Chapter 213 149. The Hidden Hand
The ground above trembled slightly as Fisher and Eil passed through the large door in front of the treasury. Due to the minor shaking, everything Blake and Muxi had passed by was uncontrollably toppled over, scattered across the ground like worthless trash carelessly discarded.
When Fisher glanced over this way again, he felt a surge of emotions.
Beside him, Eil effortlessly hoisted Jasmine onto her shoulder, her posture exceptionally casual. Fisher initially wanted to remind her to be mindful of her position, but an inexplicable intuition warned him that it would be unwise to show concern for Jasmine at that moment. Eil’s refusal to let him touch Jasmine hinted at a deeper understanding.
Thinking of this, Fisher kept his mouth shut. They walked into the room where he and Jasmine had come down earlier, which was designed with a reverse teleportation spell. Blake and Muxi had probably returned to the surface through here.
Fisher checked the status of the magic and was relieved to find that it hadn’t been damaged by the previous battle.
“The teleportation magic is still intact. We can head up from here.”
Eil glanced around, then set Jasmine down from her shoulder. She looked at Fisher and said, “Then you should take this little Whale Folk girlfriend and leave. I still need to head back to the Abyss; Ag will likely come to pick me up.”
“Is it that urgent?”
“Blame that bastard Ag. But don’t think too much about me. If one day you return to the Southern Continent, we will meet again.”
Eil lazily winked at Fisher, her casual charm revealing the true essence of Eil.
However, as he listened, Fisher suddenly felt a bit guilty.
The Southern Continent…
As he spoke, he suddenly remembered a proud, sun-like red dragon figure in the Southern Continent. If he were to return one day, it was hard to say he wouldn’t encounter Raphael again, especially if both Eil and Raphael met at the same time…
“What’s wrong?”
Eil looked at Fisher, who seemed lost in thought, and asked curiously.
Fisher smiled and shook his head, then replied, “Nothing, just thought of some future matters. Safe travels.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Eil smirked, her tail flicking up slightly as she reached out and grabbed Fisher by the neck, pulling his head closer to her.
Then, Eil’s fiery lips and fragrance approached Fisher, but this kiss was very brief, merely a light caress or an impression.
Xiatu next to them trembled slightly, suddenly realizing some essence of Fisher, feeling the need to say something.
But the next second, she silently glanced at Jasmine lying on the ground and then at the imposing Eil in front of her.
In the end, reason overtook conscience, and Xiatu chose to remain silent.
Oh Jasmine, I’m truly sorry. It’s not that Teacher Xiatu is too cowardly, but telling you now would be of no use, sorry, sorry.
After that kiss, Eil’s body emitted a bubbling sound like “gurgling” magma again. She contentedly pressed her hand on Fisher’s chest, her tail pointing at him.
“Before I leave, let me get one last feel. Thanks for the hospitality! Take care of yourself and practice the combat techniques I taught you; they’ll be very useful. And keep the death runes safe.”
“I know.”
She had walked several steps away, waving her hand at Fisher, when suddenly recalling something, she yawned, pressed her hand on her abdomen, and smiled mischievously at Fisher.
“Oh right, last time it didn’t work out, and there are no more little demons, what a pity. Better luck next time, Mr. Fisher.”
“…”
This demon…
Xiatu was confused, unable to understand the encrypted conversation between her and Fisher. But Fisher knew very well what she was referring to. He sighed heavily, interrupting this inappropriate dialogue and directly activated the teleportation magic to return to the surface.
“Eil, take care.”
Eil leaned against the treasury door, no longer joking, just yawning and waving at Fisher. Then, the familiar magic surged again, and with the feeling of weightlessness, a dazzling light burst forth before Fisher’s eyes.
“Buzz buzz buzz!”
Those beams of fine light traveled in front of Fisher, and they experienced weightlessness again, but this time, in contrast to before, they first felt overweight and then weightless, the experience completely reversed.
Before long, Fisher and Xiatu reappeared in a cluttered library, the floor cracked and books scattered all around.
Once Fisher and the others returned to the surface, the commotion in Saint Nali City grew increasingly evident, signaling that the monster that Anna had transformed into had already invaded the city.
They had to hurry over.
Without hesitation, Fisher picked up Jasmine, and when he turned to call Xiatu to follow, he suddenly noticed many bite wounds marring Xiatu’s body, presumably left from fighting those Human-Worms. It had been too dark in the treasury for Fisher to notice earlier.
Many wounds were on Xiatu’s horse; a few were quite deep. Worried about her condition, Fisher asked, “Can you still walk?”
“I can. Hiss.”
Xiatu had just wanted to prove she could still move by raising her hoof, but the pain suddenly shot through her, forcing her action to halt.
Earlier, Eil had only forcibly awakened her consciousness without treating her wounds; moving those areas caused intense pain. She shut one eye while taking a sharp breath, about to say something when her expression changed. She pointed outside and shouted, “Wait, Fisher, someone seems to be coming!”
“Someone?”
Fisher turned his head and peered through the library’s large cracks, clearly seeing a group of soldiers in golden armor moving towards them; they were from the Nali Army.
It’s Elizabeth!
“It’s Elizabeth! Let’s go out to find her to treat your wounds, and we can also deal with things in the Saint Nali city area.”
“Mm.”
Xiatu nodded, taking a deep breath as she began to move towards the exit. Fisher carried Jasmine and prepared to leave the library, but just before departing, he sensed something and looked up at the ceiling.
There, above the broken glass, a line of words still stood out prominently, the words “Muxi,” designed by Blake.
That line of words made Fisher frown slightly; after pausing for several seconds, he followed Xiatu out of the library.
Following the pathway outside the library, Fisher had just exited when he saw Elizabeth, dressed in a fitted light gold gown, rushing toward them anxiously, followed by two rows of fully armed soldiers.
“Fisher!”
Her normally gentle face was now filled with disarray. The moment she spotted Fisher, half-naked and covered in wounds, her breath nearly stopped. She abandoned her high heels and rushed towards him, her small feet in white socks sprinting directly to him.
“How could this happen? How could you be hurt so badly?”
She anxiously examined Fisher’s wounds but dared not reach out to touch him, merely breathing heavily as she looked at his injuries.
“. I’m fine, but Xiatu needs treatment; she was bitten by those creatures raised by Blake.”
“Doctors! Hurry over! Get them back for treatment!”
From the neatly standing soldiers, two doctors in white robes quickly emerged. They assembled a stretcher and secured Xiatu onto it, briefly treating her bleeding wounds before taking her away.
Watching Xiatu being carried off, Fisher finally breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to Elizabeth and said, “I told you before about Anna. Blake performed excessive flesh grafting on her. That relic is not a Life-and-Death Reliquary Bell but rather a relic stabilizing her grafted flesh. Now she’s completely out of control and nearing Saint Nali City; we must stop her.”
Elizabeth, however, continued to gaze worriedly at Fisher’s wounds. After a long time, she finally snapped back to reality. Only then did Fisher notice some stains on her dress.
“What’s wrong with your dress?”
Elizabeth hesitated for a moment, looking up at Fisher and saying, “Lunsis has gone mad. He actually dared to attempt to assassinate the king in the Golden Palace. Dexter was severely injured trying to stop him. By the time I arrived at the Golden Palace, it was already too late, and Dexter is still in surgery. Fisher, since there is evidence in the treasury, I’ll send someone back to collect it later. The most important thing now is to stop the chaos in Saint Nali City. We must return to the Golden Palace first.”
“Mm, but what about Jasmine…”
“It’s okay; just take her back to the Golden Palace. She will need to testify later.”
“Mm.”
Elizabeth reached out and took Fisher’s hand. Two doctors in white from the soldiers stepped out of the ranks, quickly assembling another stretcher and putting the unconscious, poisoned Jasmine onto it. Fisher followed Elizabeth out a step or two.
Yet he kept staring at the still lake nearby. The large “Muxi” writing in the library and Erwind’s affairs inconveniently surged to his mind, as if everything that had progressed to this point had obvious gaps and issues.
Suddenly quiet, Fisher had time to revisit the suffocating events of the past few months. Deep down, he always felt a sense of helplessness, like a fist hitting cotton.
At that moment, a logical fallacy suddenly appeared before Fisher’s eyes.
One question was: When did Erwind know that the person who killed Feilon was him?
Reflecting on the entire process of his return from the Southern Continent, he should have first met Erwind during the spatial magic incident in Shivali.
Before that, he shouldn’t have exposed his identity at all. According to Erwind, they hadn’t discovered him because of Feilon’s contingency plan in the Southern Continent.
Now, assuming Erwind’s first realization of him was within that spatial magic?
Before that, he didn’t even know someone like him existed. It wasn’t until he first laid eyes on him and sensed the connection to the completion manual that he recognized him.
So why had he gone into the magic?
Excellent memory told Fisher he had gone there to ensure his own safety.
To ensure his own safety?
It was the same in the Healing Room. Even after killing Blake, he had said similar things.
Eil had once told him that Erwind had been living in hiding until now; the reason he appeared in Saint Nali was that he made a deal with someone in Saint Nali. Initially, Fisher’s subconscious had suggested he was working with Blake because he provided Blake with flesh-grafting techniques to help him extend his life.
But what if he wasn’t working with Blake?
With this thought, Fisher’s scalp suddenly tingled as if struck by electricity.
Following this line of reasoning, why did Muxi still want to protect Blake before her death, uncomplainingly using blessings to shield him?
Fisher had once experienced Muxi’s perspective; she was a brave and wise Whale Folk. If her lover turned against her, would she truly be foolish enough to unconditionally protect Blake?
Now, Fisher recalled his earlier glimpse of the code inscribed on Blake’s treasury, the words “Muxi.”
What if Muxi believed that Blake hadn’t turned against her?
A series of clues connected in his mind. At this moment, Fisher’s steps suddenly froze, and he stopped in his tracks.
If these assumptions held, then the resultant conditions were terrifying.
He suddenly understood the source of his persistent sense of powerlessness and suffocation in facing Blake all along.
If his true enemy wasn’t Blake, and even Blake and Muxi were merely small pawns?
“No.”
Fisher’s rigid footsteps and sudden words caused Elizabeth, who was holding his hand ahead, to glance back in confusion, seemingly thinking he was still injured. She scanned his body with concern.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
But Fisher didn’t respond; he gently pulled his hand away from Elizabeth’s fingers, gazing directly at the beautiful and gentle lady before him, as if recognizing her for the first time.
“Is it you?”
Elizabeth’s expression turned slightly surprised as she continued to look at Fisher, the man she loved dearly.
Only at this moment,
those light golden eyes were so hollow.
(End of this chapter)
