Chapter 688: Both Illusion and Reality

"What kind of person?" Lu Mian's spirit lifted.

He didn't expect Amandina's hallucinations to bring unexpected gains.

"I can't see clearly, I can't see clearly. It's not that he isn't clear, it's that I can't see clearly." Amandina straightened her body again, seeming to have recovered a bit.

She thought and said: "It turns out I didn't fall asleep immediately after touching that huge black stone—no, the black ancient tomb—and wake up to find I had extraordinary powers. There were some things in between, but I had no memory of them before. I thought I had fallen asleep.

"The hallucinations I saw might come from the depths of my heart, from the part of my memory that was forgotten. No, not forgotten, they were just sleeping. Now they are starting to become active, waking up little by little..."

Amandina examined her state earnestly, searching for the source of the anomaly.

*Her head is quite good, her mentality is quite good, and she has maintained basic calmness... * Lu Mian evaluated in his heart.

Such an Amandina also made Camus feel a bit strange.

The Amandina in his impression was not only beautiful, but also cheerful, optimistic, and lively. She was the kind of girl who would make people around her unconsciously infected with happy emotions. But because she was young, she still seemed quite naive, childish, and green.

Who knew that after meeting in the "Dream Festival," she would show an openness, maturity, and calmness beyond his expectations.

Amandina became confused:

"Why has Luo Bote never mentioned the sleeping memories, never mentioned that I didn't fall asleep immediately after touching the ancient tomb? Father Cali also said that I fainted and woke up with extraordinary powers?

"They have definitely participated in the 'Dream Festival' in a conscious state and been to the black ancient tomb more times than I have..."

Lu Mian understood what Amandina wanted to express:

One: Why did Father Cali and Luo Bote, who had been to the black ancient tomb many times, still believe that they had fainted on the spot and woke up with extraordinary abilities, without experiencing hallucinations similar to Amandina's current one?

Two: Luo Bote watched Amandina touch the black ancient tomb. Didn't he know whether she had fallen to the ground and fallen asleep immediately?

Lu Mian thought for a few seconds and said:

"Maybe that person you saw standing in front of you made the relevant memories fall asleep, and you yourself are of the 'Night' pathway, a 'Nightmare,' so you have special characteristics in dreams and sleep. The closer you are to the black ancient tomb, the more likely the sleeping memories will wake up, to the point of producing hallucinations."

Amandina said "Hmm," accepted the speculation that she had special characteristics, and continued walking forward with full confidence.

After two minutes, Lu Mian suddenly raised his right hand again, made a pressing motion, and said in a low voice:

"Hide nearby."

He heard light footsteps.

Camus immediately rolled to the side and hid behind a palm tree, while Rya climbed up another tree in a few steps, hiding with the help of branches and leaves.

Lu Lu Jianuo looked at the jungle, which didn't know how many poisonous insects and snakes were hiding, and kept telling himself, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. If I get bitten, I can treat it myself."

He quickly shrank behind a pile of huge, gorgeous mushrooms.

Amandina had experience hiding in such places, which was why she had seen the Tevanaco family head to the black ancient tomb.

She moved nimbly, relying on the cover of the night and her own inspiration, passed through a large number of low green plants, and hid behind a giant tree further away.

Suddenly, a thick vine hanging on the giant tree came to life, swung toward Amandina, and opened a mouth full of blood.

That was a dark green python!

Amandina's eyes closed tightly, and her fists clenched.

The python then entered a deep sleep, swung back powerlessly, swayed a few times, and finally fell to the ground.

Seeing that his teammates were all hidden, Lu Mian's body suddenly disappeared, merging into the large shadows brought by the night.

After twenty seconds, a figure crossed from the front.

Rya, who was at a high place, saw through the gaps between the branches and leaves that the figure was wearing a very complicated black robe with obvious layers, and a fluffy black hat was pressed on its hair, with a white feather gently swaying on the edge of the black hat.

Lu Mian, who existed in the state of a shadow creature, also saw the general appearance of the figure.

His spirit suddenly became a bit tense, and a feeling of confusion emerged in his heart:

*Isn't that Ivelista Aigris? *

*How could this member of the "Temperance Faction" of the "Fool" church appear in the dream and become a participant in the "Dream Festival"? *

Lu Mian had spent the past few days turning inside Tizamo Town, the surrounding plantations, and the barracks outside the town, clearly knowing which outsiders had arrived recently, and Ivelista wasn't among them!

*"Did he arrive here after the 'Dream Festival' began? *

*"Hmm, he once said that his original mission was to investigate something in the primitive jungle around Port Pylos, and later he temporarily accepted orders to deal with 'Ciso's' contact... The thing he was investigating wouldn't be related to that black ancient tomb, would it? The 'Temperance Faction' is of the 'Prisoner' pathway, and the Aigris family are descendants of 'Death.' It's very normal for the black ancient tomb and the cold corpse inside it to attract this 'Temperance Faction' Aigris... *

*"Did Ivelista Aigris encounter the 'Dream Festival' while searching for that primitive tribe in the jungle?"*

Lu Mian analyzed the reason for Ivelista's appearance here while observing Ivelista's expression through the shadows.

He saw the pale face of this "Temperance Faction" member showing an indescribable ferocity, his dark brown eyes revealing a beast-like viciousness, stained with a bit of blood under the dim red moonlight.

*"Although there is no influence from dream projections formed by extreme emotions and desires, it is still difficult to maintain self-control and temperance while in the 'Dream Festival'..."* Lu Mian wasn't surprised at all.

Ludwig and Colobo were previous examples.

Considering Ivelista's current state, Lu Mian didn't come out of the shadows and waited patiently for the other party to leave the area, the footsteps gradually moving away.

*"From the direction, he is also going to that black ancient tomb..."* Lu Mian turned back into a human, stood on the road that had grown quite a few weeds, and looked at the place where Ivelista's back disappeared.

He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers:

"You can come out."

Camus, Rya, and Lu Lu Jianuo left the places where they were hiding one after another, and the former even specifically went to wake up Amandina.

"Continue?" Amandina looked at Lu Mian and asked.

Lu Mian answered without hesitation:

"Continue."

This time, they moved forward more and more cautiously, paying attention to the situation around them at all times.

After another three or four minutes, Lu Mian, who had prepared to deal with Ivelista and Reyasa, followed Amandina's guidance and passed through the gaps between a few giant trees.

A black, huge, familiar stone came into his view.

It looked like a house-sized boulder at first glance, but a closer look revealed patterns on it, abnormal protrusions and depressions, and thread-like cracks that normal human eyes couldn't discover.

This was indeed not just a stone.

Around the huge black stone, sections of tree roots emerged from the ground, covering an area the size of a square, just like the protruding blood vessels of every human, but they had all been dead for a long time, withered and wilted.

At this time, it was empty here, without a single figure.

*"Ivelista didn't come here? Reyasa's destination wasn't here either? Did they get lost halfway? Or is it that only by being led by someone who has received the gift of the ancient tomb or the corpse can one truly reach this area?"* Lu Mian looked around in confusion.

Amandina's brow frowned again, and her hands couldn't help but press against the side of her head.

She said a bit painfully:

"That, that hallucination is clearer. I, I saw more.

"That figure walked in front of me, reached out, reached out and pressed on the top of my head!

"He, he was wearing a strange hat..."

Camus, Rya, and the others didn't interrupt Amandina, watching to see if she could recall more or be stimulated to wake up more sleeping memories.

Amandina muttered to herself:

"At that time, was that how I obtained extraordinary power?"

Lu Mian listened to Amandina's words while staring at the huge black stone that was said to be an ancient tomb.

He felt a bit of familiarity.

As a "Conspirator," Lu Mian quickly searched for the source of the familiarity in his memory.

Soon, he had the answer.

That black ancient tomb gave him a feeling a bit like the "Samaritan Woman's Spring," the "Samaritan Woman's Spring" before it was stained with a pale color!

*It really is something closely related to the Death domain... * Lu Mian checked the residual aura of the "Red Emperor" in his right hand, confirming that it hadn't been affected or shown signs of being about to be triggered.

Just then, the surroundings became unusually quiet.

The rustling sounds in the jungle, the howling of wild beasts, and the gunshots and screams from Tizamo Town seemed to disappear at once, and the deep night returned to deathly silence.

Amandina raised her head and shouted in horror:

"I remember, I remember. When I obtained extraordinary power, it was also this quiet here, completely unlike the 'Dream Festival'!"

The next second, Amandina's pupils dilated sharply:

"He, he, that figure, that figure has appeared!"

*Huh? * Rya, Camus, and Lu Lu Jianuo all looked toward the black ancient tomb with solemnity and confusion, seeing no one, nor discovering any anomalies.

Amandina's voice became sharp:

"Didn't you see him?

"He, he is walking toward me... walking toward me!"

For a moment, none of them could determine whether Amandina's hallucination was clear to the point of being near-real, or if something had indeed happened.

"No! Don't come over!"

Amandina looked at the empty area in front, her expression collapsing as she shouted loudly.

Accompanying this shout, Lu Mian felt the entire area vibrate slightly, and the surroundings became blurred.

In the blur, scene after scene stood out, just like different fragments of a dream.

These scenes were all centered on the black ancient tomb, but different people were standing beside them.

In some scenes, Reyasa, wearing a thin black formal suit, was standing there. In some scenes, Ivelista, wearing a feathered hat, was standing there. In some, a man and a woman were approaching side by side. In some, there were humans in black robes surrounding them.

One of the humans in black robes turned his head and looked at Lu Mian with a full face of smiles.

He had a light brown complexion, and his flaxen eyes were stained with a gloomy green. It was none other than "Ciso" Tevanaco.

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(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 689 =====