Chapter 162: A Once-in-a-Thousand-Years Opportunity

The Realm of Fairies is also known as the Kingdom of Storms.

In ancient times, the Boca Mountains were encircled by a massive atmospheric circulation that spanned across the entire continent. Its outer edges were thick with dark clouds churning with lightning and tempests, while the fairies lived within the world enclosed by this vortex.

After the war, the circulation vanished, and the fairies who once dwelt inside never appeared again. Many claimed that the fairies had gone extinct, which was entirely possible.

Yet, five hundred years later, countless people were still searching for the Fairy Realm.

Following the guidance of an ancient map, Linley and Eve found the entrance to a valley shrouded in clouds and mists deep within the Boca Mountains. The valley was so choked with dense fog that visibility was severely limited.

"Is this really the place?"

Eve tucked up her skirt as she walked through the water, sending splashes flying in all directions.

Springs were scattered everywhere across the valley, and the gushing springwater even rose above her ankles. Eve had seen such a scene in the forests during spring, but now late summer had arrived, and autumn was fast approaching—how could there still be so many active springs?

"We are lost."

Linley, who was leading the way, suddenly halted. He realized he had returned to the exact spot he was at an hour ago. "Hmm... This place is very likely the entrance to the Fairy Realm."

Linley possessed an exceptionally strong sense of direction; ordinary mist would never cause him to lose his way. He felt confident that he had not chosen the wrong location.

"Eve, can you find our bearings?"

"No..." The astrologer shook her head. She had tried long ago; the magnetic field here was too chaotic, rendering her lantern useless.

"Then we have a problem." Linley's Universe Shifting technique also seemed to have lost its efficacy. No matter how he attempted to teleport, he would only arrive in more fog.

Some mysterious force had bound them to this place.

"Eve, where is your eagle?" Linley asked again.

"Gone."

Eve frowned slightly. Xivi had said she was going up into the sky to look for a path, but after flying up, she had never returned.

"Then this is definitely the place," Linley confirmed his suspicion. "These mists must be the ancient atmospheric circulation; your eagle couldn't find her way back to us."

He could sense the fog in the valley shifting in a peculiar manner. Perhaps these mists were indeed the remnants of the ancient atmospheric circulation.

"The air currents higher up might be much faster than down here. Could she have been blown away?"

Linley looked up at the sky. Clouds and mists obscured the heavens as well. Even standing completely still, the fog shifted every second, making it impossible to determine direction through celestial observation.

After walking for an entire day with nothing to show for it, Linley and Eve decided to rest for the night.

They found a large tree to take shelter beneath.

"This map is utterly useless!" Linley discarded the map. The countess had only provided instructions on how to find the entrance, with nothing on how to navigate the clouds and mists. "She must have known we would get lost here, which is why she made us search for the Primordial Flame first."

Eve shook her head slightly. "Fairies dislike dragons and deities. Any dragon that comes here will have its power suppressed. I suppose she wouldn't dare to come."

"Suppress power?"

"Yes, dragons face severe restrictions here," Eve explained. "If some ignorant and arrogant dragon were to barge into the Fairy Realm, it would even lose the ability to fly."

No sooner had she spoken than a sound echoed from afar. The two turned their heads to see something white falling from the sky toward the ground.

"What is that?"

"A shooting star, perhaps."

Linley pulled out a piece of roasted meat and handed it to Eve. "This damned place doesn't even have a single animal. Good thing I brought some food from the Alliance's camp."

Eve accepted the meat. The valley was terrifyingly quiet; for some unknown reason, no living creatures existed here.

Not only were there no animals, but building a fire was also impossible. Every time Linley conjured a tiny flame, the damp mists would immediately extinguish it.

The only illumination casting light upon the two of them was the holy radiance emanating from Linley's body.

"If we don't get out of here soon, we might die in this place."

Eve thought to herself as she glanced at Linley. The elf, younger than herself, was sitting on a tree trunk, swinging his legs back and forth, eating his roasted meat with a completely untroubled expression devoid of any worry.

He was always like this. Eve's heart gradually grew calm. Having spent a long time with Linley, she knew her initial judgment of him had not been wrong.

*He really is like a little sun...*

Linley's holy light brought her a sense of security. After finishing the roasted meat, a wave of drowsiness washed over Eve, and she drifted peacefully to sleep.

The astrologer was awakened once more by a series of faint rustling noises. Opening her eyes, she saw the dim light of dawn had not yet fully broken, and the snow-white eagle was pacing back and forth anxiously among the branches.

"Welcome back!" Eve sat up straight.

"I was blown away by the wind yesterday and spent ages looking for you guys," the eagle said, though she seemed distracted, her eyes constantly darting toward the distance.

Eve frowned slightly. "What is wrong with you?"

"Little master..." The eagle turned her head back and said with a serious expression, "He seems to be taking a bath."

"Taking a bath before dawn?" Eve asked, puzzled. "So what?"

"Don't you want to see?"

The eagle said to Eve, "Let's go sneak a peek!"

"..."

Eve was dumbfounded. "Doing that isn't very proper... Besides, what is there to see..."

"Aren't you even a little curious?" The eagle looked at Eve in astonishment, stretching out a claw to point in a certain direction. Eve looked over and, amidst the twilight gloom, barely made out Linley's clothes hanging from a tree branch.

The eagle sounded a bit excited. "He's right over there by the little stream, very close!"

Eve hurriedly waved her hands. "No, no! Why would you even want to look at his body?"

"Body? Not his body." The eagle laughed. "What we're going to see is his face!"

"His face?"

"Don't you want to know what he looks like?"

"I..."

Eve almost blurted it out, but she managed to restrain herself.

What did Linley's face look like? That was a question buried deep in the heart of every elf. They had all heard tales of faces that could ruin nations, but none had ever actually seen one.

Eve also possessed a gossipy streak and had asked around, but Linley hadn't shown his face in years, and everyone claimed they had never laid eyes on his current appearance.

"Xivi, you don't know what he looks like either? Aren't you his pet?"

What surprised Eve the most was that even Xivi was clueless about Linley's appearance. She had assumed Xivi and Linwen must have seen it.

"I've never seen it..." Xivi grumbled. "Little master even wears a mask when he bathes. I sneaked a peek several times and still didn't see anything."

"You actually sneaked a peek several times!"

Eve's eyes widened.

"Well, it wasn't really sneaking, strictly speaking. He doesn't let people see his face, but he doesn't guard his other parts nearly as much," the eagle explained hastily.

Eve was utterly astonished. "How could that be?"

"He says he's a real man, and a real man can be open about certain things..."

Eve was speechless. "Then why won't he show his face?"

"He thinks his face would ruin his manly image."

Eve was thoroughly convinced, and her curiosity was successfully stoked by Xivi.

"Wait..." The astrologer still had doubts. "If he wears a mask while bathing, then even if we sneak a peek, it's useless."

"He isn't wearing it right now."

The eagle had long since noticed that among the clothes hanging on the tree, the mask was not among them. "A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Eve, let's go!"

Eve was persuaded. She followed the eagle on what would be her first-ever act of voyeurism in her life.

The result was something she would never forget for as long as she lived.