[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-ring-of-fate":3,"chapter-the-ring-of-fate-the-ring-of-fate-chapter-36":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Ring of Fate",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2298005,4496,"Chapter 36: Reunion","the-ring-of-fate-chapter-36",36,"\u003Cp>Thinking this, Lu Mi reached a conclusion:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If my earlier guess is right, then only Kordu Village and its surrounding areas have experienced time reversal—everywhere else remains unaffected!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Does this mean that if I can escape this place, I can return to normal life? As Lu Mi’s thoughts flashed, he turned to Aurora, feigning guilt:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This, uh, this telegram was actually my doing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You?” Aurora was both annoyed and amused, but mostly bewildered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wondered if her younger brother had pulled a prank on her again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was like a seasoned hunter getting pecked by an eagle!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi explained “sincerely”:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s like this—I’ve always wanted to visit Trill, so two days ago I secretly sent a telegram to the telegraph office of The Novel Weekly, pretending to be you, asking when the next writer’s salon would be held. They naturally responded with a warm invitation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So that’s how it was…” Aurora’s expression cleared as if a mystery had finally been solved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next instant, she snatched up the wooden stick beside her and growled:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ve grown up!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi quickly added:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aurora—no, Sister, listen to me, I mean, let me explain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t worried at all; he even made a light joke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine, speak,” Aurora leaned on the stick. “Your sister has always earned genuine respect through good character—how could I convict someone without hearing their defense?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even if you die, you’ll die knowing why!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi spoke rapidly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In Intis, Trill has the most universities and the best quality ones. I’m about to take the Higher Education Entrance Exam, and I want to visit in advance to decide which three schools to apply to.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aurora gave a barely perceptible nod, urging him to continue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi spoke earnestly in praise of his sister:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I know that if I asked you directly, you’d take me to Trill—but that would cost you money. But if The Novel Weekly invites you, not only the train fare and hotel bills, but even all entertainment expenses in Trill can be reimbursed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I know you don’t lack this money, but every word was earned through hard work—you’d never miss a chance to save if you could.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aurora’s expression softened:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At least you know how to care for your sister.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But have you considered that I don’t want to attend any writer’s salon? I hate interacting with so many strangers.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi smiled:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aurora—Sister—have you thought that The Novel Weekly invited you so enthusiastically not to get you to attend the salon, but to build a relationship with you? You’re a famous best-selling novelist.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So the salon doesn’t matter—it’s you that matters. If you accept their invitation and go to Trill for a while, you can easily find an excuse to skip the salon. They won’t be angry—they’ll be relieved, glad you accepted their hospitality.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aurora studied Lu Mi up and down:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re getting better at reading people.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She sighed and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, I’ll handle some matters, pack my things, and take you to Trill in a couple of days. Then, send a telegram ahead to The Novel Weekly so they can meet us at the Trill train station.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Great!” Lu Mi didn’t hide his delight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though he suspected he and Aurora couldn’t simply walk out of Kordu Village—that escaping might trigger unpredictable changes before they uncovered the truth behind the time reversal—he still had to try. He couldn’t trap himself in place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With this mindset, he’d just tried to convince Aurora.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi had no intention of telling his sister about the time reversal now—Aurora had lost the memories, so she’d likely dismiss this wild guess as delusion, unless Lu Mi kept making “prophecies” that came true. But he still wanted to pretend he was unaware of the reversal, so he wouldn’t make any “prophecies” yet, hoping to spot some clues.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Using reading as an excuse, Lu Mi returned to the second floor and entered the study.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sat down, picked up a random book, and checked whether he’d held it upside down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he fell into thought, hoping to piece together his current situation from the details he’d noticed last night and today.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As his gaze drifted aimlessly, Lu Mi spotted the small blue book on the desk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His heart skipped—he snapped out of his thoughts, reached out, grabbed the book, and flipped through it quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pages with missing words and corresponding gaps appeared before his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That letter…” Lu Mi whispered silently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Combined with The Novel Weekly’s delayed reply, he formed a new theory about the distress letter received by Lyra, Ryan, and others:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Maybe I really wrote that letter—I’m the ‘killer’!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Time reversal has likely happened more than once. According to Aurora’s novels, this should be called a time loop.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In a previous loop, I discovered certain anomalies through exploration and decided to send an anonymous letter to seek help without implicating Aurora? But by the time officials realized the severity and sent Ryan and others to handle it, Kordu had already begun a new loop—and I, like Aurora now, lost all memory and returned to the ‘initial’ state…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Now there’s a question: why does this small blue book still show the missing words?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Logically, it should’ve reset to its ‘initial’ state, just like the food I ate in the last loop…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, two possibilities:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“One: discovering the anomaly and seeking help happened before the loop began—but then, why weren’t the memories reset? Could there be another reason I lost some memories? This is getting more complicated…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Two: in that previous loop, I found a way to make something immune to the loop… but what? If such a method exists, why not just write down what I discovered on a piece of paper?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi felt he’d lifted a veil and reconstructed the general situation, yet sank into even deeper confusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He believed he’d already experienced many time loops—but in those earlier loops, once reset, his memories and physical state were fully restored, so he never noticed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, he retained his memories and the “Hunter” Extraordinary Trait because he met that woman, received the Wand card, entered the Dream Ruins, and triggered his unique condition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the two symbols’ special effect allowed Lu Mi to “carry” his Extraordinary state from the dream into reality, they could very well have preserved his full physical condition at the loop’s reset point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So the Hunter-Gun monster state, even after reset, still couldn’t ‘reclaim’ the ‘Hunter’ Extraordinary Trait…” Lu Mi leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling, and exhaled slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gave a self-deprecating smile:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Becoming an Extraordinary just to face this kind of abnormal situation—no time to grow at all…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, I still can’t confirm the distress letter was mine—it could’ve been Aurora, or Mrs. Pualis too. As Extraordinaries, both might’ve sensed something wrong in a previous loop and tried to save themselves. And with their esoteric knowledge, they’d find ways to leave traces more easily than I could… But regardless, a time loop remains the most plausible explanation for all these circumstances.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he thought, Lu Mi devised a way to confirm the origin of the distress letter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The method was simple: enter the Dream Ruins and open the same small blue book in his home there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If that book also showed missing words, then the letter must have been written by Lu Mi himself—because the dream home was a projection of his subconscious mixed with the Ruins world, and anything he subconsciously knew should appear there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If not, then it was likely Aurora or Mrs. Pualis—Lu Mi’s subconscious couldn’t possibly know about it, so he bore no responsibility.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi didn’t rush to “catch up on sleep.” When the time seemed right, he slipped out of the house and headed straight for the Old Tavern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the corner of the Old Tavern, a familiar figure caught his eye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman who’d given him the Wand card and the potion recipe had appeared again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wore a ruffled orange-yellow high-collared dress, with a light-colored ruffled lady’s hat beside her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi instantly relaxed, like a drowning man finally grasping a life ring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hurried over and saw that before her lay not breakfast, but three stacks of Tarot cards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Need me to draw a card?” Lu Mi asked tentatively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ve already drawn one,” the woman said without looking up, shuffling the three stacks together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi instantly felt his eyes sting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She, too, was unaffected by the time loop!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without any subtlety, Lu Mi sat down and asked directly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Am I, and the entire Kordu Village, caught in a time loop?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman lifted her head and smiled:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes. You’re all people of the Loop.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People of the Loop… Lu Mi repeated the term silently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He asked, puzzled:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What does that mean? Someone trapped in a time loop?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman smiled:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It has two meanings: one, a special power equivalent to Sequence 4 granted after petitioning a certain entity; two, your current situation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Can you gain power by petitioning a hidden entity?” Lu Mi was astonished by the first meaning of “People of the Loop.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Weren’t the twenty-two Paths all advanced through consuming potions?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman nodded slightly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Theoretically, the ‘Eternal Sun’ could grant his followers Extraordinary status without potions, merely through grace—but for Him, this is a burden, usable only temporarily. The more people He must bless, the heavier the burden, even affecting His own state.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The blessed aren’t without cost—they slowly draw closer to the ‘Eternal Sun,’ in body, mind, and spirit.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Also, since it’s an upper being’s grace, they can revoke it anytime—unless you possess some unique power from a Path, secretly stealing a certain amount during the grace-filled life.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1616,"2026-06-20T06:22:34.374Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","ec8a0ae1c8257bea82e93e522c422b973b7fa8e638b46ba2b43643054ee4b0f2","the-ring-of-fate-chapter-37","the-ring-of-fate-chapter-35",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-ring-of-fate-cover.jpg"]