Chapter 2: New Birth

As the memories were gradually accepted by Luo Yang, the throbbing pain in his head faded again. It was then that Luo Yang began to contemplate his current situation.

His present body's identity is Lei Kedun·Suosi, a citizen of Fei Neibo Te, living in a small town called Ma Dan at the border of Fei Neibo Te, Lunbao, and Seijiaer.

Because it lies at the junction of three nations, although it still belongs to Fei Neibo Te, many people from the other two countries also reside here.

The dominant belief here is the Earth Mother, while some people worship the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.

Lei Kedun·Suosi's father is Pa Qi·Suosi, a grain merchant who follows the Earth Mother, and his mother is Yi Sha Bei Er Yi Lai, a scholar from Lunbao who worships the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.

Because his parents' beliefs differ, they do not heavily interfere with Lei Kedun·Suosi's faith, as long as he does not worship an evil deity.

However, with a scholar mother, Lei Kedun·Suosi naturally has more exposure to knowledge, making him a shallow follower of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.

Recalling Fei Neibo Te, Lunbao, and the two true gods—the God of Knowledge and Wisdom and the Earth Mother—Luo Yang naturally realized that the place he now occupies is no longer his original world but the world within the Lord of the Mysteries.

In Luo Yang's mind, he involuntarily recalled some scenes from the Lord of the Mysteries, and subconsciously clutched his head hard, trying to use the pain to divert his attention. Luo Yang clearly remembered the setting in the Lord of the Mysteries: knowledge itself wields power, and the more one knows, the more dangerous it becomes.

The anticipated horror never arrived, so Luo Yang relaxed and rubbed the spot on his head that he had pressed.

"What a disaster‑prone head!" he muttered sarcastically.

Only then did Luo Yang carefully review his memories and discover that the dangerous parts had been blocked, while his mind had acquired a great deal of occult knowledge—not the vague descriptions from novels he had read before, but much more concrete and detailed occult knowledge.

There was no memory in Lei Kedun·Suosi's recollection of acquiring this occult knowledge, which caused Luo Yang's previously settled mind to stir again.

Suppressing these doubts for the time being, Luo Yang continued to sift through Lei Kedun·Suosi's memories so that he could better integrate into this world.

"It is now the end of the year 1348, and less than a year remains before Mr. Fool makes his appearance; time is truly tight!" Lei Kedun·Suosi couldn't help but sigh after realizing the timeline he was in.

Lei Kedun·Suosi's parents are rarely at his side; one travels constantly for business, the other delves into scholarship, conducting surveys and gathering material whenever possible. Luo Yang didn't know how these two became a married couple. In terms of their daily lives, it's not that they have no overlap, but rather that they each do their own thing.

Yet as their child, Lei Kedun·Suosi is completely different from his parents; he prefers a stable life. Though, as a young man, he yearns for the outside world, he still favors the quiet, leisurely life of the small town over the exciting lives his parents describe.

Lei Kedun·Suosi's temperament leads his scholar mother to believe he inherited only his parents' looks, while his character mutated; had his father not diverted Yi Sha Bei Er's attention, perhaps her research target would have included another Lei Kedun.

"Good thing I'm not that crocodile Lei Kedun from the Alliance, and I don't have a brother named Nei Se Si!" Luo Yang alleviated his tension with a sarcastic remark.

"No! From now on I am Lei Kedun." Lei Kedun adjusted his clothing and expression in front of the mirror, making his demeanor more fitting for a somewhat inexperienced young man.

"Besides me, the household has a steward and two servants, but fortunately the steward took the servants out to shop today; otherwise the earlier commotion couldn't have been concealed." Thinking this, Lei Kedun let out a slight sigh of relief.

"Dong dong dong!"

The knocking on the front door came from outside, and Lei Kedun's nerves tightened instantly.

"Relax! Relax! The steward has the house key, so it should be someone else; as long as I stay careful, I shouldn't give myself away," Lei Kedun comforted himself in front of the mirror.

After readjusting his attire and expression once more, he finally left the study.

When he reached the hall, the knocking ceased, as if the person inside knew someone would open the door. Lei Kedun was initially a bit surprised, but considering this was a world of mystery and the extraordinary, it no longer seemed odd.

After all, in the original work, Ke Lai En in the Joker stage could see the faces of people outside through the door, so it's not strange that the person outside knows he is heading toward the door.

He tried to keep his expression natural and his movements coordinated. Remembering that this is a world of mystery and the extraordinary, Lei Kedun became even more cautious; even through the door, the person outside could potentially perceive his current expression and actions.

Lei Kedun walked to the doorway with practiced poise, initially intending to call out "Who's there?", but he quickly suppressed the thought, which was completely out of character, and then, in line with his usual style from memory, opened and swiftly swung the door wide.

Standing at the doorway were two men unknown to Lei Kedun: a middle‑aged gentleman in his thirties or forties with meticulously groomed dark brown hair, slight forehead wrinkles, a neatly trimmed beard, pale blue yet deep eyes, gold‑rimmed glasses, a tall posture about 1.85 m, wearing a brown long coat over a cream‑colored patterned shirt, brown trousers and black leather shoes; his attire was equally immaculate, giving the impression of a stubborn, serious university professor.

Half a body length behind him stood a young man in his twenties, with light golden hair that was slightly wavy and unstyled, giving a somewhat messy look; his features were soft and lively, his mouth perpetually bearing a faint smile, appearing modest and courteous, like a freshly entered member of society.

He was slender, about 1.80 m tall, wearing the same style of brown long coat as the older gentleman. Underneath was a simple patterned white shirt, with a decorative pocket on the left chest holding a round gold‑rimmed glasses; his lower half wore black trousers and black long leather boots. His simple attire lacked deliberate coordination, appearing more natural, complemented by gentle, handsome features that left a good first impression.

"Indeed, gold‑rimmed glasses are a standard for every Lunbao person; once you wear glasses, you're a scholar, right?" Lei Kedun thought to himself, subtly assessing the two standing at the door, while internally snickering.

"Hello! May I ask if you are Mr. Lei Kedun·Suosi?" the meticulously groomed middle‑aged gentleman among the two spoke first.

"Looking for me?" Lei Kedun was momentarily surprised in his mind; at first glance at their attire, he had thought they might be his mother's friends or colleagues from Lunbao.

After a brief surprise, Lei Kedun quickly suppressed his doubts and tried to behave just as his original self would.

Since Ma Dan borders Lunbao, Lei Kedun had no doubt that their attire marked them as followers of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom; if the two before him were extraordinary beings, they were highly likely to be the Reader path's extraordinary ones.

The Reader path is certainly one that excels at observation and deduction; even though extraordinary beings are a minority, Lei Kedun dared not gamble that neither of them were extraordinary.

After all, members of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom's church essentially follow only this path; perhaps the church also possesses potion formulas for other paths—at least the five major families certainly know many—but the church has chosen only the Reader path, which belongs to the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, perhaps out of scholars' contempt for the barbarians of other paths!

Moreover, other knowledge‑related paths each have their own high‑ranking figures; even the Secret‑Observer path without a true god has an evil deity's hidden sage, and none of these are adjacent paths.

Now Lei Kedun can only try to appear as much as possible like his original self, since he has no way of knowing whether the two before him are familiar with the original Lei Kedun.

But just now the middle‑aged gentleman directly mentioned Lei Kedun's name, indicating he knows at least some information about Lei Kedun.

(End of Chapter)