Fors's pupils suddenly dilated, as if trying to let in more light to see Xio's current state more clearly.
At the same time, a burst of light erupted in front of her, several times brighter and more dazzling than the flash of an old-fashioned camera, turning everything around her white.
Then, her finger slid across a page of "Lehmano's Travel Notes," and a black mist rose from her feet, enveloping her entire body.
This dense black mist quickly split into palm-sized illusory bats that flew toward different parts of the underground hall.
This was "Dark Wings," recorded in "Lehmano's Travel Notes" under "The Moon"!
Its original purpose was to increase speed, allow brief flight, and conjure a swarm of vampire bats to attack enemies, but Fors didn't use it that way; she just used it as a prop for a trick.
After all the illusory bats flew away, the spot where Fors had stood was empty.
Her figure had somehow moved more than ten meters away!
After instinctively escaping and protecting herself, Fors finally calmed down a bit and quickly turned her gaze to Xio, who had just shown signs of abnormality.
But what met her eyes was Xio, her blonde hair only slightly messy, her face a little wheat-colored from long exposure to the outdoors, with an expression of surprise mixed with confusion, as if wondering why her friend had suddenly reacted so violently—with no sign of being affected by a spirit or ghost.
"Something happen?" Xio asked guardedly.
Fors squinted, not answering directly. As she flipped through "Lehmano's Travel Notes," she asked instead:
"Xio, what's your actual height right now?"
Xio seemed to understand and replied:
"152, right?"
Before her words faded, Fors's finger had already slid across the symbols and magical marks on that page of the notebook.
Silently, a sacred light wreathed in flames fell from the high ceiling of the underground hall.
It was pure and majestic, instantly enveloping Xio, radiating rings of sunlight outward.
The blazing light pierced Fors's eyes, causing her to see the entire hall collapse, the surrounding space shattering like glass inch by inch.
This sensation came and went in a flash. Fors found herself somewhat bewilderedly still standing where she was, not having fled.
Was that just an illusion? She hastily turned to look beside her and, sure enough, saw Xio looking normally toward the damaged area near the heavy door.
Fors thought for a moment, then opened her mouth and said:
"Xio, what's your actual height right now?"
Xio glanced at her and said impatiently, "Don't ask such a boring question!"
Phew, it's real... Fors felt relieved and quickly described her experience just now to Xio, highlighting the key points.
Xio pondered for a few seconds, then bumped Fors's arm with her left hand holding the lantern: "Let's step back a bit. Maybe the closer we are to that door, the easier it is to have hallucinations."
"Yeah, maybe!" Fors nodded in agreement and quickly moved back a few steps.
Then she looked around again and said with some confusion: "Why can't we find any spirits or ghosts here? This kind of environment should be what they like."
Xio was also puzzled, then made a careful observation, and finally fixed her gaze on the ball of light floating above Fors's head.
"Try turning it off," she suggested.
Fors realized something and immediately canceled the illumination of the light.
Darkness surged silently, once again ruling the underground hall, with only the dim yellow light of the lantern feebly opposing it.
Then, two figures appeared in Fors's "spirit vision."
They were both near the bronze door. One was a woman, her hair coiled up, wearing practical knight's trousers and a shirt. The other was a man, clad in silver-black armor, holding a longsword that was almost rusted through.
The former's face was blurry, constantly moving back and forth between the door and the area Fors and Xio had previously reached. The latter lingered near the door, muttering something.
Are these the two ancient malevolent spirits? Fors elbowed Xio and whispered, "I see spiritual bodies."
"I see them too. They aren't hiding." Xio crouched slightly, assuming a combat stance.
Fors hastily elbowed her again: "Wait, we're not sure if they're the target yet."
She tried taking three steps forward, but the two blurry figures didn't even glance at her.
Fors thought for a moment, then suddenly spoke: "Madam, what are you doing?"
—She had heard some stories in other occult circles that higher-level spiritual entities like vengeful spirits and shades might be communicable.
But as soon as she spoke, she regretted it, because even if she could communicate, she couldn't achieve her goal; she couldn't very well persuade the other to commit suicide and hand over the cursed object and residual spirituality of the ancient wrathful spirit.
Just as Fors was considering whether to attack directly, the woman in the shirt and knight's trousers answered her question in a flat tone:
"I am looking for my husband."