Chapter 993: Proactive Small Talk

After suspecting that Zarathustra replacing the teachers of the Dream Tutoring Class and Star Tutoring Class was targeting the Gehrman Sparrow image that didn't actually exist in the dream city, Lu Mian and the others discussed this for a long time, but never understood the significance and role of doing so.

They planned to write a letter and have Franca and Jenna take it to the Star Dream Grocery Store tomorrow to mail it, to see what kind of opinions the Great Arcana cards would give.

Standing up, preparing to leave the rented house in Xinhong Residential Area, Franca remembered one thing and looked at Lu Mian curiously:

"You said before that Li Li Keji became pregnant because of Green's cognition, your Omebella bloodline, and the Celestial Worthy subconscious dominated by the Mushu Hospital environment, making your casual words 'he is already pregnant' become fact. Then as the child of God Omebella, can you use the Beyonder abilities of the 'Planter,' 'Apothecary,' and 'Warlock' pathways now?"

Franca's eyes were bright, feeling that this matter had a bit of "I think" meaning.

Of course, this "I" refers to the dream subconscious.

As long as the dream subconscious believes it, anything can happen!

Lu Mian tried to see if he could use abilities related to "Vampire," "Harvest Priest," and "Warlock," but all failed.

"No." He shook his head.

Without waiting for Franca to respond, he added thoughtfully:

"Maybe it's possible at Mushu Hospital."

While Franca said "Hmm," Jenna reminded Lu Mian:

"If it's really like this, then frequently entering and exiting Mushu Hospital might cause you to become more and more like Omebella, until you are completely identical."

Lu Mian thought for a few seconds and said in a deep voice:

"It's possible."

Franca suddenly hissed:

"The 'Great Mother's' style is so insidious, always making people fall into the trap unknowingly? Sometimes, vigilance doesn't seem to have any effect..."

Speaking of this, Franca answered her own question:

"Looking at the name, the 'Great Mother' might symbolize the 'Yin' in the word 'Yin and Yang'..."

…………

On Sunday, Lu Mian brought Ludwig to the Dream Tutoring Class again.

In the process of sending the child into the classroom, he observed the front desk, every teacher he met, and Anderson Hu De with the "Eye of Disaster" without leaving a trace.

And except for the latter, the mercury-colored fate rivers corresponding to others all showed black representing death in a certain past period. These blacks had become blurry, and some were still clear, flowing forward with the illusory river, getting further and further back, harder and harder to see.

"Indeed newborn people..." Lu Mian didn't talk to Anderson Hu De, took two steps back, and sat in his old position.

He was just about to think about how to deal with this matter when he suddenly saw Zhou Mingrui wearing a sky-blue loose t-shirt, walking toward this side.

So professional, witnessing Zarathustra being shot, and observing Mr. Cui, yet still remembering to come to the business English class... Lu Mian remarked and stood up, greeting Zhou Mingrui.

As employees of the Intis Group, and having met more than once, this was the proper courtesy.

Seeing this, Zhou Mingrui returned a greeting.

Just when Lu Mian thought he would turn into the classroom smoothly, Zhou Mingrui stopped. He stopped in front of him.

Zhou Mingrui looked left and right and said:

"Did Teacher Da resign? I haven't seen him every time I come recently.

"You know Teacher Da, right?"

"Know, Da Nizi. I saw the flyer he sent out and brought my child here to sign up," Lu Mian answered simply.

He didn't expect Zhou Mingrui to find him for small talk, and also asked about the messenger Danitz.

Stimulated by Zarathustra's matter, Zhou Mingrui began to more actively explore the hidden abnormalities around him, more boldly contacting us people who have problems, and then discovered that Teacher Da from the Dream Tutoring Class hadn't appeared recently? This is a good thing! Hmm, there is also a bad side. If he explores like this, maybe one day I and Franca and the others will be kicked out of the dream without warning like Mr. Cui... Lu Mian's thoughts turned, having a rough judgment.

Without waiting for Zhou Mingrui to ask again, he sighed:

"Teacher Da didn't resign, he passed away."

"Ah?" Zhou Mingrui's eyes froze suddenly.

His vibration and surprise appeared on his face.

This was also the performance a normal person should have when hearing similar news.

"When did it happen? What happened?" Zhou Mingrui didn't hide his surprise.

Lu Mian looked toward the front desk:

"I heard Principal Ai say, it seems he encountered a perverted murderer and was strangled to death alive.

"At first, Principal Ai and Teacher Anderson thought it was just a disappearance, because they didn't hold hope for Teacher Da's ability to survive alone, so they called the police quickly. Later, after the police searched, they found Teacher Da in the underground morgue of Mushu Hospital, in the form of a corpse."

Lu Mian said everything that Principal Ai Nana had told him and information that could be searched on the internet, not worried that this would cause him to be kicked out of the dream again—after re-entering the dream, he planned to be peaceful for two or three days in front of Zhou Mingrui.

"Was killed..." Zhou Mingrui's eyes flickered, falling into deep thought.

"Yes, the corpse was found in the underground morgue of Mushu Hospital," Lu Mian emphasized.

He was guiding Zhou Mingrui to pay attention to the possible problems in Mushu Hospital through normal communication.

"The murderer specifically sent Teacher Da's corpse to the underground morgue?" Zhou Mingrui expressed confusion.

Lu Mian shook his head:

"It's not necessarily the murderer who did it, it could also be a passerby who found the corpse and sent it there."

"How is that possible? Passersby would report to the police directly upon seeing a corpse." Zhou Mingrui felt more and more that there was an incorrect atmosphere hidden in this matter.

"But why did the murderer have to send Teacher Da's corpse to the underground morgue of Mushu Hospital? He thought it wouldn't be discovered if hidden there? What makes him think so..." Lu Mian was responsible for raising questions, emphasizing Mushu Hospital, but didn't provide answers.

For him now, answering was too dangerous.

Zhou Mingrui nodded thoughtfully and pointed to the business English classroom:

"I'm going to class."

"Alright." Lu Mian then sat down.

He leaned his back against the classroom wall, his thoughts gradually drifting:

"The fact that the teachers at the Dream Tutoring Center and the Star Tutoring Center have been secretly replaced is really hard to resolve...

"If this were the real world, I would find an opportunity to blow up the underground section of the Eye of Dawn Hospital to completely eliminate the hidden danger. But in the dream city, since the underground section of the Eye of Dawn Hospital serves as the psychological shadow of a Great Old One and an infiltration point for the power of other Great Old Ones, I'm afraid that the person from the Star Dream Grocery Store and Stiano wouldn't dare to easily set foot there, even if they weren't subject to corresponding restrictions...

"Could I use the 'Eye of Disaster' to distinguish whether a target is a newborn, and kill off Huang Huang Jiajia, Ai Nana, and the others who have already been replaced, clearing them out?

"If I kill one, I have the confidence to cover my tracks and not be discovered. But if I kill so many, does the Dream City Police Department and Commissioner Agate think I'm a dead man? This is an open provocation to the main consciousness of the dream; I might be locked onto by the next day...

"Moreover, as characters related to the identity of Gehrman Sparrow, if Huang Huang Jiajia and the others all exit the stage of the Dream City, it might bring about bad changes, or cause the subsequent awakening plan to be doomed to failure from the very beginning...

"Report them? In the absence of clues, it might be just like the previous report on Zarathustra, with no response at all...

"What clues could allow the police to investigate further and discover that something is wrong?

"I hope the Major Arcana cards can provide some good ideas...

"Hmm..."

As Lu Mian's thoughts drifted further and further, he saw out of the corner of his eye Zhou Mingrui coming out of the classroom with his phone, heading toward the restroom.

Lu Mian turned his head, leaning on his "Hunter" ears, and from a not-too-close distance, eavesdropped on what Zhou Mingrui was saying.

He heard Zhou Mingrui ask in surprise:

"Didn't you schedule to come on Monday? Why did you postpone it to Wednesday?"

On the other end of the phone, a female voice drifted vaguely into Lu Mian's ears:

"I've thought about it. You have to work during the week and can't take me around to play, so I might as well just go and report for school directly."

Zhou Mingrui was silent for a moment and said:

"I have annual leave."

"It's fine, just take me out to play on the weekend," the female voice on the other end said with a giggle.

Zhou Mingrui sighed and said:

"That works too. What time is your train on Wednesday?"

Hearing this, Lu Mian roughly understood what was going on:

According to the information provided by the Major Arcana cards, Zhou Mingrui's younger sister, Zhou Zhou Shasha, had been admitted to a university in Yangdu and was about to come here to study.

Next Wednesday, Zhou Zhou Shasha would arrive in Yangdu? As one of the dream images closest to Zhou Mingrui, what changes would her arrival trigger? Lu Mian raised his right hand, rubbed his temples on both sides, and felt that things were coming in waves, one after another, without rest.

…………

Star Dream Grocery Store.

Franca and Jenna, who had taken a taxi there, walked into the dim interior of the shop.

The former politely asked the shopkeeper if she could mail a letter, while the latter lingered in the entrance area, both examining the antiques on the shelves and observing the situation outside.

After obtaining the shopkeeper's consent, Franca turned to the side of the shelves and dropped the letter in her hand into the silver-inlaid black mailbox.

As her gaze swept across, she discovered that the "Armor of Pride" that had once belonged to her was standing quietly on the inner edge of the shelf on the right.

The surface of this silver-white full-body armor was covered with patches and specks of dark red blood, and just by seeing it, Franca felt as if she were rapidly becoming weak, with her serious illness clinging to her once again.

It's become even more sinister... Franca didn't dare to ask the shopkeeper what had happened to the "Armor of Pride," hurriedly withdrew her gaze, and walked toward the door.

At this moment, Jenna raised her hand and pointed covertly diagonally across the street.

A white pigeon was perched on a branch of a street tree there.

(End of chapter)