Chapter 89
Xia'er knelt directly in the black flames, her head bowed, as her consciousness began to fade.
Black arms, formed from a mixture of blood and flesh, erupted from her neck and back, resembling a humanoid figure burdened with countless dry, twisted branches.
“Xia'er…”
A haunting call echoed in Xia'er's mind, a voice that felt familiar yet elusive in the haze of her thoughts.
This call struck her spirit like a thunderbolt, activating her ability to think clearly. She suddenly opened her eyes wide and took a deep breath.
Shadows!!!
Xia'er could no longer make a sound, but her inner scream seemed to resonate.
From the black "quagmire" on the ground, four burning shadows slowly rose. These naked figures bore an almost identical shape and appearance to Xia'er.
They stepped forward in unison, half-kneeling beside her, and slowly extended their arms, enveloping her in a protective embrace.
Boom—!
A violent gust of wind erupted from Xia'er, radiating outward, shattering the cocoon-like black flames and dispersing them into the boundless air.
Colors returned to Xia'er's vision, revealing everything around her that had been consumed by the black fire.
Her chest felt searing hot, and when she looked down, she saw scarred marks on her skin, as if letters had been burned into her flesh. She could also see the remnants of brain matter and blood smeared on her knees and legs.
Power surged back into her body, but the buzzing in her brain remained, drowning out all other sounds.
Strangely, though… she didn’t feel much pain—certainly less than she had during her earlier delirium.
The chaotic voices in her mind were incomprehensible, and aside from a sharp pain triggered by certain specific words, they were merely a cacophony of screams and oppressive noise.
Xia'er slowly lifted her head, and suddenly, her brow furrowed.
She… seemed to sense the source of those screams, the origin of the black noise.
Gently, she reached out, and the half-kneeling shadows grasped her arms and body, helping her to stand, blood and brain matter trickling down her knees and hands.
The four burning shadows turned with her, gazing toward the source of the black noise.
It was Yulisi, behind the shattered desk.
At that moment, Yulisi's chest heaved violently, her grayish-white pupils staring blankly in Xia'er's direction, her face twisted in terror.
She opened her mouth, seemingly trying to say something, but Xia'er couldn’t make out her words.
“Yulisi…”
Xia'er extended her right hand toward Yulisi, her throat parched and voice hoarse, desperate for a dose of the special potion made by Adele.
Never had she longed for that minty elixir as she did now.
But to Xia'er’s surprise, as soon as she spoke, Yulisi's figure began to flicker, and in the blink of an eye, it was replaced by an ethereal white shadow.
Moreover, that shadow existed for less than a second before being swiftly drawn away, dragged into the tunnel behind her, vanishing without a trace.
Was it really just for another bottle of restorative potion?
Xia'er frowned slightly.
However, after Yulisi's figure disappeared, the oppressive screams in Xia'er’s ears lessened somewhat, and she could now hear some faint sounds.
Had she just sensed Yulisi's emotions?
Did she now possess the ability to perceive emotions?
But why were Yulisi's feelings filled with such bizarre howls and bone-deep terror?
Could it be that the potion had gone out of control?
A shadow beside Xia'er offered her a clean handkerchief it had found. She took it and wiped the brain matter and blood from her hands.
Yet no matter how hard she tried, some blood still clung to the fabric.
Xia'er turned to look at the spot where Jidi had fallen. Her head remained in the state it had been after Xia'er had crushed it, and even the carpet was soaked with blood.
It seemed that the black flames from the earlier ritual hadn’t affected the outside world.
But her clothes had been completely burned away… which puzzled Xia'er.
With a thought, the four shadows darted off in different directions, disappearing into the office.
Soon, one of the shadows returned, holding a clean maid's dress.
It was clearly the outfit worn by the masked maids of Deton Manor, one Xia'er had seen many times before. This one seemed new, though it was a bit large for her.
With her clothes mysteriously burned away, Xia'er could only use this dress to cover her body.
After donning the black-and-white maid's outfit, Xia'er found herself barefoot, as she had no suitable shoes, but this didn’t hinder her movement much.
There was still time… should she try using the "Spiritual Summoning"?
Xia'er gazed at Jidi's shattered head, contemplating.
Within the broken skull, something was already gestating—it seemed to be a potion material exuded from Jidi's body.
Materials or potions extracted from others carried the original owner's spiritual contamination, and Xia'er had no means to handle them, making them useless to her.
Even if she took them, Xia'er wouldn’t spend her precious fate points to exchange for a second-hand contaminated material.
That wouldn’t be worth it.
Using second-tier extraordinary flesh or potion materials for a sacrifice… seemed a bit too reckless.
She had only just managed to advance "Avenger" Xia'er to "Judicator" Xia'er; she didn’t want to go through that pain again.
If possible, she wanted to safely pass the next 24 hours and save this progress.
However, she still felt somewhat muddled about using her second-tier abilities.
The voices in her head were too numerous and chaotic, making it hard for her to focus on distinguishing which fragmented knowledge was her own power and which was just useless babble.
At least, she couldn’t discern them clearly right now.
If she could successfully save her progress this time, Xia'er would consider upgrading "Calm Reflection" to the next level afterward, just in case.
Of course, the prerequisite was that the upgrade wouldn’t drain her fate points.
Xia'er pulled her gaze away from Jidi's corpse.
Jidi's body couldn’t be used for a sacrifice just yet; she could carry it for now.
Xia'er planned to gather some low-tier materials for a sacrifice and see what would happen.
And Deton Manor was certainly not lacking in low-tier materials.
Now that the cultists managing Deton Manor were dead, wasn’t everything in the underground exchange area up for grabs?
It was time for a little shopping spree.
A shadow in a black maid outfit handed Xia'er Jidi's black chip mask, and she put it on.
With the mask in place, Xia'er stepped onto the blood-stained carpet, making her way toward the door.
She reached out, opened the door, and stepped outside, while behind her, the shadows dragged Jidi's corpse and carried her potion materials, following closely behind.
Pat, pat—
Xia'er’s footsteps left bloody prints on the wooden corridor, and soon, the new prints began to fade, the remaining blood and dust mixing together, solidifying on the soles of her feet.
This sensation made Xia'er uncomfortable; she frowned, pondering if there was something to wash her feet.
However… she knew how to navigate the stairs to the underground chapel, as there was only one spiral staircase.
But how to get from the third floor of this manor down to the first? Where were the stairs?
As expected, Xia'er found herself lost in the vast manor once again.
Just as she was about to send a shadow out to search, she heard hurried, heavy footsteps approaching from around the corner ahead.
A maid? A gambler? Or one of those dealers?
As the footsteps grew closer, the babble in Xia'er’s mind intensified, becoming clearer.
She could sense the shock and fury hidden within those chaotic words.
At the moment the footsteps turned the corner, all those voices transformed into screams of terror.
“Lady Jidi!!!”
A greasy middle-aged man with a beer belly almost instantly dropped to his knees, his face a mask of fear and rage as he looked at the terrifying girl in the black mask before him.
And behind her, the headless corpse of Jidi, blood flowing from it.
He didn’t recognize the strange barefoot girl before him, but she seemed to recognize him.
“Marcelo… yes… you’re still alive here…”
“What about the others? Marcelo…”
“Where are they?”
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