Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 846: Chapter 845: Adventure Journey in the Main World (III)

Looking at the dense fog ahead, everyone became more vigilant. After all, both Kurumi and Walnut were coming to the Main World for the first time, and no one knew what might happen here. Although they had both made quite a name for themselves in their respective worlds, this world was completely different from the ones they came from...

”Be careful, it’s hard to navigate here. I spent quite a long time getting out last time... To be honest, I didn’t even know there was a village here before.”

”Then how did you get inside?”

Hearing Fina speak, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but ask curiously. You didn’t even know there was a village here, yet you managed to get here?

At Fang Zheng’s inquiry, Fina turned her head and looked ahead.

”... I got lost...”

Well, that’s quite a good and strong reason.

Fang Zheng shrugged, then looked at the mist in front of him, and after a moment of silence, made a decision.

”Let’s go in and see what’s going on.”

As they stepped into the dense fog, the white, damp mist rushed toward them, making them feel almost suffocated. Fang Zheng frowned, glancing around. The visibility in this foggy area seemed to be only about a hundred meters. Looking around, even the woods on both sides were barely visible.

”How did this fog come about?”

”I don’t know either.”

Fina shook her head.

”I was walking well in the mountains, then suddenly I encountered this fog. I also asked about it in the village and they said it’s a natural phenomenon here, happening a few times each year. In the past few days, almost no one from the village goes out... But now, even if they wanted to, they couldn’t leave. I checked, it’s just ordinary dense fog, no toxins, and not an illusion.”

”Indeed, it’s not...”

Fang Zheng, as a Prophet Mage, naturally suppresses illusions. If this fog were an illusion, it wouldn’t escape his eyes. But since this thick fog genuinely doesn’t look like an illusion, then we could only say... it’s a natural phenomenon.

Not sure if it was an illusion, but after entering the fog, everything went silent around them. Earlier, when they were climbing the mountain, they could still hear birds chirping in the woods, but now, they couldn’t hear anything besides their footsteps and their voices, not even the sound of the wind.

”Ugh... This doesn’t feel right...”

Walnut held her shovel, looking uneasily around.

”I feel like I’m in a horror game...”

You don’t say, I have the same feeling.

Hearing Walnut’s gripe, Fang Zheng silently nodded, wondering whether, once they emerged from the foggy area, they’d find a town that looked like it had been burned by a major fire and a ”Welcome to Silent Hill” sign.

... Hopefully not.

The group didn’t encounter any threats along the way, nor did any creatures or enemies take the chance to attack them. Led by Fina, they managed to exit the foggy area in just over twenty minutes and arrived before a village.

”Here is... eh?”

As she spoke, Fina gestured towards the village in front of them. Then she suddenly froze. Seeing Fina’s reaction, Fang Zheng and the others also looked ahead.

What lay before them was an exceedingly ordinary village. People hustled and bustled along the road; some were working in the fields, looking perfectly normal with no issues. Yet, Fina’s expression seemed as though she witnessed something unbelievable, staring wide-eyed at the scene.

”How could it be... It wasn’t like this before.”

Fina widened her eyes in astonishment, slowly walking into the village, observing the people on both sides as if seeing rare creatures.

”Everyone was bedridden before, they couldn’t even get out of bed...”

”Oh, isn’t this Miss Cleric?”

At this moment, an elder dressed as a farmer came striding over with his farm tools, waving at Fina with a hearty laugh. Seeing this elder, Fina’s expression became even more astonished.

”Uncle Rand? You’re okay?”

”I’m okay? What’s supposed to be wrong with me?”

Hearing Fina’s question, the old farmer was momentarily stunned, then chuckled and spoke.

”Look, I’m doing well, but where did Miss Cleric go? You left without saying a word, worried us sick.”

”Eh...? I went to find help to eliminate the epidemic. Speaking of which, Uncle Rand, how come everyone is fine now? Is the epidemic gone?”

”Epidemic? What epidemic?”

Faced with Fina’s questioning, the old farmer showed a puzzled expression.

”What are you talking about, Miss Cleric? Everything’s going well here; nothing has happened. What epidemic do you speak of? Could it be you’re still groggy from sleep, haha...”

”Eh? But...”

”It’s rare to see someone like Miss Cleric who takes nightmares for reality. By the way, my little girl is waiting for you. Didn’t you say you’d tell her stories from the Holy Scripture? She’s been anticipating it. When she saw you leave, she cried a lot. Now you’re back, Miss Cleric, why don’t you go see the little girl?”

After saying this, the old farmer carried his farming tools and waddled towards the other side of the field. Meanwhile, Fina stood there in a daze, watching the old farmer’s departing figure, momentarily at a loss for words.

”Brother Fang Zheng, what’s going on here?”

Just then, Walnut came over with a shovel, curiously asking.

”Didn’t Fina say earlier that the situation here wasn’t very urgent? Now it looks like nothing’s wrong at all?”

”It is a bit strange.”

Upon hearing Walnut’s inquiry, Fang Zheng also nodded. He certainly didn’t believe Fina would lie. In fact, it seemed that the cleric maiden was indeed not one to lie; one look at her expression showed that Fina herself was completely bewildered, not knowing how to react.

Of course, according to common reasoning, if Fina hadn’t lied, then the remaining possibilities were that the cultist had cast an illusion on Fina, controlling her spirit. Or perhaps by the time Fina returned, it was too late, and the villagers had already been possessed by something evil—this is basically how many game and movie plots unfold.

However, when Fina and that old farmer were conversing earlier, Fang Zheng secretly activated divine arts detection, and everything turned out normal. In front of them was a normal old man, neither possessed by an evil spirit nor under any sort of spell’s mental control; everything was perfectly normal, normal to the extreme.

”...Let’s head to Uncle Rand’s house first; that’s where I stayed last time.”

This brought Fina back to awareness. Although she didn’t know what had happened, she shook her head and led Fang Zheng and the others into the village. Under Fina’s guidance, they quickly passed through the village path and arrived at the end of the slope on the other side of the village.

”This is Uncle Rand’s house, he... huh?”

As she introduced the place to Fang Zheng and the others, Fina walked up the slope’s steps. But when she saw the wooden cabin in front of her, she was taken aback again. The cleric maiden tilted her head, looked at the wooden cabin, then at the tree beside it, and wore a puzzled expression.

”What’s wrong? Is something wrong?”

Seeing Fina’s bewildered look, Fang Zheng stepped forward and asked, and Fina shook her head.

”I don’t know, but I remember Uncle Rand’s house should be on the left... That big tree should be on the right... How strange, did I remember it wrong?”

”Sister Cleric!”

Just then, a young voice piped up, and then a group of children playing under the big tree ran over and gathered around Fina.

”Where did you go?”

”We missed you a lot, that story you told wasn’t finished yet.”

”Who are these people?”

”Ah, they are my companions... Alright, let me finish yesterday’s story for you first.”

It was clear that Fina was a bit dizzy at the moment. She let the children pull her over to the big tree and started telling them a story, one step at a time. Meanwhile, Kurumi, dressed like a mage, cheerfully came to Fang Zheng’s side.

”So, Mr. Fang Zheng? Have you figured out who is lying?”

”I have figured it out.”

Hearing Kurumi’s question, Fang Zheng shook the ”Ratziel” in his hand.

”Interestingly, neither side is lying.”

”Eh?”

This time it was Kurumi’s turn to be surprised.

”So, Lady Fina was right about the villagers being infected with a plague, yet it is also true that the villagers never contracted a plague?”

”That’s right.”

Fang Zheng nodded, then reopened the ”Ratziel” in his hand. Earlier, he used the Omniscient Angel to investigate Fina’s actions yesterday, discovering that everything the cleric maiden said was true. She had gotten lost and arrived at this village, subsequently noticing that a plague was spreading here. Indeed, Uncle Rand also contracted the plague and couldn’t hold on before Fina even left.

But what happened in the village afterwards, as recorded in the ”Ratziel”, appeared chaotic and self-contradictory.

For instance, according to ”Ratziel”, Uncle Rand took his last breath shortly after Fina left the village and became an undead creature, even killing his family.

Yet, after a few lines, the next paragraph switched to Uncle Rand getting out of bed, washing up, eating, and then going out to farm.

Then the next paragraph turned back to the plague spreading in the village, with almost everyone dying tragically.

After completing this section, the next paragraph portrayed the village as living a peaceful and happy life...

In simple terms, it’s as if two different authors were writing the same story but interspersing completely different plotlines in a bizarre manner.

”This is really interesting...”

Looking at the records in ”Ratziel”, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but marvel. The records of the Omniscient Angel are supposed to be factual events, yet how could these two contradictory facts both occur simultaneously?

What secrets does this village hide?

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng found himself growing more and more intrigued.