Chapter 64: Startling News (Seeking monthly votes)

"How is it?" Seeing Ryan, Lyra and Valentine asked in unison.

Although they had already believed Lu Mian's words, people always have a fluke mentality, still holding the expectation that the problem might not be so serious and it was just that the kid didn't have enough knowledge and was exaggerating.

Ryan looked around, and seeing there was no one else around the elm tree, he said in a low voice:

"I didn't dare ask too directly, I only know the real date has already reached late April; I don't know the specific date."

Lyra and Valentine were silent at the same time.

They had indeed fallen into a weird time loop!

And according to various files and data, this was definitely not something the three of them should face, nor was it something they could handle.

They were all senior Beyonders who had handled many supernatural events, and this was the first time they had encountered such a serious and abnormal situation.

Lyra couldn't help but turn her head and look at Lu Mian:

"What kind of place is your Cordu Village?"

Anomalies everywhere, each one more exaggerated than the last!

"I don't know either." Lu Mian looked "innocent." "Before the loop, the environment here was beautiful, the folk customs were simple, everyone was very normal, and they were enthusiastic and hospitable."

He didn't tell the three outsiders that the person standing in front of them was also one of the anomalies.

Ryan sighed and said:

"I have never encountered so many anomalies at once, and each one is very serious."

"This is the most dangerous situation I have ever faced." Valentine echoed.

Regarding this, Lu Mian was already a bit numb and sneered:

"It's normal that you haven't encountered them before, because those who have encountered them are all dead."

"..." Lyra looked at him with a smile. "If you don't know how to speak, don't speak. People like you wouldn't grow up in other places."

"Stifled in the cradle?" Lu Mian mocked himself, then turned to ask Ryan, "Did you get an answer about the parish priest's deputy?"

Ryan nodded:

"They said that in recent years, similar legends have appeared one after another in different places in the Northern and Southern Continents."

"Legend has it that the Kingdom of Heaven banished a batch of sinful little spirits, letting them come to the earth, and they can only reside in human bodies, looking forward to one day redeeming their sins and being pardoned to return to the Kingdom of Heaven."

"In some legends, the appearance of those little spirits is a transparent lizard."

"Hmm, the spirits I'm talking about are not the Elven race from ancient times, but closer to a mixed concept of fairies and various spirits."

Recent years again? Lu Mian remembered that the legends related to "Lady Night" also only appeared in recent years.

What exactly is wrong with this world?

He thought for a moment and asked:

"Did it say which deity's Kingdom of Heaven it is?"

Ryan shook his head:

"What's magical is that everyone who claims to have witnessed the little spirits believes they come from the Kingdom of the local deity."

The local deity refers to the orthodox god worshipped locally.

Different deities' Kingdoms of Heaven? Lu Mian raised his head and looked at the azure high sky.

Does that lizard-like little spirit come from the sky?

But according to Aurora's statement, above the sky is the starry sky, and every star represents a world.

So, extraterrestrial creatures?

Or, from the Astral World in mysticism?

As various thoughts echoed, Lu Mian asked with some curiosity:

"In some legends, those little spirits are transparent lizards, then what about the other parts?"

Ryan shook his head again:

"In a short time, they can only find out this much; the specific situation might have to be mastered after communicating with headquarters."

At this time, Lyra said thoughtfully:

"I have heard a little bit about the legend of little spirits."

"I met a Lunburgian last time, and he said that farmers in many places in the Central-South region have believed in the existence of mischievous little spirits these past few years. They will make the home and fields messy, or play various pranks, and are called 'Gnomes'." (Note 1)

The Central-South region refers to the area where small countries like Lunbao, Masik, and Segar are located, and also includes parts of the Intis Republic, the Loen Kingdom, and the Feynapot Kingdom.

Most of that area is located on plateaus, with many mountains and forests, and many ruins and legends.

It really isn't an independent phenomenon... Lu Mian listened very earnestly.

"Different little spirits seem to have different ways of behaving." Ryan said as if thinking, "And the 'lizard' residing in human bodies is probably the most evil kind. Whether it is the most dangerous is not yet certain. Hmm, in the situation where so many anomalies appear in Cordu, the parasitism of little spirits shouldn't be an isolated phenomenon; perhaps someone wants to use it to control the parish priest's deputy."

Thinking is very clear... Lu Mian looked at the villagers who had finished various things and were returning home, and said to Lyra and the others:

"At 3:30 in the afternoon, meet behind the hill where the Administrator's castle is located."

"You guys, are you going to search for clues with me?"

"Yes." Ryan agreed.

Seeing Lu Mian about to leave, Lyra hurriedly called him:

"Just like this?"

"You at least have to describe in detail the state of the castle, who is inside, and the anomalies displayed by Madame Pualis. We can't go to explore and search without any preparation."

Although Lu Mian didn't want to recall things related to Madame Pualis, he had to admit that Lyra's request was very reasonable, so he had to endure the discomfort and tell it all from beginning to end.

Ryan and the others, who already knew roughly what was going on, were still shocked even with psychological preparation, and their expressions became somewhat dull to varying degrees.

Soon, Lyra laughed with a *ding-ding-dang-dang* sound:

"I'm fine, anyway, it's very likely I'll experience such things in the future, and as for you guys, this is an opportunity other men will never encounter in their lives, so cherish it."

Valentine ignored her joke, and whispered with a cold expression:

"These should all be purified, should be purified!"

Lu Mian didn't want to provoke this guy, waved his hand and said:

"See you in the afternoon."

After walking a few steps, he turned his body, looked at Ryan, and asked vigilantly:

"Did Bertrand know the content of your telegram?"

Bertrand is the telegraph operator responsible for corresponding affairs. If he knew the date and the legend of the little spirits, it would mean the Administrator knew, and if the Administrator knew, it would mean Madame Pualis knew.

"Rest assured." Ryan said gently, "We have agreed-upon code words, he can't understand them."

Lu Mian then breathed a sigh of relief, left the village square, and returned to the building where his home was.

After walking a distance, he saw Ava Lizzier driving a group of white geese home.

"Yo, isn't this our 'Spring Spirit'?" Lu Mian tried hard to forget the bloody and cruel scene at the end of the Spring Festival celebration, and greeted Ava with his usual jokes.

Ava was a bit embarrassed:

"Haven't been selected yet!"

Her exquisite features made the gray-white long dress on her body look not so rustic.

"Definitely no problem." Lu Mian said with a smile, "Raymond and I will help you campaign."

Ava immediately showed a surprised expression:

"You don't know?"

"Know what?" Lu Mian's heart skipped a beat for no reason.

Could it be that something happened in the village that wasn't in the "historical" process?

Ava observed his expression, suspecting he was teasing her.

After a few seconds, the young girl frowned with some concern and said:

"Raymond is missing, you don't know?"

"Ah?" Lu Mian was too shocked to hide his expression as usual.

In the loop before last, he and Raymond Craig had basically met every day starting from the second day, which was March 30th, until April 5th, the Spring Festival.

At that time, they followed the process of the waterside ritual, lifted Raymond, who threw out the final sacrificial offering, and threw him into the river, and Raymond, like all those people in the past, swam to a place further away, and could only go ashore to go home after leaving the ritual site, not going out until night.

From that day on, in the two loops after that, Lu Mian had too many things to be busy with and didn't have time to find Raymond to play.

Who knew, today, Ava suddenly told him Raymond was missing!

This was something that didn't happen at all in the loop before last!

Seeing Lu Mian's expression, the doubt in Ava's water-blue eyes dissipated completely:

"You really don't know..."

"Raymond's father might come to find you today to ask where Raymond went."

Lu Mian suppressed the stormy waves in his heart and asked:

"When did Raymond go missing?"

Could it be because I didn't follow the "historical" process to find him, so something went wrong?

"Two days ago." Ava recalled, "They said he went out on the afternoon of the 29th and never came back. His family originally thought he was drunk at the old tavern or went to chat with the 'Green-Watcher', but they only started looking last night. Today they should come to ask you..."

She paused and lowered her voice:

"They suspect Raymond didn't want to learn shepherding and ran away secretly."

Thinking I instigated it, and coming to question me later? Lu Mian roughly understood what happened.

And the time point of the afternoon of the 29th made him immediately associate it with the start of the loop.

The last two loops both started on the afternoon of the 29th!

In other words, Raymond went missing at the very beginning of the loop? This means perhaps no one deliberately changed the "historical" process because it was too late... Then why are there such anomalies and differences? Lu Mian fell into deep thought.

Ava looked at him and asked in a low voice:

"Do you know where Raymond went?"

"I haven't seen him these past few days." Lu Mian said the truth.

He began to suspect Raymond's disappearance was related to being thrown into the river in the loop before last.

But Raymond couldn't have left Cordu Village because of this, as that would trigger the loop.

Saying goodbye to Ava, Lu Mian forcibly maintained a calm state and returned home all the way.

He couldn't care about talking about other things and first told Aurora about Raymond's disappearance.

Aurora's expression condensed, she frowned slightly, and said in a low voice:

"If you didn't mention it, I would have almost forgotten this person..."

She was wearing a rose-red simple long dress and paced back and forth; Lu Mian also began to think about the possible reasons.

After a while, Aurora looked at her brother and said seriously:

"I remember the essence of the Spring Festival waterside ritual is to offer sacrifices to the concept of 'water source' represented by the river. Is there a possibility that Raymond, who was thrown into the water, also counted as a sacrificial offering and was taken away by some existence?"

"Afterward, because there was no material corresponding to him, the loop expressed it as missing."

Lu Mian shook his head:

"That would trigger the loop."

Humans leaving Cordu Village and the surrounding area should trigger it.

Aurora asked back in a low voice:

"What if it's in the form of a corpse?"

Note: In Swiss folklore, a type of little spirit is called "Gnome".

PS: Seeking monthly votes~

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 65 =====