When evil gods hold a meeting in my head

Richard felt he might have to go back to that palace again. That place with its herb room, walls of flesh and blood, and greedy creatures... wasn't as safe as it seemed.

He remembered that Juliet had made it clear that the danger in the palace would increase exponentially when Luke was angry!

I just came out of there not long ago, and I even brought out eight pieces of calming tree bark... Now I have to go back in?

He sighed deeply, and finally, considering the safety of his "colleague," solemnly said, "Actually, I have been to that palace."

Edmund stared at him, his eyes filled with doubt.

Naansanho raised an eyebrow, his expression shifting from surprise to scrutiny: "What did you say?"

Richard repeated, "I said, I've been to Luke's palace."

He reached into his pocket, pulled out the bag of calming bark, placed it on the table, opened the bag to reveal eight pieces of grayish-brown bark, each shimmering with a faint white light.

"I bought this inside."

Naansanho picked up a piece of bark and examined it against the light. She paused for a few seconds, then put the bark back.

"When?"

“Last night,” Richard said, “or the night before last? I’m not sure how to calculate the flow of time precisely. Anyway… Luke went into a frenzy, opened the entrance, and pulled me into the abyss, along with… a lady named Juliet, who lived downstairs from me.”

Edmund frowned. "She's also Rosalie's tenant? How did you get out here!"

Richard recalled the events and briefly recounted what had happened... such as Juliet's gold coin, the glass cabinet in the herb room, the fight with the herbalist, and finally exchanging a gold coin for eight pieces of bark to escape through the exit.

He spoke succinctly, without mentioning Trina or the hallucinations.

After listening, Naansanho shook his head:

"You're really lucky. Actually, someone as naive as you who enters the abyss unprepared has a very low chance of not getting out. The exit of the abyss isn't just lying there for you to find."

"It requires a trigger condition, and if you don't know what the condition is, you can only be trapped inside and wait to die. Some people go in and wander around for days and nights, starving to death, dying of thirst, or being bitten to death by abyssal creatures, without finding an exit."

"The fact that you managed to get out shows you have some brains, and it also shows you're a bit lucky, because you ran into a herbalist, who's considered a relatively low-aggression abyssal native..."

So, even if I encountered a creature slightly more evil than the herbalist, I would have died there long ago? Richard scratched his cheek in bewilderment.

Logically, he somewhat agreed with the other person's words... After all, the herbalist was indeed like a salesperson; he didn't have much fighting ability, nor any particularly extraordinary skills. Besides, he loved being beaten!

At this point, Naansanho added, "Now that you've been to that palace and know what it's like inside, things will be much easier!"

Richard understood her meaning: "You want me to..."

Naansanho said, "That's right, but... all you have to do is lead the way... Edmund will handle the trouble. You two go in together, find Nolan, bring her out, and that'll complete your mission."

After she finished speaking, seeing that Richard didn't respond, she added, "I know what you're thinking. Why should you jump into this abyss right after starting the job?"

Richard was indeed thinking about this.

Naansanho comforted him, "I won't force you, but your experience will save us some effort and time. Besides, my approach to newcomers has always been to guide them slowly. At least you need some mental preparation. It's my fault for rushing you into this now..."

Richard guessed, "Those painting delivery missions are actually just sending paintings into the abyss?"

Naansanho paused for a moment, then said, "That's right. Those paintings aren't ordinary graffiti; they're extraordinary items that can stabilize the entrance to the abyss and collect emotional energy. They've been infused with properties that can 'resist time.' Placing them in a certain location within the abyss can slow down the collapse of the entrance and also allow us to draw some energy from it."

Richard recalled the paintings he had seen in that palace: the train map of Naan Sancho, portraits, and some other works whose names he couldn't recall.

Could it be that some of them were not created by Luke, but were sent in by Naan Sanho and the others?

"How can we know where to send the painting?"

Naansanho said, "The Record House! It's a house that can store energy memories. Since you've been to the Abyss, you must already know a lot of information about it. Let me go back to the paintings for now. When delivering paintings, you might encounter Abyssal creatures. They are born with 'codes' that destroy foreign objects, so someone needs to guard the painting each time it's delivered until it's completely 'rooted' before leaving."

She walked to the worktable, took two rolls of sketch paper from the drawer, and placed them on the table.

"This is what you need to enter the abyss."

Richard picked up a roll, smoothed it out, and examined it. The paper was blank, but the edges were pressed with dark gold patterns, and it felt smoother than ordinary sketch paper.

"This scroll is a compass," Naansanho said. "After you enter the abyss, unfold it on the ground, and it will draw a dotted line pointing to the nearest exit. No matter where you get lost, as long as you have this scroll, you can find your way back."

She pointed to another scroll. That scroll was covered with densely packed runes... intersecting lines, and a few incomprehensible symbols.

"This is a tracking card. If you carry it with you, people outside can know where you are. If the card burns, it means you're completely trapped and can't get out on your own."

Richard carefully put away both rolls of paper.

Everything is ready. It seems we have no choice but to go to the Abyss!

"Is there anything else to prepare?"

Naansanho thought for a moment: "Gold coins. You used them to trade with the herbalist last time, and you might still need them this time. The creatures in each area of ​​the Abyss have different preferences, and their level of danger also varies. Since you know that the creatures in the palace like gold coins... then bring as many as you can."

Richard said awkwardly, "I don't have any gold coins."

Naansanho looked at Edmund.

Edmund pulled a small cloth bag from his pocket and tossed it to Richard.

The bag is small, but it feels heavy in your hand, and a slight shake will produce a crisp clinking sound from inside.

"Thirty," Edmund said.

That's incredibly generous!

Richard wiped the sweat from his palms.

Naansanho looked at him and suddenly smiled: "Nervous?"

Richard thought for a moment and nodded honestly: "A little."

“That’s normal,” Naansanho said. “No one who goes into the abyss is not nervous. Edmund’s legs were shaking the first time he went in.”

Edmund's face darkened: "I wasn't shaking."

Naansanho ignored him and continued to Richard, "But if you can come out once, you can come out a second time. And this time you'll have someone with you, not alone."

She paused.

"Find Nolan and bring her back. Then, she'll help you prepare your puppeteer's recipe. This business trip will be counted towards your performance, and the settlement amount will likely be around 10 gold coins... This mainly depends on the gallery's revenue."