Chapter 28: Law

The owl's brownish-yellow whites and black pupils seemed to glow slightly in the night, and its posture while watching Lu Mi was closer to looking down from above.

Lu Mi was no longer as fearful as the previous two times and cursed in a deep voice:

"What are you looking at?

"If you have the ability, speak!"

It wasn't that he necessarily wanted to offend the owl opposite him, but he wanted to provoke it to reveal its true purpose in this way. Otherwise, having it fly over from time to time at night and just watch him like this was still quite chilling.

The owl remained silent, not even making a sound.

After a few seconds, it spread its wings again and flew toward the depths of the night.

"Psychopath!" Lu Mi cursed, but he didn't dare to relax in his heart at all.

He still watched the outside intently, carefully distinguishing all the dark shadows in the night.

He remembered very clearly that after the owl came last time, he saw Naroka's figure, and after dawn, he heard the news of Naroka's passing.

He didn't know if something similar would happen this time... Lu Mi observed carefully and didn't find any anomalies.

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, pulled the curtains, and lay back on the bed.

In the deep darkness, Lu Mi kept his eyes open, thinking about his next plan:

"I don't know what this owl wants to do... It acts so eerie and mysterious, it shouldn't be anything good...

"Forget it. Anyway, with the situation in the village, I have to drag Aurora away quickly. After that, I don't believe it can follow us to Trier!

"If there's no reply tomorrow, I must forcibly escape Cordu the morning after tomorrow...

"If there is a reply, then Aurora and I will leave Cordu village openly via the usual road down the mountain. If not, um... tomorrow is the Lenten festival, and the day after tomorrow everyone will still be celebrating, so they won't pay much attention. I can have Aurora go find Lady Pualis to borrow her pony and go play at the nearby high-altitude pasture. That doesn't require going down the mountain, doesn't look like we're leaving Cordu, and shouldn't attract too much attention from the investigators. At that time, we can use a dangerous small path there to leave the mountain area...

"That doesn't count as a road at all; several parts in the middle are broken. Even the shepherds don't think it's possible to go down the mountain relying on it. However, with my current abilities, passing through it is no problem at all, and Aurora knows witchcraft and can fly for a distance, so she'll definitely be even more relaxed than me...

"This has a high hope of deceiving the eyes of the investigators..."

After becoming a "Hunter," many things he couldn't do before could now be completed. This gave Lu Mi great confidence and allowed him to quickly formulate a plan.

His heart became determined, and he became much more composed. His subsequent sleep was very sound.

The next morning, Lu Mi got up early and busied himself in the kitchen.

Thinking that he had already become a Beyonder and was about to leave Cordu village, which was full of anomalies, with his sister, his mood became quite good, and he even had the urge to hum a song.

When Aurora came downstairs, two bowls of meat sauce noodles were already placed on the table.

"How did you know I was about to wake up?" she asked with gratification.

Lu Mi laughed:

"I heard movement in the washroom, so I started cooking the noodles."

At the same time, he muttered in his heart:

You are indeed the same as usual; you'll be in a daze for a while after waking up, and you didn't even think of that.

Aurora nodded. As she sat at the dining table, she asked as if casually:

"Did that owl fly over again in the middle of the night yesterday?"

"Yes." Lu Mi knew this was his sister discovering that he hadn't slept in the middle of the night and was looking out the window.

It was fortunate that the owl appeared; otherwise, he wouldn't have known how to explain it.

He couldn't just say he was too excited after becoming a Beyonder, right?

If he said that, he wouldn't be able to avoid his sister's re-education.

However, Lu Mi didn't intend to hide this from his sister for too long, because it would affect Aurora's judgment on many things.

He prepared to tell his sister about this when they forcibly escaped Cordu the day after tomorrow, so she wouldn't have to be distracted to take care of him.

At that time, in the tight situation, Aurora wouldn't have time to educate him.

"Strange owl..." Aurora frowned slightly, her face full of confusion.

She also couldn't figure out what the owl wanted to do; it just came to look every time.

Lu Mi slurped the noodles, and only after he had eaten enough did he say to Aurora:

"If there's a reply, we'll leave Cordu village this evening and take the usual road down the mountain."

"If we don't receive a reply, you go find Lady Pualis tomorrow morning to borrow a pony, and we'll go to the nearest high-altitude pasture. I know there's a small path there that can go down the mountain, and those investigators definitely don't know about it."

Aurora played with her hair with her fingers and thought carefully.

After a while, she smiled and said:

"Okay, the possibility of this plan succeeding is quite high."

She then "tsk-tsked":

"My silly brother has grown up."

Lu Mi was overjoyed and quite proud.

After breakfast, he used the excuse of seeing if Ava was ready for the "Spring Elf" blessing parade and left the semi-underground two-story building, heading straight for the old tavern.

After becoming a Beyonder, he urgently wanted to learn more common knowledge.

And that lady had said she would tell him!

Walking to a place not far from the old tavern, Lu Mi saw an acquaintance coming toward him.

It was Pons Bene, the parish priest's brother, wearing a cotton shirt and a dark blue short jacket.

"Only one person..." Lu Mi thought of being chased for half the village by Pons Bene and his thugs last time, and a brilliant smile couldn't help but appear on his face.

Having just obtained supernatural power, he was already in a state of wanting to try it out and find someone to practice with.

"Hi, my bastard." Lu Mi greeted him, "Without your father's permission, how dare you go out alone?"

He intended to provoke Pons Bene, making him take the initiative to attack so he wouldn't run away early.

Pons Bene looked toward the sound and saw him.

The thug's expression changed slightly, and he turned his body directly and ran wildly.

Scram, scram, scram... Lu Mi was a bit dumbfounded to see this guy disappear at the intersection not far away.

"He really runs fast..."

"Quite alert..."

Lu Mi sighed silently.

Although he believed he could steadily defeat Pons Bene one-on-one before becoming a Beyonder, Pons Bene likely thought the same. After all, the two hadn't truly fought, and both were full of confidence. Who knew, Pons Bene chose to run away as soon as he saw him today, as if he had encountered a ferocious beast.

He couldn't possibly know I secretly became a Beyonder last night... Could it be that this guy is so stupid and brainless that he instead obtained a beast-like intuition and could smell the scent of danger? Lu Mi slandered Pons Bene in his heart.

He didn't try to chase, because as soon as he finished saying "hello," he regretted it:

The village is full of anomalies, and the situation is quite dangerous. Before truly leaving, it's better to have one less thing than one more!

If he really beat up Pons Bene and caused the parish priest's group to launch their plan early, affecting his and Aurora's escape, Lu Mi wouldn't even be able to cry.

Moreover, the parish priest's group was mysterious, and Pons Bene might have some weird aspects. Lu Mi felt that if he really had a big fight with him, he would likely expose his identity as a Beyonder, and that would be troublesome later.

"Becoming a Beyonder all of a sudden, I've become a bit too proud and arrogant, and haven't controlled myself well..." Lu Mi conducted a deep self-reflection and then walked into the old tavern.

He intended to go straight to the second floor, but saw the lady sitting in the corner.

Today she was wearing a pearl-gray long skirt, paired with a light-colored lady's soft hat, and there was no food in front of her.

"Have you had breakfast?" Lu Mi walked over and sat opposite her.

"Not yet." The lady answered casually, "I have an appointment with someone today, and I'm still waiting for her."

Her? Not me... Lu Mi looked around, but aside from the tavern owner, he didn't see anyone else.

He looked at the lady again and said sincerely:

"I've become a 'Hunter'."

You should fulfill your promise and tell me more common knowledge.

The lady wasn't surprised at all and smiled slightly:

"Your state is not bad."

She paused, her voice sounding a bit drifting:

"What you need to master now are two laws and one method."

How come it's like studying physics... Lu Mi didn't dare to speak.

The lady continued:

"For most Beyonders, this knowledge is exceptionally precious and worth them taking out everything to exchange for it. But for you, since there is the arrangement of fate, I will tell you for free."

Free is the most expensive. Where will I pay the price again? Lu Mi felt inexplicably heavy.

After becoming a "Hunter," his intuition and observation ability had significantly improved. At this moment, he clearly felt that the indescribable special emotion in the lady's eyes had appeared again, thicker than ever before, but he still couldn't distinguish what emotion it was.

The lady sat up slightly:

"The source of all supernatural power can be traced back to the original Creator. You are a believer in the 'Eternal Blazing Sun,' so you should be very clear that that one's eyes became the sun."

"Yes." Lu Mi had heard the parish priest preach.

"This is actually a description in a symbolic sense." The lady explained simply, "In short, the original Creator created this world, created many gods, and eventually disintegrated himself, splitting into Beyonder characteristics of different pathways."

"So that's why it's called 'Divine Pathways'?" Lu Mi suddenly realized.

The lady nodded gently:

"Yes, Sequence 0 of each pathway is equal to a True God. For example, Sequence 0 of the 'Bard' pathway is called 'Sun,' which is the 'Eternal Blazing Sun' you believe in."

Every Beyonder can become a god if they walk to the end? Lu Mi was incomparably shocked.

At the same time, he felt joy and was inexplicably terrified.

If he were a devout believer in the "Eternal Blazing Sun," he would already be accusing the lady opposite him of blaspheming the gods, but unfortunately, he wasn't. He belonged to the kind who believed along with everyone else, and it didn't matter if he didn't believe.

He even pressed:

"What is Sequence 0 of the 'Hunter' pathway called, and the 'Secrets Supplicant' pathway?"

"Didn't I tell you? 'Red Priest.' Currently, this position is still vacant." The lady shook her head with a laugh. "Sequence 0 of the 'Secrets Supplicant' pathway is called 'Hermit,' and it is currently occupied by an evil god. He is called the 'Hidden Sage,' and he likes to instill knowledge into Beyonders of the same pathway. In professional terms, it's called 'Knowledge Seeking People.' Your sister's problem stems largely from this."

"Is that so..." Lu Mi began to hold a grudge against the "Hidden Sage."

The lady turned the topic back to the right track:

"It is precisely because Beyonder characteristics all come from the original Creator that they will not disappear, nor will they increase. They will only transform from one form to another, transferring from one object to another."

"This is called the Law of Indestructibility of Beyonder Characteristics."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 29 =====