Chapter 33: The “Switch”

Chapter Thirty-Three
The “Switch”

No sooner had Old Neil finished speaking than the illusory eyes in the darkness behind him quickly vanished. Even with spirit vision active, Klein could no longer find any trace that they had ever existed.

“That was the manifestation of a ritual magic,” Old Neil explained with a chuckle.

A little magical…

Is spirit vision basically an upgraded yin-yang eye?

Klein felt like a child who had received a new toy. Full of curiosity, he shifted his gaze away and examined every corner of the room, wanting to see how the alchemy room now differed from before.

Dimness outlined the shapes of objects. Long tables, test tubes, balances, cups, cabinets—none appeared any different from before he had activated spirit vision. Not the slightest light came from them.

Lifeless objects have no spirituality?

Klein muttered inwardly. His gaze swept across the small silver box on the table.

All at once, he saw brilliance inside it: some blue like the sky, some radiant like stars, some crimson as burning fire.

“Materials originating from extraordinary species still possess some kind of life—uh, activity? Even after their original owners have died?”

Klein weighed his words carefully and asked Old Neil with curiosity.

“The accurate description is that their spirituality remains. That is one of the keys to successful potion concoction, and also one of the roots of a Beyonder’s loss of control. Dunn should have told you that,” Old Neil explained frankly.

For some reason, he suddenly remembered something and laughed.

“I remember that the Corpse Collector formula contains a dried adult black-spotted frog. To drink that potion would require tremendous courage.”

Klein imagined it and found it rather disgusting. He did not echo Old Neil’s amusement. Instead, he turned his gaze to the dim surroundings that lacked sufficient light. Yet there were no nearly formless spirit bodies or ghosts of the sort he had expected.

“Isn’t the world of spirits said to be everywhere?” he asked in puzzlement.

Old Neil gave a heh and said, “Little fellow, repeat after me:

“This is the headquarters of the Nighthawk team. This is the underground level of the Church of the Evernight Goddess. There are quite a number of Beyonders here.

“Do you think we would simply allow spirits and souls to wander around? Besides, the world of spirits and spirits themselves are two different concepts.”

Klein felt a little embarrassed. He turned his head and pretended to gaze toward the faint gaslight near the hidden door.

“I understand.”

As he spoke, the space between his brows suddenly began to twitch, uncontrollably, as though in spasm.

What is going on?

Klein was about to turn and ask when he suddenly saw, near the inner side of the hidden door, at the edge of the bright yellow gaslight, a nearly transparent figure standing quietly there. It was human-shaped, its aura perfectly blended with the dim surroundings, almost impossible to distinguish.

Hiss!

The spot between Klein’s brows abruptly ached. His vision became chaotic. When he focused again and looked, there was no longer any “invisible” figure at all.

Strange…

He turned back and said, “Mr. Neil, the spot between my eyebrows is twitching. It hurts a little.”

“Haha, that is perfectly normal. You are a newly advanced Beyonder. Spirit vision places a heavy burden on your Spirit Body and continuously consumes it. The external symptoms are twitching between the brows, sharp pain in the head, excessive sensitivity, and a small number of hallucinations. In addition, while spirit vision is active, unfamiliar environments will easily make you uncomfortable, and you can easily be influenced by other people’s emotions. These are all matters that require attention. You must adapt and filter them out through repeated practice. Also, use it with restraint and end it in time,” Old Neil replied with a smile.

Why do I feel like you are somewhat enjoying this…

Klein hurriedly asked, “Then how do I exit spirit vision?”

He had originally intended to mention the “invisible” figure he had just seen, but after hearing that one symptom was “a small number of hallucinations,” he abandoned the idea.

Combined with the twitching and stabbing pain between his brows, Old Neil’s answer had already anticipated the issue completely.

“Imagine an object as before. Gather your attention and then shift into a meditative state. Close your eyes, control your spirituality, and repeatedly tell it to stop. After that, open your eyes again, and you will find spirit vision has ended.”

Old Neil described it leisurely, only adding near the end, “Of course, that is the most cumbersome and clumsy method. Through practice, we can repeatedly hint to ourselves in meditation, repeatedly influence our spirituality, and leave behind a simple ‘switch gesture.’ For example, I lightly tap the space between my brows twice to activate spirit vision, then tap it twice again to end it. How you set it depends on your own habits and preferences.”

“I understand.”

Klein thought for a moment and decided to imitate Old Neil, using two light taps between his brows as the “switch” for spirit vision.

One tap could be confused with the instinctive action of touching one’s forehead. Three taps might waste precious time in a crisis. As for snapping fingers and similar gestures, they were too distinctive and too easy for others to notice.

He gathered his attention, visualized the clusters of light balls, and entered meditation once more.

Under Old Neil’s guidance, after repeated suggestion and practice, he finally completed the “switch gesture.”

He lightly clenched his fist and used the knuckle at the base of his index finger to tap the space between his brows twice. Thick and thin auras of different colors abruptly appeared before his eyes.

He tapped twice again. Everything returned to normal, without the slightest sign of anything extraordinary.

“I finally have it…”

Klein sighed with delight.

Only then did he realize he was so exhausted he could fall asleep at any moment. His head felt hollow and painful, as if he had stayed awake through three straight nights.

Old Neil smiled.

“We are not Sleepless. After excessive practice or excessive use of spirit vision, we need sleep to recover. You may go home now and rest properly. In the afternoon, walk around the route from Welch’s residence to Iron Cross Street and try to discover clues about the Antigonus family notebook as soon as possible. Tomorrow, we will continue the lessons on mysticism knowledge. Of course, you must not forget to read those historical documents either.”

“All right.”

Klein agreed with both hands and feet.

Taking up his cane and leaving the alchemy room, he watched the hidden door close while Old Neil returned toward the armory. Klein rubbed the space between his brows and his temples, held the railing, and climbed the stairs one step at a time.

At that moment, Dunn Smith approached from behind. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and his gaze was deep.

“I heard from Old Neil that you adapted very well, both to meditation and to spirit vision.”

“Perhaps it is simply a special trait of Seers,” Klein replied modestly.

He guessed that Dunn had been guarding the armory for Old Neil just now.

Dunn slowed his pace, only a little ahead of Klein. After several seconds of silence, he said without turning around, “You must remember: curiosity can kill cats, and it can kill Beyonders as well. Do not try to investigate whispers you should not hear, or existences you should not see.”

“All right,” Klein answered.

He knew this was another reminder concerning the loss of control among Beyonders.

Entering Blackthorn Security Company, he greeted Rozanne, who clearly did not yet know he had become a Beyonder. Then he slowly walked out the front door and onto the street, where he took a trackless public carriage back to Daffodil Street. On the way, he nearly fell asleep.

It was still morning, and the temperature was only around twenty-six or twenty-seven degrees. Klein took the copper key from his belt and opened the door of his home.

Inside the house, many items had not yet been added. The living room and dining room were still empty. Benson and Melissa, one at work and the other at school, had left long ago.

Klein had no energy for anything else. He closed the door behind him, quickly went upstairs, and entered the bedroom with the bookshelf that belonged to him.

After taking off his tailcoat and hanging it on the coat rack, he impatiently collapsed onto the bed. The moment his head touched the pillow, he fell into deep sleep.

Klein was awakened by brilliant sunlight. He turned his head slowly, opened his eyes, and found the sun outside shining at its strongest.

“What time is it? I didn’t miss the afternoon Tarot Gathering, did I?”

He struggled up and walked to the coat rack, because his pocket watch was still in the inner pocket of his tailcoat.

Not only had he forgotten that, he had also forgotten to close his bedroom door, and forgotten to draw the curtains over the bay window.

Snap!

Klein took out the pocket watch, opened it, and immediately relaxed.

It was only a little past noon. There was still quite some time before the agreed hour of three in the afternoon.

Today was Monday: the day he was to meet with the Hanged Man and Justice.

Klein adopted a thoughtful posture and tapped the space between his brows twice. His vision changed again, and he saw that his own aura had recovered its bright colors.

Tapping twice more and exiting spirit vision, he went downstairs with ease, boiled a kettle of water, put in a little inferior tea, and ate a strip of rye bread with it and a small amount of cream.

Afterward, Klein took out the history textbooks and the original owner’s notes, leisurely reviewing and consolidating the knowledge.

…

At 2:57 in the afternoon, Klein closed his book, capped his fountain pen, and pulled the curtains shut with a swish.

Immediately after, he locked the bedroom door from inside, making the room unusually dim.

He tapped the space between his brows twice, activated spirit vision, and looked around.

After confirming that there were no invisible spirits in the room, Klein ended spirit vision, took out his pocket watch, and checked the time.

Tick. Tock.

With one minute left before three, he stepped out. As before, he took four steps counterclockwise, walking in the shape of a square, while silently reciting the corresponding incantation in Chinese with each step.

This time, however, he prepared no staple food.

Klein closed his eyes and felt the back of his hand begin to itch, as if the four black dots forming a small square there were protruding, resurfacing.

Mad screams and seductive whispers began echoing, but Klein discovered that the headache was not as severe as last time.

It was not that he was unaffected. Rather, he could control himself more effectively and avoid actively listening.

As a Beyonder, in such an environment, he now possessed a little more self-control.

Very soon, his “body” became light and floated upward. He saw the vast, misty, gray-white fog; saw the deep crimson “stars.” Among them, two seemed connected to him in subtle ways and felt extraordinarily familiar.

Klein looked at his indistinct self and murmured in confusion, “The Astral Body Old Neil mentioned?”

He calmed himself for several seconds, then once more transformed the space above the gray fog into that magnificent temple: the bronze long table beneath the broad dome, and the twenty-two high-backed chairs bearing symbols of different constellations.

Klein walked quietly to the seat at the head of the table. He let a thicker gray fog shroud his body and face. Then he stretched out his right hand, pointed from afar at the two familiar crimson stars, and constructed the marvelous connection.