Chapter 687

Outside Tizamo Town, before entering that jungle.

Lu Mi and the others all heard gunshots and shouting erupting from the direction of the barracks—compared to the town and the plantation, the population here was denser, and everyone held weapons, so many died every year.

Jiamou withdrew his gaze and sighed like a middle-aged man.

He knew he was powerless to stop such things, and finding a way to make the "Dream Festival" end earlier was the only way to let more people survive.

This was also the reason why he chose to follow Louis Longde to that black ancient tomb.

If it were just him alone, he would rationally choose to find an uninhabited, hidden corner, like Colobo, to hide until dawn, until the "Dream Festival" ended. But after witnessing Louis Longde's strength and discovering that this great adventurer was actually willing to take risks and approach that black ancient tomb, he felt that it was still necessary for him to do something.

Lu Mi looked ahead, followed the light-footed Ai Nana, and turned into a small path in the jungle.

He never thought that he could completely end the "Dream Festival" on his own. The purpose of his trip had always been very clear:

Find the batch of gold that "Tewanaco" had brought and the item he obtained from the North family's devil, figure out what this core member of the "April Fool's Day" was planning, and prevent his remaining ideas from becoming reality.

This was not only the responsibility of the Minor Arcana of the "Tarot Society" but also Lu Mi's cautious attitude toward the "Tewanaco" matter—after discovering the dream projection left by "Tewanaco," he was worried that the other party could use pre-arrangements and dream projections to resurrect to a certain extent during the "Dream Festival" and return to the real world in the form of a resentful spirit or evil spirit.

He wouldn't give "Tewanaco" this opportunity.

After obtaining Congressman Yu Ge's confession, Lu Mi became even more suspicious.

This was because "Tewanaco" would return to Tizamo Town every year to participate in the "Dream Festival" and didn't need another host, and this special dream usually had no anomalies, appearing not to need anyone to monitor it day after day.

You know, before the Tewanaco family was burned to death, the special dream had existed for who knows how many years, and the "Dream Festival" had been staged who knows how many times, and no one had ever discovered the problem. In this situation, one more person knowing the truth would mean one more risk of leaking the news, but "Tewanaco" still seduced Congressman Yu Ge to fall, took him to the black ancient tomb to obtain supernatural powers.

This abnormal behavior made Lu Mi think that "Tewanaco" asking Congressman Yu Ge to help monitor the dream was essentially to confirm the situation of his dream projection:

That dream projection would gradually fade as "Tewanaco" left Tizamo Town and eventually disappear. If "Tewanaco" wanted it to always exist, he had to come back and live for a period of time after it faded to a certain extent. And because the dream around the black giant stone was in a chaotic state in normal times, the fading speed of the dream projection was likely irregular, which required someone to watch it every day, and as soon as they discovered the fading situation becoming serious, they would immediately send a telegram to let "Tewanaco" come back.

Of course, "Tewanaco" definitely wouldn't tell Congressman Yu Ge his true purpose. As a "Demon," he would inevitably guard against Congressman Yu Ge using his dream projection to do something, thereby erasing his own hidden danger. When he told Congressman Yu Ge what to do, it was highly likely that he asked the other party to monitor the changes in the dream.

And how to monitor the changes in the dream? Judging from the state of those dream projections and gravekeepers beside the black ancient tomb!

Lu Mi regretted that he couldn't enter the dream and could only let Ai Nana be responsible for questioning Congressman Yu Ge. Much of the information obtained floated on the surface, didn't touch the essence, and could only be used to assist in analysis.

If he were the one interrogating Congressman Yu Ge, he should have roughly figured out "Tewanaco's" goal by now, instead of just suspecting.

Currently, the clues to both the gold and the devil's gift pointed to that black ancient tomb. Lu Mi naturally had to go over and take a look, doing what he could. If he really couldn't handle it, he would decisively retreat to Tizamo Town, hide on the third or fourth floor of the Buriu Hotel, and let "Danger" bump into the ravenous Ludwig.

In an environment where rustling sounds were constant and wild beasts howled frequently, Ai Nana led Lu Mi and the others, walking through the rainforest trees, approaching the edge of the dream.

Suddenly, Lu Mi raised his right hand and said in a low voice:

"Stop."

He sniffed and smelled the scent of fresh blood.

And with the keenness and precision of a "Reaper's" sense of smell, Lu Mi also distinguished that this blood didn't belong to the jungle animals hunting each other; it came from a human and was rich in spirituality.

"What's wrong?" Ai Nana was startled, as if she had found the feeling of when she first followed Fenn Bote deep into this jungle.

Jiamou also quickly noticed the problem. He pointed to the direction from which the scent of fresh blood came and said:

"Something is wrong over there."

Mosquitoes and insects gathered in that area.

Although Lu Mi was very urgent to reach the side of that black ancient tomb to avoid "Tewanaco's" remaining plans from being successfully launched, he knew very well that the more urgent he was, the more cautious he had to be, and the more he had to pay attention to various anomalies along the way, to avoid stepping into a trap set by others or missing key information and rashly starting a conflict.

Aurora once said, and Roselle the Great might have said, that haste makes waste.

Lu Mi walked toward the source of the scent of fresh blood at a pace that was neither fast nor slow.

As the distance closed, he smelled the pungent odor and rotting scent suppressed by the smell of blood.

The former originated from the peaceful essential oil used to repel mosquitoes.

After Lu Mi bypassed a few more trees crawling with poisonous insects, he saw a corpse lying face up on the humus soil.

That corpse's eyes were wide open, black hair disheveled, and its face was painted with white oil paint. It was none other than Tizamo Town Patrol Captain Maxlo!

Maxlo, who "disappeared" behind Lu Mi when the "Dream Festival" started, appeared in the jungle in the state of a corpse!

"Maxlo!" Jiamou and Miss Ailuo, who followed, made surprised sounds at the same time.

They hadn't had time to be sad yet.

Lu Mi lowered his gaze and checked the cause of Maxlo's death.

There were deep wounds one after another on the chest and abdomen of this local patrol captain, as if he had encountered an attack from weapons like long spears or triangular daggers, but the edges also showed a state of tearing.

A large amount of fresh blood had long flowed to the ground, attracting mosquitoes and insects to linger, and there were many obvious signs of rot on Maxlo's body, with yellow-green liquid seeping out, as if he had been dead for two or three days.

After confirming the situation on the surface of the corpse and checking the traces of the battle around it, Jiamou said in a low voice:

"Suffered an attack from the power of the Death domain..."

Death domain? A cold middle-aged man wearing a thin formal suit suddenly surfaced in Lu Mi's mind.

Parlos Port Patrol Deputy Captain Lei Yasa!

He was a mid-sequence Path Feifanzhe of the "Death" pathway!

And when the "Dream Festival" started, Lei Yasa was the one who "disappeared" together with Maxlo.

Jiamou glanced at Miss Ailuo, who had a painful expression, and said hesitantly:

"They were affected by the 'Dream Festival,' lost their self-control, attacked each other, one died, and one fled?"

This was the speculation that best fit the situation of the "Dream Festival" at present.

Lu Mi also thought of a similar scene, but he frowned in doubt and said:

"Why would they be in the jungle?"

Normally, shouldn't they appear at the location where they were in reality?

In reality, Lei Yasa and Maxlo had already returned to Tizamo Town with me...

Did something attract them to the jungle?

As the only member of the Parlos Port Patrol who supported Tizamo Town, Lei Yasa knew from the beginning what the problem was here. Was his true goal that black ancient tomb?

Lu Mi looked at Jiamou and Miss Ailuo thoughtfully and asked as if casually:

"Were Maxlo and Lei Yasa on good terms?"

"Very good." Jiamou sighed and answered, "Maxlo was recruited into the patrol by Captain Lei Yasa and cultivated bit by bit."

Lu Mi didn't speak anymore and said to Ai Nana and the others:

"Let's continue forward."

Miss Ailuo and Jiamou seized the time, got some branches down, simply covered Maxlo's corpse, and then quickly followed the team.

After walking along the jungle path for a while, Ai Nana suddenly slowed down and raised her hand to press the side of her head.

"What's wrong?" Lu Mi asked keenly.

Ai Nana frowned and said:

"My head is a bit swollen, and I'm having some hallucinations."

"What kind of hallucinations?" Lu Mi raised his eyebrows.

Ai Nana was also very puzzled and said:

"I saw the scene when I last touched that black giant stone, no, the black ancient tomb, and I had a feeling of returning to the beginning. Do you understand? Past events appeared in my head, in front of my eyes, and beside my ears in the form of hallucinations."

Lu Mi thought for a moment and said before Jiamou could speak:

"Let's try walking a little further forward."

Just some hallucinations didn't make Ai Nana have the idea of retreating. She held the mentality of an experiment, walked along the jungle road that was still quite familiar, and walked another tens of meters forward.

"How is it?" Lu Mi beside her asked.

Ai Nana organized her language and said:

"The hallucinations are clearer and more obvious."

"The closer to the black ancient tomb, the stronger the hallucinations?" Lu Mi first proposed a possibility and then asked, "When Fenn Bote brought you here last time, did he have a similar situation?"

"No." Ai Nana was very certain, "He was very normal all the way."

"Maybe it's because he approached it more than once before, and he's already used to the hallucinations," Jiamou speculated.

"Who knows..." Ai Nana muttered and looked at Louis Longde, "What should we do now?"

Just hallucinations alone isn't a big problem... Lu Mi pondered for a moment and said:

"Let's take a look further forward."

"Okay." Ai Nana also didn't know what the hallucinations represented, endured the discomfort, and said, "It will only take a few minutes to reach that ancient tomb."

She stepped forward and continued to move forward.

As she walked, Ai Nana suddenly extended her right hand, pressed against the jungle trees beside her, and bent her waist and back.

Without waiting for Lu Mi to ask, she stated the changes in her hallucinations herself, speaking intermittently:

"I saw, after I touched the ancient tomb last time, I didn't, I didn't fall asleep immediately, I, I was still awake!

"I, I saw, a person appeared in front!"

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(End of chapter)