Chapter 96

Lumian did not understand what the illusory river he saw or sensed represented. He could only guess that it might be a symbol of fate, and, following the instincts of the "Fallen Mercury," he lifted the tip of the knife and aimed it at a mercury-colored symbol in the river.

As soon as he touched the river shimmering with mercury light, scenes flashed through Lumian's mind: the "Noodle Man" performing a mysterious sacrificial dance; the "Noodle Man" being intimidated by the black thorn symbol and prostrating on the ground; the "Noodle Man" capturing scattered flesh from the ruins of the dream and filling his stomach; the "Noodle Man" trying to approach the circle of "city walls" but seemingly fearing something, always returning after advancing to a certain extent; the "Noodle Man" being beheaded by an axe...

Is this the entirety of its "life" since the cycle began? Lumian realized and tried to stab the tip of the "Fallen Mercury" into the mercury-colored symbol representing the "Noodle Man's" death, which was at the end of the illusory river.

It was too vast and too heavy, and he failed.

At this moment, the mercury-colored symbols began to fade, and the illusory river gradually disappeared. The scenes that had appeared in Lumian's mind quickly became blurry.

Is there a time limit? Lumian dared not choose slowly anymore. Following the principle of proximity, he turned the silver-black, evil short knife toward the fate of the "Noodle Man" being intimidated by the black thorn symbol.

The mercury-colored symbol, which seemed to be formed by the river entwining itself, was immediately dislodged, contracting and solidifying into a drop of liquid, seeping into the blade of the "Fallen Mercury."

In the next second, the illusory river completely disappeared, and Lumian could no longer see the "Noodle Man's" fate.

He looked down at the "Fallen Mercury" and saw the layers of evil symbols on the silver-black blade gently swaying like water, as if they had been given some kind of life.

They were already dizzying to look at, and now they were even more evil.

"Success..." Lumian whispered, feeling somewhat relieved.

Now, the "Fallen Mercury" was complete.

In the future, as long as he could injure the flame monster in battle with this evil short knife, he could exchange the fate of being intimidated by the black thorn symbol to the other side.

After wrapping the blade of the "Fallen Mercury" with a black cloth and securing it in his belt, Lumian simply dealt with the "Noodle Man's" corpse, moving it to a half-collapsed building and destroying the last support, letting the stones and wood fall and bury everything inside.

After doing this, Lumian returned to the area where the flame monster appeared.

This time, he did not approach to observe but collected footprints and other traces, spending time to distinguish which were left when the target deliberately circled and which were its real route.

After nearly two hours, Lumian gradually grasped the flame monster's daily activity range and movement patterns, and a map of the hunting area naturally formed in his mind.

He spent some more time inspecting the pre-set battlefields, looking for natural traps that could be used.

After an unknown amount of time, Lumian rubbed his forehead and decided to take advantage of his remaining energy to delve deeper into the ruins and explore the area near the "city walls" to gather information for future exploration.

He did not become careless and performed the sacrificial dance again, partially activating the black thorn symbol.

With this "amulet," Lumian quickly moved forward along the route from last time.

On the way, he encountered some monsters, but they either turned and fled just as they were about to attack or disappeared from a distance. The further he went, the more frequent the latter situation became.

Finally, when the chest burning sensation from the second sacrificial dance disappeared, Lumian saw the "city walls" again, composed of twisted houses.

He rested for a while, waiting for his spirituality to recover, and performed the sacrificial dance again.

The dance, sometimes clanging and sometimes gentle, ended, and Lumian, with the black thorn symbol, moved toward the direction where he had encountered the "Fallen Mercury."

After passing the room with the extinguished furnace, he slowed down, worried about a sudden attack.

After walking for a while, Lumian felt that the light ahead was noticeably dimmer, as if something huge in the sky was blocking the light, or the sun was behind his current position.

Lumian instinctively looked up but saw only thick fog.

Unable to find the cause, he drew the "Fallen Mercury" and cautiously entered the area ahead.

In an instant, it felt as if he had moved from day to night.

Of course, this was an exaggerated description. Lumian felt a more accurate description would be moving from a foggy day to a place with dense clouds.

Almost simultaneously, he yawned, and the fatigue that had already appeared instantly became intense.

"No, I can't sleep..." Lumian struggled to keep his eyes open and retreated from the dark and gloomy "foot of the mountain."

His spirit recovered significantly, although the fatigue still existed, it was at least tolerable.

"Once I enter, I feel sleepy, and the deeper I go, the sleepier I feel?" Lumian muttered silently, turned his body, and walked in another direction.

After performing the sacrificial dance again, he came to an unfamiliar area.

On his right was the "city wall" made of stacked doors and windows, on his left was a wasteland connected to a circle of building ruins, and ahead stood brown trees.

In the ruins where not even a blade of grass existed, the trees seemed to have great flexibility, entwining and embracing each other, forming a wooden wall about five to six meters high.

This wooden wall was covered with many green branches and leaves, lush and vibrant, contrasting sharply with the surrounding desolation.

If it did not block the path to the back of the "city walls," Lumian might have praised it for its strong vitality, but now, he could only express his dissatisfaction with a dirty gesture of two middle fingers.

He could choose to take a detour and enter from the other side of the dream ruins, but he was not familiar with that area, and his spirituality was almost exhausted, so there was no need to take the risk.

Yawning openly, with the chest burning sensation still lingering, Lumian began to return the same way.

When Lumian woke up, the first light of dawn had already penetrated the thick curtains and outlined the furniture in the room, such as the desk, chair, and wardrobe.

"It's still early..." He muttered silently, turned his head, and looked at Aurore beside him.

Aurore's golden hair was scattered on the white pillow, her eyes tightly closed, and she was sleeping soundly.

Her right hand held the top of the blanket, occasionally trying to turn over, but instinctively stopping herself, her brows slightly furrowed and then gradually smoothed out.

Lumian roughly understood why his sister had such a reaction: her house dress contained too many bottles and jars to guard against possible accidents. If she slept on her side or on her stomach, she would inevitably be uncomfortable.

"Really tough..." Lumian sighed silently, his expression soft and his heart calm.

After watching for a while, he withdrew his gaze, carefully got out of bed, and walked out of the bedroom.

He came to the side balcony that led to the roof, facing the distant red glow, and started to stretch.

In less than a minute, Valentine came out of the room, stood in the corridor, and looked at him, saying, "Are you also welcoming the sun?"

His gaze became gentle, and his usually cold expression was filled with approval.

Can I say no? Lumian smiled, "Yes."

Valentine nodded in satisfaction, entered the balcony, faced the rising sun, and stood straight.

He then spread his arms, tilted his head back, and shouted softly, "Praise the sun!"

"Praise the sun!" Lumian had to follow and do the same.

Valentine folded his arms across his chest, closed his eyes, and prayed for a while, then opened his eyes and said to Lumian, "If the cycle can be successfully resolved, I will introduce you to the bishop of the Dariel region, or would you prefer to go to Bigor?"

"I prefer Trier," Lumian replied with a smile, "but where to go ultimately depends on my sister, not me."

Valentine nodded and did not continue the topic. He turned and walked back and forth in the corridor, patrolling.

Until eight o'clock, nothing happened, and the two went downstairs to make breakfast together.

Soon, Rein came down to help, and by about nine o'clock, Lya had also woken up, but Aurore was still sleeping.

"Any plans for today?" Rein bit into a piece of toast and asked Lumian.

Lumian thought for a moment and said, "One person should stay at home and not let Aurore face any possible attacks alone.

"The other two will go out with me to replenish food and fetch a few buckets of water. Hehe, we need to hold out until the twelfth night."

Cordu Village did not have running water. When Aurore was renovating this house, she set up a water tank on the roof. As long as it was regularly refilled and disinfected, it was equivalent to having running water.

"Right, these things need to be done before Lent," Rein agreed.

Lumian then smiled brightly, "By the way, there's one more thing. We need to visit Mrs. Poulaiz and see if she can help us investigate the dead wizard and owl in the tomb."

As expected, Lumian saw Valentine frown, and Rein's smile was slightly stiff.

Lya drank some water and said with a smile, "I'll stay here and keep Aurore company."

"Sure," Lumian agreed for Rein and Valentine.

With the situation at this point, the two men had no choice but to agree to visit the administrator's residence in the morning.

After breakfast, the three of them left the semi-underground two-story building and headed toward the old tavern.

On the way, they passed the shepherd Pierre Berry's house.

Lumian's heart stirred, and he said to Rein and Valentine, "Let's check on the three sheep."

He remembered the sheep's cry he had heard last night.

Rein and Valentine, understanding his meaning, did not object.

After a small detour, the three arrived at the back of the Berry house, but what they saw was an empty sheep pen.

The three sheep were gone.