Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1382: Section 1383: Bizarre Figure

Because in this painting, there appeared a familiar figure.

By the looks of her attire, it was still Greya!

But upon closer inspection of the details within the painting, Hua Que did not seem close to this Greya. The hues of the painting, along with the brushstrokes, all created an air of unfamiliarity.

“She is indeed the real Lady Greya, not the original personality in slumber,” Angel said with certainty.

“Your judgment is not wrong,” Sanders nodded. “Judging by the time, this painting must be after Greya left Illusion Demon Island. As expected, Greya did come to Black Castle.”

Angel estimated that this was where the watershed started.

He continued flipping through. Greya had only stopped by to see Hua Que before she left.

Hua Que spent some time recording days with words, and on the second day after Greya’s departure, Hua Que wrote a vague entry: “The lady is not the lady, but, it seems like she knows where the young master is?”

This entry actually revealed Greya’s identity.

Greya was Greya, but not the Greya who had given Hua Que the Soul Pearl.

Days passed one after another, and Hua Que did not record anything with paintings, indicating that nothing significant had happened during that time.

Going by the dates, by the sixtieth-odd page, Angel finally turned to the events of the past two months.

The previous few entries were time records. When Angel flipped through another entry, a different scene finally appeared. That same faceless figure reappeared in the deep well!

Although this time, the figure still did nothing to Hua Que, her brushstrokes were even more disordered, and the fear permeated the paper, striking directly at the viewer.

This figure only took up one page; the following pages were once again recordings of time.

Until the last entry.

The last entry was still a painting, but underneath this painting, Hua Que added an abnormal line of text.

“I have seen a lot, and only by leaving can I see more.”

On the canvas, Hua Que’s hand was holding that of a woman wearing a long dress.

Flipping further, there were no more recorded entries. Judging by the timing, this should have happened one and a half months ago.

“It seems like she left the Illusionary Realm of her own accord. But the question is, who is this woman leading her away…” Angel furrowed his brows.

This woman in the long dress was someone who had never appeared in this diary before.

Moreover, Hua Que did not emphasize any particular feature of this woman, as if there was nothing significant to highlight. However, since Hua Que was holding the woman’s hand, it seemed to imply that she trusted her?

But why would Hua Que trust a woman who had never appeared in her records?

“Even though I have seen the truth, there’s no feeling of enlightenment, but rather, even more mysteries,” Angel massaged his temples, his mind filled with questions: Who was this strange woman? Who was the previous figure without a face? Why was Hua Que afraid of the faceless figure, and why did she trust the stranger? Also, could Hua Que’s departure be related to the anomaly in Black Castle?

“I keep feeling that there might be some trickery involved here,” Angel pondered and couldn’t figure out, could only reorganize the desk to see if Hua Que had recorded something elsewhere. However, as the creator of the Illusionary Realm, he easily searched everywhere to no avail.

Hua Que had left, so what now? Angel didn’t know what to tell Popota, or should he simply ignore it?

He pondered for a moment and then reached into the bracelet with his spiritual power.

Popota’s expression was filled with anxiety. Ever since Angel told him about the anomaly in Black Castle, his heart had been in a state of constant worry. Probably, this was the longest and most torturous time he had ever experienced in his life.

Watching Popota nervously fidgeting with his hands and the flicker of dim light in his eyes, Angel pondered for a moment and then decided to tell Popota the truth.

With a flash of light and shadow, Popota suddenly felt weightless, and when he steadied himself, he found he was in a pink teenage girl’s room. Standing by his side were Sanders and Angel.

Popota immediately understood his situation; he must have left the bracelet space. He instinctively pulled the hood of his wizard robe lower, then turned his head, intending to survey his surroundings… more precisely, he wanted to see if Hua Que was nearby.

However, after looking around, Popota could only confirm he was in a very girly room, but he didn’t see anyone else.

Popota turned around in confusion.

Sanders had a calm expression, while Angel looked somewhat solemn.

“This is…” Popota looked at Angel’s expression and suddenly felt a pang in his heart, a horrific answer that had been haunting him for a while seemed about to surface.

Angel, “This is the Illusionary Realm I mentioned before, the one I created for your sister Hua Que.”

“Then… where is my sister?” Popota’s voice suddenly trembled.

“As you can see, she is not here right now,” Angel looked at the trembling Popota, intentionally slowing down his voice, “But don’t panic just yet; she left some clues. You might want to take a look first.”

Popota, after all, was a Transcendent; despite the icy coldness in his heart, he knew what he needed to do was not to become upset but to calm down.

He kept telling himself, “There are still clues, still clues.”

After a series of exhales and inhales, Popota’s gaze still fluctuated with emotion, but his expression gradually became composed.

Admiration flashed in Angel’s eyes. Once he confirmed that Popota had calmed down, he shared his findings, including the footprints outside and this diary.

“Take a look, it contains records of Hua Que’s life during this time.” Angel handed the diary to Popota.

Popota took it with trembling hands, and when he saw the text on the cover, his eyes began to mist up. Without needing Angel to confirm, Popota already recognized that the writing was indeed his sister’s.

Hua Que’s memories might have faded, but her handwriting remained the same!

Indeed, Angel had not lied to him, Hua Que had truly been here!

Popota, suppressing the surge of emotions in his heart, reached out with his dry and weathered hand and opened the diary.

Popota read intently, spending a long time on each page, gently caressing every word as if imitating Hua Que’s brushstrokes.

Popota’s eyes reflected nostalgia and deep guilt.

After an unknown length of time, Popota finally turned the last page. When he closed his eyes, all the text and images from the diary were etched in his mind, every detail vivid before his eyes.

“Thank you.” Amid the accompaniment of the music box and the chiming of the wind bells, a heavy yet sincere expression of gratitude came from Popota.

Although Angel had previously spoken to him about Hua Que’s situation, seeing is believing. The diary of Hua Que detailed how Angel had changed her life, and a substantial portion of the text described her yearning for Angel.

While Popota felt somewhat jealous, his words of thanks were heartfelt.

“You’ve already thanked me many times,” Angel said indifferently, “Let’s get back to the clues in the diary. You’ve finished reading it, have you discovered anything?”

Popota, “These are indeed Hua Que’s memories and drawings, but I do not recognize the people depicted here, other than you, Angel.”

Popota hoped to get answers from Angel, but Angel simply shrugged and pointed at the girl in the image, “I only know that this is Lady Greya; as for the others, I have no idea.”

Regarding Greya, Angel hadn’t spoken to Popota because it involved Greya’s secrets. Even now, Angel merely acknowledged that the person was Greya and chose not to reveal more.

Although Popota couldn’t learn about Greya, from the images, it seemed that Greya and Hua Que were not enemies.

He flipped through the diary again, hoping to find new clues, especially concerning the woman in the long dress, as she was likely the one who took Hua Que away.

But Popota still couldn’t find anything; instead, while observing the faceless figure, he noticed a problem.

“Angel, don’t you feel that this shadow looks somewhat different from the ones she drew before?” Popota pointed to the faceless figure; it was from a painting two months prior, the second time this eerie shadow appeared in Hua Que’s diary.

“Different?” Angel hadn’t noticed anything at first glance, as it was just a faceless shadow.

But now that Popota pointed it out, he indeed noticed some differences.

“Although my sister’s drawings are naive, they follow the same pattern. Take a closer look at how she draws herself, you, and including Lady Greya. The body proportions are all identical. But the proportions of this faceless shadow are different, the colors vary as well,” Popota paused, speaking tentatively, “Maybe this means that the shadow did not appear the same way twice, but showed two different forms?”

Following Popota’s lead, Angel thought it over, and it was indeed so.

The second time, the shadow was clearly drawn a bit larger. Furthermore, Hua Que used darker colors for the shadow.

“This is indeed a clue. But Hua Que was taken away by another woman, unrelated to this shadow, right?” Angel said.

Popota pondered for a moment, “Every time my sister saw this shadow, the images are filled with panic and fear. She didn’t record why she was afraid of this shadow, but it is the only source of negative emotion in the entire diary. I wonder, could this be related to the reason for my sister’s departure?”