Chapter 93

The wind rustled past the window, almost silently, and Lumian, in this peaceful state, let his thoughts wander, following his instincts to ponder some matters: "There's still light in the corridor, so Lia must still be awake, reading Aurel's books." My bedroom is dark; Valentine must have gone to bed. I wonder what Rein is doing... "Heh heh, they didn't bring any wine on their first visit, completely unaware of Dali's customs." If we can really break the cycle, my sister can become an informant for the Eighth Bureau. Then, she won't have to worry about being investigated when she visits Trier. As for me, being an informant shouldn't require any special tests, right? "Now, the whole situation has a complete hypothesis, but the only thing that's uncertain is the role of the owl and the dead wizard in the tomb...?"

"If they were the ones who bewitched the priests and others, causing the anomaly, and hoped to achieve something through the ritual on the Twelfth Night, why haven't they taken any action during these cycles, other than monitoring my progress in exploring the dream ruins?" Could it be that they, like Mrs. Pouly, are waiting for a specific time, or waiting for the ritual on the Twelfth Night, planning to complete the disrupted part, so they don't want the cycle to change and always restart it in advance?

"Their behavior also proves that the key to the cycle lies in me, which is why they keep coming to check how far I've explored the dream ruins..." If I unravel the secret of the dream before the Twelfth Night and master the method to recover the pollution, will they no longer be concerned about the cycle restarting early and directly attack me, forcibly controlling me?

"Hmm, they probably retain their memories too."

Amidst these thoughts, Lumian suddenly heard a very faint sound.

"Baa..."

It was the sound of a sheep, as if coming from a distant place.

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

He wouldn't really try to attack us under the cover of night, would he? Lumian stood up abruptly and listened intently.

Outside the window, there was only the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves and branches, no "baa" sound.

It seemed that just now, Lumian had been so engrossed in his thoughts that he had hallucinated.

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

The black thorn symbol seemed to be highlighted again!

This meant that some intangible, closely related force of the hidden existence had quietly infiltrated the room.

Lumian didn't have time to think much; he rushed to the bed and shook Aurel.

"Wake up! Wake up!" he whispered.

He instinctively worried that Lia, Rein, and Valentine would notice the abnormality in him.

Aurel opened her eyes, her light blue irises still dazed and confused.

"What time is it?" she asked weakly, clearly not fully awake.

"There's a situation," Lumian said, giving the key information first, then added, "It's half an hour to ten."

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

Aurel's eyes instantly sharpened. She sat up quickly, raised her right hand, and massaged her temples.

At such a moment, she didn't care about the consequences of seeing things she shouldn't.

If they couldn't quickly find the anomaly and confirm the problem, they might not need to see anything in the future.

Dead people don't need eyes!

As her eyes deepened, reflecting strange, indescribable shadows, Aurel looked around.

Lumian took the opportunity to tell his sister about the distant sheep sound he had heard and the activation of the black thorn symbol on his chest.

Aurel frowned and said, "But I didn't notice anything."

"The warmth in my chest is still there," Lumian responded in a low voice.

He felt inexplicably terrified, sensing that the surrounding darkness was not simple, hiding indescribable danger.

Aurel carefully and attentively examined every part of the room, trying to find the unknown entity.

In silence, Lumian broke out in cold sweat, which contrasted sharply with the warmth in his left chest.

He deliberated and said, "Should we tell Rein and the others and see if they can find the problem?"

Aurel thought for a moment and nodded lightly, "Use the excuse that you suddenly had a sense of danger."

"Okay." Lumian opened his mouth to shout outside.

Suddenly, he froze.

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

Lumian frowned and replied, "The warmth in my chest is quickly disappearing." This meant the black thorn symbol was gradually "fading."

"The danger that infiltrated our room has left?" Aurel mused, "Because we were prepared in advance, it didn't do anything?"

"Maybe." Lumian then shouted down the corridor, "There's a situation!"

In the blink of an eye, Rein appeared at the door, followed by Lia, and finally, Valentine, who looked like he had just been woken up.

Before they could ask, Lumian replaced the warmth in his chest with a sense of danger and recounted what had happened.

Rein listened intently, not questioning whether it was a hallucination, and said with a sigh, "Taking turns to keep watch at night is indeed very useful."

"Most of the time, it might just be a boring wait, but when it comes in handy, it's almost like saving everyone's life."

As he spoke, he made the surroundings glow with pure morning light and circled each room on the second floor.

Although he didn't find any evil force, he at least sanctified the environment.

Lia muttered incantations as she wandered around, the silver bells on her veil and boots ringing intermittently.

Finally, she told Aurel and Lumian, "It was really dangerous just now, and it had some anti-divination power, so my talisman didn't warn me in time. It might only ring when it starts to target someone."

"But now, it has left."

"That's good." Aurel breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Maybe it wasn't just one," Lumian, back to his normal state, said with a smile, "but several."

"..." Rein and the others were silent.

"That's even more terrifying!" Aurel scolded Lumian and said to the three investigators, "Since the alarm has been cleared, let's continue with the previous arrangements."

She didn't discuss the source of the "infiltration," as there were too many possibilities, such as the shepherd Pierre Berry, the unknown figure in the tomb, or the abnormal deputy priest.

Without sufficient clues, aimless discussions would only waste everyone's rest time, better to wait until the daytime.

For now, they just needed to remember that the night was indeed dangerous, and someone was trying to target them, so they needed to be more vigilant.

After Lia and the others returned to their rooms, Lumian, using the crimson moonlight seeping in from the window, glanced at the wall clock and said to Aurel, "Want to sleep a bit more?"

"No, it's too uncomfortable to fall asleep and wake up again in such a short time." Aurel stretched her arms in a somewhat graceful yawn, "Sigh, to deal with emergencies, this dress is hidden with many spell materials and useful items. I didn't dare to turn over, afraid of hurting myself, so I slept very stiffly."

As she spoke, she got out of bed, walked to the window, pulled the curtains, and looked outside.

Cordu village was peaceful, with many houses still lit.

"Actually, I thought it might be the owl that couldn't resist attacking us, but there was no sign of it outside." Aurel looked around and explained her actions to Lumian.

Lumian nodded, "I thought the same."

He then told his sister about his thoughts, speaking in a low voice.

"Good, your ability to analyze problems has really improved. I have nothing to add." Aurel smiled, "But we can't do anything proactively; that tomb is too dangerous..."

At this, she "uh"ed, "When it's light, we can visit Mrs. Pouly and tell her your hypothesis, that the dead wizard and the owl's possible intentions might affect her ability to break the cycle at a specific time."

"Okay, I'll go myself." Lumian was worried that Mrs. Pouly might have ulterior motives against his sister.

Aurel didn't insist, only reminding him, "Be careful, don't anger her, or else..."

She looked at Lumian's stomach, using this gesture to replace her unspoken words.

Then, Aurel sighed, "Actually, the mysterious lady in the old tavern is clearly stronger, but she doesn't want to directly intervene in the cycle. She won't take us to investigate the tomb."

"Right." Lumian agreed.

He then said, "But I plan to visit the old tavern tomorrow to see if I can meet her. What if she changes her mind?"

"Okay." Aurel didn't object.

The siblings chatted in low voices, letting time pass minute by minute, and soon, midnight arrived.

After handing over to Lia in the study, Lumian returned to Aurel's bedroom and lay down next to her.

Smelling the familiar scent and feeling the soft, elastic pillow, he found himself unable to sleep for a moment.

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

"I'm not used to it," Lumian answered somewhat awkwardly.

Aurel chuckled, "Is this the brave Lumian?"

Before he could respond, she slowly exhaled and smiled, "Do you remember when you first followed me, you were afraid I would sneak away and wouldn't sleep at night, always being very alert?"

"I remember," Lumian also fell into reminiscence, "Back then, you would hum songs to me, letting me fall asleep listening to your voice."

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the familiar melody, light and soothing, making his body and mind calm.

Aurel, leaning against the bed, looked at the crimson-tinted darkness ahead, humming the melody from her hometown with a gentle and sad expression.

It was the song her mother used to sing to her to sleep when she was a child.

"Sleep, sleep..."

In the gentle melody, Lumian gradually relaxed and fell into a deep sleep.

In a place shrouded in a faint gray mist, Lumian woke up.

He looked around and realized he wasn't in his sister's bedroom but still in his original room.