The Pendulum appeared and turned once more. With a flash of silver radiance, Mo Xie returned to the basement.
When his feet landed on solid flooring instead of thick snow, he fell into a momentary daze.
His clothes were no longer the Snowfield Hiking Jacket. He was back in the casual outfit he had worn at the start.
His eyes lost focus, his gaze vacant as he stood silently in place, completely motionless.
[Xie, welcome back.]
He had not heard that familiar voice in three years, and for a moment, he felt dazed.
Ling's cool voice rang in his ears. Mo Xie blinked, and his wandering soul returned to his body.
"Ling, it's been a long time."
He let out a deep sigh and slumped onto the floor, burying both hands in his hair.
Looking back now, his three-year journey through Tianshan felt like a fantastical dream, making him question whether it had been real.
As he came back to his senses, his thoughts gradually cleared, and things he had never paid much attention to began connecting.
First was the question of why Qin Yuer had attended Pearl Academy rather than Imperial Capital Academy.
It seems it was because I once told her I studied at Pearl Academy. That was probably why she came to Magic City and later met Dean Xiao.
Second was the question of why, when Qin Yuer and Shao Hongying were both calamity victims and had both participated in the World Academy Competition, only the former had been discovered by the Holy Tribunal and the Heretic Tribunal.
Mo Xie could not be sure of the exact explanation, but knowing Qin Yuer's personality, if she had learned that his master's wife was also a calamity victim, she might have stepped forward voluntarily.
Having one of them captured