Mystery: Survival from the Secret Doll

Chapter 266, 265: Who is he?

Is the entire mountain covered in dead people?
Looking at the painting, filled with countless tiny black figures, Klein felt a slight chill run down his spine.

"According to this esoteric member's previous description, this painting depicts a scene he saw when he was advancing to Sequence 7, Magician, on the path of Diviner, right?"

If this painting is real, does that mean that the entire mountain is densely packed with dead people, with wandering souls?!

“Yes,” Pedigru nodded, “we believe this is knowledge that can be consciously or unconsciously instilled into the lower sequences of the entire divination pathway by those at higher positions.”

He pointed to himself. "This is somewhat similar to the situation of the Seeker Path. Klein, do you know that among the high-ranking members of the Seeker Path I belong to is a being called the Hidden Sage?"

"The one worshipped by the Morse Ascetic is said to be a living god?"

Klein thought for a moment and sifted through the jumbled notes he had taken down while doing his homework to find the existence corresponding to this name.

Pedigris said, "Yes, it is Him."

"For extraordinary individuals on the entire path of the Seekers, and indeed for extraordinary individuals on all paths and in all sequences, the higher the sequence, the easier it is to hear sounds that should not be heard and see sights that should not be seen."

At this point, Pedigru paused for a moment, then continued:

“The Hidden Sage was initially closer to a concept, a manifestation of the laws of nature. For example, the concept of ‘all things are numbers’ is quite common in the field of divination. It uses numbers as the source of information from the spiritual world. In the early theories of the Morse Ascetic, the Hidden Sage was the embodiment of numbers, a collection of the concept of knowledge, without its own ‘self’, just an abstract thing.”

"But at some point, the Hidden Sage, who had 'come alive,' developed his own will and thoughts. From that time on, the extraordinary ones on the Seeker Path, even those Seekers at Sequence 9, experienced a feeling of being pursued by knowledge. This feeling originated from the existence of the Hidden Sage."

The vast and complex knowledge came alive, and the hidden sages sent mystical "telegrams" at irregular intervals to extraordinary individuals along the entire path, mixing a small amount of useful knowledge into the vast majority of the garbage.

"In more professional terms, this situation is called 'knowledge pursuing people.' The church has also discussed the reasons for this situation. The two main reasons are that the hidden sages are of high enough status and the characteristics of the way the secret seekers go about their business."

"Among all the evil gods of today, the 'Hidden Sage,' the 'True Creator,' the 'Primordial Witch,' the 'Dark Side of the Universe,' and the 'Bound God' are almost all counterparts to the gods we worship..."

The Hidden Sage is essentially equivalent to the evil god corresponding to the Commoner path.

The existence of high sequences can influence extraordinary individuals with low sequences to a certain extent, whether consciously or unconsciously, and will have a certain effect.

Those who are better off, like Klein, only see or hear things they shouldn't see or hear during their advancement. Extraordinary individuals like Pedigris, who peek into the paths of secret beings, may hear inappropriate murmurs even in their daily lives.

Of course, it wasn't just the "peepers" who suffered; the "listeners" next door were in a similar predicament...

Klein had heard about this from old Neil before, and had also heard things he shouldn't have during his promotion process, but he didn't feel any serious consequences when he became a diviner. Pedigris just smiled at this.
“You are in Tingen, where that person is under your protection. To a large extent, even if the Hidden Sage’s targeted indoctrination is directed at you, it will only be a bit noisy for the people living in Tingen who are interested in secrets.”

That person is strong enough to prevent many external, high-ranking individuals from influencing the entire process through special means and channels.

"So, you believe that the mad magician received knowledge imparted by a high-ranking figure through the diviner's path?"

Klein looked at the painting in his hand again.

"Yes, that's not all. Combining information from within the church and Miskatonic, this painting should represent the Hornach Mountains in the real world."

"Unfortunately, over the past thousand years, many people have tried to explore the secrets of the Hornachis Mountains, but many who went there never returned. Even when the archbishop of the church and the legendary investigators from Miskatonic joined forces to investigate, they all returned empty-handed, without any useful information."

Those who disappeared in the Hornach Mountains did not not want to return, but were unable to return.

“It was recorded in that Antigonus family notebook.” Klein suddenly thought of this. “Above the Hornach Mountains is an ancient kingdom, the ‘Land of Night,’ where the ‘Land of the Living’ and the ‘City of the Dead’ coexist. People from the ‘Land of the Living’ do not go directly to the underworld after they die, but return to the City of the Dead to continue their lives, living together with their relatives and friends from the ‘Land of the Saints.’”

Pedigris nodded. "But there are very few records about the 'Land of Night.' All we know is that the kingdom once worshipped a being called the 'Mother of the Sky.'"

Mother of Heaven...

"In this era, sometimes knowledge is power," Klein sighed inwardly.

"So, those little black figures in this painting are all puppets?"

Based on the high-ranking individual in the Diviner's Path and the Diviner's Sequence 5, Klein makes a reasonable deduction.

“I’m afraid so.” Pedigre turned the direction of the drawing in Klein’s hand. “It’s just strange that neither the Church nor the Miskatonic investigators have found a single Mystic on the Hornachs Mountains.”

It's as if those little black figures were truly just spirits of the dead who died on the mountain, unwilling to simply vanish. They shrank back on their own after encountering investigators they couldn't eliminate, and didn't act rashly.

Pedigre stood by the window of the ward, watching the red moon gradually rise in the distance, without disturbing Klein as he continued to look down at the notes.

Klein turned the page of the diary and continued reading.

"This is a scene from my dream, which I drew using ritual magic... I'm a little curious, what are these little black figures, and what do the endless mountain ranges and the palaces atop them represent?"

"This is clearly something symbolic, but my divination results can't give me a precise answer... it's too vague."

“I took this painting to my guide again. He seemed very surprised that I would dream of this scene. It seems that he thinks this kind of thing should not happen during the process of advancing to Sequence 7.”

"And what caused this situation to occur?"

“This time, my guide did not refuse to answer my question. He told me that the scene I dreamed of was a sanctuary where a great being resided, the inevitable destination of all of us…”

"Our ultimate destiny? Why would he say that? It's a very strange statement..."

What followed were numerous handwritten notes, illustrations, and reflections on occultism. Klein jumped quickly, his eyes darting across page after page of notes, searching for the information he sought.

Soon, Klein found the notes of the mad members of the Secret Order in Tingen.

"..."

“My mentor gave me a mission: to go to Tingen and help our other members obtain something that seemed very important.”

"Mr. Nix Miller is truly powerful, enigmatic, and mysterious. I eagerly anticipate the day I become a Master of Puppets..."

"He gave me a task: to go to the library at the University of Tingen and take a look at its layout, of course, without attracting attention and without using any supernatural abilities."

"This is the city where Nicolas Flamel lives. Be careful with everything."

"..."

"Things are going very smoothly. The University of Tingen is open to residents of Tingen who are not students of the university, which gave me an opportunity. I have basically reconstructed the architectural structure of the University of Tingen library. What we are looking for is in the University of Tingen library?"

"..."

"The thing is gone?! Someone took it?! Who took it?! How could that be?!" "..."

"How strange. Why do I get this weird feeling about Mr. Nix Miller today? Is it just my imagination? He seems more agile than before. Is it because he has already digested the Master Puppet's potion?"

"..."

"How strange. When I walk down the street, it seems like people around me are watching me subtly. Is there something on my face? Yes, I am not a faceless person, but I don't think my disguise would make ordinary people feel anything."

"..."

"Where exactly did we go wrong?"

"..."

"How strange, how strange, how strange..."

"..."

“Mr. Nix Miller is getting stranger and stranger. Our codes match, his memory is fine, and he can’t be an imposter, but he gives me the feeling that he has become a colder, more emotionless… puppet.”

"When did this happen? Could it be that Mr. Nix Miller is showing signs of losing control?"

“I’ve decided to summon my guide’s messenger to ask this question. If Nix Miller shows signs of losing control, I think I must leave Tingen as soon as possible. After all, staying alive is the most important thing.”

"Nothing is more important than being alive."

"..."

"A messenger has arrived. My guide tells me this is normal and there's nothing to worry about?"

“I’m very uneasy. As a diviner, my spiritual intuition tells me that something is wrong, but where exactly is it?”

Attached: A reply letter without the writer's name.

Klein glanced at the reply; it only mentioned that Nix Miller's phenomenon was a common problem for Puppet Masters. He looked at Pedigru and asked:

"The Puppet Master himself is showing symptoms of Puppetization, which should be considered a symptom of losing control, right?"

Klein had never actually encountered an out-of-control Extraordinary, so he could only speculate.

"Yes, this situation is already a sign that it is potentially getting out of control."

"That's very strange. Why would the people of the secret order consider this a normal phenomenon?"

Klein frowned; this simply didn't make sense.

"Unless the leader of this mad cult member has a grudge against Nix Miller, who was hanged in front of me, and deliberately fails to warn me, preparing to sacrifice this mad member so that Nix Miller will remain in Tingen forever."

The reason was somewhat far-fetched, but it was the only reason Klein could think of.

"Or perhaps, that person from the secret society also has a problem?"

"Pedigre said."

It's not impossible, but they can't be sure which one it is.

Klein continued turning the page.

Now, only a few pages of his notebook remain. The crimson moon outside the window has somehow climbed to the distant rooftops, and the sky is filled with brilliant starlight, appearing peaceful and serene.

"I understand where the problem lies."

"A Puppet Master can only create three puppets..."

Klein stared intently at the answers in the notes.

"But...there are so many eyes...watching me..."

"The reflection in the mirror, the birds outside the window, the shadows under the bed, the blind spots in the room, everyone walking by on the street—they all seem to be watching me..."

"Hehe, I think I'm a little abnormal too... but what's wrong with me..."

Klein immediately recalled the delirious shouts of the cult member they had heard during their previous visit:

"It's him! It's him! It's all him!"

So many eyes are looking at me, are they all his?
Who is this "he" referring to?

Everyone is him, everyone... is him...

-

That night, Klein ascended above the gray fog. After confirming that the ritual magic could indeed be directed at him, who was bound to this mysterious space, Klein breathed a sigh of relief.

"This mysterious space above the gray fog certainly holds many secrets."

Sitting at the head of the long, weathered bronze table, Klein pondered the intelligence he had gathered while carefully observing the changes around him.

After discovering that nothing unexpected had happened to the seemingly unchanging gray fog, Klein sat in his high-backed chair and tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

"All eyes are on me, everyone is him..."

Combining this with what Leonard had said earlier—that the cult member who went mad wasn't out of control, but rather driven insane by fear—Klein had already formed a conclusion in his mind.

"The sorcerer, that sorcerer from the Secret Order who was dealt with by the University of Tingen, is using this opportunity to digest the sorcerer's potion?"

After all, how can a sorcerer not be a little cunning?

Hmm, that guess isn't wrong...

Whoever digests it, it's still digestion, isn't it?

(End of this chapter)