Awakening the Life Witch

The shattered ice wall dissolved silently, turning into blue specks of light that slowly faded into the air.

Loviki looked through the dissipating ice wall and peered inside. “There’s light in there.”

Behind the ice wall was a passage less than ten meters long. At the end of the passage was a half-open wooden door, and a pale green glow was seeping through the gap.

That was mana rich with vibrant life—it was life magic...

Without lingering, Chen Mian walked through the passage, pushed open the half-closed wooden door, and stepped inside.

It was a circular stone chamber with a dome so high that one had to crane their neck to see the top. The chamber was filled with dense life-attribute mana, and the ground was covered in light purple windbell flowers. Supported by this powerful life mana, the windbell flowers seemed as though they would remain in bloom forever.

In the center of the sea of flowers was a small pool enveloped by a complex magic circle. The pool was filled with a pale green liquid, which radiated an incredibly dense life force.

Resting within the pool was a transparent ice coffin, and through it, a figure could be seen lying peacefully inside.

Her silver-gray hair was spread across the pillow. Her flawless, exquisite face looked incredibly peaceful, as if she were in the middle of a very long dream. Her black robe was spread out at her sides, revealing a sliver of her fair collarbone at the neckline, and a pair of folded black wings rested on her back.

Standing by the pool, Chen Mian looked down at the familiar face inside the coffin.

Flora stepped up to stand beside him. She glanced at Chen Mian's profile before turning her gaze to the ice coffin. “Is she Louise?”

Loviki also stood nearby, staring at the face inside the ice coffin, and said with a touch of complexity, “She really does look exactly like the portrait. But looking at her now, I can’t imagine her having such a lively personality.”

Just then, the magic circle in the center of the sea of flowers suddenly lit up.

The moment the magic circle flared to life, the mana of the entire room was drawn toward the ice coffin.

The green liquid in the pool began to slowly vaporize, complex runes started appearing on the surface of the ice coffin, and Keyins’s life force inside began to slowly recover.

“Is she about to wake up?” Loviki instinctively took a step back, then stepped forward again.

Standing beside her, Flora kept her eyes locked on Keyins inside the ice coffin, who was now spontaneously absorbing the mana within the stone chamber.

The concentration of mana in the chamber plummeted, and even the windbell flowers, which had remained in perpetual bloom, began to lose some of their vibrant color.

However, as the mana concentration dropped, the rate of her life force recovery began to slow down.

The mana here was not enough to fully awaken Keyins. If left alone, she would not be able to wake up on her own.

Chen Mian crouched down and pressed his palm against the magic circle. A massive amount of mana surged from his hand into the circle, causing it to suddenly burst with a brilliant green light. The mana concentration in the stone chamber rose once again. Without hesitation, Flora crouched down beside Chen Mian and placed her hand on the edge of the magic circle as well.

Though she didn't know how much of a difference her mana would make, she wanted to at least be of some help to Mr. Chen Mian.

Watching Chen Mian and Flora crouched on either side of the magic circle, Loviki walked over and joined them.

The glow lasted for a few minutes before slowly receding. Inside the ice coffin, Keyins stopped absorbing mana.

When the magic circle stopped running, Flora and Loviki plopped onto the ground, their breathing much heavier than usual.

Chen Mian turned around, looking at their slightly tired faces, and said softly, “Actually, you didn’t need to channel your mana. Mine would have been enough.”

Loviki looked up at him. “You should’ve said so earlier! I only did it because I was worried you couldn't hold out...” Halfway through, she suddenly stopped, turned her head away, and began examining the windbell flowers on the ground.

Flora smiled at her reaction and said, “Mr. Chen Mian, go check on her first. We'll be fine after a short rest.”

Chen Mian nodded, stood up, and walked over to the ice coffin. He looked down at the familiar face inside—Louise, the vampire girl who loved to tinker with her strange inventions by the campfire and drag him into all sorts of trouble on a whim.

But the person before him was not just the Louise of his memories; she was also Keyins, a Life Witch who had lived for an unknown number of years, possessed a quirky personality, loved to tinker with odd inventions, and had ultimately chosen to live a new life because she was too lonely.

What kind of state was she in now?

Louise’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, and then she slowly opened her eyes. Her violet-gold pupils held the daze of someone who had just woken up. She blinked slowly as her vision cleared, finally focusing on Chen Mian.

She didn’t speak, merely staring at Chen Mian with a hint of confusion in her eyes. Only after a long while did she slowly speak. “I think I know you.”

Standing by the pool, Chen Mian looked down at her. “Yes. I know you too.”

She tilted her head, a trace of confusion flashing through her violet-gold eyes. “I'm sorry... I don't seem to remember. But when I look at you, I feel a sense of familiarity.”

“You have amnesia,” Chen Mian said calmly. “But you owe me a lot of juice. Even if you've lost your memory, you still have to pay it back.”

She blinked, the corners of her mouth curving upward. “Juice... I don't remember, but that does sound like something I would do.”

Pressing her hands against the inner walls of the ice coffin, she slowly sat up. Her movements were a bit clumsy, and her silver-gray hair slid off her shoulders to drape over her front.

She looked down at her hands, then looked up at the three people in front of her, finally resting her gaze on Chen Mian. “Why are you here?”

“To find you,” Chen Mian said, looking at the still-dazed Louise.

“To find me?” She tilted her head, her expression filled with pure curiosity. “Why? And where is this place?”

“Because you are a very important companion to him,” Loviki said from the side, gesturing toward Chen Mian with her chin. “Even though you don't remember right now, this guy has been searching for you for many years.”

Keyins followed her gaze and looked at Chen Mian.

Her gaze was earnest, her eyes filled with complex emotions. After a long while, she withdrew her gaze, looked down at the ice coffin beneath her, and then looked around at the blooming windbell flowers. “How long have I been lying here?”

“It has been about four hundred years since the last entry in your log,” Chen Mian answered seriously, looking at her. “But you left once, a little over fifty years ago.”

Her expression blanked for a moment, and she looked back at Chen Mian, her eyes slowly widening. “Four hundred years?”

With that, she suddenly tried to stand up, but her body was still too weak, and she accidentally fell back down.

“My head is such a mess...” She rubbed her temples. After a moment, she looked up again, her eyes slightly red. “Four hundred years... How did so much time pass so suddenly? Are my sisters still alive?”