Chapter 635: Xibailang

Lu Mi had heard Lu Jianuo say that ships straying from safe routes might vanish mysteriously, only to reappear years later at night—no lights, no people.

This must be exactly that situation.

In the past, Lu Mi might have curiously "teleported" over to check the interior of the three-masted schooner once it reentered the safe route, but after the Devil Legend incident on Hanter Island, he felt it was better to avoid unnecessary complications; as long as the unmanned vessel drifting in the dark showed no signs of aggression, no sense of imminent danger, he could treat it as a unique spectacle of the Storm Sea—just observe.

The vessel, overall a brownish hue, drifted farther away, its sails billowing with no other movement.

Suddenly, Lu Mi's sharp eyes caught a face, perfectly still, gazing outward from an open window on the uppermost deck, staring at this side.

The face was shriveled and pale, tightly wrapped around bone, devoid of any fleshly texture; its straw-colored long hair hung down from both sides like clumps of withered wild grass, both eyeballs long gone, replaced by deep, impenetrable darkness.

It resembled a mummy's head, yet its lips were vividly colored, unnaturally bright, as if freshly painted with rouge.

Lu Mi instinctively believed this withered, pale face had once belonged to a woman.

He did not raise his right hand to greet it enthusiastically; he simply watched as the ancient three-masted schooner sailed beyond the safe route, vanishing into the deep night, as the corpse-face with blood-red lips and pitch-black eye sockets dissolved into darkness.

Only then did he wave his hand and smile.

"Goodbye!"

"Never again!"

He pondered a while longer for Franca and the others on how to deal with Moran Avini, ultimately deciding to wait for more intelligence from "007" before planning further.

The "Conspirator" was no daydreamer—he couldn't fabricate plots out of thin air; he needed sufficient information to support them.

When dawn came and Lu Mi awoke, the "Berry" had sailed out of the Storm Sea, through thick, death-laden fog.

Ahead lay a vast, clear blue ocean, the midday sun blazing overhead.

The next day, the "Berry" did not enter Berens Port at the northernmost tip of Xibailang, but continued sailing southwest, finally arriving at Pailuo Port at four in the afternoon.

This port lay within the Matani Prefecture, ruled by a General named Quilariel.

Originally a colony of the Intis Republic, after the war several years ago, the Intis colonists withdrew from this city and its surrounding regions; various factions of the Fenepot Kingdom, already on good terms with General Quilariel, gradually moved in.

"Xiso," Lu Mi's target, had never appeared in Pailuo Port, but both of his pranks occurred within Matani Prefecture—one at Tizamo Village, the farthest edge of Pailuo Port near the jungle, the other at Devise, the gold-mining city at Matani's southernmost tip.

As Lu Mi undid the second button of his linen shirt, he said to Lu Jianuo in a self-deprecating tone:

"I feel like winter is rejecting me—I've been stuck in heat all along."

Before Trill entered autumn, he'd been in Sangtagang, where autumn was still hot and sunlight abundant; when Sangtagang began cooling, he arrived at Kolia Port, a tropical place, as his sister described, with only wet and dry seasons, no winter, and temperatures never dipping below twenty degrees Celsius.

Now, places like Trill had entered deep winter, but the Southern Continent was precisely the opposite—sweltering summer.

This rendered Lu Mi's carefully packed black wool overcoat and the Gorman-style insulated coat useless.

"Because we've been traveling south all through autumn," Lu Jianuo still had authority on weather and seasons.

Lu Mi put on his golden straw hat, took Ludewig's hand, and descended the gangway toward the port.

He openly displayed the traits of the great adventurer Louis Berry.

Lu Mi had originally planned to adopt a different strategy—slip into Matani under a false identity, investigate the two pranks discreetly, and find "Xiso." But after Franca described "Xiso"'s daily behavior in exhaustive detail to Anthony Reed, the "Hypnotist"'s profile listed "highly aggressive" among the top few traits.

So Lu Mi changed his mind and revived his "fishing" endeavor.

Still, he thought success was unlikely; after the Sea Sacrifice ritual, "Loki" had survived and could relay information—"Xiso" should have full awareness of the hidden forces behind him. And given the resources and power "Xiso" had shown before "April Fools' Day," they clearly lacked the strength to challenge the "Tarot Society." Meanwhile, Lu Mi's backing extended far beyond just the "Tarot Society."

If he were "Xiso," faced with this situation, Lu Mi would surely wait patiently—wait one or two months, until the vengeful enemy grew impatient and made mistakes, until the powerful figures behind him could no longer protect him constantly, then strike suddenly.

"Don't preset a plan—find clues first," Lu Mi murmured silently, then joined the stream of passengers exiting the port and arrived at the public carriage station.

Nearby stood numerous hired carriages and a number of coffins, either black or crimson.

Coffins? Lu Mi had read many travelogues describing Xibailang's customs, but actually seeing coffins parked by the roadside still filled him with absurdity.

Before the Northern Continent nations invaded, before East and West Bailing were artificially split, the Bailing Empire worshipped the "God of Death"—the same "Dark Emperor" from the "War of the Four Emperors"—so its people valued coffins, loved coffins, seeing them as objects that brought peace, tranquility, and the God of Death's favor; they traveled daily lying inside them, carried by people or pulled by horses or unicorns.

Of course, this was transportation for those with means; ordinary people couldn't even afford to lie in one.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Lu Mi turned to Lu Jianuo and Ludewig with interest:

"Shall we ride in a coffin? I'm going to try it."

"I'll pass," Lu Jianuo said; lying in a coffin felt like a bad omen—he couldn't accept it.

Ludewig instead turned his gaze toward a nearby street vendor.

The scent of corn and potatoes mingled, making every passerby's saliva flow more freely.

"You're both so boring," Lu Mi laughed and scolded, walking up to four locals with messy black hair and dark brown skin, raising his right hand to point at the black coffin beneath the shade.

"How much?" Lu Jianuo asked before Lu Mi could, in halting Dutan:

He indeed had a talent for languages; from Sangtagang to Pailuo Port, less than a month had passed, and he could already manage basic Dutan conversations—though only the simplest daily words and phrases.

A local, bare-chested and wearing linen pants, replied in Dutan:

"Nearby, 40 Kope; far, 1 Fierkin."

Seeing they were foreigners, he didn't convert the price into the local currency "Delisi"—"Delisi" was what the Intis called the local coin, meaning copper.

Quite cheap—this was a coffin carried by four men; an eight-man one would cost much more… Heh, they even accepted Fierkin and Kope directly—no surprise, this was a former Intis colony, only recently lost… Lu Mi's Dutan was actually better than Lu Jianuo's, since he'd used his only mid-tier Language Comprehension rune on the ship.

Learning the language while already understanding it was naturally easier and more effective.

As for the consumed rune, Lu Mi didn't care at all; in his view, items were meant to be used—no point hoarding them. What mattered was utility. He wouldn't be like some miser who spent his whole life saving everything, then died with his money going to others. If he ever truly needed a Language Comprehension rune again, he could just buy one from the "Curly Baboon Research Society." If the gathering time didn't align, he could even "teleport" to any city in Lunbao and buy one from the Church of Knowledge.

"Fine," Lu Mi nodded to Lu Jianuo. "We're going to the Aurela Hotel."

After Lu Jianuo paid one Fierkin, the local who quoted the price lifted the thin coffin lid, revealing the interior: dark red thick fabric lining, a firm neck pillow placed inside.

Lu Mi removed his golden straw hat and eagerly lay down; his skin instantly felt cold.

In this hot season, it effectively dispelled the damp stuffiness.

Was it the coffin wood or the black lacquer blocking the sun? Or just because it had been sitting in the shade? It felt like stepping into a morgue in summer—quite comfortable… Lu Mi watched the thin lid close over him, feeling shadows rapidly expand until they ruled the entire world.

Sounds from outside grew muffled.

The coffin was then lifted, swaying slightly as it moved forward.

Lu Mi's vision was pure darkness; all around, cold and eerie, he felt an inexplicable illusion of moving toward death, touching death.

"Excluding psychological discomfort, it's actually quite nice—just makes you sleepy… And unsuitable for couples; too awkward. Heh, I wonder if 'romantic' Intis people ever sneaked around like this?"

Nearly two quarters later, the coffin stopped in front of the Aurela Hotel.

Lu Mi stepped out and saw a small, artificial ravine.

Rows of gray-black stone rooms spiraled inward along the ravine's walls, descending all the way to the bottom.

This was Pailuo Port's most famous Aurela Hotel.

It once belonged to a descendant of the Bailing Imperial family, Aurela Aiges, built with the purpose of drawing near death, later seized by Intis colonists.

When the Fenepot people arrived, they saw in it the symbolism of sinking into the earth, returning to the earth, and transformed it into a large hotel.

(End of Chapter)