Chapter 106: Decision (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Seeing Lu Mi’s unmistakable shock and disbelief, Parish Priest Guillaume Béne straightened up, satisfied, and said to Pons Béne:

“Keep a close watch on him!”

With that, the parish priest walked toward the altar.

As he departed, the surrounding villagers seemed to “come alive,” gathering in small groups to discuss various topics:

“The constellations are about to change.”

“Our good fortune is coming!”

“In no time at all, we’ll all be rich!”

“Then I’ll drink a bottle of wine every day and eat a pound of meat per meal!”

“I’ll find myself a beautiful woman.”

“I’ll go watch a play.”

“...”

Lu Mi’s mind was a roaring chaos; he didn’t even notice when Guillaume Béne had left.

The parish priest’s earlier words had been like a massive stone thrown onto a calm lake, sending wave after wave rippling outward:

“How is this possible?

“In the second-to-last cycle, he was killed by me because he didn’t understand my uniqueness!

“At that time, I didn’t even know what made me special myself—so it was natural he didn’t know... After that fight, he never clashed with me again in the next two cycles, until Aurora’s abnormal behavior emerged...

“But he never acted like he knew about the cycles—his furious curses when I caught him in the act of adultery, his weakness when Lyra sneaked into the church and knocked him out, his rage when Aurora secretly watched him with the ‘blank paper’—none of it felt fake!

“If all of that was an act, his capacity for restraint is terrifyingly extreme...

“And he knows Madame Poulais retains memories of the cycles, and likely has some understanding of the castle’s anomalies—yet he still sleeps with her at the start of every cycle, never giving anyone the slightest reason to suspect him.

“If it were me, after learning what Madame Poulais had done, I wouldn’t even feel desire toward her, let alone sleep with her!”

The more Lu Mi thought, the more terrifying the parish priest seemed—and this terror was entirely different from Madame Poulais’s horror.

He immediately raised several questions:

Why, if the parish priest retained his memories, didn’t he sacrifice those three sheep at the very beginning to gain the corresponding blessings and firmly control the entire Kerdou village, completing the Twelfth Night ritual on the first day?

“That would eliminate all accidents!

“What is he waiting for? Why does he always hold the sacrifice ritual just before Lent?

“Does the ritual have specific date and time requirements?

“Is the Lenten celebration part of the Twelfth Night ritual, meaning the parish priest can only advance the subsequent rites after Lent concludes?

“But even then, he could’ve controlled everyone from the start and simply waited for Lent to arrive...

“Also, in three cycles, they’ve requested blessings twice—wouldn’t that hidden entity find it strange? Yes, perhaps it has done something, like helping the parish priest recover his memories!

“No—if their sacrifice ritual had truly been completed, those three sheep would never have re-entered the cycle; their spirits and extraordinary traits should have already gone to the hidden entity.

“Could it be, like Raymond, that their spirits are gathered around the altar without escaping the cycle?

“Then who exactly are the parish priest and his group praying to—and who is granting them power...?”

Just as Lu Mi reached this thought, sudden searing pain struck his groin.

He involuntarily curled up, but the ropes binding him held him fast, preventing any real movement.

Pons Béne withdrew his right foot from between Lu Mi’s legs, watching with satisfaction as beads of sweat the size of soybeans broke out on the boy’s forehead, and not even a cry could escape his lips.

He crouched down, raised his right hand, and slapped Lu Mi sharply:

“Feel good? I ask you—do you feel good?!”

Before Lu Mi could answer, he swung his arm again and backhanded Lu Mi’s right cheek, making his ears ring and his head feel as if it might fly off.

Seeing Lu Mi brutally beaten by Pons Béne, Pierre Clèg, Raymond’s father, walked over, crouched down, and sighed:

“Endure it, endure it—it’ll pass.

“Our constellation will change soon; good fortune is coming.

“If you leave now, you’ll miss your chance!”

He paid no attention to Lu Mi’s reaction, repeating the same words over and over to soothe and persuade.

Lu Mi didn’t hear a word Pierre Clèg said; his gaze at Pons Béne held no anger—just indifference, as if staring at air.

He completely ignored the man, ignored the pain and humiliation inflicted upon him.

His mind held only one thought:

“The situation is dangerous now!

“Ryan, Lyra, and Valentine won’t trigger the cycle prematurely unless they’re certain what the parish priest intends to do—and they’ve just fought a battle; they don’t know when they’ll recover. They probably won’t sneak back into the village until tomorrow or the day after.

“That means no one will stop the parish priest from holding the ritual tonight...”

Pops Béne kept slapping Lu Mi’s face and kicking his groin, doubling back every injury he’d suffered before.

Lu Mi’s thoughts were repeatedly shattered by pain, then forcibly gathered again—he refused to waste even a second on Pons Béne.

This made Pons Béne angrier, and he struck harder.

“My uniqueness has been discovered and targeted—I’ll never get another chance to sabotage the ritual...

“What do I do...

“What do I do?”

Lu Mi endured the pain, searching desperately for a way out of his predicament.

After beating him for a while, Pons Béne grew tired and stopped, panting:

“If the parish priest hadn’t forbidden me from killing you, I’d slice your flesh off piece by piece—including that thing down there!”

Hearing this, Lu Mi froze—suddenly, a flash of insight struck his mind:

“Kill me?

“Kill me!”

He snapped his head up, staring at Pons Béne with a radiant, pain-twisted smile:

“That’s all the strength you’ve got? Are you using your tiny lice-knife to scratch fleas off me?”

He entered the State of Sequence 8: “Provoker.”

…………

In the nearest highland pasture to Kerdou village.

Ryan, clad in broken armor, stood guard at the entrance, speaking to Valentine and Lyra beside him:

“How do you feel?”

“I’m fine,” Valentine replied immediately.

Lyra added:

“My spiritual energy is nearly restored.”

Ryan nodded, dismissing the “Dawn Armor”:

“After I rest a bit and recover, we return to Kerdou village.”

“Now?” Lyra was surprised.

They’d only just escaped Kerdou village.

Ryan exhaled slowly:

“We must confirm as soon as possible why Guillaume Béne and his group attacked us tonight instead of waiting until near the Twelfth Night.

“Also, they captured Lu Mi and Aurora but didn’t pursue us here. My experience tells me something’s off.”

Lyra slowly nodded:

“But our condition isn’t good.”

After all, they’d just fought a major battle.

“Precisely because of that, Guillaume Béne won’t expect us to return to Kerdou village tonight,” Ryan explained. “Also, we left that item at Lu Mi and Aurora’s home—we must retrieve it quickly before Guillaume Béne takes it.”

At the mention of the item, Valentine and Lyra’s expressions turned grim.

They agreed to Ryan’s plan.

…………

SLAP!

Pons Béne struck Lu Mi’s face again, sending sharp pain through his nose; twin streams of crimson blood flowed downward, reaching his lips, tasting metallic and salty.

“How’s that?” Pons Béne asked, smiling broadly.

Lu Mi studied his expression and movements, confirming the previous words had failed to produce the intended effect.

He sniffed the blood-filled air and smiled back:

“Any other woman would hurt more than you!”

“Is that so?” Pons Béne’s expression darkened.

SLAP—he backhanded Lu Mi’s mouth, sending two teeth, dripping blood, flying out.

Relying on the insight granted by the “Provoker” state and his own experience with mischief, Lu Mi keenly sensed Pons Béne’s reaction differed from before.

Knowing well the gossip and rumors of Kerdou village, he vaguely grasped something and smiled:

“You don’t have a mistress.”

His mouth was swollen, two more teeth gone—his speech was now slurred.

Upon hearing the word “mistress,” Pons Béne’s expression twitched—he kicked Lu Mi’s groin with a sudden thrust.

Lu Mi nearly fainted from the pain, unable to speak for several seconds.

He forced a grin, laughing:

The parish priest’s mistress is known throughout the village.

Are you impotent?

Pons Benet’s expression instantly turned grim.

Lu Mi knew he had guessed right.

He endured the pain and let his eyes subtly deepen into darkness.

He had dared not use his “Provocation” ability until now, fearing overuse might draw suspicion—but now was the time!

Lu Mi burst into laughter:

Has your wife also been slept with by the parish priest?

Are all your children his?

Pons Benet’s eyes turned instantly crimson.

He lunged forward with both hands, gripping Lu Mi’s throat and whispering with all his strength:

Why don’t you just die!

Lu Mi heard the crack of his own neck and felt his breath growing thin.

Yet he felt no fear; instead, he curled his lips, calmly awaiting the ultimate agony and final death.

He had deliberately enraged Pons Benet to make him kill him.

Once he died, the cycle would trigger, everything would instantly reset, and all events would return to the beginning—with a chance to change things!

Lu Mi had not only considered inciting Valentine to suicide to test the cycle’s nature, but also contemplated using his own life as a last resort.

What was there to fear compared to this situation?

He stared at Pons Béne’s twisted, extreme expression, his purple lips parting twice, as if saying, “Kill me faster.”

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(End of Chapter)