Chapter 143
The pencil in Xia'er’s hand scribbled on the paper, categorizing her misfortunes.
Level 1-3 corresponded to: [avoiding disaster], [minor injury], and [fated point loss].
She had managed to avoid disaster numerous times; sometimes, she would escape several calamities in a single day. The Level 1 disasters on her timeline were the most frequent.
Once she reached Level 2, the [minor injury] disasters began to follow a certain pattern.
The first minor injury occurred on the evening of June 25, just as she was preparing to attend a dinner. Caught completely off guard while dodging a warhorse, she suffered a fracture in her calf.
The second incident happened when a royal family member came to dine with Aivina. An antique crystal chandelier fell, and as Xia'er lunged to the side, her fingers and arm braced against the ground in the wrong direction, resulting in a dislocated finger and a fractured forearm.
Subsequent incidents mostly coincided with her encounters with certain extraordinary individuals.
As for Level 3, the serious injuries that required fated points to avoid, the pattern became even clearer.
These injuries occurred whenever Xia'er was about to investigate the so-called "Destined One," confront the most devoted cultist of the Holy Ascendancy, or prepare to drink a potion—there were a total of eleven such instances.
All of these moments were related to the third tier, or were highly likely to alter her fate.
In contrast, she also marked the moments when she had not encountered misfortune.
Xia'er gradually discerned a rough pattern.
Though this pattern was not entirely accurate—there were several misfortunes that did not fit—it could generally correspond to a portion of the disasters.
That was the extraordinary.
All misfortunes occurred when she came into contact with the extraordinary—yet it remained inexplicable why she faced calamities even when leaving Berlun City and distancing herself from other extraordinary forces.
Moreover, this time, at least four to five hundred people had perished aboard that steam train.
“Alas…”
Xia'er sighed.
The sample size was too small, and with only a single iteration of the experiment, she hadn’t accounted for other variables, which left her pondering with a slight headache.
She raised her hand to massage her temples, then resumed writing down a few names.
Dedun Group: Luxihiluofa.
Redemption Society: Professor Ashford.
Goddess of Salvation Cult: Hiu.
Royal Family: Oubodesadiya.
Holy Ascendancy: Archbishop Tara.
These names were all individuals Xia'er had actively interacted with during her investigation in the simulation, and each encounter had triggered a significant disaster.
Now, with the looming threat of disaster upon leaving Berlun City, Xia'er had to return to investigate thoroughly.
In this simulation, she needed to focus on these individuals; perhaps she could uncover some clues from them.
She had to get back to Berlun City quickly… time for her investigation was running short…
In the previous simulation, she had the task of “survival.”
But now, without the “survival” task, she could conduct her investigation more freely, without the worry of exposure.
Xia'er grabbed a few rolls of money, took one with her, and prepared to head out, hoping to find some townsfolk still awake. She needed to hire a carriage to return to Berlun City as swiftly as possible.
Just as she reached the door, about to raise her hand, the wooden door swung open, and a bullet hovered before her eyes.
Xia'er: “…”
Her hand, which had been resting on the doorknob, froze.
The misfortune… was not over yet.
This was the vision granted by the [Prophet's Sight]. Just moments ago, Xia'er had not concealed her footsteps, and someone outside had heard her.
A shadow slipped from beneath her feet, squeezing through the crack of the door and out into the night.
“Ugh…”
“Ugh—!”
“Cough…”
A few pained sounds echoed from outside, and Xia'er slowly turned the doorknob, peering out.
There stood three disheveled men and women, one of whom clutched a severely worn black revolver, while the other two brandished daggers.
They had been lying in wait at the inn's entrance for who knows how long.
Though their faces were covered, Xia'er recognized one of the women with a dagger as a waitress from the small inn.
Their bodies were completely frozen in place, the flickering light of the oil lamp casting their terrified expressions into stark relief before Xia'er’s eyes.
In the shadows beyond the reach of the lamp, three burning silhouettes crawled beside them, their flaming chains binding the limbs of their shadows.
“Let’s talk.”
A faint, sardonic smile crept across Xia'er’s face, her beautiful features illuminated by a hint of mirth, a juxtaposition that sent them spiraling into a frenzy of fear.
The three of them moved stiffly forward. Xia'er glanced back to confirm that Liqi was still fast asleep before gently closing the door and following the trio.
Descending to the inn's first floor, she found the front desk devoid of the owner’s presence. Xia'er trailed behind them to a desolate patch of land behind the inn.
Looking at the three kneeling before her, she turned to the man with the gun and asked, “Who sent you?”
“Ah!! Ugh…”
As soon as she loosened his throat slightly, the man let out a horrific scream, but in the next moment, his throat tightened again, his eyes bulging as if they might pop out.
The cracking sounds of his bones sent the other two into a deeper panic. Xia'er turned her gaze to the woman with the knife and asked, “Who sent you? Just answer my question.”
“Don’t make any other sounds.”
The fear radiating from the three intensified the whispers in Xia'er’s mind, a chaotic emotion surging within her chest, fueling the flames that burned around the three shadows.
“Cough cough…”
The woman’s throat was loosened a bit, and after a fit of coughing, she trembled as she spoke, “Your Excellency, it wasn’t my idea; it was him. He said he saw the money in your bag. I just brought them to your room! I was threatened!!!”
Threatened, yet still able to wield a dagger?
“Hmm!!! Hmm!!!!”
Upon hearing the woman’s words, the other two men struggled even more visibly, clearly indicating that the reality was not as she claimed.
A spur-of-the-moment decision, perhaps…
Xia'er sighed softly… another unwarranted disaster.
By her classification, this should be considered a predictable Level 1 disaster with no injuries.
“Is there anywhere nearby that sells or rents carriages?”
Xia'er’s tone softened as she spoke, “I need to rent a carriage.”
Upon hearing her gentler tone, the woman nearly burst into tears, desperately lowering her voice, “There’s a carriage and a horse in the stable! I’ll take you there, I’ll take you! They stole it, and it hasn’t been sold yet; no one will know!”
“Alright.”
Xia'er nodded and turned to leave.
Behind her, the dull sound of a knife plunging into flesh echoed.
Three, two… zero…
The painful whispers in Xia'er’s mind slowly dissipated, lightening her mood just a bit.
She arrived at the stable and spotted the carriage parked to the side, along with a thin horse sleeping inside.
A new problem presented itself to Xia'er.
She couldn’t ride a horse and had no idea how to “assemble” the horse and carriage together.
Moreover… who knew if the horse would suddenly go wild on the road, sending Xia'er careening into a ditch?
After pondering for a moment, Xia'er devised a perfect solution.
She returned to the inn, opened the door, and woke her sister, who had been sound asleep.
After informing her sister that they needed to return quickly, Liqi didn’t ask why; she groggily gathered her things and followed Xia'er downstairs to the carriage.
Inside the carriage, Xia'er pulled down all the curtains, while Liqi, still half-asleep, leaned against the curtain and quickly dozed off again.
A shadow emerged from beneath the carriage, and after exchanging glances with the other shadows, it approached the sleeping horse, tossing its chains into the horse’s shadow.
Almost instantly, the horse succumbed to death, its shadow being torn away from its body by the burning chains.
The shadows of the horses, bound by the black chains wreathed in flames, were tethered to the front of the carriage. The shadow then took hold of the reins, settling into the driver’s seat, guiding the thin horse as it turned and galloped out of the small town, racing along the railway toward Berlun City.
In the dead of night, a terrifying carriage, unhitched from any horse, charged directly into Berlun City under the cover of darkness.
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