Chapter 730: Tracking

When they saw that golden strange lamp, Lu Mi, Fulanka, and Yu Jianna all blinked, forming a bold guess:

Could that be the "0—05" "Wishing Lamp"?

Well, the pumpkin carriage is one of the symbols of the Major Arcana's "Hermit" Lady, who has close ties to Bernadette, the eldest daughter of Lord Rosser, leader of "Elemental Dawn," and the wielder of "0—05"—so borrowing the "Wishing Lamp" isn't impossible…

In a flash of thought, they heard Anthony say respectfully:

"Good evening, 'Magician' Lady, 'Judgment' Lady."

Lu Mi and the others snapped back to attention and offered their greetings in turn.

"This is the 'Hermit' Lady." The "Magician" gave a brief introduction.

After Lu Mi and the others finished their greetings, the lady in the cream-and-gold-embroidered high-collared gown pulled a dark red wine from the void, sealed in an ancient glass flask, and said to Fulanka:

"Lend me that cuff button—you may return home and rest now."

Fighting the "Truth School"'s "Overseer" would be a half-god-level battle, beyond Lu Mi and the others' involvement.

Fulanka had no intention of forcing her way in; she handed the glass-like button to the "Magician" Lady.

The "Magician" Lady immediately gave her the bottle, its dark red liquid barely covering the bottom:

"This is a magical item—it restores stamina and spirituality when consumed, but remember: only one sip per day. Don't become a drunkard."

One extra sip and you'd instantly become a drunkard? Fulanka and the others instantly understood the true meaning behind the "Magician" Lady's final warning.

Seeing the dark red wine inside the bottle was barely enough for one sip, Fulanka turned slightly, preparing to pass the ancient glass flask to Lu Mi.

He was the one who had expended the most spirituality.

The "Magician" Lady rubbed the "Mirror Button" between her fingers and smiled:

"Don't worry—you won't finish it. Its name is 'The Ever-Flowing Wine.'"

Ah… With a mindset of curiosity, Fulanka twisted open the thin metal cap and swallowed the shallow layer of dark red wine.

As the slightly bitter, faintly sweet alcohol slid down her throat, she felt instantly refreshed, as if she'd just slept deeply through a full night, without ever having fought Morane Avini.

At the same time, she saw thin threads of dark red liquid seep up from the bottom of the ancient glass flask, forming once more a shallow layer of wine.

Truly ever-flowing… Fulanka marveled, then passed the ancient glass flask to Lu Mi.

Her hand had barely reached halfway when she suddenly felt something was off.

Instinctively, she changed direction, intending to let Yu Jianna drink first.

But then she realized—this was even worse!

Because Lu Mi would still have to drink it later!

Forget it—children of the road don't fuss over small things… Fulanka muttered in her mother tongue.

She circled her finger around the bottle's mouth and saw a faint layer of frost form there.

As the frost naturally fell away, Fulanka handed "The Ever-Flowing Wine" to Yu Jianna.

Yu Jianna drank the dark red liquid, mimicked her motion, then passed it to Lu Mi.

Seeing this, Fulanka quietly exhaled in relief.

Lu Mi paid no attention to the two witches' actions; he was more focused on the unusual qualities displayed by the "Hermit" Lady and the "Magician" Lady.

The former's eyes, obscured by lenses, had grown profoundly deep yet unfocused, blank and vast, as if gazing at nothing at all, while the latter was surrounded by countless glittering specks of light, as if the entire night sky had been shrunk and placed upon the ground.

Before handling an important matter, first perform a "divination" or "prophecy"? Lu Mi understood, took the ancient glass flask, and swallowed the dark red wine in one gulp.

His spirituality rapidly restored, as if dawn had just broken at six in the morning.

Of course, the portion of spirituality he had already consumed and stored did not return.

Phew—Lu Mi's anxiety over spiritual depletion was cured.

After Anthony also drank "The Ever-Flowing Wine" and returned the magical item to the "Magician" Lady, a dim glow tinged with starlight emerged from the "Mirror Button," flying into the eyes of the Major Arcana holder.

The "Magician" Lady made the "Mirror Button" fly toward Fulanka, then stretched both hands out, gripped the void, and tore it violently apart.

Without a sound, the void split like a transparent film, revealing countless pathways—dark, void-like, woven into a spiderweb.

This was the Mirror World in the conventional sense.

Without relying on any mirror, the "Magician" had opened a phantom gate directly into the Mirror World!

Is this the high-level power of the "Apprentice" Path? Lu Mi and the others silently marveled as the "Magician" Lady turned her gaze to the "Hermit" Lady beside her.

The "Hermit," clad in a purple robe, now held a vivid, unreal wool ball in her right hand, winding its thread around the golden, oddly shaped lamp.

Then, the Major Arcana holder tossed the vivid, unreal wool ball into the phantom gate opened by the "Magician," into the dark, void-like tunnels of the Mirror World.

The wool ball rolled of its own accord into one tunnel and vanished swiftly into the depths, leaving only the thread connecting it to the golden strange lamp.

The "Magician" immediately led the "Hermit" and the "Judgment" into the Mirror World, chasing after the wool ball.

As their figures vanished into the Mirror World, the violently torn void sealed itself shut at once.

"I think I've heard the story of that wool ball… but I can't recall its name…" Fulanka muttered again.

Lu Mi turned his gaze back to Morane Avini's corpse.

"You want to take him back for your godson to eat?" Fulanka said with disgust. "Forget whether Ludwig should eat people—this kind of 'Mirror Person's' flesh gradually turns back into mirror shards. Do you want Ludwig chewing glass?"

Lu Mi shook his head:

"I'm wondering whether we should take Morane Avini's vanity mirror with us."

…………

After traveling along the vivid thread for a while, the three Major Arcana holders arrived at a countryside villa corresponding to the mirror's coordinates, where they saw the target mirror resting on a desk.

It, too, was a vanity mirror.

They did not stop; chasing the wool ball, they wandered through the Spirit Realm.

Just two or three seconds later, they returned to reality, seeing the vivid, unreal wool ball resting inside a dark, gloomy church with no divine symbols.

Beneath the church's dome, human figures hung suspended in midair, swaying gently in the wind.

Some were elderly, some were youths, some were gentlemen wearing half-high silk top hats, some were ladies in vintage dresses with beautiful faces, some were tall and muscular like giants, some were covered in wet, fish-like scales…

Their common trait: all had tightly closed eyes, suspended by invisible ropes, like corpses hanged to death.

Deep within the church, seated on a black wooden armchair, was a thirty-something man with ordinary features and jet-black hair—his aura and soul felt both familiar and strange to the "Magician."

Familiar because she recognized him as Loki, the leader of "April Fools' Day," who had been forced to use his resurrection count; strange because he now carried an odd, alien quality.

At his side stood a blurred, sketch-like female figure, while his eyes were utterly black, like a lake under a lightless night.

He looked at the "Magician," the "Hermit," and the "Judgment," and smiled:

"Thanks to you, I've found a glimmer of hope for my return."

Before Loki finished speaking, every one of the hanging corpses opened their eyes.

All those eyes were pitch black.

…………

Inside the quarry hollow with a fixed entrance to the Mirror World.

"Take Morane Avini's vanity mirror?" Yu Jianna repeated Lu Mi's words, then suddenly understood. "You want to see if any other 'Mirror Person' tried contacting him before news of his mysterious disappearance spread?"

"Waiting is a virtue." Lu Mi replied with a smile.

For the "Hunter," this was an essential quality.

He bent down, reached into Morane Avini's coat pocket, and pulled out the vanity mirror.

At that moment, the vanity mirror snapped open on its own.

It opened itself!

From the palm-sized glass surface, dim light surged forth, instantly filling the quarry hollow, which had only faint illumination.

The next second, Lu Mi, Fulanka, and the others saw a figure rapidly outlined beside the fixed entrance to the Mirror World on the protruding rock.

A woman—black hair, brown eyes, beautiful features—wore a crimson gown layered with embroidery and lace, exposing a large expanse of pale skin on her chest despite the winter cold, her face lit with a warm, approachable smile.

Perelle?

The famous Trier socialite, the actress from the Kingdom of Ruin, Perelle?

Lu Mi was stunned and bewildered—he had never imagined encountering this flamboyant socialite here, in this setting.

Fulanka, Yu Jianna, and Anthony felt equally unreal.

Almost simultaneously, Lu Mi recalled two facts about Perelle:

The first time he observed Morane Avini, Perelle had been on a date with a new lover in the hotel's annex restaurant;

All socialites are, by definition, textbook brokers—political brokers!

Combining these two points, Lu Mi formed a guess:

Could Perelle also be a member of the "Truth School"?

Could she be the "Overseer" directly under Ye Busi, a half-god-level divine grantee?

If so, where had the "Magician" Lady and the others gone? Who were they chasing?

Run! Must flee immediately!

At that moment, Perelle looked at Lu Mi and the others, and with a smiling mouth, spoke the "Word of Order":

"Your crimes have not yet been punished!"

(End of Chapter)