Lord of Mysteries

Chapter 7 Code Name

"You may call me Fool."

The brief answer quickly vanished into the magnificent temple and the pervasive mist, but in Audrey and Alger's hearts, the voice lingered, stirring ripples upon ripples.

It was unexpected, but it felt like this was the perfect name to describe it, perfectly capturing the image of mystery, power, and eeriness!

After a few seconds of silence, Audrey stood up, lifted her skirt slightly, bent her knees, and bowed to Zhou Mingrui.

"Honorable Mr. Fool, please allow me to make this bold request: could you be a witness to our transaction?"

"It's a small matter," Zhou Mingrui replied quickly, his mind racing, in a manner befitting his status.

"It is our honor, Mr. Fool." Alger also stood up, placed his right hand on his chest, and bowed in greeting.

Zhou Mingrui pressed down lightly with his right hand and smiled as he spoke:

"You can continue."

Alger nodded, sat down again, and looked at Audrey, saying:

"If you can get the Ghost Shark Blood, have someone deliver it to the 'Warrior and the Sea' bar on Pelican Street in the White Rose District of Pritzker Harbour and tell the owner, Williams, that this is what 'The Captain' wants."

"After I confirm, will you give me your address so I can mail the potion recipe, or should I just tell you here?"

Audrey thought for a moment, then smiled and said:

"I chose a more secretive way, right here, although it will test my memory."

Since Mr. Fool agreed to witness the transaction, it means there will be another similar "gathering" in the future.

Thinking about all this, she suddenly turned her head, her eyes shining as she looked at Zhou Mingrui, and suggested with great interest:

"Mr. Fool, would you mind trying this a few more times?"

After listening calmly, Alger was also moved and quickly echoed:

"Mr. Fool, don't you find this kind of 'gathering' interesting? Although your power is beyond our imagination, there are always areas in the world that you don't understand or are not good at. The lady opposite you is obviously of noble birth, and I also have my own unique experience, knowledge, channels and resources. Perhaps she and I can help you do some trivial things that are inconvenient for you to do on your own at some point in the future."

In his view, since he had been pulled into this place without any warning or resistance, it meant that the initiative was in the hands of the mysterious Mr. Fool. He could not refuse or stop participating in the "gathering" just because he wanted to. Therefore, he might as well explore the benefits of this encounter more deeply and make up for his passivity and disadvantage with the gains.

The three parties around the long table have different backgrounds, resources, information channels, and knowledge of different mysterious areas. If they can exchange ideas and cooperate to a limited extent, it will produce wonderful effects that are immeasurable and immeasurable!

For example, the resource exchange we just agreed on, or if you want to kill someone, you can ask a "gathering member" who has no real connection to you, which will perfectly mislead things in another direction.

"A lady of noble birth... Was my performance, my accent, really that obvious?" Audrey's mouth gaped open for a moment, then she quickly recovered and nodded without hesitation:

"Mr. Fool, I think this is a very good suggestion. As long as the 'gathering' becomes regular, there are some things that you are not able to do in person, you can simply hand them over to us, of course, within our capabilities."

Since the beginning, Zhou Mingrui has been weighing the pros and cons. More "gatherings" can indeed allow him to gain more extraordinary secrets and occult knowledge, which will help him travel back in the future. For example, the "audience" of the potion recipe should appear at the next "gathering". Similarly, it can also help him obtain information for his current real life.

However, the more "gatherings" one attends, the easier it is to expose one's true nature!

Sure enough, no matter which world you're in, there's no such thing as something that only has benefits... Zhou Mingrui stretched out his right hand again and tapped the edge of the long table lightly with his fingers.

Considering that the gathering could be organized and disbanded at will, and that any problems that might arise would be within a manageable range, Zhou Mingrui quickly made a decision, as the advantages clearly outweighed the disadvantages.

He stopped tapping and smiled, meeting the four expectant yet apprehensive gazes:

"I am someone who likes equivalent exchange."

"I won't let you help me unconditionally."

"Every Monday at 3 PM, try to be alone. After I try a few more times and figure things out, maybe you'll be able to ask for leave in advance and won't have to worry about being in inappropriate situations."

This was considered an acceptance of Alger and Audrey's proposal.

Audrey, who had just turned seventeen and had always been pampered, was still very much a young girl. Upon hearing Mr. Fool's answer, she couldn't help but clench her fists and slap them lightly against her chest twice.

"Shouldn't we give ourselves a nickname too? After all, we can't communicate using our real names." Before Alger could speak, she said with bright eyes and great interest.

Although I may not be able to hide my true identity from Mr. Fool, the guy on the other side is also somewhat dangerous, so I can't let him know who I really am!

"Good idea," Zhou Mingrui replied briefly and easily.

Audrey immediately started thinking, and said as she pondered:

"You are Mr. Fool, from the Tarot. As a regular, long-term, and secretive 'gathering,' the titles should be as consistent as possible. Hmm, I'll choose from the Tarot as well."

Her tone gradually became more cheerful:

"It's decided! My title will be 'Justice'!"

This is one of the twenty-two Major Arcana cards in the Tarot deck.

"And what about you, sir?" Audrey asked with a smile, looking at her "companion" opposite her.

Alger frowned slightly, then relaxed and said:

"The Hanged Man".

This is another trump card.

"Okay, then we're considered founding members of the Tarot Club!" Audrey blurted out happily, then looked somewhat timidly at Zhou Mingrui, who was shrouded in grayish-white mist. "Is that alright, Mr. Fool?"

Zhou Mingrui shook his head with amusement:

"You can make your own decisions about this kind of trivial matter."

"Thank you!" Audrey was clearly excited.

Then she looked at Alger:

"Mr. Hanged Man, could you please repeat the address I just mentioned? I'm afraid my memory isn't strong enough."

"No problem." Alger was quite satisfied with Audrey's seriousness and repeated the address again.

After repeating it three times, Audrey said it again with great interest:

"I've heard that Tarot cards were just a game invented by Emperor Roselle, and don't actually have any divination function?"

"No, often, divination originates from within oneself. Everyone has a spirituality and can communicate with the spirit world and higher levels of relationships, sharing information about themselves. It's just that ordinary people can't perceive this, let alone interpret the 'hints' they receive. When they use divination tools, this information is presented through the tools. A simple example is dreams and dream interpretation." Alger glanced at Zhou Mingrui, and seeing that he didn't respond, he refuted Audrey's statement. "Tarot cards actually belong to this kind of tool. They use more symbols and more reasonable elements to help us interpret 'hints' more conveniently and accurately."

Zhou Mingrui seemed nonchalant, but he was actually listening very attentively. However, his mental blankness began to worsen, and his head started to throb with pain.

"I understand." Audrey nodded in agreement, then emphasized, "That's not what I meant. I'm not questioning the Tarot cards. I've heard that Emperor Roselle actually created a different deck, a secret deck symbolizing some unknown power, with twenty-two cards. After completing that, he used it as a reference to invent the twenty-two Major Arcana cards of the Tarot as a game tool. Is this statement accurate?"

She looked at Zhou Mingrui, as if trying to get an answer from the mysterious Mr. Fool.

Zhou Mingrui simply smiled without speaking, turning his gaze to the "Hanged Man," as if to test him.

Alger instinctively straightened his back and said in a deep voice:

"Yes, it is said that Emperor Roselle saw the Profaned Tablets, and that deck of cards contains the secrets of the twenty-two divine paths."

"Twenty-two divine paths..." Audrey repeated in a longing tone.

At this moment, Zhou Mingrui's headache worsened, and he felt that the invisible connection between him and the crimson star and the gray-white mist began to waver.

"Alright, let's call it a day." He made the decision immediately, speaking in a low voice.

"As you wish." Alger bowed.

"As you wish." Audrey mimicked the "Hanged Man."

She still had many questions and thoughts, and was completely reluctant to end it.

As Zhou Mingrui disconnected the call, he smiled and said:

Let's look forward to the next gathering!

The "star" shone brighter, but the deep red light receded like water. As soon as Audrey and Alger heard Mr. Fool's words, their figures became even more blurred and illusory.

In less than a second, the "projection" shattered, and silence returned above the gray fog.

Zhou Mingrui felt himself rapidly becoming heavier, his surroundings becoming ethereal, and his vision first darkened before being filled with brilliant sunlight.

He was still in the apartment room, standing right in the center.

"Like a dream... What exactly is that gray fog world... And who or what power created the changes just now..." Zhou Mingrui sighed softly, full of confusion, his legs feeling like they were filled with lead as he walked towards the desk.

He picked up the pocket watch that he had left outside to check how much time had passed.

"A one-to-one time flow rate," Zhou Mingrui roughly estimated.

He put down the pocket watch, his head throbbing with pain, and could no longer hold on. He sat down in a chair, lowered his head, and began massaging his temples with his left thumb and middle finger.

After a long while, he suddenly sighed and said in Chinese:

"It seems like we won't be able to go back anytime soon..."

Ignorance breeds fearlessness. After witnessing such amazing things and learning about extraordinary realms and mysterious worlds, Zhou Mingrui dared not recklessly attempt the "transfer ritual" in Ancient Fusak and Rune languages!

Who knows what other situations might arise, perhaps even more bizarre, more terrifying, or even worse than death!

"I should only attempt this after I have a deep understanding of the occult," Zhou Mingrui thought helplessly.

Fortunately, the so-called "gathering" was able to help me.

Another silence fell, and he muttered to himself, his voice filled with frustration, disappointment, pain, and melancholy:

"From this moment on, I am Klein."

……

Klein tried to shift his focus back to solutions and plans to dispel the negative emotions in his heart.

Next week we might get to hear the recipe for the "Audience" potion...

That "gathering" was truly amazing. People from different parts of the world brought them closer together, allowing them to communicate face-to-face and exchange information. Hmm, that sounds familiar...

Klein paused for a few seconds, then suddenly chuckled, pressing his temple as he muttered to himself with a self-deprecating tone:

"How about checking out online dating platforms?"

(End of this chapter)