Chapter 58: Chapter 15: The Promise 1
It is quite safe here during the day.
So far, almost all the dangers have appeared only after nightfall.
Su Ziyu casually pulled out a book and opened it, glancing over the pages, he instantly lost interest because he couldn’t recognize any of the characters; they were all peculiar symbols resembling tadpoles. If he had enough Source Power Value to activate ’Master of Language,’ perhaps he could use the system’s power to understand it, but now it felt like reading a book in a completely foreign language.
The book also contained some illustrations.
These were symbols that Su Ziyu couldn’t comprehend, and many strange, odd creatures and plants. He also saw diagrams representing earth, water, wind, and fire, with a continent above these four illustrations.
"Next time if there’s extra Source Power Value, I must first activate the ability of Master of Language."
Su Ziyu rubbed his forehead and put down the book, going through them one by one. He didn’t recognize any words, only saw various odd illustrations, and one book depicted numerous monsters, most of which he hadn’t seen before, but one was very familiar to him.
——Dragon.
Western dragons, those large lizards with wings, capable of breathing fire, spraying acid, and spewing lightning; the book contained numerous dragons, with more than ten different types upon casual flipping.
"Are there dragons in this world?" Su Ziyu murmured.
There was nothing valuable discovered in these books; at least he hadn’t seen any illustrations of scarecrows or mud golems.
By now, it was already late.
After nightfall, one can only wonder what this forest would turn into, so to be safe, Su Ziyu decided it’d be best to head back.
There was nothing inside the treehouse either.
Su Ziyu glanced at the light-gray cloak beside him, casually picking it up. It should belong to the Autumn Witch, though why it was still here was unknown. This treehouse likely wasn’t her normal dwelling, perhaps a place she came to rest occasionally. Besides this light-gray cloak, there were no other belongings.
This light-gray cloak had a good texture, feeling somewhat like silk, with a faint floral scent mingled with a hint of feminine fragrance.
"Huh?"
Upon touching the light-gray cloak, Su Ziyu’s enhanced perception experienced a slight ripple. Curious, he picked it up and draped it over his shoulders, and immediately his vision changed slightly.
Everything in front seemed to be shrouded in shadows.
"A magical item?" Su Ziyu thought.
A slight change occurred in the data stream within his mind, followed by some prompts:
"Found an unknown artifact!"
"Scanning and analyzing!"
"Identification complete."
Data surfaced in Su Ziyu’s mind.
"Artifact: Invisibility Cloak."
"Function: Conceals using shadow’s power, cannot be seen with bare eyes, can be detected by other means."
An unexpected gain indeed.
Su Ziyu immediately stored the light-gray cloak away and rummaged around the treehouse, but unfortunately, nothing else of value was found.
"Seems like there’s nothing left."
"Let’s head back then."
The outside sky was gradually darkening, and Su Ziyu picked up his pace as he left.
Leaving required some caution because a faint mist had already appeared in the forest. Su Ziyu spent some effort finding the markers he had left before, fortunately remembering to make them; otherwise, it would have taken much longer to find his way out. The forest at night seemed very dangerous, shadows moved within the mist, yet no sound emerged.
Throughout his journey, there were no small animals seen. The little elf that had attacked him was nowhere to be found.
"Scan and analysis complete!"
"Data calculation complete!"
"Transmitting..."
"Current Plane: Dream Plane."
"Civilization Level: Level 1."
"Energy Level: Level 3."
"Pollution Degree: High."
"Current plane has been added to the purification sequence!... Recording plane coordinates!..."
Unexpected data brought Su Ziyu to a halt. He glanced at the information, somewhat confused, and murmured: "Dream Plane?"
"What does Civilization Level mean? Isn’t there a standard prompt?"
"Energy Level 3? That seems rather high!"
"Is this place seriously polluted?"
The data provided by the Space-Time Monitor System seemed still lacking, perhaps due to missing part of the data stream, requiring further integration with artificial intelligence.
The Dream World’s civilization level was low, but its energy level was high.
Su Ziyu speculated the energy level was linked to supernatural powers, but regarding civilization level, he hadn’t seen any countries, only heard from others about a place called Chessboard Realm.
The result of this data analysis wasn’t very useful.
Su Ziyu glanced at it only briefly before turning his attention elsewhere because he had already glimpsed through the thin mist to see a scarecrow in the distance, along with a giant elf mud golem. Everything seemed changed overnight because of his defeat of the Summer Witch; the sunflower fields and the town had vanished, replaced by two extremely dangerous dream realm abominations.
Fortunately, these two dream realm abominations were immobile, allowing Su Ziyu to circumvent them and head towards the river.
No, wait!
Something seemed to have come out tonight.
Su Ziyu furrowed his brow, draping the light-gray cloak over himself before stealthily moving closer to where the town originally stood.
Soon.
He saw some figures resembling sleepwalkers; their aged faces bore peculiar fanaticism, their gaunt bodies beneath shriveled skin wielded an array of weapons and were wandering back and forth on the site where the town once stood. After Su Ziyu broke some balance, those monsters, once big elves that fell into slumber at night, had awakened completely.
Fortunately, they couldn’t see Su Ziyu, merely pacing around in place.
"You have arrived."
Though Su Ziyu wore the light-gray cloak, as he approached the riverbank, the Winter Witch standing there spotted him in an instant.
The Winter Witch’s expression showed slight hesitation, saying: "Today I seem to have remembered something."
"I know how to send you out of the Dream Forest."
Upon saying this, she noticed the change in Su Ziyu, speaking: "Did you explore the forest today? This is sister’s cloak."
"Yes," Su Ziyu nodded.
The Winter Witch looked at him, softly asking: "Are you really willing to take risks and help me?"
Her gaze was cautious, a mix of plea and desire, like a drowning person grasping their last straw.
Su Ziyu quickly understood her concern: likely worried he wouldn’t return after leaving.
"Yes," Su Ziyu met her eyes, slowly saying: "Trust me."
"I will bring the White Queen too."
"Let’s pinky swear."
Since this place feels like a fairy tale world, let’s make a pact with a pinky swear.
Because I want to find my way home too.
Faced with Su Ziyu’s offered pinky, the Winter Witch’s expression momentarily froze, then she smiled slightly, extending her own pinky: "I believe you!"
.........