Chapter 2808 The One-Eyed Family <TOC>
Translator: SumTLMan
After the Sovereign of Wisdom finished giving instructions to Little Treasure, he went to one corner of the room, and from a pile of miscellaneous items, took out a picture frame with no painting in it.
The Sovereign of Wisdom looked back at everyone：「I am going inside to rest for a while, after you have finished asking your questions, you can have Little Treasure wake me.」
Before everyone understood what this meant, the body of the Sovereign of Wisdom slowly became smaller, and walked step by step into the picture frame.
As the figure of the Sovereign of Wisdom disappeared, inside the previously pictureless frame, there appeared a portrait of a one-eyed youth sitting in a mahogany rocking chair, basking in the sunlight outside the window, with his eye closed as he leisurely dozed.
Within human standards of beauty, symmetry is the most harmonious form of beauty, while a single eye is actually very difficult to make appear beautiful.
But within this painting, the use of light in the style of Rembrandt, made the contours of light and shadow upon the face of the one-eyed youth sharply defined and refined, tranquil and beautiful.
「Is he truly asleep?」Daus looked at the sleeping youth in the painting, and whispered softly.
「Of course Lord Sovereign has fallen asleep, this painting is Dream of Sweet. Inside the painting, a short period of rest is enough to……」One-Eyed Little Treasure inside the water glass, was explaining, but halfway through the explanation, suddenly stopped.
Daus looked at One-Eyed Little Treasure in confusion：「Keep talking?」
One-Eyed Little Treasure gave a huff：「Big Brother Second Treasure will not let me talk about the effects of Dream of Sweet, I listen to my brother!」
「Dream of Sweet? Is it an alchemy item?」The person asking was Angel, he had always felt that when Little Treasure described 『Dream of Sweet』, it sounded as though it was discussing a certain special item, rather than an ability.
But if this was said to be an alchemy item…… Angel was also very puzzled, because under the scrutiny of the Eye of Alchemy, the material of that picture frame was completely apparent.
It was a type of wood known to Angel, and it was not an extraordinary material.
Since it was not an extraordinary item, why did the tone of One-Eyed Little Treasure sound so much like it was describing a particular alchemy item?
One-Eyed Little Treasure continued huffing：「This is not a question about the Parting Sky Poetry Room, I will not answer!」
The question Daus had asked just now had nothing to do with the Parting Sky Poetry Room either…… Angel complained inwardly for a moment, but still said patiently：「Why do you not ask Second Treasure? Perhaps Second Treasure will agree to let you answer?」
One-Eyed Little Treasure did not reply, but instead closed its eye and sank into deep thought.
Several seconds later, Little Treasure opened that extremely cartoonish large eye upon the surface of the water：「My brother has agreed to let me explain Dream of Sweet to you, but I cannot talk about the effects of Dream of Sweet.」
After speaking, Little Treasure muttered to itself：「How am I supposed to explain this? I have to talk about Dream of Sweet, but I cannot talk about its effects, so annoying!」
「How about, I ask you the questions?」Angel：「The True Word Book is no longer here, you may choose to answer or remain silent.」
When the Sovereign of Wisdom left, he took the True Word Book away with him.
No one had any objections to this, Little Treasure itself was not included in the contract of the True Word Book either, so even if it were enveloped by the True Word Book it would have no meaning, at most the effect of 「answering every question asked」 could still take effect. But Little Treasure could completely give answers unrelated to the questions, or simply lie.
Furthermore, the circumstances of Little Treasure were very unusual, if it lied…… everyone could actually hear it, so, there was no need for the True Word Book to impose a binding.
「All right, hurry up a little, finish asking sooner, so I can go tattle to Mother.」
「Tattle? Tattle about us?」
「If you bully me, I will tattle about you. But not right now, later I am going to tattle about Big Brother Second Treasure, it actually ignored me before.」
Everyone listened to Little Treasure muttering endlessly, and all of them were left speechless.
Second Treasure had clearly only just finished talking with Little Treasure, yet now Little Treasure wanted to tattle that Second Treasure had ignored it, what kind of brotherly bond was this?
「Anyway hurry up!」After Little Treasure had muttered for quite a while, it spoke loudly to Angel.
「Mm, I already asked the first question just now, is Dream of Sweet an alchemy item?」
Little Treasure：「No.」
Angel：「Then what is it, an ability? A talent?」
Little Treasure thought for a moment：「Neither. In the words of you humans, Dream of Sweet should be considered a Mysterious Object.」
A Mysterious Object?! Everyone had previously been wondering why Angel remained so preoccupied with Dream of Sweet, but now the eyes of everyone lit up…… this was a Mysterious Object!
But in the next second, everyone remembered what Little Treasure had said before, it could only discuss Dream of Sweet itself and could not discuss its effects. This made everyone feel somewhat frantic again, knowing that a Mysterious Object was before their eyes, yet not knowing its effects, that tantalizingly itchy feeling of curiosity, was truly unbearable.
「Dream of Sweet is a Mysterious Object…… 」Angel narrowed his eyes, then continued asking：「Then is its true body this picture frame?」
Little Treasure：「Of course not. Dream of Sweet has no true body, it is only a dream.」
Perhaps seeing that everyone did not understand, Little Treasure thought for a moment and continued：「Lord Sovereign once said, the precursor of Dream of Sweet, was a fragment of a wisp of blank dream drifting through the Sea of Void Mirrors, through a fortuitous coincidence, it took in a vast number of pleasant dreams, and then under the impetus of opportune timing and favorable circumstances, it transformed into a Mysterious Object…… a Mysterious Dream.」
「It has no true body, the reason Lord Sovereign was able to contain it, was entirely thanks to the help of a white haired big sister with different colored eyes. Now, it is stored within a special world inside a mirror.」
「Although Lord Sovereign entered through this picture frame, actually, the picture frame is not important, Lord Sovereign can enter through any mirror surface.」
The others might still not have understood, but Angel roughly understood.
This was actually a Mysterious Object in the abstract sense.
Within the Culuoli Chronicles, Angel had seen quite a few similar Mysterious Objects. For example, 「Bud」 this object that was out of control, could actually also be regarded as a Mysterious Object in the abstract sense, because entering the Bud did not require finding its true body at all, and no one could find its true body either, one only needed to pronounce the corresponding characters correctly, then one could enter the out of control rhythm of the Bud.
There was also 「Lonely Clown’s Heartbeat」, its effect was, all living beings that heard the sound of the heart, would dance because of it. At first glance, it seemed that the heart was the Mysterious Object, but actually it was not, the heartbeat was the true core. And a Mysterious Object such as a heartbeat, also counted in the abstract sense.
Apart from these, 「Growth Ray」, 「Old Dream」, 「Echo」 could all be classified within this category.
Therefore, when Angel heard about Dream of Sweet this Mysterious Object without a true body, he was not surprised.
Compared with its form of existence, what Angel cared about more was instead the process of its birth described by Little Treasure.
Was this process of birth described by the Sovereign of Wisdom real, or, was it something casually fabricated to fool Little Treasure? If it was real, then could the key to the birth of a Mysterious Object be found within it?
「How could the Sovereign of Wisdom know the process of the birth of Dream of Sweet so clearly, did he witness it personally?」Angel thought for a moment, but still voiced the doubt within his heart.
「Lord Sovereign said this was the process, so this was the process, why would you have an objection?」One-Eyed Little Treasure did not quite understand why Angel would ask this, within its memory, the Sovereign of Wisdom had almost never told a lie, since the Sovereign of Wisdom said so, then the process certainly happened exactly this way.
Instead it was the suspicious nature of Angel and the others, that made One-Eyed Little Treasure somewhat uncomfortable.
Angel also heard the distaste within the tone of Little Treasure, thought for a moment, then added：「I am only somewhat rueful, why was I not so fortunate, able like the Sovereign of Wisdom, to personally witness the birth of Dream of Sweet.」
Upon hearing Angel express envy toward the Sovereign of Wisdom, One-Eyed Little Treasure immediately put away its displeasure, and said with a series of huffs：「Lord Sovereign is truly great, how could any of you compare.」
Angel smiled and nodded, appearing entirely in agreement.
After confirming that the emotions of Little Treasure had become positive again, Angel continued asking：「This Dream of Sweet, is it related to dreaming?」
Little Treasure was just about to answer, suddenly, as though it had realized something：「Hmph, I will not tell you.」
Angel：「I understand that you will not tell me. However, I can try to guess its mechanism, right?」
Little Treasure：「Do as you please, in any case I will not say anything.」
Angel：「Does Dream of Sweet make people fall asleep?」
Little Treasure did not answer, but through super perception, Angel detected 「dismissiveness」 within the emotions of Little Treasure.
If this emotion had appeared in another situation, it would basically have indicated that Angel had guessed incorrectly. But in the present circumstances, it could not demonstrate anything.
Because the Sovereign of Wisdom had entered the picture frame in front of them, and then presented a sleeping posture within the picture frame, this already basically counted as plainly telling them, that Dream of Sweet made people fall asleep. Therefore, it was also perfectly normal for Little Treasure to display dismissiveness.
Angel naturally understood this as well, he had first raised this question only to let Little Treasure relax emotionally, so that he could better perceive the fluctuations in the emotions of Little Treasure afterward.
「After someone falls asleep, Dream of Sweet will then exert the effect of the Mysterious Object.」Angel paused for a moment：「Could the effect be that while dreaming, there will be some positive returns?」
The emotions of Little Treasure fluctuated slightly, but this fluctuation consisted more of confusion. And the source of that confusion, began when Angel uttered 「positive returns」.
Angel also found the confusion of Little Treasure very strange, he did not quite understand, did this mean that he had said something wrong?
While Angel was thinking, Little Treasure spoke：「Uh, what are positive returns?」
Angel：「……」
He had been deeply considering what Little Treasure was confused about, and whether he had said something wrong. In the end, Little Treasure simply did not understand the meaning of the term Angel had used.
「Positive returns, are positive effects.」
Little Treasure：「Is that not stating the obvious, could Lord Sovereign possibly even make sleeping have a negative effect? ……Fine fine fine, I understand, I will stop talking.」
In the first sentence Little Treasure was speaking to Angel, before the second sentence Little Treasure fell silent for a moment, and was clearly conversing with Second Treasure. In all likelihood Second Treasure had told it not to continue speaking.
What Angel had asked was naturally not pointless, because a thing such as a Mysterious Object, did not necessarily provide returns. Whether good, or bad.
Its effects, actually more often consisted of 「law defiance」, which meant effects that could not be understood through logic.
It was just like 「Lonely Clown’s Heartbeat」, dancing along with the sound of the heartbeat, did this count as a positive effect or a negative effect? It counted as neither, it merely made you want to dance beyond your own control. Whether a mortal or a legend, all would sing and dance amid the sound of the heartbeat. After a person alone entered the rhythm of the heartbeat, with no teammate or outsider to help, the effect was basically impossible to resolve.
The understanding Little Treasure possessed regarding Mysterious Objects was clearly incomplete, so according to its reasoning, Lord Sovereign could not possibly give himself a negative effect, this made logical sense.
Little Treasure itself did not feel that it had provided any information, but in reality the information it had given was extremely useful.
This was a Mysterious Object capable of granting its user positive effects, which was exceedingly rare among Mysterious Objects.
「Mysterious Objects do not necessarily have only positive effects.」Angel followed the statement of Little Treasure and said：「Generally speaking, Mysterious Objects will all possess certain negative effects.」
Angel had originally intended to entice Little Treasure into asking questions, but Little Treasure did not take the bait, and kept huffing repeatedly, refusing to speak.
Angel could only continue talking to himself：「For example, there is a Mysterious Object I once heard about, it is an inconspicuous small wooden cabin. As long as you move into this small wooden cabin, you will live forever and never die.」
When eternal life without death was mentioned, Little Treasure did not feel anything, because for a 「child」, this term did not hold much attraction. But everyone else present, turned their gazes toward Angel one after another.
「There truly is such a Mysterious Object, surely you are not deceiving us?」Daus asked.
Angel：「There is.」
「Then can it truly grant eternal life without death?」The eyes of Daus shone, as he pressed the question.
Angel nodded once again.
The eyes of Daus shone even brighter, but just as he wanted to inquire further about this wooden cabin, a sudden jolt passed through his mind：「You just said, Mysterious Objects generally have negative effects, then what is the negative effect of this wooden cabin?」
Angel did not conceal it either, and said directly：「You cannot leave. As long as you remain inside this small wooden cabin, you will never grow old, and you will never die, but once you walk out of the small wooden cabin, you will instantly die on the spot.」
Daus：「…… This kind of eternal life without death, I think only Vai could endure such a blessing.」
『Homebody』 Vai said unhappily：「It is not as though I never go outside all right, if I never went outside, how would I get to that lousy tavern of yours?」
Angel ignored the dispute between Daus and Vai, and instead continued discussing the negative effect of the Mysterious Object：「However, it is not that the negative effect has no method of being removed, and the method of removing it, is actually contained within the name of this wooden cabin.」
The way Angel told the story, combined with the suspense deliberately used to whet their appetites, not only made everyone look over in puzzlement, even that large eye of Little Treasure became filled with curiosity.
「The name of this wooden cabin, is the Lonely Cabin.」
When Angel said this sentence, Kael said softly：「The Lonely…… Cabin? A wooden cabin is not a living being, how could it be lonely?」
The muttering of Kael to himself, seemed to remind everyone.
Daus：「Could it be that the wooden cabin is very lonely, and needs someone to accompany it, so the person accompanying it is able to live forever without dying?」
Angel smiled as he looked toward Daus, signaling for him to continue speaking.
Daus：「And once the person accompanying the wooden cabin leaves, the wooden cabin becomes lonely again, so it punishes the person who betrayed it, causing him to immediately die on the spot?」
「You said, the method of removing sudden death is within the name of this wooden cabin. The most conspicuous part of the name of the wooden cabin, without any doubt is 『loneliness』, then if it is made no longer lonely, would that remove sudden death?」
Daus continued thinking according to this logic：「Following this line of thought, actually as long as another person replaces the current occupant and accompanies the Lonely Wooden Cabin, then the wooden cabin will no longer be lonely, and leaving will no longer cause sudden death?」
Angel clapped his hands, and gave Daus a 『thumbs up』：「That explanation was excellent, and the answer is indeed as you said. As long as someone can replace the person inside the wooden cabin, then the person within the wooden cabin can leave safe and unharmed.」
「However, the Lonely Wooden Cabin will not always remain in one place, its outward form will also change according to the place it reaches. Therefore, the first person to step into the Lonely Wooden Cabin basically always enters accidentally, then, how should that person make someone else replace him?」
「Deception. Use words to deceive passersby, use a flying message sent by magic power to deceive friends.」
「Therefore, if one day any one of you receives a flying message from a friend, asking you to go to a certain place, and that place is a wooden cabin, then you must be a little careful, perhaps you will be set up.」
While everyone sank into thought, Angel suddenly changed the direction of the conversation：「Returning to the subject, the reason I gave this example just now was to say, it is perfectly normal for Mysterious Objects to possess negative effects, but most also possess methods of removing those negative effects.」
「Dream of Sweet, may not necessarily consist entirely of positive effects, perhaps it also has a negative effect.」
Angel looked toward Little Treasure：「Analyzing it from the name of the Mysterious Object, Dream of Sweet must be a pleasant dream, and pleasant dreams are the easiest to become addicted to, even making people unwilling to awaken. Then could the negative effect of this Dream of Sweet, actually be that once someone falls into the dream, that person cannot awaken of his own accord?」