[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-ring-of-fate":3,"chapter-the-ring-of-fate-the-ring-of-fate-chapter-910":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Ring of Fate",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2298879,4496,"Chapter 910","the-ring-of-fate-chapter-910",910,"\u003Cp>Seeing the local man huddled in a ball beside the green trees, nearly broken as he whispered in despair, Francia seriously considered whether to call the police for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Miang pondered for a few seconds and gave Anthony a glance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anthony immediately stepped into the shadowed area and used “Calming” on the target.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The local man, in his forties, finally calmed down, as if emerging from a long tormenting nightmare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Miang moved closer and asked with deliberate intent:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What happened?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After encountering the strange death of the Messenger Dazizi, and now meeting this mentally shattered man, he instinctively felt this was no ordinary incident—perhaps hiding crucial information.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man lifted his head and looked toward Lu Miang and the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was about to speak when he suddenly saw Francia and Jianna; his expression twisted in utter terror as he screamed:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A ghost woman! There’s a ghost woman!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice was piercing, thick with fear, drawing the attention of the security guard at the entrance of the old residential area, who came over with a flashlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Miang swiftly threw down the mirror and created his own “Mirror Maze.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Francia glanced at him, saw his timely reaction, and withdrew her right hand from her pocket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, Francia muttered to herself:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How am I a ghost woman?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How are Jianna and I ghost women?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guard, holding a flashlight that emitted bright light, walked over, circled the green trees twice, and said with confusion:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The sound was clearly coming from here—why can’t I see anyone…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He listened again carefully and felt the voice shouting “ghost woman” had grown distant, impossible to pinpoint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guard suddenly shuddered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could there really be a ghost woman?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He decided not to investigate further—just call the police.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With this new thought, he sprinted toward the security booth at the gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the “Mirror Maze” was only at Rank 7, the dark, sparsely populated environment allowed Lu Miang to successfully deceive the guard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He instructed Francia and Jianna to retreat to the edge of the “Mirror Maze,” out of sight of the broken man, and signaled Anthony to use “Calming” again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mentally shattered local man calmed once more; Anthony asked gently and calmly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What happened? Maybe I can help you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For some reason, the man found Anthony deeply trustworthy, calming his nerves as he breathed out:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I—I encountered a zombie!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zombie?” Lu Miang could roughly understand this as a type of undead creature—perhaps the dream world’s unique term for a living corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man fell silent for a few seconds, glanced at Anthony, and received a confirming nod.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gathering courage, he stammered:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I—I’m a hospital orderly; just now I was assigned to transport a corpse to the morgue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That corpse was so beautiful—unbelievably beautiful. Her ears were small, adorable, utterly captivating, like precious jewelry in a gold shop. She wasn’t wearing any clothes—I couldn’t resist. I told my coworker to go ahead, then climbed on top, bit her ear, and had my way with her for a long time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Francia couldn’t help raising her right hand to cover half her face:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We’ve disgraced the motherland!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perverts exist everywhere—it’s just a matter of proportion!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It didn’t feel like a corpse at all…” the man mumbled on, as if still savoring the memory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gradually, his eyes widened:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’d just pulled up my pants when she—when the corpse opened her eyes!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Opened them!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A ghost woman! There’s a ghost woman!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Miang listened intently, then turned his head to Francia and Jianna:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If a corpse has this much allure, could it be a ‘Succubus’?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Possible,” Francia nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jianna immediately offered another possibility:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The corpse of a ‘Sex Addict’ or a ‘Little Cupid’ might do the same.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had an extremely vivid memory of the “Miser” Path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Miang glanced outside the “Mirror Maze” and saw no police yet; he had Anthony calm the orderly once more, then used “Dream Divination” to sketch a portrait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman in the sketch was clearly not local—she resembled a person from the Northern Continent: strikingly beautiful, yet with a sacred aura, utterly unlike a corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, it was clear the orderly had been most deeply impressed by the female corpse’s small, delicate ears and long, elegant neck—infused with intense desire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“She does look like a ‘Succubus,’” Francia, who had extensive experience identifying “Succubi,” said from the edge of the “Mirror Maze.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Miang considered for a moment, then asked the male orderly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Which hospital do you work at?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The male orderly did not hide the answer from Anthony:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I live nearby, but I work at Mushi Hospital.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mushi Hospital…” Francia’s eyelid twitched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s wrong?” Lu Miang, Jianna, and Anthony didn’t understand Francia’s reaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hospital’s name seemed normal—wasn’t it just “gazing at the dawn’s light”?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Francia organized her thoughts and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is one example of how you can understand the literal meaning of a word but fail to grasp its true symbolism.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In my native language, ‘Mushi’ and ‘Mother Tree’ sound nearly identical—and you should know what ‘Mother Tree’ represents.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Lu Miang and the others could respond, Francia spoke in a low, grave tone:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Desire Mother Tree!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Can the Mother Tree also seep a little power into this dream?” Lu Miang frowned slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mother Tree had appeared—how far away was the Mother?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jianna clearly had the same thought; after a few seconds of silence, she said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The possibility that it’s the corpse of a ‘Little Cupid’ has increased…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Miang had Anthony press the male orderly about any unusual events he’d encountered at Mushi Hospital, but received no useful answers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They didn’t waste more time; Anthony used “Hypnosis” to make the male orderly forget the calming and the questioning, then watched him walk out of the “Mirror Maze” and head down another street.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dismissing the “Mirror Maze,” Lu Miang stared at the orderly’s retreating back and said thoughtfully:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That corpse is definitely problematic—but that doesn’t mean he’s innocent, or that everything else at Mushi Hospital is normal.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jianna strongly agreed:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That intense, uncontrollable desire to violate a corpse resembles contamination by a ‘Sex Addict.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course, it could also be mere enchantment by the corpse.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they walked into their rented residential area, they discussed what had just happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Francia suddenly sighed:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’ve only been here half a day and already encountered two strange incidents not mentioned in the files—were they not mentioned, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No,” Lu Miang confirmed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He then smiled:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Perhaps this is the true value of the ‘Calamity’ Paths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Once I shift back to the ‘Hunter’ Path, I’ll essentially be a half-formed human wax candle—I might even complete the corresponding Pact Ritual without relying on anything else.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, my spiritual intuition tells me we’ll likely encounter that resurrected female corpse soon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then we need to take turns keeping watch from tonight,” Francia said immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dying in the dream means real death!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Definitely worth this level of caution,” Lu Miang nodded approvingly. “Tomorrow morning, we’ll secretly observe outside the ‘Fool’ Mr. ’s company—first, identify the people.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…………\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Late at night, in the master bedroom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jianna suddenly woke and saw Francia, wrapped in the thin blanket she’d taken from the “Traveler’s Satchel,” sitting against the headboard in darkness, motionless as a statue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you thinking about?” Jianna slowly sat up and asked carefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Francia gazed at the wall opposite, as if freshly painted by darkness, and answered in a dreamlike whisper:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why did the ‘Fool’ Mr.  name his puppet town Utopia…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s wrong with that name?” Jianna didn’t fully grasp Francia’s concern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Francia fell silent for several seconds before saying:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s a proper noun from my world before I crossed over—it means a nonexistent country, an imaginary nation… Why would the ‘Fool’ Mr.  use it…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jianna roughly understood Francia’s thought; softly, she said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Major Arcana mentioned in the files say the ‘Fool’ Mr.  has been collecting Emperor Rosel’s diaries—perhaps one diary entry contained this term. Or perhaps he learned it during his long struggle against the Celestial Lord. Or maybe—well, didn’t you say the Ancient Sun God might also be a crosser? Why couldn’t the ‘Fool’ Mr.  be one too?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I just suspect—I keep thinking about the ‘Fool’ Mr. ’s origins and the experiences of his avatars, and the more I think, the more I suspect…” Francia’s voice grew so low it lost all weight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t suspect—verify,” Jianna comforted her in her own way. “When you wake the ‘Fool’ Mr. , ask him this question. Whether he’s a crosser or not, after fighting the Celestial Lord for so long, he must know your crossing secret—and perhaps he can help you return. For now, don’t overthink it. Focus only on waking the ‘Fool’ Mr. .”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Francia slowly exhaled:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes, thinking about it more now is useless—we can’t verify anything for now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hmm… for me, awakening Mr. The Fool is no longer just a task of the Tarot Society, no longer just something I must do to survive the apocalypse…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After chatting a while longer, Francca lay back down, inhaling Jiana’s scent, and drifted into deep sleep, exhausted in body and mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once Francca was fully asleep, Jiana got up carefully, opened the master bedroom door, and stepped into the shared restaurant’s living room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi, in a white shirt and black trousers, sat beside the wooden dining table, staring blankly at the window facing the shoe cabinet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s my turn for night watch—you can go rest now,” Jiana said with a smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi pulled his gaze back and stood up:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What were you and Francca just talking about?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiana summarized the key points of Francca’s suspicions and her own reassurances; Lu Mi nodded slightly and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, give her a goal, something to motivate her, so she doesn’t dwell on it too much for now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When dawn comes, I’ll find a chance to consult Anthony again and see if we need to do anything else.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiana turned her gaze toward the window facing the shoe cabinet and asked curiously:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What were you just thinking about?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi followed her gaze; what met his eyes was the interior of the residential complex—right now, only two or three units in each building still had lights spilling out, the rest plunged in darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi’s thoughts seemed to drift again; he answered in a low voice:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I was wondering… did Aurora once live in a city like this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PS: Beginning of the month—please support with monthly votes~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1747,"2026-06-20T06:22:37.987Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","ec3e555bb66d840218e53ad07cbb2e3cd6b92c3ad192cf5d4682b635dadfd7a7","the-ring-of-fate-chapter-911","the-ring-of-fate-chapter-909",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-ring-of-fate-cover.jpg"]