Chapter 302: Another Symbol

Hearing Mr. Poet's question, Lu Mian froze, feeling a chill rising from his tailbone and instantly piercing into his brain.

Whether it was Aurore who knocked him out in the dream and brought him to the sacrificial place, or the assistant priest Michel Galigou who did this in reality, both were people who had lizard-like sprites crawl out of their mouths, or rather, people who had been secretly polluted by it!

And if Lu Mian hadn't become the container and hadn't been pushed onto the altar, standing in front of Aurore, Termiboros's descent ritual would likely have succeeded. Because that way, neither would Aurore have pushed the container off the altar, destroying the ritual, nor would the mark of Mr. Fool on Lu Mian have been triggered!

Such realization made Lu Mian's thoughts become exceptionally chaotic.

He had never thought that the lizard-like sprite would be the destroyer of the ritual. The other party had clearly secretly polluted Aurore and the assistant priest, making them undergo unconscious changes, ignoring some important matters, and missing the final chance for self-rescue!

"It, what exactly does it want to do? What is its true purpose?" Lu Mian asked somewhat painfully.

The poet, who seemed to be shrouded in fog, replied in a calm voice:

"I am only interpreting the symbolic meaning of these elements in your dream; it is impossible to completely restore the truth of the matter.

"Of course, I can try to provide some speculations:

"The force represented by the lizard-like sprite wants to achieve some secretive goals through the large-scale sacrifice of Fate believers summoning angels, but it does not want to see Termiboros truly descend to the earth.

"They should have contradictions in stage goals or even ultimate goals with that existence named after Fate."

Lu Mian nodded while listening, feeling that this was the most reasonable explanation at present.

He frowned unconsciously and said:

"What secretive goals do they want to achieve?"

"This is one of the directions for your subsequent investigation," the poet said with a smile. "Decryption is not divination, nor is it prophecy; it requires enough information to deduce, and cannot be guessed out of thin air."

Lu Mian nodded slightly, more urgently wanting to catch the assistant priest Guillaume Bénet.

The poet leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on the wooden table, his hands still clasped together:

"I have already interpreted the more important symbolic elements just now, leaving only the last one.

"Your dream itself also has very strong symbolic significance."

"The dream itself?" Lu Mian thought carefully for a few seconds, not finding any specific symbolism.

The poet's voice deepened a little, no longer abnormally ethereal, becoming increasingly magnetic:

"It symbolizes 'protection.'

"At that time, because your emotional fluctuations were too intense and your spirit was close to collapse, you entered a deep sleep. If it weren't for that real dream bringing comfort and hope, you might have completely collapsed, driven by self-destructive tendencies to do irrational things until death.

"In addition, we can be sure that you yourself do not have the ability to have a real dream, nor can you forcibly pull investigators into that dream. Termiboros, who is sealed, cannot either. In other words, that real dream came from external interference.

"We have not yet mastered the specific abilities of the high sequences of the Fate pathway, so we cannot judge whether it was done by the Fate believer symbolized by that owl, or by influence exerted by other forces. Judging from the interpretation just now and the reality, they both have sufficient motivation.

"In short, except for that existence named after Fate, no one wants to see Termiboros truly descend to the earth."

Lu Mian instantly thought of the area around the blood-colored mountain in the ruins of Cordu Village that made people fall asleep.

Before he could raise this situation, the poet added himself:

"Combining the fact that the area forcing others to sleep is around the sacrificial place, not the house where you slept, I tend to believe it was influence exerted by other forces. They were mainly to destroy the ritual, and comforting you was an incidental act.

"If it were done by the Fate believer symbolized by the owl, the location of the abnormal area would be completely opposite."

Done by the force represented by the lizard-like sprite, or another? Another force? The more Lu Mian understood the situation at the time, the more he felt that the truth of the Cordu Village disaster was more complicated than he had expected.

He was silent for a while and said:

"What do the empty baby cradles in the Administrative Officer's castle symbolize?"

"This is a relatively less important symbolic element," the poet pondered for several seconds before saying. "It represents the child of that great mother. According to the intelligence you provided, it is very likely that in the final sacrificial ritual, it secretly entered our world through another blood-related child hidden by Lady Pualis, quietly leaving Cordu Village, leaving only an empty baby cradle."

The offspring of the great mother... Lu Mian secretly hissed, feeling that the severity of this matter was no less than Termiboros's descent.

The Fate force had been busy for nearly a year at great risk, only to end up with a sealed angel, ultimately benefiting that great mother.

As thoughts flashed, Lu Mian let go of his worries:

This matter would definitely be handled by the saints and angels of the "Tarot Club" and the Fool's Church; it wasn't his turn, a small Sequence 7, to worry about.

Moreover, this mainly utilized the sacrificial ritual and didn't have much to do with the truth of the Cordu Village disaster. Lu Mian's focus must be on tracking and capturing the assistant priest Guillaume Bénet.

He turned to ask:

"Why was the entire Cordu Village destroyed, but only the house of me and Aurore was preserved intact?"

The poet thought for a moment and said:

"I think it symbolizes Aurore's attachment, reluctance, and regret.

"At the end of the ritual, she should have regained a certain degree of sobriety. In the process of merging with the flesh and blood of the villagers, she subconsciously protected the building that represented her past beautiful life.

"Of course, she might have also used other forces that interfered with the ritual."

Attachment... reluctance... past beautiful life... Lu Mian fell silent, not speaking for a long time.

Seeing this, the poet released his clasped hands and said to him:

"I have finished interpreting all the symbolic elements of your dream."

"Thank you, Mr. Poet." Lu Mian stood up, bowed slightly with his hand on his chest according to the etiquette of the Fool's Church.

His spirit then became briefly trance-like, seeing the poet, the wooden table, the surrounding bookshelves, walls, the primeval forest outside, and various insects shatter like a dream, returning to deep darkness.

The darkness passed in a flash, and Lu Mian found himself standing at the edge of a market.

In the distance were buildings with white as the main tone, mixed with dark or earthy yellow bell towers and spires. Nearby were cloud-like tents and groups of cattle, sheep, and horses.

The vast majority of people moving through the market had dark skin, as if they were exposed to the sun every day. Among them, men wore felt hats and robes of dark red or sky blue, and women wore multi-layered robes of numerous and gorgeous colors.

A cold wind with a chilling sensation whistled over. Lu Mian looked at the snow-covered mountains further away, somewhat dazed for a moment.

His conversation with the poet and the things he had just experienced were like an incomparably real dream.

No, it was a dream!

That's why he couldn't see Mr. Poet's specific appearance clearly.

I didn't realize I was dreaming at all just now. When did I start dreaming... This is very similar to the dream I had in the ruins of Cordu Village... Does the "divine pathway" represented by Mr. "Poet" have the ability to force others to fall asleep and have real dreams? Was the abnormal area around the blood-colored mountain caused by similar abilities? Lu Mian was shocked at first, then had many thoughts.

Just then, Lady "Magician," wearing a cream-colored shirt, a brownish-yellow long skirt, and dark brown leather boots, appeared before his eyes.

"Do you want to return to the Wind Dance Hall now?" asked the holder of this Major Arcana card.

"Where is this?" Lu Mian asked casually.

Lady "Magician" looked up at the azure sky and pure white clouds and said:

"Laps in the Star Highlands, one of the most important cities of that former highland kingdom, also known as the 'White City'."

Star Highlands... Lu Mian remembered the matter of the Rose School of Thought, told Lady "Magician" about the "Werewolf's" attack and Gardner Martin's arrangement, and finally asked:

"Did the 'Rose School of Thought' enter the Market District because of the 'Shadow Tree' incident? Did they not get detailed intelligence about me from the 'Blessing Society'?"

Lady "Magician" laughed:

"You should have raised these questions just now. The gentleman who helped you interpret the dream symbols is an expert in dealing with the 'Rose School of Thought.' Hmm, let me ask for you now."

After speaking, she disappeared into thin air in front of Lu Mian, and appeared again in the same posture a few minutes later, while the people coming and going in the market didn't notice anything.

Lady "Magician" looked at Lu Mian and said with a smile:

"According to that gentleman's experience, although the 'Mother Tree of Desire' and the organizations that worship Her indeed show clear purpose, sufficient action, accurate foresight of the future, and good planning ability at a higher level and macro scale, they often present characteristics of chaos, disorder, and madness when narrowed down to specific events, which is consistent with the state of that evil god herself.

"Simply put, organizations that worship the 'Mother Tree of Desire' do not communicate, do not contact, do not cooperate, often go crazy, and are occasionally shrewd, which is a relatively common situation.

"However, in the last year or two, that gentleman has observed that there has been a certain preliminary cooperation between multiple organizations that worship the 'Mother Tree of Desire,' and even people from demon families have participated."

"Demon families?" Lu Mian hadn't heard this term.

Lady "Magician" explained casually:

"Several families that master the 'Demon' pathway, which is the 'Criminal' pathway. Some of them show signs of worshipping the 'Mother Tree of Desire'."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 303 =====