Chapter 189: Black Shadow

"Damn!" Seeing Fu Lan Ka expressed her feelings with a strong modal particle.

She looked around, her thoughts turning rapidly, and deliberated:

"Did we encounter the same thing as the missing merchant caravan?

"Entered another world in that tunnel, so there were no original footprints?

"In the eyes of that smuggler Fei Nan De Zi, did we also evaporate out of thin air?"

Lu Mi had never encountered anything similar, and there were no corresponding bridges in his sister Aurora's novels, which made him unable to think of what was going on now for a while.

He was a bit dazed, frowning and thinking, when he suddenly heard 'Red Boots' Seeing Fu Lan Ka's speculation.

"Quite imaginative..." Lu Mi's first reaction was to sigh, then he pondered the corresponding possibilities.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt Seeing Fu Lan Ka's words were very close to the current state, so he squatted down and checked the situation of those footprints again.

"Indeed, the footprints of carrying heavy things appeared suddenly there." Lu Mi pointed to a dozen steps behind him.

That was also the position they had just set off from, but there were no traces of their arrival there.

Seeing Fu Lan Ka gritted her teeth:

"It seems we really entered another world, or rather, another underground space...

"Damn! Why us? Ke Li Si Tuo, Bu Li Nie Er, Si Meng, and Bu Lai Ke, they didn't encounter anything and returned to the ground smoothly!"

Uh... Hearing 'Red Boots' question about fate, Lu Mi suddenly felt a bit guilty.

Half-squatting on the ground, he subconsciously raised his hand and touched his left chest.

This wouldn't be some kind of fate, would it?

Hmm, can't rule out the possibility of Seeing Fu Lan Ka's problem. She has a higher sequence than me and also has magical items. Maybe she's hiding certain secrets... Lu Mi quickly adjusted his mentality.

Seeing Fu Lan Ka looked down at this companion and said to herself:

"Is it related to the sequence of one of us?

"Otherwise, it's the negative effect brought by that pair of glasses of yours."

Lu Mi responded thoughtfully:

Whether it was the tunnel entering the secondary shaft or the road turning to other areas, there were no traces left.

In other words, if it's really a problem brought by the Law of Beyonder Characteristic Convergence, neither of them can escape.

Of course, with Lu Mi and Seeing Fu Lan Ka's status, the effect of the Law of Beyonder Characteristic Convergence couldn't be so obvious, but Lu Mi thought that he had encountered two witches in less than two weeks of coming to Trier, and he was only Sequence 8, so he suspected that it was the power of 'Fate' that made convergence a thing that was destined to happen.

"Hmm..." Seeing Fu Lan Ka fell into deep thought.

After a few seconds, she said through gritted teeth:

"We might really have a problem with our pathways, but why would this rat Ke Li Si Tuo's smuggling caravan enter this space and disappear strangely in reality?

"They have taken this route many times and never had any problems before. Why is it different this time?

"Damn! That damn rat must have something he didn't say! He wasn't just smuggling alcohol and guns this time, but something else, involving occult things?"

"Not necessarily. Emperor Luo Saier said, 'If you walk by the river often, you will eventually wet your shoes.' Ke Li Si Tuo's smuggling caravan kept going back and forth on this problematic tunnel, and it was an inevitable development for something to happen, just that it happened to be this time." Lu Mi stood up and defended 'Rat' Ke Li Si Tuo.

Seeing Fu Lan Ka was barely persuaded and sighed:

"Now is not the time to discuss the reason. The point is to find the way out.

"Hey, why would there be an abnormality related to the 'Hunter' and 'Witch' pathways underground in Trier, uh..."

Seeing Fu Lan Ka suddenly fell silent, seemingly remembering something.

"Found something?" Lu Mi stood up.

Seeing Fu Lan Ka deliberated and answered:

"I don't know if your sister told you about some things in the Fourth Era, uh, she might not be clear either.

"In short, Trier in the Fourth Era was the capital of the Tudor Dynasty, and the 'Blood Emperor' who ruled this empire was highly likely a high-sequence Beyonder of the 'Hunter' pathway. Also, the Witch family at that time had a certain relationship with one or several great nobles of the Tudor Dynasty. It's normal to have left something behind in Trier."

"Witch family?" Lu Mi was somewhat stunned by this term.

Seeing Fu Lan Ka curled her lips:

"In the Fourth Era, the 'Witch' pathway was controlled by a family. Hey, since I chose 'Assassin,' I can only try my best to collect relevant intelligence, but until now, I don't know much."

Her body quickly faded and soon disappeared without a trace.

"You suspect that this space is related to the Trier of the Fourth Era buried underground?"

"Hmm." Seeing Fu Lan Ka didn't use vague words like "can't rule out this possibility." She thought while saying, "The two major churches must have done some processing on that ruin. If we can find the corresponding nodes, we should be able to get out."

Lu Mi, holding the calcium carbide lamp, looked at the ground again:

"Forward, or return?

"Ke Li Si Tuo's smuggling caravan looks like they didn't discover any abnormalities and kept walking forward."

Seeing Fu Lan Ka pondered for a few seconds and said:

"First go back to the position where we entered this space and take a look. It's only a dozen steps away, it won't waste any time."

"Okay." Lu Mi walked toward the middle section of this tunnel.

Soon, he and Seeing Fu Lan Ka stood at the place where the merchant caravan's footprints appeared out of thin air and tried to take a step forward.

A series of footprints didn't appear because of this.

After walking another dozen steps, the darkness around them became thicker, and there were only the footprints just left by Lu Mi and Seeing Fu Lan Ka on the road.

They didn't return to reality.

"Stop." Seeing Fu Lan Ka's right hand pressed down virtually, "Let's turn around, go to the quarry hollow we came from, and see if Fei Nan De Zi has entered this space."

Lu Mi didn't object.

This could also help them further confirm where the problem lay.

Under the blue-tinged light of the two calcium carbide lamps, Lu Mi and Seeing Fu Lan Ka walked steadily along the footprints left by the smuggling caravan toward the quarry hollow in the distance.

Time passed second by second, and Lu Mi and Seeing Fu Lan Ka almost simultaneously saw something more on the ground.

It was drops of blood, sparse, scattered, mixed in the smuggling caravan's footprints, which had a certain sense of chaos.

"Abnormalities starting to appear?" Seeing Fu Lan Ka whispered.

Lu Mi nodded:

"Further ahead, we are very likely to encounter those people."

He glanced at Seeing Fu Lan Ka and added:

"Of course, they might not be people anymore."

Seeing Fu Lan Ka sneered immediately:

"Are you trying to scare me? Do you think this can scare me? Whether they are corpses or monsters now, they belong to the development I expected.

"You have to remember, the most terrifying thing in this world is the unknown."

As soon as Seeing Fu Lan Ka finished speaking, she saw Lu Mi, whose face was yellow with blue light from the calcium carbide lamp, freeze.

"You still want to scare me..." Seeing Fu Lan Ka hadn't finished this sentence when she felt something hot sliding down from her nose, dropping onto the ground with a plop.

It was a drop of bright red blood.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 190 =====

It really isn't Fernandez! Why does he look so familiar... Lu Mian thought as he made his judgment, simultaneously whipping that black revolver out from under his armpit.

With a *clack*, the carbide lamp in Seeing Fu Lan Ka's hand dropped to the ground.

Startled by the sudden noise and the swaying light, the black shadow darted violently into the depths of the darkness, disappearing into a tunnel connected to this quarry cavern.

"What's wrong?" Lu Mian tilted his head to look at Seeing Fu Lan Ka.

As a Sequence 7 Beyonder, a member of a secret organization, and an experienced combatant, she shouldn't have such an uncharacteristic performance and such an exaggerated reaction!

Seeing Fu Lan Ka stared into the darkness, and only after a few seconds did she say:

"That was, that was the old me..."

The old you, the you when you were still a man? Lu Mian was struck with horror.

Every hair on his body stood on end as he asked in a deep voice:

"The you before you drank the 'Witch' potion?"

"Yes." Seeing Fu Lan Ka bent down to pick up her carbide lamp, her expression a mix of confusion and terror. "I thought that apart from myself, no one would remember that face, and that no one else in this world still remembered... Why, why would I see it here? Was it generated based on my memories? In this space, our memories cannot be kept secret?"

Wouldn't that be a good thing? Lu Mian's first reaction was actually one of joy.

If this space could project all the memories he had hidden in his subconscious, then he could preliminarily restore the truth of the disaster in Cordu Village!

As for whether this space would "spy" on things it shouldn't, suffer severe corruption and damage, and disintegrate from the inside out, he didn't care at all.

Carrying the carbide lamp and the revolver, Lu Mian walked around the quarry cavern once, but saw no other black shadows, nor did he discover anything related to his own past.

He said to Seeing Fu Lan Ka with some disappointment:

"I didn't find the old me."

"Could it be that it didn't come from my memory, or perhaps, it's further ahead?" Seeing Fu Lan Ka suggested returning "the way they came" to the auxiliary shaft that brought them to this level, searching for more anomalies along the way to deduce the nature of this space and thereby open the door to exit this place.

The two walked almost side-by-side across the quarry cavern, following the footprints left by the smuggling caravan toward the edge of the Observatory District.

Time ticked away, and Lu Mian and Seeing Fu Lan Ka saw something extra on the ground almost simultaneously.

It was drops of blood, sparse and scattered, mixed in between the footprints of the smuggling caravan, which had taken on a certain sense of chaos.

"Are the anomalies starting to appear?" Seeing Fu Lan Ka whispered.

Lu Mian nodded:

"Further ahead, we are very likely to encounter those people."

He glanced at Seeing Fu Lan Ka and added:

"Of course, they might not be human anymore."

Seeing Fu Lan Ka immediately scoffed:

"Are you trying to scare me? Do you think you can scare me with that? Whether they are corpses or monsters now, it all falls within my expected developments.

"You must remember, the most terrifying thing in this world is the unknown."

No sooner had Seeing Fu Lan Ka finished speaking than she saw Lu Mian, whose face was illuminated in yellow and blue by the carbide lamp, suddenly freeze.

"You still want to scare me..." Before Seeing Fu Lan Ka could finish the sentence, she felt something hot slide from her nose and *plop* onto the ground.

It was a drop of bright red blood.

(End of Chapter)