Chapter 95

Staring at the sheep pen that only had piles of hay and droppings left, Ryan frowned and said:

"The underground altar was repaired so quickly?"

He suspected those three sheep had been taken away for sacrifice.

"That gang of evil god believers might possess some special abilities," Valentine responded with a look of disgust.

Listening to the two's discussion, Lu Mian suddenly recalled the bleating he had vaguely heard last night.

Could that have been the sound made when one of them was sacrificed? With this doubt, he told Ryan and Valentine his guess.

"Not very likely," Ryan shook his head. "The church and your house are several hundred meters apart, and the altar is underground."

He meant that even if a "Hunter's" hearing were enhanced, it would be absolutely impossible to receive sounds originating from the church's underground.

Lu Mian thought so too, but that couldn't explain why he had heard the bleating; moreover, at the same time, a clear burning sensation had appeared in his chest, and the black thorn symbol had semi-activated.

This couldn't be fake!

Burning sensation... Lu Mian's heart stirred, remembering certain things the mysterious lady had said:

Praying to oneself... the principle of proximity...

Then, associating it with the ritual of praying for the "Dancer's" power, where the black thorn symbol on his chest also stood out, he immediately had a new guess:

He could hear the bleating during the sacrifice because of a connection in mysticism!

Simply put, when the parish priest and others held the ritual and prayed to that hidden existence, because of the principle of proximity, it also pointed to the corruption within Lu Mian's body, semi-activating that black thorn symbol; that was why Lu Mian could vaguely hear a bleating sound from such a long distance away.

Since he didn't respond and didn't know how to respond—after all, that corruption was sealed by the owner of the blue-black pattern—the parish priest and their ritual ultimately "connected" to that hidden existence.

Once the ritual ended, the burning sensation in Lu Mian's chest naturally subsided.

Looking at it this way, there was no invisible, weird power eroding Aurora's room last night; it was purely the abnormality in his body being semi-activated by the parish priest and their ritual... Lu Mian roughly figured out the cause and effect.

At this time, Ryan reminded his companions:

"It seems our exploration of the church's underground made the parish priest and the others feel a strong sense of crisis, so they found a way to repair the altar and prayed for power in advance.

"From now on, we must be doubly careful; don't think that the situation will only become dangerous when Lent is near."

"If not for worrying about a restart, I would have solved them long ago!" Valentine said with hatred in his voice.

Then, he added gloomily:

"Can we stop calling that servant of an evil god 'parish priest'? He doesn't deserve it!"

If he doesn't deserve it, why did he become the parish priest? Lu Mian didn't dare to speak the words in his heart.

He wasn't afraid this time; it was mainly to maintain his image in Valentine's eyes, as he might need to persuade this fanatic to do certain things later, such as using suicide to verify the essence of the cycle.

Ryan nodded:

"Let's hurry and visit Madame Pualis, replenish food and water, and afterward, try not to go out if we don't have to."

Lu Mian didn't say much, turned, left the back door of the shepherd Pierre Berry's house, and walked toward the hill where the castle was located.

Passing through the colorful garden, the three arrived in front of the gate that was only open halfway and said to the male servant wearing a red coat and white trousers:

"We have something we want to see Madame Pualis about."

"Wait a moment." The manservant looked at Ryan and Valentine, turned around in a hurry, and disappeared at the entrance.

Not long after, the "midwife" wearing a gray-white dress walked out.

Compared to last time, her face was increasingly green, and her eyes were so numb it was chilling.

If Lu Mian hadn't told Ryan and Valentine in advance that the "midwife" hadn't "died," they would definitely have been startled now.

They hadn't seen few cases of the dead turning into living corpses; the "Sun Priest" was specifically for handling these kinds of things, and there were at least dozens of similar things purified by Valentine. However, a human who had already been chopped into pieces of meat being able to reappear in their original appearance, and being closer to a living person than a corpse, was not something they could understand now.

The "midwife" opened her mouth and said in a tone that had absolutely no fluctuation:

"Madame doesn't want to see you; she wants you to go back."

"We have very important matters." Lu Mian didn't avoid it and asked directly, "Isn't Madame Pualis worried that the one underground will ruin her subsequent arrangements?"

The "midwife" maintained the same tone as before:

"Madame says that won't affect her."

Hearing this sentence, Lu Mian suddenly felt a chill all over his body.

This meant it would be very difficult for them to obtain help from Madame Pualis, this powerful figure, later on.

Lu Mian smiled, showing no signs of frustration or dejection, and looked at the "midwife":

"But we might go explore that tomb."

What he meant was that during the exploration, no matter which side had an accident, the cycle might restart early.

The "midwife's" expression didn't change at all, still as stiff and dull as before:

"You can try, but the result will only disappoint you."

What does that mean? Lu Mian couldn't understand for a moment what Madame Pualis was trying to express.

Did she mean that even if we explore, she will provide some help at a critical moment, but we won't be able to find any valuable clues? The more Lu Mian thought about it, the more he felt Madame Pualis didn't mean what he speculated; otherwise, she wouldn't have directly refused the request for a meeting through the "midwife."

Without waiting for Lu Mian to think of other possibilities, Ryan asked after deliberation:

"Is Madame Pualis trying to tell us that the one or those ones in the tomb can easily control us and successfully stop our investigation without triggering the cycle?"

"Yes." The "midwife" nodded slowly, turned her body, and walked into the depths of the castle.

Lu Mian, Valentine, and Ryan looked at each other, all feeling a bit helpless as they left.

Their next destination was the old tavern, where they could buy many ingredients and barrels of cheap wine.

—Compared to water that spoils easily, wine is easier to store; as long as the alcohol content isn't high, it can be used to replenish water later.

Entering the old tavern, Lu Mian immediately scanned the area and didn't see the mysterious lady's figure.

He withdrew his gaze with a sense of disappointment, walked all the way to the bar, and told the owner, Maurice Binet, what he wanted to buy.

While Ryan and Valentine went to move the wine barrels out, Lu Mian lowered his voice and asked:

"Where is the other lady?"

Maurice Binet shook his head:

"I don't know; maybe she's in her room, maybe she went somewhere else in the village, maybe she went to Dariège. Anyway, her rent is paid until the 9th; she can do whatever she wants."

The 9th? The twelfth night? Lu Mian nodded thoughtfully.

April 9th was the so-called "twelfth night" that he and Aurora had calculated.

This also meant that March 29th was indeed the first day of the cycle.

And if Ryan and those three outsiders hadn't happened to enter Cordu Village on the first day of a certain cycle, it meant that as long as outsiders broke into this area, the cycle would restart immediately, beginning on March 29th.

"Oh my." Lu Mian patted his head and said to the tavern owner, Maurice Binet, "My stomach isn't feeling well; I'm going to the restroom. Tell them to wait for me."

Maurice Binet had an expression that said, "What bad thing is this kid trying to do again?":

"Don't cause trouble here!"

The downside of having a bad reputation appeared again... Lu Mian laughed:

"Don't worry, I'm really just borrowing the restroom!"

He waved his hand as he spoke and ran to the entrance of the stairs.

He was indeed going to borrow the restroom, but he was borrowing the one upstairs.

Maurice Binet looked at his back and muttered:

"Spring is here, and this bastard kid is in heat too..."

His voice was just loud enough for Lu Mian to hear.

After going up to the second floor, Lu Mian came to the opposite side of the restroom and stood in front of the mysterious lady's room.

Knock, knock, knock—he knocked on that door.

No response.

Seeing that there was no "Do Not Disturb" sign hanging on the handle, Lu Mian knocked on the door two more times, each time louder than the last.

Unfortunately, that mysterious lady never appeared.

Lu Mian thought for a moment, took out a thin piece of wire, and pried at the keyhole a few times.

The door opened with a creak; the inside was empty, and no one was there.

The quilt on the bed was folded neatly, as if no one had lived there for some time.

Lu Mian exhaled silently, didn't try to go in, and closed the door directly.

In the afternoon, under the pretext of teaching Lu Mian Hermes and urgently improving his strength, the siblings gathered in Aurora's bedroom.

Lu Mian lowered his voice and told his sister the highlights of his exploration experience in the dream ruins last night, finally asking:

"Do you have anything to add? About hunting the flame monster."

Even though he was prepared and possessed "Fallen Mercury" and "Invisibility" abilities, he still didn't have much confidence in hunting the flame monster.

That was a sequence where the "Hunter" pathway undergoes a qualitative change!

Aurora smiled:

"You've considered everything; the only thing I can add is..."

She raised her hands, clenched them into fists, and shook them gently:

"Good luck!"

"..." Lu Mian was defeated by his sister joking at a time like this.

But his inner tension was also smoothed out quite a bit because of this.

Aurora immediately added:

"The rest is just some unoriginal words:

"Be careful, be careful, be absolutely careful."

She then sighed:

"It's a pity that the mysterious lady isn't here; otherwise, I could make some simple, auxiliary charms, and together with the 'Honest Brooch,' let you take them into the dream."

"Yes." Although Lu Mian was disappointed, he wasn't dejected and didn't intend to give up the action.

At night, around 9:50, Lu Mian left Aurora's bedroom and walked toward the restroom.

He intended to empty his bladder before the night watch.

Under the crimson moonlight, the restroom was dim, and only the area where the toilet was located was relatively clear.

Lu Mian moved closer and unbuckled his belt.

Behind him, the shadow on the wall suddenly squirmed, turning into a figure holding an axe high!

PS: Seeking monthly votes~

(End of chapter)