Chapter 543: Chapter 543 Dark Moon Cult Leader_1 Chapter 543: Chapter 543 Dark Moon Cult Leader_1 So, for the World Within the Painting, seven years had already passed since my last mission?
Fu Qian found himself quite understanding of why the Witch’s tone had been so full of emotional weight during their last two communications.
To her, this Temple Knight had indeed been AWOL for far too long.
At the same time, Fu Qian had also more or less confirmed that the world in which the Witch resided was like the unstable Furnace, independent of the current world and belonging to an alternate reality.
This must also be the reason why only when I enter the Discoloration Curse state can she sense me.
According to the previous explanation, the essence of the Discoloration Curse was the weakening of the connection with the current world.
My current state essentially relies on synchronizing with this world through the Emissary’s Mask; the Discoloration State weakens this effect significantly.
Only when entering this special state of incomplete synchronization can the Witch perceive me, and it is limited to this world alone.
After all, in my original world, I had sealed the sun twice, and yet the Witch had no reaction at all.
The connections between different times and spaces are indeed marvelous.
…
“So you’ve really started treating that place as a church?”
Despite his curiosity, Fu Qian didn’t ask about the mysteries of space and time but instead started to make casual conversation as though slipping off his shoes and stepping onto a kang.
Festivities are meant to be relaxed after all!
“Of course, after all, there aren’t many churches with an attached studio.”
It seemed that the delay in communication wasn’t significant, as the Witch’s response came quickly.
“I see. But wasn’t the weather there not too great? Aren’t most buildings buried?”
“It’s still not great, but dealing with a little blizzard is no problem at all.”
In her casual response, the Witch’s confidence shone through.
“It seems the decay of the painting continues.”
“It’s a complete process, much like human birth, aging, sickness, and death.”
“This world will ultimately reach extinction, and I’ll be the Observer of this process; after all, there’s nothing else to do, right?”
“Fortunately, compared to before, the situation now is more pleasing to the eye, which even makes me somewhat interested in getting involved.”
The Witch was very cooperative with Fu Qian’s casual tone, chatting with ease.
“Speaking of which, how satisfied are you with the last item I sent you?”
The Witch suddenly seemed to recall something and asked for an evaluation on the use of the mask.
“Good!”
Fu Qian promptly gave a positive review.
“Really? Which aspect did you find most satisfying?”
A faint laugh came from the Witch’s end, followed by another question.
“Design.”
Without any hesitation, Fu Qian gave his answer directly.
“The effect of concealing one’s aura is indeed good, but what satisfies me the most is its design.”
“Oh? How satisfied are you?”
The person on the other end, the Dark Moon Cult Leader, seemed to be perpetually bored, her questions never ceasing.
“If one day I need to run naked while wearing a mask, I would choose it.”
After a moment of thought, Fu Qian spoke very seriously.
Ha ha ha!
This time the laughter from the other end was exceptionally clear.
Fu Qian could even see through the image the crowd below turning their heads in unison toward their seats, seemingly puzzled as to why the Cult Leader was suddenly so joyful.
And among the crowd, he spotted a somewhat familiar face of a woman.
She looked familiar; where had I seen her before?
Not liking to be preoccupied with such matters, Fu Qian took a while to vaguely recall who she was–the lady who, supported by her husband, had made eyes at him when he paraded as the Dragon Feast.
Indeed, the vicissitudes of life are unpredictable; now that he has become a member of the Dark Moon Sect, has he not also attained true fruition?
“Today is truly a joyous day,”
The witch gestured for her followers to continue, and her laughter finally ceased.
“I’m glad you liked it. Since that’s the case, I’ll give you another holiday gift then–”
“No need,”
Fu Qian cut her off before the witch could finish speaking, directly expressing his refusal.
“Hmm?”
Clearly, Fu Qian’s response was quite unexpected to her.
“Wait until I have accomplished another feat before you give it. It’s been a long time since I had the custom of receiving New Year’s money during the holidays.”
After Fu Qian finished speaking, the witch in the painting made no movement, but her voice fell silent.
Fu Qian did not rush to speak either; instead, he leaned back in his chair, looking at the pale blue moon that had appeared again in the sky.
Without a doubt, anything created from her hands would be a fine thing.
But lately, he had been gaining so much that he almost couldn’t make use of it all; his need for such things was not so urgent.
More importantly, although the witch seemed casual, Fu Qian could feel that maintaining such a connection was not easy and must have consumed a considerable amount of her energy.
Even in these two exchanges, he could confirm that the witch could not see his surroundings–she could only sense his presence.
After giving him the mask, she had almost immediately severed the connection, claiming it was because the strength of the Sun’s seal was weakening, but Fu Qian remained skeptical about this reason.
As for why he could communicate in reverse this time, and even see the image, Fu Qian guessed it might be because of Inspiration 99.
This attribute, which still hadn’t been fully confirmed in terms of its underlying meaning, seemed to have undergone a metamorphosis in certain aspects after apparently being maxed out.
But whatever the case, establishing contact was so difficult, one could only imagine the energy consumed in creating an object with Transcendent properties from nothing.
And on this cheerful day, Fu Qian had no intention of spoiling the mood with such matters.
“I must say, your reaction is beyond my expectation,”
It was a long while before the witch’s voice came through again.
“As you wish, we’ll wait until you have achieved your next feat.”
“So for my gift to be sent out, remember, you mustn’t die.”
“Well… I can only say I’ll do my best,”
Fu Qian sighed.
“Would it be useful to call out your name in a crisis? Speaking of which, I still don’t know your name.”
…
The other side fell silent even longer this time.
“You may call me Your Holiness the Pontiff.”
The pleasant exchange with the witch came to a unilateral end because of Fu Qian’s question, and by this time, the rusty color in the sky had faded.
Unconcerned by the Pontiff’s reluctance to reveal her name, Fu Qian instead directly went about his business as a bookstore owner, beginning to enjoy life.
Having successfully drawn the Night Watchman into the fray, the affairs of Shangjing were no longer of much concern to him; he would simply watch as events unfolded.
…
In the following days, Shangjing was peaceful and tranquil, with Yuan Shan not paying any visits.
At the same time, no third vampire appeared with gifts, much to Fu Qian’s disappointment.
And as holidays are always fleeting, after earnestly running the bookstore for several days, Fu Qian decided to return to the warehouse.
[Identity verification complete, today’s work commences]
[Warning, containment breach]
And at this moment, the long-absent prompt sounded almost endearingly familiar.
[Name: Jiali, Code: 3-0530]
[Today’s work content has been updated: Enter the containment scene of 3-0530 and complete recontainment.]