Echoes of the Past

Chapter 13 is just a chair

Nan'an circled the still gently swaying rattan chair twice, his brows furrowing deeper as he fell into deep thought.

"If this really is the legendary chair... then let's carry it out, and we'll never have to worry about food and drink again!"

Suiyue, standing to the side, became noticeably restless, her little hands unconsciously rubbing together, her eyes shining.

She's no different from a petty thief now.

The potential risks couldn't deter her get-rich-quick mentality. Thinking back to the nobility bestowed upon the Windgrass Adventurers, she was able to suppress the urge to sit down and verify its authenticity, which already showed considerable respect for Nan'an, a veteran.

"To be on the safe side," Nan'an suggested, "let's test it with algae stones first."

"I suggest you don't have too high hopes for the algae stone." Suiyue said, taking out the lustrous stone from her collar and glancing at it. The white light that indicated danger did not flash.

She pouted, giving off a "See, I knew it" look.

"I remember its white light was used to sense danger, right?" Nan An confirmed.

"It's not accurate." Suiyue waved her hand. "Only its positioning guidance is stable and reliable. As for the white light... the fog breakers say it's good as a light stick. In short, it's best not to let it interfere with your judgment."

"Then..." Nan'an asked again, "What about Wind Velvet Grass Crystals? They're high-end products that can identify Nightmare Gods."

Suiyue carefully took out the dark green Wind Velvet Grass crystal from her chest.

The crystal's surface was dull and lifeless, lying quietly in her palm, unresponsive to the rocking chair so close at hand.

Nan'an was puzzled. Surely the gift given by that important figure named Huoya couldn't be a defective product.

Suiyue was also puzzled. Although the description of the chair did not mention the Nightmare test, a senior Mist Breaker would certainly not omit the process. So, it could be guessed that the adventure team at the time sat on the chair under the premise of knowing about the Nightmare and feeling that it was harmless.

Nan'an guessed helplessly, "Either it's not a nightmare, or we're missing the instructions for using the Windvelvet Grass Crystal and failed to trigger it correctly."

"Forget it, instead of guessing so much, let's just sit on it and try it out. I..."

Suiyue was pulled back by Nan'an, and seeing his tense face, she immediately changed her mind.

"You go first, you go first!"

Nan'an took a deep breath and walked towards the rocking chair.

Suiyue held her breath, staring intently, while making grabbing motions with both hands, waiting for an accident to happen so she could pull Nan'an back—she seemed to have forgotten that Nan'an was currently in summon form.

As a summoned creature, its tactile sensation remains real.

Nan'an reached out, her fingertips touching the cool rattan handrail. She paused for a moment, then slowly turned around and carefully sat down.

The moment his body touched the wide chair surface, he nervously awaited some unknown reaction.

There were no hallucinations, nor any feeling of being attacked or infected.

It's just like an ordinary rocking chair, its only service being to provide a comfortable place to rest.

Nan'an paused for a few seconds, then adjusted his posture, trying to imitate the rocking motion his family used before their afternoon nap. He gently tapped the ground with his feet to make the chair rock back and forth a little more.

Nothing happened.

"How is it? How is it?" Suiyue asked in a low voice, unable to wait any longer.

Nan An stood up with a suspicious look and shook his head at her.

"I didn't feel anything. At most, it's just a... comfortable rattan chair."

Suiyue's expression instantly changed from anticipation to disappointment.

Whether or not it's the chair from the rumors, encountering a Nightmare God to practice on is a great opportunity.

There's no response at all now...

She pouted, then walked forward stubbornly, plopped down on the ground, her movements much more exaggerated than Nan'an's, even shaking herself a couple of times with a hint of defiance.

The rattan chair instantly transformed into a swing, and Nan'an was afraid she would swing herself off the chair.

To be honest, when she sulked, her cheeks puffed up just like a child on a rocking horse.

Sigh... The more I understand her, the more I know her, the more I discover the mismatch between her physical appearance and her behavior.

Suiyue tossed and turned on the rattan chair for a full minute. Nan'an felt that if the chair really was some kind of nightmare, he should jump up and punch her twice to shut her up.

Fortunately, she stopped on her own.

If she doesn't stop soon, Nan'an will suspect that she's enjoying the rocking horse too much to resist.

"Sigh...why did this happen?"

Nan'an comforted her, saying, "It's a spatial misalignment. The chair must have just happened to be moved here from somewhere else."

That's the only way he can understand it now.

Those exciting fantasies about "being able to eat and drink without worry" that I just had now seemed particularly ridiculous.

Like an adventurer tricked by a bad treasure map, Suiyue excitedly found the marked mysterious treasure, only to dig up an expired bottle of beverage. Upon opening the cap, she saw... wow, it actually said "Thank you for your patronage"!

It's understandable that I would get angry.

She always believed that entering the black fog was like picking up money, and failing to do so would be a huge loss—after all, she was betting her life, so she couldn't help but be greedy.

"Let's go."

Nan An urged her on, and when she didn't respond, he kicked her strong calf with his foot, then continued forward.

Although they had long lost their sense of direction and did not know whether what they thought was ahead was still the same location they had just observed.

Suiyue rubbed her calves, pouted, glanced back at the rattan chair with resentment, and followed after it while muttering curses.

The sound of their footsteps and their subtle complaints were quickly swallowed up by the boundless waves of grass and the thicker fog.

Almost immediately after each other, just seconds after the two left, on the other side, the thick black mist that seemed to have solidified yet also seemed to be slowly flowing was silently parted by a hand wrapped in leather gauntlets.

A tall and slender figure carefully stepped out from the wall of mist, followed by more than ten people with confused and panicked expressions.

The group wore short shirts that allowed for easy movement, with a bright green cloak that only covered their waists. The cloak was embroidered with gold crescent moons and bamboo leaf patterns.

Without exception, all of them were women.

After they entered this area, their movements became noticeably slower, and they clearly noticed the abnormality of the surrounding scenery immediately.

If they looked in the direction Nan An Suiyue had left, they could still see two blurry silhouettes disappearing into the mist.

"This chair...could it be the 'comfort chair' that the Fogbreaker mentioned?"

Like Nan An Suiyue and the other person, the group quickly made the connection.

"The shape and color are exactly the same..."

The leader looked them over, then flipped his wrist, revealing a faint green light emanating from the Wind Velvet Grass crystal in his palm.

"There's a reaction to the divine nightmare."

"It really is it!"

"Great! As long as we can move it out, I'm sure everyone's applications to join the Witch's Guild will be approved!"

After saying that, someone couldn't wait to sit down.

The girl who sat down relaxed slightly, her eyes becoming hazy, as if she had fallen into a daze.

His companions watched intently, holding their breath.

"Hmm..."

A suppressed, inhuman gasp suddenly escaped from her throat.

Her once serene face contorted instantly, and the girl sitting in the chair bit her lip so hard that blood flowed freely.

"Ian?"

"Something's wrong, pull her down quickly!"

Those around her tried to pull the girl down, her expression growing increasingly ferocious and her features contorted, but she seemed to be embedded in the chair, and no matter how hard they pried at her knuckles and wrists, they couldn't move her an inch.

"Get out of here!"

The girl named Ian suddenly opened her eyes, her pupils contracting violently and turning blood red.

"Ian?"

One of her companions, who was closest to her, instinctively stepped forward and reached out to grab her trembling shoulders.

"Don't touch me!!"

"Something's wrong, don't go near her!"

The reminder came a little too late.

A piercing scream shattered the deathly silence of the grass.

Ian leaped from the chair, his hands outstretched, and pounced fiercely.

Swift as a leopard!

Her hands, which had been free, were now tightly gripping the short-handled magic wand hanging at her waist. After tackling someone to the ground, she used it as a blunt weapon, and with a violent hatred, slammed it hard into her best friend's horrified face.

The incident happened so suddenly that no one had time to use magic to stop it.

With a muffled thud, the person she had pinned down immediately bled profusely.

"The Art of Sleeping in Water!"

The fluctuations from the spell startled Ian. With an agility completely out of character for her frail physique, she vanished from her spot in a blur, only to reappear a few meters away from the group.

Her chest heaved violently, her eyes were bloodshot, and her gaze was as fierce as a wild beast.

Only then did the slower-reacting people see their bloodied companions groaning and howling on the ground and burst into terrified screams.

Startled by the shouts, the already ferocious Ian vanished from the spot once more.

"Sleeping water!"

A huge mass of water appeared behind the shouting group, and as expected, Ian chose to attack from behind—much like the hunting habits of a wild beast.

The water ball struck Ian directly in the face, enveloping her completely.

The others, realizing what was happening, trembled as they followed suit and cast the spell.

As a beam of blue light entered, amplifying the effect of the Sleeping Water Magic, Ian, who was about to break through the water barrier, gradually became sluggish, and the blood red in his eyes faded little by little. In a daze, he slowly closed his eyes.

After experiencing this sudden accident, everyone present had a pounding heart and was panting heavily.

"Senior Leah... what should we do now?"

As the leader of the group and the first to react and make a judgment, Leah swallowed and tucked her messy hair behind her ears.

"Treat the wounded... Next, we'll take turns casting sleeping potions on Ian to ensure she remains asleep."

Leah stared at her companion, who was bleeding profusely, with lingering fear.

Fortunately, Ian was physically weak, so the blow was not fatal.

Even so, to suddenly grant a skinny guy explosive power that's almost like teleportation...

She instinctively moved away from the chair that was still swaying in place.

It is by no means the "comfort chair" that the fog-breakers have been talking about.

Thinking of this, Leah subconsciously pulled out the Windwort Crystal, and instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

The velvet grass was dull and lifeless, as if it had never responded.