Chapter 261
Xia'er rose with Tara's support, brushing off the dust from his hands, a slight frown creasing his brow.
"Isn't it supposed to be a two-way street? How did we end up in an accident?"
A thin, broken horse lay on the ground, wailing in pain, while a woman clumsily crawled out from the tilted carriage across from them.
"I'm so sorry... It seems my horse got spooked."
The girl, with her delicate features and dusty, light brown hair, dusted herself off and glanced at Xia'er’s carriage, her pupils narrowing ever so slightly.
"Miss, are you alright?"
The coachman, pushing the horse off himself, staggered over to the girl, concern etched on his face. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
Seeing the girl remain silent, the coachman turned to Xia'er, his voice rising in anger. "Do you even know who you just hit? Is this how you drive a carriage?"
Listening to the coachman's tirade, the light brown-haired girl felt a cold sweat trickle down her back. She quickly intervened, stopping the still-fuming coachman, and handed him a few gold pounds, whispering, "Give this to them as compensation. Hurry up and gather your things; we need to leave."
"But..."
"Go!"
"Yes, Miss..."
The girl caught the gaze of the red-haired girl across from her and managed a smile, silently urging the coachman to hurry with the compensation.
She could already see the swirling white and black shadows around them... God knows how many cultists were lurking nearby!
How could she be so unlucky? Just heading to a meeting before a mission, and she crashed right into the cult leader of Brolun City!
But the cult leader's next move made the heart of the light brown-haired girl stop.
Instead of taking the gold pounds from the coachman, she walked over to the girl, her voice soft. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt? I apologize; it was my subordinate's mistake."
The red-haired girl spoke gently, her demeanor graceful, but the shark-like teeth glinted in the sunlight, hinting at a bloodthirsty nature.
"No, no, it was my subordinate's fault... It’s not your mistake, Miss."
The light brown-haired girl lowered her head, speaking sincerely. "Please accept my apologies; I have a meeting with a friend..."
"Is time of the essence?"
Hearing the cult leader's question, the girl felt a wave of relief wash over her and nodded vigorously. "Yes, I need to hurry to my appointment."
"Then how about this? I have another carriage; let me take you there."
The cult leader's smile widened. "May I ask your name?"
"Leticia Bloom..."
She instinctively revealed her long-used false identity, but the moment the name left her lips, she regretted it.
A bead of sweat trickled down her back.
At that moment, a younger voice—one she absolutely did not want to hear—came from behind the cult leader.
"This is a lie, Lord Xia'er."
Chapter 152: A Test of Fate.
"This is a lie, Lord Xia'er."
As that slow, deliberate voice rang out, Merite's expression dimmed slightly, and she lowered her head.
When she looked up again at the girl referred to as Xia'er, tears suddenly welled in her eyes.
"You've already given them money; what... what do you want from us?"
Merite took a few steps back, maintaining her fragile facade, as more and more people gathered around, even guards appearing in the crowd.
If they lingered here any longer, the line of carriages behind them would only grow.
As long as those cultists dared not reveal their identities in broad daylight, they wouldn't dare to act against her. After all, they had no idea she was the "Dream Thief" from last night, nor did they know her true identity.
Her helpless demeanor seemed to draw sympathy from onlookers, and whispers began to ripple through the crowd.
Even Tara, who had been standing behind Xia'er, sensed that it was time to leave.
Tara was also a master of disguise; staying any longer would only increase the number of people who recognized them, which would be very detrimental.
Even if they knew the girl was hiding her name, there was nothing they could do... after all, it was just a name.
But Tara made no move—if the Mother Goddess was not in a hurry, neither was she.
"What’s going on here?"
At that moment, several detectives arrived on the scene, positioning themselves between the girl and Xia'er, ostensibly to maintain order, but effectively shielding Xia'er from view.
"It's nothing, Detective, just a minor accident. Tara, the money."
Xia'er smiled and glanced back at Tara.
Tara understood immediately, pulling out a finely crafted wallet from her cloak and extracting two fifty-pound notes.
Xia'er took the bills, deliberately shaking them in her hand, almost hearing the murmurs of surprise from the gathered crowd.
She approached the young lady, handing her the notes. "I apologize for taking up your time; please accept my apologies."
"Alright, everyone, disperse. There's nothing to see here."
The detectives seemed to have received Tara's cue and began to disperse the crowd.
With nothing left to see, the onlookers began to leave, and soon Xia'er and Tara had boarded another carriage and departed.
Only the detectives remained, directing the coachman to clear the scattered parts of the carriage and wheels from the road, creating a passage for the carriages to pass through.
Merite, holding the two fifty-pound notes, stood frozen in place. The bright sunlight shone down on her, but she felt no warmth—only a chilling cold.
"Miss, do you need me to call for another carriage?"
The coachman, having checked the horse's injuries, jogged back to Merite, inquiring.
But he received no response; he only saw his young mistress handing him the bills.
"Take this back... buy a new carriage and two good horses," Merite said. "I'll walk."
"Uh... alright."
The coachman happily accepted the large notes, quickly stuffing them into his pocket.
With that money, he could buy everything he needed and still have a nice sum left over.
The coachman cheerfully led the horse away, while Merite stood still for a moment before finally stepping forward, continuing on her way.
To others, the street appeared unchanged, aside from the two damaged carriages waiting to be cleared.
But in Merite's eyes, shadows in black and white had begun to gather around her, numbering over twenty.
Some leaned against walls, some half-leaned against lampposts, while others stood motionless in the middle of the road, allowing ordinary people and carriages to pass right through them.
These shadows watched Merite, waiting for her next move.
Merite knew she was in deep trouble.
In the brief moments of contact earlier, she had revealed too many flaws, and she had no idea which one had locked their gaze onto her.
She didn't even know where the various shadows were coming from; the thought of dragging their controllers into a dream felt utterly far-fetched.
Now, she certainly couldn't go to the meeting place... she would endanger everyone.
Every move she made was under the watchful eyes of those cultists; there was no safe place for her to go.
To catch the king, you must first catch the thief... she had no chance against these cultists.
But she knew their data; she knew that the red-haired cult leader was only Level 1, and the archbishop beside her was merely Level 2.
As long as she could engage them one-on-one, she was confident she could drag them back into the dream, whether to alter their memories or directly manipulate them, it was her only way out.
She had no other options left.
Slowly, she raised her head, her gaze focusing on the tall shadow standing in the center of the road.
Through this connection, Merite signaled that she could see the shadow.
The "Instigator's" hidden ability could deceive them, but not for long.
At the moment their eyes met, the shadow slowly raised a hand, pointing in a direction, then began to walk toward where it had indicated.
Merite nodded slightly, then turned and followed the shadow, while the other phantoms gradually moved closer to her, trailing behind.
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