A Manual for Surviving a Weird World

Chapter 361 Settling Down
Was the body in the hotel not Katya?
Mary paused for a moment, her gaze involuntarily falling on the blind female masseuse on the sofa.

"Is that even possible?" she asked, somewhat incredulous.

Plumeria nodded, turned to the side, and stared intently at the blind girl beside her, her eyes unblinking: "Yes."

"The masseuse was blind. She never saw 'Katyuya' in the hotel room. She only touched the corpse by the bathtub and heard Katyuya's voice, but there was never any evidence to prove that 'Katyuya's' voice came from the corpse's mouth."

Julius chuckled: "As expected of our Melia, she's really smart."

“If that’s the case…” Mary frowned and pondered for a moment, a scene appearing in her mind:
There were actually three people in the hotel room at the time: Katya, the blind female masseuse, and the unidentified female corpse lying by the bathtub.

While the blind masseuse was massaging the female corpse by the bathtub, Katyuya was nearby, urging the blind masseuse to start the massage quickly. After the massage began, she chatted with the blind masseuse, causing the blind masseuse to misjudge and mistakenly believe that the corpse she was massaging was her employer, Katyuya...

"But what about the motive?" Meilin was still puzzled. "If that's really the case, why would Katya do this? Why would she go to such lengths to fake her death?..."

Before she could finish speaking, Mary's eyes widened involuntarily, and a name surfaced in her mind:

【Fenwu】

Plumeria stood up, holding the pomegranate juice Julius poured for her in both hands, and asked softly, "Brother Julius, which hotel did Katya stay at?"

Julius's expression changed slightly: "You want to go over there?"

Plumeria nodded.

Julius took a sip of pomegranate juice and shook his head. “It’s too dangerous. My men have taken over the hotel, and all the other guests from that night have been questioned by the police. The investigation results should be out by today at the latest. You can wait here; I’ve had Tania prepare empty rooms for you.”

Plumeria shook her head firmly: "I have to go."

Julius narrowed his eyes slightly, sensing something unusual: "Do you have other clues?"

"Yes, but I can't tell you," Plumeria said seriously. "Just tell me the address, and I'll go there myself."

Finding out the cause of Katya's death was the first task given to her by her master, and Plumeria naturally had to do it herself. How could a devout believer entrust the mission of fulfilling the divine decree to someone else?

“Ha—” Julius sighed, “It seems our Melia has grown up.”

She was so innocent and adorable when she was little, but now she's starting to have her own little secrets.

“Vivian Port Old Town, 114 Apostle Road, Anju Home Hotel, there are two Kyushu-style stone lions at the entrance, you can find it at a glance when you are in the neighborhood.”

Julius didn't try to dissuade him further, but simply instructed, "I will notify the police and subordinates there to cooperate with your orders, but you should try to stay with Mary as much as possible and not be alone."

“Okay.” Plumeria silently repeated the address in her mind a few times: “Anju Jiayuan…it sounds like a name translated from Chinese characters. Is it a hotel run by people from Kyushu?”

Julius downed the pomegranate juice in his glass in one gulp and nodded, saying, "To be precise, it's a joint venture. The major shareholder of the hotel is the An family from Yongzhou, and the actual operation is run by two Chinese brothers surnamed 'An.' I'll give you their number, and you can meet them when you go there."

After writing down Julius's instructions, Plumeria and Melin left the mansion together and drove to the old town under the still-lingering night.

As the vehicle entered the main road, Mary turned on the high beams, looked ahead, and suddenly said, "Miss, are you really going to the Anju Jiayuan Hotel? If things are really as we speculated before... it should be very dangerous there now." If Julius's speculation was true, and Katya faked her death, then her motive for faking it was not hard to guess—to escape Fenwu's pursuit.

Plumeria leaned against the bedside, gazing up at the star-studded night sky, her mind quickly processing what had happened:
"Katyuya Gulveg is the avatar of the Gambler and controls the Mirror Worlds 7-11, which imprison the Gambler. Fenwu attacked her in order to release the Gambler and separate the summon from its master."

"Judging from the later results, it is clear that Fenwu succeeded. The gambler escaped from the sealed prison and wandered into the St. Gloria Opera House."

"Although the gambler escaped, Katya may not be dead. She may have escaped Fenwu's clutches in some way, faked her death, fled the hotel, and hidden herself in the shadows."

“Fenwu’s mind was previously focused on seizing Zhaoyou. He wanted to concentrate on the development of events in the opera house and seize the opportunity to trap the master. That’s why he didn’t have time to hunt down Kaqiuya. But now it’s different. Although the game in the opera house ended with the master winning and Fenwu losing, it also means something else.”

"Fenwu, you've freed up your hands."

If I were Fenwu, what would be the first thing I do after leaving the opera house?
"— Eradicate all traces of me in Vivian Harbor by any means necessary, because from Fenwu's perspective, he witnessed 'Ning Zhe' using some kind of ability to interfere with other people's memories at the gambling table, and the nature of the ability was extremely similar to 'Tai Chong'."

"No one understands Tai Chong better than the ascendants of Tai Chong. Therefore, Fenwu will definitely try every means and exhaust all methods to completely erase all traces of himself left in Vivian Harbor, and prevent the possibility of being traced back through his memories..."

Plumeria rested her chin on her hand, the starry sky shimmering in her dark eyes: "So that means..."

While he was searching for Katya, Fenwu was also looking for her!

"Let's see who's faster..."

The thought had just crossed her mind when a sudden loud bang interrupted all of Plumeria's thoughts. Then, a powerful inertia threw her body forward, only to be stopped by the deployed airbag, the seatbelt digging deep into her chest.

Plumeria's mind went blank for a few seconds before she came to her senses.

"Was there a car accident?"

At this time?
"Miss, are you alright?" Mary's anxious voice came from the side. Soon, Plumeria felt a pair of hands reach to her waist and unbuckle the seatbelt with a click.

"I'm fine," Plumeria replied, pushing open the car door and climbing out.

She was indeed alright. The car accident wasn't serious, and the car was sturdy enough that the frame was still intact. Plumeria only had some minor bruises and abrasions.

Mary also stepped off the road. The high beams on the front of her car were still on. There was nothing in front of her on the main road except for a silver-white private car that was firmly against the rear of her car, causing a deep dent in the rear bumper.

They were just rear-ended.

"Mei Lin".

"clear."

The two exchanged a glance, and Mary immediately pulled a pistol from her bosom and held it in her hand, while at the same time, Plumeria took out two bronze mirrors from her pocket.

These are the initiation tools that Julius gave her before she left. Using these two bronze mirrors, numbered 12 and 13 respectively, she can lock onto the mirror world numbered 12-13. Once she senses something is wrong, she will hide inside with Melanie.

(End of this chapter)