Chapter 52: Mother

Fortunately, in the next two days Lei Ke Dun didn't encounter any suspected cultists or mysterious extraordinary beings, otherwise he would really start suspecting Ma Dan of being a cult stronghold.

The Guardian of Knowledge Demon Elixir Lei Ke Dun applied for hasn't been approved yet, which makes him a bit worried that the church hierarchy might think he applied for the elixir too quickly, that the previous elixir hasn't been processed, and thus reject his request.

Nevertheless, Lei Ke Dun thinks the chance of that happening is low; whether it's the God of Knowledge or that angel, they should arrange something for him.

"Another day of goofing off with a tormented heart," Lei Ke Dun sighed inwardly, then headed home with Tu Ba Ge.

After getting into the carriage, Lei Ke Dun idly surveyed the city; although it was only a small city, its construction was actually decent, at least most of the blocks looked like this.

The architecture here resembles Victorian style, with triangular battlements, soaring roofs, protruding eaves, sometimes corner towers, balconies with columned door frames. Dark and bright hues form the main palette.

Tu Ba Ge, perched on the other side of the carriage watching the scenery, suddenly scratched Lei Ke Dun's back of the hand twice impatiently.

"What's up?" Lei Ke Dun turned around and asked curiously.

"I saw that person from last time, the one with the cowboy hat when we bought seeds," Tu Ba Ge whispered.

Following Tu Ba Ge's line of sight, Lei Ke Dun saw a figure about 1.75 m tall, wearing a cowboy hat and a grey coat, with abundant body hair, walking away.

The exposed wrist and side of the face were covered in jet‑black hair, but the figure soon vanished from Lei Ke Dun's view.

"Are you sure it's the same person we met when we bought seeds?" Lei Ke Dun turned his head and asked Tu Ba Ge.

The extraordinary being we encountered while buying seeds earlier, a suspected cultist, deliberately concealed his face, so Lei Ke Dun didn't see what he looked like. The person just seen was only a silhouette; aside from stature and the cowboy hat, there were no other similarities.

Tu Ba Ge nodded repeatedly: "Yeah, yeah! That's it, the terrifying feeling when he looked at me just now was exactly the same."

"He looked at you? What did you do?" Lei Ke Dun furrowed his brow slightly, puzzled.

"I don't know either, I was just looking outside and accidentally saw him, then he glanced over at me," Tu Ba Ge shook his head.

"Don't stare at others so casually in the future; extraordinary beings are very sensitive to such gazes, he probably sensed yours," Lei Ke Dun warned Tu Ba Ge.

The carriage traveled to White Maple Street, and Lei Ke Dun got off at the intersection instead of riding all the way to his doorstep.

After alighting, Lei Ke Dun subtly activated his Secret-Viewing Eye, scanned the surroundings, and only relaxed after confirming nothing was amiss.

Whether or not the extraordinary being just encountered was the same as last time, it had already noticed Tu Ba Ge. Having run into several unfriendly extraordinary beings lately, Lei Ke Dun had to be cautious about anyone taking interest in the rabbit's extraordinary traits.

"What's wrong?" Tu Ba Ge, noticing Lei Ke Dun's pause to scan the area, asked nervously.

"Nothing, let's go," Lei Ke Dun shook his head and said nothing more.

After letting Tu Ba Ge perch on his shoulder, Lei Ke Dun headed toward his home.

"Why does my heart always feel a vague unease!" Lei Ke Dun frowned slightly, pondering as he walked.

After Lei Ke Dun and Tu Ba Ge passed, a grey carrier pigeon fluttered onto a nearby roof, glanced toward the direction Lei Ke Dun had left, then flew away.

In a cheap inn several streets away, a silhouette stood by a window, holding a red wooden mouth organ about the size of an adult palm, silently playing it.

He deliberately lowered the brim of his cowboy hat, wore a gray‑white long trench coat over a dark turtleneck sweater. Dense jet‑black hair framed both cheeks, and his ink‑green eyes made him look like a bloodthirsty wolf.

While he played silently, a grey carrier pigeon fluttered onto the windowsill.

He set the wooden mouth organ aside, reached out and seized the grey pigeon that had landed before him, brought the struggling bird to his mouth, and in one bite snapped its neck.

"Pah~" He spat out the feathers stuck to his mouth, a exaggerated grin spreading across his blood‑stained lips, brimming with madness and bloodlust.

On the other side, when Lei Ke Dun pushed open the door with Tu Ba Ge, he didn't see the butler who had been waiting in the living room, but a finely dressed middle‑aged lady.

Her golden wavy hair fell simply down her back, her face was pointed, eyebrows long, pale blue eyes, faint crow's feet at the corners, skin slightly lax with the marks of time.

She wore a casual gray home robe, round gold‑rimmed glasses on her face, and sat on the living‑room sofa cradling a hefty book, reading attentively.

Lei Ke Dun's door‑opening startled the middle‑aged lady engrossed in her book; she looked up, and the moment she saw Lei Ke Dun, a warm smile spread across her face.

"Mother!" Lei Ke Dun froze in place, but his body's memory made him shout as soon as he saw her.

The middle‑aged lady before him was his mother from memory, Lunburg scholar Yi Sha Bei Er Yi Lai.

Yi Sha Bei Er rose calmly, walked to Lei Ke Dun, and gently stroked his cheek, her smile full of nostalgia and delight.

"I didn't expect my little Lei Ke Dun to already be taller than his mother!" Yi Sha Bei Er's smile showed a hint of realization.

"Hmm, I've already grown up," Lei Ke Dun felt a bit at a loss, receiving his mother's warmth.

"Come in quickly, there's no need to keep standing at the doorway talking, right?" Yi Sha Bei Er gave a perfectly timed smile and pulled Lei Ke Dun onto the sofa.

"Woo‑wa!" Tu Ba Ge, perched on Lei Ke Dun's shoulder, shouted at the right moment to assert its presence.

"What a dashing little rabbit, is this the pet Sean mentioned?" Yi Sha Bei Er couldn't refuse the cute rabbit that waddled over, and soon her attention shifted to Tu Ba Ge.

Yi Sha Bei Er lifted Tu Ba Ge from Lei Ke Dun's shoulder; when she held the rabbit in her arms, she realized it was heavier than it looked, and she struggled a bit to lift it.

Fortunately, Tu Ba Ge cooperated, jumping from Lei Ke Dun onto the sofa beside Yi Sha Bei Er.

"What's its name? Why did you dress it like a gentleman performing magic?" Yi Sha Bei Er's attention was now fully captured by Tu Ba Ge.

Seeing his mother's attention shift, Lei Ke Dun finally breathed a sigh of relief; no matter how familiar the memories and his body felt, he still found it hard to adjust to his new family inside.

"Tu Ba Ge, show mother a bit of your magic," Lei Ke Dun said to the rabbit, gesturing with his eyes not to overdo it.

"Tu Ba Ge? How did you come up with such a name for this cute rabbit?" Yi Sha Bei Er was stunned by the name Lei Ke Dun gave the rabbit.

"Just for fun!" Lei Ke Dun shrugged nonchalantly, offering no explanation for his twisted humor; after all, people in this world wouldn't understand.

Upon hearing Lei Ke Dun, Tu Ba Ge cooperated by hopping onto the coffee table, standing upright on two legs, removing the tall top hat from its head, and bowing a newly learned salute at his chest.

"Ha ha! How funny!" Tu Ba Ge's antics made Yi Sha Bei Er continuously cover her mouth and giggle.

Tu Ba Ge placed the great magician's top hat upside down on the coffee table, using the sealing object's door‑opening property to perform its favorite big transformation rabbit trick.

"Ha ha, my dear little Lei Ke Dun, how did you teach a rabbit to do magic?" Mother Yi Sha Bei Er was fully immersed in Tu Ba Ge's magic show.

"This rabbit has a bit of talent," Lei Ke Dun replied softly.

The awkward scenarios Lei Ke Dun had imagined when meeting his parents never occurred; instead, he found himself quite comfortable with this newly appeared mother, as if everything was simply warm and easy.

(End of Chapter)