Chapter 354 – Interlude!

In the mentor’s area of the Thought of Truth Branch in Grey Mire Swamp, Gray Rain Country, inside Mijia Ka’s underground laboratory.

Anya had already fallen into a deep sleep on the velvet-padded experiment table. Beneath her, complex enchanted runic energy circuits flickered faintly in rhythm with the girl’s breathing. Mijia Ka had connected numerous slender energy conduits to each of Anya’s spinal nerves. Through these highly sensitive energy lines that responded to bioelectricity, Mijia Ka could control the entire magic array’s operation and monitor Anya’s mental state at any time.

At this moment, under the influence of the hypnotic potion, Anya’s body had long fallen asleep, but simultaneously, her consciousness had entered an incredible corner—or rather… the deepest recesses of her mind.

“Jealousy! Anger”!!

In the darkness, a hoarse voice that felt both familiar and utterly alien to Anya suddenly thundered.

The next instant, the darkness before Anya’s eyes was instantly illuminated.

“This… what is this”…

The stunned girl stumbled backward in panic, but losing her balance caused her to fall to the ground.

“Ouch… wait, how is this possible”…

As she fell, Anya instinctively reached out to support herself against a nearby wall, but when a pair of small, pale, tender hands appeared before her eyes, the girl froze.

These hands clearly belonged to a seven or eight-year-old child—dirty fingers covered with numerous small cuts. What shocked the girl most was that these hands… were her own!

Forcing herself to remain calm as she stood up, Anya now realized she had somehow reverted to her six or seven-year-old self, wearing tattered, mud-stained hemp clothes—the most memorable outfit from her childhood. This ragged “fabric” had accompanied Anya throughout her entire childhood.

“I… what’s… happening to me”?

Standing frozen in place, Anya felt completely disoriented. Her thoughts suddenly became muddled, and many important things seemed just beyond recall…

“Hey! Little trash, get out of the way already”!

While the young Anya was still dazed, a quietly venomous and disdainful curse came from behind her.

Slowly turning around, Anya widened her beautiful amber eyes.

She recognized this place—it was the very alley where she had spent her childhood. Until she was thirteen, she had survived here through begging. Afraid that her beauty might attract terrifying slave traders, young Anya had no choice but to disguise herself as a filthy, foul-smelling street urchin.

As Anya recalled this dark period of her childhood, the scene before her suddenly felt more vivid. The voices of several girls loudly hurling insults at her became sharply clear.

“Look at that dirty bastard. I heard her mother was a whore—the kind even homeless men could have for free.”

“Oh god, how disgusting. What is she wearing? And what are those yellow stains? Is that dog shit?”

“Stay away from her. Her stench is ruining my perfume.”Three girls dressed in exquisite, clean silk garments pointed from afar at little Anya curled up in the garbage heap. Anya remembered clearly—these were the young ladies from wealthy merchant families nearby. Their clothes were meticulously woven by the town’s finest tailor, with golden threads embroidered along the bright silver collars and pale red patterns painted at the very center of their skirts.

Bathed in the dazzling sunlight, the girls shimmered like radiant, multicolored gems… Yet their words and gazes were utterly venomous. Particularly, one girl with diamonds embedded in her skirt made a disgusted retching gesture, her expression full of revulsion. Those three pairs of loathing eyes felt like poison-dipped awls, piercing straight into Anya’s heart.

“This… this is…………”

Recalling this childhood scene anew, though she remembered little Anya had been too famished to pay it much mind at the time, now, reliving the moment, Anya felt the mocking voices in her ears grow louder and louder. Those disdainful stares and vibrant garments seemed to consume her entire vision. Most terrifying of all, Anya had never felt so acutely the foul, unbearable stench of her own grimy Hemp Clothes.

The three mockers’ laughter did not fade with time—on the contrary, it grew ever louder, ever more grating. Simultaneously, those three resplendent skirts became increasingly brilliant and magnificent in Anya’s eyes, more and more exquisitely beautiful… Unconsciously, a deep-seated rage and jealousy began to fester within her.

“Why! Why can they wear clean clothes and stand in the sunlight, while I must smear mud on tattered Hemp Clothes? Why can they laugh so heartily, while I weep endlessly from hunger? It’s not fair, it’s not fair, it’s… not… fair!”

At some point, Anya had lost touch with reality and illusion. Her amber pupils gradually tinged with a violent crimson, and even the little girl’s fingernails sharpened into crimson blades in an instant.

“That’s right, how unfair it is. Why shouldn’t those beautiful dresses be mine? Why shouldn’t those malicious eyes be gouged out? Seize the lovely accessories, tear those who despise you to shreds!A hoarse voice echoed incessantly in Anya’s ears, while two eerie runes—one red, one purple—began dancing and swirling excitedly in her right eye.

Plunder… slaughter… rage… greed…

Terrifying whispers slowly corroded Anya’s consciousness; her heart was now tightly wrapped in fury and envy… Kindness? Anya couldn’t help but recall the dying roar of an Old Vagrant she’d encountered as a child—when the world brims with malice, what meaning does kindness hold?

“Release your hatred! Vent your wrath! Ignite the fire of malice within your heart, and indulge in boundless desire and loathing!”

A mouth now lined with sharp fangs opened and closed. Unconsciously, Anya’s raspy cries had merged seamlessly with that sinister tone.

————————Break————————What was happening deep within Anya’s heart, Mijia Ka did not know, but that did not hinder him from observing her mental state in the dream. In fact, at this very moment, Mijia Ka’s own sensations were no less distressing than Anya’s.

When he cautiously extended his psychic energy to explore the area of Anya’s brain connected to visual nerves, a bizarre surge filled with malice and darkness instantly retaliated along the psychic link he had established. By the time the official mage realized what was happening, he was horrified to discover that threads of gray-black energy had begun wriggling and coiling within his own soul like living nematodes.

“Damn it… What is this?!”

Panicking, Mijia Ka immediately activated the enchantment array designed to block psychic connections. Soon, invisible psychic blades began repeatedly severing the mental link between him and Anya.

But… it was useless. The ethereal black threads not only demonstrated unexpected resilience but also intensified their assault when attacked. A crimson force suddenly surged through Mijia Ka’s psyche, flooding his mind with terrifying negative emotions.

In that moment, Mijia Ka experienced the torment Anya was enduring – the suffering called rage!

“……Anya, is this the pain you’ve been bearing? Truly bizarre and terrifying… But this alone won’t make me retreat!”

Forcibly suppressing the raging fury storming through his heart, Mijia Ka gritted his teeth, his face contorting fiercely. Then, he channeled all his magical power into the complex enchantment array at once.

(End of Chapter)