
They didn’t have to wait long; about five minutes after Xià'ěr closed his eyes to rest, a gentle knock sounded at the door.
Before anyone inside could respond, the door swung open, and Hékǎtè entered, followed by a girl carrying a tray. On the tray were a golden teapot and four exquisite tea sets.
As the girl carefully placed the tray on their table, Hékǎtè smiled and said, “Thank you for helping me; you’re so kind.”
“N-no problem, it’s my honor to assist you... I’ll take my leave now.” The girl blushed, looking down as she exited, closing the seminar room door behind her.
“Sorry, I wanted to keep it a secret too, but she insisted on helping me,” Hékǎtè said with a smile.
She picked up the teapot, seemingly about to pour tea, but Sàdànà quickly stood up, taking the teapot from Hékǎtè. When dealing with Hékǎtè, Sàdànà didn’t dare act as casually as she did with Léimèidàisī; after all, Sàdànà was just an apprentice.
Not every student was as special as Léimèidàisī, let alone someone like Hékǎtè, who was also a teaching assistant.
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