Chapter 604: Surgery

Lu Jianuo opened his eyes, gaze hollow, and pulled open the suite's door, stepping into the empty corridor where only the sound of waves echoed.

At this hour, everyone except the night watchmen had fallen into sleep.

Lu Jianuo shuffled forward, his footsteps tapping softly, while the kerosene wall lamps glowed intermittently, coexisting with the dimness.

He reached the end of this floor and stopped before a vermilion wooden door.

Creaking, the wooden door slowly swung open inward, its interior thick with darkness, as if capable of swallowing all light.

Lu Jianuo, expressionless, passed through the darkness into the room; behind him, the vermilion door was pulled shut inch by inch by an invisible hand.

It was a suite; the living room and dining area were unlit, no candles burned—only a faint crimson moonlight filtering through the curtains provided meager visibility.

Two shadows stood beside the dining table; one was clearly elderly, his golden hair streaked with white, his blue eyes dark and deep, as if dyed by night.

Aside from deeper, more pronounced wrinkles around his eyes, his skin remained in decent condition, clad in a loose, deep-black robe.

The figure beside him was unmistakably Enio, pale-faced with brown hair and hazel eyes—the strange patient who had visited Lu Jianuo just hours earlier.

He remained lifeless, the last glimmer of light gone from his eyes, staring blankly at the long table devoid of any utensils.

Lu Jianuo, like a sleepwalker, stood beside Enio, utterly silent.

The elderly man in the loose black robe turned his head toward Enio.

The patient immediately walked to the table, climbed onto it, and lay down motionless.

The white-haired elder drew a sharp surgical knife, undid Enio's wool coat, cashmere sweater, and cotton shirt, then pressed the blade against his chest and abdomen.

With a tearing sound, he sliced through layers of flesh, carving a long wound.

As the thoracic and abdominal cavities were opened, Enio's internal state was laid bare beneath the crimson moonlight.

There was nothing inside—no stomach, no lungs, no small or large intestines, no liver or kidneys—only a bright red heart still beating weakly, with a few blood vessels extending from it.

The man in the deep-black robe inserted the sharp blade inside, while his other hand glowed faintly as he pressed down.

After a series of movements too swift for the eye to follow, he withdrew his left hand, clutching the bright red heart, still pulsing faintly.

Enio's chest and abdomen were now utterly hollow, save for a few blood vessels hanging limp, no fluid spurting out.

The elder swiftly closed the incision, pinched it tight, and sealed it completely with flickering light.

Enio's abdomen was restored, flawless, not a scar left behind.

Throughout the entire procedure, the peculiar patient kept his eyes open, as if the blade were not cutting into him.

Now, he rolled off the table and walked slowly, eyes vacant, toward the door, leaving the room.

The elder opened the suitcase beside his feet and pulled out one glass jar after another.

Each jar contained pale amber liquid, floating within it different organs—spleen, lungs, liver, kidneys, stomach, intestines…

The man in the loose black robe arranged these items on the table in a peculiar order, surrounding the still-faintly-pulsing red heart.

Then, the white-haired elder stepped back and began chanting an ancient, sinister, yet strangely comforting language.

As this unknown, whispering voice echoed, the internal organs were lifted by invisible force, rising slowly.

They settled at varying heights, as if replicating the natural positioning of organs in a standing human body.

The heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys simultaneously glowed faintly, faintly outlining a torso—no head, no limbs, no skeleton covered in flesh.

The form grew increasingly real, increasingly defined.

A baby's cry sounded—faint, yet real.

Yet in the end, the form twisted, writhed, and disintegrated, collapsing onto the table.

Seeing this, the man in the loose black robe sighed in regret.

But for some reason, the wrinkles around his eyes had diminished, grown shallower; much of the white in his hair had reverted to pale gold.

He had aged backward by seven or eight years.

Sensing his improved condition, the elder turned his gaze toward Lu Jianuo.

Lu Jianuo, as if summoned, shuffled slowly to the table, lay down, and opened his eyes, waiting in silence.

The elder undid Lu Jianuo's linen shirt, picked up the surgical knife beside him, and made several tentative motions over Lu Jianuo's chest and abdomen, as if deciding where to make the incision.

At that moment, the elder heard a loud bang.

The vermilion door swung open violently, slamming into the wall.

Crimson flames surged into the room, illuminating the darkness, crawling up the walls, consuming the ceiling.

In the blink of an eye, the space became a hell of fire.

Lu Mi appeared at the doorway—black-haired, green-eyed, wearing a golden straw hat, a cotton shirt, a black vest, and dark trousers—and stepped slowly into the suite.

He looked at the man in the loose black robe and asked calmly:

"Didn't you know he's my servant?"

The elder's gaze sharpened; he moved to lower the surgical knife and press it against Lu Jianuo's throat.

But his right hand could not move down even half an inch—as if held back by invisible force, pushed upward.

Lu Mi stood still amid the rising crimson flames, not rushing to act, and said with interest:

"That surgery you just performed was quite interesting—removing someone's organs while leaving them alive, merely letting them die slowly."

"And you used those organs to complete a ritual, making yourself younger, nearly birthing a strange life in the process."

The elder's blue eyes, tinged with darkness, showed surprise:

"How do you know?"

Didn't you just come here searching for your servant?

And no one had entered before!

Lu Mi laughed:

"You don't need to know."

I still have several hours of authority as 'Admiral of the Sea'—is it hard for me to 'see' what I wish in this sea?

Sensing Lu Mi's confidence, certainty, calmness, and lack of overt aggression, the elder fell silent for several seconds before saying:

"Life is the most precious, and thus life is the finest offering, the finest material."

He offered no further explanation of the surgery or ritual, only expounding his philosophy and the truth he pursued.

To praise life while desecrating it? Lu Mi raised an eyebrow, feeling a faint sense of familiarity.

It reminded him of the "Great Mother"'s devotees—the "Moon Lady," the "Night Lady," and their ilk.

Lu Mi studied the black-robed elder for a few moments, confirmed he was not female, and set aside the sudden tension that had risen.

He looked down at Lu Jianuo, eyes vacant, lying on the table, and asked casually:

"How did you control my servant?"

The elder gazed deeply at Lu Mi, as if probing his true intent, weighing whether to spread his truth now, or test his strength first to see if he could simply erase the problem.

After a few seconds, he spoke in a low voice:

"He is a child of the 'Great Mother.' He heard the cry of the Divine Child."

"Great Mother"? The moment Lu Mi heard the term, his scalp prickled.

Had he not held the authority of the 'Admiral of the Sea,' he would have launched a full attack, denying the elder any chance to speak or prepare.

After all, if he killed him, he could still 'spirit-talk'—and feed him to Ludwig!

Regarding the elder's claim that Lu Jianuo was a child of the Great Mother, Lu Mi was first startled, then dismissed the literal meaning.

He was certain Lu Jianuo was human, with no non-human bloodline.

—After Lu Jianuo was injured at the Sollo Inn, Jianna collected his scattered blood and performed a "Magic Mirror Divination" as Lu Mi had instructed.

Lu Mi quickly grasped the elder's true meaning:

"Are all the Adepts of the 'Farmer' Path children of the 'Great Mother'?"

"Then where does the 'Earth Mother' stand? The 'Farmer' is the main path of the Earth Mother's Church…"

"Unless… the 'Great Mother' is like the Celestial Lord or Mr. Fool—a pinnacle shared by multiple paths? 'Farmer' and 'Sower'? The names are oddly related…"

As Lu Mi's thoughts flashed, what concerned him more was the existence of the "Divine Child"—it reminded him of the empty cradle in Kordu Village, of the "Moon Lady"'s title as the one who bore deities…

Damn it, why does every encounter with the "Great Mother" involve children, divine infants, and babies? Does she just love giving birth? Lu Mi smiled calmly:

"Your Divine Child doesn't seem to have truly been born yet."

The man in the loose black robe became fervent:

"He has already been born in the Spirit Realm—only he cannot yet enter the physical world."

"Have you not noticed? Merely by manifesting his form, he made me younger by years—if he were truly born, I would instantly regain my youth!"

Who knows what kind of abomination you've created… Lu Mi thought to himself, then said:

"With a ritual using only such a meager amount of life, you expect to shape a body for the Divine Child?"

The elder paused, then said:

"This ritual was revealed to me by the 'Great Mother'—it must work!"

Lu Mi smiled:

"That Enio was clearly an ordinary person. The ritual's effect would be poor. If you used a Follower with strong life radiance, the result might be entirely different."

The elder instinctively agreed:

"Yes, so I intended to try your servant's organs…"

He fell silent, his gaze wary as he looked at Lu Mi.

Lu Mi smiled brightly and offered:

"Have you considered sacrificing your own organs?"

"How can you show true devotion to the 'Great Mother,' or worship of the Divine Child, if you don't offer yourself as the sacrifice?"

"Don't worry—the Divine Child will resurrect you and restore your youth!"

No sooner had the words left his lips than Lu Mi's right hand condensed a cluster of You green light.

(End of Chapter)