From the Ship of Fools to Earl of Wugang

The next morning, when the restraints were removed, Edmund had a faint red mark on his wrist.

He moved his joints while observing the long bunch of brass keys hanging from the nuns' waists, used for unlocking locks.

After breakfast, Edmund continued his helpful strategy from the previous day, but this time he started to dawdle, observing the doors in the restaurant that led to other areas.

As he observed, the restaurant was located midway between the ship's sections, with a passageway at the front and aft. The forward passageway led to the patient wards and public areas, while the aft passageway was locked by an iron gate.

When Edmund arrived at the recycling area, he glimpsed a nun using a key to open the iron gate and carrying something inside.

He smelled disinfectant and herbs.

"Number 17, just give me the bowl."

The young nun's voice pulled him back to reality. Edmund handed her the bowl and asked casually.

"Sister, what are those rooms in the back for? I saw a lot of doors there when I delivered the sheets yesterday."

The nun gave him a wary look: "That's the nuns' work and rest area; patients aren't allowed in."

"Oh, I was just curious," Edmund said with a harmless smile. "This ship is huge."

He noted down several key points: the area behind the iron gate included a medicine room, a storage room, and a resting area for the nuns.

The laundry room is at the far end of the patient ward area, while sewage and garbage are disposed of through a dedicated passageway on the deck. At a fixed time each day, nuns push buckets out through a small door at the stern.

He already had some ideas in mind.

The afternoon sun streamed into the corridor through the portholes, and Edmund stood by the window gazing at the sea, while also observing the nuns' shift schedule.

Just then, he saw Farian Madeleine.

The old man sat in the corner of the library by the window, holding a small notebook with a leather cover and a pencil, and was writing something intently.

Edmund squinted.

This is absolutely not normal—he confirmed it on the first day he boarded the ship. Patients are not allowed to have any personal belongings, and even their clothes are the uniform gray hospital gowns that are issued to them.

So where did this pen and notebook come from?

He waited a moment until the nun on patrol turned the corner before quickly entering the library.

"Mr. Madeleine."

The old man looked up abruptly, but the pencil continued scratching across the pages. In a fleeting glance, Edmund saw a rather intricate circular drawing on the page.

Some kind of array design? But not wanting to upset the other person, he could only pretend not to care and shift his gaze to the other person's face.

Edmund sat down opposite him and lowered his voice: "I can tell you're no ordinary madman."

The pencil stopped, and Farian stared at Edmund: "I can also tell you're not Lane Hall."

"Oh? That's a very serious accusation." Edmund leaned forward. "May I ask your reasons?"

Farian shook his head, closed the notebook, and carefully tucked the pencil into a pocket inside his hospital gown.

"Don't worry, Aunt Maria won't notice, and I didn't mean to remind her." The old man stood up, shrugged, and patted the place where he had hidden the notebook and pen.

"Enjoy the peace you still have, young man. Time is running out."

"etc--"

But Farian had already turned and walked out of the library.

Edmund stared at his retreating figure, a surge of irritation rising within him.

This old man was even harder to get information out of than Jacob; at least Jacob showed some mercy and offered an explanation before killing him.

He sighed, his gaze falling on the spot where the old man had just sat, but unfortunately, nothing remained there.

Over the next few days, the atmosphere on the ship became noticeably tense.

The nuns increased their patrols from once every two hours to once every hour, and even shortened them to forty-five minutes at night.

Mother Maria personally led the team, carrying the brass incense burner as she patrolled the cabin, the smoke billowing from it thicker than before.

Edmund tried to continue helping, but was explicitly refused by the tall, stout nun.

"Go back to your cabin, or go to the library." Her tone was as firm as the cabin wall. "During this special period, patients must stay in designated areas."

Edmund thus spent most of his time in the library.

The books here are as unremarkable as the food; apart from religious pamphlets, there are only a few faded collections of fables to pass the time.

Edmund closed the book and looked out the porthole.

The period of the stars returning to their places was drawing to a close—this was the information he pieced together from the nuns' fragmented conversations.

It's unclear exactly when it will end, but the tense atmosphere says it all.

What concerned him even more was Farian Madeleine's condition; the old man's health seemed to be deteriorating rapidly.

Edmund could spot the problem with the naked eye, but the Golden Touch gave him even more information.

[Influenced by the "Song of Pearl," alien souls are gradually awakening.]

The power of the "silencing" ritual provided suppression, but this undoubtedly placed excessive pressure on him as the vessel, and his lifespan is expected to be significantly shortened.

Farian's face grew paler and paler, his eyes sunken, and his fingers trembled uncontrollably from time to time.

On several occasions, Edmund saw him sitting alone in a corner, his lips moving silently, as if he were talking to something unseen.

The most obvious sign was his abnormal body temperature; although the library was cool, the back of Farian's hospital gown was already soaked with sweat.

Something was stirring inside him, Edmund thought, and it was about to burst out of his control.

Although he didn't want to see any tragedy, Farian didn't show up for dinner.

As dusk gradually swallowed the sea, the last ray of sunlight danced on the crest of a wave before sinking into darkness, and night fell once more.

Edmund was bound to the bed, waiting to fall asleep tonight.

-----------------

That night, Edmund had a dream.

In his dream, he stood on a gray seashore. Under the leaden sky, the sea shimmered with a sickly, bright blue-green, reminding him of the stagnant, corrupt waters described by Wen Yiduo.

The waves crashed against the black rocks, the sound hollow and distant.

The most bizarre thing is in the distance—where the sea meets the sky, a city hangs upside down.

The city floated upside down in the air, its towers and spires extending downwards, as if its reflection in the water had been frozen into a solid entity.

The building features pointed arches and covered bridges, as well as twisted structures with non-Euclidean geometry.

The faint light emanating from the city only made the shadows appear even deeper.

Edmund stood on the beach, the fine white sand beneath his feet. Upon closer inspection, one could see countless tiny bone fragments.

He felt gazes directed at him from the upside-down city, and the feeling of being watched was like a thorn in his back.

Edmund tried to turn and leave, but his feet seemed to sink into quicksand and he couldn't move.

Looking down, he saw the gray seawater quietly washing over the beach, licking his ankles and bringing a touch colder than the deep sea.

Just then, the dream began to distort.

[Immediately experiencing mental invasion, distorted dreams, and hallucinations...]

Edmund was shocked to see the upside-down city in the distance shatter as if its reflection had been struck by a stone, with millions of shimmering afterimages falling from the sky.

His consciousness was suddenly pulled away at that moment—

[Initiating exemption for hallucinations... Exempted!]