Chapter 223: The Secret
Chapter 223: The Secret
Fang Jing originally wanted to scold the Maeda Girl.
The girl touched her long hair, which had become a bit messy from sleeping on the sofa, and pouted her lips, feeling very displeased.
At that very moment, he realized something: his emotions were not quite right.
(Since when did I become so easily bothered by such small, trivial matters…)
He could get angry and upset, but he also knew when and with whom it was appropriate.
If he really wanted to make a big deal with this little girl, he wouldn’t just come over and shout a few words; he would have thrown her out the front door.
“Weird!”
His emotional fluctuations had become quite intense.
Fang Jing did not speak. He stopped and stood still, recalling things in his heart.
“Let me think carefully. Could it be related to that picture book…”
Fang Jing, who had been talking to her, suddenly became expressionless, which startled the Maeda Girl.
“Sorry! I have something to do. You should go to sleep early!”
He didn’t bother talking further with the girl and returned alone to the second floor.
Back in the reference room, he reached out and took out that picture book, “The Secret of the Baron of the Red Cloak.” He hadn’t finished reading it earlier.
“Interesting. I want to see just how ‘strange’ this thing really is!”
It was just a picture book. Could he really not control himself because of it?
A surge of determination rose in his heart. He wanted to “test” this bizarre picture book again.
“The existence of Third Category Anomalies in this world is an undeniable fact. But I have trained for so long precisely to fight against them. If this thing is really a medium for a ‘Third Category Anomaly,’ then I must investigate it and see just how powerful and eerie it is…”
Thinking this, Fang Jing found a chair and sat down, spreading the picture book flat on his knees.
He flipped through the picture book and continued reading, browsing the latter part of the story in “The Secret of the Baron of the Red Cloak.”
…
The Baron’s secret was discovered by the little girl.
This turned out to be a mistake.
Because the little girl did not consider the Baron of the Red Cloak her friend.
The adults had warned her that the Baron of the Red Cloak living in the valley was actually a man-eating monster.
She was very scared, but she did not dare break their agreement.
Because if she broke the agreement, the “monster” might kill her.
But that secret stuck in her throat like a fishbone, making her unable to eat or sleep peacefully.
Later, she went to the Church in the town. Facing the cross, she spoke the secret aloud.
A hunter passing by heard the secret told by the little girl.
The hunter was greatly shocked. He had heard of the Baron of the Red Cloak and knew he lived in that valley.
The little girl did not know that her secret had been overheard.
As usual, she went to the valley to meet the Baron of the Red Cloak.
The Baron was very sad, and also angry and grief-stricken. He roared, “You were supposed to be my friend, and we had an agreement, but you still told the secret to someone else.”
So, he killed the little girl and threw her bones off the Cliff.
Just then, the hunter, along with the people from the town, found the Baron of the Red Cloak. They discovered the little girl was dead, so everyone worked together to defeat the Baron and executed him.
It was just a pity that the little girl had already died.
The hunter and the townspeople were heartbroken.
But then, a priest stepped forward. He was the priest from the Church, and he told everyone,
“Do not grieve. God heard the little girl’s prayer in the Church, and He sent me to save her.”
He asked the people to take him to the Baron of the Red Cloak’s grave, and he placed the Church’s cross upon the tomb.
The next second, a miracle happened. The dead little girl came back to life.
Then, the townspeople cheered.
What a happy ending! What a joyful outcome!…
Reading this, Fang Jing understood that “The Secret of the Baron of the Red Cloak” was finished.
Unconsciously, his gaze became deep and thoughtful.
This picture book didn’t seem particularly special. He guessed that what mattered more was some kind of “information” hidden within “The Secret of the Baron of the Red Cloak.”
“The script was written by an author named Kiryu Xuanling, a well-known mystery novelist…”
Fang Jing murmured to himself.
“Besides that, there’s the illustrator for this picture book, named Juemon Inshi. Actually, that name sounds familiar to me, because the author of the little booklet I have should be the same name.”
So, the question arose: what was the origin of this “The Secret of the Baron of the Red Cloak”?
Could it really have some connection to the “Hunterghost”…
This made Fang Jing wonder if there was some link between this picture book, “The Secret of the Baron of the Red Cloak,” and the Strange Phenomenon known as “Hunterghost.”
A sharp scream came from the direction of the first floor. Fang Jing’s expression changed, and he instantly rushed out of the room, heading straight for the rest area of the Literature and History Archives Hall.
He moved quickly because Fang Jing recognized the voice—it was the Maeda Girl who had screamed.
When he reached the rest area, he saw the Maeda Girl sleeping on the sofa.
The girl seemed to be asleep, but Fang Jing noticed her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish gasping for air.
—She was having a nightmare. Maeda should still be deeply asleep, but for some reason, she was dreaming heavily, and her consciousness seemed to be lingering in the dream.
On the sofa, she frowned tightly, her head swaying left and right, shifting restlessly in her sleep.
“This might be a sleep disorder, similar to periodic limb movement disorder…”
Fang Jing checked her physical condition and found her pulse was beating very fast, and her heart rate was rising.
“This is bad. If this continues, the situation might turn worse.”
He had some basic first-aid knowledge and realized that the “Maeda Girl” was not only sleeping deeply and unable to be woken, but her limbs were constantly twitching. If this went on, she could develop breathing problems or other issues.
“Slap! Slap!”
He reached out and patted the Maeda Girl’s cheeks.
“Damn it! She won’t wake up at all.”
Fang Jing was also surprised. The Maeda Girl seemed to be in an abnormal state, as if in a death-like sleep. No matter what external stimuli were applied, she showed no response.
What was the reason? This wasn’t an ordinary sleep disorder!
After checking her symptoms again, Fang Jing was shocked to find that Maeda’s face had turned pale, her breathing was becoming more difficult, and a strange blueish haze seemed to float on her face.
“Earlier, she seemed perfectly fine. If something happened in the meantime…”
Before he read “The Secret of the Baron of the Red Cloak,” the girl had been normal. Could it be that reading the picture book triggered some change?
“Red,” “Blue,” “Red”…
The Maeda Girl, as if sleep-talking, muttered these words faintly while asleep on the sofa.
This alerted Fang Jing. Looking at Maeda’s current state, countless complex and indescribable emotions began to stir in his heart.
Recalling some rumors about “Hunterghost,” he noticed similarities with Maeda’s current condition.
“Shiori and the other little girls all showed symptoms of deep, unbreakable sleep. Could it be…”
He glanced at the Maeda Girl lying on the sofa, his expression growing a bit more complicated and showing a hint of unease.
“This isn’t a physical attack. It seems to bypass the real world and strike at the Spiritual Domain.”
Fang Jing had some methods to deal with monsters that took physical form.
But if the enemy was a strange phenomenon that could turn solid into void, he was at a loss.
(Wait! On Yūmi Island, I encountered a type of attack that created mental illusions. But back then, I barely managed to resist it by combining the Corpse Poison Curse, Life Magnetic Field, and secondary talents, and even broke free from that Spiritual Domain’s shackles…)
After thinking it over carefully, Fang Jing had an idea. He guessed that since he had used the combination of three powers to resist that strange mental illusion in the past, maybe now he could adjust his Primal Rage Resonance Field to confront the “Strange Phenomenon” attached to Maeda.
This was the result of his thinking. He might be able to use Maeda to run a test.
Once he thought of this, he took action.
A red glow faintly shone through his skin. One could see a network of fine red threads glowing beneath his skin. The secondary talent of the Primal Rage Beast erupted, forming a wave of radiant energy in the air.
This strange ripple expanded outward, radiating countless vibrating waves invisible to the naked eye.
Fang Jing pressed one hand onto Maeda’s head.
He intended to use his right hand as the center and try experimenting with the Resonance Field on her.
To be honest, Fang Jing had no idea what effect this might have. He only guessed that his Primal Rage Resonance Field could counteract the mental illusion he encountered before. As for the actual effect, he was completely uncertain.
A red halo emerged from his right hand. The Resonance Field began to radiate outward from his right hand, causing the Maeda Girl’s body to emit a faint red glow as well.
“The Primal Rage Resonance Field also has traits of the ‘Life Magnetic Field’ from the Fate Grade Life Magnetism. The Life Magnetic Field has the ability to enhance physical functions and strengthen one’s self-healing power…”
So now, this “Resonance Field” might have a similar ability.
He focused his mind. A crystalline, ruby-like gleam appeared in his palm, spreading countless ripples and placing Maeda’s body at the center of the Resonance Field.
In that instant, the greenish aura on the girl’s face grew more turbulent. Her entire face was covered in a patch of green.
Her slender, pale limbs under her uniform turned as colorless as paper.
“Whoa… this feeling, could it be?!”
As soon as the magnetic field radiation spread out, Fang Jing felt a resistance.
Sizzle!
A “skull”-like face appeared within the green aura, overlapping with Maeda’s face.
It looked like one face was layered over another.
This strange face let out a silent scream.
The Resonance Field surged, clashing with this bizarre ghostly face.
The two were locked in a stalemate, and Fang Jing intensified the fluctuations of the magnetic resonance.
Even so, he found that at least seventy percent of his power was having no effect, failing to completely suppress the monster.
“This ‘ghostly face’ is different from spiritual pollution. It feels like something from a special source, similar in nature to Curse power. No wonder my Resonance Field can’t fully suppress it…”
It was like water meeting oil. Because they were forces of different origins, the effect was limited.
But Fang Jing knew the Primal Rage Resonance Field was extremely powerful. In the past, his Corpse Poison Curse was more like an illusory force, invisible to ordinary people. But now, when he fully activated the Resonance Field, his body emitted a faint crimson light.
This showed that the Resonance Field had the characteristic of turning void into substance, interfering with the real world. Even with different origins, by converting quantity into quality on the power level, it still overpowered the “ghostly face.” After struggling, the “ghostly face” couldn’t hold on and suddenly tried to float out of the Maeda Girl’s body as a semi-transparent human shape.
Suddenly, another strange change occurred.
The pendant hanging on Maeda’s chest emitted a faint red light.
“This is…”
Fang Jing was stunned. This was a change he hadn’t anticipated.
The gem pendant glowed brightly, and the “ghostly face” was drawn into it like smoke.
The fluctuations of the Resonance Field he released were also sucked into the gem at the same time.
“To think something like this would happen?!”
Fang Jing blinked curiously. He found that after the Ruby absorbed the energy of the “ghostly face” and his Resonance Field, it fed a stream of energy back into her body, condensing into a faint red blood orb.
It was a hot blood orb forming at her heart, slowly radiating threads of warmth toward her limbs, creating a fluctuation similar to the Primal Rage Resonance Field.
“…Interesting!”
At that moment, the corner of his mouth involuntarily curled up slightly.