Chapter 187: Deciphering: Noah Pipe’s Successful Transformation!

Chapter 187 Deciphered: Noah Pipe's Successful Transformation!

The ski trip to Mount Nathan Joa was so thrilling that no one wanted to go through it again anytime soon.

So after hitching a ride back to the ranger's cabin, the group stayed put for the rest of winter break, cozying up by the boiler, listening to the radio and binge-watching TV shows. Occasionally, they'd take a stroll through the woods, practicing their aim with homemade bows and arrows on small game.

Meanwhile, Rebecca kept tabs on the news from Mikan City.

Around New Year's, news broke of a severe natural gas leak in Mikan City. A ruptured pipeline met an open flame, triggering a chain of explosions that tragically killed several residents.

At first glance, this incident seemed routine, easy to scroll past on the news feed. But Rebecca, a fortune-teller who'd been rooted in Mikan City for years, had a vast network of contacts.

According to a friend of hers living in Mikan City, what happened before New Year's wasn't a gas leak at all—it was a massive monster that appeared in the city, biting and devouring people in its path.

"That day was absolutely terrifying. I was eating at a restaurant a few blocks away when I heard screams in the distance. Soon, a few people covered in blood came running from that direction, shouting about a monster eating people. Shortly after, gunfire and explosions echoed from there, and I got scared and went home. The next day, military personnel came to the community, brainwashing everyone into believing it was a gas leak... Yeah, right, who'd believe that!"

Rebecca's friend shared enthusiastically over the phone.

"Did the monster die?"

"Definitely. I heard the military deployed attack helicopters—no way it could've survived that."

"Alright, got it. Thanks."

After hanging up, Rebecca burned coca leaves and, amid the swirling smoke, did a reading for Mikan City. The result showed the gloom over the city had lifted—the matter was truly over.

"Everly, thanks for having me all this time. I've been gone too long, and several regulars are waiting for me, so I'm heading back to Mikan City."

Once she confirmed the danger had passed, Rebecca packed her bags at the tail end of winter break and bid Everly farewell.

Old John was leaving too.

His trip to New Osebuch State served three purposes: to take refuge, to see his granddaughter's college life and spend Christmas and New Year with her, and to stop by Jonas City in neighboring Yona State.

There, someone was selling the latest model of water purification system, with claims so impressive and a price tag so steep. Old John had long wanted to upgrade his underground shelter's system, tempted by the product but wary it wouldn't live up to the hype, so he'd held off.

He'd arranged to meet the seller in person, timed right at the end of winter break.

After saying a reluctant goodbye to Old John, the new semester began, and Everly and Misha moved back into the dorms.

It was hard not to marvel at how painfully slow Americans are.

The avalanche on Mount Nathan Joa happened in late December, and rescue efforts dragged on for a whole month before the last few victims' remains were finally recovered from under the snow.

Investigators later determined the avalanche was triggered by human activity at the summit, which disrupted the snow layer's cohesion, causing a localized slab avalanche that then upset the mountain's internal balance, leading to a much larger avalanche.

Near the avalanche zone, they found skeletal remains of two climbers, later identified as the two who'd gone missing earlier.

Since then, that climbing route on Mount Nathan Joa was officially designated as a "no-crossing route," with fines up to 5,000 Mido and jail time for anyone caught crossing illegally.

But that's all water under the bridge now.

For now, after the avalanche area was cleared, Everly waited a few more days until early February 2X16, when the innkeeper called to say the road up the mountain had been cleared and she could retrieve her car.

Life without a car was a real pain, so on a weekend, Everly rented one and drove to Mount Nathan Joa with Misha.

Passing Penn's Ski Resort, she saw the snow at the base had been cleared, revealing the resort's ruined remains. Beneath the broken entrance sign, flowers and candles were piled high in mourning.

Even over a month later, grieving families lingered at the foot of the mountain, tears streaming as they stared at the silent, towering peak.

Death is sometimes just a number, but other times it cuts deep.

Past the resort ruins, they drove up the cleared mountain road and finally reached Yomole Vacation Lodge.

The lodge was back in business. Word had it the kind owners, sympathizing with the victims' families, were letting them stay and eat free of charge.

Seeing Everly and Misha, the owners warmly came out to greet them. Behind them came an unexpected figure—mystery novelist Lucas.

Compared to his once-confident self, he'd lost weight and looked completely defeated.

"I came to the mountain lodge to find inspiration for a new novel, but that decision ruined my career..." He gave a weary smile at the sight of them. "After that night's shock, I can't write decent mysteries anymore. No matter what plots I come up with, once I think about those supernatural beings ignoring the laws of physics, I just can't continue."

"..."

Wow, that sucks.

"I'm completely lost now, unsure where to go... Miss Everly, I've been waiting here for you to ask you—what do you think I should do?"

Everly had no idea.

"Then just write supernatural horror, then. It's all fiction, there's bound to be some overlap, and horror still needs logic," she said offhandedly.

She'd meant it as a throwaway comment, but months later, the famous mystery novelist "Noah Pipe" actually made the switch.

Drawing on his ordeal at Yomole Mountain Lodge, he wrote a supernatural horror novel, "Snowy Mountain Thriller." When it came out, his loyal fans were puzzled but, out of love for the author, gave it a shot.

And once they started, they were completely hooked.

[What a bizarre book—the first half is packed with 'snowed-in lodge' mystery elements, but the second half overturns all that with twists, steering the truth in a supernatural direction. Going back to re-read the first half, you'll find subtle foreshadowing. From that angle, it's still a mystery at its core, just with methods that defy physics...]

[This is the best horror novel I've ever read! It's also Mr. Noah's first time with a female protagonist. Liv Ai, a college student, is cool-headed, sharp, physically tough, and eerily intuitive—and her secrets stay unrevealed even at the end. Does that mean there's hope for a series about her?]

[Yes, Liv Ai is incredibly charismatic—even as a woman, I'm totally drawn to her... Please make it a series, Mr. Noah!]

Searching the book online, every single review was full of praise.

Everly: "..."

Though the novel obscured Liv Ai's details, and only those at the lodge would connect her to it, she still felt like she was being publicly humiliated—totally mortified.

But for now, Everly had no clue what was coming.

After retrieving her car from the lodge, she said goodbye to the owners and drove down the mountain with Misha, back to Darami City.

Over the next few weeks, between classes, Everly focused on the text Old John had cracked.

The note was a torn corner of a book page, splitting the text into two incomplete fragments.

The first line read "enviar a Juan Ponce de L," and the second "a la Hispani."

Everly googled it: "enviar" is a Spanish or Portuguese verb meaning to send or dispatch, and "enviar + a + someone + a + place/action" is a common pattern.

That led her to guess "Juan Ponce De L" was someone's name.

Given the Spanish or Portuguese phrasing, she added those country keywords when searching the name. That search brought up a likely match—Juan Ponce de León!

He was a Spanish explorer, full name "Juan Ponce de León," matching the note's text perfectly.

Online info about Juan was sparse, mostly covering his achievements, linking him to the history of Puerto Rico and Dalifu State.

However, when Everly looked up his name with the school's history professor and, on the professor's recommendation, purchased an obscure book titled *A Brief History of the New World*, she was thrilled to find she was on the right track—Juan was also connected to the Fountain of Youth!

The book was written by Pete Martel de Anglería, a 16th-century official historian of Spain, and the entire volume was in Spanish. Luckily, her translation app could handle Spanish.

Pete wrote that in 1511, Juan, then in the Americas, had sent a letter to King Ferdinand of Spain.

In the letter, Juan claimed that his men, while torturing and interrogating Native Americans on Hispaniola, had accidentally learned a legend from them about the Fountain of Youth.

—By the way, "Hispaniola" is the island that today includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The Spanish name "Hispaniola" matched the ending of the second line on the note. And in Spanish, "la" works like "the" in English, so Everly figured the second line was probably referring to Haiti.

Back to the book's content.

The Native American captives from Haiti told Juan that in the sea northwest of Hispaniola, there was a mysterious island with a spring that could make you immortal. The island was tied to a god of a tribe from across the ocean, and afraid of angering that god, the people of Haiti didn't dare set foot on it.

The island's native name was "Pawka Oris Ananio."

Being a king, Ferdinand naturally wanted to stay young forever. So, upon hearing that Juan had obtained information about the Fountain of Youth, in 1512, Ferdinand sent a navy and an expedition from Haiti to assist Juan in searching for the island of Pawka Oris Ananio.

They soon realized this was a huge job.

The Native Americans' description was way too vague. Setting out from Haiti and heading northwest, they would pass by hundreds of islands—most of which belonged to the modern Bahamas archipelago. The sailors at the time had no idea which island held the Fountain of Youth, so they had to land on every island they came across and take a sip of water.

But even after the fleet crossed the wide strait and reached Dali, Florida, in North America, they still couldn't find Pawka Oris Ananio.

Realizing that continuing this way could cost them far more time than imagined in eliminating islands, Juan wrote to the king for help, hoping the king would "collaborate with the Church and seek its support."

Pete wrote this part vaguely, without specifying what kind of support it was.

Anyway, seven years after the first failed search, a ship directly escorted by the navy arrived in Haiti, delivering several mysterious women with black cloths covering their heads to Juan.

Shortly thereafter, Juan claimed to have identified the general location of the island, and in 1521, he set out once more on his journey to find the Fountain of Youth.

However, something went wrong somewhere, and this time, he still failed to find the island.

After a fruitless search, in July, the fleet landed at Charlotte Harbor in Dali, Florida. Soon after, Juan was struck by an arrow during a battle with local natives and tragically died. Most of the soldiers who followed him also perished in that battle. Some others on the ship managed to escape in the chaos.

With that, the Spanish crown's pursuit of the Fountain of Youth finally came to an end.

...