Chapter 455: The Missing Writer (Third Update—Requesting Base Monthly Votes)

Lu Mi put on the "Eye of Secret Viewing" and immediately felt the house spinning and the ground trembling.

He forced back his dizziness and nausea, seeing the scene before him split into countless blocks, overlapping each other in an uncanny manner:

The bed crushed the desk, the desk leaned against the ceiling, the ceiling behind it held a faucet, and the faucet seemed installed inside the wardrobe… They appeared before Lu Mi's eyes like translucent canvases stacked atop one another.

On the side of the wardrobe, a pale face emerged.

The face had messy brown hair parted naturally, deep brown eyes beneath black-rimmed glasses—clearly Gabriel, who had cleaned up and looked like he hadn't stayed up all night for some time.

The playwright stared at Lu Mi, his face wearing a hollow, twisted, yet unmistakably real smile.

His right hand reached out from empty air, waved gently, and the face sank into the bottom layer of translucent sheets, vanishing completely.

Lu Mi glanced left and right several times, confirmed Gabriel truly wouldn't reappear, then quickly removed the "Eye of Secret Viewing" and put on the "True Eye" to his left ear, which caused intermittent tinnitus.

The strange artifact's main body—composed of pale fleshy masses and dark veins—settled over his left ear, making Lu Mi hear distant, rapid whispers from the horizon, while the lens formed by tangled purple veins pressed against his eyes, revealing faint blood, layered color blocks, a room partially merged into the scene, and a frosted-glass-like invisible curtain.

The latter two either faded swiftly or gradually returned to normal.

Before the whispers became clear, Lu Mi removed the "True Eye" and rubbed his throbbing temple.

Combining the visions from both artifacts, he believed Gabriel had also been contaminated by the "Inn," becoming a monster that could not be touched or seen by normal means.

Yet this playwright clearly retained some sanity—he recognized Lu Mi and waved goodbye with genuine cheer.

His earlier act of returning the white-glazed porcelain single-handled cup to its place seemed to be a greeting, an attempt to catch Lu Mi's attention.

"He accepted becoming a monster… and even seemed happy? When did he come into contact with the 'Inn'?" Lu Mi frowned slightly.

His gaze suddenly fell on the manuscript on the desk—he felt the story within the unfinished play was strangely familiar.

Lu Mi picked up the manuscript and, unlike his earlier quick scan, began reading it carefully.

After reading only the first part, he confirmed the protagonist's prototype was Gabriel himself—his personality, daily details, neglect, and forced lowbrow creative experiences matched perfectly.

As for the female lead—the woman who sank into the underworld yet constantly encouraged the male protagonist—Lu Mi thought that if not for the gender mismatch, this background was essentially himself.

Of course, the female lead's personality, speech patterns, and words of encouragement were utterly unlike his own; even the underworld plotline revealed traces of Charlie.

"So the female lead's identity, background, underworld experience blends mine and Charlie's situation, while the interactions with the male protagonist involve someone else… Gabriel said that in the Golden Rooster Inn, only I and the life model Miss Safali encouraged him; Charlie just drank with him, never mocked, only teased… Life model, painter's life model! Miss Safali slept with Gabriel the night she moved out!" Lu Mi rapidly connected the dots.

He believed the source of the problem was the life model Miss Safali!

This woman had once followed a painter to a seaside town to serve as a model and returned to the Golden Rooster Inn only after a long time.

Painter!

"Could Gabriel have been contaminated that very night? Did Miss Safali move to the 'Inn'?" Lu Mi read the script meticulously, leaving no word unexamined.

Since this was Gabriel's story based on his own experiences, it inevitably contained many authentic details and emotions.

These could all be clues!

Lu Mi read the script under sunlight streaming through the protruding window, and as the plot progressed, he sensed Gabriel's hidden affection, his belief that he could easily let go of this emotion and start a new life in a better neighborhood, yet his inability to forget—tortured by regret, longing, and sorrow.

Finally, the protagonist, having recognized his own heart and feelings, stopped avoiding and actively sought out his lover's trail:

He visited people who knew her, pursued the hotels and inns that occasionally appeared in his dreams, visited gallery after gallery to see if any new works based on his lover were for sale…

All his efforts ended in failure; he wrote that inner monologue.

"It ends here—no further part… I can't tell if he ever found Miss Safali…" Lu Mi set the manuscript down in disappointment, pulled open the drawer, and searched for drafts, outlines, or notebooks recording inspirations.

Unfortunately, only the first part existed; when writing the second half, Gabriel seemed to have fully immersed himself in that emotion and written straight through to the inner monologue.

Lu Mi stared at the pages before him, lost in thought:

"From this script and other items in the room, Gabriel never found Miss Safali…

"That means he never actually contacted the 'Inn'…

"And from the script's content and La Be's description, Gabriel showed no signs of contamination or divine blessing until he stopped writing; though he suffered the pain of losing his lover, that was normal…

"Then why did such a man suddenly become an untouchable monster?

"Merely knowing about the 'Inn' shouldn't cause something like this…

"Aside from my unusual state, Fu Lan Ka knows of the 'Inn,' Yu Jianna knows of the 'Inn,' Anthony Reed, art dealer Delisha, members of the Witch Cult in Trill, Mr. K of the Aurora Society, and countless 'Purifiers' of the Eternal Sun Church all know of the 'Inn'—some are ordinary people, some are extraordinary, yet none have suffered any issues…

"Beatrice of the Bliss Society knew where the 'Inn' was and went to retrieve a painting, which is why Fu Lan Ka and I made our mistake; Bovar of the Sinner knew of the disaster tied to the 'Inn' through prophecy and was thus backlashed, contaminated into a strange corpse; the Dream Seekers charity likely sponsored painters, writers, and other heretical believers connected to the 'Inn,' which is why they were destroyed the moment exposure risk arose…

"Then why did Gabriel?

"Could he have encountered something recently that deepened his understanding of the 'Inn' or revealed Miss Safali's whereabouts?"

Lu Mi formed an initial hypothesis and searched Gabriel's rented apartment again, with a clear purpose.

No results.

He immediately left No. 34 Saint Michael Street and returned to the "Third-Rate Writer" bar, sitting beside La Be, who was drinking.

"A 'Green Fairy.'" Lu Mi tapped the bar counter.

Then he turned to La Be and asked:

"Do you know where Gabriel went in the past few days?"

"Ask them," La Be pointed to a small round table near the window.

He was a down-on-his-luck writer, a ghostwriter without a pen name; to know Gabriel, a rising star, and attend his private gatherings was already a stroke of luck. In daily life, because he had to work fixed hours and complete his boss's tasks, he couldn't join their activities.

Under La Be's introduction, Lu Mi approached the small round table.

The moment he saw the four men, he froze:

Weren't these the same men who discussed the satirical painting "The Café" by Ma Lun?

The leader, after hearing Lu Mi's question, answered with slight confusion:

"The last time we saw Gabriel was the day before yesterday—we went together to an art exhibition at the Trill Art Center."

Art exhibition… Lu Mi's brow twitched.

…………

Xiazhuo Town.

Fu Lan Ka, wearing a white jacket, followed Brunse Soren, dressed in a black coat, as they walked through a vine-covered estate.

"Where are you taking me?" Fu Lan Ka didn't hide her confusion.

Brunse glanced at her:

"I'm taking you to meet my master. You've passed the test—you're now a full member of our sect."

Brunse Soren's master… a high-ranking witch? The leader of the Witch Cult in Trill? In a flash of thought, Fu Lan Ka smiled and said:

"Does this mean I can get the membership benefits?"

The word "benefits" was invented by Emperor Luo Luo Saier and widely known in Intis.

Brunse kept her distance from Fu Lan Ka:

"What do you want?"

"The potion formula for 'Pain.'" Fu Lan Ka answered without hesitation.

"Pain" is the name of Sequence 5 on the Assassin path, commonly called the "Pain Witch."

Brunse snorted:

"You really dare to ask, don't you? Do you think you've contributed enough right now to claim the 'Pain' potion formula?"

She paused, then added:

"Of course, if you complete certain tasks for the sect, that could become your benefit."

Fu Lan Ka, who hadn't expected anything, glanced at Brunse:

"What tasks?"

Brunse replied smoothly:

"We received intelligence that the Iron Cross Society secretly smuggled an item into Trill through underground tunnels several months ago. If you can find out what it is and who currently holds it, you'll get the 'Pain' potion formula."

Several months ago… underground tunnels… secretly smuggling an item into Trill… Fu Lan Ka suddenly recalled the incident involving "Rat" Cristo losing his younger brother.

She and Lu Mi had helped this Sava Party smuggling boss recover his brother and the smuggled item, only to be swallowed by a strange mirror world and barely escaped.

She had even gained a classical-style pure silver mirror as a result.

ps: Third update—requesting base monthly votes~

(End of Chapter)