Chapter 63: Date (Seeking monthly votes)

Arriving at the edge of a small forest not far from home, Lu Mian stopped and turned to look at Lyra and the others following behind.

This place was quite remote, with no villagers passing by, and the trees in the forest were sparse, so one could see at a glance if anyone was hiding nearby.

As the *ding-ding-dang-dang* sound approached, Lyra asked with a smile:

"How did you know we were looking for someone?"

Lu Mian didn't speak, and took out the key prop he had specially brought with him:

That little blue book from his home!

He held this item high, showing Ryan and the others those pages with some words cut out.

No need for more words, Ryan nodded lightly:

"So that help letter was written by you."

They had never mentioned the existence of a help letter in Cordu Village, let alone described in detail that the letter was pieced together from words cut out from the little blue book.

Unless the other party had a key informant in Bigor, it must be the letter writer.

Lyra instinctively looked around.

The two small silver bells hanging on her veil strangely didn't make a sound.

Seeing this scene, Valentine was about to directly ask "What's strange about the people around here," but Ryan had already asked suspiciously:

"Why can you be sure we are the people who came because of that letter?"

You told me yourselves... Lu Mian smiled:

"There are very few outsiders who come to Cordu, and even fewer who don't buy wool, cheese, or lambs, but just wander around the village looking for people to chat with."

"Besides, I didn't say anything, I just showed you this little blue book."

Lyra suddenly realized, and laughed:

"So it was just a test."

"A very good method. People who don't know about that help letter wouldn't understand your intention in doing this, so they wouldn't have too many suspicions, at most thinking it's a prank, and you are the Prank King of Cordu Village." Ryan nodded lightly.

He pointed out without a trace, indicating that the three of them hadn't been without gains from chatting in Cordu Village these past few days; at least they had figured out who the more famous people in the village were and completed the corresponding matches.

Lu Mian immediately showed a teasing smile:

"Believed it? Did you believe it?"

Seeing the expressions of Ryan and the others freeze, he added:

"I was just joking just now; I'll tell you the real reason in a moment."

Lyra ground her teeth:

"As expected of the Prank King of Cordu Village. Aren't you afraid we won't believe what you say next because of this?"

"You can choose not to believe." Lu Mian looked "indifferent." "You can also verify it yourselves."

Valentine, who was clearly a bit dissatisfied, asked urgently:

"You mentioned in the letter that the people around you are getting stranger and stranger. What exactly are the strange things?"

Lu Mian said "Aiya" and started counting on his fingers:

"There are many, specifically: the parish priest believes in an evil god; the shepherd Pierre Berry turned people into sheep and drove them back to Cordu; Madame Pualis travels through the wilderness in a carriage pulled by a 'devil'; when the parish priest's deputy sleeps, a lizard-like transparent creature crawls out of his mouth; Naroca is clearly not dead yet but wants to go to some Other Shore World; the Administrator's male butler, Louis Louis Longde, just gave birth to a baby himself; the owl in the wizard legends flies back to the village from time to time..."

Ryan, Lyra, and Valentine were more and more shocked the more they listened, neither willing to believe it nor feeling that the kid in front of them could make up so many outrageous stories.

They were all experienced official investigators who had handled many supernatural events, many of which involved evil gods and arcane arts, but none were as absurd and exaggerated as what they were hearing now—that is, the parish priest believing in an evil god was relatively normal.

More importantly, most of the events they had handled before were independent, with at most two or three occurring at the same time and having close connections, yet Cordu Village actually had so many and such terrifying anomalies!

"What kind of place is this place of yours?" Almost instantly, similar thoughts flashed through the minds of Lyra, Ryan, and Valentine.

They suspected whether they had accidentally stumbled into the legendary abyss or hell!

After Lu Mian stopped, Lyra couldn't help but ask:

"You aren't joking, are you?"

Are there still normal people in this village?

Lu Mian smiled:

"I haven't finished yet, there is one more anomaly."

"This is already the third or fourth time I've chatted with you about similar things, Ryan, Lyra, Valentine, my cabbages."

Regarding Lu Mian knowing their names, Ryan, Lyra, and Valentine were not surprised—when they were wandering around the village looking for people to chat with these past two days, they inevitably introduced themselves.

They were more surprised and puzzled by the first half of the sentence.

"What do you mean?" Valentine frowned and asked.

"I mean that these past few days have been constantly repeating, which is to say, we have fallen into a time loop." Lu Mian didn't let the three outsiders guess and directly gave the standard answer.

Without waiting for Ryan and the others to question, he briefly mentioned the things both sides had experienced together, and finally said:

"You think back carefully, was the day you entered the village really March 29th?"

Lyra and the others fell into deep thought at the same time.

After more than ten seconds, Valentine showed a painful expression:

"My sense of time has blurred, and I can't remember the specific dates of the previous two months..."

"However, I remember, I remember celebrating my youngest son's birthday before I set off, his birthday is..."

Valentine suddenly raised his head, and said in extreme shock:

"It's April 10th!"

In other words, the real time now is mid-to-late April? Looking at it this way, the number of loops I experienced before having memories won't be many, not even exceeding one... Hmm, that time was the initial one, the loop hadn't started yet, so I could send the letter directly halfway through without needing the river's help. Once the loop appeared, backtracking, the corresponding memories were overwritten, but the matter outside the range couldn't come back? Lu Mian had a new guess about the letter.

He nodded imperceptibly and said to Ryan and Lyra:

"You can also send a telegram to the outside world, using a way that doesn't arouse suspicion to find out the current date."

"By then, you will believe me."

"Yes, yes! Send a telegram!" Valentine woke up immediately. "Ask for help from above!"

Lu Mian looked at him with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot:

"Ask for help?"

"Facing this kind of weird time loop, how does your official side habitually handle it?"

Ryan was silent for a moment and said:

"Destroy it directly, lest the corruption spread."

"So, asking for help now is roughly equivalent to suicide." Lu Mian smiled and spread his hands.

Valentine responded with fanaticism:

"According to regulations, it must be reported immediately. I am willing to sacrifice for this!"

"..." Lu Mian was shocked.

There are still people like this?

No, I must deal with this guy immediately, lest everyone finish together!

Fortunately, Lyra and Ryan clearly felt that they could still be saved; they looked at each other and nodded.

Ryan patted Valentine on the shoulder:

"Don't be anxious, we don't even know what happened yet; perhaps there is a better solution."

"If there really is no way to save ourselves, then we will report the situation to above."

"Yes." Lu Mian hurriedly added, telling them everything about the symbol on his chest, the dream ruins, the mysterious lady, and his findings and speculations outside the Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society, and finally said, "The key to the problem is highly likely on the twelfth night. We must survive until that time in this loop; only then can the next loop truly solve the problem."

Seeing that he had mentioned so many details and they could verify each other, Ryan and the others completely tended to believe his statement, and Valentine also calmed down, remembering his wife and children.

"No wonder you know us and know we were looking for someone." Lyra let out a breath.

So it was communicated in the loop before last.

She subconsciously touched the small silver bell on her head, wanting to do a divination, but thinking of the anomalies Lu Mian described, she forcibly held back.

She didn't want to explode directly because she divined something she shouldn't before starting the real investigation.

Ryan thought for a moment and said to Lu Mian:

"You told us these things, are you hoping we will cooperate with you and your sister to do something?"

"Very smart, my cabbage." Lu Mian smiled and said seriously, "First, send a telegram to the outside, saying that your investigation has had initial gains, the parish priest seems to have certain problems, and then ask what exactly the lizard-like thing that crawled out of the mouth is. This is the one least likely to directly attract a destructive blow among all the anomalies. Ah, right, confirm the real date again, pay attention to the method, don't let people outside suspect."

"Second, this afternoon, my sister will invite Madame Pualis to our home for afternoon tea. I hope you can sneak into the Administrator's residence with me to do some searching."

"As for afterward, it depends on the intelligence gathered today."

Ryan, Lyra, and Valentine looked at each other, feeling that Lu Mian's request was not excessive at all.

This was what they were going to do anyway.

The four of them then came to the village square; Ryan went to send the telegram, while Lyra, Valentine, and Lu Mian waited under the elm tree outside.

Lyra, who had tidied up her mood, looked at Lu Mian and asked curiously:

"You are a Beyonder, and your sister is too?"

"Yes." Lu Mian didn't hide it.

Lyra immediately laughed:

"So direct, aren't you afraid of being captured by us?"

"Everyone is on the same boat now. Facing the emergency of the boat about to sink, we can only help each other." Lu Mian shrugged his shoulders. "As for afterward, we'll talk about it later. Whether we can escape this loop is still unknown."

"That's true." Lyra tilted her head with a *ding-ding-dang-dang* sound and looked at Valentine.

The reason she brought up this topic was to let her companion understand this principle and not do stupid things.

Valentine's expression remained indifferent, and he nodded imperceptibly.

Lyra turned to ask about something she cared more about:

"Why can you keep the memories from before?"

"Not telling you." Lu Mian laughed.

Without waiting for Lyra to respond, he spread his hands and said:

"Just joking. Actually, I don't know either. I kept the memories for no reason, and only for the last two loops."

"You think back on what happened at that time, this might be very critical." Lyra pondered and said.

Lu Mian said sincerely:

"I've been thinking back during this time, but I haven't found anything. Perhaps I have to encounter a certain thing to suddenly wake up."

Lyra was about to help analyze when Ryan, who had received the reply, walked out of the building where the Administrator was located.

PS: Seeking monthly votes~

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 64 =====