Chapter 265: Entering the Fool's Village Secret Realm and the Adorable Fool's Dream Clan
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 265: Entering the Fool's Village Secret Realm and the Adorable Fool's Dream Clan
"This should be enough, right?"
I was taking inventory of the supplies we’d just bought. We had prepared quite a bit, from various canned goods to instant self-heating meals. I’d even repurchased tents, clothing, and other essentials. Stored in my spatial equipment, they took up a significant amount of room.
"Let's get a few more alchemy items and potions for protection," Bai Yu suggested. "Once we get there, all our spells will be exchanged. With these on hand, we won't be at a total loss if something happens." Since the total cost wasn't that high anyway, the more the better. It was best to be fully prepared.
"True."
I nodded in agreement. Although the strategy guides said there wasn't much danger and the natives were friendly, we couldn't just leave our lives in the hands of others.
After a bit more searching, we finally finished our shopping trip.
Looking at the mountain of supplies in my storage equipment, I had a sneaking suspicion that Sister Bai didn't actually need all this stuff; she just enjoyed the fun of shopping with me.
Now that her shopping itch was scratched, we went to grab a good meal before heading over to the Witch Secret Realm Club.
Taking on the "Wisdom Enlightenment" quest was actually quite a hassle. First, we had to accept the quest, show proof of acceptance, and register our team information. Once that was done, a Senior Sister in charge of the Fool's Village Secret Realm came over to give us a briefing.
Of course, the most important part was witnessing us sign the Exchange Contract.
"Please sign the contract. Once you enter the Fool's Village Secret Realm, do not harm the natives—those little spirits of the Fool's Dream Clan. You are also forbidden from intentionally damaging the environment within the secret realm. Just a reminder: no one has visited this realm in a while, but others might enter later. If you encounter anyone else, do not engage in mutual slaughter."
"Understood."
Sister Bai and I nodded and agreed. We took the pen and the contract. Naturally, we had to read the contents carefully. This wasn't like checking a box for terms and conditions in a game; this was a contract that concerned our very lives!
The Senior Sister in charge of the realm didn't find it odd that we were reading so intently. After all, you can't just sign contracts blindly. Who knew if this was some kind of slave contract that would sell you into bondage?
Once Sister Bai and I confirmed the terms were correct, we signed it together.
The contract took effect immediately. The parchment turned to ash in an instant, and an invisible force settled over me. Under my Spirit Vision, I could see the Spellbook Shelf Spellbook inside me being "taken away" by this power, along with all the other spells within the shelf.
In that moment, my long, silvery-white hair lost its color, turning back to black. Even my red eyes reverted to their original state.
"Ugh... I almost forgot about the Disguise Spell..."
I watched my body revert and quickly realized what happened. I had also lost the Memory Bookshelf spellbook. I could feel that the spellbook and the unique bookshelf space I had constructed were still there—they hadn't shattered—but I could no longer access them...
Right... I almost forgot the Memory Bookshelf was also a spellbook, even if its effects were still active.
This meant the Exchange Contract only "borrowed" the spellbooks in a formal sense, but the books themselves were still with me. The fact that the spell effects constructed by my mental power and mana were still there proved as much.
It looked like I was going to have quite a bit of trouble on this secret realm trip... Without the content sharing and interconnectivity of the Memory Bookshelf, many things in my mind were starting to become blurry.
I realized then just how important my own creations were.
"Eh? You... you're Yang Yuehan?" The Senior Sister at the reception desk asked in confusion after seeing my true face, though she didn't seem overly excited.
I gave a small nod of acknowledgment.
"Well, I haven't seen you active lately. A lot of people thought you'd run out of talent."
"I've been studying. I'm just a freshman, after all. My priority is learning; I won't learn anything just by causing trouble." I shook my head, responding to the skepticism.
"True. I heard that Tan Han, who's been in the spotlight lately, is being targeted by quite a few upperclassmen, but her methods are pretty good."
"Is that so? Then I wish her luck." After a bit of small talk, Sister Bai and I headed to the teleportation array.
"Teleporting from here will take you to Fool's Village. I wish you a safe journey. If you want to come back, just activate the teleportation array at the arrival point."
With that, the Senior Sister activated the array. Immediately, I felt a wave of dizziness—a sensation completely different from any secret realm teleportation I'd experienced before.
"Ugh... hiss..."
I clutched my head, slowly adjusting to the sensation and fighting back the urge to vomit as I forced myself to stand.
Gradually, as I massaged my forehead and breathed in the cool, fresh air, the dizziness began to fade.
"Um... Xiao Han, are you okay?"
"I'm fine..."
I opened my eyes and looked at the surroundings. The environment had changed drastically. It was verdant and deep, a dense forest. If I focused, I could even smell the dampness in the air.
Then I saw Sister Bai. Like me, she looked a bit unwell after the teleportation.
"Sister Bai, do other secret realm teleports feel like this?" I asked curiously. This was nothing like my previous experiences. Was this secret realm just really old, or was the teleportation array falling into disrepair?
"No... maybe the Fool's Village Secret Realm is just special." Bai Yu shook her head to clear it, then pulled out a potion. Instead of taking it herself, she handed it to me first.
"Thanks..."
I took the potion and drank it. As it hit my throat, it felt like chewing mint; a wave of cold rushed to my head, washing away the last traces of discomfort.
"Phew~ that feels better..." I shook the half-empty bottle and looked at Sister Bai. "Sister Bai, do you want some?"
"Uh... yeah." Bai Yu looked at the small bottle I handed back and nodded. She didn't stand on ceremony, seeing the faint, crystalline liquid at the rim, and downed it in one go.
"It really is good. Bringing potions was definitely the right call," Bai Yu agreed.
I watched Sister Bai seemingly savoring the taste of the potion and nodded in agreement.
"Eh? Are you... are you guests from outside?"
A voice reached our ears, and both Sister Bai and I reacted instantly.
The voice had come from above.
I looked up at a massive object—I couldn't tell if it was a tree root or a vine—where an adorable figure had poked its head out. It was staring at us with wide, curious eyes.
"It's one of those little spirits," Bai Yu said.
"I'm not a little spirit! I'm of the Fool's Dream Clan! Don't call us little spirits!"
I looked at the little creature, feeling that something was off. The image before my eyes and the image from my Spirit Vision overlapped, revealing a different picture.
As expected, the Fool's Dream Clan here wasn't simple. It seemed... at the very least, they weren't normal biological organisms.
The environment also felt strange. Everything here felt slightly unreal, yet it clearly existed. There was a certain disconnect from reality.
But it wasn't like the nested spaces of the Witch Academy that were layered over the reality of Magic City.
"Alright, alright~ then may I ask what your name is?" I asked kindly.
"Me? My name is Yu Miao! I'm the sentry on duty today to see if any guests arrive. I'm so lucky today! Two guests at once! Do you need Yu Miao to be your guide?" Yu Miao asked enthusiastically. She rested her face in her tiny hands, smiling so hard her eyes almost disappeared.
"Yes, we do. This is our first time here, so we'll have to trouble you." Sister Bai spoke up before I could.
"Great! This is my first time being a guide!" Yu Miao leaped down, her petite body landing nimbly on the ground.
Meanwhile, I was still busy processing several things. For instance, the new spellbook that had appeared inside me after entering the Fool's Village Secret Realm—the Meditation Art spellbook.
Then there was this Yu Miao. Her saying it was her first time being a guide raised some questions. This secret realm had existed for a long time and was quite popular in the beginning before falling into obscurity. If Yu Miao had never been a guide, did that mean the Fool's Dream Clan here passed things down to a next generation?
Or were new members of the clan born through some special means?
The intelligence said these creatures all appeared as young girls. This meant that if they were to have a next generation, normal biological reproduction was unlikely.
"Oh, right, guests! I don't know your names yet. Can you tell me? I'll introduce your names to the other Fool's Dream members in the village! And to my friends!"
"My name is Bai Yu, and the one beside me is Yang Yuehan."
"Bai Yu... and you're Yang Yuehan..." Yu Miao counted on her fingers as she memorized our names.
"Yeah. You can just call me Xiao Han," I added.
"Eh? Xiao Han? Yang Yuehan... you have two names?"
"Uh... Xiao Han is my nickname. Don't you think it's more convenient to call me Xiao Han?"
"So it's a convenient second name, right?" Yu Miao looked up and asked.
"Right... I guess you could say that," I sighed.
Just as the intelligence reports said, while communication was possible, there was a generation gap—or rather, a conceptual gap. Perhaps they didn't have the concept of nicknames here.
"Okay! Then when I introduce you to my friends, I'll... I'll introduce both names! Even if it's a bit of a hassle..."
"Never mind, just call me Xiao Han. I'm more used to that name."
"Okay, Xiao Han it is!" Yu Miao nodded, finally confirming the name.
Sister Bai and I exchanged a look, deciding not to dwell on it. However, I still had many questions.
"By the way, Yu Miao, you said you have many friends. What about your parents or relatives?"
"Parents? Relatives? I don't have parents. Everyone is my relative, and my good friend too!"
"I see... Then Yu Miao, do you know how you were born?" I continued.
"Eh? That... I..."
"I'm sorry, you don't have to answer if it's difficult," I said immediately, seeing her look troubled and conflicted.
"It's not that I can't answer, it's just that I don't know... But Xiao Han, you can ask the Village Chief. She should know a lot. She's the most amazing member of our Fool's Dream Clan!"
"There's a Village Chief too?" I raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised, though it made sense given the name "Fool's Village."
"Of course! You can go to the Village Chief for anything! When I take you to our village, the first stop will be to see her!" Yu Miao said warmly.
She then led us away from the "birth point," crossing ravines and streams, walking over moss-covered boulders and decaying log bridges.
This place truly was a rainforest; the path was difficult to navigate. Fortunately, the physical enhancements from Witchification were still somewhat effective. Plus, one of the bracers Sister Bai had given me had a solidified Body Strengthening Spell.
Sister Bai, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease. It looked like her physical stamina was excellent—at least much better than mine.
Actually, I could have ridden a broom here, but I didn't. Trekking through the rainforest was a rare experience, and besides, I had Sister Bai with me.
However, the further we went, the more "inharmonious" things I saw in the rainforest. For example, man-made houses. They were clearly built for people of our size, but they were now abandoned in the jungle. Countless vines, greenery, and moss clung to them, and some even had trees growing straight through their roofs.
"Yu Miao, what are those buildings?" I asked.
"Oh, I know those! I heard they were dwellings left by previous guests. They were all abandoned later. It's such a shame..."
"I see..."
I noticed that although Yu Miao was tiny and her clothes were made of natural materials, she didn't get a speck of dirt on her while moving through the rainforest. We, on the other hand, were already getting slightly scuffed. If only I had the Cleaning Spell, but alas, I didn't.
"Yes! The Village Chief said that guests used to help us build a village in the rainforest, but those buildings were quickly swallowed by the jungle. They weren't as useful as the little huts we weave ourselves."
"Swallowed by the rainforest?" I looked at the ruins in the distance. That was probably what she meant by "swallowed."
Did this rainforest reject outside things?
"Yeah, just like those houses. They were very sturdy to live in, but they quickly cracked and collapsed, covered in moss and vines."
"Alright..."
I followed her silently, constantly gathering information. After all, the Wisdom Enlightenment quest required us to uncover the secrets of this realm.
But there seemed to be secrets everywhere: the rainforest, the Fool's Dream Clan, the yet-to-be-seen Village Chief, and the Meditation Art I had just acquired.
I had been studying the Meditation Art spellbook along the way. It seemed to be only at the level of a Basic Consumption Spellbook. Although Sister Bai said her friend felt it was like a Witch Meditation Method, I knew there was a massive difference.
I knew very well that the Witch Meditation Method drew upon the power of dreams. Perhaps it differed from the meditation method I had realized, but the Meditation Art was different—it was a spellbook. Once used, it produced a spell effect, which was fundamentally different from a technique like the Witch Meditation Method that cultivated mental power.
I’d have to find an opportunity to use the Ley Line System to deconstruct this spellbook later. I wasn't sure if I could connect to the Ley Lines here... but it should be possible.
I'd worry about that when the time came.
Soon, Yu Miao led us to an archway formed by protruding tree roots. The terrain here was uneven, largely due to the massive root systems of the trees.
Here, I saw even more buildings that had merged into the rainforest. Just looking at them, I could imagine what that first batch of Senior Sisters had tried to do here.
Naturally, they had tried everything, even attempting to rebuild the village for the natives. Their idea was to uncover the secrets of the realm through various experiments.
But everyone had failed.
I didn't think my IQ was higher than the combined intelligence of all those Senior Sisters. I didn't have much confidence in "cracking" the secret realm myself.
The reason I came here was the name of the quest: "Wisdom Enlightenment." If I could become even a little bit smarter, I would avoid many detours in the future.
Of course, my greatest trump card was still my Spirit Vision. It gave me the power to see through the essence of the world. Even though I had gained so much from it—the modification and derivation of spellbooks—I hadn't truly mastered it. Between Teacher Ji Niang's warnings and my own observations, I knew Spirit Vision held many secrets I couldn't yet probe.
Thinking about the fates of those with Innate Spirit Vision, perhaps the only reason I hadn't gone mad was that I hadn't yet touched the true power of Spirit Vision.
"We're here~ This is our Fool's Village~"