Walker Of The Worlds

Chapter 3106: Cattaleya’s Question

As the discussion wound down, the oppressive weight of the meeting finally began to ease.

Grand Elder Huo stood first, giving one last commanding glance at the gathered elders before dismissing them with a wave of his sleeve. He had given out some orders about their future plans, which the elders would be handling for the time being.

Daoist Chu followed close behind, murmuring something about needing to recheck the sect’s archives, while Meng Bai offered Lin Mu a firm nod before excusing himself. He had a lot to think about now.

One by one, the room emptied until only the faint glow of lamplight remained, flickering against the carved stone walls. Lin Mu had expected silence to follow, but when he glanced up, he found Cattaleya still standing there, her dark eyes fixed on him with an unreadable expression.

He tilted his head slightly, masking his curiosity. "You didn’t leave. That must mean you still have something to say."

A faint smirk curved her lips, though there was a sharpness behind it. "I didn’t expect you to be a Spatial Master as well. Truly, Lin Mu... just how many secrets are you hiding?"

Lin Mu let out a soft exhale, neither confirming nor denying the accusation directly. "I’ve learned quite a few things along the way. Enough to survive."

Cattaleya’s eyes narrowed, as though amused by the choice of word. "Survive, you say?" She almost chuckled, shaking her head. "Forgive me, but it’s difficult to picture someone like you struggling to survive. From the moment I’ve seen you fight, you’ve looked like someone who’s always been... untouchable."

Lin Mu’s gaze drifted slightly, his tone dipping into something heavier. "I wasn’t always like this." He paused, a flicker of nostalgia shadowing his expression. "I was born on a mortal world. Nothing special. When I was twelve, I lost both my parents. From then on, I had to endure alone. Surviving wasn’t some lesson I studied in scrolls or manuals... it was my daily reality."

For once, Cattaleya was caught off guard.

The sly smile on her lips faded, replaced by genuine surprise. She studied him carefully, as if trying to detect some deception. Yet his voice carried no falsehood, no hidden pride. Only the quiet weight of truth.

"I see," she murmured at last, her expression softening in a way Lin Mu had not seen before. "With all your abilities, your composure, your strength, I would have thought you came from a great clan, perhaps even carried the legacy of an exalted bloodline."

Her words trailed off into silence. She stood there, thoughtful, as if turning over pieces of a puzzle she could not quite fit together. Lin Mu waited patiently, wondering if she would press further.

"Do you have more questions?" he asked at last.

But Cattaleya only shook her head slowly.

A small, almost playful smile returned to her lips. "No. This much is enough... for now. Learning everything about you at once would be too boring, don’t you think? It’ll be far more exciting to discover things gradually."

Her gaze lingered on him, her tone laced with a faint thrill. "It will make the future a lot more... fun."

Lin Mu raised a brow, a trace of confusion flickering across his face. Before he could ask what she meant, she turned smoothly, her long braid brushing against the door frame as she headed for the exit.

Without another word, Cattaleya slipped into the shadows beyond the doorway, leaving Lin Mu standing alone, her parting words echoing in his mind.

While Lin Mu was wondering about Cattaleya’s thoughts, something else was happening far away from him in the Darkhan Dynasty.

The Ninefold Crypt was a place that already carried its own weight of dread.

Carved deep into the fetid stones beneath the Marshes of Silent Skies, it reeked of stagnant waters and old blood. The chamber was circular, its black walls lined with twisting veins of ghostly phosphorescence that pulsed like diseased arteries.

At the center of the vast hall lay a dais of black bone, upon which the High Priestess of the Ephemera Sect now stood, her crimson silken robes fluttering unnaturally, as though stirred by invisible currents of malice.

The air was thick and heavy, pressing down on the dozens gathered.

Representatives from the allied forces: rogue sects, hidden clans, and cults alike shifted uneasily on their seats. The marsh’s stench had long since stopped bothering them, but the silence in the chamber gnawed at their nerves.

Something was wrong. Something disastrous.

And then their eyes turned to one corner of the room, where the delegation of the Drowned Crescent Cult sat.

No, not sat... collapsed, slumped, broken.

Their usual fanatic gleam was gone, replaced by vacant stares and trembling hands. The High Priestess had not yet spoken, but their state already screamed catastrophe.

Finally, the High Priestess lifted her hand. The chamber fell utterly silent. Her voice rang out, calm yet carrying a heaviness that seeped into the bones of those present.

"Another calamity has come to us."

Murmurs broke out instantly.

"Another?!"

"What do you mean?"

"What could have happened now?"

Some among the more cunning narrowed their eyes, gazing once more at the pallid faces of the Drowned Crescent cultists. Whispers spread like wildfire, suspicion sharpening to dreadful certainty.

The High Priestess’s lips curled into a grim frown. "The Drowned Crescent Cult... is no more."

Her words struck like a thunderclap.

Disbelief erupted around the chamber.

Cries of "Impossible!" and "That cannot be!" clashed against the suffocating walls.

The destruction of an entire cult, an ally of considerable strength was no small matter. It was a disaster beyond reckoning. The Drowned Crescent Sect was among the strongest three unorthodox evil sects, and a major support of the Ephemera Cult.

The cultists themselves, already on the verge of collapse, broke down at the declaration. One of them fell to his knees, sobbing, while another trembled so violently he could barely speak.

"It’s true!" one wailed, voice hoarse. "Our base, the Crooked Abyss... It is gone! Nothing remains! Even the Leader... the Lord of the Drowned Crescent... has perished!"