Isabel's Investigation

After finally waiting for the fierce-looking man to leave, Isabel slowly crawled out of bed to investigate.

Her head felt dizzy and heavy, as if there was a heavy lead weight in her brain. Even the slightest movement of her head caused her sharp pains. This made her afraid to move too quickly, and her body was so weak that she could barely stand up.

When she climbed out of bed, she almost lost her footing and fell straight down.

The intense fear instantly soaked her back in cold sweat, followed by a sharp pain in her brain.

This made her frown immediately, and she curled up into a ball by the bed.

A wave of nausea washed over me, and my skin and bones ached constantly. Touching them only made the pain worse.

"...it hurts."

She murmured softly as she got out of bed.

Just then, a bolt of lightning struck outside.

The next moment, the candles inside the room suddenly went out without any wind. At the same time, the window was suddenly pushed open by the wind, and the howling rain suddenly intensified.

She instinctively wanted to scream, but Isabel held back.

—It's no use yelling anyway. Don't embarrass yourself, Isabel... you won't die anyway.

She said this fiercely to herself.

This time, no one could help her. Isabel had no idea which floor Iver and Sherlock were on... If they were on a floor below hers, they couldn't help her in the slightest.

But at least one thing is certain: there is definitely no one else on her floor now.

And even if she died, it wouldn't matter; it would only mean falling one level. Although Isabel didn't quite understand what she was supposed to do, she at least understood the rules—she couldn't be on Layer Zero, so it didn't matter if she died.

And if you're on a lower floor, someone should come down soon. If you haven't seen anyone, it means you're probably on a higher floor.

So what she had to do was to investigate as much as possible while persisting for as long as possible.

There might be something that only she on this floor can see.

"... At the very least, I can't be a burden."

Isabel gritted her teeth, covered her head, and staggered to her feet.

She hadn't invited anyone for her last advancement ceremony either—but she was lucky enough to run into Iver and Sherlock, who happened to decide to help her.

That was their kindness, their good fortune. But it wasn't protection they were entitled to.

They cannot protect themselves forever, and one day they will have to walk on their own.

... My Grandmother will eventually die, and I will succeed her.

She doesn't know when she'll become Queen —a nightmare-level Promotion Ritual with no second chances, far more difficult than the nightmare where death wouldn't matter! She can't let Iver down!

"If you're going to die... you should do it after you've tried your best, not just commit suicide to seek help..."

Thinking this, Isabel stumbled and rushed to the window that had been pushed open.

The torrential rain outside soaked Isabel instantly. She tried to close the window, but found she couldn't reach it at all—she might have been able to by standing on a stool, but she wasn't sure she could even stand steadily or if she would fall.

At that moment, her eyes suddenly widened. She had discovered something.

That was something she had to brave the torrential rain to reach the window to see—

The stars in the sky outside the window shone brightly, their light flickering, seemingly forming some kind of word.

She stood there in the pouring rain, staring intently for a long time. Completely soaked, she finally understood the word.

That's not a word, but the number "201".

The starlight was guiding her to Room 201!

Isabel cheered up.

She hastily wiped her face with a towel. Having no clothes to change into, she could only stumble and stagger outside, clutching her rain-soaked body.

As she started walking, she realized she was so dizzy she was almost unsteady. Isabel took two quick steps and nearly bumped her head on the doorknob.

Realizing that her body was in worse shape than she had imagined, she became more cautious and started walking step by step while holding onto the wall.

Her steps grew weaker and weaker, and her vision blurred.

The storm pounded against the windows, and she could vaguely hear a little girl singing, arguing, the loud thud of something falling to the ground, and a woman screaming. But Isabel couldn't tell if it was her imagination; she only felt her consciousness becoming blurry, and the world spinning before her eyes.

The distance between room 202 and Room 201 was only a short distance, but it took her a long time to walk.

Is this really just a cold and fever? Isabel wondered.

She walked to Room 201 and was about to stand on tiptoe to pull the doorknob.

But just then, the doorknob moved by itself. Then the old door creaked open.

Isabel held her breath, her heart stopped. She stood frozen in place, as if under a spell.

"Is someone inside?" But after a long time, she heard no sound from inside. Even the singing, the noise, and the loud crashes had disappeared. Only the roaring rain and the irregular banging of the windows as the wind pounded against them remained.

She gritted her teeth and pushed the door open. As soon as she let go, the door slammed shut by itself.

The room was pitch black, with no signs of anyone having lived there. Yet, even so, she felt increasingly uneasy.

Even if someone suddenly rushes out and kills me, that would be better...

Just then, another bolt of lightning struck.

In that fleeting flash of lightning, she clearly saw a blonde little girl with a bluish-purple face standing outside the window.

—But this is the second floor.

Isabel finally screamed.

She immediately turned around, jumped up, and pulled the doorknob. But the door seemed to be stuck; she couldn't open it no matter how many times she pulled.

She pulled hard, yanking the doorknob open. She was about to rush out—

But what lay outside the door wasn't a corridor at all, but a sealed-off red brick wall. She bumped into the wall, her skin aching even more, and even the arm she instinctively used to shield herself was scraped.

She turned around in horror, only to find that the girl outside the window had disappeared.

The house was empty again.

Isabel swallowed hard, took a few deep breaths, and forced herself to calm down.

She had a vague idea, and closed the door again. Then she opened it again.

This time, the area outside the door changed again—it became a staircase leading upwards.

This time, Isabel wasn't in a hurry to go out. She simply opened the door and bravely went to the window.

She pressed herself against the window and looked for a while. She found that there was indeed nothing outside.

By the occasional flashes of lightning outside, she could vaguely make out the furnishings inside—unlike her rented Room 202, this place clearly had a more lived-in atmosphere. Specifically, there were some books scattered haphazardly on the table, and a somewhat worn-out Little Bear.

If the people here disappeared a long time ago, then these things should have been collected and put away.

Isabel walked over cautiously and reached out to touch the books. She found that there was no dust on them.

She picked up the only open book and waited by the window for the lightning to strike.

After a while, as the lightning fell, she saw the cover of the book.

"... The Sage in the Oak."

She frowned and murmured, "This is the story of Merlin."

Isabel has read this book.

This book tells the story of Merlin, the current apostle of Weizhe, who was once imprisoned in an oak tree by his ex-girlfriend Vivian when he was human.

He could hear everything outside and speak. But he couldn't come out or cast spells. And the oak tree sealing him was exceptionally hard; even an axe couldn't cut it down to free him.

He was thus regarded as the "inner spirit" of the oak tree.

People heard of a wise and spirited oak tree here, and they flocked from all directions to ask him questions. Later, a knight traveling with Red Hilt Holy Sword arrived and, believing it to be an evil oak tree that could bewitch people, he chopped it in half with his sword. This unexpectedly released Merlin.

Merlin was grateful to the knight and brought him back to Lancelot's side, making him Round Table Knights and an ancestor of the Camelot Founding Family.

—But Isabel, as a descendant of Lancelot, certainly knew that the book was wrong.

Because the only knight capable of properly wielding the Red Hilt Sword was Galahad. And he only acquired the Red Hilt Sword after Arthur left the Material Realm and Lancelot became Lancelot I. By then, he was already Round Table Knights.

... Furthermore, there's another theory within the Du Lac Family that the Camelot Family is actually a branch of the Du Lac Family.

Galahad was possibly Lancelot I's illegitimate son. And Galahad had no blood relation to Guinevere.

But here's this book... and it's open. Clearly, the homeowner was reading it before leaving.

Does this have any inherent meaning?

"... If only Iver were here."

Isabel bit her lip, looking somewhat dejected.

She wasn't as clever as Iver and Sherlock, and now, feeling her body was on the verge of death, she couldn't do much. Her cultivation abilities were even sealed... and she had no one else to communicate with. She had never felt so lonely and terrified, as if abandoned by the entire world.

She circled the room twice more, but didn't see anything different. So she simply tucked the book into her waistband and secured it to her tummy with her pants. Then she picked up her Little Bear bear and left the room.

As soon as she stepped onto the stairs, the door behind her automatically closed and locked.

Isabel paused. There was no turning back, she thought.

But it didn't matter—she had gradually gotten used to it.

She walked for a long time, but still couldn't reach the end. Only then did Isabel suddenly realize something was wrong.

She clung to the wall to keep from falling. She struggled to lift her head and look upwards. But she couldn't see anything, or even know how many more floors were above her.

Now that she'd come this far, there was no point in going back. The doors she'd been told were already locked, she thought.

But whether it was her imagination or not, she felt that the surroundings were getting brighter and brighter. And the sound of the rain outside was getting thinner and thinner, gradually becoming quiet.

The little girl's singing voice suddenly came through clearly, startling her—the voice was coming from the Little Bear in her arms.

"Lock Her Up With a Key... lock her up, lock her up... Lock Her Up With a Key, my dear friend..."

Isabel let go of the teddy bear, and it fell directly to the ground.

The bear fell downwards, and Isabel instinctively wanted to crouch down and grab it.

But just as she turned around and bent down to grab it back, she felt a cold little hand gently push her from behind.

Isabel tumbled and fell down the stairs, which were of unknown height.

Update complete! Today's update is 7,000 words, meow~ My rhinitis is much better now, the air purifier saved my cat's life!

Turns out, my old air purifier wasn't working properly... I bought it when I moved in 2016; it cost over two thousand yuan to remove formaldehyde. I replaced the filter once, and I only used it for about two months a year, mainly in March and September when I'm prone to allergies. This time, it was basically useless. I even wondered if my body had become so weak that running the air purifier and taking medication weren't helping...

As a result, I bought a new Huawei air purifier for 700-800 yuan. It weighs and is only one-third the size of my old one. It worked immediately after I turned it on. The day before yesterday, I used more than 100 sheets of paper a day. The day before yesterday, I only used more than 30 sheets. Yesterday and today, I only used a dozen or twenty sheets. The effect is remarkable.

It can only be said that technology has advanced...