Chapter 4238

Patients of the Somnolence Syndrome are now concentrated mainly in the Outer District and the Grayrock Pass area; the number of patients in the Lower District is very small, so Xia De discovered only two people in his dream. One was a shop owner living above a bakery, and the other was an ordinary woman resting in her own home.

Tree roots coiled around their bodies, producing a phenomenon of semi-fusion with them. The immense life force contained within the tree roots thus connected to their consciousness in the dream, subsequently affecting their physical bodies in reality; this is why the victims' life force is so strong.

Precisely because their consciousness in the dream is being assimilated by the tree roots, they cannot awaken from reality; and once their consciousness is completely assimilated, what awaits them is death.

Since he did not see the source of the curse, Xia De was also unclear why the consciousness of these ordinary people was left in the dream. He attempted to liberate those consciousnesses, but gave up after only a moment. The fusion between the tree roots and the consciousness was quite tight; Xia De was not an expert in mental energy manipulation within the dream realm, and acting rashly would only cause deeper harm to the victims.

Staying in this dream for too long seemed to make Xia De noticed by the dream itself, so after confirming the situation of the victims, Xia De decided to leave. He planned to return via the Silver Moon Dream, and during the process of heading to the Upper District, Xia De clearly felt those cursed tree roots spreading within the dream; the roots were gradually spreading upward in the Upper District toward the higher "Candlekeep Library," which likely represented that the scope of influence of the "Somnolence Syndrome" in reality was continuing to expand.

There was no particularly distinct boundary line in the dream; this was somewhat similar to when going to the 【Witch Council】 from any corridor, where the corridor and the ancient passage would show a small section of perfect fusion.

Between the "Cursed Dream: Arcadia City" and the "Silver Moon: Endless Wasteland," there was likewise no clear transition; Xia De felt that as he walked, he unknowingly arrived directly in that most familiar dream realm.

The elements of curse and whisper completely vanished; the cool night wind blew upon him as he stood on the Tian Geng, and the huge Silver Moon was no longer false, but had become real.

"This feeling is truly good."

Xia De sighed, then opened his eyes amidst the gradually becoming clearer sound of a cat meowing.

"Meow~"

"Xia De, what is wrong with you?"

The sky had already brightened; Mia squatted beside Xia De's pillow looking at him, even attempting to pat Xia De's face with her small paw. The one speaking was certainly not the cat, but Luvia by the bedside; she had already returned from Bella, and it appeared she and Bella had not stayed up late last night, as her complexion was quite good:

"It is already seven o'clock; Mia has been calling you for a long time. If you do not open your eyes soon, we will have to forcibly wake you up."

As Luvia spoke, she placed the back of her hand on Xia De's forehead, and after confirming there was no problem, she pulled Xia De up.

"You are usually punctual in getting up; did Sylvie leave very late last night? Is she that powerful?"

Seeing that Xia De was fine, Luvia even made a joke; Xia De first recalled the dream, confirmed that he clearly remembered the details within the dream, and only then shook his head:

"It has nothing to do with Sylvie; I dreamed of the cursed Arcadia City. Let's talk about it at the dinner table in a while."

Mia looked somewhat worried that Xia De had not gotten up in time, or perhaps it was simply worried that Xia De had developed the habit of not getting up early. In any case, while Xia De washed up and changed clothes next, this cat did not wait at the dining table for breakfast as usual, but instead followed Xia De all the way, wagging its tail.

And before breakfast began, Miss Jia Lin Na also arrived at the house with Miss Miss Difa. Recently, Miss Jia Lin Na had also been somewhat busy; she was going to Yoder Palace in a while to hear the report from MI6, and arriving at the house early was to see who had stayed overnight last night.

"Only Sylvie? If I had known that, I would have come over last night too."

Although Dac Dac Nisi did not come last night, she also came this morning to visit the teacher's condition. And Winnie seemed to have guessed early on that there would be so many people in the house this morning; she had already prepared breakfast for everyone without even needing help from Miss Miss Difa and the others.

Thus, at the breakfast table, Luvia, Winnie, Dac Dac Nisi, and Miss Jia Lin Na listened as Xia De told them about his dream from last night. The content of the dream was easy to understand, and the well-traveled witches had a guess about the source of that dream:

"The source of the tree roots should be a tree, right? That tree in the dream wants to absorb the mental energy or soul power of people trapped in the dream; I have seen many such stories in the Council's records."

Dac Dac Nisi held the same view:

"Yes, but based solely on Xia De's description, it is not enough to determine what caused this dream. One must also pay attention to the life force appearing in the dream; true life should not exist within the dream, so that life force is likely possessed by the source of the curse itself. Thinking this way, perhaps the source of the curse has life force but lacks its own consciousness and soul; although life force can nourish spirituality and thereby give birth to consciousness and soul, it appears someone wants to accelerate this process."

Dac Dac Nisi and Miss Jia Lin Na's opinions were quite consistent; judging from the intelligence Xia De spoke, this "Cursed Dream" absolutely could not be a normal natural phenomenon or simply a relic out of control.

Luvia therefore tossed a few coins to divine, and she also agreed with the views of the Young Lady and the witches:

"Yes, behind this is another conspiracy. The power involved in that dream is very complex; the dream is composed of multiple powers combined together. From your description, at least the tree roots and those three fake moons were not created by the same kind of power."

Xia De nodded:

"So I also believe that someone is manipulating this matter behind the scenes. I just cannot yet guess who this matter is related to; the 【Truth Society】, the Church's traitors, the 【Holy Son Alliance】, the 【Blood Spirit School】, or even the 【Emerald Alchemy Association】 and the 【Magic Eye Club】 are all possible."

"Let's see what the Church says."

Dac Dac Nisi suggested:

"That Cursed Dream is very troublesome; the Church probably cannot solve it immediately. However, since one can enter and then exit, the Church should also be able to discover some things. The Cursed Dream has already been exposed; the manipulator behind the scenes is likely racing against the Church, to see whether the Church solves the problem first, or the source of the curse achieves its goal first."

"If the back of this matter were the 【Holy Son Alliance】, it would be good; in that case, we could solve two problems at once."

Xia De spoke, though he believed the probability of this matter being related to the 【Holy Son Alliance】 was very low. The "Abomination" itself does not need consciousness; it only needs to wait for enough life force and then complete its birth; the 【Holy Son Alliance】 has no need to waste life force to nourish a brand new soul again.

Xia De's dream from last night brought new intelligence, and Luvia and Bella's divination last night also yielded some gains; at the breakfast table, Luvia shared the results obtained so far with everyone:

"We have not yet found the current location of the 【Holy Son Alliance】's base, but Bella and I divined the origin of that Spark Source."

Luvia summarized:

"Before this, a total of six Spark Sources had appeared. The one in Xia De's hand, the one on the dragon egg, the one belonging to Helmons, the one belonging to the Church traitor, the one in the Church's hands, and the one on the Giant Soldier's body.

The Spark Source appearing in the hands of the Mother Holding the Infant this time is not any of the previous ones; this is a brand new Spark Source. Fate guided us to see a crimson glimmer; this Spark Source is highly likely still related to the 【Blood Spirit School】."

Everyone was not surprised by this; this was the easiest thing to guess.

"Among the seven Spark Sources, two are related to Xia De, two are related to the 【Church of Creation】, and the remaining three are highly likely all related to the 【Blood Spirit School】. The characteristics of Xia De's two Spark Sources are stability; the Spark Sources of the Church and the traitor are products of the same Spark Source splitting apart; the difference between the two Spark Sources is only the amount of life energy they contain; the remaining three Spark Sources each have their own characteristics."

Dac Dac Nisi spoke:

"With this Spark Source, the 【Holy Son Alliance】 will likely allow the unborn 'Abomination' to borrow life energy to construct a fake body. When Xia De and the others met the Mother Holding the Infant, the opponent did not have time to do this; we should see it in subsequent actions."

Miss Jia Lin Na then asked Luvia:

"The key question now is, how badly injured are the Mother Holding the Infant and the 'Abomination'?"

Luvia shook her head:

"Divination is impossible; it is as if they do not exist. But when divining their very existence, the result shows they have not completely vanished. I think the Mother Holding the Infant is likely in some special state; Bella and I both believe this is the manifestation after the opponent was severely injured; this is good news for us.

Wait a bit longer; I have even temporarily put aside my research on the astrolabe lens left by Vega's mother. Before Sunday, I will definitely find out where that group of the 【Holy Son Alliance】 is; at worst, I will use the 【Fate Pedestal】."

She looked at Xia De; Xia De nodded:

"Agreed."

After finishing breakfast, everyone left separately; today was Friday, and everyone had their own matters to handle. Before everyone prepared to leave, Luvia also looked at Xia De; Xia De nodded:

"Rest assured, I have not forgotten that matter; remember to come home early for dinner tonight. Miss Jia Lin Na, you also remember to come over early. And Dac Dac Nisi, if Ellie and Amelia do not have evening classes, call them over too."

Xia De then informed Winnie that many people would come to the house tonight, so he would trouble her to prepare a sumptuous dinner; the Young Lady maid also smiled and said she understood.

Afterwards, Xia De did not leave Tobesk immediately, but pushed open the door and walked into the city. At eight in the morning, in front of the Blackstone Security Company, Xia De waited for Yi Lu Na to arrive for work.

Yi Lu Na, carrying a shoulder bag, was originally walking with her head down, as if thinking about something; only when she sensed someone ahead did she look up, and seeing it was Xia De, she revealed an expression of surprise and astonishment:

"Xia De?"

She walked a few quick steps to come before Xia De, then lowered her voice and asked:

"Why have you come? Has something happened? Did Ajelina get into trouble again?"

Xia De shook his head and casually stuffed the pre-packaged desserts he had brought from home into Yi Lu Na's hands:

"No, no, nothing is wrong. I just wanted to invite you to dinner tonight at Saint Delan Square. Luvia and Miss Jia Lin Na will be there too; Ellie and Emilia should be able to come as well."

"No problem, but why is everyone gathering for a meal?"

Yi Lu Na asked. The morning streets were noisy; passersby paid little attention to the young man standing by the wall. As carriages passed, their bells rang out, and the newsboy at the far end of the street shouted loudly. The early summer in Tobeske was still shrouded in thick fog. Xia De and Yi Lu Na stood close together; he smiled and asked:

"Today is the 22nd day of the Wind-Rising Month. If we recall correctly, Yi Lu Na, isn't today your birthday?"