Chapter 209

Chapter 209

A figure in white swiftly traversed the walltops, her robes fluttering like a fleeting ghost in the sunlight. Those who caught an accidental glimpse instinctively rubbed their eyes, wondering if the bright sky had played tricks on their vision.

Thud, thud, thud.

Having already experienced a life-or-death parkour through this mansion, Eve effortlessly found her destination. Her cloak billowed up and settled as she landed gracefully, then she lowered her hood and gave a slight nod toward the young man at the courtyard gate. "Han."

"So, the divine emissary deigns to grace us with her presence," Han said, arms crossed, scrutinizing the Sacred Mountain emissary who had snuck into his mother’s residence. "If it were you, a simple announcement would suffice. Why the stealthy approach? I almost mistook you for a thief."

Unlike the plain, durable robes from the previous world, Han in this world was now clad in finely embroidered silk. It seemed his life had taken a turn for the better after returning home in this timeline—less of a young traveling merchant and more of a young master.

Yet, his disdain for the Sacred Mountain remained utterly unchanged.

"Is your mother here?" Eve asked.

Han stepped aside, opening half the doorway, and replied curtly, "My mother has been expecting you for some time. Please, come in."

Had the lady of the house anticipated her arrival? She’s certainly not simple, Eve mused. She wanted to ask Han what had transpired since his return in this timeline and also inquire if anything unusual had occurred in their household recently.

Earlier, observing from outside, she had merely thought the red mansion looked more appealing. But upon entering, Eve realized the entire atmosphere of the house had transformed. The servants’ timid, vacant expressions had softened, becoming more relaxed and lively. Even Han seemed to have grown taller—he used to stoop slightly, but now he stood erect, striding through his home like a proud prince.

—Change doesn’t happen without reason. Eve wanted to uncover what extraordinary events had unfolded in this household.

Unfortunately, Han truly detested the Sacred Mountain, and by extension, harbored no goodwill toward its emissaries. He dismissed her subtle inquiries as mere background noise, storming off inside with his head down, clearly irritated.

This guy… Eve’s mouth twitched. She held back, again and again, resisting the urge to beat up someone else’s son in their own home.

The lady of the house seemed to have anticipated Eve’s arrival. Most of the courtyard servants had been dismissed, leaving only one personal attendant. Even Han had been dispatched to "welcome an old friend," though he couldn’t fathom how an emissary from the Sacred Mountain could be considered a friend.

Eve kept her hands tucked into her wide sleeves as she walked through the dappled shadows of the greenery. Her silver-white hair billowed in the breeze, while the standardized mask and emissary robes concealed all her personal traits. Han, walking ahead, repeatedly stole glances back, growing increasingly convinced that this "Emissary" felt strangely familiar.

"Hey..."

He couldn’t help but begin to speak, but a calm female voice interrupted his unfinished words.

"Long time no see, Emissary."

"Good day, madam."

Eve paused and looked up at the woman seated with her back to her inside the room. Her brown hair was styled into a bun. Without turning, the lady continued her needlework, speaking with familiarity, "Before you arrived, I already saw a bright star steadily approaching this place."

Was that how she knew I would come?

Eve asked, "How did you know that star was mine?"

"Because each person’s destiny corresponds to a predetermined star. Most people’s stars blend into the background, but fortunately, yours is unique enough to be remembered at a glance," the lady said, finally setting down her needlework. It was only then that Eve saw what was always kept concealed in the sewing box on the table—translucent threads as fine as spider silk, tied to silver needles as long as a palm. It sent an inexplicable chill down her spine. "...It is an incomplete star."

"You don’t seem too bothered by that, do you?" The lady turned, concealing her strikingly aged hands in her long sleeves. Her gaze seemed to penetrate all disguises, directly observing Eve’s true expression.

"Your words sound like some ancient form of divination, but I don’t put much stock in things like fate," Eve replied. After all, if "fate" were to be believed, she should have long since been under house arrest due to her conflicts with the original story’s heroine, unable to even participate in the Five-School League. Her standing here, safe and sound, indicated that something else was amiss. "Well, madam, I didn’t come here to discuss such sacred and distant matters. I only want to know where another, more concrete thing is now."

"What a straightforward child."

"It’s merely a matter of efficiency. Of course, I don’t mind spending a little more time with you. Compared to something as remote as stars, I’m far more curious about what happened to your hands."

This timeline seemed far more peaceful than the previous one, and Han was still alive and well. But since Fuqiu remained the sole gateway to the Sacred Mountain, it implied the lady’s hands had still been traded with the entity on the Sacred Mountain.

Zhou Huixue claimed the deity was dead, so who was this household in Fuqiu making trades with? Eve recalled that in the first door world, the frail, elderly lady had stated that the god on the Sacred Mountain still helped people fulfill their wishes. She didn’t believe someone as shrewd as Zhou Huixue would concoct such a clumsy, audacious lie.

"Your curiosity is as strong as your ambition, but knowing some things won’t benefit you."

It seemed she didn’t wish to delve deeper into the matter of her hands or the entity on the Sacred Mountain.

The lady coughed twice before gently saying, "My apologies, I haven't been feeling well lately and cannot be exposed to the wind. Would you mind if I had another child escort you?"

"I don't mind."

Obtaining the Ark’s whereabouts so smoothly from the lady was already beyond Eve’s expectations. She had anticipated that this visit to the red mansion would, like the last round, involve another life-or-death chase before she could painstakingly acquire the crucial clue.

Even if the lady couldn’t personally guide her, just drawing her a map to find it herself would have felt like an act of great kindness.

The lady then smiled and beckoned to the maid who had been standing silently in the corner, whispering something to her. The summoned maid wore a light yellow veil but was unexpectedly tall. Eve discreetly observed her, concluding: This maid likely possessed some martial skill.

In the previous door world, the lady hadn’t had this veiled, combat-trained maid by her side. This world had suddenly introduced such a character, so Eve couldn’t help but pay extra attention to her.

As if noticing the outsider’s scrutiny, the veiled maid shrank back slightly—there was even a hint of shyness in her movement, causing Eve’s brow to furrow instinctively. An inexplicable sense of unease and resistance arose.

It didn’t feel natural.

The lady’s instructions were brief. Soon, the maid nodded to her, then shyly bowed to Eve before stepping outside.

To be honest, Eve was very interested in the Ark’s whereabouts.

This was the legendary giant vessel said to preserve life’s hope during the apocalyptic flood. Setting aside how such a massive, durable ship could be built with the technology of this era, the Ark would certainly not be small in size. Fuqiu’s terrain was flat and open, and Eve was curious where they could possibly hide such a ship.

Unexpectedly, they didn’t have to go far at all. Right behind the red mansion was the old white chapel. The maid wordlessly led Eve up to the second floor, pushed open the wooden window lattice, and said honestly, "It’s right here."

Outside lay an endless grassland—nothing but grass, cattle, and horses.

"......" Eve looked outside, then at the evasive-eyed maid, and couldn’t help asking sincerely, "That’s it?"

Are you sure this is the right place?

"The Ark isn’t finished yet, so of course you can’t see it," the maid’s voice was also low, with a deliberately husky, strained quality. "It can only be completed in Fuqiu. You can try reaching out your hand."

One thing Eve and Zhou Huixue had guessed correctly: the Ark of Hope was indeed connected to Fuqiu—or rather, the Ark and Fuqiu were one and the same.

She leaned out the window, expecting to touch empty air, but instead her hand met something hard and rough. Eve didn’t pull back immediately at this unusual phenomenon but carefully traced the outline, confirming it was part of a ship’s hull before asking, "What is this?"

"Perhaps it’s a fundamental law," the maid replied. "Or perhaps some peculiar quality related to time and space."

This sudden relaxation in attitude made Eve’s eyelids twitch ominously. She swiftly retracted her hand, pressed against the wall, and scrutinized the veiled maid carefully—from "her" firm arms to the excessively tall stature and that poorly-concealing veil. A terrible suspicion surfaced in her mind.

This person had been acting abnormally shy from the start—could it really be someone she knew?

Eve took a couple steps back and asked slowly, "Are you... from the outside?"

"No way, you’re only recognizing me now? We even worked together for a round of the competition," the "maid" said upon being recognized, pulling off the veil to reveal an unfamiliar, delicate face, expressing surprise. "I wore a veil, and you couldn’t tell it was me? Lu Qing, your observation skills are seriously lacking."

"......"

It was hard to say whether mistaking her for Lu Qing counted as an error, but it didn’t stop Eve from feeling complicated upon hearing "worked together for a round of the competition," recognizing this pervert disguised as a maid: "People from different factions have their appearances randomly altered in this world, Tachibana Maki. And I’m not Chief Lu, I’m Eve."

"You’re not Lu Qing?!"

Were their builds really that similar? Tachibana Maki’s eyes turned strange. "If you’re not Lu Qing, why are you wearing a mask? Surely not to cause trouble outside and pin the blame on her."

"I didn’t get to choose what I look like, and all Sacred Mountain emissaries wear masks," Eve retorted. "Rather than questioning me, you should explain why your identity turned out to be a maid. The ghost ship only changes outward appearance, not physical characteristics or gender. Are you some kind of pervert?"

"Just hearing you mention this makes me speechless," Tachibana Maki said irritably, running a hand through her hair. "Speaking of which, when we came out of the last door, didn’t everyone get a hint? Did you get one?"

Eve hummed in agreement, skeptically adding, "Wasn’t that chosen by the ghost ship in the way most suitable for each individual? Surely it wouldn’t assign you an identity that deliberately contradicts your gender."

"You didn’t actually choose the door based on that, did you?"

"Not entirely," she replied, since the hint she received said it didn’t matter which path she took—it didn’t specify any concrete direction.

"I didn’t follow it completely either. Well, more accurately, I copied off someone else," Tachibana Maki admitted, somewhat awkwardly touching her nose. "That round, I happened to be grouped with Mu Huanzhu and Jessica... Their hints coincidentally aligned, and theirs seemed more auspicious than mine. Since we collaborated well last time, we agreed to enter the same door this round."

Isn't that entirely her own fault then?

Eve’s expression turned unreadable, feeling that Tachibana Maki could be quite inventive at times. Usually, it was fine to mess with friends or childhood companions, but she’d even gone so far as to do it to herself.

"Can you not look at me like that? I’ve already been laughed at by those two for ages. Yes, my identity is a bit awkward, but my spawn point was in Fuqiu, and I got firsthand intel about the ark. This spawn point is clearly much luckier than the previous doors."

Though she couldn’t see Eve’s expression behind the mask, Tachibana Maki was annoyed by her subtle body language. She walked over, placed both hands on Eve’s shoulders, and pushed her back toward the window. "Let’s get down to business. Although Mu Huanzhu, Jessica, and I landed in Fuqiu, we have restrictions—we can’t leave Fuqiu’s territory. Jessica tried to leave at night once, but as soon as she reached the border, she encountered a ghost wall, circling around until she unconsciously ended up back in front of the red house."

Eve raised an eyebrow. "Jessica can’t leave either? Isn’t her Spiritual State capable of establishing rules?"

"Of course, it’s because there are rules here too. Otherwise, why do you think I guessed so quickly what was attached to the ark?" Tachibana Maki said impatiently. "Mu Huanzhu thinks this is a restriction because we got a head start in the mission. We’ve waited so long, and finally, an actual living person like you shows up. You have to take responsibility for the three of us, you know? So hurry up and help us think of a solution."

"Staying in Fuqiu isn’t so bad, is it? It seems the lady of the house is in charge here, and she’s a good person," Eve remarked. "Outside, Sacred Mountain and Hell are almost at each other’s throats. Here, you can sunbathe and enjoy the breeze. They can’t keep you locked up forever. When the time comes, just take the ark out and speedrun the door's world. Don’t be ungrateful for your good fortune."

What a naturally blessed fate—just wonder which door was so lucky.

Tachibana Maki: "Pigeon Door."

Eve: "Sounds familiar... Anyway, just stay put and keep an eye on the ark. When the flood comes, board the ark and take it out."

Even if Fuqiu’s territory has rules superior to the Oath-type Spiritual State, they can’t surpass the rules attached to the ark. In the world of the ghost ship, the highest-level rules must lie with its predecessor—the ark.

Tachibana Maki: "You’re just leaving like that?"

Eve: "Do you need anything else?"

Tachibana Maki: "We can’t contact the outside world. Aren’t you a divine envoy from Sacred Mountain? Don’t you have any magic items that could help us communicate with the outside?"

Little items?

Eve instinctively reached for the small stones in the pocket at her waist. Sacred Mountain didn’t provide any, but the succubus from next-door Hell gave her two.

Seeing her hesitate, Tachibana Maki tsked, her face full of pity. "You’re under the command of the strongest deity in this worldline, and you can’t even produce a little item? You’re not doing too well on Sacred Mountain."

"...It’s clearly because Sacred Mountain is stingy, alright? You talk too much," Eve retorted, pushing her aside before heading toward the staircase. "Alright, I believe in the intelligence of you three. Act according to the situation when the time comes."

"You’re so cold," Tachibana Maki said, gathering her skirts as she rushed to the railing by the small door on the second floor of the church, shouting down, "Be careful, we might deliberately stall for time!"

"Then we’ll all drown! Anyway, I live on Sacred Mountain—it won’t be me who drowns first!"

She turned and waved at Tachibana Maki, her tone carrying a hint of seriousness. "Actually, besides the student council president from our school, the student council presidents from the other four schools are all in this worldline. If you can manage to trap and take them all out, that’d be quite the achievement!"

Tachibana Maki: "...!"

Amid everyone’s anticipation, the Divine Birth Festival celebration arrived as scheduled.