Chapter 607: Aftereffects (Beginning of Month—Requesting Monthly Votes)

Did you hear a baby crying again? Have you been haunted by this so-called Divine Child? Lu Mi adjusted his sitting position with a chuckle, holding the unfinished letter from the "Magician" lady, and looked toward the door.

"Come in."

Lu Jianuo turned the handle and cautiously pushed open the door, shuffling forward with hunched shoulders until he stood before Lu Mi.

His bulky eyebrows, large eyes, and square face made this timid posture and demeanor oddly comical.

"That evil wizard, the old man named Lin Pinuo, is already dead—so why am I still hearing a baby cry?" Lu Jianuo carefully chose his words, his voice heavy with worry.

He had already asked Ludwig, who had just woken up, and learned the man hadn't heard anything.

Lu Mi gently shook the letter in his hand and laughed.

"Two possibilities: either there are still accomplices of Lin Pinuo aboard the ship, equally skilled in the Divine Child's descent ritual, or…"

Lu Jianuo interrupted eagerly:

"What's the other?"

Lu Mi looked at this "Physician" and said with a smile:

Perhaps the yet-to-be-born Divine Child has chosen you—wants you to be its surrogate mother. So even though Lin Pinuo is dead, the Divine Child refuses to leave you, lingering beside you, invisible and imperceptible to normal senses.

Lu Jianuo's scalp prickled. He didn't pause to question why he was being called a mother rather than a father; his voice trembled as he asked:

"W-what should I do?"

"No need to rush," Lu Mi smiled.

"You're not even rushing?!" Lu Jianuo felt his internal organs might be devoured at any moment, leaving only a hollow cavity.

"Of course not," Lu Mi said, relaxed. "You're still alive, aren't you? If you're still alive, the situation isn't critical yet—you can take your time. No need to panic."

That… made sense? Lu Jianuo nodded, then paused, puzzled:

"So I have to die before this becomes serious enough to warrant urgency?"

Lu Mi chuckled.

"No, then you wouldn't need to rush at all."

"If you're dead, what's the point of rushing? Can I bring you back to life?"

So basically—no need to rush? Lu Jianuo froze.

Though unconvinced, the fact that his employer could still joke and play word games reassured him—he felt calmer:

Clearly, Lu Mi didn't consider the baby's cries a serious threat!

Only then did Lu Mi reveal his real hypothesis:

"There's a third possibility: the contamination you suffered when you encountered Enio hasn't dissipated quickly—and likely won't fade naturally. So you're still connected to the unborn Divine Child."

"Then how do we remove the contamination?" Lu Jianuo accepted this explanation more readily and believed a solution existed.

Lu Mi didn't answer immediately. He let Lu Jianuo stand there while he resumed reading the unfinished letter from the "Magician" lady.

"Given your connection to the Divine Child, and the demonic angel sealed within you, encountering a member of the Divine Descent School isn't coincidence."

"But your translator and guide is both a Follower of the 'Sower' Path and has another issue—so encountering matters tied to the 'Great Mother' is also natural."

"As for what that other issue is, think for yourself and ask around—I won't give you the answer directly. A 'Conspirator' must rely on his own mind…"

Here, Lu Mi lifted his head and stared silently at Lu Jianuo, making the "Physician" tense instantly, sweat beading on his back.

"I-I have another problem?" Lu Jianuo stammered.

Lu Mi leaned back slightly in his chair, thoughtful.

"Removing contamination can be an entire course in the occult. I need to know the specifics before I can give you an answer."

After emphasizing its importance, he asked:

"Have you ever encountered anything similar? Strange baby cries, occult events tied to childbirth, maternal curses, and so on?"

Lu Jianuo didn't dare delay—he feared failing to cleanse the contamination might turn him into a man without organs.

He meticulously filtered through his entire life's experiences, then hesitated:

"There's something… I'm not sure if it counts…"

Clearly, he didn't want to speak of it.

"How can I judge if it counts if you don't tell me?" Lu Mi didn't care about privacy.

After a few seconds, Lu Jianuo cleared his throat:

"Didn't I tell you I became an extraordinary person because I inherited a friend's belongings?"

"Yes—did you murder that friend?" Lu Mi asked deliberately.

Lu Jianuo shook his head quickly:

"No, he killed himself."

"Suicide?" Lu Mi raised an eyebrow—this was getting interesting.

Lu Jianuo finally made up his mind and blurted out:

"When I was a bounty hunter, I used hidden mountain passes in the Dali Ri Range to smuggle goods and even help fugitives escape abroad—Tan Ke was one of them. But he didn't flee from Intis to Fenepot—he went the other way, from Fenepot to Intis."

"Later, he found a valley deep in the mountains, cleared land, planted crops and vegetables, raised livestock, and rarely interacted with anyone. I visited him regularly, bringing salt, sugar, cloth—his payment was teaching me occult knowledge."

"I became a bounty hunter because I didn't want an ordinary life. The occult fascinated me, and Tan Ke's teachings sometimes proved genuinely useful."

"Tan Ke was sometimes silent and stubborn, like a stone, as if repenting for something. Other times, he was cheerful and talkative, curious about everything."

"Occasionally, he'd say he had abandoned the Mother's teachings, fallen into the abyss of evil, and become less and less himself, more and more tormented. Other times, he believed the Church was lying—that the true Mother had long since withdrawn from the mortal world…"

As he spoke, Lu Jianuo realized Tan Ke's ramblings resembled the Divine Descent School's doctrines as described by Father Monserrat.

Had this encounter been foreshadowed all along? He drew a silent breath, chilled to the bone.

He sped up his words:

"Last autumn, I visited Tan Ke again, drinking his homemade wine and chatting about the outside world."

"Suddenly, he told me he could no longer endure his own corruption and sin, that he could barely resist the demon lurking within him. He wanted to end his life before the demon fully took control, and asked me to deliver his belongings to Tolair, the capital of Gaya Province, to the clergy of the 'Earth Mother Church'—preferably a Chosen One."

"I pretended to agree, talked him out of it for a long time—he seemed to give up. But the next morning, I found him dead in his harvested field. His body was covered in golden wheat ears, and he had grown multiple female reproductive organs."

"At that moment, I was terrified—I thought he was a monster."

"But you know—bounty hunters consider dead monsters good monsters. They're just sources of valuable materials."

"I gathered my courage, searched his body, and found a clump of golden material beside him—like grain seeds, but half a fist in size."

"Based on Tan Ke's occult teachings, I suspected this was the source of his extraordinary power."

"I hesitated for a long time—wondering whether to honor my promise and return the relic to the 'Earth Mother Church.' But in the end, I couldn't overcome my greed—I ate it."

"I am a sinner. I broke my promise. I hope sunlight will redeem me."

Lu Mi listened in silence, then laughed.

"You just… ate it?"

Lu Jianuo gave a sheepish grin.

"Yes. Only after becoming extraordinary and entering the occult circles did I learn about potion formulas. Back then, I was incredibly lucky to survive without collapsing—so afterward, I became obsessed with buying formulas, determined never to go through that again."

"Indeed lucky. A few years earlier, you wouldn't have survived. Otherwise, we might have met in the Dali Ri Mountains—as a monster hunter and a monster," Lu Mi said, recalling "Gandalf"'s research and mocking Lu Jianuo.

At the same time, he muttered inwardly:

"Just as Lord Rosel said—ignorance breeds fearlessness… Tan Ke clearly had problems, likely exposed to demonic worship. His leftover extraordinary essence almost certainly carried contamination—and he still dared to eat it…"

"No wonder he encountered members of the Divine Descent School, heard baby cries, and was so easily contaminated and influenced by patients like Enio…"

Lu Jianuo asked nervously:

"Is the root of this problem the 'Sower' essence I ate back then?"

It's been a year—I've even advanced. Is this problem unsolvable?

Lu Mi ignored Lu Jianuo's pleading gaze, pretending to think deeply as he read the final part of the "Magician" lady's letter:

"Your earlier warning has occurred to me, and I've made some deductions—but I can't discuss them with you yet. I can only say that Amon and the one behind him likely acted beforehand, causing the Celestial Lord to overlook this issue."

"In short, this seems beneficial to both you and us. For now, pretend you didn't notice, don't investigate."

"As for the baby's cries, seek help from the clergy of the 'Earth Mother Church.'"

This… the "Magician" lady had foreseen Lu Jianuo's aftereffects? Of course—she'd already seen the root of his problem… Lu Mi lifted his head and smiled at Lu Jianuo:

"To remove the contamination, seek help from Father Monserrat."

Wait—you've listened to all that, and that's your only suggestion? If you'd said there was no solution, I'd have gone to find that priest myself anyway… Lu Jianuo's lips twitched as he forced a smile:

"Thank you, my lord."

PS: Beginning of the month—requesting monthly votes! Bonus chapter added on Saturday for monthly vote milestones~

(End of Chapter)