novelraw Chapter 771: The Third Expedition
Chapter 771: The Third Expedition
The monstrous little ghost stared intently at the clay jar, which was roughly her size.
“This isn’t high-quality clay!” the Elder Sister shrieked.
“It is.”
“No!”
“You haven’t even looked inside.”
“I don’t have to!” The Elder Sister covered her nose with her fingerless, cloth hand.
“Clay doesn’t smell this disgusting!”
A faint odor wafted from the unsealed jar, reminiscent of rotting moss from a graveyard.
“I see,” Lu Li murmured, nodding slightly.
Clearly, their definitions of “high-quality clay” were quite different.Lu Li picked up the jar, opened the door, and handed it to the guard stationed outside. He instructed the man to inform Dean Rolens that he needed odorless clay and, if possible, to bring back several different samples.
When he returned to the room, Lu Li found the Elder Sister standing on the table, her hands planted proudly on her hips.
It seemed he was stuck with her for the time being.
Besides, even if he found the right clay, the Elder Sister was unlikely to return to the City of Phantoms. The search was just a pretext for her to escape.
“Tell me about the City of Phantoms,” Lu Li requested.
The Elder Sister was no longer as wary as she had been initially. “What do you want to know?”
“What is the nature of the god of the City of Phantoms?”
“I won’t tell you!” the Elder Sister shrieked, launching herself at Lu Li. She deftly scrambled onto his shoulder and disappeared behind his back.
Getting anything out of her would take time.
Lu Li walked to the window. The crowd that had gathered at the estate gates yesterday had dispersed with the coming of night, but they would surely be back at dawn, hoping for a glimpse of him.
Dean Rolens had advised Lu Li against interacting with them. Midnight was a heterogeneous city, a melting pot of all sorts of people: the poor, the middle class, the nobility, and preachers who worshipped a host of different deities.
Their motives for wanting to see Lu Li were not entirely pure.
Lu Li drew the curtains and returned to the fireplace. He glanced over at Katerina, who was sitting at the dining table sipping wine. “Aren’t you going to sleep?”
“Are you turning in already?”
“Yes.”
“Can I stay here?” Katerina swirled her glass, the firelight dancing in the wine.
Prusius held his breath, his snout turning from Lu Li to Katerina and back again.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” Lu Li replied.
“Then why can he stay?”
Katerina gestured toward Prusius.
“He’ll be sleeping on the rug.”
“Alright...” Katerina shrugged nonchalantly, as if she had only asked in passing. She finished her wine and left the room, swaying slightly as she went.
Soon, sounds from the other side of the wall indicated Katerina had returned to her own room. A moment later, the faint sound of singing followed.
“It seems Miss Katerina has something on her mind,” Prusius remarked, his ears twitching.
“What makes you say that?”
“The books say... that people with heavy hearts sing after they’ve been drinking to pour out their feelings,” Prusius said, sitting back on his haunches.
“Mr. Lu Li, do you know what’s bothering her?”
“A sense of unreality,” Lu Li answered.
“Unreality... You mean, she’s afraid none of this is real?”
“Exactly.”
“Why would she think that?” Prusius asked, puzzled.
“Is it because everything is so different now from her life as a hunter?”
“I sometimes wonder if this is all a dream or a hallucination, too, but not as much as Miss Katerina seems to...”
“We encountered the Emerald Dream on our way here,” Lu Li explained, telling Prusius what had happened before they entered the Old Sewer.
As he had thought before, there was no way to prove to Katerina that any of this was real, because any proof could simply be dismissed as part of the illusion.
Only time could resolve her doubts.
The singing from the next room gradually faded as the intoxicated Katerina drifted off to sleep.
Prusius was also ready for sleep.
“See you tomorrow, Mr. Lu Li.”
He grabbed a blanket from the sofa, circled a few times on the rug before the fireplace, and then settled down, pulling the blanket over himself.
The night passed peacefully, to the soft crackle of the logs in the hearth.
Lu Li was awakened by Prusius.
He was gnawing on a log, trying to toss it into the extinguished hearth, but he missed. The piece of wood struck the fireplace surround, rousing Lu Li.
“Good morning, Mr. Lu Li!” Prusius said, turning his head at the rustle of movement from the bed.
A faint light filtered through the curtains, and the clock in the corner showed it was eight o’clock.
Lu Li fastened the top two buttons of his shirt, walked over to Prusius, picked up the log, and tossed it into the fireplace before pulling back the curtains.
A crowd had gathered at the gates again, about ten to fifteen people so far.
Glints of light flashed near the window—it seemed someone was observing the house through a spyglass.
Lu Li stepped away from the window.
Katerina was still asleep. She had drunk a great deal of wine the previous night and fallen into a deep slumber. Though fine wine contained less alcohol than cheap moonshine, it was still too much for someone who rarely drank. She only woke up, drowsy and confused, after Dean Rolens knocked on the door for a long while.
“Please be ready. In an hour, we’ll be departing for the Mondali Theater to see a performance of ‘The Third Expedition.’”
It was a play based on Lu Li’s story.
“Prusius wants to go as well,” Lu Li said.
Dean Rolens considered for a moment, then replied:
“That won’t be a problem, but he shouldn’t show himself in public. It would be best to have him wear a cloak. We’ll have one prepared.”
In Midnight, many people concealed their appearance beneath cloaks.
As long as the cloak remained on, no one would know if it concealed a human or an anomaly.
“By the way, will you be making any remarks?”
“No.”
Lu Li had declined any stage appearances or similar events. He simply wanted to watch his own story as a member of the audience.
“I’ll make the arrangements at once.”
Dean Rolens left the room.
In the hallway, he turned to see Professor Nuno Alexandrovich, who smelled faintly of herbs.
“Nuno...”
“This is a betrayal! You can’t treat a hero this way!”
Professor Nuno Alexandrovich furiously accosted him.
“Shh...”
Dean Rolens had to summon the guards to lead the professor away from the door. He lowered his voice.
“Listen, Nuno, it’s for the greater good. You understand that, don’t you?”
“You’re using him!” the professor hissed, his eyes bloodshot with rage, as if his most sacred beliefs had been violated.
“It isn’t use, it’s... mutually beneficial cooperation! Don’t let the corruption affect your reason. Think about it—can we really force Mr. Lu Li to do something he doesn’t want to?”
A flash of pain crossed Professor Nuno Alexandrovich’s bloodshot eyes.
“I... I’m trying to keep a clear head.”
“No one is forcing Mr. Lu Li, and no one could... Your paranoia is just the corruption in your left arm influencing you...”
Dean Rolens explained patiently to the professor, whose mental state was clearly deteriorating.
“Are you coming with us, Nuno? Though, I think it might be better for you to rest...”
Professor Nuno Alexandrovich shook his head.
“I’m going.”
“In the final moments of my life, I want to see him become known to the entire world...”