I loaded the Mysticism panel.

Chapter 246 Please come in

Huayue Street, outer street.

Richard and Vincent had been here together before.

Mrs. Mary lived at number seventeen, at the corner at the end of the street.

A faded wooden sign hangs at the entrance.

An eye was drawn on the wooden sign.

It reads: "Mrs. Mary, the medium."

Below the sign are several stone steps.

Richard recalled that last year, a black cat was lying on the stone steps.

The black cat's gaze sent a chill down my spine.

Today, however, the stone steps are empty.

Richard took two steps and then suddenly stopped.

He discovered that even the door to this No. 17 residence was different from the doors of the other houses on Flower Moon Street.

The copper plate on top is very shiny, like a mirror, and can even reflect the stone steps under your feet.

But Richard stood at the door, looking out through the copper coin.

He could see the entire street behind him, but he couldn't see his own shadow.

This……

Just as Richard was lost in thought, he saw words embedded in the middle of the copper coin.

"Please come in."

Please come in?

Richard glanced at the entire wooden door.

Whether it's the lock, the handle, or the gap in the door.

There was absolutely no indication that they could get in.

The entire door was perfectly sealed.

Is this some kind of attempt to force me to break down the door?

Richard activated his psychic vision and placed it there.

Unfortunately, I couldn't read anything.

It's the same situation as when I read Hecate's black box last time.

However, this is not particularly surprising.

He looked at the copper coin that couldn't reflect his image, and a thought struck him.

Perhaps, we can divine the future of this door.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, the silver ring on his chest began to feel cold.

"..."

Richard immediately dismissed the idea.

This won't work, but it's strange.

He remembered that it had been mentioned in Mrs. Mary's manuscript.

"You can't see the landscape, but you can see the hand you reach out with."

"If you can't find the answer by asking yourself, then keep asking yourself."

Richard had a flash of inspiration.

Yes.

Since we can't directly perform divination, let's try a roundabout method.

He didn't ask about the door; he asked about himself.

Richard took a step back to avoid the street.

He took out a copper dish, placed it on his lap, and sprinkled a small handful of stardust along the edge of the dish.

He had already decided what to ask the first question.

"In what capacity should I enter through this door?"

The subject is "I".

Richard grabbed a handful of talismans and scattered them into a copper dish.

The pebble rolled around in the dish a few times before settling down.

The one closest to the center of the disc is a double ring.

Relationship.

Next to the double circles is a crescent moon.

Change and growth.

So far, the meaning leans towards "identity" and "relationship".

The hammer, upon moving, rolled out of the bronze dish and landed on the stone steps.

Along with the hammer, a spiral rolled out, repeating itself.

Richard stared at the two pebbles outside the dish for a long time.

Finally, he slowly understood.

The operation has failed.

They rely on pushing, prying, or even using eccentric methods to achieve their goals.

It was a dead end from the start.

After repeated attempts, he was eliminated.

This means that even if you keep pondering its structure and testing its turning points in front of the door, you will only get deeper and deeper into it and be even more unable to get in.

What remains in the heart of the disc are relationships and identities.

The meaning is quite obvious.

Richard stood up and returned to the copper coin.

[Critical thinking] comes into play at this point.

The collective human consciousness behind the veil, and that phrase "mysterious fading away"...

The mysterious side exists as you define it.

The same principle applies to this door.

If you define it as a locked door, then it is locked up by its own definition.

She was the hostess and said, "Please come in."

Richard was the invited guest.

So he let go of all his competitive thoughts and reached out to place the handle where it should have been on the coin.

The copper coin softened with his thought and slowly transformed into a doorknob.

Richard pressed the doorknob, opened the door, and stepped inside.

Upon entering the room, he discovered that the entire room was filled with mirrors.

Dressing mirror, wall mirror, hand mirror, round mirror...

The numerous mirrors made the room appear layered and overlapping.

But the photo is nowhere to be seen.

Even though Richard stood in the very center, he couldn't see himself in any of the mirrors.

He noticed an upright piano against the wall.

The lid of the zither was closed, covered with a thin layer of dust.

Further inside the house, in front of a marble fireplace, stood two high-backed armchairs.

There was also a small coffee table covered with a lace tablecloth in the middle.

A woman was sitting in one of the armchairs.

She wasn't in the mirror either.

Richard looked at the woman.

The face has clear contours, with eyebrows, eyes, nose, and lips all clearly defined.

[Perception] improved his eyesight.

But for some reason, it was also a little hard to see clearly.

"Please sit down," the woman said.

Richard sat down in another armchair, took out a book from the leather case, and handed it over with both hands:

"Mrs. Mary, I've come to return the book and also to thank you in person. This book has been a great help to me."

Mrs. Mary reached out and took the book, then casually nudged a corner of the room.

In the corner of the room, a standing doll automatically stood up.

It has all wooden joints, and its face is made of white porcelain with no facial features.

The doll picked up the tray and began to brew tea.

The entire process was completely silent.

Richard looked at the tea that was being served and a thought suddenly came to his mind.

There wasn't a single living person in this house serving tea; instead, there were wooden puppets that didn't even have faces.

How lonely must someone be to leave their house like this?

"Have some tea."

Mrs. Mary picked up her teacup and took a sip.

Richard also picked up his teacup, and after taking a sip, he was quite surprised.

He was probably certain that this was the best tea he had ever tasted in his life.

If Phillips knew, he would definitely try every means to get some.

The two chatted while drinking tea.

Mrs. Mary asked Richard about his family, and Richard answered her questions one by one.

She listened quietly, nodding occasionally.

An elderly woman sat in her house, brewing tea and chatting with a younger relative who had come to visit.

The scene was extremely peaceful.

But Richard didn't want to keep talking about these things. He tried to change the subject, but in the end he could only manage to say, "Your room is so...so quiet."

Mrs. Mary: "Quiet is a good thing."

The longer I do this line of work, the more I realize that living alone is a good thing, because it's very peaceful.

Richard did not answer.

He thought of old Big.

This person said the exact same thing to Richard at the autopsy in Briston.

They truly are master and disciple; even their words are identical...

Mrs. Mary understood Richard's meaning and picked up the manuscript from the coffee table again: "Have you finished reading this book?"

Richard: "I've finished reading it, but I read the first three chapters relatively quickly, and then I slowly worked through the rest."

"This is what Mr. Bigelow instructed me to do," he added.

Mrs. Mary opened the manuscript.

The footer of one page had been smeared away by her own ink.

"You don't understand this chapter anymore, do you?" she said, holding it up.

Richard honestly admitted, "Yes. I can understand every single word in the rest of the text, and I can roughly understand the meaning when they're pieced together."

But this one chapter is different; even if I put it all together, I still don't know what it's trying to say.

That's because you haven't reached that level yet.

Mrs. Mary unfolded the manuscript: "Today, I will explain it to you clearly."

Richard sat up straight and listened attentively.

Mrs. Mary: "This chapter is about how to deal with something stronger than you, without being rewritten by it."

Last night, you must have encountered something far more powerful than yourself, am I right?

Faced with Mrs. Mary's sudden question, Richard paused for a moment, then said, "That's right."

However, at that moment I shut down all my outward inspiration, and it brushed past me.

Mrs. Mary nodded: "You did the right thing."

It will notice any light source; turning off your own light is the safest course of action.

"but……"

Mrs. Mary closed the book: "One day, you'll have to deal with what you're strong with, and you'll have to face each other and talk to each other."

You can't escape it, and you can't destroy it; you have no choice but to speak up.

This chapter teaches you how to speak at that crucial moment.

Her words captivated Richard.

"The mystical things exist as you define them."

If you call it a monster, it will treat you according to the rules of monsters.

If you call it a mystery, it will treat you according to the rules of a mystery.

Richard suddenly realized.

Professor Mortimer had explained the same principle when he taught him how to disassemble the ebony box.

Mrs. Mary: "Once you give it a name, it becomes connected to you, bound to you."

Because names are a two-way street.

Her indistinct face turned towards Richard:

"That's the key to this chapter."

To put it simply, when you're dealing with something stronger than yourself, you must take control of the "right to define" it.

Richard frowned slightly, pondering these words.

Today's introductory test follows a similar principle.

He defined "Please come in" as it appears on the page.

So the door got a handle and was opened.

"My student."

Mrs. Mary suddenly changed the subject, and Richard realized something, his heart leaping into his throat.

"The one that disappeared, you should have heard Bigelow mention it."

Richard nodded: "I've heard a little about it."

Mrs. Mary: "She wanted to do something."

She paused here, then said, "She wanted to prove that mystery can be designed."

Other practitioners are led by the nose by those things behind the veil.

But she refused; she wanted to define it herself and build her own 'temple'.

She learned a set of rituals from somewhere, which shifted the focus from "how to interact with something" to "how to create something."

Richard asked, "What are we using to make it?"

"people."

Mrs. Mary: "Using people as building blocks."

She bestowed a divine name upon a group of people who had climbed out of the system's framework and thought they had found a shortcut, and then piled them up one by one like bricks.

Once it was piled high enough, the temple was completed, and she had proven that mystery could be designed.

"I can't do that."

Mrs. Mary's tone changed slightly, yet it seemed unchanged:

"All I've learned in my life is how to survive under their control, how to understand them, and how not to be rewritten by them. I've never thought about creating one."

Of course, I wouldn't allow her to do this under my tutelage.

She paused here, her unreal face fixed on Richard:

"She sent out a lot of invitations. Once you got an invitation, if you accepted it, you'd have to start doing manual labor for her."

These people were unaware that from the moment they accepted the invitation, they became the material for this experiment in creating a god.

Richard's expression remained unchanged, but his heart was in turmoil.

Mrs. Mary looked away and did not continue the topic.

"The book says that microcirculation needs to be stable for a year before you can sign your name, you should know that, right?"

Richard nodded.

"One year is just a conservative margin."

Mrs. Mary flipped through the manuscript again: "It's for those who struggle and falter in their daily lives and lack self-confidence."

Giving them a specific time would put their minds at ease.

However, your microcirculation is very stable; Mr. Gerald should have tested you.

After your summer training, you can consider becoming a licensed professional with your name on the project.

Richard was somewhat tempted.

Although the book says it will take a year, Mr. Hutton also says it will take a year.

However, the person in front of me is a true expert.

Richard thought for a moment and said, "I want to go back and ask my grandfather and aunt for their opinions before I make a decision."

When it comes to signing one's name, one should be cautious and verify the information from multiple sources first.

Mrs. Mary nodded: "Indeed, in our line of work, only those who are careful can survive long."