Chapter 2338 Mandevil Family <TOC> Chapter 2340 Sidro Mist Island
Translator: SumTLMan
Angel, with a tone of curiosity, inquired, “A person from the past?”
“Yes,” Iron Armor Granny replied, her eyes flickering with a touch of sorrow as she sighed, “To be precise, it’s a limb of someone from the past.”
A limb of someone from the past? Angel paused for a moment, taking a couple of seconds before he grasped the meaning behind Iron Armor Granny’s words. He extended his finger, gently tapping on the surface of the table. From his fingertip, a multitude of illusion nodes surged out, effortlessly creating an illusion on the wooden tabletop.
The illusion depicted a scene that Totoro had initially witnessed.
In the darkness of a cavern, surrounded by rectangular stone platforms near an altar, were numerous containers, each holding various organs.
Among these, the most eye-catching organ was an arm, preserved within a long, fluid-filled container, marked with distinctive black and red patterns.
“Is this the one?” Angel pointed at the arm with black and red patterns, which stood out among the organs stored in the containers due to its distinct features.
“Yes,” Iron Armor Granny quietly observed the arm in the illusion, and after a long moment, she gently nodded, “I haven’t mistaken it; indeed, it is the right hand of Night Butterfly Witch.”
“Night Butterfly Witch…” Angel quickly sifted through his memories, and after a few seconds, he spoke with slight hesitation, “Granny, are you referring to ‘Delicate Crimson Night Butterfly’ Ginny Watson?”
Iron Armor Granny nodded, “Your recent studies seem to be quite beneficial. Yes, it’s her. The patterns on her arm are very unique; I’ve seen them before.”
Angel responded, “So it’s her? Lately, I haven’t heard any news about her, but in the magazines from the last century, her gossip was often featured.”
“Delicate Crimson Night Butterfly” Ginny Watson was a first-class witch from the Watson family. The Watson family was quite renowned two millennia ago, consistently ranking among the top three wizard families within the Winsbills power circles. Unfortunately, after the “Blood Night Tragedy,” the Watson family’s prominence waned alongside the decline of Winsbills. In the last millennium, they had only produced one formal wizard, who was Night Butterfly Witch herself.
Angel knew little about this witch, only that she was a fire element witch, renowned for her stunning beauty and bold demeanor, making her the object of many male wizards’ affection. Of course, the male wizards referred to here were mostly apprentices.
As such, Ginny was a frequent subject in various gossip magazines.
However, this was only the case in the last century; in the recent hundred years, there hadn’t been much news about Ginny.
“The reason you haven’t heard much about her is that a hundred years ago, Ginny left the Southern Region,” Iron Armor Granny spoke softly.
“She really left the Southern Region? I heard that Ginny owed a debt of affection to a certain wizard and couldn’t defeat him, so she sneakily fled the Southern Region,” Nisi commented. As a standard “gentleman,” he was evidently keen on such gossip, knowing more about it than Angel did. At least, Angel had never heard about the debt of affection.
“Is what Wizard Nisi said true?” Angel looked curiously at Iron Armor Granny.
“Such nonsense,” Iron Armor Granny said with a dismissive glance at Nisi, addressing Angel, “Don’t listen to his nonsense, not a bit like a wizard.”
Nisi, feeling wronged, said, “But this has been the talk of the town, it’s not just me saying it.”
Iron Armor Granny, uninterested in engaging further with Nisi, put down her teacup and said, “Ginny did indeed leave the Southern Region on her own accord due to some matters, but it was not because of so-called romantic debts.”
It was clear that Iron Armor Granny was well-acquainted with Ginny and was also well-versed in the old tales from a century ago.
According to Iron Armor Granny, Ginny was not as the gossip magazines painted her. Indeed, she was bold, but that was only because Ginny acted and spoke without much thought, expressing her emotions too straightforwardly, which led to misunderstandings.
Simply put, Ginny devoted all her thoughts to her cultivation, rarely bothering with worldly wisdom. This was somewhat similar to those whose heads are filled with nothing but brawn.
The reason gossip flourished was mainly because Ginny’s appearance was too stunning.
Ginny’s personality meant that the rumors about her fleeing due to romantic debts were false. The reason she left a century ago was actually due to an irreconcilable conflict with a witch from the Bliss Pavilion, who was once a very good friend of Ginny’s.
Iron Armor Granny did not elaborate on the nature of the conflict, but it was definitely not a romantic debt.
“Ginny had once integrated a special bloodline of a Flame Butterfly, which is why she was known as ‘The Crimson Night Butterfly.’ This beast’s bloodline granted Ginny great power but also brought her numerous troubles. These troubles prevented Ginny from embarking on the path of true knowledge.”
“Ginny didn’t want to face her past friend and had heard about a butterfly similar to the Crimson Night Butterfly discovered during a planar expedition by the Frost Moon Alliance. She thought to look for this butterfly to solve her problems, which is why she left the Southern Region.”
“That’s the whole story,” Iron Armor Granny said with a deep sigh. “I met Ginny at a tea party three hundred years ago; she was a junior I was acquainted with. Before she left, she even visited me in the Savage Grottoes, and I supported her decision to go out and see. Little did I expect that after she left, no news from her ever came back. After so many years, the first news I hear of her is this.”
She had always thought Ginny was still seeking the path to true knowledge or had gone to the Source World to cultivate. But recalling her now, it was through the image brought by Nisi.
Ginny’s current condition was unknown, but her arm was quietly placed in a transparent container, looking tragically beautiful.
Angel could see that Iron Armor Granny genuinely regretted Ginny’s fate. After pondering his words, he said, “The information we have now is just a painting that can’t be verified. Whether it’s the hand of Night Butterfly Witch is also hard to determine. Even if it is indeed Night Butterfly Witch’s hand, it’s just a hand and doesn’t mean Night Butterfly Witch has met with misfortune.”
“I can recognize whether it’s her hand,” Iron Armor Granny said. “The source of Ginny’s bloodline lies in her hands that can transform into butterfly wings. You could say her hands are the most important part of her body, even more crucial than her heart. The patterns on her hands are an external manifestation of her bloodline, very difficult to replicate.”
The implication of such important hands being severed was dire indeed.
“Alas, I never imagined Ginny’s fate would end up like this,” Nisi expressed with a sense of melancholy, given that Ginny had once been the object of his fanciful musings.
Iron Armor Granny glanced at him, “Angel mentioned something that’s not entirely incorrect. It’s still too early to mourn Ginny’s fate as if it’s sealed; her death isn’t certain yet.”
“Alright then,” Nisi conceded without argument, shrugging his shoulders, “Regardless of whether Ginny is dead or alive, what intrigues me more now is why her hand ended up in a cavern on the Revelation Continent?”
“Shouldn’t you be the one to answer that? Haven’t you heard about the group of people with numbers tattooed onto their faces?” Iron Armor Granny turned her gaze towards Nisi.
According to Totoro’s investigation, the masterminds behind the creation of the cavern altar all had numbers tattooed onto their faces. Therefore, to understand why Ginny ended up in that cavern, it’s imperative to find this group responsible for the cavern altar, and Nisi is the only one who seems to have a lead on this.
Angel also looked over, “Yeah, Nisi, you’ve been pondering over this for several days now, haven’t you come up with anything?”
When the conversation shifted towards him, Nisi’s expression turned somewhat awkward. After hesitating for a while, he sheepishly said, “I have thought of something, but it might be a bit different from what you’re expecting.”
Iron Armor Granny raised an eyebrow, “Since you’ve thought of something, feel free to share.”
Nisi sighed deeply and slowly began.
“More than thirty years ago, I left the Savage Grottoes for a while to collect ghosts. At that time, I was tricked by old man Wallace into taking on a guide mission…”
New Era, Year 7347.
After collecting the required ghosts from an ancient graveyard, Nisi made a trip overseas. Spending the better part of a year, he finally managed to gather five talented individuals, barely meeting the minimum requirement for the guide mission. He then boarded a cargo ship belonging to the White Bay Shipping Company, returning to the Vast Continent.
With nothing pressing at the moment, Nisi began to enjoy this rare leisure time.
And how did he enjoy it? For Nisi, there were only two interests: soul studies and beautiful women. Having satisfied his interest in soul studies, he naturally sought the company of beautiful women.
Coincidentally, on that ship, there was a guardian from Sky Mechanical City, a beautiful soul witch apprentice named Mia.
Nisi naturally gravitated towards her.
He spent a rather blissful time during that period.
As time slowly passed, one night, when Nisi went to seek Mia’s company, he saw two newly introduced talents to Sky Mechanical City reporting some matters of their homeland to Mia in her room.
And the matter being reported was about a group of men with numbered tattoos on their faces.
However, at that time, Nisi’s primary focus was still on his own pleasures, paying little attention to the words of the two talents. Thus, even though he heard this piece of information, it didn’t leave a significant imprint in his memory.
Having taken the words of the two talented individuals to heart, found himself unable to recall their message in the days that followed. It was only after several days of sorting through his memories that he gradually remembered the matter.
“Oh? Was it something said by two talents?” Iron Armor Granny questioned with doubt. Previously, Nisi had also inquired about this, but despite his efforts to recall, he couldn’t remember any transcendent with a face covered in numerical tattoos. Surprisingly, it was the talented, yet to formally embark on the path of a wizard, who had noticed something wrong.
“Yes,” Nisi recalled. “I remember that the two talented individuals seemed to have encountered some extraordinary event. They felt there was something peculiar about it and, after being guided to become talented, they informed Mia of the incident.”
“What exactly was the extraordinary event?” Angel asked.
Nisi replied, “By the time I went to find Mia, they had already shared part of the story, so what I heard was a truncated version. It seemed there was a group of people chasing after someone, leaving a trail of fire and smoke, even burning down several mountains. They happened to witness this group flying through the sky.”
“Both the chasers and the chased had numerical tattoos on their faces.”
“And then?” Angel pressed.
Nisi shrugged. “And then, that was it.”
“Is there a way to contact Mia, and those two talented individuals?” Angel inquired.
“Since leaving the cargo ship, I haven’t been in contact with Mia. I don’t know how she’s doing now. The only way to contact her would be through the mini signal tower,” Nisi explained. “However, since Lord Rhine is no longer in the Savage Grottoes, I’m at a loss.”
When Angel had left the Savage Grottoes, he had entrusted the mini signal tower to Lord Rhine, who had since gone to the Tidal Realm, leaving Nisi unable to contact Sky Mechanical City.
As Nisi sighed, Iron Armor Granny suddenly spoke up, “The mini signal tower is with me.”
“Ah?”
Iron Armor Granny said, “Before Rhine left, he handed the mini signal tower over to me.”
“Then I’ll log off and go find Granny.” Nisi, already intrigued by the matter of the underground cave altar and now involving Iron Armor Granny’s old friend, felt compelled to act, even if it was just to gain Granny’s favor.
Thus, within the next minute, both Nisi and Iron Armor Granny logged off, leaving Angel alone in the attic.
With nothing immediate to do, Angel had planned to discuss the practice of soul trickery with Tulas, but upon looking down from the second floor, he noticed Tulas deeply engaged in conversation with Mandara.
After observing the subtle atmosphere between them, Angel ultimately decided not to go down but instead took out the Mother Tree Interconnector to pass the time by browsing through the Tree Group.
About half an hour later, Nisi and Iron Armor Granny logged back on simultaneously.
Noticing the slightly odd expressions on both Iron Armor Granny and Nisi’s faces, Angel asked, “How did it go, did you manage to contact Mia?”
Iron Armor Granny sighed, “Let Nisi explain it to you.”
Nisi said, “Well… I’ve contacted someone from Sky Mechanical City, but the news is somewhat regrettable; they’re all dead.”
“All dead? What happened?”
“Mia died more than twenty years ago. She failed several attempts to break through to become a formal witch, and the last attempt backfired, leading to her death,” Nisi explained with a hint of regret, as he and Mia had shared a fleeting relationship. Hearing of her death still brought a sense of sorrow.
“As for the two talented individuals from back then, they died only a few years ago,” Nisi glanced at Angel. “You might have met them.”
“Me?” Angel pointed to himself, puzzled.
Nisi nodded, “Yes, they died in the Purification Garden.”
Upon hearing ‘Purification Garden,’ Angel immediately understood. Sky Mechanical City, in an effort to ascend the Purification Garden, had sacrificed thousands of wizard apprentices.
Many wizard apprentices, including many from Sky Mechanical City itself, were buried in the Sea of Purification. The two talents that Mia had brought into Sky Mechanical City happened to be assigned to the Purification Garden.
Angel had escaped at the last moment. Although he didn’t know the names of those two talents, it was indeed possible that he had encountered them.
“Stepping on the path of a wizard, death will always accompany us like the wind,” Nisi sighed. Whether it was Night Butterfly Witch, Mia, or those two talents, it was the same. Choosing this path meant facing far more dangers than an ordinary life.
After a moment of reflection, Angel asked, “So, since they’re all dead, can we still find out more about this matter?”
Nisi replied, “Although they are dead, Mia had the habit of keeping records. She documented everything those two talents reported to her in her diary.”
“The diary left by Mia has been found by the people over at Sky Mechanical City.”
Chapter 2338 Mandevil Family <TOC> Chapter 2340 Sidro Mist Island