Lord of the Mysteries: Yao Guang

Chapter 637: The Wrong Path

This time, the time it took to pass through the gray fog was much longer than usual when only the spirit entered, and it was filled with a feeling of sluggishness that made him uncomfortable.

Klein was not unfamiliar with this feeling. When the spiritual thread was grasped, his body stiffened and reacted in a similar way to his current situation. If Klein had not been able to move his fingers, he would have thought that he had been caught red-handed.

The surroundings were abnormally quiet, and the usual torturous muttering had completely disappeared, causing Klein to doubt the situation around him for a moment - could it be that he still couldn't escape from the mysterious "Merlin"?

It wasn’t until a subtle chirping sounded and the scene before him became clear again that Klein secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was almost thrown out of the gray fog, and his body, which was still in a stiff state, was unable to react for a while, causing him to fall heavily onto the long bronze table.

The pain was also filled with an unreal trance. Klein lay there in a daze for two seconds before he mechanically moved his arms and tried to prop up his body.

He raised his head and looked around, but the surging gray fog gradually calmed down and no one else came here.

The “Sky Lord” that Klein was worried about did not appear, nor did the figure he was most expecting to suddenly appear and ask him if he was frightened.

The anger caused by powerlessness swept through his heart, stirring up bitterness, prompting Klein to move his body and climb down from the long bronze table. He did not sit in the Fool's seat, but after hearing the subtle chirping again, he walked towards the source of the sound.

As Klein continued to move his body, his steps became lighter and lighter, and he went straight into the deepest part of the ancient hall. When he climbed the towering steps, he finally recovered from some invisible oppression.

At the top of the stairs, in addition to the light cocoons that trapped various faces, there was an even brighter sphere, surrounded by layer upon layer of filaments, tightly attached to the outside of the worm-shaped gate.

Perhaps because it knew someone was approaching, a more urgent chirping sounded.

Klein understood that Norns was asking for help. After a moment's thought, he tried to use his spiritual power to touch the threads trapped outside the light ball.

Just like catching a spirit's thread, he easily grabbed the ball of yarn stuck to the outside of the bronze door and carefully unraveled it.

There was no real sense of the passage of time above the gray fog, and Klein had no idea how long it had taken him. He even felt tired from concentrating his spiritual power before he finally untied the silk threads wrapped around the ball of light, revealing the crystal ball-like core inside.

The skylark trapped inside fluttered its wings and screamed at Klein impatiently.

Klein's expression, which had just brightened up, dimmed again: "No, no, I know what you're thinking... But I'm sorry, we're all going to be disappointed. I don't think she's here."

The skylark's feathers fluffed up, but it made no sound and just huddled at the bottom of the ball in frustration.

Klein paused for a few seconds and gently tapped the shell that covered the skylark: "I haven't asked you yet, why are you here?"

As the skylark chirped, Klein's brows gradually furrowed. When the skylark returned to silence, his face was expressionless, and he sighed slowly:

"No, I'm pretty sure this wasn't an accident... In fact, you did it on purpose, right?"

The skylark suddenly widened its eyes, puffed up its feathers in even greater panic, and shrank back nervously.

Seeing this reaction, Klein smiled helplessly: "I don't mean to blame you. You don't have to be so scared. I'm not "Him."

When he said the last half of the sentence, Klein raised his head and looked at the door. He noticed that since some time ago, the door had opened a deep gap to the outside.

He strode forward without hesitation, with his palm pressed against the door. To Klein's surprise, he didn't even feel any rejection, but just a vague warmth flowing through him. There seemed to be a prying gaze coming from inside the door, but it was quickly retracted.

The door closed easily after Klein pushed it. Klein glanced at it silently again before turning towards the steps behind him and returning to the long bronze table with the ball of light.

This time, Klein sat steadily on the high-back chair of The Fool. After closing the door, an indescribable sense of calmness returned to his heart. Klein knew that he had a closer connection with the door in the gray fog. Regardless of whether this connection would bring good or bad results, it was at least the key to helping him get out of trouble.

Merlin Hermes, a god who calls himself "Klein" and "German"?

Klein lowered his eyes and placed Skylark in front of him:

"This time, you have nothing to hide. You are now Norns, and this is definitely not the result you want, because the long-term relationship between Norns and I has put you in an absolute disadvantage..."

The skylark looked around in fear for a moment. When it saw the slight smile on Klein's face, it seemed to be moved by Klein's gentle attitude. It folded its feathers that were puffed up in alert state and lay down listlessly.

Klein heard a familiar buzzing sound, but it was also full of emotion and lively, and it was different from what he remembered.

For the first time, Yun Que spoke directly to him in words that contained precise meaning: "If it's just going from one cage to another, it doesn't change anything for me. I don't understand why..."

Klein lowered his head with amusement, looking at the bird that was far more timid than its light form. "What don't you understand? Is it because you did this according to some revelation of fate, but didn't get the desired development?"

"Yes."

As Klein's fingers slid downward, the glass ball gradually shattered and turned into a gray mist that flew to both sides. Skylark's expression immediately relaxed, and he shook his head in confusion, too surprised to speak. This was a kind of recognition. Just by this release, it meant that Klein had given Skylark more "authority" to manage this place - including the possibility of leaving this spiritual world. After helping him cross the barrier between reality and the spiritual world and enter here, Skylark felt that he could not fail to realize this.

Klein's expression also became relaxed, and the smile on his face became more sincere. He hesitated for a long time before making this decision: "I am just giving you some deserved rewards. Since she believes in fate, then I will also... believe in it for once."

Skylark was tidying up his feathers while muttering, "Okay, okay, I'll help you! I don't understand why you trust Esther so much."

Klein looked at Yun Que curiously: "After becoming Norns, you talk a lot more."

"It's not that I became Norns, it's that Norns returned to being a part of me," Skylark shook his head very seriously, "My emotions are outwardly expressed purely because birds have small brains and cannot process too much complex emotional information."

Klein poked Yun Que's head and hid the last bit of disappointment in his heart:

"Yeah, Norns has always been you..."

Just like Esther, it has always been just her.

As if seeing through Klein's inner thoughts, Skylark moved closer to his hand and pecked Klein's wrist vigorously.

"I'm here to divine her situation? But... no, I should do this."

Klein put aside his hesitation and just gave an answer. He thought he would have to face it eventually.

The topaz pendant dropped from his wrist. After silently reciting the question he wanted to answer, Klein opened his eyes again.

Skylark was standing on his wrist, with its downy head tilted up, also swaying clockwise with the crystal in circles.

Klein had vaguely guessed the result when Skylark indicated it, but seeing with his own eyes that the divination was effective still gave him great comfort.

If she were still alive, where would she be now?

-

"Dream City".

A black shadow passed by at low altitude, suddenly breaking away from the darkness and approaching the glowing barrier at the edge of the city.

Amon spread out his right hand, and a Time Worm was writhing in pain in his palm. Amon did not show much concern, but instead observed its changes with great curiosity.

The originally clear twelve segments were now emitting an increasingly intense laurel-colored glow. As the light changed, the insect's body continued to expand and contract, splitting into even smaller tentacles, and it was almost melting into a pool of liquid.

This strange-looking time worm squirmed in Amon's palm, constantly approaching the light curtain outside the town, but was restricted by its own strange changes and could not move much on its own.

Amon pressed the Time Worm with his thumb and squeezed it hard to help it regain a clearer appearance. "I thought you would merge with that skylark, but I didn't expect you to rely on the Beyonder characteristics. Does this count as trusting me?"

After a pause, Amon moved the trembling Time Worm to his left hand and tapped his monocle: "No, you just want to use 'parasitism' to prevent Him from catching you..."

Amon searched the memories of another "world" and realized for the first time how special the messages transmitted, including the uniqueness that was retained, were - whether true or false, this was the key to "Him" changing the future.

However, the appearance of "Merlin Hermes" seemed to surprise even Esther.

"Is He really the 'Tianzun'?"

Although he was looking at the little bug on his left hand, Amon's question was more like talking to himself. He once again spread out his right hand, revealing a simple key.

He casually threw the thing away and threw it towards the light curtain. When the key hit the outer edge of the town that was constantly circulating, it instantly shattered into silver spots of light.

These points of light trembled slightly, creating a violent wave in the barrier surrounding the entire town. Waves of silver ripples spread out, and a silver rain fell in the stagnant pond that had been silent for a thousand years, shattering all the illusions of life and death.

When the light curtain began to rise and dissipate, Amon stepped into it. Time once again poured into the silent dead puddle, quickly imposing the remaining traces on the newly awakened land, such as disappearance and death. The belated fate returned to its original place, which was no different from the changes Amon had seen in the past thousand years.

The ending was already determined, it was just forgotten for a short time and now it is remembered again.

After this key, "Dream City", like most cities in the East Continent, disappeared under the dark sky.

Amon walked towards the only building in the town that had not collapsed or weathered. In the turbulence of silver light, only the bell tower of the monastery in the middle stood alone.