Chapter 108

“Let the doom come even more fiercely.”

“Are you alright?”

Hearing Aivana’s voice, Xia’er gradually regained her senses and looked in Aivana’s direction.

Although her mental state had improved significantly, she could still see faint red mist before her eyes, though most things around her no longer seemed distorted.

Xia’er gazed into Aivana’s dark purple eyes, and an odd feeling suddenly arose in her heart.

Though Aivana’s eyes behind her glasses were fixed on Xia’er, Xia’er felt that Aivana’s gaze was not focused on her face but rather seemed to be looking at something behind her.

When Xia’er had scanned her surroundings earlier, there was nothing behind her…

The worst-case scenario flickered through Xia’er’s mind.

Previously, when Aivana had helped her recover from the spiritual pollution, it seemed that she had also taken on some of the mental contamination, as she had experienced a portion of the pain Xia’er had felt.

This time, the treatment exposed Aivana to the vision of the Other Realm, causing her mental state to be affected and resulting in hallucinations?

Xia’er didn’t feel too guilty because she had already anticipated this situation before coming. Now, all she could do was find a way to make up for it.

Xia’er stood up directly from the bathtub, stepping out of the copper tub, and extended her slightly wet hands to rest on Aivana’s shoulders, anxiously asking:

“Are you okay? Aivana? Did you see anything? Can you tell me?”

Aivana had been trying to focus on the water droplets on Xia’er’s forehead, avoiding direct eye contact with her.

She was trying to maintain her composure, preventing her gaze from sliding down Xia’er’s perfect face – even though she had already seen it before.

But Aivana was mostly concerned about Xia’er getting lost in the false comfort created by hypnosis, so she had been observing Xia’er’s mental state after falling into the water, leaving no time to think about other matters.

Now, Xia’er’s sudden rise and her somewhat urgent questions disrupted Aivana’s meditative state.

As Xia’er’s hair fell, Aivana instinctively followed the path of the falling water droplets downward.

Suddenly, Aivana felt her emotions becoming uncontrollable, and a fiery heat rose to her face.

“I… I’m fine… I saw nothing. I was just trying to help you feel the sensation of falling and landing…”

Aivana tightly closed her eyes, taking several steps back and stepping onto the water puddle that had formed earlier when she added water.

The soft slippers designed for indoor comfort lacked any slip-resistant features. When Aivana closed her eyes and stepped back onto the puddle, she felt her feet slip, followed by a dizzying sensation.

Oh no… I’m going to embarrass myself in front of Xia’er…

“Be careful!”

In a daze, she only heard Xia’er’s alarmed shout, then closed her eyes, waiting for the intense pain when her back hit the floor.

The expected hard floor sensation did not come; instead, she fell backward until she was almost lying flat.

But her head felt a soft touch… It was as if a hand had supported her head.

Click —

“Miss! What happened…”

Bang —

The bathroom door opened momentarily, and before she could even hear what Nia said, the door slammed shut again.

“Are you alright?”

These words, which should have come from Aivana, now echoed above her head.

Aivana’s glasses had fallen to the side. She felt the damp strands of hair brushing against her face as she slowly opened her eyes a crack.

In front of Aivana, she saw Xia’er, who was naked, slightly spreading her legs and kneeling on her abdomen.

Xia’er’s slender waist was slightly bent, with her left hand supporting the ground and her right hand holding her head. The soft sensation she felt just now came from Xia’er’s right hand.

Xia’er, looking at Aivana’s slightly squinted eyes, felt a slight relief in her heart.

When she noticed Aivana’s unusual state and started backing away, Xia’er had a sense of foreboding.

When Aivana was about to slip, Xia’er immediately summoned a shadow beneath her, supporting Aivana’s head to prevent any collision.

To avoid frightening Aivana with the shadow when she opened her eyes, Xia’er swapped positions with it.

Actually, Xia’er was also a bit anxious and worried, unsure if Aivana would perceive her as one of those flesh monsters.

“I’m fine…”

Aivana shook her head gently, her face already flushed beyond concealment.

“Sorry,” Xia’er said, looking at the Aivana below her, “I didn’t want to involve you, but I was selfish… I wanted to live a little longer.”

Xia’er’s words caused a slight pain in Aivana’s heart.

Xia’er’s tendency to take all the blame alone made Aivana feel uneasy, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

Aivana was merely Xia’er’s friend, able to offer some help but not yet at the level of sharing hardships together.

If possible, Aivana wished to face these things together with Xia’er.

However, Xia’er tended to keep her distance and had high psychological defenses, often excluding others during dangerous situations.

At this moment, Xia’er’s voice came from above again.

“Is there anything you want to do or something you want? I can help you as much as I can, as compensation for this healing…”

Compensation…

What else could she not get?

Hearing Xia’er mention compensation, Aivana’s previously agitated mood gradually cooled.

Xia’er never considered her part of the team.

She pursed her lips and looked up at Xia’er, saying, “Yes.”

“What is it?”

“Revenge.”

Before Xia’er could react, Aivana propped herself up on the floor with her elbow, biting Xiaer’s soft neck without hesitation.

After the bite, Aivana felt a slight relief, her head tilting back as she looked at Xia’er, calmly saying, “Move aside.”

“Okay…”

Xia’er moved aside, watching Aivana stand up, adjust her clothes, and leave the bathroom.

Revenge?

Was she talking about the bite she had inflicted on Aivana earlier?

To Xia’er, this incident was recent, but to the Aivana in this simulation, it had been over forty days.

Xia’er touched the bite mark on her neck, feeling a slight pain, which left her a bit confused.

Seeing Aivana’s expression, it seemed the impact wasn’t significant. Even if it were Xia’er, she wouldn’t be able to bite a terrifying flesh monster.

But why did Aivana seem angry?

Xia’er found herself unable to understand Aivana’s thoughts.

There was no time to dwell on this now; she needed to leave Aivana’s side quickly before the next calamity arrived—contacting Aivana and Nia was akin to interacting with the extraordinary.

She looked at the clean clothes laid out and began dressing.

Outside the bathroom, Aivana walked toward the vanity table.

Her glasses had fallen inside the bathroom, but she no longer wanted to retrieve them.

Nia, who had been guarding nearby, approached Aivana upon seeing her emerge, saying, “I’m sorry, Miss, I didn’t know you were…”

“It’s fine.”

Aivana put on a new pair of glasses and walked to the window, slightly pulling back the curtain to look at the fountain and garden in front of her.

Before her, a faint blood-red mist enveloped the entire manor, even staining the water jets from the fountain.

Aivana looked up and saw a blurry dark red shadow hovering above the manor, like an ominous omen.

Could Xia’er have endured such strong pollution to reach here? How could she have held on?

“Nia, have the investigation department look into the death of the police officer at the boundary between the Gemstone District and Clock Tower Lane District. Don’t let any other organization interfere.”

Aivana spoke to Nia, instructing her.

The death of a few detectives wasn’t a big deal, especially in Clock Tower Lane District where corrupt detectives were common and could be shot without killing an innocent person.

“Yes, I’ll send someone to notify them immediately.”

Nia nodded and quickly left the room.

She had to hurry to disseminate the information and return to the Miss’s side. Nia instinctively felt that Xia’er had many secrets recently, making her dangerous. She feared that if she was delayed, the Miss might encounter something untoward.

Or worse, she might be abducted.

Aivana watched the raindrops gradually fall outside, her previously chaotic mood now settled. At the same time, a hint of shame welled up in her heart.

Calmer now, Aivana realized she had acted somewhat childish earlier.

Xia’er chose to face everything alone, ultimately because she didn’t want to involve Aivana, who couldn’t help much anyway. There was no reason for Aivana to be angry.

Why did she feel so conflicted?

Like Xia’er, Aivana was skilled at hiding her feelings, but now she sensed that if she didn’t speak up, she and Xia’er would drift further apart.

Soon after Nia left, Xia’er pushed open the bathroom door and walked out, dressed in the black-and-white dress prepared by Aivana.

This time, the dress fit perfectly, neither too big nor too small, perhaps an old dress of Aivana’s or custom-made for Xia’er.

“Xia’er,”

Aivana turned to Xia’er and pointed out the window, saying, “Is that shadow above always following you here?”

Xia’er, who had been preparing to say something, walked to Aivana’s side, looking through the rain-soaked glass at the sky outside.

A dark red shadow shaped like a strange bird hovered in the sky, even without a specific form, Xia’er could still recognize it at a glance.

“Yes,” Xia’er nodded and said, “Sorry, Aivana, I need to leave quickly before the next calamity arrives…”

“Xia’er,”

Aivana interrupted Xia’er, directly asking, “Can you tell me in detail what you saw in that shadow?”

“Aivana…”

“I hope we don’t have too many reservations between us, Xia’er,”

Aivana looked into Xia’er’s eyes, saying, “I want to help you.”

After a moment of silence, Xia’er gently nodded.

When Aivana mentioned the shadow in the sky, Xia’er knew that Aivana had also been contaminated by the power of the Other Realm.

The damage was done, but they could only be grateful that this was a simulation and that the real Aivana wouldn’t be affected.

At the same time, Aivana’s words brought a sense of warmth to Xia’er.

Even knowing

“What she faces, Aivana still has no fear or any other negative emotions… Words may deceive, but negative emotions cannot fool ‘the Judge’.”

Although Xia’er really didn’t want to involve Aivana in this matter, she had been looking for a way to resolve it on her own. However, during this process, she fell into a cognitive trap.

Xia’er did not need to bear too much moral or psychological burden.

She could completely simulate and use any trick or violence to achieve her goal, then derive the process of breaking through alone from the results, rather than continuously increasing the intensity as she had previously done.

After all, Xia’er was just one person, and she inevitably had emotional moments, unable to be absolutely rational and accurate.

If Xia’er was to fully portray a cold-blooded demon in the simulation, she should have abandoned her “wasteful” sister Li Qi at the beginning and returned directly to Borough City.

In that case, perhaps by the next morning, she would hear the news of her sister being stabbed to death in a small town’s inn.

This was something Xia’er absolutely could not accept, even in the simulation.

It was precisely because of these entanglements that Xia’er managed to remain clear-headed after killing so many people, without losing herself.

Perhaps she should trust and rely more on her friends.

“Alright.”

Xia’er looked at Aivana and nodded slightly, then turned to the dressing table, picked up a pen and paper, and began to draw quickly.

Despite Xia’er’s poor drawing skills, she managed to sketch the rough shape of the strange crow with precise control over her fingers. She then filled in the body with messy lines.

Aivana, who had been watching Xia’er draw, frowned slightly as she observed the bizarre image drawn with a dip pen.

Wings…

Finishing the drawing, Xia’er pushed the paper toward Aivana and asked, “Can you tell what it is?”

Accompanied by the image, Xia’er slowly recounted her real feelings and more specific features and appearance when she saw the strange crow, including its featherless wings covered in long, tangled lines.

As someone who spent almost every day in the library, Aivana indeed knew more about the extraordinary than ordinary extraordinary individuals.

“I can imagine its appearance. Based on your description, it can basically be ruled out that it is an extraordinary person or a crazy extraordinary person turned into a monster.”

Aivana raised her hand and pushed her fine gold-rimmed glasses, causing the delicate chain at the edge of the frame to sway gently.

She lowered her hand and tapped the monster’s wing with her index finger and said, “You should know that besides the wings appearing in ‘Reformed Monks’ and ‘Avengers,’ no other paths of extraordinary people will have wing characteristics.”

“I don’t know.”

Xia’er nodded, allowing Aivana to continue.

“Based on your previous explanation, being shrouded by it would bring doom… but this is actually unlikely.”

Aivana continued, “Extraordinary abilities and sealed objects also have distance limitations. If this is an extraordinary ability, it wouldn’t be effective after you left the city.”

“Even ‘Doom Messengers’ or ‘Fate Bearers’ can’t lock onto targets from such a distance… unless it’s a Level Four or higher sealed object.”

Aivana shook her head and said, “But this is impossible. Known super-sealed objects don’t have such capabilities, except for some secret organizations holding them secretly…”

“But these organizations wouldn’t use a super-sealed object with strong side effects to deal with a few Level Three individuals and you…”

Aivana paused, looking at Xia’er, and said, “You, or the organization behind you, haven’t really provoked any transcendent beings, right?”

With others, Aivana might not believe it, but with Xia’er, she felt anything was possible.

Hearing Aivana’s words, Xia’er recalled a bit.

Xia’er had heard of transcendent beings from Yulis. Transcendent beings were ranked into five levels, and only those reaching Level Five or above were qualified to be called transcendent beings.

In reality, Xia’er was cautious, and the only high-level extraordinary individual she had direct contact with was Nia, who was an ally.

How could she possibly provoke a transcendent being beyond Level Five?

To be honest, Level Three abilities were already unimaginable enough for Xia’er. She didn’t have any capital to confront such powers directly. How could such a person catch the attention of a transcendent being?

“Not very likely.”

Xia’er shook her head.

“According to what you said earlier, doom doesn’t descend immediately after breaking rules, but with some delay.”

Aivana looked at Xia’er and said, “I guess there was an extraordinary person or someone with a sealed object on the train when you left Borough City.”

“After creating your doom, they went back to create Lucy’s doom, then crafted Obold’s disaster—this is entirely feasible in terms of timing.”

“But I don’t understand why someone would go to such lengths to make you follow some ridiculous rules…”

Aivana furrowed her brows, feeling increasingly unreasonable.

To perfectly evade Nia’s investigation on the train and possibly track several Level Three individuals for a long time without being discovered… someone with such abilities was close to being a transcendent being.

There were countless ways to kill them quietly, so why choose this method?

Unless…

“Is it possible it’s not human?”

Xia’er’s question interrupted Aivana’s thoughts.

Xia’er’s idea coincided with Aivana’s.

However, after careful consideration, Aivana shook her head: “It’s not quite right… this is almost impossible…”

Hearing Aivana’s words, Xia’er began to understand.

Since the beginning, Aivana had been rejecting her own ideas because they lacked reason, thus dismissing them outright.

Even in investigating the event, “reasonableness” greatly influenced Aivana’s judgment and thinking.

And Xia’er excelled at turning the unreasonable into reasonable.

Xia’er glanced at the time: 4:30 AM.

It was time to break Aivana’s fixed mindset of “convention” and “reasonableness.”

“Eight hours and fifteen minutes ago, the train exploded.”

Xia’er looked at Aivana seriously and asked, “If I return to that time and kill everyone on the train, would it be possible to find that person or ‘thing’?”

Hearing Xia’er’s words, Aivana’s mind froze. She blinked at Xia’er, then said after a moment, “It’s possible… but unlikely…”

Xia’er’s words left Aivana speechless, as it was simply too absurd.

According to Xia’er’s logic, returning to the past and killing everyone on the train could potentially expose the mastermind, but the act of “returning to the past” itself was impossible.

Moreover, even without considering the possibility of going back in time, the idea of killing everyone on the train was already too brutal—it felt like something the Salvation Goddess Religion or other evil cults would do.

A train carried at least three to four hundred people. Even imagining it made Aivana feel physically uncomfortable.

Helping Xia’er cover up a few murders or dealing with a few scoundrels was fine for Aivana, but this was too extreme.

The rational Xia’er proposing such unrealistic fantasies made Aivana feel somewhat alienated.

“Just a hypothesis, Aivana.”

Xia’er looked at Aivana and said, “No matter how outrageous the hypothesis, you can say it, as long as it’s possible to uncover the truth. Even if it involves going to the Other Realm, it’s worth considering.”

Seeing Xia’er’s encouraging gaze, Aivana felt her thoughts becoming jumbled.

She took a deep breath and leaned on the dressing table, calming down.

Forget it… Xia’er must have her reasons; she just needs to follow Xia’er’s lead and make these hypotheses…

After pondering in her mind, Aivana started to give up.

She wasn’t good at making assumptions without logic.

After a moment of silence, she looked at Xia’er and said, “If we must assume, I would choose to return to the past, to the time before encountering these disasters, to avoid them…”

So there was nothing to assume.

Aivana silently repeated this in her mind, not saying it out loud.

“Exactly,” Xia’er nodded and continued smiling, “That’s exactly what I think.”

“But returning to the past without being locked by the doom rules would make it harder to find the true culprit.”

“The key point is, I haven’t determined exactly when I was targeted… but I think I can solve this.”

Listening to Xia’er speak so convincingly, Aivana was taken aback.

It sounded so real.

“So, Aivana, what do you think is the most likely way for me to find the mastermind?”

Xia’er asked Aivana.

Discussing these matters with someone indeed broadened Xia’er’s perspective, even if it didn’t broaden her thoughts, it helped her reorganize her ideas.

Hearing Xia’er’s question, Aivana took a deep breath and decided to abandon her rational thinking and said,

“If I were to do it, I would gather all those affected by the doom rules and see what happens.”

“Although this might double the doom, gathering together might reveal common points among them, and it could directly expose the true culprit…”

Aivana trailed off, seeing Xia’er’s eyes light up.

She wouldn’t really…

“Good idea, Aivana.”

Xia’er nodded and said, “But how do we get them to gather? After all, both are Level Three.”

“Lucy is easier since she is still recovering from serious injuries and can be directly taken away.”

“But taking Lucy directly to Clock Tower Lane District to find Obold would definitely attract Xiū from the Salvation Goddess Religion.”

Seeing Xia’er analyzing the feasibility of this plan, Aivana started to panic.

Was Xia’er serious?

Was she really planning to gather all those affected by the doom rules?

Although she didn’t know what the consequences would be, just thinking about it made Aivana feel extremely dangerous.

This would surely end in death…

But she also knew that Xia’er wasn’t the type to seek death recklessly…

“I have a way to get Obold out.”

Aivana looked at Xia’er and said, “For Lucy, you’ll have to handle it yourself.”

“But there’s a condition.”

“For your safety, Nia and I will go to the place you specify—we’ll only watch from a distance. If you’re in danger, I’ll have Nia intervene.”

At that moment, Nia, who had just finished instructing a messenger downstairs, inexplicably shivered, and the metal framework of her body clattered with fine sounds.