Chapter 56: Intuition

The more Aurora thought, the more she felt there was a problem:

Facing the powerful shepherd Pierre Béry, what did the current parish priest Guillaume Bénet, who had absolutely no extraordinary abilities, use to suppress him?

If the parish priest was the person more favored by that hidden existence, to the point that the entire small group regarded him as the leader, then he should have long since accepted a gift and no longer be an ordinary person!

And if he delayed accepting a gift, he would inevitably be squeezed out.

In this situation, the original status, power, means, and scheming would not be able to compare to his own strength and his distance from the gods.

Because there wasn't extra time to think, Aurora could only think of two explanations:

One is that in that small group, Guillaume Bénet is not the true leader. He uses the specialty of his status more to provide a venue for plotting and to hide anomalies from the "Eternal Blazing Sun" church in the Dariège region. The true leader is someone else!

Two is that Guillaume Bénet is not refusing to accept a gift, but is waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity that allows him to directly obtain stronger power.

And no matter which explanation, it seems it's not a good thing.

Aurora looked at those three sheep and asked further:

"Who was the person who acted on you together with Pierre Béry?"

The three sheep each wrote their own answers:

"Nior Béster."

"A shepherd named Nior."

"He is called Nior."

Nior Béster, did he also obtain powerful strength? Aurora knew this person.

He was also a shepherd in Cordu village and often transferred to graze with Pierre Béry, but this time he didn't seem to have returned in advance.

"Where is Nior? I haven't seen him in the village." Aurora asked.

Those three sheep walked a few steps, left the place full of words, and found new blank mud to write:

"He died."

"I killed him."

"We killed him, but we were still caught."

Died in counterattack? Aurora nodded thoughtfully:

"Are you all Beyonders?"

Those three sheep didn't continue to use their hooves to write Highland language and gave an affirmative answer with the action of nodding.

Aurora said "Mm," her thoughts turning rapidly in her heart:

The hunting targets of Pierre Béry and Nior Béster were actually Beyonders. What are they trying to do?

And one even died...

Either Nior's strength was far inferior to Pierre's, or they obtained power through gifts and hadn't mastered it so skillfully, inevitably having problems in extraordinary battles...

Aurora looked at those three sheep again and said:

"Do you know why Pierre caught you?"

Those three sheep each wrote again:

"I heard him mention gods and offerings."

"It might be used for blood sacrifice."

"I suspect he wants to sacrifice us to an evil god."

Sure enough, Beyonders have extremely high spirituality and carry characteristics, making them many times stronger as sacrifices than ordinary people, and more able to please evil gods... Pierre Béry and Nior Béster used transferring to graze as a cover to go to other countries to catch Beyonders for sacrifice? This indeed wouldn't easily attract the attention of local authorities... Aurora nodded imperceptibly.

She asked seriously:

"Did Pierre mention the honorific name of that god?

"Or rather, who was that ritual that turned you into sheep praying to?"

Those three sheep were stunned at the same time, as if falling into memory.

Immediately after, they lowered their heads in unison and stretched their hooves toward the mud in front of them.

For some reason, Aurora suddenly felt the surroundings become much colder and dimmer, just like the sun in the high sky being blocked by dark clouds, and a cool mountain breeze blowing by.

Those three sheep began to write.

Aurora's spiritual intuition had a strong warning, and she immediately shouted:

"Wait a moment!"

Those three sheep raised their heads with a swoosh and looked at her.

Their eye corners were already flowing with blood-colored tears at some point, and the fur on their faces was stained with dirt, which was quite frightening.

The next second, those three sheep continued to write.

Aurora hurriedly turned around and rushed toward the edge of the fence.

When she escaped the sheep pen and looked back, those three sheep were bathing in the sunlight falling from the high sky.

If it weren't for the blood-colored traces still remaining on their faces, everything would have been completely normal.

Thump, thump... Aurora's heart was still beating wildly.

While panting, she felt fortunate:

"If it weren't for the fact that I had mastered the secret art of initially sealing my eyes, which made me see things I shouldn't see from time to time, and had been tempered, my intuition was strong, I really wouldn't have been able to react just now..."

She then took out iron-black powder and sprinkled it toward the sheep pen.

Those words on the mud were instantly wiped away by an invisible hand.

As for the stains on the sheep's faces, Aurora found it difficult to clean them with magic, and didn't dare to approach, so she directly used water to wash them.

She was worried that those three sheep were already different from just now and had hidden dangers.

…………

Inside the old tavern, Lu Mian, who was drinking light green absinthe, rested his right elbow on the bar and looked around casually.

He didn't see that mysterious lady, nor did he discover the three outsiders, Ryan, Lyra, and Valentine.

The former, he didn't know when she would appear, so he could only try his luck. As for the latter three, he thought they should be strolling in the village, chatting with people.

"Actually, I had a chance to get married." Pierre Béry, who had finished a glass of absinthe, picked up a new light green liquid and rambled.

"Is that so?" Lu Mian mocked. "Who could have taken a fancy to a shepherd?"

Pierre sighed and said:

"Most of the grassland pastures we transferred to had owners, either belonging to some manor lord or a nearby village. To graze, you either had to pay pasture tax or marry a girl from the village and settle down there."

"That's a good thing, for a shepherd." Lu Mian smiled.

Pierre sipped the absinthe and turned his head to look at him:

"It depends on whether that girl can take a fancy to you, and she can't want a dowry.

"That time, there happened to be a girl who thought I was okay, didn't mind that I was a poor guy and a shepherd, and was willing to marry me. Was she very stupid?"

"Yes." Lu Mian nodded "honestly."

Pierre held the light green absinthe and was silent for a long time before saying:

"Later she died.

"She worked in a factory on the outskirts of the city, was too tired, and got sick. I ran to several churches, asked the priest to pray for her, and asked the doctor to treat her, but it was of no use.

"After that day, I understood a truth."

"What truth?" Lu Mian sipped the absinthe.

Hatred flashed across Pierre's face:

"Those who grow meat on their bodies and poop below simply cannot save us!"

"Can those who don't grow meat on their bodies and don't need to poop below do it?" Lu Mian asked in return.

Pierre laughed low:

"Those are saints and angels, but will they look at us?"

Lu Mian "tsk"-ed:

"Then why do you still go to the church to pray to the parish priest?

"He not only grows meat on his body and poops below, but he also likes to sleep with women."

Pierre turned his head again and swept a glance at Lu Mian:

"You don't understand. He has a certain kind of knowledge that can save our souls."

"Knowledge?" Lu Mian didn't quite understand this word.

Pierre drank another sip of light green absinthe, seemingly not having heard this question.

Lu Mian didn't dare to probe deeply either, and turned to chat:

"I heard people say you went to the church at one or two o'clock. Why did you have to go at three or four?"

Pierre smiled gently:

"In the afternoon, I can chat with people who have the same knowledge."

He didn't deny having gone to the church in the afternoon.

Lu Mian felt relieved instantly—at least for now, there was no one else who could retain memory and interfere with the progress of "history."

He suspected that Pierre Béry going to the church in the afternoon was to communicate with the parish priest in advance, and three or four in the afternoon was the exchange of the small group.

After drinking, seeing that it was dinner time, Lu Mian and Pierre Béry parted ways and returned home.

When walking to a quiet path, the parish priest's brother, Pons Bénet, led several thugs and suddenly came in from the fork, blocking him.

Pons Bénet, who was sturdy with black hair and blue eyes, looked at Lu Mian and smiled hideously:

"You were very good at pranking this afternoon, right? You had to delay our time at the church.

"If it weren't for the parish priest being there, I would have beaten you up then!"

"Bastard kid, come and eat your father Pons's xx."

Lu Mian was stunned for a second by this guy's stupidity, and then felt a burst of ecstasy.

He and Aurora's judgment was correct. In the loop before last, before Naroka's funeral, Pons Bénet shouldn't have obtained extraordinary power and been able to smell the aura of danger!

He actually dared to block a Beyonder now!

Lu Mian didn't hesitate, turned his body, and ran wildly.

Pons and his thugs followed closely behind.

But as soon as they rushed out of this path formed by two buildings, they lost the trace of the target.

Pons Bénet looked left and right and ordered his subordinates:

"Search everywhere."

He felt that Lu Mian couldn't have run that fast and should be hiding nearby.

Those several thugs scattered immediately, searching for hiding places nearby, leaving only Pons Bénet standing at the entrance of the path.

Lu Mian, who had climbed to the second floor of the house next to him, saw this, "heh"-ed, and jumped directly toward Pons.

Bang!

Pons was knocked over to the ground by the huge force, his blood and energy surging, his eyes turning black, and he briefly lost his ability to fight.

If it weren't for Lu Mian holding back and not smashing directly onto him, he might have broken a few more bones.

Lu Mian stood up smoothly, bent down to grab Pons's left and right forearms, and smiled at him:

"Come, let's get close."

Before Pons could resist, he pulled the other party into his arms and kneed him.

With a "poof," Pons's eyeballs were almost popping out, and his face was full of extreme pain.

Thump!

Lu Mian let go and let this guy fall to the ground, curling up like a shrimp.

He then ran into the path before the several thugs ran back and disappeared at the end.

…………

Inside the kitchen that served as a living room and dining room.

Lu Mian reported his situation to his sister:

"Pierre Béry went to the church again in the afternoon... It can be confirmed that Pons Bénet doesn't have extraordinary abilities yet."

Aurora nodded gently and spoke of her encounter, especially the unknown and inexplicable danger at the end.

Lu Mian pondered for a while and said:

"That mysterious lady said that some existences might cause you to be corrupted just by knowing of their existence."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 57 =====