Chapter 89: The Erased Past

The brother and sister duo had worked together for many years, resulting in a remarkable synergy. The moment the Tree Wall moved, Tree Bow Enrique immediately drew his specialized weapon—a strange blade bow that, like the former, was entirely wooden but adorned with large, vibrant green vines. With a single hand, he pulled the string, and a green energy coalesced into a tangible short arrow, ready to fire!

Although obscured by the shadowy night, he couldn’t see exactly where the enemy was hiding, but their earlier attack had completely revealed the opponent’s position. There was no doubt about this arrow…

Just then, a voice suddenly burst out from the forest!

“Hey, wait! Stop!”

A young girl dressed in thief’s garb dashed out from the bushes, positioning herself between Tree Bow and another stretch of trees, her hands waving frantically in the dim light of the night.

“Not an enemy! Not an enemy!!”

“?”

There was no doubt it was someone named Miss Le Qiao Qiao.

Upon seeing her appear, both Sophie and Enrique were clearly taken aback; everything they had done until now had been instinctual reactions as top adventurers, triggered by the sudden realization of an unknown individual entering a dangerous distance.

The presence of the living had manifested like a phantom, in simpler terms, it scared them.

Thus, the other party likely felt the same way.

With Miss Thief stepping in to halt the confrontation, Tree Bow and Tree Wall began to vaguely realize something and momentarily laid down their weapons, while the shadow writhing behind the black-haired girl grew quiet again.

However, they didn’t completely lower their guard; after all, the situation was far too strange.

“Captain, Vice-Captain? What happened to you…?”

The voice of the Tree Monkey sounded from high in the treetops, where Enrique had just aimed his arrow. Leading the way was Enrique, followed by figures including Hong Yan and the first to appear, Miss Le Qiao Qiao, all emerging from the foliage or jumping down from the trees.

Who else could it be but the members who had been missing for a day?

Seeing everyone reappear without a single person missing, Enrique finally sighed in relief, exchanging a glance with his sister and Miss Vilyric, nodding slightly.

“Well, it’s good that nothing happened, but where did you all go during the day?”

The Tree Monkey and the others, including Hong Yan and Le Qiao Qiao, showed clear confusion. A middle-aged man dressed as a scholar, who appeared to be the oldest in the Tree team, couldn’t help but ask in puzzlement.

“Captain, what do you mean by that? Weren’t we all traveling together during the day? I, on the other hand, want to ask why you all suddenly appeared from another direction in the camp when you just set off to investigate that village?”

“Right, right! Boss, what kind of magic trick are you performing now? Can you at least give us a heads-up next time? It’s terrifying!”

Watching Miss Thief nodding vigorously, others seemed to agree, completely unaware of any issues. The three legendary adventurers exchanged glances, their expressions illuminated faintly by the moonlight, becoming particularly vivid.

…

Some time later, at the temporary camp outside Adelaide 192.

Everyone sat around the newly set campfire, exchanging the information they had gathered.

“So… in your view, a full day has passed?”

After listening to Enrique’s rough account, the middle-aged scholar who had questioned him earlier, one of the official members of the legendary adventurer team Tree, known as Tree Branch, seemed to have understood his point and simply summarized it for the others.

Tree Bow shook his head.

“It’s not just what we think; it’s a fact. After confirming the village’s situation last night, we decided to stay there temporarily. Before that, I had already come back here to discuss this with you and reminded everyone to be cautious. Both Sophie and Miss Vilyric can verify this.”

Seeing the two women nodding in silence, the remaining members, especially Hong Yan and Le Qiao Qiao, who deeply understood Miss Vilyric’s true strength, couldn’t help but look puzzled.

“Hey, hey… this is too outrageous, isn’t it? But I feel like there hasn’t been any gap in my memory; how could an entire day have passed?”

“…It’s the same here, Miss Vilyric. In my memory, we just recently arrived nearby; those things Mr. Enrique mentioned never happened.”

The Priestess, who had received questioning glances, didn’t rush to respond, just shaking her head and adding,

“Before discussing who’s right or wrong, let’s confirm each other’s identities. While I don’t see any issues with you, considering the current situation, we can’t entirely rule out the possibility of some special force creating an illusion or even a mimicry…”

After a moment’s thought, Miss Vilyric casually asked,

“Qiao Qiao, do you remember what happened with our target during this mission, and what transpired the first time we met?”

“The target we’re tracking?”

Miss Thief, sitting by the campfire, blinked slightly, then realized who she was referring to. Unable to help herself, she stuck out her tongue, feeling a bit embarrassed as she scratched her head.

“Boss, you’re a bit petty. It was just a few touches on the little ancestor’s horn; no need to bring it up on purpose! I was almost beaten to death back then…”

“Oh dear, oh dear~ how can you say I brought it up intentionally? This is for verifying your identity!”

Someone denied it with a smile, changing the topic to ask a few other small details from their previous lives, even involving events that transpired in the Ancient Spirit Realm, but both Hong Yan and Le Qiao Qiao answered fluently, without any flaws.

“This copy is quite perfect…”

“So it’s really us!”

Afterwards, Enrique and Sophie verified each team member’s identity in a similar manner, and the faint tension in the air finally dissipated.

Fully understanding the situation, the middle-aged man dressed as a scholar, who looked nothing like an adventurer, Tree Branch adjusted the obscure material of his “glasses” and calmly analyzed,

“Though it sounds unbelievable, the circumstances you described are indeed not impossible, and it could explain the sudden encounter. However… we still cannot completely rule out the possibility that you experienced some kind of illusion and mistakenly believed you had passed an entire day.”

Enrique frowned slightly.

“What do you mean?”

“Hmm, remember that you said you successfully entered Adelaide 192 village ‘last night’ and encountered many people and things there? The speculation about our time standing still for a day arises from many experiences back then.”

Tree Branch expressed his hypothesis without emotion.

“The forces here couldn’t be specifically set against us, but would rather be linked to the local residents of Village 192, so regardless of who’s right or wrong, the key to unraveling the mystery must be there.”

“If the space where everyone currently resides is indeed a mysterious node with a continuously closed-loop cycle of time, we can verify this matter by controlling certain variables.”

   

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