Cornflower Witch

Chapter 70 Witch Bloodline

"Stop, don't continue." Taliel suddenly covered her ears with her hands.

"What follows must be very sad. I can guess without you saying it. I've never met my grandmother since I was a child, and I've even forgotten what my father looks like. I don't want to know about their lives after that."

"You child..." The old man shook his head, but did not insist. His gaze was fixed on the candlelight on the table, and in the flickering light of his eyes, it seemed that scenes from many years ago were being reflected again.

That night, Hilti and Taliel returned to their familiar room and spent the night peacefully.

The next day.

After breakfast, Hiltiya wanted to go for a walk in the mountains near the village, where she had come from.

"It's not safe up in the mountains, especially when food is scarce," the old man warned, and prepared to have several strong young men from the village accompany the girl up the mountain.

“No need, I can protect myself.” Hiltiya picked up the short sword beside her, drew it, and swung it in the air, creating a cold and beautiful arc of light.

"Oh, she has already cultivated to this level?" In his prime, the old man was a second-tier adventurer. He was knowledgeable and experienced, and quickly realized that Siltia's strength was extraordinary.

“In that case, I’m mostly relieved. But let Taliel go with you; she knows the way,” the old man instructed.

“I’ll go too.” When she heard her grandfather call her, Talil raised her hand.

So the two teamed up and headed towards the mountains outside the village.

Hiltiya couldn't quite remember how she got out of these mountains a few months ago; she just vaguely followed a direction and wandered through the mountains.

"Is Tia looking for the place where she woke up back then?" Tariel asked.

"That's right, I don't really understand why I woke up in that place either," the girl replied.

The two walked along the rugged mountain path, using their wooden canes to push aside the thick bushes that obscured the view. The winter forest was quite quiet, with few animals and even fewer insects in the fallen leaves.

Estimating the distance and time they had traveled, Hilti vaguely searched for the forest they remembered, but after wandering around the mountains for a long time, they still couldn't find the place they remembered.

In the afternoon, the two, having found nothing, returned to Linmu Village.

"Let's go again tomorrow. If we still can't find it, then forget it." Hiltiya felt that some things couldn't be forced.

……

On the third day, Sylvanas and Thaliel set off again. It started snowing lightly again today, and the sky was overcast.

The mountain forest was rather desolate. I hadn't seen any rabbits or wolves that I usually encountered these past two days; they were probably hibernating somewhere.

They set off again, heading in a different direction than yesterday.

This time, Hilti had a slightly different feeling; some of the rocks and trees she passed by began to feel a slight sense of familiarity.

“This should be the direction,” she said to Taliel with some anticipation.

"It's good that we found it." Taliel nodded, but seemed to have something on her mind today.

"What's wrong, Taliel?" Hilti asked.

“Yesterday, when Tia wasn’t around, I secretly asked Grandpa about what happened back then,” Talil recalled with a touch of melancholy.

"After my father and mother got married, they lived in Jiaoshicheng for a while before moving back to the village. He didn't inherit my grandfather's talent; he just herded sheep and did simple chores on a daily basis."

"One day, my father didn't come home until evening. My mother was very worried, so she went to tell my grandmother, who was also in the village at the time."

So Grandma went up the mountain to find Dad.

"I searched for about three days, and then my grandma came back. She only found the wine bottle and basket that my dad had left behind. She said that my dad would not come back. I think I was only 3 years old at that time."

"Was it carried away by a wolf or some wild beast?" Hiltia comforted her. "Maybe, but Grandpa said that Grandma seems to have been preoccupied ever since, and has become rather gloomy."

"Later, Grandma went to the mountains several more times, until one time she got injured and stumbled back."

"Sigh, does she always go alone?" Hiltia asked curiously.

"Yes, Grandma didn't let Grandpa come along. Actually, Grandpa wasn't old back then, and he was definitely capable."

"Although she was injured, Grandma seemed to have given up after that and stopped going up the mountain to search."

"Unfortunately, Grandma's health deteriorated after that, and she passed away before I was even five years old." Taliel looked sadly at the gray, snowy sky.

"According to Grandpa's description, Grandma must have encountered some kind of great enemy. Her body was eroded by a high-level 'sexual energy,' and ordinary herbs simply cannot heal such injuries."

"Tiya, do you know that if the sexual hierarchy exceeds three levels, it will crush and erode ordinary people?"

“I heard Maester Hyde mention it.” The girl recalled that in class, Maester Hyde used the fighting prowess of a knight as an analogy.

"That's a terrible thing. If a third-tier winter beast runs through the forest, the insects and birds along the way will be corroded and killed by the aura of 'hibernation,' and even the trees will freeze."

"Not to mention fighting, even if such a winter beast were breathing next to you, you would gradually fall down. This is the terrifying crushing power of a high-level 'attribute' over a low-level one," Taliel replied, biting her lip.

"It can actually reach this level?" Hiltiya found it hard to believe.

“Yes, it’s horrible.” Taliel shook her head.

"Therefore, you will rarely see third-tier adventurers or professionals. They generally do not live in crowded places unless their control is very strong enough to stabilize and calm their spiritual power so as not to affect those around them."

“The requirements in the city will probably be lower, because the power of the ‘castle’ itself will suppress the pervasive erosion of other aspects.”

One can imagine how crazy and chaotic the world must have been before the 'Swan King' Moranza established his kingdom.

"However, given what happened in the past, why is the village chief still so comfortable letting you go up the mountain?" Hiltiya was a little confused.

“This is our family’s special talent, hehe.” Taliel patted her chest.

“It’s not just me, but also my sister Winnie. We have an excellent sense of direction in the mountains and have never gotten lost. It is said that Grandma was like that back then, which is why Grandpa felt at ease letting her go into the mountains to search.”

“It’s just that Dad doesn’t seem to have inherited this talent. He sometimes gets lost in the mountains, which makes Grandpa and the others worry.”

"Is the inheritance still divided into male and female?" The girl tilted her head.

“That’s roughly it. Grandpa said that Grandma’s ancestors might have been witches.” Thaliel’s words made Hiltiya particularly curious.

"Witch?"

"That's right. Witches are a powerful profession, just like full-fledged scholars, at least at the third rank. They mainly study the three major aspects of the lunar element."

"Do you remember the fortune teller Grandpa mentioned the day before yesterday? She's Grandma's aunt. She's a practitioner of the 'Radiant Moon' aspect."

"Witches rarely appear in the eyes of the world and are rarely recorded in history. It is said that this is because of an agreement with the scholars of 'Candleburg' that they are not allowed to record any trace of witches in books, so some stories can only be passed down orally."

"Where does the witch live? Since she lives, she must need some basic supplies, right?" Hiltiya thought for a moment.

“Of course they live in the forest. It is said that the origin of the witchcraft path had a pact with the fairies in the forest, instructing the forest to protect the witches. Because of this, witches will not get lost in the forest and can also create a kind of illusionary realm that outsiders cannot enter.” Taliel spoke of this with great interest.

“My sister told me all this. She was also very interested in witches back then, but unfortunately she said she had limited talent and could not pursue the path of witches.”

Lost in the illusion, the forest, the radiant moon, the lunar element—Sylvia pieced together these fragmented pieces of information like a jigsaw puzzle, slowly sketching them out in her mind.

(End of this chapter)