Chapter 111: A tiny hope (Seeking monthly votes)

Several days ago, under the blood-colored "mountain peak," beside the twisted "city wall."

Lu Mian knelt on the ground, looking up at the mysterious lady walking closer and closer.

The other party's words fell clearly into his ears, but gradually blurred.

Lu Mian's hands pressed onto the ground, gripping tightly involuntarily, as if trying to knead the mud in his palms into liquid.

When the mysterious lady stopped about a meter away, he struggled to stand up and asked urgently:

"Didn't you say there was still a chance to save them?

"Didn't you say that if I rely on myself to break the cycle, I can save Aurora and the others?"

Lu Mian's voice became hoarser as he spoke.

The mysterious lady did not respond, just watched him quietly, the pity in her eyes not decreasing in the slightest.

Lu Mian paused and asked, full of anticipation:

"There really is still a chance, right?

"That was definitely not a pure dream. When Aurora and I discussed it, she could say things I didn't understand or grasp at all, just like how that description of the honorific name could vaguely point to two existences!"

He stared fixedly at the lady, observing her every move, both afraid and hopeful.

Finally, the mysterious lady nodded:

"There is indeed still a chance."

Lu Mian's eyes lit up instantly, waiting for the other party to say the follow-up words.

The lady said in a soft voice:

"In a realistic sense, Aurora has passed away, but in mysticism, she has not completely died.

"Do you remember that every time you performed the Dance of Incantation, you would hear tiny and weak sounds at the end, as if coming from within your body? Do you remember at the end of the Twelfth Night ritual, fragments of light flew from Aurora and the others into your chest?"

"Those were their spirit bodies, their voices?" Lu Mian interrupted the mysterious lady and asked impatiently.

The lady replied peacefully and pitifully:

"They can only be considered soul fragments.

"At the end of the Twelfth Night, you became a container for the terrifying power descended by that hidden existence. The soul fragments of the surrounding believers, including the sacrifices, were naturally absorbed by you, with the exception of Guillaume Bénet, who presided over the ritual.

"Afterward, these soul fragments and the power carrying strong contamination were sealed in your left chest by my Lord.

"Therefore, as you became more 'sober' in the dream and could clearly perceive the date and cycle, Aurora and the other villagers became more and more like real people, even able to display a certain degree of self-consciousness and thinking ability.

"Therefore, if you want to truly wake up from the dream and if you want to collect the cyclic power that permeates these ruins, you can only rely on yourself to think clearly, to find the courage to face the pain, to face all of this, and to pursue the ethereal hope.

"If I were to solve it, there is only one option: to completely destroy you along with the ruins of Kordu Village. Otherwise, the contamination within you will leak out uncontrollably. In that case, Aurora and the others will also truly die in mysticism."

Hearing the mysterious lady mention the Twelfth Night ritual, Lu Mian couldn't help but recall it.

His head suddenly felt a sharp pain, and only a few fragmented scenes appeared:

Aurora, with hollow eyes, pushing him away from the altar;

Pieces of light flying out from Aurora and the surrounding villagers, falling into the vortex in his chest;

Parish priest Guillaume Bénet showing an expression of astonishment and turning to flee from the altar.

Apart from these, Lu Mian couldn't remember anything else; he could only remember the things that happened in the dream, as if some force was preventing him from recalling.

His expression twisted, and he whispered with a trembling body:

"I, I can't remember many things..."

The lady nodded:

"This is very normal. This is, first, subconscious self-protection, so that too much painful memory and too impactful scenes won't make you collapse on the spot and lose control into a monster. Second, there are some things you haven't witnessed and don't know the truth of. Of course, I don't know either.

"Well, later I will let you go to Trier to do one thing, and one, no, two very powerful psychologists I know are in Trier. I can help you make an appointment with them to see who is free to give you some treatment, helping you recall more things and restore what happened in Kordu Village as much as possible."

Lu Mian heard countless emotions rolling and surging in his heart, but thousands of words rushed to his lips, only turning into one word:

"Thank you..."

He gripped his hands tightly and asked urgently:

"Then what should I do to resurrect Aurora and the others?"

The lady sighed and said:

"I don't know either."

Seeing Lu Mian's eyes dim instantly, she added:

"But you must believe that there are true miracles in this world.

"And the great existence I mentioned before is synonymous with 'miracle'."

Despair and fluke emotions grew wildly in Lu Mian's heart simultaneously.

Although he knew that the mysterious lady in front of him was likely just comforting him and giving him a little hope, he still couldn't help but say:

"You said that after I unravel the secret of the dream, you would tell me the honorific name of that great existence."

The lady's expression became solemn, and her tone became serious:

"I will tell you now, remember it carefully.

"His honorific name is:

"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era, the mysterious ruler above the gray fog, the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck."

As those words were uttered, Lu Mian gradually became dazed, as if he saw a faint gray fog, and above the gray fog, in the infinite heights, there was a looming castle.

A gaze looked over from there.

At the same time, the entire Kordu Village was trembling, and the faint mist permeating here retreated rapidly.

When Lu Mian regained his sobriety and regained his vision, the sunlight had already spilled down from the high sky, dyeing the blood-colored "mountain peak" and the barren land with dots of gold.

Lu Mian recalled the three-part honorific name and remembered the discussion with Aurora in the dream.

This made him feel a bit sad for a moment, and he smiled bitterly:

"I thought there would be descriptions involving the past, present, and future."

The mysterious lady wearing an orange dress said "Hmm":

"There should be in the future, but if you pray to Him now using descriptions other than those three parts of the honorific name, I cannot guarantee that the one who responds will be Him.

"You should be clear that similar situations are very dangerous."

Lu Mian was silent for a few seconds, and asked with that tiny hope:

"As long as I work hard to help you, can I eventually ask that great existence to resurrect Aurora?"

"This is one path." The lady said softly, "You can also find other methods yourself. I will not stop you, just remind you that many resurrection methods have very serious flaws."

Lu Mian nodded, indicating he understood.

He didn't dare to ask but couldn't help asking:

"Is the possibility of resurrection high?"

The mysterious lady looked at him and sighed:

"Very, very small, but I know you will still pursue it."

Lu Mian pursed his lips tightly and didn't speak.

It wasn't that he didn't want to tell the other party that he would do his best to find a way to resurrect Aurora, but he was afraid that once he opened his mouth, he would expose the surging and sad emotions in his heart.

After a few seconds, he asked hoarsely:

"What do you need me to do in Trier?"

"Go join a secret organization and help me collect some intelligence." The lady said simply, "I'll tell you how to contact them specifically when you arrive in Trier."

She then added:

"Besides searching for the truth from your memories, you can also investigate the 'survivors' of this disaster."

"'Survivors'?" Lu Mian's eyes gradually narrowed.

The lady nodded:

"Besides you, there are five in total: Madame Pualis, Bauste, Louis Longde, and Cassie, who left Kordu Village before the Twelfth Night, and Guillaume Bénet, who presided over the ritual, received a certain degree of protection, and fled before this place was completely destroyed."

"The parish priest is still alive?" Lu Mian's mouth curled up bit by bit.

The mysterious lady looked into his eyes and said:

"If my divination is not wrong, these people should all be hiding somewhere in the Trier region."

"Very good." Lu Mian smiled while raising his hand to wipe the corner of his eye.

The lady then looked at Ryan, Lyra, and Valentine, who were sleeping on the edge of the thorn "city wall," and said to Lu Mian:

"How do you plan to deal with them?

"If they leave alive, you will inevitably be wanted and listed as a key target for arrest by the Eighth Bureau, the 'Heart of Mechanics,' and the Inquisition.

"From now on, you can only hide, you will never be able to live under the 'sunlight,' and you will be accompanied by darkness, mud, and danger."

Lu Mian looked at Ryan and the others and smiled hoarsely:

"Can killing them resurrect Aurora?"

The lady shook her head:

"No."

Lu Mian sneered instantly and lowered his head, closing his eyes.

Soon, he raised his head and asked:

"What is the name of the organization I am going to join? How should I contact you when I arrive in Trier?"

The lady sighed slightly:

"I'll tell you then.

"I will give you the summoning method for my messenger and the corresponding medium later; you can contact me through it."

Lu Mian was silent for a moment and raised another question:

"Do I have the power to make Kordu Village fall into a cycle?"

"Strictly speaking, you don't, at least not before you obtained the 'Ring of Fate' gift." The lady explained casually, "This place is because there is contamination from that hidden existence everywhere, and the power level sealed in your left chest is quite high. Therefore, when your emotions fluctuate greatly and you are in a subconscious state, you can mobilize the corresponding specialty to restart this place."

She paused and added:

"However, you yourself have always been in the cycle.

"The contamination sealed in your body will reset your physical state at 6:00 AM every day, returning to 6:00 AM at the end of the Twelfth Night. Only the changes brought by Beyonder characteristics and 'gifts' can be retained."

Is this the real reason why I recover every time I get injured in the ruins and wake up? No wonder I didn't wake up due to hunger... Lu Mian understood instantly.

He looked down at his body and smiled self-deprecatingly:

"Always on that day..."

That nightmarish day.

Before the lady could respond, he raised his head and looked at her:

"How should I address you?"

The lady smiled:

"You can address me..."

Before she finished speaking, playing cards suddenly flew in mid-air.

Each card had a different pattern, falling toward Lu Mian with a rustle.

Lu Mian instinctively reached out his right hand, trying to catch some of the cards.

Just then, the vast majority of the cards disappeared eerily, leaving only one.

That card fell lightly into Lu Mian's palm, face up, depicting a person extending a scepter toward the sky and pointing to the ground with their left finger.

Tarot card, "The Magician"!

Lu Mian raised his head in astonishment, only to find that the mysterious lady had disappeared without a trace.

Should I address her as "Magician"? Lu Mian subconsciously flipped the tarot card in his hand and saw a row of very small Intis words written there:

"A spirit wandering in falsehood, an Upper Realm creature friendly to humans, the messenger belonging exclusively to 'The Magician'."

Lu Mian watched for a while and put away the tarot card.

He looked at Ryan and the others, turned his body, and left the area with a slightly staggering pace.

As he walked, Lu Mian couldn't help but look back, looking at the blood-colored "mountain peak" and the twisted thorn "city wall" again.

The Kordu Village in his memory had already turned into this, unable to find a trace of the original, but Lu Mian still tried hard to look and search, wanting to overlap the scene in his mind with reality.

He still wanted to take another look at the "giant" at the top of the "mountain peak," but he knew that would bring him serious harm.

Unknowingly, Lu Mian slowly circled the blood-colored "mountain peak" and the thorn "city wall," his gaze constantly moving over those twisted and chaotic things.

He knew what he was looking for, and he also knew he would never find it again.

Just like that, Lu Mian came to the place previously blocked by the wooden wall.

This place had collapsed for the most part, allowing one to see the garden behind directly.

The garden was lush with grass and trees, colorful, forming a sharp contrast with the blood-colored "mountain peak," the twisted "city wall," and the ruins on the other side.

In the center position, there was a cradle made of brown wood, very similar to the one Lu Mian saw in Madame Pualis's castle.

He leaned in subconsciously and found that the slightly old white cotton swaddling clothes in the small bed swaying with the wind had a small human-shaped depression, as if a baby had once lain here, but now its whereabouts were unknown.

What does this represent? Lu Mian just had such a thought when he felt the sunlight shining down from the high sky become much brighter.

He looked up instinctively, looking at the high place, and saw golden flames completely submerging the top of the "mountain peak."

The three-headed, six-armed "giant" was looming in the ocean of flames, seemingly melting.

Lu Mian stared blankly for a few seconds, then suddenly raised his hands and covered his face.

This "sunlight" was too dazzling.

…………

Inside the semi-underground two-story building on the edge of the ruins.

Lu Mian, carrying the 237 Ferkins and 46 Copés he had collected, picked up the brown suitcase containing clothes and memories, and dragged his heavy footsteps to his sister's bedroom, reaching out to push open the door.

He was here to say goodbye.

Just as he stepped in and saw the desk with manuscripts, his head suddenly twitched with pain, and a scene appeared:

Aurora's eyes turned slightly, no longer so hollow, and she looked at Lu Mian, who had been pushed away, and said with difficulty:

"My, notes..."

Sister's witchcraft notes? Is there very important information on them? Lu Mian raised his hand to press his head, walked to the desk, and pulled open the bottom drawer.

Those familiar dark-colored notebooks came into his view.

He suddenly remembered that for a period of time before the destruction of Kordu Village, Aurora had told him a lot of mystical knowledge.

…………

Dales region, steam train station.

The staff member responsible for selling tickets looked at Lu Mian outside and said:

"Where is your identification document?"

"Forgot." Lu Mian, wearing a linen shirt, dark jacket, round-brimmed black hat, and carrying a brown suitcase, replied coldly.

Then, he turned his body and left the window.

A short man wearing a top hat and a black suit approached from the side and said to Lu Mian in a low voice:

"Do you want to take a stagecoach? To Bigor."

"Do I need identification documents?" Lu Mian asked.

The short man chuckled:

"No need, our line is almost killed by steam trains, what identification documents do we need?

"Are you taking it or not? This is the last bit of romance left from the classical era!"

Lu Mian nodded slightly and asked:

"How much?"

The short man became enthusiastic instantly:

"20 Ferkins to Bigor, about a day, with five stops in between. We will rest at each stop, change coachmen, change livestock, and two of the stops will provide free food."

Lu Mian didn't ask any more questions and followed the short man to a nearby street with few people.

A giant carriage pulled by four horses was parked on the side of the road.

After Lu Mian got on, he found that the space inside was quite spacious, divided into two rows like a public carriage, with an aisle and a place to put large luggage.

He found a window seat, put down his suitcase, and took out a book with a dark red cover.

Listening to the sneezing of the horses and using the sunlight outside the window, he flipped through the book.

Sitting next to him was a man in his thirties with a beautiful mustache, brown hair and blue eyes, and a well-fitting suit.

He glanced at the book in Lu Mian's hand and asked with interest:

"'Eternal Love'? That one by Aurora Lee, the one where the heroine is Kingsley and the hero is Charles?"

"Yes." Lu Mian nodded.

The man with the mustache became talkative instantly:

"This book is Aurora Lee's earliest work, the writing is very green, especially the dialogue between the characters, it doesn't sound like something that could be said in reality at all, it's sentimental to the point of being uncomfortable."

"Yes." Lu Mian nodded again.

He lowered his head, flipped the book to the last few pages, and let his gaze fall on the corresponding text:

"On her deathbed, Kingsley grabbed Charles's outstretched palm, looked at his painful face, tried hard to squeeze out a smile, and said with difficulty:

"'Idiot, live well.'"

(End of Part One)

PS: Seeking monthly votes for the big chapter~

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 112 =====