Chapter 754

Damn it!

Although Lu Mian had already considered the idea of taking the risk, he hadn't truly made up his mind yet. Facing the sudden extinguishing of the white candle, he couldn't help but curse inwardly, subconsciously wanting to trigger the black mark on his right shoulder to "teleport" directly out of the catacombs.

At this moment, he felt a bone-chilling cold rise in the palm of his right hand, producing a slight stinging pain.

This made his mind even clearer, and he didn't discover any other bad changes in his body.

As expected... Lu Mian instantly recovered his composure, abandoning the idea of using the "Spirit World Traversal" ability.

His guess had been confirmed!

He quietly clenched his right palm, not letting the protruding "Underworld Daoist" seal mark be "seen" by other things in the darkness.

After being mistaken for one of their own by the aged, decaying, and clearly abnormal tomb keeper, Lu Mian had suspected it was caused by the "Underworld Daoist" seal.

One must know that the "Samaritan Woman's Spring" is closely related to the "Underworld Daoist," and one of the important reasons for the construction of the Trier catacombs should be to seal the overflowing influence of the "Samaritan Woman's Spring." The tomb keepers also take turns guarding the huge tomb chamber leading to the "Samaritan Woman's Spring."

Since a tomb keeper who has undergone mutation can walk in the darkness of the catacombs without carrying a lit white candle and not disappear, then he, who has the "Underworld Daoist" seal, should theoretically be able to as well!

Of course, this was extremely risky. Once he guessed wrong, even the traces of his existence would die out, which was why Lu Mian, despite having already had the crazy idea, still couldn't make up his mind.

In the pure darkness where his eyes could no longer see anything, Lu Mian felt as if he were located in the underground river of Trier, surrounded by cold, damp, heavy, and deathly silence.

But his breathing did not become difficult; his body and his soul were absorbing air from the dense, gloomy "water" in a strange way, maintaining his own existence.

He seemed to have become a fish at the bottom of the deep, dark water.

The darkness was indeed like a water current, covering and pressing down layer by layer, isolating this space from the surrounding area and the outside world.

The next second, Lu Mian heard the aged keeper's hoarse and indifferent voice:

"Three people have tried to approach the spring during this time, and I stopped them."

Three people... Lu Mian's spirits lifted as he said:

"Which three people?"

"One time, a believer of darkness and death brought a 'Hunter'." The aged keeper described it in his own way.

A believer of darkness and death brought a "Hunter"... Isn't this Lady "Madame Hela" and me, no, Lady "Madame Hela" and me? You still remember us... Lu Mian first realized with a start, then muttered to himself.

He had previously thought that this aged keeper was different from more active keepers like Kendall, that he was already close to a corpse-like state and didn't recognize people with his eyes, but by sensing their aura—during Lu Mian's journey into the catacombs to the "Old Ossuary Entrance," he had met two tomb keepers leading tourists, and neither of them had viewed him as one of their own; instead, they reminded him to try not to wander around alone and to always keep the white candle burning for illumination.

"Who was the other one?" Lu Mian pressed.

Was it Harrison, or Monet, the avatar of Amon active in the catacombs?

The aged tomb keeper said blankly and hoarsely:

"An outsider. His feeling was very close to ours, but there were also differences, so I stopped him."

The feeling was very close... there were differences... an outsider... After chewing on these descriptive sentences for a while, Lu Mian believed that it was highly likely to be the visitor from Resurrection Island, Harrison!

"What did he look like?" Lu Mian controlled his inner emotions and asked further, appearing calm.

His vision could not penetrate the darkness, and he couldn't even see the outline of the aged keeper, but he could clearly sense that the other party was right in front of him, no more than two meters away.

He then heard the aged keeper reply:

"I have been a keeper for too long, so long that I have forgotten many, many things.

"Even death itself fades here, let alone our memories.

"I don't remember what he looked like, only that he didn't look much like us Intisians, nor like the Loenese or the Feysacians."

After a brief pause, the tomb keeper continued in a tone that still had no fluctuations:

"I should go back to rest..."

Lu Mian did not try to dissuade him, nor did he ask again.

This was because although he hadn't heard footsteps or felt any movement in front of him, he suddenly had a very clear thought:

"That person has already left."

Didn't look like an Intisian, Loenese, or Feysacian... an outsider... had been to the fourth level of the catacombs in the last few months... Lu Mian went over the aged tomb keeper's answer in his mind again and again.

Suddenly, he thought of something:

Franca had mentioned that she had encountered a man in the catacombs who was suspected to be from the world of the "Heavenly Master," that is, the world they were in before they transmigrated, and her basis for judgment was that the man's appearance was very close to people from that world, and there were certain differences from people of Intis, Loen, Feynapot, and Feysac!

"So, the one Franca met was the one the aged keeper persuaded to leave? And that person is very likely the visitor from Resurrection Island, Harrison...

"Is Resurrection Island actually a node where two worlds intersect?

"Is the reason the sea chart to Resurrection Island is wrong because it lacks occult content, so even if one reaches the designated sea area, one will only encounter danger and not see the target?

"This can well explain Franca's divination result that 'the sea chart is true' and the instances where adventurers couldn't find Resurrection Island. The sea chart is indeed true, it just doesn't record the method to open the 'Island Gate'!

"If this is true, the reasons for Franca and the others' transmigration, and the purpose of the Resurrection Island islanders appearing in the Northern and Southern Continents, should all have deeper explanations...

"The good thing now is that Franca has met someone suspected to be Harrison and has already drawn a corresponding portrait through a ritual, which will help us find the target later.

"Heh, Franca and Yu Jianna's exploration that time yielded quite a lot of key information about important matters; it's full of the scent of being arranged.

"This might not have been done by that person, but it likely has an inseparable connection with the Amon avatar that often appears here..."

Lu Mian's biggest doubt now is why the "True Creator," or Amon, would attach importance to this matter. The "help" they provided before was basically related to resisting the evil gods outside the barrier and did not involve issues of another world.

"Hmm, does that Heavenly Master count as an evil god outside the barrier?

"Did he come from the world of the 'Heavenly Master'?

"Does this also count as part of the evil god invasion?"

Lu Mian made a brief guess and considered another question:

That is whether to tell Franca, "007," Lady "Madame Hela," and other members of the "Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society" about this.

Lu Mian could already imagine what the scene would be like:

A portion of the "Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society" members, including Franca, would crazily and wave after wave go out to sea to find the Resurrection Island marked on the sea chart, and if they didn't find Resurrection Island, it would be dangerous; if they found it, it would be even more dangerous!

And Lu Mian would rather see Franca maintain her current state:

Apart from struggling with her gender, always happy.

After a moment of silence, Lu Mian laughed somewhat out of character, mocking himself in a low voice within the dark, water-like environment:

"Would you stop looking for a way to resurrect Aurore because of danger and other people's expectations?

"Would you give up resisting because of danger and other people's expectations?

"Would you not fuse with Omebella's bloodline because of danger and other people's expectations?

"No!"

Lu Mian made his decision and began to focus his attention on the surrounding environment.

He couldn't see anything, but he vaguely felt figures wandering in the darkness, felt pairs of hands seemingly reaching toward him, grabbing his arms, grabbing his ankles, grabbing his neck, grabbing his body, but they didn't produce any real-world impact.

No, there was one thing: Lu Mian was clearly colder. With the physical traits of a "Reaper," he could barely stop his pores from constricting and himself from trembling slightly.

He also heard drifting, painful, desperate cries, but he couldn't distinguish which direction they specifically came from.

"Are these the people who disappeared in the catacombs before?" Lu Mian tried to listen carefully, to find one or two missing persons and figure out their current state, but it was to no avail.

Suddenly, he shivered.

That kind of coldness and deathly silence seeped into his mind.

His thinking became a bit sluggish, and his memories of some things became a bit blurry.

"The 'Underworld Daoist' seal only keeps me from disappearing on the spot, with even the traces of my past dying, but it can't stop me from being slowly eroded by the abnormality here, just like those tomb keepers? And, the speed at which I'm being eroded is clearly faster than them..." Lu Mian snapped his fingers, producing a flame that lit the white candle in his hand.

The feelings of darkness, coldness, heaviness, deathly silence, and dampness immediately receded with the spread of the light.

Lu Mian stared at the candlelight in his hand, nodded, and muttered to himself:

"I was just understanding the 'Underworld Daoist' seal as an alternative white candle flame. Now it seems they are different, fundamentally completely different.

"One originates from the sealed abnormality, the other borrows the power that seals this place?"

Amidst his racing thoughts, Lu Mian held the burning white candle and returned along the original path.

When he returned to the "Old Ossuary Entrance," he saw that the few college students from before were already gone.

"Scared away just like that?" Lu Mian sneered, slowly left the catacombs, and returned to Purgatory Square.

Memorial District, 9 Orosay Street, Apartment 702.

Franca, who was just planning to go out to collect information on those "people in the mirror," saw Lu Mian again.

"Why are you here again, again, again?" the "Pleasure Witch" asked with a slight twitch of her mouth.

PS: Asking for double monthly votes at the beginning of the month~

(End of chapter)