Chapter 989: Catastrophe (Wishing Everyone a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival)

What trouble has Li Keji gotten into now? Franca took a soft breath.

She reflexively wanted to go check, confirm, and hopefully stop something more dangerous from happening—but as soon as she moved, she remembered she was still sick, utterly incapable.

Jian Na couldn’t go either; she had to watch Lu Mianna and keep her from wandering off… Anthony had another mission… They couldn’t send Lu Mianna herself—the outcome would either be Lu Mianna covered in mushrooms or Li Keji pregnant… After weighing all options, Franca decided to wait, to let Lu Mi return to the Dream City and handle it himself.

Li Keji is an ally; no need to worry too much… Li Keji is an ally; no need to worry too much… Franca kept silently repeating these words.

She planned to forward the news to Lu Mi, so he’d know immediately upon returning to the Dream City.

Franca had just clicked the corresponding option when she suddenly froze:

Damn, almost slipped…

Isn’t Lu Mi right now Lu Mianna?

Being sick really messes with your brain…

Good thing I caught myself in time…

…………

Inside the Tianyue Hotel, next to Zhalazhusi’s room.

The two bodyguards who had accompanied Zhalazhusi appeared here, standing before an elderly man with white hair and a youthful face.

The old man wore a white training suit, hands clasped behind his back, pacing a few steps near the wall:

“Any leads on the killer?”

“None. We can only confirm a ‘Witch’ was definitely involved,” one of the bodyguards replied.

The man in the white training suit pondered a moment, then said:

“Zhou Mingrui couldn’t have appeared at Shujin Renjia Hotpot by chance—it’s too coincidental.

“Find out who invited him there, or who manipulated him into bringing someone to eat there.

“Luo Shan and Luo Fu, who ate hotpot with him, are key suspects.”

“Yes, Mr. Cui,” both bodyguards responded in unison.

The man called “Mr. Cui” paused a few seconds, then added:

“Be careful when investigating Luo Shan. Previous reports indicate she belongs to an outside demonic god—a potential ally with considerable power.”

The two bodyguards agreed and left the room.

After pacing for a while longer, Mr. Cui took his own bodyguard and silently opened the door and stepped out.

He deliberately didn’t tell the previous two bodyguards he’d be investigating Luo Shan himself—he’d follow them covertly; if they triggered a trap or met with misfortune, he’d be able to glimpse the truth—like a bird waiting behind the cicada.

Outside the room, Mr. Cui walked calmly along the carpeted corridor toward the elevator.

Inside a ventilation shaft on the corridor’s ceiling, a pair of eyes silently watched him.

Those eyes were deep brown, completely blended into the darkness.

They belonged to Zhou Mingrui.

Zhou Mingrui had somehow infiltrated the ceiling of the corridor, observing every move of Zhalazhusi’s bodyguards and attendants, monitoring Mr. Cui’s actions.

This was because that morning, when he woke up and opened his door to fetch breakfast, he found a letter shoved into the door crack, its envelope bearing a printed label: “For Zhou Mingrui.”

Confused, Zhou Mingrui opened the letter and found inside a photograph—stolen footage of “Mr. Cui.”

On the back of the photo, another sheet of paper bore text:

“This is Zhalazhusi’s assistant. He will inherit Zhalazhusi’s legacy and take action against you.”

After reading the note, Zhou Mingrui’s mind instantly tensed.

He believed this was a warning from the group that assassinated Zhalazhusi last night—he even suspected Luo Shan had invited him to Shujin Renjia Hotpot so he’d witness Zhalazhusi’s death.

“What exactly do Zhalazhusi’s people want from me? And what do the ones who killed him intend?” Zhou Mingrui couldn’t find answers, so he decided to secretly observe the target and see if he could uncover any clues.

He confirmed that Mr. Cui, who lived next to Zhalazhusi and had no apparent connection to Zhalazhusi’s negotiation team, was indeed allied with him.

“He’s definitely suspicious,” Zhou Mingrui softly nodded in the darkness of the ceiling.

At the same time, he noticed other oddities:

He’d expected to be clumsy and awkward with crawling through vents, scaling ceilings, and covert surveillance—but in practice, he felt an uncanny familiarity, completing his objectives with surprising ease.

This wasn’t just due to the “Assassin’s” power.

“Yesterday too—I felt no panic or fear when I saw Zhalazhusi shot. I was calm… Is this the psychological resilience of a qualified ‘Assassin,’ or is there another reason?” Zhou Mingrui fell into deep thought.

He vaguely suspected he didn’t understand not just this world, but himself either.

Mr. Cui, accompanied by his bodyguard, took the elevator down to the first floor.

As he took a few steps toward the revolving door, he suddenly raised his hands to his neck.

He felt the rapid onset of Puppetization—and the Dream’s rejection.

His breathing grew labored; he felt as if thrown into a void devoid of all things.

How? Mr. Cui’s pupils dilated. He didn’t resist—he voluntarily withdrew from the Dream.

Thud!

His bodyguard collapsed instantly, dead on the spot.

A small insect flying nearby dropped to the ground with a soft snap, motionless.

In the temporary parking lot outside the Tianyue Hotel, Anthony, seated in the driver’s seat of a white car carrying Ludwig, calmly watched the scene.

The other “Fortune Teller” Pathway demigod mentioned by the Magic Mirror Arodes has been kicked out of the Dream!

And once a Puppet loses its controller, it’s essentially dead.

Lu Mi and the others, with intelligence from Magic Mirror Arodes, hadn’t ignored the “Fortune Teller” Pathway demigod living next to Zhalazhusi—the one who’d helped Zhalazhusi detect intruders—but they all knew it was unwise to act against Mr. Cui before eliminating Zhalazhusi; it would alert the enemy. So they merely took photos of Mr. Cui, planning to have Anthony, the only one still functional, slip a pre-prepared envelope into Zhou Mingrui’s door crack the next morning after the hotpot operation.

—Under the conditions of Lu Mi being kicked out of the Dream, Franca gravely ill, and Jian Na needing to care for two people, Anthony clearly couldn’t handle Mr. Cui alone—he could only “ask” Zhou Mingrui for help.

Anthony watched the hotel staff rushing over to check on the fallen bodyguard and the bewildered Mr. Cui, but didn’t get out of the car—he seized the chance to eliminate Mr. Cui’s Dream image.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to—he’d observed earlier and noticed police officers concealed nearby. Even with psychological invisibility, he couldn’t escape.

That would mean directly confronting the Dream’s primary consciousness—with consequences potentially worse than being kicked out!

Anthony waited patiently, never finding an opening, so he decided to wait until Lu Mi returned to the Dream City before acting.

For covert killing, Lu Mi was far more skilled than he, Jian Na , or Franca!

Anthony had chosen last night to return and rest, then deliver the letter the next morning, rather than going directly—he wanted to create a time gap:

Under the condition that the corresponding Dream image remains alive, the return interval for those kicked out of the Dream is roughly equal. If Anthony had warned Zhou Mingrui last night, Mr. Cui’s return to the Dream City and reestablishment of his Dream image wouldn’t have been much later than Lu Mi’s—perhaps only a few hours behind, and in those few hours, Lu Mi might not have found an opportunity to let his Dream image die unnoticed.

Now, with Lu Mi returning to the Dream City around 7–8 PM, he’ll have nearly a full day to murder Mr. Cui’s Dream image.

…………

Dechuang Garden, Room 2303.

Just after 7 PM, Franca and Jian Na , who had been watching Lu Mianna, saw the beautiful woman suddenly transform into a man.

Lu Mi immediately took the “Lies” earring and altered his appearance away from Li Ming’s likeness.

Franca seized the moment to tell him about the mushroom meal at Hongyue Hospital.

Lu Mi nodded:

“I’ll handle the other matter first.”

Saying this, he stood up.

Franca bit back a smile and pointed at him:

“Change your clothes first. Don’t walk off wearing Jian Na ’s nightgown.”

Lu Mi looked down and realized Lu Mianna had been wearing Jian Na ’s nightgown all along.

At 10 PM, inside a white car parked by the roadside, Lu Mi idly played with his phone, pretending to wait for someone.

—They had rented a new car, since the previous one was registered under “Luo Fu”; if Luo Fu’s rented car happened to appear near Mr. Cui’s death scene, Franca’s suspicion would be strong enough for immediate arrest.

After waiting a while, Lu Mi saw through the rearview mirror that Mr. Cui was walking alone, heading toward the intersection to return to the Tianyue Hotel.

As Mr. Cui passed his car, Lu Mi’s eyes suddenly turned silver-white with black veins.

“Eye of Catastrophe!”

Before Mr. Cui even crossed the rearview mirror, Lu Mi had already found the fate stream leading him to death.

The next instant, Lu Mi concealed his left hand, wearing the “Ring of Binding,” and slightly raised his right palm.

He touched Mr. Cui’s main fate stream from afar and violently shoved it toward the black branch.

His spiritual energy poured out wildly; his expression remained unchanged; his movements were perfectly normal.

Mr. Cui’s Dream image sensed nothing; the police monitoring him from hiding noticed nothing unusual.

Mr. Cui walked another twenty meters, stepping onto the crosswalk.

It was now truly night; the road had few pedestrians and even fewer cars.

Suddenly, a car speeding from afar lost control and ran straight through the red light.

Mr. Cui saw this, his pupils dilating in shock.

Crash!

He was flung into the air, his head slamming hard onto the ground.

Then the out-of-control car rolled over him—dead beyond any doubt.

ps: Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to everyone~

(End of Chapter)