Chapter 23

Lumian involuntarily held his breath and pulled his body back a little.

Naroka did not come in this direction. She slowly, slowly entered the small forest and disappeared into the deep night.

"Her state isn't quite right... What's happened?" Lumian felt a bit worried.

Recently, the abnormal situations in the village have been increasing more and more.

He gazed outside for a while longer. The night had returned to quietness, with only the swaying leaves proving the existence of the wind.

"What are you looking at?" Orol's voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Lumian was not startled but rather pleased. He turned around and said to his sister, who was wearing a two-piece pajama set:

"Have you also noticed something wrong?"

"No." Orol's golden hair, which was slightly messy and fluffy, clearly indicated she had just woken up.

Then, she said irritably:

"I didn't see anything wrong. I only know that someone is wandering around the window in the middle of the night."

"It's almost an hour until dawn, how can it be considered the middle of the night..." Lumian habitually muttered softly, then asked, "You didn't come because the owl flew to the window again? Did you see Naroka outside?"

"Naroka?" Orol's expression was unusually blank.

Lumian did not hide anything. He started from when he woke up and saw a black shadow outside the window, and told her about the strange state of Naroka as she entered the small forest.

As for the special aspects brought by the dream meditation, he planned to consult the mysterious woman first before considering how to tell Orol, or to keep it secret for a while to prevent his sister from stopping him from obtaining extraordinary power.

Orol's beautiful golden eyebrows furrowed:

"Naroka may already have a problem...

"After dawn, go to their house and check."

"What kind of problem?" Lumian asked instinctively.

"How would I know? I didn't see anything, so I can't make an accurate judgment." Orol replied irritably.

"You really didn't see anything?" Lumian thought his sister had been monitoring the situation the whole time.

Orol "hmm"ed:

"Do you think you can see whatever you want? If you see something you shouldn't, you'll have to consider which grave to pick for me.

"I won't just look outside for no reason. I only monitor your state, and I wake up if something is wrong."

Sister is taking such great risks to look after me... Lumian was taken aback and couldn't help but blink.

Orol added earnestly:

"So, I'm telling you, don't look at what you shouldn't, don't listen to what you shouldn't. Pursuing extraordinary power is a very dangerous thing."

"Okay." Lumian nodded solemnly.

At the same time, he silently said in his heart:

"Because it's dangerous, I can't let you go alone."

...

After breakfast, Lumian, bearing his sister's instructions, headed straight for Naroka's house.

He had not even approached when he saw many villagers standing outside, including his few companions, Ava's father Guillaume Lichy, Raymond's father Pierre Cleg, and the parish priest's brother Ponce Bene.

"What happened?" Lumian carefully bypassed Ponce Bene and the few thugs around him, and came to Raymond's side.

Raymond answered with a sad expression:

"Naroka passed away."

"Ah?" Although Lumian had prepared for something to happen to Naroka, he did not expect her to have died.

Raymond continued:

"Before dawn, the parish priest came to give her the last rites.

"The other day when we asked her about the wizard legend, she was fine and very energetic. How did she suddenly pass away..."

Before dawn? Lumian was startled in his heart.

It was precisely at this time that he saw Naroka's figure. The parish priest's last rites were either a bit earlier or a bit later, but not much different.

So, what I saw was actually Naroka's ghost? This happened after the owl flew to stare at me... Can it really take away human souls? Yes, Naroka was one of the living witnesses of the wizard incident... If I hadn't listened to my sister and gone out after dark, the parish priest might have given the last rites to me, heh, his last rites for me would be to spit on me... Various thoughts flashed through Lumian's mind.

Raymond did not chat with him either, standing outside the two-story house, silently mourning Naroka.

After Lumian gathered his thoughts, he saw Lya, Leon, and Valentine, the three outsiders, walking over.

"What happened here?" Lya asked before Lumian could greet them.

They saw many people gathered on the road.

Lumian sighed:

"My cabbages, a respected old lady has passed away."

"Why are you all standing outside the door?" Lya did not express condolences first, as Lumian's words were not very convincing.

She was still wearing the same clothes as before.

Lumian immediately made a noticeable up-and-down inspection, making Lya a bit nervous.

"What's wrong?" Leon asked.

Lumian smiled:

"You definitely aren't from Dariel."

"We are from Bigor." Leon answered frankly.

Bigor is the capital of the Leston province of the Intis Republic, while Dariel is a city on the southern border of Leston province, overseeing a large area including Cordu village.

"No wonder you don't know the customs of Dariel." Lumian nodded.

He had previously thought these three outsiders were from Dariel, but they were from the provincial capital Bigor.

Their status seems to be much higher than I expected... Lumian silently updated his judgment of Lya and the others.

"What kind of customs?" Lya asked with interest, "Can you tell us?"

Lumian wanted to get along well with them, so he smiled and said:

"You are my cabbages, how could I not tell you?

"You know, everyone has their corresponding constellation, and in Dariel, we also believe that each family has its own constellation, which brings corresponding luck. The death and burial of a family member, especially the head of the household, will take away this good luck.

"To avoid affecting the constellation and to retain the luck, we place the deceased in the center of the house, which is the kitchen, before burial. We then cut off some of their hair and nails and hide them in the house forever, but they must not be discovered by guests.

"At such times, if those attending the funeral enter the house, it will affect the corresponding constellation and take away part of the luck. Therefore, we mourn outside the door and at most look in from the doorway, then wait at the cemetery next to the church."

"I see." Leon nodded lightly, "This is similar to how each region's cathedral has relics, 'where there is part of a saint's body, there will always be a saint present.'"

He turned around, faced Naroka's house, removed his hat, placed it on his chest, and began to mourn silently.

Lya and Valentine also expressed their condolences.

After they finished, Lumian said to them:

"I'm going to look at the body at the door, see you later, my cabbages."

"Okay." Leon nodded gently.

Lumian lowered his voice and added:

"I will help you find the little blue book."

Without waiting for Lya and the others to respond, he took a step to the side and smiled:

"Why do you wear the same clothes every day?"

"It's hard to pay attention to appearances when staying in a foreign place for a while." Leon simply said, while Lya subconsciously touched the silver bell hanging on her headscarf.

After saying goodbye to Valentine and the others, Lumian walked to Naroka's house.

After waiting in line for a while, it was finally his turn.

He stood by the door and looked into the kitchen ahead.

Naroka's body had not yet been placed in the coffin and lay quietly on a makeshift bed made of several long benches.

Her nails had been cut off, and her sparse white hair was neater than usual.

Her face was pale, and with the wrinkles, even a brave young man like Lumian dared not look for too long.

"Compared to when I saw her before dawn, her face is even paler..." Lumian muttered, made a slight bow, and left the door.

On the way to the cemetery with Raymond, he suddenly slapped his head:

"Oh, I forgot to tell Orol."

"Then go quickly." Raymond understood.

Orol often doesn't like to go out, and without her brother, she wouldn't know what was happening in the village.

Lumian took the opportunity to say:

"Since it's not far from your house, lend me the little blue book for two days. The one at my house has a few pages chewed by rats, and I need to copy them."

"Okay." Raymond agreed.

After all, there was still a long time before the burial.

...

"Naroka passed away." Lumian hid the little blue book, returned home, and told Orol.

Orol couldn't help but sigh:

"Sure enough, something happened.

"I wonder if it was caused by that owl..."

"I also suspect it." Lumian agreed with his sister.

Orol "hmm"ed:

"After dark, you must not leave the house.

"You should also warn the others who are pursuing the wizard legend."

"Okay." Lumian had already used the fact that "Naroka died just a few days after being asked about the wizard legend" to scare Raymond, telling him not to go out after dark for a while.

"Naroka was a good person. I'll change into some clothes and attend her funeral." Orol said as she walked to the stairs, "Are you coming with me, or will you read a book and do a test before coming?"

Why do a test at a time like this? Sometimes, Lumian couldn't quite understand his sister's thinking.

Considering he needed to compare the little blue book, he told Orol:

"I'll do a test and then come."

"Very good." Orol was quite pleased.

After seeing his sister off, Lumian's expression became serious.

He went upstairs to the study, took out the little blue book borrowed from Raymond's house, and compared it with the one from his own house, which had some words cut out.

Time slowly passed, and the corresponding words were found one by one and written on white paper.

Lumian carefully pieced them together and adjusted them into two sentences.

Soon, the possible content of the plea for help appeared before his eyes:

"We need to obtain help as soon as possible.

"The people around us are becoming increasingly strange."