Chapter 609: The Scent of Food (Beginning of the Month, Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Seeing Father Montserrat standing in the empty room bathed in crimson moonlight, arms cradling an invisible infant and swaying gently, Lu Jianuo's scalp prickled with cold, a chill racing from his tailbone to the crown of his head.

Is he holding a child?

An invisible child?

The so-called divine child?

After being unnerved by the association to the point where his teeth ached, Lu Jianuo tried to slip away like someone who had wandered into the wrong room, silently closing the door before the owner noticed.

At that moment, Father Montserrat's voice reached his ear:

"Are you here to pray?"

Lu Jianuo's pupils contracted—he spun around like a startled wildcat and bolted for the staircase.

In that instant, the only thought in his mind was his powerful employer!

But what met his eyes was utter darkness—there was no wooden-floored staircase at all.

In the darkness, clumps of dark, thickly seeded weeds swayed silently.

Lu Jianuo's body froze—he had no idea what might happen if he ran into such darkness.

"Why are you running?" The weeds parted, and Father Montserrat, cradling the invisible infant, appeared before Lu Jianuo, his back a nearly illusory, enormous oak tree.

Near the weeds, the oak's trunk was covered in knotted growths, forming a crude, deeply sinister holy symbol.

Seeing Father Montserrat, clad in brown clerical robes, less than three meters away, Lu Jianuo swallowed hard and blurted out a feeble excuse:

"It's late. I didn't want to disturb you."

Father Montserrat kept his arms bent, smiling faintly:

"What did you see?"

Every hair on Lu Jianuo's neck stood on end; cold sweat beaded along his spine.

He pointed weakly at Father Montserrat's empty arms:

"Why are you doing that?"

Father Montserrat replied with deep meaning:

"We are all children of the Mother."

Lu Jianuo dared not press further, nodding frantically:

"Yes yes yes, we are all children of the Mother."

Father Montserrat gave him no chance to evade—he added deliberately:

"Children of the 'Great Mother'."

"The Great Mother…" Lu Jianuo had guessed the answer, but hearing it outright made his heart nearly stop, his mind briefly blank.

Seeing Father Montserrat had revealed it himself, Lu Jianuo had no choice but to ask:

"You… aren't you a follower of the Earth Mother?"

Father Montserrat showed no guilt of betraying the Earth Mother Church, still smiling warmly:

"The Earth Mother is merely one aspect, one projection of the 'Great Mother'. She watches over the Land of Betrayal, watches over us—children who left her embrace."

Gulp… Lu Jianuo instinctively swallowed, unsure how to refute Father Montserrat.

He'd joined the Earth Mother Church only a day ago, heard only two sermons—he had no deep theological knowledge to counter such heresy.

Of course, he could simply deny it outright—after all, Father Montserrat's claim sounded utterly monstrous. If it were true, the Earth Mother Church, with all its resources and power, would have long since brought the so-called divine child into the real world, would have long since restored the 'Great Mother'. But that hadn't happened.

The scene and the invisible pressure silenced Lu Jianuo—he dared not deny it.

What if he enraged Father Montserrat?

Father Montserrat continued:

"All living things in this world are children of the 'Great Mother'. Some were born from her womb, some are descendants of her divine offspring, and others were formed directly from her flesh. You and I are of the latter—we are most tightly bound to the 'Great Mother'!"

I was born from my mother, not from the 'Great Mother's' flesh… Lu Jianuo instinctively countered in his mind, yet forced a smile worse than a grimace:

"Don't you think the followers of the 'Great Mother' are monstrous, terrifying?"

Father Montserrat smiled:

"Don't fear the 'Great Mother's' return—who would hate her own children?

"You may not know, beyond our world lie many others, where all beings grow and multiply under the 'Great Mother's' gaze, with no Zuqun ever destroyed—on the contrary, their numbers only increase.

"And she is the one who gave us life. If she wishes to reclaim the life she bestowed, it is her right—we should wholeheartedly cooperate."

Cooperate with your fucking sow! Lu Jianuo, unmoved, suddenly drew his hidden pistol and fired twice at Father Montserrat.

He didn't bother checking if the shots hit—he spun and sprinted toward the edge of the darkness choked with black weeds.

Though the depths of darkness might hide great danger, staying here was far worse!

"Waaah!"

Suddenly, Lu Jianuo heard a nearly illusory infant's cry.

Exactly the same as the ones he'd heard before.

Lu Jianuo's expression froze; his sprint slowed abruptly.

His eyes grew hollow; his body turned back, stepping slowly toward Father Montserrat, cradling the invisible infant, toward the illusory, colossal oak.

"She is our mother…

"The mother who gave us life…

"She welcomes every penitent soul, every child returning home…

"If she wishes to reclaim the life she gave, let her take it—what she gave, she has the right to take back…"

Listening to Father Montserrat's voice—ethereal yet unnervingly close—Lu Jianuo felt a deep, heartfelt conviction rising within him:

Yes… she is my mother…

How could she harm me?

What she gave, she can take back…

Lu Jianuo walked faster, reaching the same level as Father Montserrat.

He felt warmth and safety—the scent of a mother's embrace.

Slowly, he sensed an indescribable wetness, like a kitten being licked by its mother.

So comforting… Lu Jianuo half-closed his eyes.

At that moment, he heard the lullaby his mother loved most.

It came from behind him.

Why was his mother behind him? Shouldn't she be in front? Lu Jianuo thought vaguely.

Then he heard his mother calling from behind, over and over:

"Don't go there!

"Don't move forward!

"Danger!"

Don't go… don't move forward… danger… Lu Jianuo jolted awake, his hollow gaze regaining some clarity.

He saw where he stood—the illusory colossal oak, its branches sprouting moist, warm, writhing fleshy petals, and half his own body already engulfed, slowly pulled inward.

This was what he'd mistaken for his mother's embrace.

Lu Jianuo's pupils dilated; ice shot to his skull, every hair standing rigid.

He shoved his hands against the sticky flesh within the petals and lunged backward with all his strength.

Father Montserrat, cradling the invisible infant, appeared beside Lu Jianuo, smiling gently:

"Go back. Return to your mother's arms. Return to your original form."

Lu Jianuo felt utter despair.

He wanted to fight this priest, but tragically realized that despite consuming the "Planter" and "Physician" elixirs, granting him immense strength and skill with farming tools and scalpels, he possessed no direct combat abilities—weather prediction, seed identification and cultivation, "curing disease," "healing wounds," "suturing souls," "granting life," or surgical prowess—all useless in battle.

—Previously, Lu Jianuo had relied on his mercenary-honed combat skills and marksmanship to complement the "Planter's" strength and firearms.

But now, not resisting meant death. Lu Jianuo was no stranger to killing—he fired at Father Montserrat in terror, drawing a sharp surgical blade.

…………

Inside Lu Mi's first-class cabin.

Lu Mi, still reading a Dutan language textbook under the kerosene wall lamp, heard a knock—knock knock knock.

He rose in confusion, opened the door, and saw Ludwig.

Dressed in gray-and-white striped pajamas, Ludwig looked no different from a child as he said seriously:

"Lu Jianuo has met with an accident. Go save him."

Accident? Lu Mi raised an eyebrow.

After learning Lu Jianuo still heard the infant's cry, he'd secretly increased surveillance on the servant—including just now.

But hadn't Lu Jianuo entered the Earth Mother Church's prayer chamber?

Could an accident happen there too?

Ludwig continued:

"After he entered the prayer chamber, I lost all sense of his aura."

"What aura?" Lu Mi had a hunch and asked casually.

Ludwig answered without hesitation:

"The aura of food."

Lu Mi stretched his neck and wrists, gazing at Ludwig, and asked thoughtfully:

"You actually went to the trouble of sensing his aura."

Ludwig's baby-faced cheeks formed an expression of "What's so strange about that?"

"If he dies and you go do something else, who'll get me food?"

"True." Lu Mi laughed.

…………

In the dark overgrown with black weeds, Lu Jianuo's scalpel sliced across Father Montserrat's body—only to pierce empty air.

"Whoa!"

The infant's cry sounded again; Lu Jianuo faltered, nearly losing control of himself once more.

Father Montserrat, cradling an invisible infant, appeared atop the vast illusory oak tree and smiled at Lu Jianuo:

"Don't resist. We came from the Mother, and we shall return to the Mother."

No sooner had the priest spoken than a sudden knocking echoed through the boundless darkness, reverberating among the tall, grain-laden weeds.

Hearing the knock, Lu Jianuo inexplicably thought:

Quite polite—even now, they still knock…

PS: Early February, begging for monthly votes~

(End of Chapter)