Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Chapter 223 White Hair and Red Eyes Are the Best

Do you crave power?

The silver-haired girl looked up at the man holding her heart, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, a trace of fear and worry still lingering in her eyes. But as if encouraged by his words, the girl trembled and reached out her hand, tentatively reaching for Yu Jin's palm, but hesitated to place it down.

Until Ember took the girl's fair hand and placed the blood-red heart in her palm.

Olya looked nervously at the heart in her palm, which was larger than her hand, about the size of an adult's fist, bright red, and slightly expanding and contracting. She was so nervous that she didn't know what to do and could only look to her aunt for help.

Aleka was clearly more helpless; she had never experienced anything like this before and didn't know how to help Olnia.

Lilith puffed out her cheeks, her tone tinged with a hint of sourness:

"Even so, is it really necessary to give her blood essence? The Embrace would have sufficed, and besides, she's just an ordinary person; she can't absorb the blood essence of a vampire at all, she'd just die, wouldn't she?"

Humans have attempted to plunder the blood essence of vampires before, but their fate has always been the same—

Unable to withstand the immense energy of the blood essence, they explode and die. Occasionally, there are exceptions, but they mutate into terrifying monsters that resemble a pile of rotten flesh.

"...Will I die?"

Aleka became visibly more panicked, pleading, "My lord, Olnia is still young, she doesn't understand anything, she doesn't want power, she just wants to live..."

"Auntie, I want power."

The silver-haired girl pursed her lips and whispered, "I don't want to be bullied anymore..."

Aleka's eyes dimmed. Although Olnia was the daughter of several "Guardians," she had not inherited the bloodline of the vampires and therefore could not enjoy the privileges of being the children of "Guardians." Only young Master Carlos, who inherited the bloodline of the vampires, was qualified to enjoy the privileges of an heir. The children of the other maids were merely reserve servants with red eyes.

The men will become the blood servants of several adults, while girls like Olnia will only share the same fate as her aunt, or even more tragically—Aleka once overheard a conversation among several guardians, who seemed to believe that mating with a descendant like Olnia, who has red eyes, would offer a better chance of producing offspring with vampire blood…

Although Olnia is not yet of childbearing age due to her age and has not yet been harmed, that day will inevitably come. Although Olnia is still young and the guardians have not yet made a move against her, children like them are merely servants of young master Carlos in the castle and are often bullied by him.

Even though the three guardians have been killed, the rulers won't simply disappear; they'll just be replaced. These two could become the new rulers if they wanted to, but they seem to be merely passing through and won't stay long. And once they leave, the new rulers will most likely be Lady Aisha's family. Olnia's future fate might be to become one of Young Master Carlos's wives or concubines.

Aleka could foresee all of this, yet she was powerless to stop it, for they had no power to decide their own fate. They didn't even have the option to escape, because they had no idea what other human settlements existed outside; their most likely outcome was to die of exhaustion and hunger in the wild.

Even if they manage to escape to other human settlements, how much better could their situation be? At best, they would probably just become the wives and maids of some guardian.

In contrast, if one could gain power, perhaps everything would be different...

The confusion in Olnia's eyes lessened considerably, and her gaze gradually hardened—perhaps it would have been better if her body hadn't trembled so violently.

Looking at the silver-haired girl's resolute expression, Yu Jin patted her head and comforted her:

"Don't worry, I won't die. I know what I'm doing."

Lilith's gaze also became somewhat complicated, and she hesitated before saying:

"Do you really have a way to allow ordinary people to directly absorb the essence of vampire blood?"

Ember hesitated for two seconds, then said seriously:

"Theoretically feasible."

It is theoretically feasible, but it lacks a little bit of practical application.

So, isn't he here to put it into practice?

Lilith looked on with suspicion. She believed in Ember's strength, but she wasn't so confident in his "theory".

-

The weekly tarot reading is held on time.

A crimson light surged forth like water, engulfing everything and simultaneously carrying the Tarot Club members above the gray fog.

Just as Audrey was about to get up and greet Mr. Fool, she suddenly saw an unfamiliar figure standing next to the magician Fors!

Another new member? And a lady...

She discovered a problem with a mixture of confusion and anticipation: women were on the left and men on the right.

This must be an intentional division by Mr. Fool; I wonder if there's any symbolic meaning involved... Hmm, the left side is lady, the right side is man, and the one neither left nor right is the deity Mr. Fool, who cannot be defined by gender. Oh right, and Mr. World... Heh, does that mean he's neither male nor female, or even not human? Audrey, you're overthinking it. It's because Mr. World is a follower of Mr. Fool, right...?

Audrey stood up and gave a light bow, saying:

Good afternoon, Mr. Fool.

Faced with Miss Justice's cheerful greeting, Klein would usually respond with a slight smile and a gentle nod. But this time, he frowned slightly because he suddenly realized something—

The spot where the embers were was empty, because he couldn't find the embers' 'flame'; the other person had missed the tarot session yet again...

This has nothing to do with me!

Klein's eye twitched slightly. He was worried about what others might ask and didn't know how to explain, but he quickly noticed that Miss 'Justice' didn't linger and turned her gaze to the other side.

Good afternoon, Mr. Hanged Man.

This time, she did not follow the order of the tarot cards, but instead followed the order of joining the society.

After this round of greetings, Ms. Hermit got to know everyone and didn't need me, Mr. Fool, to introduce them again... Ms. Justice was obviously doing it on purpose, she really put her heart into it. Extraordinary individuals in the 'audience' field are different when they get serious... Klein was taken aback at first, then suddenly realized something.

Miss Justice and Ember are always inseparable. Since she's not in a hurry, it means she should know where Ember is, and she shouldn't need him, the Fool, to explain.

The Hermit, Cattleya, followed the introduction of Justice and swept her gaze over the members of the Tarot Club one by one, while the others were also quietly observing this new member, examining the details she displayed.

But soon, the 'Hermit's' gaze suddenly paused—

She also discovered the pattern that women are on the right and men are on the left.

Moreover, the positions are arranged according to the order in which they were joined, one after another.

Starting with Mr. Fool, all the women on the left are:

A girl who appears to be a member of the upper class of the Rune clan, who takes the initiative to greet her and introduce her to other people, is suspected to be a founding member and whose name is still unknown.

A short but imposing "judge";

A 'magician' with a lazy and languid demeanor who is easily overlooked;

Finally, there's her, the newly joined "hermit";

The person on the right is male.

The "Hanged Man," suspected to be a member of the Church of Storms;

The "Sun" appears to be a minor, dressed in unusual clothing suitable for combat;

The Moon, with her casual sitting posture, black hair, and red eyes, is dressed in the robes of a priestess of the Earth Mother Goddess.

There was also someone sitting at the very end, with a gloomy demeanor, wearing a hooded robe, a 'world' that didn't seem like a living place.

Their positions are clearly related to the order in which they joined the Tarot Club, but the problem is that there is an inexplicable gap between "The Hanged Man" and "The Sun," which seems to have been intentionally left empty.

Was there no one there to begin with, or did something happen to the owner of that spot?

Cattleya leans towards the second theory: the person who occupied that spot may already be deceased...

The Hermit, Cattleya, withdrew her gaze and met the eyes of the Justice, Audrey, who happened to be looking over.

Sensing the other person's question, she nodded slightly and said:

"The Hermit".

"justice."

Audrey smiled and replied, "Good afternoon, Hermit."

After Miss Justice finished introducing herself, she paused for two seconds before carefully choosing her words:

"I'm sorry, Mr. Fool and Mr. Lovers may not be able to attend the Tarot meeting for the next few weeks."

"They don't even participate in the 'Tarot Club,' an organization run by deities? What arrogance!"

Emlyn White, the "moon," paused for a moment, then mentally muttered a complaint.

The Hermit, Cattleya, showed a slight change in expression; this was completely different from her guess.

Such meetings should be able to be attended in advance, but that would require prior approval from Mr. Fool. However, judging from Ms. Justice's reaction, it seems that the 'lover' whom she has never met did not inform Mr. Fool beforehand; otherwise, there would be no need for Justice to relay the message.

However, their presence in this mysterious palace wasn't of their own volition; they were summoned by Mr. Fool. Does Mr. Lover possess some means to resist Mr. Fool's summons?

That's a genuine deity... No, perhaps that's precisely why! Only someone capable of resisting a divine summons has the right to refuse to attend a Tarot gathering without even a word! Just who exactly is this "lover"?

"I knew it..."

Klein sighed inwardly. You disappeared without a word, and it really upset me!

He was incredibly curious about where Ember was, but he was too embarrassed to ask. After all, he was the Fool; shouldn't the question of where Ember went be a trivial matter for him?

What Klein was even more curious about was why "Justice" hadn't explained this to him beforehand, but instead had to wait until the Tarot meeting?

Klein's eyes flickered, he tapped the table with his finger, and chuckled softly:

"Miss Justice, are you in some kind of trouble?"

"I knew I couldn't hide it from you."

Audrey nodded gently and explained:

"In fact, I am currently traveling with a demigod through the 'spectator' pathway. To avoid being detected by her, I may not be able to pray to you proactively for the time being."

"Demigod?"

The members of the Tarot Club all changed color slightly.

Although their "organization" has a genuine god, demigods are still an unattainable existence for them! And now, Miss "Justice" is actually traveling with a demigod? What's going on?

"Do you need any help?" Fors the Magician asked hesitantly.

No, not for now.

Audrey gently shook her head and explained:

"She and her 'lover' are old acquaintances; they once entered the world of painting at the Steam Church together. She shouldn't have any ill intentions towards me, and I won't be in danger."

Klein raised an eyebrow slightly. After all, that was a demigod. Since Miss Justice used the word "should," it meant that it was uncertain whether the other party had any malicious intent. How could Miss Justice, who was only at Sequence 7, guarantee that she was not in danger?

"Unless Miss Justice has a way to retaliate..."

Klein considered a possibility: the few "dogs" that Ember had rented to him possessed the strength of mid-sequence extraordinary beings, so how could he not have left some backup plans for Miss "Justice"? A bodyguard at least at the demigod level, how extravagant! ... Klein was somewhat envious.

The Hanged Man looked surprised and suspicious, because he had also guessed this possibility. After all, he had seen Ember summon Silver Knights before, and each of those Silver Knights was equivalent to a Sequence 5 Extraordinary. Ember himself had a record of hunting down many demigods, so it was not too strange for him to have demigod-level "summons".

"The Sun" Derrick couldn't help but ask:

"Miss 'Justice,' has Mr. 'Lover' returned to this Forsaken Land once again?"

Audrey hesitated for a moment, but seeing Derrick's expectant gaze, she answered softly:

"I'm sorry, I don't know where he is either. The demigod who was with me entered the world of painting a few days ago with Mr. 'Lover,' and then disappeared. But he seems to have anticipated this situation and will be back soon."

After a pause, Audrey continued:

"You might want to ask Mr. 'Fool' about this."

After all, when Ember disappeared last time, Mr. Fool was the only one who knew where he was, and could even observe Ember's location. Perhaps it will be the same this time? After all, Mr. Fool is omnipotent; surely he knows everything?

"Don't look for me, how would I know where he is?"

Klein's eye twitched. Ember would disappear at any moment, and it was really hard for him to resist!

Last time, he was able to divine his traces only because of the ring that Ember gave to "Justice," but who knows if it will work this time? Even a fool could tell that Ember's "disappearance" was definitely not just spatial, otherwise his "flame" would not have disappeared—Klein could already vaguely guess that the thousands of deep red stars above the gray fog were actually "projections" of everyone in the spirit world.

As long as someone is still in this world, they will inevitably leave a 'projection' in the spirit world, unless that person is not in this world at all... or rather, not in this current world!

Ember is a case in point; his "disappearance" involves not only "space" but also "time".

He might be in the Second Age now, or the Third Age, the Fourth Age, or even in the future... all of these are possible. Klein simply cannot make an accurate judgment, and divination is most likely to be ineffective because of the lack of a medium. He also doesn't know if divination using the sacrificial ring will still work...

and many more!

Klein suddenly paused, as if he had remembered something.

(End of this chapter)