Chapter 196: Preparation and Action

Foersi, after bidding farewell to Lawrence, went straight back to the house she rented, entered her bedroom at once, and locked the door.

She sat on the edge of the bed, adjusted her own state, then whispered the honorific name belonging to the Fool:

"The Fool not of this era, the mysterious ruler above the gray mist, the Yellow‑Black King who holds good fortune."

"I wish to pray to you, to recount the events I encountered today."

"I met the elder brother of the husband of the old lady who made me an apprentice; he seems to be a member of some family."

Just after finishing the prayer to the Fool, a boundless gray‑white mist suddenly spread before Foersi's eyes, and a phantom yellow‑brown parchment fell from the sky.

She saw the knowledge written upon it, and the unease in her heart largely dissipated.

With the Fool's intervention, that old gentleman named Lawrence could certainly not obtain a correct omen in divination!

Foersi hurriedly expressed sincere thanks to the Fool, then rose to prepare the ceremony.

She lit a candle, then threw essential oil, hydrosol, herbal powder and other items into the flame; when the pure, ethereal fragrance filled the room, a faint illusory mist shrouded the entire altar.

Foersi promptly followed the instructions on the parchment, swiftly adjusted body and mind, entered a meditative state, and repeatedly whispered the Fool's honorific name over and over.

In a hazy trance, Foersi felt herself drifting back to the towering ancient palace above the gray mist, where she saw the Fool seated at the highest throne, overlooking everything.

Silently, a dignified angel appeared in Foersi's vision, and she saw the being wrap herself with twelve pairs of black wings, layer upon layer!

After an indeterminate amount of time, Foersi suddenly snapped out of that fuzzy state; before her were only three candles burning quietly.

"Angel." Foersi stared blankly, momentarily forgetting even the step of concluding the ceremony.

Above the gray mist, Ke Lai En temporarily set aside the matters of the Abraham family.

He followed his original plan, using the enhancement from the gray mist, and began divining Daisy's whereabouts.

Images flashed in his mind, some continuous, some jumping, with no logic at all.

He saw Daisy being seized from behind by a man wearing a heavy jacket and a gray duck‑bill cap, who covered her mouth with a handkerchief and forced her into a secluded alley.

He saw another similarly dressed man lift Daisy together and throw her into a carriage parked outside the alley.

Daisy was bewildered, threatened by a sharp dagger, while filthy, threatening words filled her ears.

The carriage entered the luxurious villa where Ka Ping resided.

Daisy was locked in a small dark room; outside, occasional women's cries, screams and curses echoed.

A gentleman‑dressed Tu Ba Ge stood before a floor‑to‑ceiling mirror, adjusting the hat on his head, with a red wooden melodica hanging at his waist.

Lei Ke Dun sat beside him, attentively eating the freshly bought roast meat, occasionally pausing to sip some juice.

Satisfied after tidying his attire, Tu Ba Ge instantly reverted to his nature, hopping onto the table, and curiously asked Lei Ke Dun:

"Boss, tonight you really want me—a rabbit—to fight alone?"

Lei Ke Dun glanced at the excited yet worried Tu Ba Ge and said:

"No, Ke Lai En will fight alongside you. Rest assured, there's no danger; it's just to give you some combat experience."

"In the end I'll let the Snow Woman clean up the aftermath; I originally planned to test the Snow Woman's ability on some unlucky fools."

As he spoke, Ke Lai En knocked on the living‑room door.

Creak! With the sound, a nature spirit opened the door.

Ke Lai En glanced into the room, then walked straight to the seat opposite Lei Ke Dun and sat down.

He organized his words slightly and said:

"I divined Daisy's location; she's locked inside Ka Ping's luxurious villa."

"Inside that villa, many other women have also been kidnapped."

"That's no surprise; Ka Ping is a human‑trafficker with official backing."

Lei Ke Dun responded with a calm nod.

Ke Lai En furrowed his brows, saying in disbelief:

"Ka Ping has official backing?"

"Certainly. This morning I glanced outside his villa and saw at least four non‑ordinary beings inside." Lei Ke Dun recalled the scene he saw through the Seeker's Eye and said:

"One of the strongest was a Sequence Six—or Sequence Five—of the Judicator Path, a route held by the Augustus branch of the Rune Kingdom."

"Royalty?" Ke Lai En murmured softly.

He sensed a premonition: as a trafficker, Ka Ping might be entangled with many affairs and people.

With a sigh, Ke Lai En steadied his emotions, refusing to abandon the rescue of those innocent girls just because Ka Ping is linked to royalty or more.

He gazed intently at Lei Ke Dun and said:

"Your scrutiny of the villa wasn't noticed by the non‑ordinary beings inside, was it?"

Lei Ke Dun shook his head slightly, replying confidently:

"Of course not. The Seeker's Eye, a core ability of the Seeker, is one of the pathways' main powers."

"Moreover, the Reader has a sequence called the Keeper of Knowledge, also known as the Detective, and can deduce countless conclusions from tiny traces and clues."

"I see, the combination of Reader and Seeker is quite powerful, though a bit one‑sided."

Ke Lai En reflected internally, then shifted the topic back to the Abraham family; Miss Magician had just prayed to him, explaining her plight.

"Miss Magician encountered a member of the Abraham family; the person was the elder brother of the husband of the lady who led her onto the extraordinary path."

"Abraham. Due to Mr. Men's ramblings, they have not a single Sequence Six non‑ordinary being; later they suffered a great upheaval, and now the Abraham family—"

"Upheaval? What upheaval?" Ke Lai En asked, curious about the Abraham family's affairs.

Putting down his knife and fork, Lei Ke Dun leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin and said:

"To avoid Mr. Men's ramblings, the Abraham family once had a program to cultivate non‑family members."

"But because the family members were weak, the apprentices they trained grew stronger and tried to seize control of the Abraham family?"

Ke Lai En continued.

"Not bad, you've all learned to answer quickly!" Lei Ke Dun reached for a piece of roast meat, popped it into his mouth, paused briefly, then went on:

Among Ya Bo La Han's cultivated apprentices, one was lured by the True Creator, joined the Aurora Society, sparked a rebellion within Ya Bo La Han's family, and ultimately reaped enough benefit to become the secret saint of the Aurora Society.

Ke Lai En silently listened, and in the end could only sigh in a lamenting way.

Under the stimulus of the grilled‑meat aroma, Ke Lai En picked up the extra knife and fork on the table, speared a piece of meat from the plate before Lei Ke Dun, and put it into his mouth.

"Mm, the taste is actually quite good."

"Why did you choose to cooperate with the Aurora Society?"

"It wasn't I who chose to cooperate with the Aurora Society; it chose me!" As he spoke, Lei Ke Dun lifted his left hand.

At dusk, outside Ka Ping's luxurious villa in Qiao Wu De Qu.

Lei Ke Dun and Ke Lai En were in an empty room of a nearby house, waiting for night to fall.

Tu Ba Ge, dressed in a custom black tailcoat, wearing a tall black top hat, and a red bow tie around his neck, stood on the windowsill.

With both paws he cradled a red wooden harmonica the size of an adult's palm, silently playing it near his mouth.

A lone crow and a pigeon landed on the windowsill, picked up the seeds from the cloth bag beside Tu Ba Ge, then flapped their wings and flew away.

Only after the seeds in the bag were mostly consumed did Tu Ba Ge stop playing the harmonica.

Unconcerned about his gentlemanly appearance, he plopped onto the windowsill and complained:

"Playing the harmonica is really too hard on a rabbit!"

Lei Ke Dun handed over a piece of fruit, and Tu Ba Ge's mouth was instantly blocked.

Ke Lai En, at the opposite window, watching the pigeons and crows summoned by Tu Ba Ge scatter seeds around Ka Ping's villa, asked curiously:

"Can this harmonica control animals? What are those seeds for?"

"That harmonica corresponds to the Beast‑Tamer sequence; as for those seeds—"

Tu Ba Ge, while gnawing the fruit, took up Lei Ke Dun's remark and said:

"They are Deep‑Sleep Flowers, modified seeds of the Deep‑Sleep Flower; they will sprout and bloom in a short time."

"When night falls, they will release pollen, causing everyone in this area to fall into a dormant state."

Ke Lai En nodded, then kept watching Ka Ping's villa until someone emerged, halted a carriage, and prepared to go elsewhere.

Ke Lai En glanced at Lei Ke Dun, who was fiddling with a figurine, and said:

"To be safe, I'll go into the villa to capture someone, making it easier to divine specific circumstances."

Lei Ke Dun merely glanced at Ke Lai En, then nodded without asking how he intended to proceed.

Having received the reply, Ke Lai En immediately opened the door and left, intending to find another empty room, summon himself, respond to himself, transform into a spirit form, and control the person who had just left Ka Ping's villa.

Lei Ke Dun surveyed the room, took a few steps to its center, closed his eyes to begin meditation, visualizing the brass‑colored ring in his mind while resonating his spirit, and whispered:

"Spirit wandering in illusion, a benevolent upper‑world being toward humanity, the messenger belonging solely to 'A Er·Tai En Si.'"

A dazzling golden book, as if forged from pure gold, swiftly fell from the spirit realm into reality.

Its golden cover cracked open instantly, pulling out a mouth:

"My dear master, what business do you have in summoning me?"

(End of chapter)