Chapter 37: Dangerous Jungle

Lu Mi thought for a moment and said:

“The body, mind, and spirit draw closer to the giver because the gift carries its own imprint?”

He deduced this from the idea that extraordinary traits retain spiritual residues from the Original Creator and prior possessors.

Though the gift is pure power without the trait, it should still absorb the owner’s coloration.

The woman, holding the Tarot cards, nodded approvingly:

“Your logical ability is decent.”

“You should thank Aurora for giving you sufficient basic education.”

I don’t need you to remind me… Lu Mi muttered inwardly.

The woman continued:

“Even if the giver has no intention to influence the recipient, it’s nearly impossible to prevent the recipient’s body, mind, and spirit from drawing closer to Him, because the bestowed power, if devoid of the giver’s will, cannot be controlled by the recipient and will quickly dissipate.

“Thus, the True Gods’ gifts in this regard are almost always temporary and strictly limited.”

Do the False Gods not care what the recipient ultimately becomes? Lu Mi nodded thoughtfully and asked curiously:

“Can an extraordinary person—someone who possesses an extraordinary trait—still receive a gift? Won’t the two conflict and cause loss of control?”

The woman glanced at Lu Mi and smiled, shaking her head:

“There will be some conflict, but not much.

“Think about it: the bestowed power will transform your body toward the giver’s nature, yet your body originally exists in a state adapted to your own extraordinary trait. If the change is too drastic, it must clash with the trait until a new equilibrium is found.

“Since this conflict doesn’t involve mind or spirit, under normal circumstances it won’t cause you to lose control, unless your spirit was already near collapse during that period.

“The only problem is you might have to learn to watch calmly as you grow a third eye or a fourth hand.

“Of course, that’s only if the bestowed power lingers long-term and the corresponding rank is high; otherwise, minor bodily changes are negligible.”

Lu Mi grunted:

“What about gifts from your own path or an adjacent one?”

The woman nodded:

“That indeed won’t cause conflict.”

She smiled slightly:

“But that doesn’t mean your body won’t change.”

What does that mean? Lu Mi was about to ask again, but the woman smiled and said:

“I thought once you learned about the Circle-Dwellers, you’d rush to ask about time loops—but instead, you’re focused on knowledge that might never be useful.

“That’s not like you!”

Lu Mi gave a self-deprecating smile:

“I originally wanted to ask if you had a way to break this time loop, but I remembered something you once said:

“You said the cost of your helping us break the loop would be the complete destruction of Cor Du Village, with everyone dying—and to achieve a better outcome, we must find our own path.

“Before, I couldn’t understand. Now, I think I know why.

“Isn’t the only way for the version of you outside the loop to break this cycle to destroy it directly?”

The woman nodded with evident satisfaction:

“Exactly.”

“Then why didn’t you explain that before?” Lu Mi couldn’t help retorting.

This isn’t something that would cause destruction just by being spoken!

Or had this woman simply grown accustomed to speaking half-truths and withholding the rest?

The woman laughed suddenly:

“If I’d told you the whole village was trapped in a time loop, would you have believed me?”

Lu Mi thought for a moment and said:

“No…”

Who would believe such an absurd, story-like claim without firsthand experience?

“Exactly,” the woman smiled. “So why should I explain? That would’ve taken me hours.”

“…“ Lu Mi fell silent.

He seized the moment to ask:

“Do you know what the key to breaking this loop is?

“Where should I focus my efforts?”

The woman shook her head again:

“Divining certain things here is dangerous.”

“Huh?” Lu Mi didn’t understand.

The woman added:

“If I knew the key, I’d tell you—solving it sooner would let me end this journey sooner.”

She sighed then:

“When will I ever get to travel without work…?”

Work? Seeing he wouldn’t get any “revelation” from this mysterious woman, Lu Mi ventured:

“Is it true that if I don’t kill the parish priest, the loop won’t start?”

“No,” the woman replied precisely. “There are multiple triggers: the arrival of the Twelfth Night, and others—you’ll have to figure them out yourself.”

The Twelfth Night… there’s still plenty of time to investigate… Lu Mi mused:

“Because I activated my own uniqueness, I retain memory and my extraordinary trait in every loop?”

Seeing the woman nod, he pressed further:

“If so, then as long as I stay alive, I can loop endlessly, keep investigating, and eventually find the key to end this…”

This was an application of Aurora’s “brute-force method.”

“Theoretically, yes,” the woman’s expression flickered again—something Lu Mi couldn’t decipher—“but you’ve also noticed: only Cor Du Village and its immediate surroundings loop; everywhere else moves normally, with dates completely out of sync.

“Those three investigators send telegrams to the outside every so often, describing their condition and the village’s state. Once they mention the date, the Intis authorities will notice the anomaly.

“Even if the investigators never manage to send a telegram or never mention the date, over time the authorities will inevitably detect the problem. When that happens, what do you think they’ll do to resolve Cor Du’s loop?”

Lu Mi fell silent for a long while before saying:

“They’ll destroy it—just like your backup plan.”

“It prevents the anomaly from spreading and affecting others,” the woman said with quiet gravity. “If you ever get to the Sounia Sea, ask about Bansi Port—it was destroyed outright by the Storm Church after being contaminated. No one escaped.”

This only strengthened Lu Mi’s resolve to find the loop’s key himself.

He mocked himself again:

“Looks like I don’t have much time left.”

At most, three or four more loops—and I can’t let each one reach the Twelfth Night.

The woman stood up, calmly saying:

“At least you still have a chance to save yourself. Some people don’t even have that.”

…………

Leaving the old tavern, Lu Mi stood on the road, gazing at the sparse pedestrians and the houses around him, feeling Cor Du Village seemed perfectly normal—people experienced joy, anger, desire, emotion, no different from anywhere else.

Yet this village, seemingly peaceful yet noisy, harmonious yet chaotic, concealed unimaginable horror: its time, every person, trapped in a loop, endlessly reliving the same few days.

Aside from the parish priest Guillaume Benet, the shepherd Pierre Beri, Pons Benet, and Ava Liziye, Lu Mi still couldn’t determine who was abnormal and who was innocent.

Even Raymond Clegg, that usually clueless, simple-minded fellow, couldn’t be one hundred percent certain it was completely clean.

And the unusual behavior of most youths near the end of Lent might have been caused by the parish priest’s supernatural influence at that moment, not pre-existing issues.

For a moment, Lu Mi felt Cor Du Village was a primeval jungle, everywhere dangerous, and he couldn’t tell who was prey and who was predator.

Caution and patience were the first necessities for survival in such an environment; ability, courage, wisdom, and experience all had to wait.

This resembled his wandering life in some ways, yet differed clearly.

As these thoughts surfaced, Lu Mi suddenly sensed the Hunter’s Elixir was beginning to digest.

“Is this the first step of the ‘Performance Method’?”

“It’s fast—I thought it’d take one or two months just to get started…”

Thinking of this, Lu Mi suddenly felt excited:

Could he digest the Hunter’s Elixir within one or two loops?

Then, combined with hunting in the Dream Ruins, he might quickly ascend to Sequence 8, the “Provoker,” gaining greater power and raising his chances of solving the time loop.

As Lu Mi pondered, he walked forward, soon reaching the village square.

His current plan was to “chat” with the parish priest, probe him, and see if he could uncover any anomalies or clues.

At that moment, he saw a figure walking toward the church.

The figure wore a long, dark-brown coat with a hood, a rope tied at the waist, and a pair of brand-new, soft leather shoes—Pierre Beri, the shepherd.

He… Lu Mi quickened his pace and asked deliberately:

“Pierre, why are you back?”

Pierre Beri’s black hair was still greasy and curled, his beard clearly long unshaven.

Hearing Lu Mi’s question, he answered cheerfully:

“Isn’t Lent coming? I haven’t attended in years—I couldn’t miss it this year…”

His blue eyes sparkled with gentle warmth, utterly unlike the shepherd who had left such a deep impression—and shadow—on Lu Mi.

Hmm, changed location, changed person asking—the answer differed slightly from the last cycle; though the essence remained the same, some wording varied… Lu Mi listened carefully, then looked down at Pierre’s new shoes and smiled.

“Made money?”

“Not really—just that this employer was generous and gave me a lot.” Pierre beamed. “I’ll buy you drinks tonight.”

“Fine.” Lu Mi agreed, pointing at the church. “You’re going to pray?”

“Yes, it’s been too long since I prayed inside a church,” Pierre sighed.

The words themselves meant nothing, but now Lu Mi found them increasingly odd.

Shepherding isn’t completely isolated from human towns—villages dot the plains and pastures; even highland pastures are desolate, but shepherds always descend periodically to restock—how could they possibly miss a church?

Of course, if Pierre Berry had moved to Fenebo or Lunbao this time, he truly might not find a church of the "Eternal Sun"—but Lu Mi had already assumed every word from Pierre Berry was suspicious.

Pierre Berry then asked:

“You’re going to the church too?”

“No.” Lu Mi shook his head. “I thought there’d be people chatting in the square, but no one showed up.”

He waved his hand dismissively:

“I’m heading home.”

“See you tonight,” Pierre Berry waved back.

After watching the shepherd head toward the church, Lu Mi turned back toward the village.

He abandoned his plan to chat with the parish priest—his new destination was:

The home of the shepherd Pierre Berry!

(End of Chapter)