Chapter 625: Digging Up Graves

Endless darkness, a suffocating environment, a dazed mind—even in dreams, Lu Mi was unbearably agitated, desperate to tear open this cage and shatter everything before his eyes.

He gradually realized he was dreaming, striving to open his eyes and wake up, but could never succeed; each time he exerted tremendous effort, feeling he had finally awakened, only to sink instantly into deeper darkness and heavier dreams.

After an unknown length of time, Lu Mi naturally woke up, seeing faint light seeping through the curtained window.

It was six in the morning.

Lu Mi raised his right hand and wiped his forehead, finding a thin layer of cold sweat nearly dried.

"Is this a spiritual warning, or did my contemplation yesterday of the deathly aura on Hant Island trigger memories of the 'Fountain of the Samaritan Woman' and the lingering shadow of the Blood Emperor? Earlier, I considered the similarity between the mysterious deaths of those who witnessed the Devil and the ghosts of Monsury—so now I've reestablished a connection and suffered shallow contamination?" Lu Mi could not fully interpret the dream's meaning, but reminded himself to be extremely cautious going forward, and to remember his original purpose for coming to Hant Island:

Only investigate the Devil legend—not eliminate the Devil.

Leaving aside whether he had the strength to confront the Devil or needed to request aid, the mere fact that the Church of the Earth Mother had operated here for over a century without fully eradicating the target proved that even if all the Major Arcana of the Tarot Society arrived together, they might still fail to resolve this matter completely.

Lu Mi rolled out of bed, took out the gold-cased pocket watch he'd taken from the Breeze Dance Hall, and pressed it open to check:

Six fifteen.

Though still early, Lu Mi felt urgency—the "Berry" would depart Hant Island the day after tomorrow, leaving him only two days to investigate the Devil legend, clarify the truth, and identify the suspect.

If he could achieve this, his "Conspirator" elixir might finally be fully digested.

Gathering, filtering, and utilizing information is a vital part of any conspiracy!

And if Lu Mi were a Sequence 7 "Detective" of the "Reader" path, succeeding in solving a century-old case involving higher powers within just two days would be enough to propel him from partial to full digestion.

…………

Nine a. m., outskirts of Hant Port, "The Return Cemetery."

Lu Mi carried a bouquet of small yellow flowers, walking through the graveyard shaded by green trees.

With Ludvig's information and last night's dream, he revised his original plan: instead of rushing into the forest to search for the missing persons' remains, he came here to dig up graves!

He wanted to investigate what exactly caused the mysterious deaths of those who saw the Devil deep in the forest—whether they, like those killed by the Monsury ghost, exhibited signs of self-strangulation or self-mutilation.

According to gathered intelligence, the last person to report the Devil's presence to the Church of the Earth Mother lay quietly in a corner of "The Return Cemetery."

His name was Antonio Elias.

Soon, Lu Mi found the grave, seeing on the stone tombstone not only the deceased's name, birth, and death dates, but also a brief epitaph:

"This poor man had his life taken by the Devil."

Lu Mi bent low, placed the bouquet before the tombstone, then stood upright, silently staring at the grave covered by stone slabs.

In his mind, Antonio Elias's information flashed rapidly:

Native, not an outsider; had parents, wife, and children; nine months ago, while hunting in the forest, he saw a wandering Devil; terrified of his impending death, he stayed for five full months in the Church of the Earth Mother's chapel and monastery; afterward, he planned to become a sailor for three years, leaving Hant Island to evade the hidden danger—only to be found dead in the ship's lower hold during his second voyage…

Lu Mi glanced around, picked up a dozen or so dry branches from nearby trees, and planted them in a circle around Antonio Elias's grave, forming a short, crude, utterly ineffective wall.

Finally, he laid one dry branch horizontally across two adjacent branches, creating a wobbly, impassable door.

After completing this, Lu Mi stepped over the "wall" into the grave.

Then he bent low, extended his right hand, and touched the crude door made of dry branches.

Simultaneously, a black mark on his body activated.

In the blink of an eye, from the outside, Lu Mi's figure vanished; Antonio's grave showed no movement, only the circle of dry branches remaining.

In reality, Lu Mi had drawn from his "Traveler's Satchel" the iron pick and shovel he'd just bought, and was prying open the stone slab, digging through the soil.

"Vessel of Fiction!"

Lu Mi used the "wall" and "door" he constructed to activate the Qiyue ability "Vessel of Fiction."

In under two minutes, relying on his observation of the grave's structure and two precise explosions, Lu Mi cleared the soil above the coffin and pried open the black-painted wooden lid.

A strong stench of decay surged out; Lu Mi casually ignited it.

After waiting a moment, he crouched down, donned gloves, and examined the pale, fleshless bones.

He first lifted Antonio Elias's skull; after a quick glance, he noticed a series of cracks on the inner surface, while the exterior remained intact.

"Cause of death: brain exploded?" Lu Mi imagined possible injuries that could cause this, concluding that regardless of the ability involved, Antonio's brain, cerebellum, and brainstem must have been reduced to pulp at the moment of death—there was no way the hard skull's inner surface cracked while the soft brain remained untouched.

Lu Mi checked Antonio Elias's other bones again, found no other injuries; the stains left in the coffin offered no further clues.

At this point, Lu Mi preliminarily judged that Antonio's cause of death was an internal-to-external explosion of the head—the physical force was weak, failing to fully shatter the skull, yet sufficient to destroy the brain.

"With 'Ignite,' I can precisely control flame quantity and quality—perhaps achieving a similar effect. But how did the Devil do it?" Lu Mi's knowledge of the "Devil" path came mainly from his sister's notes, Tarot Society materials, and Franca's accounts; his only direct encounter with a Devil above Sequence 6 was Naporedisli.

He immediately recalled how Naporedisli had ignited his desires and emotions, and the murmurs transmitted through the mist that followed, triggering waves of craving.

"For ordinary people, if desires are first stirred, then directly detonated, the brain could explode outright—if the intensity is raised… For a semi-god like the Devil, this should be easy… And perhaps it can use those murmurs to accomplish this from a distance?" As Lu Mi completed his reasoning, he firmly confirmed that Hant Island indeed concealed a Devil—a Devil of the "Criminal" path, positioned above "Demon," "Apostle of Desire," and others.

Having confirmed this, Lu Mi believed that if he truly wanted to find the Devil, it would still be relatively simple.

Of course, provided he sought only to locate, not eliminate—and was willing to risk his life.

He removed his gloves, reached into his "Traveler's Satchel," and grasped the hard texture of the "Torture" gauntlets.

After the events involving "Fusheng Xuanhuang Tianzun" and "The Great Mother," Lu Mi suspected "The Tree of Desire" stood at the apex of the "Prisoner," "Criminal," and "Miser" paths as a demon god—hence why the "Rose Sect's" "Indulgence Faction" and some demon families worshipped and followed It.

If so, the "Torture" gauntlets, forged from branches of the "Shadow Tree" closely tied to "The Tree of Desire," had a strong chance of attracting the Devil's attention within a certain range—just as its negative effect involved being watched by hidden entities and attacked by dangerous beings!

"Huh. No useless items, only incapable adepts." Lu Mi chuckled bitterly, withdrawing his right hand from the "Torture" gauntlets.

He abandoned the idea of directly luring out the Devil.

Because the Devil was still active on the island, still killing—and the Church of the Earth Mother had not eradicated it!

After so many experiences, Lu Mi had a considerable understanding of the power of the True God churches; he knew that if the Church of the Earth Mother truly decided to act, it could kill every resident suspected of being the Devil and destroy the entire island, just as the Storm Church had done to Banshi Port.

The Church of the Earth Mother had not done so not because it didn't want to, but because some reason prevented it.

This made Lu Mi recall the valley deep in the forest, burning with sulfurous flames, and suspect that the Devil could not normally be killed—only sealed and restrained.

If even the Church of the Earth Mother could not accomplish this, Lu Mi had no illusion he could—and luring the Devil out would be meaningless, only plunging him into grave danger.

Lu Mi's current plan was to wander through the forest using his false rank and attraction to demon-related forces, and at the critical moment, draw out the "Torture" gauntlets to see if he could draw near the mysterious valley burning with sulfurous flames and uncover the origin of the Devil legend.

…………

Deep in the forest, thick with massive trees, Lu Mi walked slowly along a path untouched by humans for years.

Occasionally he took out the "Torture" gauntlets, choosing direction purely by instinct, then stowing them away after ten or twenty seconds.

Nearly an hour passed; the dense forest suddenly thinned.

A massive, terrifying brown bear emerged from behind a tree, trudging heavily toward Lu Mi.

"Stop, outsider!"

The bear spoke in a deep, human voice.

(End of Chapter)