Chapter 80

"Right now?" Lumian was taken aback.

Although he was also eager to explore the underground of the church, he wasn't that desperate!

After a moment's thought, he countered, "Can't we wait until night? At that time, it's late and quiet, with only two or three servants left in the church. Wouldn't it be much easier for us to sneak in?"

Lian replied gently but firmly, "Right now is the best time.

"Think about it. We can imagine that the church will be less crowded and less protected at night, but wouldn't the parish priest and his colleagues think the same? I suspect they will take turns to guard the place or set up hidden traps that will trigger an alarm once touched.

"But now, it's almost noon, and all the villagers have returned home. No one will come to pray at this time. It's daytime, so the traps won't be activated to avoid accidental triggers. The two priests and the servants are all in the church, making it easy for people to let their guard down. This means that the strong members of their team will be at ease, eating at home. We only need to deal with the parish priest, the assistant parish priest, and three servants."

Lumian nodded thoughtfully and added, "And before April 3rd, the parish priest was still an ordinary person, without any extraordinary powers."

Today is April 1st.

"Also, the assistant parish priest, though abnormal, is clearly not a core member of the parish priest's team. The same goes for those three servants," Lia added with a smile, "Can't four of us extraordinary beings handle five ordinary people silently?"

Lumian thought for a moment and said, "But won't this prevent us from waiting until the twelfth night?"

This would essentially trigger the abnormality on the parish priest's side, and "History" would inevitably change accordingly.

"You yourself said that compared to us, the parish priest and his team are more willing to wait until Lent and the twelfth night. As long as we don't kill him, when he wakes up and discovers that someone has entered the basement, he will only pretend to notice nothing and accelerate his progress in obtaining extraordinary powers," Lia smiled, "Once he successfully prays for 'Blessings,' he might send people to hunt us down. But Cordu village isn't small, and our strength isn't weak. We can hide and delay, and still wait for Lent."

Lumian agreed with this reasoning: "Alright, let's do it now."

He then reminded them, "But at this time, Aurelle's eyes haven't fully recovered, so she probably can't help us."

Before visiting Madame Poualiès at the castle, Lumian went home and had a conversation with Aurelle, confirming her condition. Her eyes would likely return to normal by evening.

"It's fine, don't we have Madame Poualiès as our backup?" Lia said half-jokingly, the bells on her head ringing softly.

Lumian had no further objections but cautiously suggested, "Before going to the church, let's walk around the village to confirm that dangerous people like shepherd Pierre Berry are all at home."

To avoid any unexpected encounters in the basement with those who have already received 'Blessings.'

Lian nodded in approval and agreed.

After they finished discussing the details, Valentine looked at Lumian and asked coldly, "Do you need purification?"

Lia quickly explained for her companion, "You visited the castle and had contact with Madame Poualiès, so you might have been contaminated."

"No, I'm sure Madame Poualiès wouldn't do that this time; it would be meaningless," Lumian was very certain.

He couldn't afford to be uncertain; he dared not let Valentine purify him again. Compared to yesterday, he was now a 'Dancer,' and the evil aura had moved from the seal to the surface of his body. Accepting holy water purification would likely cause major problems.

According to Aurelle's analysis, he now needed purification.

Seeing that Lumian didn't think it was an issue, Valentine, who was momentarily concerned, didn't say anything more.

Next, while wandering around Cordu village, Lumian went home and informed his sister of their plan.

Aurelle was somewhat frustrated that she couldn't participate and provide her strength, so she volunteered to stand guard at the edge of the village, ready to restart the cycle if anything went wrong.

This didn't require good eyesight; just being able to see the road vaguely was enough.

They agreed that if no one came to find her by 12:30, she would restart the cycle. Lumian then bid farewell to Aurelle and rejoined Lia and the others.

By this time, the three official extraordinary beings had confirmed the locations of the core members of the parish priest's team, including shepherd Pierre Berry.

After circling around, they arrived at the side of the church, the same door they had used to catch the parish priest and Madame Poualiès in their last cycle.

Lumian was about to volunteer to use the wire he carried to open the rarely used door, but Lia had already walked over, fiddled with the lock, and pushed open the dark brown wooden door.

Seeing Lumian look at her in surprise, she smiled and said, "This is a basic investigative skill."

Lumian didn't voice his thoughts about the nobility of lock-picking because Lia had already taken a few steps into the church.

Her silver bells on her veil and boots remained silent.

Lumian tried to interpret: "Entering the church is safe, not dangerous?"

Lia turned to look at him and said, "Please add the prefix 'just entering the church to deal with the people inside.'"

Meaning, the danger in the basement is still unknown? Lumian roughly understood Lia's meaning and gained some insight into divination, though he still had no divination abilities despite the spiritual enhancement from being a 'Dancer.'

At this moment, Lian passed him and walked into the church with Lia.

A few steps in, a servant approached from the side.

In the blink of an eye, Lian rushed to the servant, raised his right hand, and struck the back of the servant's ear.

The servant didn't even groan before passing out. Lian caught him and dragged him into the nearest room.

Lia hurried over and took out a glass bottle containing a colorless liquid from somewhere, unscrewed the cap, and poured it into the servant's mouth.

"What is that?" Lumian asked curiously.

Lia maintained her smile, "A sedative."

Well-prepared, Lumian thought to himself.

In this way, they controlled the three servants without alerting the parish priest.

Then, Lia carefully crept along the shadows toward the parish priest's resting room.

She silently turned the handle and pushed the wooden door open slightly, seeing the most powerful man in Cordu village lying on a simple wooden bed, wearing a white robe with gold trim, breathing steadily and deeply.

Near the door, a plate with lunch and silver cutlery was placed on the table.

Lia glanced around, then darted in like a cat, using the knife to strike the back of the parish priest's ear.

Immediately, she poured the remaining sedative into Guillaume Benet's mouth.

"Is that it?" Lumian poked his head out next to Lia. This is too easy, right?

"Or what? What do you want to do with an ordinary person?" Lia asked with a laugh.

Lumian nodded and took the initiative to lift the parish priest's robe.

What are you doing? Lia was surprised and suspicious but still smiling.

Lumian answered without turning his head, "Checking his body."

He wanted to see if the parish priest now had the black thorn symbol on his chest.

Soon, the upper body of the parish priest, Guillaume Benet, was exposed, showing only a noticeable patch of black hair, nothing else.

No black thorn symbol, no special contract mark.

Lumian nodded slightly and thought to himself, "It seems the symbol is only obtained when receiving the 'Blessing,' or it's there now but needs meditation to activate?

"What about mine, during the twelfth night?"

Thinking that the parish priest, Guillaume Benet, might not have the black thorn symbol yet, Lumian couldn't help but have some evil thoughts: "Would killing him now not trigger the cycle?

"Would eliminating him early bring any changes?"

Considering the parish priest's importance in subsequent events and his desire to wait for the twelfth night, Lumian ultimately overcame his impulse.

Exiting the parish priest's room, Lian said to him and Lia, "We can't find the assistant parish priest."

"Huh?" Lumian was initially stunned but then understood, "He might have gone home. He's not allowed to live in the church, and no one brings him food."

"What a tyrannical devil's servant," Valentine glanced at the parish priest in the room and cursed.

The four of them didn't delay and walked in the opposite direction of the altar.

In the corner, there was a staircase, narrow and steep, leading only one person at a time, and it was both high and steep.

It spiraled up to the top of the church and down to the underground.

Lia led the way. After descending a few steps, the four silver bells on her veil and boots rang simultaneously.

Ding, ding, dang, dang, the sound was not loud, echoing only in a small area, sometimes urgent, sometimes slow.

"What does this mean?" Lumian found it hard to interpret based on his previous experience.

Lia turned and smiled, "It means there is some danger, but I can't determine the level of danger."

"Even going to the castle, you could divine...," Lumian muttered in surprise, "Doesn't this mean the underground is more dangerous?"

"Not necessarily, maybe something is causing strong interference," Lia comforted him, "At the castle, wasn't Madame Poualiès not there?"

At this point, facing such a minor setback, they couldn't back down. They entered the staircase one by one, descending layer by layer.

Soon, the four of them saw the old brown wooden door to the basement.

Lia raised her hand to pinch her brow, activating 'Spirit Vision,' then approached the wooden door.

Although Lumian hadn't mastered the simple gesture to activate 'Spirit Vision,' with the spiritual enhancement from being a 'Dancer,' he quickly activated it and saw everyone as red, indicating good health.

After the companions were ready, Lia opened the basement door.

With a creak, Lumian sniffed and caught a familiar, delicate, and sweet scent.

He immediately made the connection and told Lian and the others, "There's the smell of gray amber."

This is the material used to worship the mysterious being known as Fate!