When both sisters saw Lisa's face, they were shocked.
Not because of her condition… but because she looked exactly like a wax doll — the same girl they had seen in Sera's dream.
The same girl.
Sera carefully looked at Lisa's hand and noticed that only one of her fingers was slightly moving.
Eli whispered quietly,
"Sis… it's the girl from the dream."
Sera nodded slowly.
"Yes… it really is."
But the thought felt unbelievable.
How could the girl from the dream be real?
Just then, Mrs. Muller walked toward them. Seeing the sisters looking at Lisa, her eyes filled with sadness.
Aunt Christine was indeed a cheerful woman, but how could a mother not feel pain for her child? She laughed and talked with others only to forget the fear that one day her daughter might leave her forever.
She walked closer to them and gently touched Lisa's head.
"Lisa used to be a very cheerful child," she said softly. "She loved playing tricks. Sometimes she would hide inside her father's basket just so she could secretly go to the mountains with him."
A small tear rolled down Mrs. Muller's cheek.
"Then one day she was playing outside while we had guests at home. Suddenly we heard her crying loudly. When we ran outside, she was in terrible pain. She kept saying, 'Mama, it hurts so much. I don't know what to do.'"
Mrs. Muller paused for a moment before continuing.
"We took her to a doctor. They said she was completely fine. But after that day… she slowly became like this."
Her voice trembled.
"We took her to many doctors, but every one of them said the same thing — there was nothing wrong with her."
Sera and Eli felt the deep pain in Aunt Christine's voice.
Both sisters spoke gently.
"Please don't be sad, Aunt. Everything will get better. You must stay positive."
At that moment, something suddenly clicked in Sera's mind.
She grabbed Eli's hand.
"Let's go."
The sisters quickly said goodbye to the Muller family. As they left, they noticed a few baskets that Grandma Maria had placed earlier were out of position. The sisters quietly put them back properly before leaving.
As they walked, Eli asked in confusion,
"Sera, why are you in such a hurry?"
Sera replied,
"Do you remember the book Old Lu gave us? The one he said was related to curses and black magic rituals."
Eli nodded.
Sera continued,
"I don't think all of this is a coincidence. We saw Lisa in the dream. I also felt a strange power inside their house. Maybe… we can find some clues in that book."
Eli nodded in agreement.
Soon the sisters reached their house.
"I'll store the food in the storage hole," Eli said. "You go check the book."
Sera went inside the house and searched for the cloth that wrapped the book and the stick.
She found it inside the cabinet.
Carefully, she took them out and placed them on the bed.
After storing the food, Eli closed the main gate and came into the room.
Both sisters sat on the bed, staring at the mysterious book.
The book lay between them while the sisters sat around it in a circle.
Sera slowly opened it.
Most of the text was written in riddles.
Maybe the purpose of the book was not to teach people how to perform curses, but only to inform them about them.
Sera believed she would understand it better once she found something related to Lisa's condition.
Dreams could be guides.
With that hope, she began reading carefully.
Eli tried reading too, but Sera was going through the book very slowly and carefully. Eli quickly became impatient and left Sera to continue on her own.
Her attention shifted to the stick wrapped in cloth.
Curious, Eli reached out and touched it.
The moment her fingers touched the stick, the crystal on top suddenly began glowing.
Eli quickly pulled her hand back.
Both sisters stared at it in shock.
Sera carefully touched the stick.
It glowed again.
"What is happening?" Eli asked.
Eli picked up the stick again to examine it closely.
This time… it did not glow.
She handed it to Sera.
When Sera touched it again, the stick remained completely dark.
Both sisters were confused.
Sera put the book aside and they both began examining the stick carefully.
The stick looked like ordinary wood. There were no signs of any electronic device.
No matter what they tried, the crystal refused to glow again.
While checking the cloth, they also found some money.
A few coins and some notes.
It seemed Old Lu had left them the little money he had.
Both sisters felt sad.
What could an old man possibly do to earn money? Yet he had left everything he had for them.
While Sera was picking up the coins, one slipped from her hand and fell to the floor.
"I'll get it," Eli said.
She picked it up and handed it back.
Sera counted the money.
It wasn't much, but it was enough for emergencies.
They were in a situation where they couldn't afford to waste even a single coin.
Eli looked again at the stick.
She still had no idea how it worked.
This time, when she picked it up again, the crystal suddenly started glowing.
Both sisters jumped in shock.
Eli quickly dropped it.
Then she laughed nervously and joked,
"If I pick it up now, it definitely won't glow."
She picked it up again.
The crystal stayed dark.
Sera frowned.
"Let me think," she said. "Nothing in this world seems normal. So we need to stop thinking normally."
Eli nodded.
Both sisters began thinking carefully.
Eli hadn't done anything special earlier.
She had simply been sitting there.
Then suddenly something clicked in her mind.
"Sis! I picked up the coin for you earlier. Could it be because of money?"
Sera shook her head, but she still tried holding the money in one hand and the stick in the other.
The crystal did not glow.
Then Sera had another theory.
"Maybe… it's your goodwill," she said.
She opened the first page of the book and pointed to a sentence.
"Your good deeds make the path brighter."
Sera looked at Eli.
"Maybe the stick reacts to good intentions."
Eli nodded.
Without saying anything, she suddenly ran out of the room.
Sera blinked in confusion.
A few moments later Eli returned with a glass of water and handed it to Sera.
Sera accepted it, puzzled.
Eli then picked up the stick again.
The crystal did not glow.
Eli looked at Sera in confusion.
Sera shook her head as if asking what Eli was doing.
Eli explained,
"I brought you water. That's also a good deed. So why didn't the stick glow?"
Sera thought for a moment.
"Maybe because I didn't actually need water. Maybe it only reacts when someone truly needs help."
Eli nodded slowly.
"Maybe."
For now, one thing seemed clear.
Whenever someone genuinely helped another person, the stick glowed.
But they still didn't know what that meant… or how it worked.
Could other people see the glow too?
What would happen if someone else helped someone while holding the stick?
They had no answers.
Eli stretched lazily.
"Let's make dinner. That book is huge. At your reading speed, you won't finish it in one day."
Sera smirked.
"Well, at least I don't skip information like you."
Eli knew exactly what Sera meant.
The novel they had transmigrated into.
Eli had skipped most of it and only read a few pages.
If she had known this would happen, she would have memorized the entire story.
"Fine, fine," Eli said. "Now come on. I'm hungry."
Both sisters laughed.
They placed the book and stick back inside the cabinet.
After cooking dinner and washing the dishes, they returned to their room.
Sera took out the book again and continued reading.
Meanwhile, Eli began checking Lily and Mily's school bags to understand their studies.
While reading, Sera noticed something interesting.
The book had been written by many different people.
Some pages were handwritten.
Some were copied from older texts.
Most pages were covered with protective plastic, which kept them in excellent condition.
As the night grew deeper, Eli became sleepy.
"Sera, come sleep. We'll continue tomorrow."
"Just two more minutes," Sera replied.
Eli soon fell asleep.
But Sera couldn't.
It felt like the book had opened an entirely new world in front of her.
It didn't just contain information about curses.
It also recorded the stories of people who had suffered from them.
As Sera flipped through the pages, she suddenly stopped.
Her eyes froze on a single name.
A curse called "Matrio."
As she continued reading, shock filled her face.
Everything described in the curse… matched Lisa's condition perfectly.
But how could someone do something so cruel?