Facing an Ancient God for a Year

Chapter 1257: Chapter 1255: Ladies, Handle with Care

“Why did you leave the pocket watch behind?”

Under the night sky, two exhausted administrative staff from The Sect finally turned to leave after a long evening’s work.

Almost immediately, Amila looked at Reginald, her confusion laid bare without reservation.

“I shouldn’t need to remind you of its importance. Aside from Anke, it’s practically the only valuable discovery we’ve made in our investigation thus far. More than one victim has mentioned seeing it.”

“Even though it doesn’t show any obvious supernatural qualities, and the inscriptions inside are incomprehensible, handing over such an important item to him only heightens unknown risks. I fail to see any other purpose.”

“Or do you think Anke will uncover some secret? If that’s really what you believe, wouldn’t honest communication be better than misleading him like this?”

“Don’t you find your own statements contradictory?”

Amila’s tone was already harsh, yet Reginald glanced at her without the slightest reaction.

“If keeping that object close has no significance, then where do the unknown risks come from?”

…

Confronted by his sharp rebuttal, Amila found herself momentarily speechless.

“I understand your reluctance to subject another victim to further danger, but you witnessed what happened today. If it hadn’t been for Anke’s own reckless actions, we might have missed too much…”

While saying this, Reginald’s expression carried hints of regret.

“I feel that, sometimes, we should learn a thing or two from this Mr. Anke.”

“Learn to see all of this as merely a nightmare?”

After a long silence, Amila finally scanned their surroundings and spoke in a somber tone.

“At the very least, he seems quite willing. Perhaps even if carrying it yields no immediate change, his research might still bring us surprises.”

Reginald’s stance was firm and unyielding.

“That willingness stems largely from bias and is unfair to Anke.”

Unfortunately, Amila was evidently not so easily persuaded.

“I’ll make everything clear in my report.”

“That’s fine, I only have one request.”

Reginald slowly shook his head.

“Be thorough. Don’t leave out any detail. Let them make the judgments themselves.”

…

Interesting.

At the center of their argument, Fu Qian was now staring thoughtfully at the opened inner lid of the pocket watch.

Having inscriptions on this kind of object wasn’t uncommon, but the content… that was the issue.

[…Handle the lady with care…]

[…Though weathered by time’s ravages, a mere polish reveals her smooth brilliance, her most prized quality…]

[…Her sole regret is that her broken body remains unrepaired…]

Names, vows, blessings—any of these etched inside wouldn’t strike him as strange.

But this portion of legible text before him carried an absurdly unique tone.

Handle the lady with care?

If this were a woman’s pocket watch, perhaps it could still be explained. But the content seemed almost as if the pocket watch *was* the lady herself.

Scanning the text meticulously, Fu Qian couldn’t suppress an urge to sarcastically comment.

Though he hadn’t had the chance to examine the watch closely during his time in the World Within the Painting, it was hard to imagine that the container of the Blood of the Time Dragon would bear such inscriptions.

Given its lack of Extraordinary Aura, his earlier speculation seemed increasingly likely: that this object was nothing but a mundane replica pulled straight from the nightmare realm.

Still, Fu Qian wasn’t someone to dismiss anything as mere coincidence.

From Reginald and Amila’s conversation, it was clear the pocket watch represented The Sect’s sole tangible result from their month-long investigation into the World Within the Painting.

More than one victim of that realm had mentioned seeing it during their nightmare experiences.

Why?

As Fu Qian reassembled the lid, he naturally recalled the Baroness’s description of the pocket watch at the time—*Church Holy Relic*.

Given the realm’s obsession with chasing the Sequence, it made sense that a Holy Relic would attract widespread attention.

Its extraordinary nature was evident to many, which would explain why it left such a distinct impression.

But here lay the conundrum. Considering the World Within the Painting had seven distinct Sequences, it was unlikely the church had only this one relic. What about the others?

With The Sect’s resources and the information provided by numerous victims of the realm, it shouldn’t have been easy to overlook anything.

But the content of their argument clearly confirmed this was the only item retrieved.

Why was this?

Was it a failure to uncover others? Or were the others simply unremarkable—not distinctive enough?

Not distinctive enough.

Unlike the other well-preserved relics, this one had been stolen by the Baroness.

And as it happened, she was also a lady…

Fu Qian seemed to catch onto something.

In that case, why not simplify? Remove the fragmentary “also” from his reasoning.

Merge these two subjects into one—substituting the Baroness into the inscriptions on the watch?

[Handle the Baroness with care…]

Such phrasing sounds strange… but if he didn’t rush to dismiss the thought, one aspect suddenly seemed less peculiar—Why had this particular item been the only one found?

Why did it appear to be the sole object returned from the nightmare?

His thoughts raced as Fu Qian arrived at an intriguing conclusion.

Because it wasn’t merely an object. It was a person.

The pocket watch shared the same nature as Reysen and his wife, only disguised in the form of an item.

This was precisely why, like the other victims, it bore a seemingly mundane yet profoundly unique existence.

…

Now came the final question—Why would the pocket watch be the Baroness?

Deeming it less significant, Fu Qian dug deep into his memory to recall the Baroness’s face.

And the state she had been in when he left her manor.

The situation at the time had been clear enough: repeatedly wounded, crippled, hanging by a thread. Fu Qian had even helped her summon assistance, advising her to live out the remainder of her years in peace.

Ironically, the gravest injury she had suffered had been dealt by Fu Qian himself.

To counter the Priest who used her as a hostage, Fu Qian had feigned negotiation before catching them both off guard, unleashing a non-discriminatory surge of the Breath of the Time Dragon—the very inscription on the watch mentioned *weathered by time’s ravages*, as it turned out.

Reflecting on his sinful act of taking a captive’s life, Fu Qian quickly envisioned a possible development—

The Baroness, on the verge of death, still held the dismantled pocket watch close.

Later, alongside aid from the Witch, she had contributed to the eventual deterioration of the realm within the painting.

Under the influence of this change, or perhaps with the assistance of some other force, her decayed body yet enduring willpower may have caused her to treat the church relic as a final vessel for her soul.

And within the tides of the nightmare, she similarly “awoke” as a dreaming subject, adopting the unique form of inscriptions on the watch?

It felt like exposing a loophole in this perfect world—indeed, perseverance can lead to unexpected outcomes.

Fu Qian congratulated himself smugly.

In breaking barriers and striving to decode The Sect’s incomprehensible mystery, this seemingly normal reality had at last revealed a hint of absurdity.