Chapter 126: Method of Self-Preservation (Requesting double monthly votes)

After going around the Mason Café in the Botanical Garden district as planned, Lu Mian returned to the "Golden Chicken Hotel" in the Sijie, walked directly to the third floor, and came to Room 10, where the madman lived.

Bang! Bang! Bang! He patted the door.

"I'm going to die! I'm going to die!" The ramblings inside became sharp.

"I'm going to die too, damn it!" Lu Mian cursed without expression.

The madman seemed to be frightened by his momentum and fell silent, but didn't make any response.

Lu Mian didn't pat the door again, took out a small piece of wire he carried with him, drilled into the keyhole, and fiddled with it a few times.

With a click, the brown wooden door, which had many stains, opened "by itself."

Lu Mian then saw the madman. He was still wearing the linen shirt and yellow trousers, kneeling on the ground, his dense black beard almost covering his eyes.

Lu Mian walked in, closed the door behind him, squatted in front of the madman, and said in a low voice:

"I also encountered the Monsouri ghosts."

The madman trembled obviously, and his blue eyes, which only had fear, showed signs of thawing.

After a few seconds, he took a breath and asked in a deep voice:

"Are you sure it's the Monsouri ghosts?"

Entering the occasionally sober state Charlie mentioned? Lu Mian smiled and said:

"I don't know, so I came to you to confirm.

"What did the Monsouri ghosts you encountered look like?"

The madman answered tremblingly:

"A black shadow, like a lonely old man, his back a bit hunched, walking very slowly.

"After I noticed it, it disappeared into the darkness. I didn't know it was the Monsouri ghosts at first, until my parents, my wife, and my children died one after another..."

It really looks like the one I encountered... Lu Mian frowned, suspecting he had indeed encountered the Monsouri ghosts.

He thought for a while and said:

"How did your family members die respectively? Did you encounter any attacks yourself?"

The madman shook his head rapidly:

"I, I didn't have any other encounters except for often feeling that something was watching me in the darkness. Otherwise, I couldn't have lived until now.

"My child had a serious illness and died in the hospital. We had him purified and buried in the catacombs. My wife, my wife collapsed and hanged herself in the room.

"It wasn't until this time that I remembered the legend of the Monsouri ghosts and took my parents to the church to ask the priest there to protect us.

"The church took it very seriously and sent three clergymen to live in my house. During that time, nothing happened. I thought the nightmare was over.

"After the New Year, those clergymen left. Not long after, my father strangled my mother and ended his own life with a kitchen knife. Later, I don't remember many things. I only occasionally woke up to find that I had moved here at some point..."

The madman's blue eyes revealed pain that couldn't be hidden. The feeling he gave Lu Mian was like a spring stretched to the limit, ready to break at any moment.

"Isn't it said that the Monsouri ghosts will kill the person who encountered it within the year? This is already a new year." Lu Mian keenly noticed that the madman's narration was quite different from the legend.

The madman shook his head:

"I don't know why this happened. I thought the nightmare had ended at the time, otherwise those three clergymen wouldn't have left..."

A curse without an end time, unless the target is completely dead? Lu Mian had a new guess about the legend of the Monsouri ghosts.

He stood up and said to the madman:

"I should have encountered the Monsouri ghosts too. Let's see who can live longer.

"If I find a way to solve this curse, you can pay me to help you."

"Way, way..." The madman curled his lips and repeated Lu Mian's words with laughter and tears.

He then raised both hands, grabbed his hair, and shouted in extreme pain:

"I'm going to die, I'm going to die!"

Lu Mian originally wanted to ask what the madman's name was, so he wouldn't be unable to engrave a name when sending him to the cemetery or catacombs later. Seeing this, he could only shake his head, turn around, open the door, and walk out of Room 310.

Returning to 207, Lu Mian sat by the bed, thinking about how to solve the curse brought by the Monsouri ghosts.

Although theoretically, the curse might not take effect until the end of the year, and there was no need to worry for a while, Lu Mian couldn't pin his hopes on the Monsouri ghosts having procrastination.

Moreover, he didn't have any direct relatives. The first person to die from the curse would likely be himself. That might happen in the second half of the year, next week, or even tonight.

"Speaking of which, that guy might still be alive. If the Monsouri ghosts can help me kill him, I'd have to say thank you..." As his thoughts drifted, Lu Mian suddenly laughed at himself.

He told Ryan and the others in the dream that he had forgotten what he was originally called; that was a lie to them. He just simply didn't want to mention it anymore, didn't want to recall it.

His family situation was okay in his early childhood, but the man he called father was a playboy and later became a gambler.

His mother died of illness from anger, his grandfather went bankrupt and took him to live in the slums, and passed away a few years later.

So, after being adopted by Aurora, he took the initiative to ask if he could take her surname and change to a brand new name.

Lu Mian didn't know if the guy who just contributed the body fluid was dead or alive. If he was already dead, it was undoubtedly a good thing. If not, he hoped the Monsouri ghosts would put in some effort.

As for himself, Lu Mian didn't dare to rely on the evil god corruption in his body and the Great Existence seal on his body to think that the Monsouri ghosts wouldn't do anything to him.

As long as it doesn't possess him, it can do anything!

According to "Magician" lady, Lu Mian believed that many Beyonders and monsters could easily kill him, only to face the corruption leaking out afterward.

"It's not certain yet whether this counts as a curse... but I can't just wait for death like this. I must do something... Hmm, Aurora often said that for the weak or minors, the strongest ability is 'finding a parent'..." Thinking of this, Lu Mian's eyes lit up. He stood up, walked to the table, and took out paper and pen.

He planned to report the progress of the mission to "Magician" lady now, and by the way, mention that he had encountered the Monsouri ghosts, not knowing if he had been cursed, and how to solve this problem.

Although the lady with the code name "Magician" wasn't his parent, as far as the current situation was concerned, she definitely counted as his superior. Encountering difficulties and asking for help from a superior was a reasonable thing!

Lu Mian deliberated and wrote:

"Respected 'Magician' lady:

"I have followed your instructions, gained the trust of Aosta Truel, and asked him to introduce me to join the occult gathering convened by Mr. K...

"On the way back from the catacombs, I unfortunately encountered the legendary Monsouri ghosts. Of course, I cannot be sure.

"The specific legend is like this...

"I want to know if I have already suffered the curse of the Monsouri ghosts, or some other influence, and how to deal with it?"

At the end, Lu Mian specifically left the code name "Seven of Scepters" to remind the other party not to forget that he belonged to the peripheral members of their mysterious organization.

—This was inferred by Lu Mian through the lady using the Tarot card "Magician" as a code name, while he got the Tarot card "Seven of Scepters."

He suspected that "Magician" lady likely belonged to a mysterious organization symbolized by Tarot cards, believing in that Great Existence. Among them, the Major Arcana are formal members, each of whom is unusually powerful, and the Minor Arcana are peripheral members, undertaking different tasks.

After folding the letter, Lu Mian cleaned the room seriously and carefully, pressed all the bedbugs that crawled over from next door to death, and threw them into the trash can in the washroom.

After doing these things, he lit a candle, created a "Wall of Spirituality," and summoned the messenger of "Magician" lady in his own name.

Before long, the candlelight was dyed with a ghostly blue hue.

And this time, the messenger, which was the size of a forearm, shaped like a doll, and wearing a light golden dress, appeared directly on top of the flame, floating there.

Its pale blue eyes, which had no focus or spirit, looked around and nodded gently:

"Much better than last time."

This voice was ethereal and illusory, not something a human could make.

"In fact, I don't like those bedbugs either." Lu Mian took the opportunity to say a word.

The doll messenger revealed a hint of a smile:

"Right? No creature would like those bugs!"

Lu Mian could see that its attitude was quite satisfied, seemingly because "both sides" hated the same things.

After saying this, the doll messenger stretched out a pale palm without skin texture, letting the letter float up and drift upward.

Lu Mian looked along the trajectory and happened to see the "doll" holding the letter shatter and disappear like foam.

He sighed sincerely:

"Having a messenger is really convenient..."

Ending the ritual and cleaning up the wooden table, Lu Mian sat back by the bed, waiting for the messenger to bring feedback.

Time passed second by second, the night outside grew deeper and deeper, and bursts of singing came from the underground bar, but Lu Mian never waited for a reply from "Magician" lady.

This made him frown:

"'Magician' lady has other things to do and is too busy to read my letter for now?

"Can't keep waiting like this, must think of other ways to protect myself...

"'Hunter' plus 'Provoker' don't have the ability to deal with curses. If it really is a curse...

"'Dancer' doesn't work either, unless after finishing the sacrificial dance, one really prays to that Hidden Existence. But how is that different from suicide?

"Uh, praying to that Hidden Existence doesn't work, I can find that Great Existence!

"I have His seal on me, and I even got His permission when stealing the 'Gift,' so I'm not afraid to pray to Him again!

"Hmm, pray to Him to help me eliminate the curse on me."

Lu Mian did as he thought, quickly setting up the altar again.

Because "Magician" lady hadn't specifically mentioned the materials in the domain where that Great Existence was, Lu Mian believed that using anything shouldn't affect the final result, as long as it didn't involve other gods.

He still placed the orange-yellow candles made of citrus and lavender, two representing gods, one representing himself.

After completing the preparatory work, Lu Mian stepped back, looked at the three yellowish candle flames, and chanted in Hermes:

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

PS: Requesting double monthly votes~

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 127 =====