Mystery: Survival from the Secret Doll

Chapter 162 Chapter 161 The Lost

Snow falls from the sky and gradually melts as the temperature rises with the arrival of the New Year.

The corpses that died on the roadside in winter only revealed their true appearance in the places covered by snow after the snow dissipated. The bodies of these ordinary people who did not immediately turn into monsters due to cold and hunger were taken away by church members who had already prepared for this and sent for cremation, so as to avoid unpredictable changes after losing the shackles of ice and snow, which would cause unnecessary misunderstandings.

For most ordinary people, winter is a season of death, symbolizing the Grim Reaper's scythe. Every winter brings harsh trials, biting cold winds, diminishing work schedules, shrinking daily and weekly wages, shorter days, and longer nights. A single careless act can lead to the death of a family due to food shortages and a lack of adequate warmth.

“Food prices have dropped a lot.”

"Yes, if it were always like this, we would have hot soup and bread every day."

"Praise the goddess."

There are more and more pedestrians on the street, the snow on the road is melting, and green flowers and plants are growing from the snow water.

Compared to the previous winter, the population of Tingen City has not changed much.

During the winter, the Church of the Night released a large amount of grain from an unknown source into the Tingen market. Although the mayor of Tingen feared that this would affect grain prices throughout Tingen and the surrounding area, since the influence was being exerted by the church, one of the Orthodox churches in the Kingdom of Loen, he could only turn a blind eye.

Even the Loen royal family would have some reservations when facing the agents of the gods.

"Humph, if these grains were in my hands, I would never let those damn poor people buy enough grains at such a low price."

The mayor of Tingen City predicted that the price of grain would increase significantly this winter. Apart from the annual tax he collected and sent to Backlund, he would still be able to keep a considerable portion to purchase real estate, stockpile grain, and buy fine wine.

In previous years, the city government counted the number of people who died from hunger and cold in winter. This winter, 2% to 5% of the people in the entire city will die due to food shortages and lack of money.

As for what these people's deaths would bring, the administrators of Tingen City would not care, because these people's lives themselves could not bring anything.

Similarly, their ability to survive this winter did not help Tingen's management in any way. It could even be said that it allowed these people who should not have been alive to survive another winter.

"The stability of food prices will attract many people from surrounding cities to Tingen, but this price will also lead to a series of problems..."

If the church was not the force behind the sale of grain at low prices, the merchants and nobles, with their profit-driven nature, would have already monopolized the corresponding supply channels and then sold them at higher prices to seek more profits.

Not many of them would think about how many people at the bottom would die if they did this.

"Praise the goddess."

"The storm is above."

Ordinary people in Tingen City do not understand this kind of thing. They actually see cheap and sufficient food. This food gives them time to breathe, allows the elderly in their families to live longer, and allows their children to have enough food. This is enough.

The followers of the Goddess of Night and the Lord of Storms all expressed their sincere gratitude to the gods in their hearts, thanking them for the mercy from the Goddess/Lord of Storms. Ah, as for the Church of the God of Craftsmen...ah, the Church of the God of Craftsmen in Tingen City is only so small, and the missionary work of the Church of the God of Craftsmen in the entire Kingdom of Loen is also difficult.

After all, who would care about a craftsman who seems to be useless, has no intention, and has no other role besides being a carpenter or blacksmith in daily life?

At Miskatonic University, the Earth Path Marionettes who were researching plant hybridization and field cultivation techniques took time out of their busy schedules to eat the newly produced food.

"Honestly, if the higher-ups didn't forbid us from grafting milk-producing cows with wheat and allowing fruit trees to produce animal calves, I think the total food production per acre could double."

"Are you a follower of the Fallen Mother Goddess?"

The farmer, Ludao Miou, who was taking a rest while eating the improved fruit, almost spit out a mouthful of saliva.

He looked horrified. "You, you, where did you get this idea? Could it be that you've been contaminated?"

"Hehe, didn't someone do this in later generations? At least I didn't use mushrooms. I just wanted the fruit trees to give birth to new animals like a mother giving birth to her cubs."

The middle-aged man who said this spread his hands and said, "Look, this way the cows and sheep won't suffer from pregnancy. Isn't this a good thing?"

"...I always feel that your idea is more dangerous than letting cows grow from the ground like wheat." Another researcher rubbed his eyes, as if saying, "Your words have stained my eyes."

"Hahahaha, don't worry. At least I won't do anything like this until I apply for a spot to advance to Sequence 4... But if this happened to the Church of Mother Earth, it would be pure blasphemy." The middle-aged man smiled and patted the fruit in his hand, which was as big as a human head. "Praise be to Mother Earth. At least I'm not a clergyman of the Church of Mother Earth right now."

The dirty-eyed marionette curled its lips and said, "You should be thankful that even if you dare to do this, you won't be brought to justice... If it were in my time, I'd probably think it would be bad luck to chop off your head and kick it like a ball."

"Alright, alright, enough talking. Let's hurry up and finish the paper. I have to finish it this month, or I'll be scolded again next month..."

The secret puppet research team formed around the "0" level seal "Ancient Guardian" is intensively studying the impact of this "0" level seal of the cultivator's path on various plants, and compiling it into documents and papers.

Based on this, they will continue to delve deeper into the connections between seals and nature, nature and humans, and ordinary people and extraordinary people, trying to cultivate seeds of various plants that can have stable yields without relying on seals or the support of extraordinary power.

Inside the hospital, the puppets acted as doctors, nurses, patients, and family members, constantly accumulating experience in treating mental illnesses, illnesses affected by extraordinary powers, or common injuries and illnesses. They learned from this experience, mastered the corresponding knowledge, and used this to rapidly extrapolate to corresponding situations, summarize and generalize, rapidly improving their own professionalism and knowledge level.

In the teaching building, the same is true for students and students, students and professors, various grammar classes and various distinctive majors. Each of their secret puppets is both a student and a teacher. They are vivid and under the control of a series of illusory and transparent spiritual threads, they interpret the vivid picture of life.

Everyone is like a living person, and everyone is like a person with his or her own life trajectory.

Together they weave this dreamlike world.

"If we open this school, the ritual of the 'Attendant of Mysteries' can be completed within a month."

In the principal's office, Tang stood in front of the French window, holding a cup of water, and looked at the countless secret dolls below.

Some of these people were special. They didn't look very old, and seemed out of place in this place of secret dolls. They mingled among the secret doll crowd, and looked slightly different from those who mingled at the bottom of the society in the outside world.

Some of them are relatively calm teenagers of thirteen or fourteen years old, some are six or seven-year-old children who are just beginning to understand things, and some are three or four-year-old children who still have an irresistible curiosity about their surroundings.

Their destinies are linked to this university, intertwined with each other, and reflected in the mist of history, forming a faint but firm historical light.

"The secrets of Miskatonic University have spread throughout the area as these children's studies have temporarily ended and winter break has begun."

The War Bishop stood in front of the desk, holding a few documents, and spoke to Tang who was lazing by the window.

"Yeah." Tang nodded slightly and withdrew his gaze from looking down.

During the winter vacation, most of these children who did not belong to this university naturally stayed in this school. They had no relatives and had a rough and difficult life experience. They regarded this university as their residence and home.

A small number of people still have their own families, such as little Yalin, who has a drunkard father and a sick mother. Now the drunkard father has received the punishment he deserves, and the mother is gradually recovering with the help of the clergy of the Church of Night.

During the winter vacation, the girl, who seemed to have calmed down a lot, returned to her family and told her mother, who depended on her for everything, about what she had seen and heard. She talked about the paradise that was like the kingdom of gods, where there was food for every meal and no hard work was required.

The people nearby naturally heard these rumors and became messengers of information, driven by curiosity, greed, the ambition to find out what was going on, and the desire to be part of it themselves...

This was naturally guided by the audience. At this moment, the name of Miskatonic University was spreading in a small range in Baron Ramd's territory and continued to radiate outward.

"Once these children have completed their studies, they will leave here and return to the city to spread the word about this university, completing the preliminary preparations for becoming miracle workers... Ah, by the way, what have they learned? Has anyone noticed anything wrong?"

This university not only teaches scientific knowledge such as writing, mathematics, and philosophy, but also has corresponding areas on campus that specifically reflect some things related to mysticism.

For example, a disobedient student breaks into the abandoned observatory of the Department of Astronomy deep in the Academy of Natural Sciences in the middle of the night; or a student who loves studying inexplicably pulls out a mystical book called "Book of the Dead" in the library. These can all serve as triggers, allowing these children to see the truth of the world to some extent in advance.

"They have always done their duty," said the War Bishop.

"Yeah, they look like good kids."

Tang Bai was bored and took two cups from the system space. "Want a drink?"

He used a spell of yesterday's reappearance, and summoned a bottle of wine from the future called 'Olmire Wine' from the pores of history.

The bottle was opened, and the wine inside, which looked as conspicuous as blood, flowed out of the bottle.

Because it is an image from the gaps in history, even after drinking it, it will disappear when the time of historical projection ends. Even Tang, who is not good at drinking, can have a drink.

"The historical pore images summoned by ancient scholars are real within the maintenance time. Even food, after being eaten, can maintain its intended function until the maintenance time ends."

A cup floated silently in front of the War Bishop. He took the cup and placed the documents in his hand on the table.

"You seem to have something on your mind?"

"Not really." Tang held the cup, his eyes lowered. "I just realized once again that I'm no longer from this world. I just feel a little emotional."

He tried to use the spell of yesterday's reappearance to retrieve the snacks from his memory that belonged to his previous life.

But that was only his memory. There was an insurmountable gap between this world and his world. Even though he also mastered the history of the old era that only the old immigrants could know, what he took out from it was not what he remembered after all.

"Even the taste of happy water is a little off."

The era in his memory seemed so far away from him, so far away that he almost forgot what his previous life was like.

The War Bishop was silent for a moment. "You are just acting."

"Yes, I'm just acting. I can't forget myself. Once I forget my origins and my identity, I'll be on the verge of losing control."

Tang smiled and drank the blood-like Olmir wine in his hand.

The Diviner Path, from Sequence 6 to Sequence 1, requires one to do their utmost to follow the principle: 'I am me, everyone is me, and I do not represent everyone.'

Whether it is the split spirit worm, the secret doll, the faceless man, or the ancient scholar, everyone is him, but no one is him.

“I can’t get lost in playing someone else, I can’t get lost in my own suggestions, and I can’t get lost in any of the roles I play.”

"The extraordinary world is terrifying, Brooks."

The War Bishop looked at the young man and sighed slightly, "Yes, the extraordinary world is really terrifying."

"Ah, come to think of it, since it's all me..."

Tang suddenly put away his philosophical and respectful attitude and took out a monocle from his pocket. "Come to think of it, I haven't tested it yet. If I let the secret doll read the Book of the Dead, can it enter the world inside the book?"

"How about you give it a try?"

The War Bishop was just about to persuade Tang, who seemed to be in a bad state, when he was covered in the face by the Book of the Dead.

War Bishop: “……?”

(End of this chapter)