Chapter 38: Sheep

The dozen or so members of the Berry family were all squeezed into a dilapidated two-story house. Lu Mian looked at the open gate with familiarity, carefully bypassed it from the side, and came to the open space surrounded by wooden fences at the back.

The area near the eaves of the open space had piles of hay and firewood, and three white sheep, brown from filth, were wandering there.

It was precisely because Lu Mian remembered Aurora saying that the few sheep Pierre Berry brought back this time were a bit strange, but she didn't know what was strange about them, that he specifically took advantage of the shepherd going to the church to pray to come here and check the flock.

Although he had never herded sheep, living in a village like Cordu that was close to plateau grasslands, he had come into contact with no less than seventy or eighty sheep, and he definitely couldn't be called unfamiliar with them.

After observing carefully for a while, Lu Mian didn't find anything different about the three sheep in front of him compared to their kind, so he had to mutter silently:

"Can't tell by naked eye observation, need to use Beyonder abilities?"

But the "Hunter" didn't have Beyonder abilities in this regard.

Lu Mian had already used his significantly improved vision, sense of smell, and grasp of various traces, but still hadn't found any problems.

The only thing he felt was relatively strange was that the droppings of the three sheep were all piled up in the corner instead of being everywhere.

Of course, this was highly likely because the Berry family cleaned them up regularly to make more effective use of the manure.

After watching for another few dozen seconds, Lu Mian muttered in a low voice:

"Just looking and smelling doesn't seem to work... need to get hands-on?"

He didn't hesitate at all, put his hands on the fence, flipped over, and was as skilled as if he were returning to his own home.

The three sheep turned their heads at the same time and looked at Lu Mian. He immediately revealed a smile:

"Come, let me check your bodies."

He wasn't worried at all about being discovered by the owner, because he had done similar things more than once or twice. Every household in the village knew that this guy was good at playing pranks in various ways, and using sheep as props was a normal performance.

In Lu Mian's own words:

When your reputation is already ruined, there are naturally benefits to having a ruined reputation.

Wearing the title of "Prank King," he wouldn't be too suspicious doing anything in Cordu Village. Even if he were caught on the spot by those clearly having abnormalities, the other party wouldn't be able to directly confirm that he had problems.

Of course, in this situation, the parish priest Guillaume and the shepherd Pierre might hold the philosophy of "better to kill the wrong one than let one go" and silence him, so he still had to be a little careful when he should be.

"Baa! Baa! Baa!"

Seeming to sense Lu Mian's ill intentions, the three sheep scrambled behind the hay pile, their bleating not very loud.

But how could they hide from a "Hunter"?

Lu Mian grabbed a sheep, patted its side, and forcibly checked its teeth.

"No problems either..." he said in a low voice.

Seeing the sheep looking at him, he added with a malicious smile:

"The body is very healthy; it should be quite good made into pea stewed mutton."

He deliberately said this to test the intelligence of the three sheep.

When there was no problem with the target's body, he could only start from this aspect.

The sheep's gaze instantly became dull.

Lu Mian laughed at once:

"Quite spiritual, huh? Know what I'm saying?"

The sheep's eyes returned to normal, it turned its head, and ate the hay.

"Ignoring me?" Lu Mian stroked his chin. "I'll find Pierre Berry later to buy you back and eat you tonight!"

The sheep didn't react.

It bit a portion of the hay and pulled it hard.

The hay pile collapsed suddenly, and Lu Mian, as a "Hunter," saw something with his sharp eyes.

His expression sank, he walked over, and squatted down to look closely.

It was a few fingernails wrapped in black hair, the kind that had been cut off.

"How could this be outside the house?" Lu Mian whispered in surprise.

As a Cordu native, he naturally understood the funeral customs of the Dariège region. He knew that after someone died in the family, some of the deceased's hair and fingernails had to be cut off and hidden secretly somewhere in the house to avoid affecting the constellations and to retain good luck.

How could this kind of thing appear in the hay pile outside the house?

Lu Mian picked up the fingernails wrapped in hair and began to observe while weighing them.

Looks very new, like they were just cut off not long ago... He quickly had a judgment.

But no one in the entire Cordu Village had died recently!

Lu Mian could only suspect that this was a kind of witchcraft similar to funeral customs, and he planned to go back and ask his sister.

In order not to arouse suspicion, he stuffed the fingernails and black hair back into the hay pile and restored the messy scene.

Having finished all this, he walked toward the wooden fence.

After walking a few steps, he looked back at the three sheep, holding the mentality that trying wouldn't hurt, and sighed in a self-talking manner:

"Pierre Berry is really a bit strange. It's not even May yet, and he rushed back to the village...

"Did he commit a crime outside?

"As a good citizen of Intis and a devout believer of God, should I go to Dariège and ask around?"

The three sheep just looked at him without any other actions, and their eyes didn't change.

No special intelligence either... Lu Mian sighed inwardly, feeling a burst of disappointment.

He then raised both hands, thumbs up, index fingers down, and made a gesture of contempt.

What's wrong with mocking sheep when you're in a bad mood?

The next second, the sheep whose body Lu Mian had checked suddenly walked forward a few steps, and a glimmer of hope seemed to appear in its eyes.

It raised its front hooves and began to draw on the mud.

Lu Mian was both blank and confused, stunned for a moment.

Soon, he came back to his senses and quickly approached the sheep.

The sheep seemed to be drawing letters on the ground. Lu Mian felt they looked familiar but didn't recognize them.

He frowned and speculated:

This kind of writing should be of the same origin as Intis...

But I only know Intis and part of Ancient Fusa...

At this moment, Lu Mian realized from another angle what Aurora meant by "knowledge equals power."

The sheep soon finished drawing, took two steps back, and looked at Lu Mian with eyes full of earnestness. The other two sheep also had similar emotional changes and began to bleat in low voices.

Lu Mian looked at the word on the ground and fell into deep thought.

His mind was full of thoughts like "What does this mean?" and "How should I respond?"

It was only a second or two later that he had an idea and nodded solemnly at the three sheep.

At the same time, he stretched out his right foot and wiped away the word on the mud.

Although he couldn't understand it, he could at least pretend to understand it!

Fool these three sheep first, then go back and ask his sister!

Without waiting for the three sheep to "respond," he walked toward the fence with a heavy and thoughtful expression, as if saying, "You guys wait a moment, let me think of a way."

Leaving the sheep pen, Lu Mian didn't delay, went straight home, and found Aurora, who was curled up in a recliner in the study reading a book.

"Sister." He shouted impatiently, "There's something."

"Calling me sister the moment you open your mouth..." Aurora instantly became vigilant. "What trouble did you cause this time?"

Lu Mian calmed his emotions and organized his language:

"Didn't you tell me that the three sheep of the shepherd Pierre Berry were problematic?

"I took advantage of Pierre going to the church to pray and specifically went to the back of his house to look at the three sheep. Guess what I found?"

Aurora's expression instantly became serious:

"You should tell me in advance if you're going to do this kind of thing. It's very dangerous to do it like this now; no one is providing you with protection."

But if I told you in advance, you probably wouldn't let me go... Lu Mian was moved by his sister's concern while inwardly complaining.

"I'll remember next time." He promised sincerely.

He had already said similar words dozens of times.

Aurora could distinguish what was urgent intelligence and what could be postponed, so she nodded to signal Lu Mian to tell her his discovery.

Lu Mian quickly told her his experience in the sheep pen from beginning to end. The more Aurora listened, the more solemn she became.

"Write down that word." She got up from the recliner, found paper and pen, and handed them to Lu Mian.

Lu Mian had deliberately memorized it just now, so he restored the word with a few strokes.

Aurora just took one look and said heavily:

"The problem is huge."

I know... Lu Mian responded in his heart.

Moreover, he believed the problem was even bigger than his sister imagined.

"What problem?" He asked.

Aurora pointed to the word and said:

"This is the Plateau language, the official language of the Feynapot Kingdom, which, like Intis, originates from Ancient Fusa.

"Its meaning is..."

Aurora paused and said in a deep voice:

"Help!"

"Help?" Lu Mian blurted out in astonishment. "Those three sheep are asking us for help?"

Aurora let out an "Mm":

"I suspect they aren't sheep.

"They should originally have been humans!"

"Humans?" Lu Mian asked in surprise.

This exceeded his knowledge scope.

He had previously only felt that the three sheep had high intelligence, had human-like emotions, and had mastered some human languages, but he had never equated them with humans.

To him, people turning into sheep only existed in those imaginative stories!

As soon as the words left his mouth, Lu Mian was no longer shocked.

Time loops had already appeared; what was so strange about people turning into sheep?

In the mystical world, there was no shortage of bizarre and absurd things.

Facing her brother's doubt, Aurora nodded solemnly:

"I'm not sure if there's a secret technique that can turn people into sheep, but all the details now point to this possibility."

"Indeed." Lu Mian echoed.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt those three sheep should be humans.

Is the shepherd Pierre Berry actually herding humans?

Lu Mian then asked:

"Why were those fingernails and hair hidden outside the house?"

Aurora pursed her lips and said:

"This belongs to one of the funeral customs of the Dariège region, but it's not used much under normal circumstances, and many people have forgotten it.

"And as a 'Witch,' I have studied things in this area to see if I could obtain some useful knowledge."

She then explained:

"When a family member commits suicide, or is murdered by a relative, or if their character was very bad during their lifetime and brought considerable bad influence to the whole family, the hair and fingernails cut off after death must be hidden outside the house to avoid affecting the family's constellations and bringing bad luck."

Suicide, or murdered by a relative? Lu Mian suddenly thought of something:

In the last loop, Pons Bénet didn't follow funeral customs and entered Naroka's house.

Could he have been there to take away Naroka's hair and fingernails?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 39 =====