Chapter 107: That Man (Requesting Monthly Votes)

Pons Benet squeezed tighter and tighter, his eyes red, bulging as if about to pop out.

If Lu Mi weren’t mute or if his vision hadn’t begun to darken, he would have thanked him.

At that moment, a hand reached out from nowhere, grabbing the hair at the back of Pons Benet’s head, trying to forcibly pull him away from Lu Mi.

“What are you doing? Do you want to kill him?”

“Are you insane?”

Shepherd Pierre Berri, restraining Pons Benet, growled in a low voice.

Pons Benet ignored him completely; his bloodshot eyes held only Lu Mi’s figure, his mind consumed by rage and bloodlust, reduced to one thought: “Kill this bastard.”

Thwack!

Shepherd Pierre Berri lifted his right leg and kicked Pons Benet squarely in the groin with his new leather shoe.

Pons Benet instinctively released his grip, clutching his crotch, thighs clenched, collapsing to the ground.

He let out a hoarse, gasping sound, his face contorted in agony like a rooster with its throat slit.

Shepherd Pierre Berri glanced at the man, his expression calm, and said:

“Once he recovers a little, take Lu Mi to the altar—the ritual is about to begin.”

He immediately turned his gaze away, bending down to check Lu Mi’s condition.

Only when Lu Mi regained his senses and slowly opened his eyes did he straighten up and nod.

As darkness gave way to light again and the pain in his neck sharpened, Lu Mi realized with disappointment that the ceiling above him was not his bedroom’s familiar one, but the face of Shepherd Pierre Berri, streaked with bloody scratches.

Am I still alive? he muttered silently, turning his head to see Pons Benet curled up on the floor.

“Worthless!” Lu Mi spat with utter contempt. “Can’t handle a woman, can’t kill a man—what’s the point of you being alive?”

Pons Benet felt a surge of rage rush straight to his skull; had his groin not still burned and had Shepherd Pierre Berri not been watching, he would have lost control again.

…………

Lu Mi and Aurora’s house, half its roof gone, shattered and ruined.

Under the faint moonlight and starlight pouring from above, Ryan, Lyra, and Valentine slipped back here.

After confirming no one was around, Ryan turned to Lyra and said:

“Tonight’s situation is worse than we thought—do a divination.”

Along the road from the edge of Kordu Village to Lu Mi’s house, they found every house empty—no one knew where the residents had gone.

This was a terrifying anomaly!

“Alright.” Lyra nodded.

Before she could pull out paper and pen to write the divination phrase, Ryan added:

“Be careful. Choose your divination direction wisely—avoid any that feel too dangerous.”

“I understand.” Lyra had considerable experience here; she knew that in a place like Kordu Village, where danger lurked everywhere and everyone was abnormal, even a slight misstep in divination could cause severe injury—or immediate loss of control.

After a few seconds of thought, she entered Aurora’s bedroom, where the wall along the corridor had been torn away, and selected a manuscript as her medium.

While Lyra wrote the divination phrase, Ryan and Valentine entered Lu Mi’s room—their former sleeping quarters.

Ryan’s brown leather suitcase sat beside the window desk, completely hidden beneath a curtain.

Seeing the item still there, Ryan exhaled in relief and said to Valentine:

“Get ready.”

As he spoke, he dragged the suitcase out, laid it flat, and unlatched its brass-colored metal clasps.

Valentine opened his arms slightly, and delicate, phantom golden flames leapt from the air, illuminating the room.

With “sunlight” now present, the grim-faced Ryan dared to open the suitcase.

Inside were no spare clothes, no books or coins—only a strangely folded scarecrow, lying still.

The scarecrow’s eye sockets were covered with thick black cloth; its face, neck, palms, feet, and shins were woven from brown-green straw, but its arms, chest, and thighs were covered in what looked like real, slightly pale skin.

This was a strange artifact obtained from the Lesdon Diocese of the Eternal Sun Church before the Joint Investigation Team’s departure.

Teams of their level were permitted to request sealed artifacts to handle anomalies.

Ryan closed his eyes, and the artifact’s data surfaced naturally in his mind:

“Designation: 217.

“Name: Tanago Scarecrow.

“Danger Level: ‘2’—Dangerous. Use with caution and restraint. Only teams of three or more, or clerics and diocesan bishops, may request it.

“Confidentiality Level: Bishop, Team Leader, and above.

“Description: This scarecrow was first discovered on the edge of a village destroyed by a cult ritual in the Tanago region of Lesdon Province.

“Two Purifiers, ten police officers, and seventy-six farmers vanished after passing the field where this scarecrow stood, never to be seen again.

“Research indicates that anyone entering within thirty meters of the scarecrow and making eye contact loses self-awareness, involuntarily approaches it, and vanishes seconds later, leaving only their clothing and personal belongings behind.

“During the peak of sunlight, even if touched or seen by the scarecrow, one will not vanish.

“According to a farmer from another village, the scarecrow was once ordinary, indistinguishable from others—until the field’s village was destroyed.

“Each time someone vanished, a small patch of flesh and skin grew over one of its parts.

“It is currently unknown what happens when all its parts are covered in flesh and skin; the only speculation is that it may come alive.

“The scarecrow already exhibits certain living traits: it shifts position at night and attempts to break free from its seal.

“Sealing Method: Cover its eyes from behind with thick black cloth and store it in a small, dark space.

“Usage Procedure: The scarecrow may only be removed under direct sunlight; the black cloth covering its eyes must then be undone.

“Appendix: 1. Never let it see you—even with sunlight protection, you will suffer prolonged nightmares and mental weakness afterward.

“2. Avoid using it for more than two minutes at a time; otherwise, its urge to escape and resist grows stronger.

“3. Warning: Permanently reseal the scarecrow before it acquires sufficient flesh.”

While Ryan and Valentine checked whether the sealed artifact had been lost or escaped, Lyra had entered the state of “Dream Divination.”

Whispering the phrase “Aurora’s location,” she sat at the desk, leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and quickly fell into deep slumber.

Through the four silver bells, half-awake and half-dazed, Lyra saw in the twisted, illusory world Aurora dressed in a simple white robe, a structure resembling an altar, villagers gathered around, distant stained-glass windows, and golden walls…

Lyra snapped her eyes open, bolted from the room, and shouted urgently to Ryan and Valentine:

“They’re all at the church!

“The ritual is underway!”

…………

Inside the church of the Eternal Sun.

Disappointed, Lu Mi was dragged toward the altar piled high with lilacs and tulips by Pons Benet, with Shepherd Pierre Berri watching them.

Glancing at his sister Aurora’s hollow-eyed face, Lu Mi turned his head and smiled at Pierre Berri:

“You’re a coward. A worthless piece of trash.”

Shepherd Berri glanced at him, gave no response, showed no change in expression.

Lu Mi continued smiling:

“Your wife died of illness, and you did nothing—only clung to a false god.

“Why did she die? Because the factory owner wouldn’t let them rest and paid them next to nothing.

“If it were me, I’d visit that boss and hang his whole family from the factory chimney!

“Did you? No. You were afraid—you feared you’d die too. Worthless. Coward!”

Observing Pierre Berri’s subtle movements, Lu Mi subtly added his “Provocation” ability to his final words.

Shepherd Pierre Berri’s expression twisted instantly; his once gentle eyes turned violent, as if a seal had been broken, unleashing the demon within.

“Calm down!” Father Guillaume Benet, standing at the altar, glared over and shouted sharply.

Pierre Berri shuddered, regaining his reason.

He tore off a strip of rag from his torn clothing, crumpled it into a ball, and shoved it into Lu Mi’s mouth.

Fuck! Lu Mi struggled desperately but couldn’t avoid it.

He cursed continuously, layering on “Provocation,” but the moment was too short—he hadn’t even spat out a few words before his mouth was completely stuffed, leaving him unable to speak.

Anxiety and despair flooded Lu Mi’s heart, nearly breaking him.

He forced himself to control his emotions, refusing to let the thought of “giving up” take root.

As he was dragged up onto the altar, his mind raced, searching for other ways to kill himself.

Soon, he was brought before Father Guillaume, separated from Aurora only by the large black thorn symbol.

Guillaume Benet first signaled Shepherd Pierre Berri to hold Lu Mi steady, then studied the young man’s face and smiled:

“You’re stronger than I imagined—but still just a little short.

“The world is too dangerous. A man needs two fathers—and you have neither. No one taught you how to live.”

“The world is too dangerous. A man needs two fathers” is an Idian proverb, referring to biological father and societal father—the latter often meaning “godfather.”

This is why Idians commonly adopt godfathers and godmothers.

The parish priest used this proverb to mock Lu Mi as an orphan—without a godfather, without a father.

Your child might have three fathers—no, four: you, his nominal father, his godfather, his mother’s lover… Had his mouth not been tightly stuffed, Lu Mi would have taunted the priest with this, hoping to provoke him into losing control and killing him on the spot.

Unfortunately, he could say nothing.

“Shall we begin the ritual now?” Shepherd Pierre Berri asked Guillaume Benet.

The parish priest shook his head:

“Wait a little longer.”

“Wait for what?” Pierre Berri was deeply confused.

The parish priest did not respond, and Lu Mi was already considering new methods of suicide.

Soon, he had an idea:

Enter a deep meditative state, submit to the gaze of those two entities, and strive to hear that mysterious, terrifying voice as soon as possible—until he shattered and lost control!

Glancing at Aurora, whose expression was blank and gaze hollow, yet otherwise unchanged from usual, Lu Mi closed his eyes.

First, he sketched a crimson sun; once his emotions calmed, he immediately shifted to the circle with eyes and a cross through it.

Silent and unseen, Lu Mi “saw” faint gray mist, “saw” chaotic, overlapping patches of color, “saw” countless indescribable things that seemed not to exist.

But this time, he felt no gaze from the depths of the mist or from the infinite heights above.

Why was it different? Lu Mi snapped open his eyes in shock.

At that moment, a person entered through the church doors.

He wore a long black robe and a wide hood, his entire face hidden in shadow; only his height was visible—about one meter eighty.

Seeing the man approach the altar step by step, the parish priest immediately turned aside, clearing the path with humble, reverent posture.

Who is that? The one behind the parish priest? Lu Mi frowned and looked over.

The more he stared, the more familiar the figure seemed, as if he had seen him somewhere before.

Finally, he remembered:

That was the shadow lurking in the corner of the witch’s tomb!

The black-robed man ascended the altar, stepped before Lu Mi, leaned forward slightly, and whispered with a low laugh:

“Have you realized meditation no longer works?”

What? How does he know? Lu Mi stared at him, stunned and bewildered.

At this distance, even with the hood, he could clearly see the black-robed man’s face:

It was a young man, eighteen or nineteen, with slender limbs, short jet-black hair, pale blue eyes, sharp features, and strikingly handsome.

This… Lu Mi’s gaze froze instantly.

He knew this face intimately—he saw it every day when he looked in the mirror.

It was himself!

PS: Requesting monthly tickets~

(End of Chapter)