Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1499: Section 1500 Immersion Chapter 1499: Section 1500 Immersion Hua Queʼs curiosity was evidently stronger than Popotaʼs. She floated over and scrutinized the small box in Angelʼs palm from above and below.

The box was roughly the size of a chicken egg, with a somewhat peculiar design. It was a square box engraved with cloud patterns, and right on top, there was a metal decoration resembling the shape of a trumpet flower.

“Big brother, what is this?” Hua Que observed curiously, sensing a strange fluctuation connected to Angel emanating from the box. However, she had no idea what it actually was.

Popota, although somewhat tired, was also curious and looked over.

“This is a special miniature stage device,” Angel said with a smile.

Angel remembered Popota once saying he had always wanted to take Hua Que to a stage play but kept postponing it, thinking there was plenty of time in the future–only to be filled with regret when Hua Que was kidnapped.

“Would you like to see it?”

The moment Hua Que heard “stage play,” her eyes lit up instantly, “Can I watch it?”

Angel nodded, his lips forming a gentle smile, “Itʼs a good chance for you both to relax.”

Hua Que was thrilled, while Popota looked at Angel, feeling an odd sense of foreboding rising within him. He felt like Angelʼs smile contained a deeper meaning.

With Hua Queʼs nod, Angel gently caressed the trumpet flower on the little box.

Suddenly, an eerie melody began to play.

Hua Que, initially happy, was startled by the strange music, her smile freezing instantly.

Popota, on the other hand, shivered; the eerie music reminded him of the night he lost Hua Que, with torrential rain, dark skies, and a restless heart…

“Big brother, what… what is this?”

Angel was still smiling, “This is the sound of a special musical instrument called the water zither. Donʼt be afraid, keep watching. This is a very special play.”

Hua Que felt Angelʼs voice becoming fainter and fainter, until eventually, she couldnʼt hear anything, feeling weightless as though she had fallen from the clouds to the earth.

By the time Hua Que came to her senses, she found herself in a town shrouded in night.

The town seemed ordinary, but without streetlights and devoid of stars and moonlight, there was an inexplicable eeriness. The only light in the whole town came from a somewhat dilapidated church.

As the scene shifted, Hua Que found herself moving from a birdʼs-eye view of the town to the interior of the church.

The church was not large, with only a few believers reciting some unknown holy scripture.

On one side of the church, an old priest was whispering to a young man with white hair. Curious, Hua Que moved closer and overheard the old priest telling the young man, “Everything starts with the teachings of the Holy Scripture. Even your thought process and logical proof must be based on the doctrines of the Father God.”

Hua Que listened for a long time but did not fully grasp the content. She only learned that the old priestʼs name was Berengar, while the handsome young man with white hair was called Alex.

Hua Que walked around the church and didnʼt notice anything unusual. However, the churchʼs main door was locked, and she couldnʼt open it.

Hua Que recalled what Angel had said before; this was a special play.

“So, does that mean the setting for this stage play is this church?” Otherwise, it wouldnʼt make sense for the door to be locked.

But if it was an indoor play, then why did she get a view of the entire town from above just moments ago?

Hua Que was filled with doubts. However, she found the experience of this “special stage play” quite novel. To truly participate among the actors and see every detail was an incredible feeling.

With great interest, Hua Que roamed around. Since the actors couldnʼt see her, she could even hear the whispers of others.

However, after waiting for several minutes, Hua Que saw no progress in the play.

Just as Hua Que grew puzzled, the door, which she thought impossible to open, suddenly swung open. A man with a panic-stricken face walked in, muttering, “Dead… thereʼs been a death…”

Priest Berengar approached, “What happened?”

“Thereʼs been a death… The serial killer has appeared again, this time the victim is… Knight Raven…”

As the panic-stricken man finished speaking, the scene shifted once again.

The sound of horse hooves echoed in the dense night, as a group of knights wielding torches rode their fully armored steeds fast along the turbulent river.

“Whoa–” As the leader of the knight patrol pulled on the reins, the steed came to a halt, “Weʼre here; the deceasedʼs head was found right in this spot!”

On the roaring great river, there was a stone bridge where one of its pillars was surrounded by people.

At that moment, Hua Que was behind the knight patrol. She initially thought she was watching a play confined to a specific area, only to find herself out of the town, in the wilds and wastelands.

Late at night, a dismemberment case, humid air… and the sound of water music ringing in Hua Queʼs ears once again made her shudder involuntarily.

Even though she was already dead, even though she had seen countless corpses, the appropriate atmosphere paired with chilling music made this theater experience impart a terrifying impact on Hua Que like never before.

Hua Que dared not approach to look at the deceasedʼs head, only hoping the scene would quickly change.

But the image remained there, and the music grew more unsettling, as if telling Hua Que that the meaning of this scene lay in that decapitated head.

Having no choice, Hua Que mustered up her courage, made her way through the crowd, and arrived under the bridge pier.

The pale head of Knight Raven instantly caught Hua Queʼs sight.

Perhaps the existence of this scene was to make Hua Que look at Knight Ravenʼs head, so as soon as she had taken in Knight Ravenʼs visage, the scene immediately shifted.

She was back in the church once more.

Inside the church, Priest Beren Lang was conversing with Lady Connie, Knight Ravenʼs mother. After a while, Priest Beren Lang said he would go to the cemetery to hold a service for Knight Raven, asking the young man with white hair, Alex, to console Lady Connie.

Seeing this, Hua Que roughly understood the mechanics of this stage play, where scene transitions either meant a change in space or in time.

The theme of this stage play was probably solving a case? Investigating Knight Ravenʼs death that occurred prior?

And the protagonist, presumably, was one of these two in the church, but Priest Beren Lang seemed to have a minor role, so this Alex was probably the main character of the play.

After confirming this information, though somewhat frightened, Hua Que couldnʼt resist her curiosity and the novelty of the experience, slowly immersing herself in the plot, while internally guessing–who was the murderer?

About three hours later, Hua Que and Popota emerged from their immersion in the stage play one after the other.

Popotaʼs eyes were filled with complexity, and now he somewhat understood why he felt there was a deep meaning to Angelʼs smiling earlier… what relaxing, easygoing stage play? Absolutely not!

This play was suffused with an odd and dark style.

Especially the character development of Alex, the protagonist, carried an absurd sense of witnessing the rise and fall of human relations.

This was not a typical stage play, but the complexity and struggles of each character could be seen.

If Popota had not yet become a wizard, he certainly would not have let Hua Que watch such a play, but now that he was about to fall into the darkness of the Abyss woven by the Deep Master, leaving Hua Que alone in this savage world, perhaps watching this play could serve as a caution for her.

Moreover, the protagonist Alexʼs character was rather cold, but such a disposition was very suitable for the Wizardsʼ Realm. If Alex were a real person with talent, he might have made an exceptional wizard.

This could actually be of some help to Hua Queʼs future life in the Wizardsʼ Realm.

Apart from the effect on Hua Que and the contemplation of the playʼs content and characters, what Popota hated the most was–

“Big brother, what exactly is the ending?” As soon as Hua Que woke up from the play, she immediately ran to Angelʼs side and urgently asked.

Yes, what Popota hated the most was that this stage play had no ending!

Hua Que looked at Angel expectantly, and Popota pricked up his ears, wanting to know the final outcome of the play from Angel.

Originally thought to be a play about solving a murder case, they did not expect it to take a divine turn. Although it felt bizarre, what they wanted to know even more was whether that beloved yet hated protagonist had eventually killed the mad, dark nun?

Angel pondered for a moment, then said to Hua Que, “This play is based on a true story.”

Hua Que was startled for a moment. Although she was young, she had read quite a few books. She knew that stage play adaptations were often based on truth, but this play involving ʼcagesʼ, ʼundeadʼ, ʼrealm of the deceasedʼ, and a series of transcendent elements, to call it a true story was presumably some secret fortune of the Wizardsʼ Realm?

“Although this is a true story, I added a bit of dramatic flavor when adapting it,” Angel explained. His attempt was purely based on the immersive cinema from the Holographic Tablet, where many events he had not experienced himself were simulated through Illusion Technique.

Furthermore, to increase dramatic tension and story conflict, some of the charactersʼ dialogues were appropriately adjusted.

Therefore, it naturally differed from his own experiences. But the overall storyline remained unchanged.

“As for the ending youʼre asking about, I donʼt actually know. I donʼt know if Alex killed the nun, I donʼt know the fate of the outsider who helped Alex, and I certainly donʼt know if Alex managed to escape the cage.” Angel shrugged: “So, I canʼt give you a definite answer.”

Hua Que felt some regret upon hearing this.

“However, I said this is a true story. Maybe you could use your Prophecy talent to see the ending of this story,” Angel said with a smile: “At that point, itʼll be my turn to ask you about the ending.”

Angel chose to adapt his own experience into a special stage play for two reasons.

First, naturally, he hoped to use this method to pinpoint the location of the cage. And this location information was a very important data point for studying The Gate of Void.

Second, he was also curious about Alexʼs fate and thought that probably only a Prophet Wizard could help him with that. This was also why Angel had invited Hua Que to watch this play; after all, Hua Queʼs Prophecy ability was very strong.