Chapter 680: This is Fate |
After dressing up, Liu Xing began to outsmart the air and bravely navigated through the streets of London for two hours before arriving at Miss Wang's private residence.
Because Miss Wang was worried that Ithaqua would come to bother Dio again, she arranged for a Formless Offspring to guard the door. However, to avoid scaring passersby, Miss Wang had the Formless Offspring hide. Although Liu Xing spotted the Formless Offspring, which had transformed into a black mud puddle at the door, he chose to ignore it to avoid losing sanity points.
Following Miss Wang's instructions, Liu Xing found the key under the doormat and entered the room. At that time, Dio was watching TV.
When Liu Xing walked in, Dio turned off the TV and asked, "Chris, have you received any news from Locke's side?"
Liu Xing shook his head and replied, "Not yet. After all, you also saw Locke disappear suddenly. However, I suspect Locke was teleported to Eins Castle because of the cross Gary gave you."
Dio nodded and said, "That's right. I also think Gary is plotting against me. When I was imprisoned by Ithaqua, I recalled that Gary mentioned having over ten crosses when he handed them to me. So, he should know I took one, but why would he do that?"
Liu Xing shrugged and said, "We need to ask Gary. It seems he's also someone with ulterior motives towards the Cult of the Cadaver. But these things are no longer important. What's important is whether Ithaqua came to see you during your imprisonment."
"Ithaqua came to see me twice. The first time was after we woke up from our dream, and Ithaqua suddenly came in and took a look at me before leaving. I think Ithaqua might also know about our dream; the second time was the day before yesterday. I was bored and searching for something useful in the room when I didn't notice Ithaqua entering and watching me silently."
"I thought Ithaqua wanted to harm me because his gaze felt off, like he was looking at a corpse. I was so scared that I just stared back at Ithaqua, and it passed for over ten minutes before Ithaqua spoke, asking how I was doing and if I needed anything. I asked if he could let me go, but his answer was naturally negative."
"Finally, I asked Ithaqua why he was helping the Crimson Ghoul. Normally, Crimson Ghouls are cursed by their gods for betraying them, so it's strange for them to follow humans. Ithaqua only said that the Crimson Ghoul was very important to him, even to his people."
Liu Xing raised an eyebrow. Because Dio didn't know Ithaqua was a Yis Person, Liu Xing thought Dio might see Ithaqua as a powerful human sorcerer, and the Crimson Ghoul as Ithaqua's follower.
However, as someone who knew the truth, Liu Xing was concerned about Ithaqua's words, as he didn't expect Ithaqua to value the Crimson Ghoul so highly, treating it as an important figure among the Yis People.
Could the Crimson Ghoul have some special significance?
But the question remained, why did Ithaqua appear suddenly when Dio was about to wake up from his dream state? Did Ithaqua predict the future?
Just as Liu Xing was deep in thought, Dio suddenly asked, "Chris, have you received any calls from the Dreamers' Guild? Have they come to find you?"
Liu Xing shook his head and replied, "No one from the Dreamers' Guild has contacted me, and they wouldn't need to. I'm just a newcomer, although I performed well during my last dream."
Dio let out a sigh of relief and smiled, saying, "That's good. But Chris, you're overthinking things. If the Dreamers' Guild contacts you now, it's not to praise you, but to catch you and force you to reveal my whereabouts. As I told you before, Robert is not a good person. The Dreamers' Guild once recruited a member who was actually a fugitive, and Robert designed a trap to catch him and handed him over to the police, gaining a lot of benefits."
"Now I've become a wanted criminal, and it's related to that attack case, which involves many nobles. If Robert can catch me and hand me over to those nobles, the benefits he'll receive will be beyond our imagination. But Robert definitely doesn't know where I am, so you might become a crucial breakthrough for them, since you joined the Dreamers' Guild through my introduction. However, it's possible Robert already knows you're a police officer, which is why he hasn't done so."
Liu Xing furrowed his brow, never expecting Robert to be such a person... Well, Liu Xing had already guessed that Robert might do something like this.
All the questions had been asked, so Liu Xing let Chris rest well and then headed home directly.
However, as Liu Xing was leaving, the Formless Offspring by the door suddenly blocked his way, pointing to the milk box by the door with a tentacle.
Liu Xing opened the milk box and found several unknown gems that he had used before, which could summon the Formless Offspring.
Liu Xing knew that these gems must have been left by Miss Wang, because after learning about the gunfight at Rose Manor, Miss Wang must have realized that the competition for the Sacred Book's projection had already begun, and various forces were trying to weaken each other. Miss Wang was worried that if Liu Xing's relationship with her was exposed, Liu Xing would be targeted by other forces, so she gave him these gems to protect himself.
After all, the Formless Offspring's strength was extremely powerful... except for those in the Mirror World, which were too slow.
After putting away the gems, Liu Xing headed home.
On the way, Liu Xing kept thinking about what Ithaqua would do after discovering that Dio had been rescued. If Ithaqua wanted to capture Dio again, Liu Xing was certain that the Formless Offspring at the door would be of no use. However, Ithaqua might choose to give up on Dio, as Dio was only the best host for the Crimson Ghoul, not the only one, and could find someone else to replace him.
Liu Xing leaned more towards the latter.
The reason was simple: Ithaqua didn't have much time left.
There were only about ten days left before the Sacred Book's projection appeared, and Ithaqua's current minions had already been taken down by the Leicester City police. The Crimson Ghoul statue was still in the hands of the Cult of the Cadaver, so Ithaqua shouldn't have much interest in Dio, who wasn't a necessity.
Moreover, Ithaqua would need to spend a lot of time planning and setting up to capture Dio, and its current "body" was like a worn-out tool. If it wasn't careful, it would be easily taken down by the Formless Offspring, or even the snipers set up by Miss Wang nearby.
So Liu Xing thought Ithaqua's attitude towards Dio was simple: it could capture him, but it wasn't necessary.
This was good news for Liu Xing, as he didn't want to rescue Dio again... although Liu Xing had only provided Miss Wang with information about Dio's possible whereabouts during the "rescue Dio" operation.
After returning home, Liu Xing received a text message from Wesker - a large fire had broken out at the Floral Cemetery in Manchester, engulfing the entire cemetery in flames.
Due to the cemetery's good landscaping and its distance from the city center, the fire was difficult to control by the time the fire trucks arrived, and it was almost out of control.
Fortunately, there were no reports of casualties, as the cemetery staff and Ms. Margaret's Symphony Orchestra members had escaped before the fire spread.
According to the current investigation, it was confirmed that the fire was intentionally set.
Liu Xing knew that the arsonist was Ithaqua, and its purpose was to create chaos to steal the Crimson Ghoul statue.
However, Liu Xing also realized why he hadn't heard of the Floral Cemetery in the future - it was because Ithaqua had burned it down at this point in time.
Of course, Liu Xing didn't forget to send a text message to Miss Wang, telling her to cut off all channels of information for Dio to avoid him learning about the fire, as Ithaqua would definitely try to go to the cemetery if it knew, since its parents were buried there.
But if Dio went to Manchester at this time, he might encounter Ithaqua on the way, and Dio might be possessed by the Crimson Ghoul. Liu Xing began to suspect that this fire was another of Ithaqua's plots.
Miss Wang agreed with this.
After receiving Miss Wang's response, Liu Xing felt relieved.
After all, Dio was just an ordinary person, and as a wanted criminal, he didn't have the right to make demands to Miss Wang. Even if Dio knew about the fire, Miss Wang wouldn't let him escape, as the Formless Offspring was a ruthless killer that could easily stop Dio.
However, Liu Xing still thought Dio might find a way to escape, as this was a matter of life and death.
Liu Xing didn't think he could cooperate with a Crimson Ghoul related to Ithaqua.
So, Liu Xing had already determined that Dio would become the Crimson Ghoul in the future.
According to fate, Dio would eventually become the Crimson Ghoul, but for some reason, the Crimson Ghoul hadn't been able to replace Dio as the host.
This was a plot encounter.
Liu Xing sighed, and now he could only do his best and wait for fate to unfold.
Liu Xing had a casual dinner, and Jill and Leon returned home one after another.
After discussing the fire at the Floral Cemetery, Liu Xing and the others went back to their rooms to rest, as they still had to go to work the next day.
But before Liu Xing could fall asleep, Miss Wang sent him a bad message - Dio had really escaped!
As the Floral Cemetery was well-known in England, the news of the fire spread quickly, and many TV stations reported it immediately.
When Liu Xing went to find Dio, Dio was watching TV.
So Liu Xing was too late.
This was fate.
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