Chapter 10: Moranden Castle

Spain, the Village of Samuelman.

It was currently the rainy season, but the climate in Spain seemed to be somewhat warmer.

Si Qingxuan had hired a guide familiar with the local villages to bring him from the airport.

They spent four hours on the road to reach Samuelman.

Perhaps because an endless plain lay before them, the sky here was exceptionally vast, with the deep blue expanse dotted with long, dim yellow clouds.

A clear stream flowed past a bright, striking thicket of trees.

On the distant slopes were well-arranged country villas, their roofs covered in layers of red cylindrical terracotta tiles.

The cream-colored walls were inset with horseshoe-shaped windows made of stone fragments.

Si Qingxuan breathed in the fresh, humid air and said to the guide, “It looks like it will rain tonight.”

“Lately, the rain only stops for a short while at dusk.”

The Spanish guide spoke fluent English and French.

After realizing Si Qingxuan understood both languages, he often mixed them together at will.

“T’as du bol! (You’re lucky!) This road is not very easy to drive in heavy rain.”

The scruffy guide winked at Si Qingxuan.

“Are you here on vacation? How long do you plan to stay? I can recommend a few inns with local flair. As long as you buy me a drink, I won’t charge you a referral fee.”

“No thanks,” Si Qingxuan politely declined.

“I have a place to stay. Just drop me off at Moranden Castle.”

“Are you sure? It’s very desolate there.”

The guide glanced at him in surprise.

“It can’t be helped. The people from the cultural heritage protection organization are waiting for me to sign some papers; we have an appointment for tomorrow morning,” Si Qingxuan said expressionlessly.

Originally, the witnesses under his grandfather had handled all the inheritance procedures, so Si Qingxuan only needed to sign.

But since this castle possessed a certain historical and cultural value, he had to sign an additional protection agreement confirming his responsibility for maintaining the castle.

…He wondered if the people from the protection organization would faint on the spot after hearing his plan to turn the castle into a ghost house.

Si Qingxuan hadn’t originally wanted to come.

But having just resolved the matter with the Ghost Tamer, he felt it would be good to take a long trip to clear his head.

However, the remoteness of the Village of Samuelman and the bumps along the way exceeded Si Qingxuan’s imagination.

It made him question why he was out on this vast, endless plain covered in withered grass.

He should be lazily slumped on the large bed in his apartment, sleeping or continuing to type insults to his ex-boyfriend on the chat app.

In stark contrast to Si Qingxuan’s coldness was the guide sitting beside him.

The guide took a sharp breath, his brown eyes widening.

“I heard the castle was about to get a new owner soon—I didn’t expect it to be you?”

The guide let out a hearty laugh.

“I never thought I’d get to host a truly wealthy person in my life. So, how long do you plan to stay? Are you going to renovate the castle into a hotel? I can help you bring in many travelers.”

“It’s just a castle built of stone, not the Palace of Versailles. Even if it’s turned into a hotel, no one would want to stay there,” Si Qingxuan sighed.

“I heard that currently, only the attic in the lighthouse is barely habitable.”

“Oh, that truly sounds like it will take a lot of work.”

The guide shrugged disappointedly and stopped speaking.

They reached the castle in silence.

The guide helped Si Qingxuan move his luggage down—though calling it luggage was a bit much, as it was only a slightly large handheld backpack.

Si Qingxuan thanked him and gave him a generous reward, after which the guide smiled, waved, and drove off.

Si Qingxuan stood before the castle gates and gazed at the surrounding scenery, finding it almost identical to the photos sent to him earlier.

Not far away was a forest of skeletal black trees, and the lake within the forest was shimmering with a hazy gray halo.

The high walls of the castle stood tall, featuring several towers and battlements.

Moss spread silently across the black bricks, making it look both magnificent and desolate.

Si Qingxuan looked at the deep, dark gate and suddenly felt something was wrong.

[Wait, High Priest.]

Just as he was about to step into the castle’s front courtyard, the system suddenly spoke up to warn him: [This castle seems to have been occupied by an Illusion.]

Si Qingxuan frowned. “An Illusion?”

[Here, I should introduce to you what some high-level anomalous creatures and evil gods do in their spare time.]

The system continued,

[They generally cannot descend directly into the human world, but they can use a specific location in reality as a fundamental reference point to create an Illusion that is very similar to reality but independent of it.

Then, they gradually erode the real world—this is the most effective way to invade reality within the laws of space.]

“The Illusion you’re talking about… is it like a Mirror World?” Si Qingxuan asked thoughtfully.

[If you must compare the two… fine, it’s roughly the same as a Mirror World.]

Si Qingxuan looked at the gate. “But this castle has always been maintained by people.”

The workers responsible for repairing the castle might have already been drawn into that Illusion.

Si Qingxuan rubbed his forehead helplessly. Why did he always run into this kind of bad luck?

[…It depends on what you choose.]

The system spoke up, [If you don’t care about this castle, I suggest you turn around and leave. Anyway, the Illusion here will soon attract the attention of certain people, and they will come to seal this place off.

You’ll never have to worry about the exorbitant maintenance costs of this castle again.]

Si Qingxuan: “Why seal it off? Can’t they eliminate the Illusion?”

[Did you notice I mentioned ‘high-level anomalous creatures’ or even ‘evil gods’? Anomalies of this power level are inherently difficult to purge.

Coupled with the fact that they’ve built an Illusion as their lair—the rules within the Illusion might be very different from reality, depending on their will.

Trying to break through an Illusion is like clearing a dungeon on Hell difficulty; very few people can do it.]

[Another point that needs to be emphasized—Illusions are nourished, or rather hatched, by human flesh and blood.

If too many people die in an Illusion, then that Illusion will completely flip into reality, allowing monsters to act recklessly in that area.

Conversely, if no one passes by or pays attention to it, it will slowly be buried by time. If it were you, would you choose to send people in to die, or quickly seal this place off and let no one near?]

Si Qingxuan: “…”

Si Qingxuan saw it very clearly: “Sealing it off is just treating the symptoms, not the root cause.”

[But the people around you are used to doing it this way.]

Si Qingxuan suddenly recalled that over the past year, various natural disasters had been frequent.

A certain mountain range in a northern power, a town in Southeast Asia, and a coastal city in an eastern island nation had all been designated as danger zones for various reasons.

The residents left and no one knew where they went; by the time anyone realized, those places had become complete no-man’s lands and were sealed off.

Si Qingxuan listed these locations to the system.

The system replied after listening: [That eastern island nation was legitimate nuclear contamination, you can’t blame that on anomalous creatures.]

Si Qingxuan’s lips twitched slightly.

[Anyway, you—sigh—if you still want this castle, we can only go for a big score and hope to completely eliminate this Illusion.]

***

The Disaster Prevention and Control Bureau, Main Conference Room.

A worldwide “Spiritual Energy Heat Map” was displayed on the large screen.

The heat map showed the concentration of spiritual energy in various parts of the world. High concentrations often symbolized more anomalous creatures and a higher probability of mutation.

Areas with rich spiritual energy were shown in warm colors, ranging from yellow to red, while areas with sparse spiritual energy were shown in cool colors, ranging from blue to purple.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Disaster Prevention and Control Bureau, the spiritual energy levels in China were generally controlled at a warm yellow.

Looking abroad, several places were red enough to look like they were dripping blood.

“What we want to discuss with everyone today is one of the forms of invasion exhibited by anomalous creatures—Illusion Erosion. We call them Nightmare Instances.”

“…Although there are precedents for this form of invasion, we have never considered prevention and control. It wasn’t until recently, as the strength of the various squads in the Execution Department has grown, that we’ve had the confidence to carry out purge operations.”

As he spoke, the Director of the Execution Department drew a circle around a red dot on the Iberian Peninsula.

“Coincidentally, the Spanish Disaster Prevention and Control Center took the initiative to contact us this time. They discovered a newly hatched Nightmare Instance.

According to the intelligence they provided, this instance has not yet devoured human flesh and blood, so it should still be in a weakened state.

So far, it hasn’t shown much aggression… In short, it’s a suitable place for rookies to practice.”

The Awakened Ones sitting at the table exchanged astonished glances with those beside them upon hearing this.

“But given the danger of this operation, the Execution Department has decided to only dispatch Awakened Ones of B-rank or higher to participate in this joint mission with Spain,” the Director said.

“Everyone, don’t feel too much pressure. This is just a purge exercise. I believe any selected member can complete the mission safely. If an accident occurs, we will prioritize withdrawal.”

With that, the Director’s gaze swept over the Awakened Ones present.

“So, may I ask, who is willing to volunteer to go to Spain to participate in this purge mission?”

A certain Awakened One raised their hand. “Will the Spanish side also send Awakened Ones?”

“Yes. And they are quite sincere, sending two A-rank Awakened Ones.”

The Director said with a benevolent expression, “They don’t have many local Awakened Ones, and even fewer on the roster. Being able to arrange such a lineup already shows their sincerity.”

“Now, let me ask once more—”

Zhao Lin, in the front row, suddenly spoke up, cutting off what the Director was about to say next:

“I’ll go.”

With just those two words, the conference room fell into silence.