In January, Eastchester County was still cold. Snow could often be seen. The trees were withered and leafless, the beasts hid, and there was no vitality.
Audrey, leading Susie and surrounded by attendants and maids, circled the collapsed ancient tower several times but found nothing.
There were only piled gray bricks and rotten wood. In the gaps could be seen weeds and the carcasses of some small animals.
Audrey had originally hoped to find some murals on the remaining walls to decipher the tower's origin, and to use the visiting beasts to quietly practice extraordinary skills like 'Mental Straightjacket', 'Madness', 'Calm' etc. from her 'Psychiatrist' abilities, but the result was greatly disappointing.
This wasn't a little adventure... It was simply a horse ride... She pursed her lips, holding her riding crop, and walked toward her mount.
Halfway there, unwilling to give up, she asked the surrounding attendants and maids again:
"Are there any legends about monsters around here?"
Half of these servants had followed her from Backlund to the family castle and then to this manor; half were locals who usually worked in the manor. Audrey's target was undoubtedly the latter.
And the reason she came to this manor was because the nearby area had a historical custom of dragon worship.
A young attendant stole a glance at the noble and beautiful young lady, gathered his courage, stepped forward, bowed, and said:
"There are many terrifying beasts in the depths of this forest. Every year, hunters die there, but no one has ever encountered a monster.
"This is exactly what an ancient ballad that circulates around here describes..."
He roughly recounted the ballad, which meant roughly:
"Monsters are in your dreams;
"Dragons are in your dreams;
"That imagined, floating great palace is also in your dreams;
"There, you will have everything until you wake."
"Curious children, brave adventurers, go, go seek the dragons in your dreams..." The attendant omitted the last line and did not speak it, because it would make people misunderstand his intention of satirizing Lady Audrey.
Dragons in dreams... The imagined floating great palace is also in dreams... Audrey thought for a few seconds and suddenly felt that this ancient ballad was not completely meaningless.
According to the dragon intelligence she had bought from Mr. "Sun," the "Dragon of Imagination," Angerwed, really did imagine a floating city out of thin air. Above it were huge temple stone pillars that jointly supported lofty and grand palaces. Its name was "Levisid," meaning the City of Miracles.
In dreams... The "Spectator" pathway belongs to Spirit Dragons, involving consciousness, subconscious, the collective subconscious sea, and the spiritual sky. No matter from which aspect, it must involve the realm of "dreams"... This ancient ballad might really indicate something... Could "Levisid" really exist within the collective subconscious sea, within dreams? But dreams are purely spiritual... Many thoughts flashed through Audrey's mind, and she couldn't form a clear idea until she returned to the manor.
Entering the room, she looked at the golden retriever Susie and suddenly felt a urge to show off.
Susie doesn't know about the dragon intelligence, she definitely cannot detect the peculiarity of this ballad... No, I can't be proud, that's too shallow... And it would be easy for Susie to discover I'm hiding secrets... Audrey paced back and forth with a straight back and asked casually:
"Susie, what do you think that ballad really means? I feel it's not as simple as it appears on the surface."
Susie opened her mouth and didn't know how to answer for a moment, because she completely didn't understand poetry.
After thinking seriously for a moment, she said:
"Audrey, I'm just a dog."
....
Inside the jungle of Blue Mountain Island.
Because of excitement and exhilaration, Karat hadn't slept, sitting in his wheelchair, checking everywhere, seeming to have found another goal in life besides revenge.
After going around once, he returned to the altar to pray again.
He remembered the content of the "Ten Commandments" very clearly, knowing that he could not take the name of the Sea God in vain, so he intended to use the relatively vague "God" in his daily prayers.
As he approached the altar, his eyes suddenly stared, because the items placed there all had unusual auras. For example, that dagger, its surface reflected not the crimson moonlight but silvery white lightning; for example, that leaf, even greener, gave one a feeling of smooth breathing just by looking at it.
Divine grace has descended... The thought suddenly flashed through Karat's mind.
At this moment, he no longer had any doubts about the change of the "Sea God," and the blasphemous thoughts hidden in his heart completely dissipated.
When the God gave the revelation that He would reappear on the earth, it meant He was going to reshape His image... This implication was deeply hidden, and we had completely failed to decipher it before... Karat slowly inhaled, supported himself with his hands, solemnly prostrated, and bowed to the great Sea God.
Soon, he returned to his wheelchair and went to the residences of the high priest, Edmonton, and others.
He couldn't wait to tell these companions what had just happened, couldn't wait to share with them "Divine Grace is as the Sea."
....
Night, 11:15 p.m.
Klein sat on a chair, expressionlessly watching Danitz perform the "Spirit Summoning Ritual," recording all the details in his mind.
Still relying on the Spirit World... He made a preliminary judgment.
"If it's a Spirit World creature, as long as the description is correct, it can be precisely located, and as long as a language with certain 'power' is used, they can be directly summoned or let them descend, regardless of distance and range.
"To some extent, gods also have such characteristics, except sometimes, even when praying in ordinary language, they might get a response, provided that they are already believers and have received attention.
"Demigods seem to have a certain degree of fusion with the Spirit World, so they can be targeted by precise descriptions and possibly get a response, but this has a distance limitation. Once out of range, they cannot receive the 'signal'... The 'Sea God' Kavituwa is an example.
"For a powerhouse of mid-sequence like the 'Iceberg Admiral', to accomplish a similar thing, he cannot rely on himself alone; he must borrow from the corresponding god and provide precise and unambiguous descriptions, and there are also distance and range limitations."
Just as Klein finished organizing his thoughts, all sorts of objects on the altar floated up, except for those three candles.