Chapter 672: Sudden Onset

In the intense dizziness as spirit and flesh threatened to separate, Lu Mi saw trees as if slumbering in the night, and massive dark stones…

He finally removed his tinted spectacles, slightly hunching his body to ease the discomfort.

Even a "Penitent" cannot use the "Eye of Secrets" for long.

Of course, this in turn ensured a degree of safety.

After this "inspection," Lu Mi confirmed two things:

First, the ground beneath the house "Siso" indeed held something unusual, but it was more like a phantom symbol than a tangible entity—it indicated that this place had once been tainted or influenced, with the most severe corruption located directly beneath it.

Second, this influence was linked to the black stone deep within the primal jungle.

"How did it go?" asked Meslo, his face painted with white pigment.

Lu Mi slipped the "Eye of Secrets" back into the "Traveler's Satchel" and smiled slightly:

"I 'saw' that the anomaly originates from a black stone deep in the primal jungle. Have you ever seen or heard of that black stone?"

Reysa, pale-faced, and Meslo, with black hair falling to his shoulders, both shook their heads—neither had.

Lu Mi did not immediately proceed with tonight's second planned task. He glanced at Reysa, dressed in a thin suit and seemingly of Andisian and Xibailang descent, and said casually:

"I thought with your arrival, certain people in Tizamor Town would gradually evacuate, staying temporarily in Pailos Port."

"You know—the 'Dream Festival' should begin within three days."

Reysa replied calmly:

"From my experience, except those who arrived in Tizamor Town only in the past two weeks, everyone else should stay put—avoid traveling elsewhere to prevent the anomaly from spreading."

"Wait until after the 'Dream Festival,' when that primal tribe launches another attack, then reconsider."

A standard procedure… I thought you'd worry about the views of Andis, Fenepot, and other Northern Continent nations, evacuating and protecting those with corresponding nationalities—like the owners of the plantations outside town and their families… Hmm, this must also be because the 'Dream Festival' has never shown direct harm—only causing hysterical symptoms in some townsfolk and drawing attacks from the primal tribe within the jungle. The former could be resolved with simple masses; the latter could be guarded against and resisted… Lu Mi roughly grasped the mindset of General Quilariel and the Patrol Corps' upper echelons:

Since nothing major would happen, just pretend the 'Dream Festival' doesn't exist—only alert local official adepts to stay vigilant, prepare for accidents, and hope the "Fool" Church resolves the threat!

If you did too much, you might just ignite the powder keg and make the problem truly severe.

After finishing this, Lu Mi recovered from the discomfort caused by the "Eye of Secrets," pulled out the uniquely shaped "Eye of Truth," and placed it before his face.

Seeing the earpieces and temple arms made of pale flesh and dark veins, the lens woven from transparent purple tubes tinged with faint blood, Meslo, the South Continent man with relatively clean features, blinked.

How many pairs of glasses does Louis Berry have?

And each one is a miraculous item!

After securing the single-lens "Eye of Truth," Lu Mi scanned his surroundings, seeking the truth.

As he did so, voices gradually rose in his ears, growing noisy.

Every note, every word seemed to take physical form, surging wildly into Lu Mi's mind.

He felt as if his head were a balloon rapidly inflating.

And if a balloon inflated endlessly, there was only one outcome:

Pop!

Lu Mi gripped the earpieces, ready to remove the "Eye of Truth" at any moment, and seized the brief window to examine the house "Siso."

He believed that before the 'Dream Festival' began, before entering the special dream, it was safer to risk inspecting the house now than to use the "Eye of Truth" or "Eye of Secrets" within the dream.

Through the purplish lens, Lu Mi found no further truth—everything appeared nearly identical to the naked eye, except that the night seemed darker, blacker.

Without hesitation, his eyes bulging, veins rising on his skin, he tore off the "Eye of Truth." A sharp, piercing ringing echoed in his ears.

Huh… huh… Lu Mi gasped for breath, his mind a chaotic mess, flooded with strange knowledge, utterly unable to think.

At this moment, even if someone attacked him, he couldn't react swiftly.

After several seconds, Lu Mi finally regained his capacity to think, instinctively sorting through the knowledge forcibly poured into his mind:

"The Art of Conversation…"

"How to cultivate superior wheat seeds…"

"Canning techniques…"

"How to roast pork until crispy outside and tender inside…"

"Using music to soothe a sow's emotions…"

"The Revelation of Night…"

"The Favorite Positions of Celebrities—Memories of Their Mistresses…"

"…"

What the hell is all this? Is there not a single useful piece of knowledge? Auror had suffered under the "Hidden Sage's" knowledge infusion, but at least she'd occasionally recovered valuable occult knowledge… Hmm, had she also been contaminated by similar knowledge, explaining why her books and speech always radiated theoretical depth? Lu Mi rubbed his still-swollen head and said to Reysa and Meslo:

"I'm going to circle the jungle's edge. Are you coming?"

Reysa nodded, sparing words; Meslo indicated his answer by walking toward the stairs.

If Giam were here, he'd surely sigh and say, "Do I even have a choice…" Lu Mi muttered inwardly, stepped out of the house "Siso," onto the street, and headed toward the side of Tizamor Town bordering the primal jungle.

After crossing the intersection onto another street, Lu Mi saw a four-wheeled, four-seater carriage parked outside the Brieu Inn.

A servant and a maid carried luggage as a man and woman stepped down and walked toward the inn.

The man wore a dark gray suit and a half-high silk top hat, his skin resembling that of a Northern Continent native, his profile sharply defined, his eyes a deep green. The woman wore a light, practical long skirt and a feathered hat adorned with pearls, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, her skin smooth and luminous—even from just the side view, one would deem her beautiful.

Lu Mi turned his gaze back to Reysa and Meslo:

"Is it the weekend?"

"No," Meslo understood what Louis Berry was asking and explained simply, "Gentlemen and ladies don't only come to Tizamor Town to hunt on weekends."

Lu Mi turned to Reysa:

"You haven't sealed off this area?"

"That would cause panic," Reysa replied simply.

Lu Mi said no more. Passing through the Brieu Inn, he walked step by step to the town's edge and entered the primal jungle.

He followed the path he'd known from his dreams, advancing deeper.

Finally, he reached the real-world area corresponding to the chaotic zone where dream fragments overlapped.

It was ordinary, indistinguishable from the surrounding land.

Lu Mi found a palm tree, leaned against it, and said to Reysa and Meslo:

"Keep watch around me. I'm going to sleep here."

He wanted to test what would happen if he fell asleep closer to the anomaly's source—whether he could enter that special dream, and in what state.

After receiving affirmative responses from the two Patrol Corps members, Lu Mi closed his eyes and began meditation.

At some unknown moment, he fell asleep.

After an indeterminate time, he awoke.

Seeing Reysa and Meslo's figures, Lu Mi rolled over and stood up, nodding thoughtfully:

"This place doesn't work either… Only the house 'Siso' does?"

"Or… find that black stone and sleep near it?"

Lu Mi turned his gaze toward the dark, dense depths of the jungle, pondered for several seconds, then said to Reysa and Meslo:

"Let's return."

The three quickly returned to Tizamor Town.

It was deep night now; no one walked the streets, no lights or sounds came from the houses on either side—only occasional snorts from livestock in the lower levels, making the darkness and silence even more profound, just as the dim red moonlight deepened the darkness.

In this night, between the houses—each distinctly different from Northern Continent architecture—Lu Mi walked along the packed-earth road toward the Brieu Inn, deep within this street, with Reysa and Meslo following silently behind.

Suddenly, Lu Mi's head swam; his vision blurred briefly, then cleared.

This… He widened his pupils, instinctively scanning ahead and to both sides—nothing unusual.

At that moment, a yellow candlelight flickered on in a ground-floor empty house diagonally ahead, glowing from a room on the third floor.

Instantly, windows along this street, across all of Tizamor Town, lit up one by one with burning candlelight.

…

Ruya awoke to find the sky fully dark, yet many houses still held unextinguished candlelight.

This meant the hour was not late.

Ruya felt lazy, unwilling to cook. She slung her hunting bow and arrows over her back, left her room, exited the Police Headquarters from the side, and headed toward the nearby Buniya Café.

The street was nearly empty, as usual at night.

Ruya glanced at the outdoor tables and chairs still set out, approached the counter, and spoke in Dutan to the owner and server, Buniya, who was bent over his work:

"One Kosa, and a corn tortilla with beef."

Buniya stopped washing cups and lifted his head.

With naturally curly black hair and a distinctly mixed-blood appearance, he looked at Ruya and smiled—a clear, strange smile that made Ruya inexplicably uneasy.

Ruya knew Buniya well—he was a shy, kind, adult man who struggled to speak with women and had never smiled like this before.

Buniya stared at Ruya and said in a low voice:

"Your breasts are huge."

(End of Chapter)