Chapter 912: Tracking |
Lumian looked at the dull, dark mirror fragments on the ground, relying on his spiritual perception for a few seconds before saying, "There's a problem with the Oracle's corpse, but I don't know why."
Franca asked uncertainly, "Now that the mirror is broken, has the Oracle's corpse fallen into the depths of the mirror world, lost in its turbulent flows?"
Each mirror had a corresponding area behind it. They were connected by illusory, dark tunnels, forming the mirror world.
Once a mirror broke, the corresponding area behind it immediately disintegrated. If things placed there couldn't escape in time through the spider web-like tunnels, they would be swallowed by the turbulent flows of the mirror world and dragged into its depths. The environment and hidden dangers there were fatal to Beyonders without a complete Mythical Creature form.
When a mirror broke, it essentially formed more but smaller mirrors. However, from a mystical concept, it had been destroyed as a whole, completely losing its original symbolism and function. The new mirrors produced needed time to evolve their own areas behind them, connect with the vast mirror world, and become mirrors with complete concepts in mysticism.
In other words, for a period of time, these mirror fragments could not be used to reflect enemies, transmit curses, or traverse the mirror world, though this doesn't affect Wraiths using them for mirror jumps.
Of course, Lumian just destroyed the mirror with the Fire of Destruction, so the fragments formed had been completely destroyed in a mystical sense and could not evolve areas behind them. This prevented potential enemies from locating and pinpointing Lumian and the others' specific location.
Lumian carefully said, "The Oracle's corpse has indeed been carried away by the spatial turbulence of the mirror world. Even Angels would find it difficult to delve deep into the mirror world to find and bring it out, unless they're angels of the Door pathway like Madam Magician or Demoness Angels with deep mastery of the mirror world.
"But doesn't this mean the Oracle's corpse will drift in the depths of the mirror world forever until it's completely torn apart and annihilated by the dangers there. There's a chance that after some time, it could be thrown out of the mirror world by spatial turbulence, emerging from a random mirror."
Lumian smiled. "Yes. Let's wait patiently for now, until spiritual intuition gives us a hint."
The corpse of Oracle Danitz was hidden by him and had a close mystical connection with him.
Franca nodded, took out her phone, and started browsing trending topics, sometimes laughing out loud and sharing the joy with Lumian, Jenna, and Anthony, sometimes discussing with them whether certain news items had symbolic meaning in the dream or were related to Mr. Fool's current state.
By the time Ludwig had finished his sixth bowl of noodles and was also looking at his phone, Lumian, who occasionally showed a smile, raised his head and said in a deep voice, "The Oracle's corpse should have left the mirror world."
"Hmm, quickly use Magic Mirror Divination to confirm its specific location." Franca took out a mirror.
Lumian shook his head and chuckled softly. "There's no need to go through so much trouble."
He turned his gaze towards Ludwig.
Ludwig put his right hand in his mouth, retched a few times, and vomited out a small clump of yellowish hair.
"We can directly determine the location using the Oracle's hair with follicles," Lumian explained.
"When did you take a clump of hair from the corpse and hide it in Ludwig's stomach?" Franca asked in astonishment.
Lumian responded with a smile, "Last night before bed, when Anthony was on night watch.
"The Oracle died so suddenly and bizarrely, of course I had to guard against his corpse reanimating. Hiding some of his hair in Ludwig's body can counter divination and prophecy."
Saying this, Lumian held the small clump of slightly damp yellowish hair and stood up, saying, "Let's go."
Almost simultaneously, he burned part of the hair and smeared the residue onto the surface of a mirror.
As the residue seeped in, the mirror emanated a dark, watery light, reflecting a scene.
There were oil-stained walls, a very spacious area, a floor covered in dust and rat droppings, quite dirty large glass windows, and Oracle Danitz's corpse lying on the ground in front of a glass pane.
"Looks like an abandoned factory, the machines have been moved away…" Franca commented after a glance.
"In the suburbs, less than ten kilometers from us," Lumian added more information.
"Teleport over?" Jenna asked.
Lumian could rely on Mirror Traversal to directly go to another mirror within ten kilometers that he had located, and he had now locked onto the glass window that had ejected the Oracle's corpse—even without knowing the position, he could sense mirrors within 500 meters and jump to them in segments.
Moreover, his Teleportation could still be used, but was restricted to positioning within one kilometer; beyond that, he needed to have been there before or have correct coordinates, with the farthest reach being the edge of the dream world.
Lumian nodded slightly, letting his teammates grab onto him, and took them into the mirror Franca had placed on the table.
Passing through a dark, illusory tunnel, they suddenly plunged into the depths of the mirror world, falling towards the glass window they had located.
Amidst Anthony's dizziness, the five figures simultaneously appeared on the dirty glass of the abandoned factory.
Lumian didn't linger, quickly sensing other mirrors within a 500-meter range and jumping over.
They appeared on the top floor of the office building beside the abandoned factory, left the glass window serving as a mirror, each hiding themselves, and gazed towards the target location.
From this angle, they could just see Oracle Danitz's corpse.
"Don't chew, just hold it in your mouth," Lumian handed a lollipop to Ludwig to keep him quiet.
Franca and Jenna were already carefully examining the Oracle's corpse, finding that because it had been hidden in the mirror world, there were no signs of decay yet. But whether it was the bloodless face, the eyes frozen in fear, or other details, all indicated that the Oracle had been dead for over ten hours.
"Nothing unusual…" Franca muttered silently.
Lumian remained motionless, patiently observing.
After nearly five minutes, in their line of sight, the Oracle's corpse's fingers suddenly twitched.
Dammit, amazing, back from the dead? Franca instinctively "admired" in her heart while being startled.
The corpse of Oracle Danitz first moved its fingers, then raised its arm.
Finally, it slowly stood up, its expression wooden, its deep blue eyes no longer overflowing with any emotion.
Really reanimated? Goosebumps rose on Jenna's arms.
The reanimated Danitz corpse walked towards the outside of the abandoned factory, neither fast nor slow.
It walked all the way out of the deserted factory area, towards the roadside, standing there blankly.
Before long, an empty green taxi passed by, and Danitz's corpse raised its right arm, hailing it.
When the taxi stopped in front of him, he slowly opened the door and sat in the back.
Franca rubbed her cheeks with both hands.
"How does this feel even more horrifying than the real world… Is the Death pathway manipulating the corpse?"
Lumian didn't immediately lead his team members to track the taxi, because the mirror infused with Danitz's hair residue was still showing the current state of the Oracle's corpse.
Franca and Jenna tried Magic Mirror Divination to determine what was going on with the Oracle's corpse reanimation.
"It's not working, those beings who know a lot and are relatively safe aren't responding; they're not in Mr. Fool's dream!" Franca found she could only do a simplified version, which was asking her own spirituality in Magic Mirror Divination.
Jenna confirmed her discovery. "Yes, my Magic Mirror Divination failed too."
Lumian took a moment to contemplate before responding,
"In Mr. Fool's dream world, the subjects of inquiry for Magic Mirror Divination, apart from one's own spirituality, should only be those true gods who can directly project Themselves in. But we must ensure that the corresponding projection exists at the time of divination, and that the recited honorific name is not wrong.
"Inquiring of other creatures existing in the local spirit world might be equivalent to asking Mr. Fool or that Celestial Worthy. We might get the best revelation, or we might be directly kicked out of the dream. Hmm, we also don't have the correct descriptions of those creatures."
"Who dares to inquire of true gods…" Franca said softly.
Lumian suddenly grinned. "There's still one choice, the one with the most accurate divination results. The Major Arcana card holders mentioned it in the information, it's a magic mirror belonging to Mr. Fool."
"It hasn't come to that point yet, has it…" Franca was quite resistant.
Lumian tersely responded, his gaze still fixed on the mirror showing the Oracle's corpse's situation.
After more than twenty minutes, the taxi stopped at the entrance of a hospital with excellent landscaping and a very well-designed building.
Lumian and the others immediately saw the hospital's sign: "Mushu Hospital."
"Mushu Hospital… Is the Oracle's death related to the Mother Tree of Desire?" Franca murmured in confusion.
Lumian didn't answer her, watching as the reanimated corpse of Oracle Danitz took out a phone with multiple missed calls from his pocket, scanned a code to pay the fare, and slowly walked towards the outpatient building of Mushu Hospital.
As soon as the corpse passed through the gate, Lumian's mirror rippled with waves, emanating darkness, and quickly returned to normal, no longer showing the Oracle's current position.
"I want to teleport near Mushu Hospital, go in and see where the Oracle's corpse will go," Lumian said, withdrawing his gaze.
Franca quietly commented, "Shouldn't a corpse go to the morgue?"
Jenna then said to Lumian, "You'd better change your appearance before going in. It might be easier to expose yourself inside Mushu Hospital, and we can't affect your current identity. Hmm, Lie alone might not be enough."
Lumian pondered briefly, not wasting any more time. "Okay."
As he answered, his black hair began to grow longer.
Comments 25