CHAPTER 64
The Secret High Order: Sudden Memories
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•Ω•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
At that moment, the heavy wooden doors of the courtyard creaked open.
A petite figure walked in. She kept her head lowered, not daring to meet Lu Xie's gaze.
"This lowly one is named Trisha," the girl quickly introduced herself with a stiff, ninety-degree bow, before standing upright like a statue awaiting orders.
Lu Xie narrowed her eyes, taking the opportunity to scrutinize the girl's appearance.
>>>>>>>>>>>~^~<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Trisha appeared to be less than fifteen years old, likely just a bit older than Lu Xie's current physical body.
Her hair was a deep, earthy brown, carelessly bound into a messy bun behind her head with the aid of a dirty white strip of cloth. It was the hairstyle of someone who had no time for vanity.
Her eyes were big and rounded, a bright shade of desert brown that reminded one of a frightened gazelle. But her most striking features were the dusting of freckles that spread across her cheeks, giving her a youthful, innocent beauty.
Lu Xie's eyes narrowed through her veil. She scrutinized the girl, trying to peel back the layer of "innocence" to see if there was a spy lurking underneath.
"I will be heading to my room now to rest," Lu Xie announced coldly, cutting the introduction short. "Today has been frantic. Feel free to pick any other room in the courtyard. Just stay out of my way."
She turned on her heel, disparaging Trisha's presence as if the girl were nothing more than a piece of furniture.
Trisha could only sigh at her fate, watching the young mistress disappear around the corner.
~Lu Xie's Chambers~
Back in the safety of her room, Lu Xie's haughty facade instantly crumbled.
After ensuring no one was around, Lu Xie threw the veil of her face in one swift motion.
"That has been quiet constraining." she groaned.
She leaped into the massive bed, sinking into the comfy warmth of the silk bedding. She let out a long breath, a quick plan to keep Trisha out of her hair already formulating in her mind.
'I'll need to set up a few sensory arrays... maybe poison her tea just a little bit to make her sleep more... No that is too evil!'
However, her train of thought suddenly derailed.
Zzzzt!
A sharp pain spiked through her temples. An intrusive memory—one that didn't belong to the "Alia" —flashed past her mind like a jagged shard of glass.
It took her back to the moment she had first arrived in this world.
Back then, she had been semi-conscious, her soul barely clinging on to her from exhaustion. The memory of the riverbank, which had been vague before, suddenly sharpened into high definition.
~The Memory Fragment~
Rain fell in sheets. Thunder rumbled overhead.
"Young Miss! Quickly, take off your clothes!"
An anxious female voice spoke with urgency, cutting through the sound of the storm.
"If we can swap your clothes with this lady, we should be able to escape this disaster!"
The half-conscious Lu Xie could hardly pry her eyes open. Through a slit in her vision, she saw a figure helping a younger lady quickly undress. The red robe being discarded was clearly the uniform unique to the Seven Yogis of the Coven.
"Ria! Do you think this is right?" the younger lady, Alia, asked frantically. Her voice was ridden with guilt. "She is just a child like me. Even if we cannot help her, I don't think we should condemn her to certain death by dressing her in my target!"
Lu Xie recognized the duo instantly now. It was Alia and her personal maidservant, Ria. This context came from the memories of Alia she had absorbed from the Beguiling Mind Pearl.
"We do not have time to ponder over morals right now!" Ria snapped, her hands shaking as she pulled the robe off her mistress. "Both of our lives are on the line! And look at her—her condition is terrible. She might not even survive a few more hours regardless of what she wears. This is a God-sent opportunity for us to survive this ordeal!"
"This... But..."
Alia was speechless, tears mixing with the rain. Suddenly, she clenched her hands into fists.
"Fine. Damn the Coven! And damn its Secret High Order!
Alia professed with a determination that could sever mountains and chop iron.
"If the Heavens bless me and I survive this calamity, I will return. I will expose them and destroy all their efforts! Especially that wretch Bavna who lured me into this trap!"
~Present Time~
Lu Xie abruptly sat up in bed, gasping for air. Her eyes were wide.
"Was that... my memory? Or Alia's?"
She quickly realized how stupid the question was. Since the memory was from a third-person perspective—watching Alia undress—it was undoubtedly her own memory from when she was lying on the mud.
But why would she suddenly recall this particular fragment now?
'Could it have been triggered by seeing the new maidservant, Trisha? Seeing a maid reminded me of Ria?' Lu Xie hypothesized.
It was then that she fully comprehended the weight of the statement from the memory.
Alia had mentioned a "Secret High Order."
"What is that?" she whispered to the empty room.
She dove back into the implanted memories she had received from the Pearl. She searched for any mention of a "Secret High Order."
Nothing.
According to the memories the Coven gave her, the hierarchy ended with the High Priestess. There was no secret organization above her.
A chilling realization crawled up Lu Xie's spine.
'She was right. The memories were definitely tampered with.'
The culprit wasn't just the Coven—it was this so-called Secret High Order.
Furthermore, they most likely knew she was an imposter. They knew Alia had run away. They had found Lu Xie wearing Alia's clothes, realized she had amnesia or so they thought, and decided to simply program her to become the new Alia.
But why?
Why go to such lengths to replace the least ranked Yogi?
'Just what terrifying secret had the real Alia stumbled upon to have a shadow organization trying to eliminate her?'
'Was the High Priestess part of this Secret High Order?'
'What role had Bavna played in it? Alia mentioned Bavna lured her into the trap.'
'And most importantly... what does it have to do with me?'
Did they discover something odd about Lu Xie? Or did they just need a body to fill the seat?
"Just what the f*ck are they planning?"
Lu Xie suddenly had an outburst, slamming her fist into the mattress. The feeling of being played with—of being a chess piece on someone else's board—did not sit well with the her.
There were only two people who could provide her with the answers she needed.
Alia who was missing and Bavna.
"Since I cannot find Alia... the only place I can find answers is with Bavna!"
Lu Xie's eyes gleamed. Her "mercy" toward Bavna earlier suddenly seemed like a brilliant strategic move.
"Putting Bavna in solitude is already walking in my favor." Lu Xie smirked.
"Naturally I should be able to see her as I am the one who gave her the punishment in the first place. Maybe sometime in solitude would lead to her being desperate, then we should be able to strike a deal. Freedom for information." Lu Xie chortled lightly.
....
~Underground Fortress — Deep Beneath the Coven~
While Lu Xie plotted in her room, deep beneath the mountains of the Coven's territory, a secret meeting was taking place.
A figure of gold fluttered like a butterfly through labyrinthine tunnels, descending deeper and deeper until the air grew hot and dry.
She arrived at a massive hall made entirely of compacted sand. It was akin to a Desert Palace buried in the earth.
There, an elderly man stood facing a massive wall.
He was completely bald, his skin weathered like old parchment. In one hand, he held a strange wooden stylus. He was etching complex, shifting murals into the sand wall.
In his other hand, he held a White Eyeball.
The eye pulsed with rhythm, its pupil expanding and contracting with a light that felt alive. With every surge of light from the eye, the old man carved a new stroke, as if the eye was dictating the art.
The High Priestess finally came to a stop behind this aged figure.
She bowed deeply, her arrogance completely gone.
"Greetings, Sage Vikram."
The legendary High Priest—the man who supposedly vanished over a hundred years ago—stopped carving.
He didn't turn around.