Chapter 229
Isabel’s Investigation
Once the man with the fierce expression finally left, Isabel, feeling dizzy, crawled out from under the covers to begin her investigation.
Her head throbbed, as if a heavy lead block were inside it. Even the slightest movement sent waves of intense pain through her. She dared not move too quickly, her body so weak she could barely stand.
As she climbed out of bed, she nearly missed a step and fell.
A wave of intense fear doused her back with cold sweat, immediately followed by a sharp pain in her head.
Her small face contorted in pain as she curled up beside the bed.
Her stomach churned with nausea, and her skin and bones ached with a dull pain. Even touching her body only made it worse.
“…It hurts,” she whispered, climbing back into bed.
Just then, a flash of lightning struck outside.
In the next moment, the candles in the room suddenly flickered out as if in a silent breeze. Simultaneously, the window was violently flung open by the wind, and the roaring sound of rain intensified.
She instinctively wanted to scream, but Isabel managed to restrain herself.
—Screaming wouldn’t help anyway. Don’t be pathetic, Isabel… You’re not going to die.
She told herself sternly.
This time, no one could come to her aid. Isabel had no idea which floor Eivass and Sherlock were on. If they were on a lower floor, they wouldn’t be able to help her at all.
But one thing was certain: she was definitely alone on this floor.
It didn’t matter if she died; it would only mean falling to a lower floor. While Isabel didn’t fully understand what she was supposed to do, she had grasped the rules — she couldn’t appear on floor zero, so death was not a deterrent.
And if she were on a lower floor, someone would likely descend soon. If she saw no one, it would indicate she was on a higher floor.
—So her task was to investigate as thoroughly as possible while enduring for as long as she could.
Perhaps there was something that only she on this floor could see.
“…At the very least, I can’t be a burden.”
Isabel gritted her teeth, clutching her head as she staggered to her feet.
She hadn’t called for help during her last Advancement Ritual either. It was just that she had been lucky to run into Eivass and Sherlock, and they had decided to help her.
That was their kindness, her good fortune. But it wasn’t protection she could take for granted.
They couldn’t protect her forever, and she would eventually have to walk her own path.
…Her grandmother would eventually die, and she would have to succeed her.
She could become queen at any moment — compared to the nightmares where death was not the end, reality offered no second chances, and the Ascension Ritual was a nightmare in itself!
She couldn’t disappoint Eivass!
“If I’m going to die… it should be after I’ve tried my best, not by seeking help through suicide…”
With that thought, Isabel stumbled towards the window that had been pushed open.
The torrential rain outside instantly soaked Isabel to the bone. She tried to close the window, but found she couldn’t reach it — perhaps if she stood on a stool, but she was too unstable to stand properly, unsure if she would fall.
At that moment, her eyes widened. She had discovered something.
It was something she had to endure the downpour to see —
The stars outside flickered with a faint radiance, seemingly forming a word.
She stood in the pouring rain, concentrating for a long time. Her entire body was thoroughly drenched before she finally deciphered the word.
It wasn’t a word, but the number “201.”
The starlight was guiding her to Room 201!
Isabel’s spirits lifted.
She quickly wiped her face with a towel. With no clothes to change into, she hugged her rain-soaked body and stumbled out of the house.
As she walked, she realized she was so dizzy she could barely keep her balance. Two steps forward and she nearly ran headfirst into the doorknob.
Realizing her condition was worse than she thought, she became more cautious, gripping the wall as she walked.
Her steps grew weaker, her vision blurring.
The storm lashed against the windows, and the faint sounds of a little girl singing, arguments, the crash of something falling, and a woman’s screams echoed around her. But Isabel couldn’t tell if it was a hallucination; she only felt her consciousness becoming hazy, her surroundings spinning.
The distance between Room 202 and Room 201 was short, but it felt like a long journey.
—Is this really just a fever?
Isabel harbored this doubt.
She reached Room 201 and was about to tiptoe to reach the doorknob.
Just then, the doorknob moved on its own. Then, with a creak, the old door swung open.
Isabel held her breath, her heart stopping. She stood frozen, as if under a spell.
—Is there someone inside?
But after a long time, she heard no sound from within. Even the singing, the arguing, and the crashing sounds had disappeared. Only the roaring rain and the irregular clatter of the wind against the window remained.
She gritted her teeth and pushed the door open. As she let go, the door slammed shut behind her.
The room was pitch black, with no signs of recent occupation. Yet, the more desolate it was, the more unsettling she found it.
She wished someone would just rush out and kill her…
Just then, another bolt of lightning struck.
In the momentary flash of light, she clearly saw a pale, cyan-faced blond little girl standing outside the window.
—But this was the second floor.
Isabel finally screamed.
She immediately turned back, jumped, and pulled the doorknob. But the door seemed stuck; she pulled it several times, but it wouldn’t open.
She pulled with all her might, yanked the doorknob down, and opened the door, ready to rush out —
But outside was not a hallway, but a sealed red brick wall. She crashed into it, her skin stinging more intensely, and the arm she implicitly raised to protect herself was scraped.
She turned back in terror, finding that the girl outside the window had vanished.
The room was once again empty.
Isabel swallowed with difficulty, took several deep breaths, and forced herself to calm down.
She had a fleeting guess. She closed the door again. Then opened it again.
This time, the view outside the door had changed — it was a staircase leading upwards.
Isabel didn’t rush out this time. Instead, she left the door ajar and, gathering her courage, approached the window.
She pressed herself against the window and looked out for a long time. She found nothing outside.
And in the intermittent flashes of lightning, she could faintly make out the interior of the room — unlike her own rented Room 202, this room had a more lived-in feel. Specifically, there were books scattered haphazardly on a table and a somewhat worn teddy bear.
If the occupant had left long ago, these items should have been tidied away.
Isabel cautiously walked over and touched the books. They were not dusty.
She picked up the only book that was open and waited by the window for the next flash of lightning.
After a while, with the next flash — she read the cover of the book.
“…’The Sage in the Oak.’ ”
She frowned and murmured, “This is Merlin’s story.”
Isabel had read this book before.
It told the tale of Merlin, now a great Philosopher’s Disciple, who was once imprisoned by his ex-girlfriend Viviane in an oak tree when he was human.
He could hear everything outside and speak, but he couldn’t leave or cast spells. The oak tree that sealed him was incredibly hard; even an axe couldn’t cut it down to free him.
Thus, he became the “spirit within” the oak tree.
People heard of a wise, sentient oak tree and came from all directions to seek his counsel. Later, a knight traveling with the Red-Hilted Sword came upon the tree, believing it to be an evil tree that seduced minds, and cut the oak in half with his sword. He accidentally freed Merlin in the process.
Merlin, grateful to the knight, brought him back to Lancelot, where he became a Knight of the Round Table and the ancestor of the founding family of Camelot.
—But Isabel, as a descendant of Lancelot, knew the book was flawed.
Only Galahad could properly wield the Red-Hilted Sword. He received it after Arthur left the Material Realm and Lancelot I became King. By then, he was already a Knight of the Round Table.
…And there was also a legend within the Du Lac family. It claimed that the Camelot family was actually a branch of the Du Lac family.
This was because Galahad might have been the illegitimate child of Lancelot I. And Galahad had no maternal bloodline from Guinevere.
However, the appearance of this book here… and left open. It was clear the owner of the room was reading it before leaving.
Did this hold any intrinsic meaning?
“…If only Eivass were here.”
Isabel bit her lip, feeling dejected.
She wasn’t as intelligent as Eivass or Sherlock, and with her body failing, she couldn’t do much. Her Path abilities were sealed, and she had no one else to communicate with. She had never felt so alone and afraid, as if the entire world had abandoned her.
She walked around the room twice more, finding nothing else out of the ordinary. She tucked the book into her waistband, securing it with her trousers in front of her stomach. Then, picking up the teddy bear, she left the room.
As soon as she stepped onto the stairs, the door behind her automatically closed and locked.
Isabel paused. There was no turning back, she thought.
But it didn’t matter — she was gradually getting used to it.
She walked for a long time, but the stairs never seemed to end. It was then that Isabel sensed something was wrong.
Leaning against the wall to prevent herself from falling, she strained her neck to look up. But she couldn’t see anything clearly; she didn’t even know how many more floors there were.
Since she had come this far, there was no point in turning back. The doors behind her were already locked, she thought.
But whether it was her imagination or not, she felt the surroundings becoming brighter. The rain outside grew fainter and gradually quieted down.
The little girl’s singing suddenly became clear, startling her — the voice was coming from the teddy bear in her arms.
“Lock her up with the key… Lock her up, lock her up… Lock her up with the key, dear friend…”
Isabel dropped the bear, and it fell to the floor.
As the bear fell, Isabel instinctively bent down to grab it.
But as she turned her body to reach for it, she felt a cold little hand gently push her from behind.
—Isabel tumbled down the seemingly endless stairs.
Update complete, today’s update is seven thousand words!
My rhinitis has gotten much better. Air purifiers saved my cat life!
Apparently, my old air purifier wasn’t cutting it anymore….. I bought it in 2016 when I moved in, it cost over two thousand yuan back then to absorb formaldehyde. I only changed the filter once and only used it for about two months a year, specifically during March and September when allergies flare up. This time, even with it on, it seemed ineffective. I thought, is my body that weak now? Even with the air purifier on and taking medicine, it’s not helping…
Then I bought a new Huawei air purifier for seven to eight hundred yuan. It’s one-third the weight and size of the old one, and it worked immediately – the day before yesterday, I used over a hundred tissues. Two days ago, only about thirty. Yesterday and today, only a dozen or twenty. The effect is remarkable!
I can only say that technological advancements…
