Chapter 20

Lu Mi unconsciously held his breath and pulled his body back slightly.

Luo Ka did not come toward this direction; she slowly, slowly entered the small grove and vanished into the deep night.

“Her condition doesn’t seem right… What happened to her?” Lu Mi felt a flicker of concern.

Lately, the village’s oddities had been growing more frequent.

He gazed outside again for a while; the night had fallen silent, save for swaying leaves that proved the wind’s presence.

“What are you looking at?” Aurora’s voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Lu Mi was not startled—he was relieved. He turned around and said to his sister, dressed in a two-piece nightgown:

“You noticed something’s wrong too?”

“No.” Aurora’s golden hair hung loose and tousled, clearly just awakened.

Then she grumbled:

“I didn’t see anything wrong. I only know some idiot is pacing by the window in the middle of the night.”

“It’s barely an hour till dawn—how’s that the middle of the night…” Lu Mi muttered under his breath as usual, then asked, “Didn’t you come over because that owl flew to the window again? Didn’t you see Luo Ka outside?”

“Luo Ka?” Aurora’s expression turned unusually blank.

Lu Mi didn’t hide anything—he told her everything from waking up and seeing a shadow outside, to Luo Ka’s strange state as she walked into the grove.

As for the special aspects from his dream meditation, he planned to consult that mysterious woman first, then decide how—or whether—to tell Aurora, perhaps delaying it to keep her from stopping him from seeking supernatural power.

Aurora’s beautiful golden eyebrows furrowed:

“Luo Ka may already be in trouble…”

“Go to her house after sunrise.”

“What kind of trouble?” Lu Mi instinctively pressed.

“How should I know? I didn’t see anything—I can’t make a proper judgment.” Aurora snapped back.

“You really didn’t see anything?” Lu Mi had assumed his sister had been monitoring this entire time.

Aurora let out a dry “Hmph”:

“You think you can just look at whatever you want? See something you shouldn’t, and you’ll need to help me pick out a grave plot.”

“I don’t go looking outside for no reason. I only watch your condition—if something’s off, I wake up.”

My sister’s risking so much to watch over me… Lu Mi froze, unable to help blinking.

Aurora added solemnly:

“That’s why I told you: don’t look at what you shouldn’t, don’t listen to what you shouldn’t. Chasing supernatural power is extremely dangerous.”

“Yes.” Lu Mi nodded seriously.

At the same time, he silently thought to himself:

“Precisely because it’s dangerous, I can’t let you walk this path alone.”

…………

After breakfast, Lu Mi set out for Luo Ka’s house, carrying out his sister’s instruction.

Before he even neared, he saw many villagers gathered outside the door—including several of his friends, as well as Guillaume Lizié, Ava’s father; Pierre Clégar, Raymond’s father; and Pons Béné, the parish priest’s younger brother.

“What happened?” Lu Mi carefully sidestepped Pons Béné and the group of ruffians around him, joining Raymond’s side.

Raymond answered with deep sorrow:

“Luo Ka is dead.”

“What?” Lu Mi had prepared himself for something happening to Luo Ka—but not this.

Raymond went on, mumbling:

“Before dawn this morning, the parish priest came to give her last rites.”

“Just two days ago, when we asked her about the witch legends, she was perfectly fine, full of energy—how could she suddenly die…”

Before dawn? Lu Mi’s heart jolted.

He had seen Luo Ka’s figure at exactly that time—and the priest’s last rites would have come either slightly earlier or later, not far apart.

So… was what I saw really Luo Ka’s ghost? This happened after the owl flew over and watched me… Could it really take human souls? Hmm, Luo Ka was one of the few survivors from the witch incident… If I hadn’t listened to my sister and stayed indoors after dark, the priest might have been giving last rites to me instead. Ha—he’d probably spit in my face for that… Lu Mi’s mind flashed with a dozen thoughts.

Raymond didn’t chat with him. He stood silently outside the two-story house, mourning Luo Ka.

After clearing his thoughts, Lu Mi saw Lyra, Ryan Cos, and Valentine approaching.

Before Lu Mi could greet them, Lyra asked:

“What happened here?”

They had noticed the crowd gathered on the road.

“My cabbages, a respected old lady has passed away.”

“My cabbages, a respected old lady has passed away.”

Lyra didn’t immediately express sorrow—Lu Mi’s words didn’t sound convincing.

She still wore the same outfit as before.

Lu Mi immediately made a blatant up-and-down appraisal, making Lyra feel uneasy.

“What’s wrong?” Ryan asked.

Lu Mi smiled:

“You’re definitely not from Daliel.”

“We’re from Bigor.” Ryan answered calmly.

Bigor was the provincial capital of Lesdon in the Intis Republic; Daliel was a city on Lesdon’s southern border, governing a vast region including Coledu Village.

“No wonder you don’t know Daliel’s customs.” Lu Mi nodded.

He’d assumed these three outsiders were officials from Daliel—but they were from the provincial capital.

Their status seems much higher than I thought… Lu Mi silently revised his judgment of Lyra and the others.

“What kind of custom?” Lyra asked, intrigued. “Can you tell us?”

Lu Mi, eager to build rapport, smiled:

“You know, everyone has their own zodiac sign, and in the Dariji region, we also believe each family has its own zodiac sign, bringing corresponding fortune—when a family member, especially the head, dies and is buried, that good fortune is taken away.”

“You know everyone has their own zodiac sign, but in Daliel, we also believe each family has its own zodiac, bringing corresponding fortune. When a family member—especially the head—dies and is buried, that fortune is taken away.

“To avoid disrupting the zodiac and preserve the fortune, we place the deceased in the center of the home—the kitchen—before burial, then cut off some of her hair and nails and permanently hide them inside, but never let guests find them.

“If mourners enter the house during this time, they disrupt the zodiac and steal part of the fortune. So we all mourn outside, at most glancing toward the door, then wait at the graveyard beside the church.”

“I see,” Ryan nodded gently. “Like how every regional cathedral keeps holy relics—‘Where part of the holy body rests, the saint remains.’”

He turned to face Luo Ka’s house, removed his hat, placed it over his chest, and began to mourn in silence.

Lyra and Valentine followed suit.

When they finished, Lu Mi said to them:

“I’m going to glance at the body at the door. See you later, my cabbages.”

“Alright,” Ryan nodded warmly.

Lu Mi lowered his voice and added:

“I’ll help you find that little blue book.”

Before Lyra and the others could respond, he stepped aside and smiled:

“Why do you wear the same clothes every day?”

“When staying in a foreign place for a while, you can’t afford to care too much about appearances,” Ryan said simply. Lyra unconsciously touched the silver bell hanging from her veil.

After bidding farewell to Valentine and the others, Lu Mi walked to the entrance of Luo Ka’s house.

After waiting in line for a while, it was finally his turn.

He stood beside the door, gazing into the kitchen ahead.

Luo Ka’s body had not yet been placed in a coffin; she lay quietly on a crude bed made of several long benches.

Her nails had been cut; her sparse white hair looked neater than before.

Her face was a bluish-white, and with the wrinkles, even a bold young man like Lu Mi dared not stare too long.

“Her complexion is even more bluish than when I saw her before dawn…” Lu Mi murmured, gave a slight bow, and left the doorway.

On the way to the graveyard with Raymond, he suddenly slapped his forehead:

“Damn, I forgot to tell Aurora.”

“Then go quickly,” Raymond understood.

Aurora often refused to leave home; without her brother, she’d never know what happened in the village.

“Since you’re close by, lend me the Little Blue Book for two days—mine got chewed by rats on a few pages and needs copying.”

“Since we’re close to your place, lend me the little blue book for two days—mine got chewed by rats on a few pages, and I need to copy it.”

“Alright,” Raymond agreed.

After all, there was still plenty of time before burial.

“Naroka has passed away.” Lu Mi hid the Little Blue Book, returned home, and told Aurora.

“Luo Ka is dead,” Lu Mi said to Aurora, after hiding the little blue book at home.

Aurora sighed involuntarily:

“So it happened.”

“I wonder if it was that owl…”

“I suspect so too,” Lu Mi agreed with his sister.

Aurora hummed:

[101] “After dark, you must not leave the house.”

You must also find a way to warn those who were searching for the Witch Legend with you.

“Alright.” Lu Mi had just frightened Raymond with the threat that “Naroka died just days after being asked about the Witch Legend,” making him stay indoors after dark for now.

“Naroka was a good person. I’ll change clothes and attend her funeral.” Aurora walked toward the staircase, asking, “Will you come with me, or will you do a test paper first and go later?”

What test paper at a time like this? Sometimes Lu Mi couldn’t understand his sister’s thinking.

Considering he needed to compare the Little Blue Book, he told Aurora:

“I’ll do a test paper first, then go.”

“Good.” Aurora was quite pleased.

After watching his sister leave, Lu Mi’s expression grew grim.

He went upstairs to the study, took out the Little Blue Book borrowed from Raymond’s house, and compared it with the one at home, where certain words had been cut out.

Time passed slowly as he located corresponding words one by one and wrote them on a white sheet.

After carefully piecing them together for a while, he adjusted them according to the length of the two sentences.

Soon, the possible content of the appeal letter appeared before him:

“We need help as soon as possible.”

“The people around us are becoming stranger and stranger.”

(End of Chapter)