Chapter 2683: Chapter 2684: Vanity Mirror

"If it was not originally in this room, could it possibly be..." Kaier paused and silently mouthed a name: Wood Spirit.

Is this vine sculpture the Wood Spirit?

After a moment of silence, everyone looked towards the Wise Sovereign. Now, only he could give judgment.

However, the Wise Sovereign appeared to be lost in thought, and after a long while, he gently said, "I don’t know."

"Whether it is a Wood Spirit, I also need to enter personally to give a definite answer." The Wise Sovereign: "But if I do the confirmation, it would belong to my discovery and not yours."

Dox frowned deeply: "So, we not only have to find the Wood Spirit but also prove it is the Wood Spirit?"

Wise Sovereign: "Although your expression is inaccurate, that’s more or less the idea."

To discover something suspected to be a Wood Spirit, first, you must prove it is a Wood Spirit, and then you can say you found the Wood Spirit. But this involves another issue. Suppose this vine sculpture truly is the Wood Spirit, but no matter how much they try to induce it, the vine sculpture does not respond. How would they prove it is the Wood Spirit? Attack it? But attacking right in front of the Wise Sovereign is clearly inappropriate.

Regarding this potential situation, the Wise Sovereign’s answer remained consistent: "That’s also for you to consider, not me. Besides, making too many presumptions will only bring confusion. Instead of making baseless assumptions, think about how to prove whether this vine is a Wood Spirit."

As he finished speaking, the Wise Sovereign once again put on an attentive expression.

Everyone looked at each other for several seconds, and Vay suggested, "How about we first sense the condition of the vine?"

Angel: "It probably isn’t a Wood Spirit."

Faced with curious gazes from Vay and the others, Angel didn’t immediately explain, but raised his staff and gently tapped the vine sculpture.

The moment the staff touched the vine sculpture, the vine trembled slightly.

Then everyone saw thin dust fall from the cracks in the sculpture.

"These dust particles..." Vay gazed at the flying dust, seemingly realizing something, and turned to look at the Black Earl.

At this moment, Angel provided an answer: "Black had previously seen this vine sculpture as well, but after identification, Black believed it might not be a Wood Spirit. However, considering the unknown limits of the Wood Spirit’s talent of concealment, before leaving, Black placed ’marks’ on some possibly questionable spots."

"These dust particles are those ’marks’, and since the dust is still here, it indicates this vine sculpture is the same one Black encountered earlier. Since it’s the same, it means this vine sculpture has not moved from the start."

"If it really were a Wood Spirit, it wouldn’t remain here all along."

Based on the above judgment, it’s likely not a Wood Spirit.

Of course, it can’t be completely denied since their understanding of Wood Spirits is limited and one-sided. Maybe the Wood Spirit’s boldness has grown over the years, and it dares to hide in plain sight?

However, these small probability events can temporarily be set aside. If Angel doesn’t find the Wood Spirit this time, and Dox thinks there’s suspicion here, then they can investigate later.

Now it’s better to consider scenarios with higher probabilities, so after generally confirming it’s likely not a Wood Spirit, they bypassed it and went up to the second floor.

The second floor had only a small room, essentially visible at a glance.

There were some broken remnants on the ground, but they belonged to an external energy chamber or light source, which could be ignored. As for the furniture, it was relatively well preserved.

Most of the furniture looked similar to that on the zero level, made of extraordinary materials, but nothing very special.

The only thing worth noting was the dressing mirror in the room’s corner.

This dressing mirror and the vanity table were one piece, with an oval mirror able to reflect most of one’s face.

Due to the ’Mirror Demon God’, everyone was concerned about items related to ’mirrors’, and the Black Earl was no exception. Because of this, the dressing mirror was also marked by the Black Earl.

Moreover, this mark was more prominent, right on the mirror’s surface.

The Black Earl had covered the mirror’s surface with a layer of thin dust.

Now, that thin dust remained, and through it, one could vaguely see shadows moving within the mirror.

Upon common judgment, the shadow in the mirror was actually their projection. But having experienced the sudden change in the portrait of the blonde woman earlier, everyone became suspicious about the shadow on the mirror.

Is it really them inside? Or could there be someone else?

With these suspicions in mind, everyone naturally gathered in front of the dressing mirror, observing closely through the hazy mirror if there were any unusual traces.

While others investigated the dressing mirror, Angel did not step forward but moved to the entrance. This was because the Sage was standing nearby.

The Sage glanced at Angel: "What, you have no doubts about that well-preserved mirror?"

Angel: "Doubts, certainly, but first, I want to confirm something."

"What do you want to confirm?" The Sage turned his head, quietly watching Angel, and the third eye on his forehead, overlooking from above, exuded an air of arrogance.

"That vine sculpture."

Wise Sovereign: "I already answered before, I don’t know."

"No, I don’t want to confirm if it is a Wood Spirit. I want to know if that vine sculpture was left there by the Wood Spirit?" Angel: "Is it also an offshoot created by the Wood Spirit?"

The Wise Sovereign gave Angel a rather surprised look: "Why do you think it was left by the Wood Spirit?"

Previously, the round wood, with plausible reasoning, was suggested to be left by the Wood Spirit because it contained substantial life essence and was inherently an extraordinary material.

But the vine sculpture outside was different; it was just an ordinary piece of wood that had absorbed a bit of energy essence. The only notable aspect was that it was long-lasting and resistant to decay. Besides this, there wasn’t anything worth mentioning.

It was fundamentally different from the round wood, and its internal aura was different too. Thus, the Wise Sovereign was puzzled about how Angel connected these two distinctly different wooden materials.

"Because using wood to carve vines is inherently peculiar." Angel: "I can think of two explanations, either it’s an act of extreme leisure or a practice of skill."

"Previously, Miss Cicia also mentioned that the Wise Sovereign had shown favor to the Wood Spirit, teaching it much knowledge. And given the Sage’s expertise in alchemy, surely he would be adept at carving; perhaps he even taught carving to the Wood Spirit?"

"So, in my view, both explanations make sense when applied to the Wood Spirit."

The Wise Sovereign looked deeply at Angel before speaking: "I increasingly feel that your appearance is not coincidental. Your understanding of many things can’t be explained by mere flimsy reasons. Also, don’t claim Cicia told you since she doesn’t know much of the information either."

The Wise Sovereign’s words indirectly confirmed Angel’s suspicion that the vine sculpture was indeed left by the Wood Spirit.

However, this statement also deepened the Wise Sovereign’s suspicions regarding Angel.

He obviously did not believe the two explanations Angel gave. To his ears, they were too far-fetched.

Generally speaking, The Sage Sovereign was not wrong, but Angel was not crafting an explanation; instead, he was doing a reverse deduction based on the known results.

When Angel first entered this room, he suspected that the Wood Spirit might have left something behind here; either its body was here, or there was some other related object. Because creating resonance, without a medium, would be extremely difficult.

Angel previously went to the Void, not entirely convinced that the Wood Spirit was there, but even if the Wood Spirit wasn’t present, it must have left a medium behind. Otherwise, would resonance occur ’out of thin air’? The difficulty of such a task would be immense, and Angel didn’t think the Wood Spirit could achieve it.

Therefore, when Angel went to the Void, he also had the idea of searching for a medium.

Unfortunately, due to objective reasons, Angel ultimately did not reach the resonance coordinates and did not discover the medium.

Thus, he turned his attention to this room.

After investigating two floors, Angel considered the vine sculpture as the most likely candidate. By deducing from the outcomes, he came up with the explanation he gave to The Sage Sovereign.

Facing The Sage Sovereign’s skepticism, Angel shrugged: "My appearance here is indeed not a coincidence. After all, this is the legacy site of the Noah predecessors, as a descendant, I must take a look."

The Sage Sovereign did not believe Angel was a Noah descendant, but he did not argue, instead he said: "Do your goals truly align with those of the Noah Clan? You need not answer me, for I shall see with my own eyes."

Having said that, The Sage Sovereign did not speak further and gestured for Angel to proceed.

Although The Sage Sovereign did not explicitly state it, through hints, Angel already obtained the answer he desired. He did not linger but instead turned and walked towards the dressing mirror.

...

Angel also considered that the dressing mirror might be the medium left by the Wood Spirit in this room, but thinking of that previous oil painting, there were indeed issues with the mirror here. Thus, the Wood Spirit should be more fearful of matters related to mirrors rather than actively approaching them.

So, Angel excluded the dressing mirror as an option.

However, it must be said that this dressing mirror was indeed strange. One just needs to look at the pile of broken energy tubes on the ground to understand why the dressing mirror is peculiar.

The energy tubes were shattered like this, yet the mirror surface remained flawless, which was evidently odd.

Everyone had roughly completed investigating the vanity by now, without any discoveries. Therefore, attention shifted to the mirror surface, which seemed most likely to have issues?

"Shouldn’t we have Kaier wipe off the ’mark’ first?" Dox suggested, looking at the dust on the mirror surface.

Kaier wasn’t sure whether to wipe it off and could only turn to seek proof from the Black Earl.

Black Earl did not respond but instead flipped the stone slab, indicating for Kaier to inquire Angel.

At that time, when he examined the mirror surface, he found no abnormalities. But prior to checking the oil painting, he also didn’t find abnormalities. Yet, when Angel went to touch it, the painting underwent a change. So, he couldn’t determine whether this mirror surface might also have anomalies.

Now that Kaier and Angel had entered the Hanging Jail Stairway together, it was best to let Angel decide whether to wipe the dust off the mirror to see if it reveals them or someone else?

Angel: "Although I feel it doesn’t matter whether we wipe it or not, but it can be pretty much determined that the Wood Spirit wouldn’t be near the dressing mirror."

As for why the Wood Spirit wouldn’t be near the dressing mirror, Angel didn’t provide an explanation, but everyone could understand.

Just as with the previous oil painting, the derivative of the Wood Spirit’s body was taken, yet it still dared not approach near the painting, which is a sign.

"Our task is to find the Wood Spirit; exploring the truth within the mirror is currently not important."

Angel said this while glancing at The Sage Sovereign: "Of course, if The Sage Sovereign wants to consider exploring the mirror’s truth as a bonus condition, then that’s another matter."

The Sage Sovereign did not respond, and Angel turned and asked: "Seems it’s not a bonus condition, so do we continue?"

Angel was asking the Black Earl.

Because if the anomaly within the ’mirror’ is related to the ’Mirror Demon God’, it likely ties back to Augustine, so if the Black Earl wants to explore the truth now, Angel wouldn’t prevent it.

After a brief contemplation, Black Earl said: "Let’s prioritize completing the task first."

Since Black Earl said this, there was no need to focus too much on the vanity.

After everyone explored the room for a while and confirmed the absence of clues about the Wood Spirit, they began to gradually leave.

Angel was the last to exit the room, and as he walked out, preparing to leave from the first floor, he discovered the Black Earl floating outside the door.

"What did you see in the mirror?" the Black Earl asked softly.

Angel was silent for several seconds before chuckling lightly: "...still couldn’t keep it hidden."

The reason Black Earl was so certain was that he didn’t believe Angel would not go to wipe the mirror.

He deliberately arranged for Kaier to be the first to leave, and himself to be the last, implying there were reasons.

Although Angel didn’t touch the mirror surface, they were within an illusion; Angel and Kaier were in the real Hanging Jail Stairway. As long as Kaier left first, with no worries, Angel could completely use the illusion to cover reality.

It seemed he hadn’t done anything, but actually, he had accomplished everything directly in front of everyone else.

"I didn’t see myself in the mirror."

When Angel said this, the Black Earl knew the mirror indeed had anomalies.

Black Earl: "Was it that blonde woman?"

Angel shook his head: "No, there was no one in the mirror, only a black hole resembling the Abyss."

"A black hole like an abyss?" Black Earl: "Could it be traversed by people?"

Angel: "I don’t know. I didn’t probe the interior of the mirror with spiritual power. However, it’s a blatant ’invitation,’ likely traversable."

Black Earl: "You were right not to enter."

In such unknown circumstances, it’s best to act with caution. Moreover, the pathway within the mirror might concern the "Mirror Demon God."

If it truly is the "Demon God," then it’s dangerous.

Angel naturally understood this principle: "Normal people wouldn’t stand beneath a perilous wall."

After a pause, Angel added: "By the way, as I was leaving, a hand extended out from the black hole..."

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