PFC Chapter 4283 Xia De's Invitation
Chapter 4283 Xia De's Invitation
Chapter 4283 Xia De's Invitation
The patients with narcolepsy are now mainly concentrated in the outer city and the Gray Rock Pass area, with very few patients in the lower city. Therefore, in his dream, Xia De only found two people. One was a shop owner living above the bakery, and the other was an ordinary woman resting at home.
The tree roots entwined around their bodies, creating a semi-fusion. The immense life force contained within the roots thus connected with their consciousness in the dream, subsequently influencing their physical bodies in reality. This explains why the victims possessed such remarkable vitality.
It is precisely because their consciousness in the dream is being assimilated by the tree roots that they are unable to awaken from reality, and once their consciousness is completely assimilated, they will face death.
Since he hadn't found the source of the curse, Shad didn't know why the consciousness of these ordinary people was trapped in the dream. He tried to release that consciousness, but gave up after only a moment. The fusion between the tree roots and consciousness was quite tight, and Shad wasn't an expert in manipulating mental energy within dreams; acting rashly would only cause deeper harm to the victims.
Lingering in this dream for too long seemed to draw its attention, so after confirming the victims' conditions, Shad decided to leave. He planned to return via the Silver Moon Dream, and on his way to the Upper City, Shad clearly sensed the cursed roots spreading within the dream. The roots were gradually spreading from the Upper City towards the higher "Candlecastle Library," likely indicating that the influence of "Sleeping Syndrome" in reality was continuing to expand.
There were no particularly clear dividing lines in the dream. It was somewhat similar to the small, perfectly blended area that would appear when walking from any corridor to the Witch Council, where the corridor and the old passageway would merge together.
There was no clear transition between "Cursed Dream - Arcadia City" and "Silver Moon - Endless Wilderness". Shad felt that as he walked, he unknowingly arrived directly in that most familiar dream.
The elements of curses and whispers completely disappeared, a cool night breeze caressed him as he stood on the edge of the field, and the enormous silver moon was no longer an illusion, but had become real.
"This feels so good."
Shad sighed, then opened his eyes to the increasingly clear meowing of a cat.
"Meow~"
"Shad, what's wrong with you?"
The sky was already bright. Mia crouched beside Shad's pillow, watching him, and even tried to pat his face with her little paws. The one speaking, of course, wasn't the cat, but Luvia, who was sitting by the bed. She had returned from Bella's place, and it seemed she and Bella hadn't stayed up late; she looked quite well.
“It’s already seven o’clock, and Mia has been calling you for a long time. If you don’t open your eyes soon, we’re going to have to wake you up by force.”
As Luvia spoke, she placed the back of her hand on Shad's forehead again, and after confirming that everything was alright, she pulled Shad up.
"You usually get up on time, did Sylvia leave very late last night? Is she that amazing?"
Seeing that Shad was alright, Luvia even joked around. Shad first recalled his dream, making sure he remembered all the details clearly, before shaking his head:
"It has nothing to do with Sylvia. I dreamt about the cursed city of Arcadia. We'll talk about it at the dinner table later."
Xiaomia seemed a little worried about Shad, who hadn't gotten up on time, or perhaps she was simply worried that Shad was developing a habit of not getting up early. In any case, when Shad was washing up and changing clothes, the cat didn't wait at the table for breakfast as usual, but instead followed Shad around, wagging her tail.
Before breakfast began, Galina brought Tifa home. Galina had been quite busy lately; she was going to Yodl Palace for a MI6 report, and she came home early to see who had spent the night there.
"Only Sylvia? If I had known this would happen, I would have come over last night too."
Although Denise didn't come last night, she came to check on her teacher this morning. Winnie seemed to have anticipated that there would be so many people at home this morning, and had even prepared breakfast for everyone without Tifa and the others' help.
So at the breakfast table, Luvia, Winnie, Daniste, and Galina listened to Shad recount his dream from the previous night. The dream's content was easy to understand, but the knowledgeable witch had a guess about its origin:
"The source of the tree roots should be a tree, right? That tree in the dream wants to draw on the spiritual or soul power of people trapped in dreams. I've seen many stories like this in the council's records."
Daneste shared the same view:
"Yes, but based solely on Shad's description, it's not enough to determine what caused this dream. We also need to pay attention to the life force that appears in the dream. There shouldn't be any real life in the dream, so that life force is probably something that the source of the curse possesses itself. Thinking about it this way, perhaps the source of the curse only has life force but no consciousness or soul of its own. Although life force can nurture spirituality and thus give birth to consciousness and soul, it seems that someone wants to accelerate this process."
Daniste and Galina were in complete agreement. Based on the information Shad provided, this "cursed dream" could not possibly be a normal natural phenomenon or simply a relic going out of control.
Luvia then tossed a few coins to divine the future, and she agreed with the administrator and the witch's views:
"Yes, there's another conspiracy behind this. The forces involved in that dream are complex; dreams are composed of multiple forces. From your description, at least the tree roots and the three false moons were not created by the same force."
Xia De nodded:
"So I also believe that someone is manipulating this matter. I just can't guess who it is related to yet. It could be the Truth Society, the traitors of the Church, the Holy Son Alliance, the Blood Spirit School, or even the Emerald Alchemy Association and the Demon Eye Club."
"Let's see what the church has to say."
Daniste suggested:
“That cursed dream is troublesome, and the Church probably can’t solve it immediately. However, since it’s possible to enter and exit, the Church should also be able to discover some things. The cursed dream has been exposed, and the manipulator behind it is probably racing against the Church to see whether the Church can solve the problem first, or whether the source of the curse can achieve its goal first.”
"If the Holy Son Alliance were behind this, we could solve two problems at once."
Shad said, but he believed the probability of this being related to the Holy Sons Alliance was very low. "Abomination" itself does not need consciousness; it only needs to wait for enough life force to complete its birth. The Holy Sons Alliance has no need to waste life force to nourish a brand new soul.
Shad's dream last night brought new information, and Luvia and Bella's divination last night also yielded some results. At the breakfast table, Luvia shared the current results with everyone:
“We haven’t found the current location of the Holy Son Alliance’s stronghold yet, but Bella and I have divined the origin of that spark source.”
Luvia summarized it as follows:
"Before this, a total of 6 sparks had appeared. The one in Shad's hand, the one on the dragon egg, the one in Hermons' hand, the one in the church traitor's hand, the one in the church's hand, and the one on the giant warrior's body."
The spark that appeared in the hands of the Infant Mother this time was none of the previous ones; it was a completely new spark. Fate guided us to see a crimson glimmer, and this spark is highly likely still related to the [Blood Spirit School].
No one was surprised by this; it was the easiest thing to guess.
"Of the seven sparks, two are related to Shad, two to the [Church of Creation], and the remaining three are most likely related to the [Blood Spirit School]. Shad's two sparks are characterized by their stability. The sparks of the Church and the traitor are products of the same spark splitting apart. The difference between the two sparks is only the amount of life energy they contain. The remaining three sparks each have their own characteristics."
Daniste said:
"With this source of fire, the unborn 'Abominations' of the Holy Son Alliance will likely be able to construct false bodies using life energy. When Shad and his group encountered the Infant Mother, she didn't have time to do this, but we should see it in their subsequent actions."
Galina then asked Luvia:
"The key question now is, just how badly have the Infant Mother and the 'abhorrence' been wounded?"
Luvia shook her head:
"It's impossible to divine them, as if they don't exist. But if we divine their very existence, it shows they haven't completely disappeared. I think the Infant Mother is probably in some special state, and Bella and I both believe it's a sign of her being seriously injured, which is good news for us."
I'll wait a little longer. I've even temporarily put aside my research on the astrological equipment lens left by Vigo's mother. I'm sure I'll be able to find out where the [Holy Son Alliance] group is by Sunday. If all else fails, I'll just use the [Symbol of Destiny].
She looked at Shad, and Shad nodded:
"can."
After breakfast, everyone left. It was Friday, and everyone had their own things to take care of. Before everyone left, Luvia glanced at Shad, who nodded.
"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about that. Remember to come home early for dinner tonight. Galina, remember to come early too. And Daniste, if Ellie and Emilia don't have evening classes, call them over as well."
Shad then informed Winnie that many people would be coming to the house that evening, so he would have to trouble her to prepare a sumptuous dinner. The maid smiled and said she understood.
Instead of leaving Tobesk immediately, Shad opened his door and went into the city. At eight o'clock in the morning, Shad waited for Iluna, who was coming to work, in front of the Blackstone Security Company.
Iluna, who was carrying a shoulder bag, had been walking with her head down, as if deep in thought. She only looked up when she sensed someone in front of her, and when she saw it was Shad, she showed a look of surprise and delight.
"Shad?"
She quickened her pace to stand in front of Xia De, then lowered her voice and asked:
"Why are you here? Did something happen? Did Adelina get into trouble again?"
Shad shook his head and casually handed Iluna the packaged desserts he had brought from home:
"No, no, nothing at all. I just wanted to invite you to dinner at St. Teresa's Square tonight. Luvia and Galina will be there too, and Ellie and Emilia should be able to come as well."
"No problem, but why are we having a get-together?"
"Iluna asked," she said. The streets were noisy in the early morning, and passersby paid little attention to the young man standing by the wall. Carriages jingled as they passed, and newspaper vendors called out loudly at the end of the street. Early summer in Tobesk was still shrouded in fog. Shad and Iluna stood close together, and he smiled as he asked, "..."
"Today is the 22nd of the Moon of the Rising Wind. If we remember correctly, Iluna, isn't today your birthday?"