Chapter 91: Not Happened (Asking for monthly tickets)

The wind outside the window passed by rustlingly, almost silently. In such a peaceful state, Lu Mian let his thoughts spread, following his instincts to think about some things:

"There is still light in the corridor. It seems Lyra hasn't slept yet and is still reading Aurora's collection...

"There is no light in my bedroom. Valentine should have gone to bed to rest. I don't know what Ryan is doing...

"Hehe, they didn't bring wine when they visited for the first time; they don't understand the customs of Dariège at all...

"If the loop can really be lifted, sister can become an informant for the Eighth Bureau. By then, she won't have to worry about being investigated when going to Trier to play... As for me, just being an informant shouldn't require special testing, right?

"Now, the whole thing has a complete speculation. The only thing that can't be determined is what role the owl and the dead wizard in the tomb played in this...

"If they bewitched the parish priest and the others, bringing about the anomaly, hoping to achieve some goal through the ritual on the twelfth night, then in these few loops, besides monitoring my progress in exploring the dream ruins, why didn't they have any actions?

"Could it be that they, like Madame Pualis, are waiting for a specific time node, or waiting for the ritual on the twelfth night, intending to complete the destroyed part, so they don't hope for changes in the loop and always restart it in advance?

"Their behavior conversely also proves that the key to the loop is on me, which is why they came to confirm how much I had explored in the dream ruins time and time again...

"If I uncover the secret of the dream before the twelfth night arrives and master the method of recovering the pollution, will they stop worrying about the loop restarting in advance and directly take action against me, forcibly controlling me?

"Hmm, they likely also retain their memories..."

Amidst various thoughts, Lu Mian suddenly heard a very slight movement.

"Baa..."

That was the sound of a sheep, seemingly coming from a very distant place.

Lu Mian instantly thought of the three people who had turned into sheep and thought of the shepherd Pierre Berry.

He wouldn't really want to take advantage of the dead of night to attack us, right? Lu Mian stood up with a *whoosh* and listened intently.

Outside the window, there was only the sound of wind blowing through leaves and branches; where was the "baa" sound?

Just now, it seemed like Lu Mian had been thinking too deeply and had hallucinations.

But he didn't think so, because he felt a slight heat on his left chest.

That black thorn symbol seemed to have protruded again!

This meant that some formless power closely related to that hidden existence had quietly eroded into this room.

Lu Mian couldn't care about thinking too much and rushed to the bed in two steps, shaking Aurora.

"Wake up! Wake up!" he shouted, pressing his voice.

He did this instinctively, worrying about Lyra, Ryan, and Valentine discovering the anomaly on him.

Aurora opened her eyes, and a clear confusion and bewilderment remained in her light blue pupils.

"What time is it?" she asked in a slightly weak voice, looking like she hadn't truly woken up yet.

"There's a situation." Lu Mian gave the key words first, then said, "It's still half an hour to ten o'clock."

They were one of the few households in the village equipped with a wall clock.

Aurora's eyes instantly became sharp. She sat up rapidly and raised her right hand to pinch her temples on both sides.

In this kind of situation, she didn't consider at all what would happen if she saw things she shouldn't see.

If she couldn't find the anomaly and confirm the problem as soon as possible, maybe she wouldn't need to see anything in the future.

Dead people don't need eyes!

As her pupils became deep, as if reflecting many strange and indescribable light and shadows, Aurora looked around at her surroundings.

Lu Mian took this opportunity to tell his sister the details such as hearing a sheep call from very far away and the black thorn symbol on his chest being triggered.

Aurora frowned:

"But I didn't discover anything..."

"The scorching heat on my chest is still there." Lu Mian responded in a low voice.

He was inexplicably terrified, feeling that the darkness around him wasn't simple and hid unspeakable dangers.

Aurora looked at every place in the room cautiously and attentively, wanting to find that unknown thing.

Amidst the silence, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Lu Mian's back, which formed a sharp contrast with the scorching heat on his left chest.

He pondered for a moment and said:

"Should we tell Ryan and the others and see if they can find the problem?"

Aurora thought for a while and nodded gently:

"Use the excuse that you suddenly had a premonition of danger."

"Okay." Lu Mian opened his mouth and was about to shout loudly to the outside.

Suddenly, he froze.

"What's wrong?" Aurora asked with concern.

Lu Mian frowned and answered:

"The heat on my chest is fading rapidly..."

That meant the black thorn symbol was gradually "fading."

"The danger that invaded our room has left?" Aurora said thoughtfully, "Because we had precautions in advance, so it didn't do anything?"

"Perhaps." Lu Mian turned to shout toward the corridor, "There's a situation!"

In the blink of an eye, Ryan appeared at the doorway, followed by Lyra, and finally Valentine with a face that had been woken up.

Without waiting for them to ask, Lu Mian used the premonition of danger to replace the scorching heat on his chest and told them what had just happened.

Ryan listened quite attentively, didn't question that it was Lu Mian's hallucination, and said with quite a bit of emotion:

"Taking turns keeping watch is indeed very useful.

"Most of the time, this might just be waiting boringly, but as long as it comes in handy, it's almost equal to saving everyone's life."

While speaking, he made dots of pure dawn appear around him and went around every room on the second floor.

Although he couldn't find the evil power, he at least sanctified the environment.

Lyra walked around everywhere while muttering words, and the small silver bells on her veil and boots sometimes became intense and sometimes stopped.

Finally, she said to Aurora and Lu Mian:

"It was really dangerous just now, and it possesses a certain anti-divination power, making my sealed artifact not warn in time. I'm afraid I'll have to wait until it really starts to deal with someone before this broken bell rings.

"But now, it has already left."

"That's good." Aurora breathed a sigh of relief.

"Maybe it's not it." Lu Mian found his normal state and said with a smile, "It's them."

"..." Ryan and the others were all silent.

"This is even more terrifying, okay!" Aurora scolded Lu Mian and said to the three investigators, "Since the alarm has been lifted, let's continue according to the previous arrangement."

She didn't go to discuss where that "erosion" just now came from; there were too many possibilities, for example, the shepherd Pierre Berry, for example, the figure in the tomb that didn't know who it belonged to, for example, the abnormal parish priest.

And in the absence of sufficient clues, aimless discussion would only waste everyone's rest time, so it was better to wait until daytime to do it.

As for now, they only needed to remember that the night was indeed very dangerous, and if someone really tried to deal with them, they must increase their level of vigilance.

After Lyra and the others returned to their rooms, Lu Mian looked at the wall clock with the help of the crimson moonlight penetrating from outside the window and said to Aurora:

"Want to sleep a bit more?"

"No, it's too uncomfortable to fall asleep and wake up again in this little time." Aurora opened her arms and stretched a decent stretch, "Hey, to deal with accidents, this dress hides too many spellcasting materials and useful items. I didn't dare to turn over just now, afraid of bruising myself, so I slept very stiffly."

She said while jumping off the bed, walking to the window, pulling open the curtains, and looking outside.

Cordu village was peaceful, and many households still had lights on.

"Actually, I just thought it was the owl that couldn't help but take action against us, but its figure wasn't outside." Aurora looked left and right and explained her actions to Lu Mian.

Lu Mian nodded:

"I thought so too."

He then told his sister the bits and pieces he had thought about just now, in a relatively low voice.

"Not bad, the ability to analyze problems is rising steadily, and I don't have much to supplement." Aurora praised with a smile, "But we can't actively do anything; that tomb is too dangerous..."

Speaking of this, she said "Uh":

"Wait until dawn, we can visit Madame Pualis and tell her this speculation of yours, saying that the possible purpose of the dead wizard and the owl in the tomb might affect her leaving the loop at a specific moment."

"Okay, I'll go myself." Lu Mian was very worried about Madame Pualis having ulterior motives toward his sister.

Aurora didn't force it, only urged:

"You be careful too, don't provoke her, otherwise..."

She cast her gaze toward Lu Mian's stomach, using this action to replace the following words.

Then, Aurora sighed:

"Actually, that mysterious lady in the old tavern is clearly stronger, but she doesn't want to directly intervene in the loop at all and couldn't possibly take us to investigate that tomb."

"Yeah." Lu Mian agreed deeply.

He then said: "But I'm still prepared to go to the old tavern tomorrow to see if I can run into her. What if she changes her mind?"

"Hmm." Aurora didn't object.

The siblings chatted in a low voice like this, letting time pass minute by minute, and soon, midnight arrived.

After handing over with Lyra in the study, Lu Mian returned to Aurora's bedroom and lay down beside his sister.

Smelling the familiar scent and feeling the soft and elastic pillow, he was actually unable to fall asleep for a while.

"What's wrong?" Aurora noticed his stiffness.

"Not quite used to it." Lu Mian answered with slight restraint.

Aurora sneered instantly:

"Is this still the bold Lu Mian?"

Without waiting for her brother to respond, she slowly exhaled and said with a smile:

"Do you still remember the period when you first followed me, afraid that I would sneak away, and you always refused to sleep at night, being very vigilant?"

"I remember." Lu Mian also fell into memories, "At that time, you would hum songs to me, letting me fall asleep listening to your voice."

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard that familiar melody, light, soothing, making body and mind become peaceful.

Aurora, sitting on the bed, looked toward the darkness dyed crimson in front, humming the melody from her hometown with a gentle and sad expression.

That was the song her mother used to coax her to sleep when she was a child.

"Sleep, sleep..."

Amidst the light and slow melody, Lu Mian gradually let go of his discomfort and entered a deep sleep.

In a place filled with faint gray mist, Lu Mian woke up.

He looked around and discovered that he hadn't appeared in his sister's bedroom but was still in his original room.

PS: Asking for monthly tickets~

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 92 =====