Chapter 37 : The Room and the Notebook

A blinding flash of light erupted in front of Li Wen, and in that instant, it felt as though a stun grenade had exploded right next to her ears.

Her head rang loudly, drowning her senses in chaos.

But even in the face of such a sudden attack, Li Wen managed to cast a Prayer Spell on herself amidst the disorientation.

It felt like several dozen seconds had passed before the dizziness and blindness began to fade.

Forcing her eyes open, she still saw lingering halos of light, and everything in her vision had a thick double image.

She noticed that the others weren’t doing much better.

Hallick and Nasha, the two wild mages, were clutching their eyes and groaning in pain.

Zottes, who had opened the door and taken the brunt of the blast, had already collapsed to the floor.

Only the occasional twitch from his body proved he wasn’t dead yet.

Moriah had also been affected, but having had a bad feeling before opening the door, he had immediately cast a Blessing Spell upon being struck.

Now, he was locked in a lengthy prayer.

Points of sacred light gathered in his hands.

Wearing a solemn expression, Moriah pressed his palms together, holding the candle-like glow aloft.

When his prayer concluded, the light rippled outward like waves, and under its glow, all afflictions began to vanish.

Li Wen felt her mind clear, every negative effect swept away at once.

Even her vitality had been fully restored to 100%.

And she wasn’t the only one—everyone within the radius of the divine spell had benefited.

What a powerful technique.

A large-scale dispel and healing in one.

If not for the long casting time, even Li Wen would consider learning such a divine art.

Hallick and Nasha, now recovered, looked utterly confused, completely unaware of what had just happened.

The gnome remained sprawled on the floor, unwilling to get up.

He shrieked hysterically, “I didn’t know! I didn’t know this would happen…!”

Moriah walked over and pulled him up, gently soothing the panicked gnome.

“No one is blaming you. It was just an accident.”

Was it really just an accident?

Li Wen had her doubts, but she certainly wasn’t going to tell Moriah that.

The way that gnome had rushed to open the door felt far too deliberate.

“I’m sorry! It’s all my fault! I’m sorry…!”

Zottes kept sobbing and apologizing to the High Son of the Temple, snot and tears streaming down his face.

Moriah remained calm.

“To err is human. And besides, this may not have even been your fault. Tell me everything you know, Zottes.”

“I don’t know… Nothing happened the last time… or the time before that…”

“So this could be a randomly triggered trap.”

Moriah turned to look at Li Wen.

“Ah! I know this one!”

Hallick suddenly raised his hand, eager to contribute despite his lingering fear.

“I read about this kind of magical trap in a book once! It only reacts to high concentrations of magic.”

“As soon as too much magic gets near it, it triggers… so maybe, probably… it really was just an accident.”

Moriah nodded, accepting the explanation.

Only Li Wen looked unimpressed.

Never mind the fact that this didn’t explain why Zottes hadn’t triggered the trap before—magic-triggered traps were meant to take out intruders with a bang, not be placed somewhere like a doorway, where they could easily be activated at the wrong time.

And certainly not just to cast a blinding light spell.

Traps like these usually triggered high-damage spells, like a chain fireball or something equally lethal.

After all, a light burst was more of a crowd-control spell than an actual threat.

It wouldn’t even eliminate a single intruder.

“B-behind that door is where I found the treasure…”

Zottes muttered.

The gnome scratched nervously at his neck, his long, untrimmed nails digging into his skin so hard that he drew blood.

It was as if he was desperate to claw the anxiety out of himself.

Beyond the door lay only darkness, so thick it looked like a massive abyssal maw ready to swallow them whole.

Once again, Moriah used his divine magic to illuminate the way.

A glowing golden orb flew from his hand, lighting up everything beyond the doorway.

The interior bore no resemblance to the dungeon outside.

It looked like a fusion of a bedroom and a study, tidy and well-ordered.

There weren’t many items—just a simple bed, a desk, and a bookshelf packed full of books.

Judging from the layer of dust on both the bed and the desk, it had clearly been abandoned for a long time.

Li Wen, however, saw no signs of potions, or anything remotely related to alchemy.

“Are you sure this is the place?” she asked the gnome.

“I-I don’t know…”

Zottes replied, still scratching at himself in distress.

“It didn’t look like this when I came before… there were massive instruments, scattered books and papers, shelves full of potions in glass bottles…”

“Could it be an illusion?”

Moriah offered.

If the trap had already been triggered, it wouldn’t be difficult for an illusion spell to accompany the light burst.

Li Wen didn’t respond.

Aside from the usual musty and moldy scent of the dungeon, the room held no other smells.

If there really had been an alchemical lab full of potions here, there should’ve been some lingering odor.

“I think, since we’re already here, we might as well go in and take a look. Maybe we’ll find some clues. What do you all think?”

Moriah looked around, hoping for input from the team—though, aside from Li Wen, no one dared voice dissent.

As for Li Wen, she didn’t say anything.

She simply took the lead and stepped inside.

To ensure she didn’t stumble into danger or trigger another trap, Moriah quickly followed close behind.

There wasn’t much in the room worth investigating.

Li Wen focused on the desk first.

Typically, people stored important items somewhere visible and within reach—places where they wouldn’t leave their sight.

Aside from dried ink and a rusted quill, there was only a thin notebook on the desk.

The journal lay open, thick with dust, its ink long faded and illegible.

Li Wen had a feeling this could be something important.

She picked it up and shook off the dust.

The cover was plain black with no title, except for a strange emblem sketched in the bottom-right corner of the first page—an inhuman claw grasping an eyeball.

Or perhaps, she thought, it was an eyeball with a monstrous claw growing from it.

Flipping open the first page, the very first sentence made her heart skip.

“I found it.”

Just then, Moriah spoke.

“I found something.”

Li Wen looked over.

The bookshelf had vanished, replaced by a narrow hidden passage.

“Zottes accidentally knocked a book off the shelf, and the secret door just… appeared.”

Li Wen didn’t care much. She said, “Then let’s take a look.”

An alchemy master, a laboratory, a dungeon, ghostly fairies, gnomes, and adventurers gathered from all over…

She was more curious than ever.

What secrets were buried beneath this forest?