Hide and Seek: The Mad Girl Sees All novel Chapter 120

Chapter 120

Chapter 120

Ms. Reed set the last page down, took off her gloves, and placed them on the table.

“The flame begins in the heart. As long as the heart lives, the flame will never die. Lyra muttered to herself again and again.

Lana was the first to speak. “Ms. Reed, is this technique really usable?”

“In theory, yes,” Ms. Reed said, pointing to the section on the ‘Method of Gathering Flame.

“Close your eyes, focus on your core, and channel the power of the Vital Flame to your palm. The steps are clear, but there’s one problem.”

“What’s the problem?” Lana asked.

The master and disciple who wrote this book could sense the Vital Flame inside them. Can we sense it too?” Ms. Reed replied.

Ms. Reed looked up at Lyra. “Lyra, can you feel the Vital Flame in your body?”

Lyra paused, surprised. She’d never even tried, and had no idea what it was supposed to feel like.

“Let me try,” Lyra said. She pulled out a chair, sat down, and closed her eyes.

Lyra tried to focus her mind on her core.

Lyra wondered, ‘Wait, where is the core supposed to be again? Three inches below the navel?’

She focused on her lower abdomen, but all she felt was her stomach, still stuffed from three breakfast rolls. She felt more full than enlightened.

She pushed her focus even further down.

Still nothing. Lyra sighed inwardly. Was this supposed to be so hard?

Lyra opened her eyes. “I don’t feel anything.”

“Don’t worry. The manuscript says it’s normal not to feel anything at first. Just keep concentrating,” Ms. Reed said, sliding the fifth page over to her.

Lyra closed her eyes again. This time, instead of trying to sense her core, she focused straight on her palm.

She spread out her left hand and kept repeating in her head: Gather, gather, gather.

Ten seconds passed.

Twenty seconds passed.

Lyra thought, ‘Was it just me, or did my palm feel a little warm?’

She suddenly opened her eyes and glanced down at her left palm.

Nothing.

“I felt my palm get a little warm just now,” Lyra said, flipping her hand over. “But maybe it was just in my head.”

Lyra tried a couple more times. Sometimes her palm felt warm, but she never saw any spark of a flame.

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Chapter 120

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Ms. Reed paused for a moment. “The manuscript says the master taught two disciples. One succeeded, the other didn’t The main reason the second one failed was fear.”

“Lyra’s not afraid,” Lana said.

Ms. Reed shook her head. “It’s not about being afraid or not. The manuscript says, ‘Only the calm can gather the flame Lyra, what were you thinking about just now?”

Lyra thought back. “I was thinking about Iny core, the breakfast rolls, my palm, and repeating ‘gather’ in my head…”

“The breakfast rolls?” Ms. Reed echoed, raising an eyebrow.

“It just popped into my head for a second,” Lyra admitted.

Ms. Reed let out a thoughtful sigh. “Most people fail because of fear, but honestly, it’s those little distractions that are the hardest to shake off.”

Seeing Ms. Reed’s worry, Lana reassured her, “This takes time, and Lyra can’t be the only one practicing. I’ll organize a group to train together. Lyra’s panel is hidden, but the others can track their Vital Flame values.”

She turned to Garrett. “Pick twenty people from the base and have them start training with the manuscript’s method today. Everyone should keep a daily log of their experiences and any changes in their Vital Flame values.”

Garrett jotted it down. “Got it.”

Lana said, “Ms. Reed, could you turn those thirty-seven pages into a training manual before the day’s over?”

“No problem,” Ms. Reed replied.

Lana’s instructions were quick and direct. She got everything sorted out in just a couple of lines.

Lyra stood up, resting her hand on the edge of the table. “Lana, about the helicopter thing…”

Lana looked at her. “Zoe told me you want to go to the Ghost Wall.”

“Yeah, Lyra replied.

“All because of a dream?” Lana asked.

Lyra didn’t deny it. “There was a soul in my dream calling my name. I don’t know her, but she knows me.”

“What if it’s just a dream?” Lana asked.

“No, I have a feeling it’s more than just a dream,” Lyra replied.

Lana leaned against the table. “So, what’s your plan?”

“I’ll use the Scrying Orb to check her memories, find out who she is, and figure out how the Ghost Wall came to be,” Lyra explained.

“If the Scrying Orb fails, I’ll try the Dream Butterfly to wake her. If that still doesn’t work, I’ll seal one ghost into the Soul Deck and bring her back,” Lyra said, rattling off the plan.

Lyra blurted out her plan in one breath.

Ms. Reed chimed in. “Lyra, the souls in the Ghost Wall have already poured their soul power into the earth. The manuscript says when the flame dies, the soul fades away. If you try to wake them up, could that make them disappear even faster?”

“Right now, they’re in this kind of zombie-like state, almost like they’re in ‘super low power mode, just barely holding onto a

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Chapter 120

sliver of soul power to keep the wall together, Ms. Reed added.

Lyra’s hand froze on the edge of the table. She hadn’t thought about that.

Lyra thought, ‘If I wake a soul that’s almost burned out, she’ll move, and movement costs soul power. If she’s already running on empty, then…

“Then I’ll just use the Scrying Orb,” Lyra said, letting go of her other two plans. “Looking at her memories doesn’t require waking her up, so it won’t drain her soul power.”

Lana nodded. “Can we head out in an hour?”

“Sure, Lana,” Lyra replied.

Lana turned and walked over to the comms station, picking up the mic. “Helipad, get a helicopter ready. Destination: the edge of the Sunvale Wraith zone. We’re taking off in an hour.”

The comms officer confirmed the order.

Lyra was about to leave when Lana called out from behind her, “Lyra.”

“Yeah?” Lyra replied.

“Take Zoe’s Squad with you, and make sure you’ve got plenty of flares. Before you head into the Mist Wall, use the Transform Card to shift into soul form. We still haven’t figured out how to enter as living people, so safety first,” Lana said.

“Got it,” Lyra replied.

Lana opened her mouth, then swallowed the words she was about to say. “Alright, go on.”

Lyra turned and dashed out of the IT Department, her footsteps quick and decisive as she hurried down the hallway.

Ms. Reed took off her reading glasses and set them down next to the thirty-seven-page manuscript. “Chief Advisor, do you believe in that dream?”

Lana didn’t turn around, her fingers tapping lightly on the edge of the comms station.

“Lyra’s dream has the Dream Butterfly’s automatic defense. If it was an attack, the defense would’ve kicked in. Since it didn’t, it wasn’t an attack,” Lana said.

“If it wasn’t an attack, then what was it?” Ms. Reed asked.

Lana’s fingers paused. “Maybe it was a cry for help, or maybe someone was trying to send a message. We’ll know when Lyra gets back.”

Forty-five minutes later, the helicopter took off.

Zoe sat next to the pilot, while Bella and Felix took the back seats. Lyra leaned against the cabin door, idly shuttling her

cards.

Two and a half hours later, the helicopter landed on the outskirts of Sunvale.

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