Western Continent, Janus, São Pelto, the city night in February is still cold and windy, as cold as frost.
In the small villa located at No. 20 Walstein Street, Roy walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a bath towel, stamped the water on the blanket, and released a large cloud of white steam.
After changing into a set of silk pajamas behind the screen of the bed, the maids rolled over the bulky drying machine and used dozens of towels to dry her hair.
After waiting for them to carry away the last washing basket, Roy took out a pair of small, shiny black scissors from the drawer.
"Click——"
A thin sound sounded when the wall clock pointed to 0 o'clock.
"I cut off a strand of hair and put it under my pillow to pay tribute to certain existences and certain principles."
Following some intuitive thoughts that washed away in her mind, she recited a specific prayer, placed the fresh-scented black hair under her pillow, then turned off the gas lamp and rolled herself into the blanket.
"This is really a strange preparation for promotion. How can anyone prepare when the conditions are not certain?"
"But in short, after the early spiritual tuning is completed, it doesn't matter if you don't get promoted. It's nothing more than doing a bunch of useless rituals that may seem strange to others, and you'll have to do it all over again in the future."
The fireplace was burning warmly in the bedroom. In the darkness, Roy felt that things were still a bit absurd. She laughed to herself, then closed her eyes and took longer than usual to fall asleep amid the ups and downs of her thoughts.
The next day, the cuckoo on the wall clock popped its head at 6:30.
After Roy got up and washed up, he changed into an elegant dress, walked to the floor-length mirror, stared at himself for a few seconds, and adjusted his state.
Immediately, she put on an elegant smile, lifted up her skirt, took steps, raised her arms, stepped on the spot, and turned around.
"I came to understand a dance that originated in the rain-rich forests of the Old World."
The aristocratic etiquette she learned since childhood made her dance steps light and graceful, but her smile gradually changed from aristocratic flashy to restrained, and her detailed movements also changed. It seemed that she had undergone a transformation or some kind of "reduction" process. In the gorgeous palace style
Behind the scenes, a mysterious and sincere artistic conception gradually emerges.
She felt that the hinges of a door high up were trembling slightly, which was only in her own perception.
"I read a collection of poems in front of the lamp and lost myself in my thoughts."
"I search in the dusk and am captured by candlelight. Moths yearn to see the light, and so do I."
Starting from the night after the "Cracking Field" road sign was handed over, Roy conducted a different tribute session every 7 hours for a little more than two days, a total of 7 times planned.
This system of tribute patterns is the key to passing through the first door of the "Evolution" phase, the "Gate of Fantasy"!
Under the inheritance of the Bologna School for many years, it already has a mature and tailor-made "guidance model". At this time, every link executed by Roy is an optimized method that suits him.
During this period, Roy acquiesced that Aunt Hermosa might come to him at any time - in fact, probably shortly after the second tribute, Hermosa did come to see her again, and the two had breakfast in the restaurant.
, spent more than half an hour together.
Then the other person returned to his bedroom on his floor, and there was no movement. Roy didn't take the initiative to care about what the other person was doing. Maybe the other person was alone, reading, meditating, maybe going out for a walk, sightseeing, socializing, it didn't matter.
She showed a state of locking herself in her room to practice the piano, carefully and quietly performing the tribute session on time, and spent 49 hours like this.
"I drank the unpleasant wine mixed with old memories, and my thoughts were as thin as a curtain of rain. There are some things that I may never understand or obtain, but they are precious and make people eagerly desire them."
At 1 o'clock in the middle of the night on the third day, Roy drank a small cube of red wine in the glass and sat quietly in front of the dressing table with flickering lights. His cheeks were slightly red and his thoughts were fluctuating.
A feeling of being captured by an uneasy longing filled her heart, and she knew that her spirituality had been tuned to the specific state she needed.
For a moment, she wanted to draw the secret symbol on the mirror and write some words again to the messenger who had stopped communicating with her for several days.
But Father Lavoisier's instructions flashed through his mind, and Roy finally took a deep breath and stood up.
A minute later, she opened the door to the bedroom downstairs and turned on the gas lamp.
The light dispersed the darkness and the room was empty.
But after feeling that there was a thin wall of spirituality remaining here, she frowned, her fingertips stirred up gray-white figurative inspiration, and made two horizontal and vertical strokes in the air.
Roy's blue pupils suddenly shrank.
A highly ulcerated and swollen corpse appeared on the bed. Black tissue fluid quickly soaked and spread on the sheets, and a strong stench hit your nostrils!
She instinctively took a step back, and then took three steps forward.
"There is almost no other possibility for someone to die in this place at this time except Aunt Hermosa. Moreover, in such cold weather, even if the natural death lasts for more than two days, the body will not be in such a state of decay. It must be
Something else happened in the dream. I originally thought that my aunt had colluded with a secret organization at best, and might hand over the 'disintegration field' to the members of the Divine Advent Society. Unexpectedly, she actually went to that place in person to search for the so-called 'meat-shattering'
Sacrifice residue'?"
Roy's eyes were lowered and he clenched his fists tightly, feeling an uncontrollable surge of depression and helplessness.
Although there are many branches of the McAdam family, and Aunt Hermosa is not a relative that she has been with day and night since she was a child, she still has many warm or harmonious memories in her heart. But now, the school that has always been her strongest support has been replaced by
Confirmed that such a serious problem has occurred!
"No, calm down. I have important people waiting for me and important things to do."
"The promotion opportunities that Father Lavoisier said turned out to be true in San Porto! He asked me about the approximate time it took to prepare the key, and after getting the answer of 'seven, seven and forty-nine hours,'
It reminded me that I must prepare in advance according to the time node he predicted! Otherwise, the opportunity will be lost in some form!"
Looking at it now, Mr. Father’s interpretation of “lost opportunity” in The Secret of Illumination specifically refers to——
After the Special Inspection Office learns of the death of a three-level master of the Dawn, it will immediately use a "phantom man" to occupy the gnosis observation position of the first door at the bottom of the corresponding path!
Of course, even worse luck cannot be ruled out. For example, when they used some means to observe the climbing path during daily inspections, they happened to discover the changes earlier.
In short, your promotion time must be stuck after the death of the Knower and before the control of the Special Patrol Office!
Roy searched Hermosa's bedroom for some common occult auxiliary items, such as essential oils, gems and parchment, and quickly and simply rearranged a short-term hiding ritual, purifying and dispersing most of the stench.
.
As long as no one of high rank and knowledge is observing carefully, and as long as no one crawls into bed out of boredom, the room will still look empty.
A very small amount of odor will be diluted by opening windows for ventilation, and there is no time for more detailed treatment.
She closed the door with a bang, quickly climbed the steps, and returned to her bedroom on the third floor, where the candlelight flickered.