In Donghai, the moon was round and luscious, resting like the finest peaches against the starlit sky.
Ulrich opened his eyes, his head still aching. The first thing he noticed was the car speeding across the street, kicking up a wave of dirt and wind that lifted his short, black hair.
The dream? He massaged his head, hoping to ease the internal tension that was stretching his brain. And just as the throbbing disappeared, a lingering whisper, or murmurs, or perhaps both, beckoned to him.
He turned around, expecting someone to be playing a prank on him, yet there was no one, not a thing in sight. The sidewalk behind the public bench was emptied. Only a gentle breeze passes by, brushing his rosy cheek.
Immediately, his face twisted like a crunched-up paper bag.
Am I hallucinating?
The image of his blood-soaked hand lingered in his mind. Why was his hand doused in blood? Was it his own blood? If that was the case, why did he not notice it prior?
Then, that thing appeared, Victor’s charred eyes, and subsequently, Rosaline’s arrival as well as her spectacular ‘firework’.
In that moment, a tsunami of thoughts flooded his mind.
What a terrifying thing… To think that just by possessing a Cursed Ring, it is possible to ‘mutate’ into such a monster. I thought—
He thought that the path of a Weaver was of little danger. Perhaps, by moving carefully, he can avoid most of the risk and gain the necessary power to accomplish his goal. However, looking at his most recent encounter, his mind was shaken.
The slightest mishap is equivalent to danger. No wonder the Churches are against the spread of supernatural matters… No wonder Captain Ottis mentioned that such matters cannot be understood through words!
At this moment, Ulrich felt something was odd, so he raised both of his hands to look at it.
I… I’m trembling?
Subconsciously, he shook his head, but… The truth was before him. Should he accept the fact that his trembling, and this thought, are a manifestation of his fear?
He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, letting his trembling hands come to a natural stop.
Fear. What was the source of this fear? The lack of control? Or the inherent fear of the unknown? Or uncertainty?
Maybe it is the accumulation of all these things. Thinking of this, he laughed uncontrollably.
The irony of these rational thoughts did not escape his fingers.
Perhaps, he feared that by walking down this path, things will be outside of his control. And that, this thing that he is pursuing, he knows not the end of it. Perhaps, and maybe, by the end, despite all his sacrifices, he will not achieve the goal he set for himself.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Thinking until this point, Ulrich let out a single tear, not from fear, or sorrow, but from laughing too hard at himself. He raised his hand to wipe the tear off his cheek, then let out a deep breath.
Even then, it is a necessary path I must take if I wish to move forward.
In the end, Ulrich channeled his focus elsewhere.
There were three short-term goals in his mind —to become a Weaver, find Selena Morris, and finally, verify the matter of the past and future. His thought process regarding these three goals was simple.
Firstly, with his contribution in the most recent event, Ulrich believed his progress toward the first goal should be at least halfway there. And secondly, by progressing his first goal, he had also made progress toward his second.
Finally, the matter of the past and future, it was something that can only be completed by taking action in both the real world and the dream. Regarding this matter, he had an idea in his mind, which required further inquiry and research.
With the idea in his hand, he decided to head to Zheng San’s apartment, the person he was most familiar with, to borrow his ‘tools’. Before doing so, he needed the ‘key’, which would save him the hassle of persuading Zheng San. This key was the black book in Gu Lan’s possession.
So Ulrich made his way to Gu Lan's residence, stole the book, then headed straight to Zheng San’s apartment and quickly convinced the man to trust him.
After securing the laptop on the table in the living room, Ulrich booted it up and began searching the web.
The first search was: [Map of the World]
This was something he had never thought of before, or at least, he had no reason to search up in the past. But now, to verify the past and future, the most important thing is that he could anchor the location between two separate space-times.
After all, his action in the real world is trapped within the vicinity of Belham. As for the dream, he could go anywhere, as long as he took a plane or a ride there.
This… The map is almost similar to the world map of the five luminants! If there was a difference, then it would be the amount of land there is.
In the real world, the five luminants were mostly sea, covered with dense fog. And within this scattered fog, the fog sea, there are numerous scattered islands, such as Belham.
However, the map of this dream had two extra ‘continents’ that shouldn't exist. If not for his continuous search and scrying into the secrets of the lost history, he would never suspect the two to be the same world.
As Ulrich examined the map, he scoured the eastern region of the world, which should correspond to the eastern luminants. The thing he was looking for was a landmass shape similar to Belham.
Eventually, he found it—a small yet unremarkable landmass without a name.
He had a strong feeling that this land was Belham. Fortunately, Donghai city and this island were not too far apart, perhaps a couple of hours of flight.
Therein lies the problem.
How am I going to board a plane without identification… He turned to Zheng San, who was snacking and drinking a soda while watching the television. Noticing Ulrich’s strange gaze, he can’t help but shiver.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He wasn’t certain it was Belham, but Ulrich, with his intuition, believed that it should be. After marking this spot on the map in his mind, he decided to return to the real world.
