Chapter 66: The Return

Claudia stayed because it was only by remaining within this bizarre dreamscape that she could escape the excruciating pain of her physical ailments.

Luo Wei, on the other hand, had only been able to step into this place because of her Nightmare Aberration constitution. As long as she shifted her physiological state, she could depart at will.

Only Hathaway’s experience was “normal”—a standard encounter with a supernatural anomaly.

As the explanation concluded, Hathaway’s face visibly filled with a sense of grievance.

How is this fair? Everyone was trapped in a supernatural anomaly, yet the other two were navigating it like it was their own backyard, while she had faced numerous life-threatening dangers.

…Though the Sister was indeed quite old, her youthful features gave her an undeniably cute appearance when she pouted.

“Luo Wei… Miss… can you… take me… out… with you?” Hathaway asked unwillingly. She didn’t want to spend another second in this terrifying place.

In the past ten years, she had only used two charges of Ash from her Holy Artifact, both during life-and-death catastrophes. Yet on this single trip to the eerie Kolun County, she had already burned through two before the problem was even solved. She doubted the final spark of Ash would stay in her hands for long. She wasn’t even sure if she could escape once it was gone.

“It probably… won’t work.” Luo Wei looked conflicted. She was technically using her constitution to “deep dive” into the eerie Kolun County; leaving was simply a matter of shifting her form, not traversing a path or crossing a physical boundary.

Hathaway’s mood visibly plummeted. Usually, no matter what crisis she faced, she maintained a façade of calm indifference. It was all a front; she felt fear and terror just like anyone else, she just couldn’t show it. Perhaps because there was no one else watching her in this nightmare, or perhaps because the experiences here were simply too horrific, Hathaway had finally abandoned her emotional management.

Seeing Miss Hathaway like this, Luo Wei sighed. “However, I can give it a try. I just can’t guarantee anything.”

Perhaps by holding her hand, she could pull Hathaway out of Kolun County along with her?

“Mhm.” Hathaway nodded, quickly re-adjusting her emotions. “Even if… I cannot… leave. Miss Luo Wei… can you… help me… deliver… a message?”

“Of course! Leave it to me!” Luo Wei patted her chest. When it came to “reporting” things, she was an expert!

They quickly coordinated what needed to be done after leaving the eerie version of Kolun County. The top priority was informing Eliana about the situation and letting her know that the Dream Sanctum had been brewing a conspiracy capable of destroying the entire county. Secondly, they needed to verify and investigate the information regarding the events from twenty years ago.

Twenty years ago, both Hathaway and Eliana had been students in the Metropolis; naturally, they wouldn’t know the details of these past events. However, an incident of such gravity would surely be recorded in the county’s archives. Perhaps they could find clues there. Then… there was the matter of Clecia.

From the current situation, her existence was more than just that of a poor young patient. She had been born in the very district where the Dream Sanctum performed their ritual twenty years ago—that couldn’t be a coincidence. That district required a thorough investigation.

On another front, something Luo Wei didn’t mention to Hathaway was that she also needed to use Claudia to launch an investigation from within the Dream Sanctum. There had to be many elders left from twenty years ago; at the very least, Mura was one of them.

After finalizing their arrangements, Luo Wei and Hathaway went to say goodbye to Clecia.

Though Clecia was saddened by the departure of the two older sisters she had finally managed to have a pleasant conversation with, she vaguely understood that others couldn’t stay in this place for long. She forced a smile to bid Luo Wei and Hathaway farewell.

How could a little girl’s hidden feelings escape the eyes of the two older girls? Luo Wei thought for a moment, then used the surrounding dream matter to fashion a little Abebe. She tucked the plushie into Clecia’s arms as a memento of their encounter.

“Don’t worry, Cleo,” Luo Wei chuckled softly and gently. “I will definitely save you.”

Whether it was to save a little girl’s life or to thwart the Dream Sanctum’s conspiracy.

Clecia looked at Luo Wei, slightly stunned. It wasn’t until both Luo Wei and Hathaway had left that she slowly lowered her head to look at the Abebe in her arms—a rabbit doll that was a bit “ugly-cute.” Her eyes shimmered.

“It is you…”

Only Sister would call me Cleo. And besides Sister…

The corners of Clecia’s mouth curled into a faint smile. She hugged the Abebe close, closed her eyes, and her small face drifted into Slumber as if entering a beautiful dream.

Luo Wei and Hathaway arrived at a secluded location within the grounds of the Saint Elizabeth Sanatorium—a corner storage room. This was also a safe zone, but being in a corner, it wasn’t conspicuous. Even if two girls suddenly materialized out of thin air, it shouldn’t cause a scene. And if they were discovered, they could just dive back in.

“Miss Hathaway, if you can’t leave, you must find a place to hide. You can’t stay near Clecia,” Luo Wei said with a serious expression. “Otherwise, the Divine Envoy might discover you.”

“I… understand.” Hathaway nodded. She was well aware that the Divine Envoy who occasionally visited Clecia was not an entity she could currently match in power. Even with the help of the Ash in her Holy Artifact, she couldn’t compete with a Divine Envoy of the ‘Dream’ Path within this nightmare-steeped version of Kolun County. If discovered, death would probably be considered the happiest possible ending. The Dream Sanctum had plenty of ways to ensure a soul could never find peace. Perhaps the residents of this eerie Kolun County were all in such a state.

Luo Wei reached out her hand to Hathaway, like a young lady inviting someone to dance at a banquet.

Hathaway remained silent for a moment before placing her hand in Luo Wei’s palm. She could feel that Luo Wei’s body was very soft—nothing like a normal human. No, she had known from the start that Luo Wei wasn’t human. It was just that Luo Wei’s behavior and thoughts were so similar to a human’s that she had subconsciously ignored the fact. What kind of entity possesses such a strange constitution while being almost identical to a regular person?

Gazing into those cherry-red eyes that seemed to ripple with light, Hathaway finally couldn’t help but blurt out, “Who… are… you, exactly…?”

“Hold on tight!”

Luo Wei didn’t hear Hathaway’s question. She squeezed Hathaway’s small hand and began to shift her form. Hathaway felt her hand being enveloped tightly, but it wasn’t painful. Instead, it felt like being pressed by jelly—slightly squishy and a bit itchy. In the next moment, that peculiar tactile sensation faded and began to slowly dissipate.

Hathaway watched as the girl’s figure vanished completely in the blink of an eye. She, however, remained unchanged, and her hand grasped at empty air.

Luo Wei had left. She was still in the eerie Kolun County.

It had failed.

After a brief silence, Hathaway let out a slow sigh. I should find a place to hide first… Now, she could only place all her hopes on the mysterious Miss Luo Wei.

“Oh, that works too.” Luo Wei didn’t quite grasp the mental gymnastics of the clerk but felt that humans who could communicate normally were wonderful. Asking for directions in the eerie Kolun County was a nightmare. Most Horrors* could only nod or shake their heads, and she had to repeat herself many times before they understood her basic meaning.

The clerk politely pointed the way to the Supreme Tribunal and, before Luo Wei left, even tried to sell her some of the shop’s new hair accessories. Luo Wei actually loved such trifles; in her past life, she would change her hairstyle and design accessories periodically. Unfortunately, she was in a hurry now and had to reluctantly decline.

Perhaps sensing Luo Wei’s hesitation—or perhaps simply wanting to see what this beautiful girl would look like with her hair styled—the clerk directly pulled out an exquisite small hairclip and gave it to Luo Wei as a gift. Luo Wei couldn’t resist. She accepted it and tied her hair into a cute side ponytail.

“Lolis really are cute,” Luo Wei thought, admiring herself in the mirror. It was a pity that when she was a little girl in her previous life, she had been too obsessed with black magic to ever bother dressing up. This was making up for lost time.

Beside her, the clerk’s heart melted. She wanted to give Luo Wei even more accessories; it wasn’t every day she encountered such a perfect, beautiful little person. But Luo Wei knew the urgency of her mission. She endured the pain of refusal and left the shop.

After that brief interlude, Luo Wei headed straight for the Supreme Tribunal.

Unbeknownst to her, inside the Supreme Tribunal, the Enforcement Guard she had scared half to death the previous night was currently reporting his ordeal to Sorensen, the acting Inquisitor.

“So you’re saying… that in an abandoned church, you saw a white-haired, red-eyed, transparent little girl about twelve or thirteen years old? She smiled at you and then vanished in a blink?” Sorensen rested his chin on his hand, his expression strange.

“Exactly!” The guard’s face still held traces of terror. Some people were just naturally afraid of ghosts, and Luo Wei’s puppet was practically indistinguishable from one.

Sorensen hesitated for a moment before asking, “How long have you been single?”

“That has nothing to do with this!”

“Fine, I’ll record it in the files,” Sorensen said, spreading his hands. “But I have to tell you, although Kolun County is currently fraught with danger, we don’t need to bring every trivial matter to the Supreme Tribunal…”

Sorensen finally understood why his previous boss, Eliana, was constantly coughing up blood from stress. If he were her, he’d want to cough up blood too. “If you see this white-haired, red-eyed little girl again… we’ll talk. Then.”

Sorensen sighed. These young people today—couldn’t they distinguish fantasy from reality? How could a white-haired, red-eyed little girl possibly appear in the real world? Seeing that the Inquisitor had made his stance clear, the guard could only retreat. But a moment later, he came sprinting back, face pale with panic.

“Now what?” Sorensen asked, annoyed, as he picked up a report.

“I—I saw that female ghost again!” The guard gasped in terror. “She’s standing right at the entrance of the Supreme Tribunal!”

Sorensen: “…”