Chapter 1488 Life and Death in Other's Hands <TOC> Chapter 1490 Direction
Translator: SumTLMan
Lady Connie felt as if she were adrift in darkness, various scenes flashing in her mind like a kaleidoscope — scenes of tender moments with her son Reven.
However, those tender moments suddenly shattered into countless fragments, leaving behind a single, haunting image.
The usually gentle Reven appeared monstrous and malevolent, raising his longsword high above his head and swinging it viciously toward her——
Lady Connie abruptly opened her eyes.
Her forehead was slick with sweat and she was panting heavily, finally calming down from the shocking vision.
“Was it a dream?” Lady Connie whispered to herself. Just then, a familiar voice echoed beside her, “Lady Connie, are you alright now?”
Turning her head, she saw Alex dressed in white priestly robes, appearing beside her at some unknown point.
“Alex, how did you…” Lady Connie began to ask, wondering how he had entered her home. But as she attempted to sit up, she made a chilling discovery — she couldn’t feel her left hand.
As if struck by a sudden revelation, she lifted her remaining half of the left arm and stared at the empty space where her hand used to be. Flashes of memories rushed through her mind: a forest in the dead of night, and the two individuals pursuing her.
“My left hand, Reven… Camille…” Lady Connie mumbled in a daze.
Alex: “Lady Connie, can you tell me what happened? Where is your left hand?”
Hesitant, Lady Connie turned her head and said, “Can you help me sit up?”
Alex helped her sit up on the bed. Only then did Lady Connie have a chance to look around. She realized she wasn’t at home but inside a cramped wooden cabin.
The air was imbued with the stale scent of wood.
“Where am I?” Lady Connie muttered in a daze. She remembered fleeing to a cave yesterday, but beyond that, her memory was a blank.
“This seems to be a forester’s cabin. When I arrived, it had long been abandoned. You were losing a lot of blood, and it was too risky to move you to town immediately. I had no choice but to administer first aid here,” replied Alex.
“How did you find me?” Lady Connie cast a skeptical glance at Alex. After the bizarre events of last night, she found the whole world to be filled with oddities. Even though Alex before her wore a graceful, gentle smile, she remained on her guard.
With a sorrowful expression, Alex explained, “Last night, I was reminiscing about some conversations I had with Knight Reven and felt melancholic. I wanted to speak with you, Lady Connie, but you were nowhere to be found.”
“I waited for a long time, and when you didn’t return, I remembered the last wishes of Knight Reven we discussed during the day. I suspected you might have gone to the Holy City overnight. Concerned for your safety on the treacherous night roads, I followed and eventually found you lying in a cave up on the mountain.”
Alex’s story was clumsily fabricated but delivered with sincere conviction, almost as if he were a priest solemnly reciting a holy text, making it involuntarily compelling. Given the upheaval in her life, Lady Connie was too emotionally frazzled to question the veracity of his tale. If Alex could offer any explanation, she was willing to take it at face value for the moment.
“I see… When you found me, did you also see…” Lady Connie’s voice faltered, and her expression turned to one of sudden horror.
“See what?”
“…my son, Knight Reven, and Miss Camille,” Lady Connie finally uttered, her voice tinged not only with horror but also a subtle tremor.
“Didn’t Knight Reven already pass away? Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to touch on a sensitive subject, Lady Connie. I’m just a bit puzzled. And Miss Camille was buried last year… Lady Connie, are you sure you aren’t seeing illusions?” Alex looked at Lady Connie with a bewildered expression.
Lady Connie hung her head and shivered, “I wish it were just an illusion. But my left hand is gone. This means those were not illusions; they are real! They’re not dead; they even want to kill me! Even my own Reven has forgotten me and wants to kill me… “
“Please, Lady Connie, try to remain calm. Your condition is not conducive to agitation. If your stitches were to break, that would be problematic,” Alex said, putting on a conciliatory demeanor, “Alright, I believe you.”
Lady Connie looked up at Alex, her face streaked with tears, “You really believe me?”
Alex let out a resigned sigh, almost as if comforting a child, “Of course I believe you. But the notion of the dead coming back to life does send shivers down my spine. Can you tell me what happened last night? Your hand looks like it was severed by a sharp blade. Who did it?”
By this point, Lady Connie was beyond caring whether Alex was just humoring her; she longed to share the nightmare she had lived through, hoping it would alleviate her emotional strain.
“The incident started yesterday afternoon…” Lady Connie began, rambling as she recounted her journey from leaving Ghust Town to heading for the Holy City.
Alex was already aware of the first part of the story, but he maintained a controlled facial expression, feigning surprise and sorrow at appropriate moments.
It wasn’t until Lady Connie reached the most critical moment — when she intended to cross over the mountain to the other side, where she had encountered some kind of barrier — that Alex’s ears perked up.
“I could clearly see the path ahead of me, and even make out the vague outlines of trees. But then all of a sudden——” Lady Connie’s face twisted in bafflement, “I ran into a wall! In a place that should’ve been open air, a wall appeared out of nowhere, blocking the path!”
“At the time, I thought I must be confused, so I tried to go around it to check, but there was no way around it on the other side either!”
“Just when I was puzzled, the spot where the wall was bulged outward, revealing a human shape. Someone crawled out from within the wall… Only when I got a good look at his face did I realize it was my son, Reven!”
“Seeing Reven alive and in front of me, I was initially ecstatic. But the next second, I found that Reven drew his knightly sword and slashed at me. Instinctively, I raised my hand to block it, and as a result, my left hand…” Lady Connie paused, swallowing hard, her face filled with lingering fear.
Lady Connie continued to describe how she managed to escape, ultimately getting away… But Alex already knew all about what happened next, even more clearly than Lady Connie herself.
After Lady Connie finished speaking, she looked earnestly at Alex, “Do you still believe me?”
Alex nodded, “I do.”
Lady Connie finally smiled, but her smile soon turned into tears, “That’s good. Someone still believes me; I’m not insane. Those people really did appear.”
Alex stepped forward and embraced Lady Connie, “I believe you. Relax, the nightmare will end, and everything will be alright.”
Lady Connie let out a sigh of relief, leaning on Alex’s shoulder, whispering, “Thank you.”
Hidden on the side, Angel watched this tender scene, musing to himself: What would Lady Connie’s reaction be if she found out that all of this originated from Alex’s subtle manipulation and that all her decisions were made “by herself”?
However, it would be difficult for Lady Connie to discover this, as Alex only subtly influenced her, and all the choices were indeed made by Lady Connie.
After a while, when Lady Connie’s emotions had somewhat stabilized, Alex finally let her go, saying, “Although I believe you, I still don’t understand why the dead would come back to life…”
Capturing Lady Connie’s attention, Alex continued, “If Knight Reven and Camille both came back to life, does that mean all those who died before will come back?”
Lady Connie appeared somewhat dazed, “I don’t know, maybe they really will?”
“If everyone can be resurrected, then there must be some hidden secret behind it. Perhaps this secret is lurking beneath Ghust Town,” Alex said, suddenly turning serious as if struck by a realization.
“Damn! For now, we can’t take Lady Connie back to town. You’ve uncovered the secret of ‘resurrection.’ If someone has been deliberately hiding this for years, there’s no way they would let you live to talk about it. You’ll definitely become a target.”
“That vile puppet master! What does he really want to do? Resurrecting the dead and manipulating them to kill? In the teachings of the Father God, this is demonic behavior, an unforgivable sin!”
“These people will surely face the Father God’s punishment!”
Alex muttered to himself, then turned to Lady Connie, who was still in shock. “For the time being, Lady Connie, you should stay here. I’ll go back to town and investigate this matter covertly. As a preacher of Father God’s teachings, I have to find a way to purge this undercurrent from Ghust Town!”
Alex’s impassioned words left Lady Connie feeling uneasy. Was she really in an unsafe situation?
However, just as Alex said, she had uncovered the secret of resurrection. Often, the more you know, the more dangerous it becomes — a truth that Lady Connie understood well.
“Alex seems reliable. Perhaps he’s right; I shouldn’t show my face openly for now, or else the consequences would be unpredictable,” Lady Connie thought to herself.
Angel, listening by the side, found it amusing. With a few simple words, Alex had managed to deceive Lady Connie. Moreover, he shifted the focus from some other secret to the mystery of resurrection, making her even more convinced.
This guy is really a natural priest; at least in the art of Deception, he’s a master.
“But won’t it be unsafe for me to stay here alone?” Lady Connie was somewhat afraid of being left on her own.
“I could stay with you, but then I won’t be able to investigate the truth,” Alex paused and continued, “Moreover, after hearing what you said earlier, it gave me the chills. Even your own son was brainwashed after his resurrection; I don’t even know who to trust anymore, so I wouldn’t dare to let anyone else come secretly.”
“Given your current injuries, you shouldn’t be moving around too much,” Alex said, his face etched with concern. “I apologize for the inconvenience, ma’am, but rest assured, I’ll come by every day to bring you food and the latest news…”
Upon hearing Alex’s words, Lady Connie understood that this was the only way. She nodded, “Alright then, I’ll be waiting for you.”
“If… if there comes a day when I don’t show up, it could mean that I may have been…”
Lady Connie interrupted hastily, “That won’t happen; you must be careful! My situation can be put on hold, but your safety must come first.”
Alex nodded solemnly and with a sense of gravity.
Chapter 1488 Life and Death in Other's Hands <TOC> Chapter 1490 Direction