Chapter 824: Chapter 754: Tea Party (Part 2)
"Oh no!" The rabbit exclaimed, "We’re running out of time!"
It looked up, gazing at Duke, its tone becoming urgent:
"You should leave, or it will be hard to return. That path is closing soon."
Duke hesitated slightly: "Can I come here and find you again in the future?"
The rabbit shook its head, its ears swaying along.
"No," it said, "This place doesn’t actually exist in any plane. Creatures from various planes might pass through certain special areas and end up here, but no one can actively find me. You coming here was destiny. If you want to come again, it’ll depend on fate."
It stood up, straightened its deep red vest, and waved to Duke:
"Come, I’ll see you off."
Duke followed it out of the fence, circled the wooden house, and arrived at the back.
There lay a stone path, winding forward, disappearing into the gray mist.
On either side of the path were flowers Duke had never seen before, bright and colorful, exceptionally vibrant in the gray mist.
Mr. Rabbit stood at the entrance of the path, smiling at Duke.
"Follow this path and keep walking, don’t look back." It said, "We should meet again."
Duke looked at it, remained silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Thank you, Mr. Rabbit."
The rabbit didn’t respond, only smiled and waved its hand.
Duke turned around and stepped onto the stone path.
He didn’t look back, just kept moving forward.
His footsteps echoed clearly in the silence, the flowers on both sides swaying gently as he passed, as if bidding him farewell.
He walked for an unknown amount of time, the surrounding gray mist gradually thinning, the stone path beneath his feet slowly blurring.
Finally, light suddenly emerged before his eyes.
When Duke regained his senses, he was already standing in a sparse forest.
Sunlight poured through the leaves, warm and bright.
The air was fresh, carrying the scent of grass and wood.
Birdsong faintly echoed from afar, everything seemed normal.
He looked down at his feet, finding soft humus, not a stone path.
Duke turned around.
Behind him was nothing but an ordinary tree and some low shrubs.
After a few moments of silence, just as he was about to determine the direction, he felt the Six-Ring Tower emblem on his chest slightly heat up.
A faint sense of direction radiated from the emblem, pointing southwest, towards the location of the outpost.
Very close.
With a brief pause, Duke retrieved a map from his Space Ring and unfolded it.
He first confirmed the direction using the emblem’s guidance, then found the outpost’s location on the map, and deduced his current approximate area.
Then he froze.
On the map, the outpost was marked at the southwest corner of the Wilderness Forest continent.
Whereas the gray mist region was in the northern eastern part, at least several thousand kilometers from the outpost.
Yet now the emblem’s guidance told him the outpost was less than twenty miles ahead.
Duke raised his head, looking towards the direction of the outpost, and glanced back at the empty forest behind him.
Mr. Rabbit’s words still echoed in his ears:
"We should meet again."
Duke put away the map, took a deep breath, and stepped westward.
Regardless, he was home.
The Six-Ring Tower emblem continued to heat subtly, guiding him forward with its indistinct sense.
The direction of the guidance was different from before; it wasn’t fixed on one direction, but changed constantly, like a playful firefly, flickering left and right, near and far.
Duke followed the sense for a quarter of an hour, arriving before a giant ancient tree.
This tree was even more robust than the one at the outpost, with a trunk diameter of at least a hundred meters, the bark crawling with vines and moss.
Duke circled the trunk and finally found a very small tree hole in a corner obscured by vines.
The tree hole was only half a person high, requiring stooping to get in.
The edges of the hole were smooth, as if something frequently entered and exited.
The emblem’s guidance pointed here.
Duke squatted down, about to probe inside, when he suddenly heard rustling sounds from the tree hole.
A furry head emerged.
It was a squirrel.
With gray-brown fur, its tail was as fluffy as a small umbrella, and its eyes were like black beans, staring at Duke, neither afraid nor curious, it merely glanced at him then turned back into the hole.
Duke paused, then bent down and followed inside.
The tree hole was much deeper than it looked.
The tunnel wound downward, sometimes spacious, sometimes narrow, the surrounding walls filled with dense roots, occasionally spotting some glowing moss barely lighting the way.
The squirrel scampered and paused, always a little ahead of Duke, as if leading the way.
After a long climb, light suddenly shone from ahead.
Duke emerged from the tunnel, finding himself at a familiar place, the abandoned fountain garden.
The fountain had completely dried up, with not a drop of water left at the bottom, only cracked earth and dead weeds remaining. The statues of ancient fairies were still there, but covered with cracks, some lacking heads or arms.
The vines all around the garden had completely withered, leaving only dry brown branches, like dead snakes entwined on the stone pillars.
Retracting his gaze, Duke checked the emblem.
The direction of the sense had changed, pointing to the opposite nursery.
The plants in the nursery were long dead, leaving only a bunch of dead branches.
Duke walked along the nursery’s rubble-strewn path, arriving at a crossroads.
There, countless paths extended in all directions, each concealed amidst withered vines and collapsed stone pillars, looking identical.
The emblem’s sense pulsed like a heartbeat, pointing to one of them.
Without hesitation, Duke stepped onto it.
He navigated through the maze, sometimes turning left, sometimes right, the rubble-strewn path continually extending, the dead branches and ruins constantly retreating.
After walking for an unknown period, a familiar door finally appeared ahead, the vine-covered stone wall.
But this time, the vines were completely dead, the leaves gone, leaving only bare brown vines, covering the wall like a giant spider web.
The wooden door on the wall was ajar, faint light seeping through the crack.
Duke pushed open the door.
Behind the door was the familiar stone platform.
The massive Teleportation Array quietly operated, several Wizards in council uniforms standing beside it.
Scattered along the stone platform edge were some people, some resting with closed eyes, some speaking in low voices, and some severely injured, undergoing treatment.
The array wouldn’t activate for another half month.
The outpost guards explained it was for safety concerns.
The array can’t be too active, or overly frequent spatial fluctuations would reveal the outpost’s location.
All returnees must wait here, gathered into a group, before being sent back to the Wizard Plane at once.
It’s a necessary measure in the High Plane to retain a low profile.
Duke leaned on the stone platform edge, gazing at the distant silhouette of the giant tree, speechless.
Over the next half month, people gradually returned.
Vera returned on the third day.
She walked slowly, every step seemingly using up all her energy.
The white Magic Robe had lost its original color, stained with dirt, blood, and unidentified filth.
Her face was frighteningly pale, lips devoid of any coloring, her entire frame skinnier.
She glanced at Duke, nodded, then found a spot next to him, slowly sat down and closed her eyes.
Leon returned on the fifth day.
He was covered in injuries, armor half shattered, his left arm haphazardly bandaged, the blood dried into a black-brown crust.
His eyes remained sharp, but weariness and something deeper lingered between his brows.
Ely returned on the seventh day.
She trembled all over, her Magic Robe in tatters, face smeared with tears and dirt.
She staggeringly entered the outpost, her gaze vacant, as if she’d lost her soul.
Seeing her, Duke’s heart sank slightly.
Upon seeing Ely, Leon immediately stood and walked towards her.
Seeing him, Ely’s lips trembled a few times and then burst into tears.
"Edmond... Edmond, he..."
