“Is this another of Keyins's houses?” Flora asked, looking up at the house built inside the tree hollow.
Beside the library was still a pale green barrier, but this time they did not need to modify the runes inside it; the barrier did not block their entry.
It was likely because they carried items belonging to Keyins.
The door to the library was tightly shut, and there was a square groove on the door with a line of words written above it.
【If you want to visit my home, please insert the key~】
“A key?” Flora looked at the groove on the door, took out Keyins's log from her backpack, and tentatively placed it inside.
The moment she placed it inside, a pale green magical ripple lit up across the library.
“Clack!”
A faint sound came from the doorway, and then it slowly swung open. Chen Mian was the first to step inside. The treehouse felt much more like a home than the previous wooden cabin.
Upon entering, there was a spacious living room with a wooden table and a sofa in the center. Two clay pots sat on the windowsill, containing only some soil—the plants that once grew there were likely gone. Most of the items in the room were well-preserved and looked almost new, probably treated by Keyins using some method.
A log lay on the table, with a cup sitting beside it.
Flora walked over cautiously and opened the diary. Written on the first page in beautiful handwriting was: “From today onward, I will record all research related to plants.”
She flipped to the next page. Loviki leaned in close, her chin almost resting on Flora's shoulder: “I want to modify a type of Honey-Crystal Mushroom that can grow at room temperature. Experimental results: It grows fast enough, but it tastes like mud. I'd better honestly build a cooling magic circle instead.”
“Pfft.” Loviki chuckled. “She even wrote down her failed experiments like this?”
“Yes, she didn't try to hide it at all.” Flora smiled and continued flipping through the pages.
...
“This time, I want to modify a potato that explodes when stepped on. I think it'll be really fun. I'm using life magic to fuse the potato with the seeds of a bursting fruit...”
As they flipped further through the notebook, the entries became denser. Each one was accompanied by simple sketch diagrams, along with notes on the plants' growth cycles and characteristics.
One of the entries made Loviki burst into laughter: “I gave a mushroom legs, and now it can run. But the original intent of my research—to be lazy and not have to harvest them—completely went off track, because it always runs away from me. Conclusion: The lazy feature is a complete failure, but the taste is excellent. Future adventurers, please do not refuse to eat it just because it has legs! It really is delicious!”
Standing by the window, Chen Mian scanned the books on the shelves. Most of them were on botany, alchemy, and magic theory, with a few that looked like casual essays written on a whim.
Among the books, he discovered a folded piece of parchment casually tucked between the volumes.
Chen Mian reached out to take it. Unfolding it, he found a rough cross-sectional map of the dungeon. Almost every floor had a location marked on it, identical to the map he had obtained from the first wooden cabin. He folded the map back up and returned it to its place.
Then he stepped closer to examine the shelf beside it. It was filled with various bottles, each with a label stuck on it... Red-Foot Fungus Spores, Catapult Pea Seeds, Ice-Moon Grass Seeds... They were filled with the various seeds Keyins had researched. A small life magic circle was engraved on each bottle. These seeds could probably still be planted; he would take them along when they left.
While Flora and Loviki were flipping through the notes, he pushed open the door and stepped into the bedroom.
The room was smaller than the living room, but it looked very cozy. A wooden wardrobe stood in the corner with its door slightly ajar, revealing a few neatly folded pieces of clothing hanging inside.
Even though many years had passed, there was still no dust or musty smell in the room. Instead, it carried a faint scent of herbs.
At the far end was a single bed that looked very soft, and beside it stood a wooden cabinet.
When he saw the cabinet, he froze slightly, his gaze lingering on a picture frame.
Chen Mian stared at the frame and fell silent for a long time. He was far too familiar with this person.
The woman in the portrait looked to be only in her early twenties. She wore a black robe and sat on a rattan chair, holding a cup in her hand.
She had silver-grey hair, fair skin, and a face he knew all too well—beautiful, yet always carrying a mischievous smile.
Chen Mian could never have imagined that the person he had been searching for all these years without success would be encountered during this accidental dungeon adventure.
No... this encounter was not a coincidence. The system had guided him here.
So that “ghost tenant”...
Although he had harbored a faint suspicion when he saw Keyins's handwriting and heard the voice of the witch's creation, he had only guessed that Louise might be related to Keyins. He hadn't thought they were the same person.
But now that he was actually looking at Keyins's portrait, he realized that things seemed to be heading in the very direction he had deemed impossible.
He raised his hand, his fingertips hovering over the surface of the portrait without touching the canvas. “Louise.”
Chen Mian withdrew his hand and looked down at the bottom of the frame.
“Painted in the year 23,217 of the Cecia Common Era. The weather was lovely that day, so I decided to paint a portrait of myself. It turned out quite accurate. I didn't expect to have a talent for painting.”
The year 23,217... That was about five hundred years ago. Yet, before Louise went missing, she had said she had only lived for thirty-six years.
The timeline did not match up at all.
The exact same face, yet a completely different temperament.
Staring at the familiar yet unfamiliar face in the portrait, many scenes flashed through Chen Mian's mind...
Back when their team had only consisted of the two of them, he had been gravely injured in an accident and thought he was going to die. It was Louise who had carried him to the church on her back, crying and scolding him as she walked: “Don't you dare die! If you die, who's going to help me research new magic?”
“Mr. Chen Mian?” Flora's voice came from the doorway.
She stood by the door, still holding the Botany Chapter log, her gaze following his line of sight to the portrait.
“Is this a portrait of Keyins?” She took a few steps closer, tilting her head slightly to look at the portrait, and then at Chen Mian's expression. “Do you know her?”
Chen Mian was silent for a moment. “The person in the painting looks very much like Louise.”
“Very much like her?” Flora glanced at the portrait again.
“Yes, they look exactly the same.” Chen Mian nodded, then looked at the log in Flora's hand. “Flora, does this log mention anything about Keyins's situation?”
Flora flipped quickly through the log, finally stopping at the last few pages. She walked briskly to Chen Mian's side and handed it to him.
“Today, I discovered an open space deep within the fourth floor. I've decided to plant a field of windbell flowers there, simply because I want to see what they look like when they bloom.”
Flipping to the next page, there was a purple petal treated with magic. Its edges had already yellowed, but one could still faintly tell it was purple.
“The windbell flowers have bloomed. I sat by the flower field for an entire afternoon, and suddenly felt that time isn't so unbearable after all.”
Chen Mian continued to flip forward. The handwriting had become much more sporadic.
“Today, I went outside the dungeon to visit Sylvia. Her granddaughter told me that she passed away four years ago. The last person I knew outside the dungeon is gone now, too.”
“Spring has arrived once more. I have decided to try that idea I've always had in my mind—to live a second life.”
“The seeds I've researched, the notes I've written, the experiments I've conducted—they are all here. If anyone finds this place, these things are yours.
“In return, I have one small request. If you become strong enough, go take a look at the seventh floor.”
“If there is nothing there, then never mind. But if you see me inside, please wake me up. Of course, if you don't agree, nothing bad will happen.”
Seeing this, Chen Mian felt a wave of complex emotions, but he had also completely confirmed his suspicion.
Keyins was Louise...
“Let's go to the seventh floor.”
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