Chapter 2297: Seeing the Prophet

Very quickly, half a month passed.

Xia Duo had already collected all the artisan legacies preserved by the Mulan, and during this period, he had almost toured the entirety of Yimaska.

It must be said that the population of Yimaska, even just on the surface, far exceeded that of Netheril, not to mention the large number of hidden dimensions and even Habitable Planes that could accommodate a massive population.

One could even say that even the Mulan, who were Slaves, might not be fewer in number than the Netherese!

On this trip to Yimaska, Xia Duo had obtained nearly one hundred thousand Mulan in total; the Planting Area of his Floating City could no longer hold them, and he had to temporarily open up the Residential Area, which had not yet finished all its infrastructure construction.

By this time, Xia Duo could have left Yimaska according to his original plan and continued eastward to explore the boundaries of the Plane, but the mysterious methods of the Mulan Prophet had been lingering in his mind, occupying most of his thoughts.

Yet no matter how he thought about it, he could not figure out what kind of method the other party had employed.

He had no heart to continue his journey until this problem was cleared up; it was different from other unknowns, as those were merely simple unknowns that had not yet touched his normal life.

But the Mulan Prophet's method, which was almost like a law of causality, had appeared in his life in a very real way and had even made direct contact.

If it could be "every legacy corresponds to two inheritors" now, could it be "Xia Duo will inevitably die a violent death when going out" or some other bad outcome in the future?

This was very possible; even in the Main Plane, and even with a Floating City, Xia Duo dared not say he was absolutely free from all taboos.

To say nothing else, he could not ignore the threats of the Dragon Madness Mythallar and the Demon Descendant, not to mention the vast Main Plane, which surely hid even more existences capable of threatening him.

If it were to inevitably lead to a worst-case scenario, that would be too terrifying.

Thus, Xia Duo once again had Sainide enter the city to pass a message to the Prophet in the name of investigating the Slave market, requesting to meet the other party!

He wanted to ask the other party in person how all of this was achieved, and at the same time, observe what was going on with the Mist that could Avoidance of Detection on the other party.

Almost on the second day after Xia Duo had Sainide send the message, the Prophet replied, agreeing to Xia Duo's invitation.

……

Seti.

Xia Duo had been here once before to obtain legacies; he did not expect the Prophet to be hiding in this city. To avoid Jiamu's gaze, Xia Duo had Sainide carry his Magic Mark to meet with the Prophet.

It was within a small Mulan settlement on the edge of Seti; not long after Sainide entered the settlement, he was led into a tent-like room.

Through Sainide's eyes, Xia Duo saw the old woman sitting in the innermost part of the tent—her face was withered, wrapped in a yellowing and blackened blanket, and her state was such that she might pass away at any moment.

Like all the Mulan Xia Duo had seen before, this old woman had no hair, but unlike other Mulan, the other party had even shaved off her eyebrows, perhaps even pulling them out by force, as Xia Duo did not observe any stubble.

And the most peculiar point was on the other party's scalp, which was actually tattooed with two rows of mysterious wedge-shaped symbols, front and back!

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A brief Scrying showed the other party was almost like a blank sheet of paper; the Mist previously detected had vanished without a trace, but the other party seemed to have been sitting here all along.

As for other traces of Magic, none could be perceived at all. Is this really a Mulan Prophet? Xia Duo could not help but have such a question.

"Are you the Prophet?" Xia Duo asked through Sainide's mouth.

"Yes, noble Eastern Lord."

The old woman nodded with difficulty and said slowly: "Thank you, Lord, for everything you have done for the Mulan. Please forgive my current state for being unable to stand up to salute; if you have any questions, just ask me directly!"

The other party's attitude was surprisingly friendly, and the person was surprisingly kind; if not for that fairly fluent Elvish, Xia Duo would never have been able to connect the other party with a mysterious Prophet.

After thinking it over, Xia Duo asked the first question: "Have you had contact with the Elves of Cormanthyr?"

"Yes, that was several hundred years ago. At that time, 'Prophet' was just a fictional title used to unite the clans, until the Elves appeared, and then there was the first true Prophet."

"What did they do?"

"It was too long ago, and many legacies have been lost. All I know now is that the Yimaska possessed the means to peer into fate, and every resistance by the Mulan was seen by them, until the Elves appeared and provided the Mulan with the means to obscure fate; only then was there the first successful case of resistance. Of course, that resistance ultimately failed; compared to the Yimaska, the Mulan were far too inferior."

Before Xia Duo could ask, the Prophet explained the situation regarding the Mist of Avoidance of Detection, but Xia Duo still had confusion, so he continued to ask:

"Then why did the Elves do this? Out of sympathy for the Mulan? Or to incite internal chaos in Yimaska?"

"I don't know the initial reason either; perhaps only the Elves of that time knew clearly. As for now, I believe they want to use us to do one thing."

"Do one thing? What thing?"

"I am sorry, this concerns the fate of millions of Mulan currently within Yimaska; even I cannot speak of it."

The old woman tried to open her mouth, but could not make any sound; instead, she seemed to have been struck by some heavy blow, and her whole person withered.

During this process, Xia Duo observed a fleeting Magic Aura, realizing it might be some kind of Contract Magic established between the Elves and the Mulan.

Seeing that the other party still wanted to try to convey information through other means, Xia Duo hurriedly stopped her: "No need to try; if it involves Contract Magic concerning the ethnic group, it is indeed not something an individual can resist!"

"Does the Lord have anything else to ask?"

"Anything else?"

Several questions surfaced in Xia Duo's mind one after another, but one of them suppressed all the others: "I want to know, when the Prophet gave me legacies before, how did you manage to have two inheritors every time?"

"That question!"

The old woman suddenly laughed happily, even triggering a fit of coughing; only after recovering slightly did she explain to Xia Duo: "I guess the Lord might have overthought it!"

"A distressed nation has no capital to play tricks; I just prepared for the possibility that the Lord might not have obtained the legacy and would come looking for me again. If you came looking for me, I would just give it again!"

"So that's how it is!" Xia Duo could not help but laugh.

Although he was meeting the Prophet with a Magic Mark and could not provide an Inspiration Headband to the other party, to ensure the authenticity of the information, he had cast Mind Magic almost as soon as they met. Although it was not as useful as an Inspiration Headband, it was no problem for simply judging truth from falsehood.

Especially since the other party seemed to have no defenses at all, just like an ordinary person.