The eccentric doctor never makes a misdiagnosis!

This question left Heda speechless, as she carried very few personal belongings with her.

These include the power sword "Nirvana," two wooden-handled folding knives, two standard firearms, and several sets of spare magazines... For a hunter, the only essential item when going out is an abundance of martial virtue.

"what do you want?"

Asking this question would put her at a disadvantage in the conversation, but Haida didn't seem to have a better answer at the moment.

Give me the lantern you're holding.

"No."

Haida firmly rejected the other party's request.

Dr. Fran is not in good condition right now, and it would be dangerous to hand him over to someone else rashly. Besides, the purpose of this trip is to retrieve limbs, so how could we possibly exchange the most important part—his head—for it?

"Hey, you're so stingy. I'm only borrowing it for a little while, and I'll return it to you in perfect condition afterwards."

在海8妲考虑时，5弗兰的手7指从药6箱的缝隙中6伸出，敲了敲3她。4〔←4？2〔∝

Fran's intentions were easy to understand; he simply wanted her to agree to the deal.

"If it's just a loan... okay."

Now that Dr. Fran had expressed his opinion, Heda no longer had any concerns.

The fortune teller held the lantern close to the mirror, causing ripples to spread across its surface. A hand reached out, deftly took the lantern, and then withdrew it back into the mirror.

Haida took down her power sword "Nirvana," placed her hands on the hilt, stood in front of her, and began to wait.

-

Only when you are inside the mirror can you see the full view of the fortune-telling hut.

The furniture and floors here are all made of wood, and the tables and cabinets are decorated with a variety of small ornaments, including crystal balls, tarot cards, and dream catchers.

The fortune teller placed the lantern containing Fran's head on a small table, opened the lampshade, and then sat down to one side, meeting her gaze.

“My name is Dorothy. How should I address you, guest?”

"Fran Hessell is a doctor."

Out of basic courtesy, Fran responded with her own name.

Dorothy removed her hood, revealing long, silky black hair. She looked at Fran with a serious and earnest expression.

"I need you to answer two questions for me as payment for those two limbs."

"You'd better think carefully about your answer, otherwise... I might leave you here forever."

Compared to her smiling, business-like tone when facing Heda, Dorothy's attitude towards Fran was much colder.

Fran remained calm, completely unfazed by the other party's threat.

"While I have my doubts about your ability... you can ask first. I personally prefer to complete this deal in a non-violent manner."

Dorothy nodded slightly and asked her first question.

"Why are you traveling with Haida? She should have died in that natural disaster countless years ago..."

Fran became interested upon hearing the fortune teller's question.

"So, you lied to Heda. If you truly had forgotten everything, you shouldn't remember her face."

“Answer my question.” The fortune teller raised his lantern and moved it slightly closer to the quietly burning candle beside him. Q

“Okay, because she and I don’t belong here.” U

"We traveled to a future... which is now, through the ruins of the Ancient Banyan Tree of Time. And some minor problems arose during this process, which is why I ended up like this." N

After a moment's thought, Fran gave a half-truth, half-joking answer that the other person could generally accept. As a doctor, sometimes a bit of cunning and worldliness is needed in one's speech…

She can't exactly tell the truth that she's just here for a routine house call, can she?

"...The second question."

The Ancient Banyan Tree of Time is an ancient deity hidden for countless eons; information about Him is neither verifiable nor falsifiable by Dorothy.

"Since neither of you belongs here, why is the trajectory of her destiny no different from that of ordinary people, while yours is shrouded in mystery?"

Fran looked at Dorothy with some surprise, his amber eyes flickering slightly as he re-examined the fortune teller.

"Being able to substantially glimpse fate means you've already reached the level of a high priest in the field of divination... but even for the high priest of the lamp, this is a taboo, and I think you should understand that."

"This question violates my privacy, and I will not answer it. If the city hall hadn't collapsed, you would be receiving a court summons the next day..."

Dorothy's gaze sharpened slightly, somewhat surprised by the other party's firmness.

“You only answered one question for me, and the truth of that question cannot be verified. Based on the fundamental principle of equivalent exchange, I can only give you one of the two limbs.”

The young girl who claims to be a doctor is shrouded in too much mystery and strangeness. She possesses no relics, no implanted alchemical organs, and shows absolutely no trace of the unusual life force of an evil offspring…

Everything seemed normal, but that was precisely the most abnormal part.

How could she remain alive even in a state of near dismemberment? Perhaps she was an apostle of some deity, or a demon from the abyss... simply waiting for her release.

Dorothy needs to observe the situation for a while longer before making a final decision.

Before that, she planned to give half.

Fran couldn't possibly give up on retrieving the limbs, nor could she miss any. ...Although she was extremely patient, she didn't like wasting time on meaningless things.

“This means our negotiations have broken down, Miss Dorothy. I am aware of your thoughts and concerns... but I do not intend to accept your observation and testing.”

"Testing others is a bad habit."

Dorothy keenly sensed the change in the atmosphere around her. Just as she was about to back away, she suddenly realized that her legs had lost all feeling and were no longer under her control.

"when……"

Slippery, jet-black tentacles had silently crept up her ankles, spreading like a spider web and wrapping around every joint of her limbs.

"The biological toxins on [Reaching for the Moon] have already numbed most of your nerves; there's no need to try to break free."

Fran's voice rang in her ear lightly and crisply, almost like a breath of orchid.

"Actually, I don't necessarily have to use my own body. It wouldn't hurt to take off your head and replace it with mine... Although a non-original body has many problems, it can still be used as a substitute, you know?"

"You devil!"

Dorothy couldn't turn her neck, but she could smell the mint and myrrh in Franfat's hair, right up close.

How did she, with only one head remaining, get behind her? Perhaps she was supported by these black tentacles... Just imagining this scene sent a chill down Dorothy's spine.

"Are you ready? Don't worry, Jiu, it won't hurt... because I've already cut half of your neck open, so it really doesn't hurt, right?"

Dorothy tried to look down at her neck, but she had completely lost control of her body and couldn't even chant a prayer.

So sleepy… Is it blood loss, or some other symptom? No, am I going to die here like this? Die in my own home?

She felt her mind begin to wander, and a wave of drowsiness washed over her...

Ultimately, her vision was inevitably plunged into darkness.

"Phew, finally asleep. Miss fortune teller's mental fortitude still needs some work."

At this moment, Fran pursed his lips and struggled to hold the brass pocket watch chain in his mouth.

She had just fired a psychic beam, stealing information about the limbs from Dorothy's memories.

Although her previous theory about head transplantation was indeed feasible, Fran herself had a slight obsession with cleanliness and a natural aversion to anything that wasn't original.

"The second box in the storage room... has no prayers or secret codes set up; you can open it directly."

She came to a cabinet engraved with a ritual array, and used the tentacles of "Reaching for the Moon" to open the cabinet door and take away the legs placed inside.

"We're almost there."

Fran, lifted up by black tentacles and carrying the legs he had just acquired, was about to leave the mirror house when he realized that his current appearance was somewhat bizarre... and perhaps not convenient to be seen by others.

She looked at Dorothy, who was fast asleep on the table, and suddenly a thought struck her.

-

After waiting for a while, Haida saw ripples appearing on the mirror and immediately perked up.

The newcomer was dressed in a fortune teller's long gauze robe, the patterns on the hem of which were mottled and strange like moths, carrying a strange beauty.

Beneath her gauze robe were her bare feet, delicate and fair, with a silver bell tied around her ankle.

Although the wide sleeves almost completely concealed her figure, her slender and graceful silhouette could still be vaguely discerned.

Heda scrutinized the fortune teller, whose face was hidden in the shadow of his hood, and her brow furrowed involuntarily.

She wasn't carrying a lantern... Where was Dr. Fran?

Ling: "Are you going to break your promise, fortune teller?"

Before Qihaida could even grasp the hilt of her sword, the power sword "Nie" in her hand was already emitting a restless hum in the wind.

"Sister Haida, it's me, don't worry."

Jiufulan then removed the fortune teller's silk hood, revealing her face and a few strands of pale white hair.

"Dr. Fran, you found the torso... but how did you assemble it? And this outfit, how is the astrologer?"

Haida was puzzled. Fran should still be missing a limb, so why was she already able to move freely? And... why was she wearing a fortune teller's clothes?

Umbrella: "Have you ever watched a puppet show?"

Lufran chuckled, walked to Haida's side, took out her medicine box, and put her hands into the sleeves of her robe.

"A puppet can move without a body..."

She gathered one side of her skirt as if in a gesture of respect, revealing an empty space beneath her robes. Only a few wisps of black tentacles, seemingly reaching for the moon, served as supports, connecting her limbs and body.

Chapter Sixty-One: The Inner Ring Area [The Last Nun]

As the weakness from the nerve paralysis gradually subsided, Dorothy's eyelids twitched slightly, and she opened her eyes groggily and wearily.

"Um...is my head still there?"

She touched her neck with lingering fear, and after confirming that her head hadn't moved, she checked her body again, still feeling uneasy.

There were no wounds or stitches, so maybe nothing was missing? Probably...

"Was that doctor just trying to scare me? Or... was her method of manipulation too difficult to detect?"

Although there was nothing particularly strange about it, she still couldn't relax because he had lost consciousness in front of Fran.

Dorothy took several vials of potions and metal powder from the cabinet behind her, mixed them together, and dripped them into the mirror. The second type of arcane magic, [Reflection], then revealed the scene inside the room as it had been...

She finally breathed a sigh of relief after thoroughly reviewing what had happened after she fell into a coma.

"She said that when she cut my neck, she was just hypnotizing me while holding a pocket watch in her mouth?"

Dorothy's expression was somewhat complicated. She hesitated for a moment, and finally accepted the reality before her.

Those two limbs belonged to Fran, so even if she forcibly took them, it wouldn't be unreasonable. Besides, she didn't attack after he lost his ability to resist... Perhaps, she wasn't a bad person?

Of course, Dorothy also noticed her current condition...

"Compared to life, having some souvenirs taken away isn't a big deal, um, but..."

Dorothy squinted at her white undergarment, so thin that her skin was barely visible beneath it. She unconsciously bit her lip, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

“She went to the locker to take her own body parts… My spare robe is in the closet next to me, why did she have to take the one I was wearing?”

-

Fran, wrapped in the soothsayer's wide robe embroidered with moth patterns, walked slowly and lightly.

She had to walk slowly, partly because her body, without a torso, was top-heavy and unstable, making it difficult to maintain her balance.

Secondly, Dorothy wasn't wearing shoes, and Fran hadn't brought any spares... which meant she had to watch her step constantly to avoid stepping on thorns and gravel.

While being able to move freely made her feel much more comfortable, no longer needing Sister Heda to help her with even simple things like rubbing her eyes… troubles also arose. Now she couldn't comfortably stay inside the lantern as a mere accessory; she had to walk on her own…

“There are more and more heretics and wicked followers on the road.”

As they spoke, a withered black shadow leaped out from the dust and rubble.

It flared wildly, sprouting dozens of arms like branches, and lunged at the two of them.

Haida's eyes narrowed, and she immediately grabbed its neck.

She pulled a folding knife with a wooden handle from a storage bag under her trench coat and severed all the blood vessels and flesh connecting it to the neck. Then she slammed it heavily to the ground, breaking the neck bone.

After letting out several mournful "hoarse" cries, the head, now disconnected from its body, gradually fell silent.