Chapter 125: Convener (Requesting double monthly votes)

Lu Mian's original plan was to go to the Mason Café before noon to familiarize himself with the environment there, so that if an accident occurred during treatment tomorrow, he wouldn't even know where to escape. But the Baron Brignard incident delayed him for quite a while, so he could only go find Aosta Truel first and go to the Botanical Garden district in the afternoon.

Aosta was still in the same old place, leaning against the edge of the underground cemetery, back against a stone pillar, and had lit a bonfire.

Hearing footsteps approaching at a steady pace, he, wearing a hooded black robe, lifted his head and looked at the visitor.

Thinking he would have some income, his expression froze instantly.

He stood up quickly, squeezed out a smile, and took the initiative to say before Lu Mian could ask:

"I contacted the convener this morning, saying I have a friend who is an occult enthusiast and wants to attend the gathering. He hasn't replied to me yet."

Lu Mian nodded, didn't ask how Aosta contacted him, walked to the bonfire, found a stone to sit on, and opened his mouth as if casually:

"You must have cheated quite a few people, and you always appear in the same place. Aren't you afraid they'll come looking for you?"

Aosta laughed "Hehe":

"Most of the time, it doesn't count as cheating. As a 'Secret Prayer,' a real Beyonder, I use my own spirituality to do divination for them, which doesn't count as deception at all."

"The results of my divination are much more accurate than most people in the occult club!"

"As for other times, it's definitely different people using different methods. If it's really exposed, I can still use rhetoric to make up for it."

"How to make up for it?" Lu Mian smiled.

Aosta coughed:

"The key is not to make the words too clear or too absolute at the beginning, so that you can blame the other party for misunderstanding later."

Lu Mian smiled thoughtfully:

"In the matter of the Samaritan Woman's Spring, you promised too easily and too clearly."

Aosta's expression collapsed instantly:

"Yes, I was forced too urgently by Baron Brignard, wishing I could get the money on the spot."

"The correct way should be to tell you I have a way, but it's very difficult to achieve. Only after you beg many times, I reluctantly accept your money and say I don't guarantee success..."

Obviously, Aosta had reviewed what mistakes he made last night and seriously considered how to avoid subsequent risks if everything could be done over. He became more excited the more he spoke, until he saw Lu Mian's half-smiling expression, and then he stopped abruptly.

How could he talk about how to successfully scam him in front of this dangerous guy? Aosta subconsciously piled up a fawning smile and explained forcefully:

"But I believe this still wouldn't be able to cheat you. You are the most cautious person I have ever seen."

Lu Mian shook his head with a smile:

"You really chose the wrong path."

Aosta didn't dare to pick up this topic and asked instead:

"I thought about it seriously last night. It seems I didn't mention the gathering when I was communicating with you, just said I bought main materials for a potion. How did you determine it was an occult gathering?"

Lu Mian laughed in a low voice:

"My intuition told me so."

At the same time, he couldn't help but mutter to himself:

Aren't there only two possibilities? Either one-on-one trading or a gathering. The chance of guessing right is at least fifty percent. I just said it casually at the time; I wouldn't lose anything if I were wrong!

Aosta's gaze toward Lu Mian became increasingly fearful.

He was less and less able to guess which sequence of which path this dangerous guy was. The other party not only looked like he could fight but also didn't have weak spirituality and had an intuition that was almost like a premonition.

Lu Mian felt the warmth brought by the bonfire and said as if chatting:

"How did you join that occult gathering?"

Aosta revealed an expression of recollection:

"Everyone comes to Trier with hope. Those painters dream of having their works selected for the exhibition of works by living artists, but the vast majority are failed candidates. Every year, people go crazy or commit suicide because they can't stand such a blow."

"The impoverished writers living in cheap apartments all want to repeat the success myths of bestsellers like Aurora and Meniere, but in the end, they can only sell their works to those small newspapers and have to endure bad reviews like 'vulgar,' 'inferior,' and 'repetitive plots.' Some of them even fall into writing erotic novels for underground booksellers, and could be taken away by detectives at any time."

"More than ten years ago, I came to Trier from the province of Sidilis with a desire to get rich. I slept in that kind of attic that would leak as soon as it rained, climbed scaffolding, worked in factories, smuggled underground books, and was a soda peddler. Although my luck was okay and I saved some money, I knew more clearly year after year that I would never be able to become a rich man, couldn't own my own house, couldn't leisurely have breakfast while reading the newspaper at home, and wait until the time was right to go out to work."

"Later, I came into contact with magazines like 'Psychic' and 'Arcana.' Hehe, maybe there was still fantasy, feeling that I could obtain powerful extraordinary power overnight and completely change my destiny. I started frequently attending gatherings among enthusiasts. Hmm, those magazines would publish corresponding information."

"At the beginning of this year, a friend I met in the enthusiast club suddenly found me and asked if I wanted to attend a gathering involving real extraordinary power. I couldn't refuse, and you know what happened after that."

Lu Mian listened very quietly and didn't interrupt Aosta's narration.

After the other party stopped, he asked:

"Was that friend of yours the convener of the gathering?"

"No." Aosta shook his head, "The convener calls himself 'Mr. K,' and every time he wears a very large hood, almost covering his entire face."

"Mr. K..." Lu Mian remembered this code name and thought for a while:

"What abilities has he shown?"

Aosta shook his head again:

"I haven't seen any. However, after I became a 'Secret Prayer,' when I met him again, I would have a feeling of facing shadows and the darkness deep underground. I think he should be very strong."

Sounds very strong. I don't know who is more powerful compared to the parish priest and Lady Pualis... Lu Mian muttered silently in his heart and asked curiously:

"Do you have any special feelings when facing me?"

Aosta said "Uh" and decided to tell the truth:

"No, but you have a dangerous temperament that makes me more afraid than Baron Brignard."

Lu Mian looked down at his left chest and said with a smile:

"That's good."

Aosta was a bit stunned, not understanding what the other party meant to express.

Lu Mian didn't continue this topic and asked instead:

"Have you heard of the Monsouri ghosts?"

"I know." As a fake wizard who made a living by scamming money, Aosta had mastered many stories involving underground Trier. "Legend has it that in this dark and vast space underground, there is an evil spirit wandering constantly. It always walks alone, as if it can never reach its destination. Whoever encounters this ghost will either lose their life on the spot or mysteriously die along with their direct relatives within the year."

"So far, those who claim to have encountered the Monsouri ghosts have all gone crazy and died within a year. I heard that the two major churches organized strong people to go underground to find that evil spirit, but they didn't succeed."

Feels a bit real... Lu Mian didn't ask any more questions, stood up, and said to Aosta:

"I'll come find you tomorrow night or the morning after."

"Okay." Although Aosta didn't think the other party would be detrimental to him now, being able to send this dangerous guy away still made him breathe a sigh of relief.

Normal humans can't possibly get used to staying with a tiger!

On the way back to the surface, Lu Mian carried the carbide lamp, passed the entrance to the catacombs, and saw the archway carved with various white bones, sunflowers, and steam symbols again.

Looking at the words "Stop! Ahead is the Empire of Death!", Lu Mian walked toward the natural gate separating the inside and outside tentatively.

Just then, a figure turned out from behind the giant stone archway and shouted in a deep voice:

"Stop!"

The figure was wearing a blue vest and yellow trousers, an old man with gray hair and many wrinkles.

His light yellow eyes were already slightly turbid, and his gaze was firmly locked on Lu Mian.

"Can't I go in?" Lu Mian had the ignorance and simplicity of an outsider.

The old man sized him up twice:

"You have to go upstairs to buy a ticket first, then bring a white candle over."

"I have a friend buried inside. Do I still need to buy a ticket to pay my respects to him?" Lu Mian made up a friend on the spot.

The old man said suspiciously:

"You aren't a university student from the Memorial Hall district, are you?"

"Those bastard kids always make up all kinds of lies to sneak into the tomb, singing, dancing, and holding banquets in the ossuary!"

"Go in, remember to bring a lit white candle like those guys. That's my only requirement!"

Lu Mian had previously worried that if he could get into university, his style of conduct would be too different from his classmates. Now it seems this was a completely unnecessary worry.

Those students were even crazier than him!

"Fine." Lu Mian revealed a disappointed expression, "I'll bring a white candle next time."

The old man nodded quite gratifiedly.

Lu Mian turned around and walked along the repaired road toward the stairs leading to the surface.

After more than a hundred meters, his peripheral vision suddenly caught a black shadow.

The black shadow was slightly hunched, walking slowly behind the row of stone pillars on the left.

Lu Mian looked at it, feeling that it wasn't a physical entity, almost illusory.

Subconsciously, Lu Mian raised the carbide lamp, letting the blue-tinged yellow light shine over.

The black shadow disappeared, as if it had never appeared.

Lu Mian quickly looked around, finding nothing.

"Hallucination, or is it an underground ghost?" Lu Mian just made a guess, suddenly suspicious, "Could it be the Monsouri ghosts? Did I encounter the Monsouri ghosts?"

His pupils dilated, and his expression became unusually solemn.

A few seconds later, Lu Mian laughed, laughing so hard he couldn't straighten his back, laughing so hard he almost shed tears:

"Haha, come, come on! I want to see how you make me die along with all my direct relatives, and how you make me die mysteriously!"

PS: Requesting double monthly votes~

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 126 =====