Against the Fate

Chapter 23: Contact

Where were they? Looking around quietly, Cui Ming saw no traces of anyone. Even the fluctuations in the aura of North Luna and Ding Ze could not be seen. Were they hiding? Even while using Focus, his eyes couldn’t see through solid objects. As a clever person, Cui Ming suddenly thought that this night’s exploration of Lincoln Manor might be an assessment by North Luna and Ding Ze of his training this month. Were they secretly observing him now?

He was standing in a garden. There was a statue in the center. There was also a description of the Lincoln family next to the statue. It showed what each generation of the Lincoln family did, like the expedition undertaken by a noble more than a thousand years ago, the heroic battles of a knight a few hundred years ago, the success of a businessman a few decades ago, and so on.

Cui Ming jumped onto the statue, “Ladies and gentlemen, today we are gathered here to witness the birth of one of the most outstanding wizards of the century.” With a swing of his cloak, a stream of playing cards flew out like a dragon twirling through the air and back into Cui Ming’s hand. Cui Ming fanned the cards, “54 pokers cards hold endless possibilities. Just like your and my life, you never know whether you will cry or laugh tomorrow. But at this time, you and I are here to join together to witness miracles. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m optimistic… Here are 54 Aces…” Cui MIng revealed the 54 Aces in his hand and jumped down from his perch, “Boring? I think so too.”

This month had been very boring, after great concentration in cultivation he was bored, after being wary of Evelyn he was bored, and after talking to North Luna he was very bored… Proper self-entertainment could mediate his mood, else he would become a very stuffy person. Late today, the dishes were carefully prepared. Only four of the fifteen dishes were made by himself. He intended to have a dinner quiz with North Luna and Ding Ze to increase their understanding. The result was… All in the refrigerator. He had no interest in explaining himself. The relationship with North Luna and Ding Ze had always been very flat.

Is this ghost building, what was originally found to be abnormal?

100m in front of Cui Ming was the main manor building, it stood beside a large construction zone. The ghost building was just 20 meters from the side of Cui Ming and it was the place where the staff of the Manor East District stayed. When Cui Ming was preparing to take a look, the fourth room of the third floor lit up. Cui Ming got goose bumps and stepped back.

It’s not electrical light, it’s firelight, he could see the slight flickering of the flame, the window was not closed, the curtains were fluttering.

“Boss, Ding Ze?” Cui Ming whispered in silence.

No one answered him. Cui Ming’s cleverness reminded him of a possibility: when he first arrived at North Luna Office, the Lincoln Manor case had appeared. It’s either by coincidence, or planned by North Luna and Ding Ze to test him.

When he thought of this, Cui Ming walked into the Ghost House, the building had a staircase in the middle, it was a wooden staircase. When one step was stepped on, it  immediately issued a babbling voice. The unknown created fear, you didn’t know what was waiting for you beyond the corner of the stairwell. When Cui Ming was halfway up, he flung himself over the stairs. A playing card flew out.No, there was nothing.

Stepping through the sound of babbling, Cui Ming climbed to the second floor… Wait, I’m a cultivator now. Why do I need to climb stairs? Shouldn’t I go back to the first floor and then jump to the third floor? Forget it, it sounds so silly. Cui Ming cautiously climbed to the third floor. The old ladder, no matter how careful he stepped on the rungs, would make a sound. Cui Ming could not wait to grab the wooden ladder with both hands.

Taking a deep breath, while he was leaning against the wall of the second floor, Cui Ming took a mirror and looked into the fourth room. The door was open and there was the light of a flame. Cui Ming took another deep breath, went upstairs, pressed himself against the wall, and slowly walked towards the fourth room. The distance from his position to the fourth room was six rooms, all the doors were closed, and Cui Ming was slowly approaching…

When the distance was down to three rooms, the fire suddenly went out. Cui Ming immediately kneeled and waited quietly. His nose smelled the scent of the candle. Using Focus on his feet, he rushed out, jumped, and flew across the fourth room’s door. His left hand rose up and a deck of playing cards flew into the room. Cui Ming landed on the floor and was on alert. There was no voice. The moment he passed the fourth room, Cui Ming saw the table, the cabinet, and the empty room.

Cui Ming waited for a moment and leaned against the wall of the fourth room. Then he looked into the room with one hand braced against the wall and immediately retreated. Nothing, a very ordinary table rested against the window, three drawers stood on one side of the table and a small cupboard on the other. On the side was a wardrobe-like thing… Was the culprit hiding inside? As long as it was closed,even if the cultivator was hiding in a small space, he couldn’t be detected unless touched with the aura…

Apart from the desk and the closet, this room was empty and there was nothing more. Cui Ming finally walked into this room, turned his back to the closet, and then suddenly turned around, playing cards flew out and cut into the wardrobe… no response. He opened the closet, empty. Only his own playing cards were embedded into the wall.

Nothing lay on the ground, just smooth marble. Weird! Where did the light come from?

Cui Ming was almost certain that this was a test. In that case, North Luna would definitely leave clues. He looked at the wall, nothing. He looked at the ceiling, he couldn’t see anything. Walking up to the desk, he opened the front drawer, empty. The third drawer on the side held a book.

It was the geography of the East Continent. After reading for a while, no clues were found.

Cui Ming squatted and smoothly opened the small cabinet on the left side of the desk…

The cabinet had a height of 40 cm and was pulled open. Cui Ming saw a pair of dull green flames. After a tenth of a second, Cui Ming suddenly found out that it was not a flame. They was a pair of eyes. The owner of them was a person less than a meter tall…

Damn! Cui Ming immediately felt a great danger, he jumped back and fell to the ground. The eyes glimpsed him, and then became exceptionally evil, a little wand in the man’s left hand moved.

A black gas flew towards Cui Ming, Cui Ming was caught mid-dodge, he immediately felt his aura turn abnormal, it seemed to have been mixed with something undesirable. Seeing that the small staff was about to move again, Cui Ming immediately said, “Wait.”

The other party stopped, then came out from the small cabinet. It was a male dwarf who was less than a meter tall. He had a small magic hat and wore a green magic robe. His hand held a magic wand that he gently turned towards Cui Ming.

“I want to show you something.” Cui Ming stood up and took out a manuscript from his pocket. He glanced down from the corner of his eye. After his aura had infiltrated and mixed with the other aura, he had to enter the Meditate state to exile the abnormal aura. Realizing he had taken the wrong item, Cui Ming’s left hand put the copy into his trench coat pocket, and his right hand took out a lighter, he held it in his palm, “Someone asked me to send you this thing.”

The dwarf didn’t pick up the lighter. A husky voice responded, “Who are you?” The main reason why he could be stopped by Cui Ming’s words was that he had never heard of a cultivator named Cui Ming in Dawn City.