Beneath the night sky at the foot of the mountain, several braziers burned in the camp, lighting the three figures in the open space at its center.
The Witch in a long black dress sat with a teacup in hand, conversing with Viscount Xuefeng and Scholar Heide beside her.
"Time really flies. The last time I visited Scorched Stone City was already fifty years ago." Her slender fingers, tipped with black-violet nails shaped like a snake's head, curled around the teacup.
"Senior Melinsa, you still look much the same as you did back then," Scholar Heide said with a sigh.
Though her temperament had changed completely, her appearance was largely the same as before. That was how he had recognized her at a glance.
"Forty years ago, I reached the third tier and officially joined the Night Dream Tea Party. At the time, the organization gave me a bottle of Shadow-Fixing Potion. It stopped my body from aging and kept my appearance unchanged for nearly thirty years."
"As for the side effects, I suppose my body gradually became shadow-like without me realizing it." She tapped her fingers.
"If you'd succeeded in reaching the third tier back then, you could have received the benefits of a full member of Candle Keep. You could have exchanged your years of service for a bottle of Elder Potion, which would have stopped your body from aging at seventy. And compared to Shadow-Fixing Potion, Elder Potion's side effects are much milder."
"Heh, you're right, Senior. But all that is in the past. I don't think about it much anymore." Scholar Heide shook his head. After all these years, he had come to accept life and death, and no longer cared about them as much as he had when he was younger.
"Since you don't have