Chapter 97

Staring at the sheep pen, which now only contained hay and droppings, Leon furrowed his brow and said, "The underground altar was repaired so quickly?"

He suspected that the three sheep had been taken for sacrifice.

"Perhaps those cultists of the evil gods possess some special abilities," Valentine responded with a look of disgust.

Listening to their discussion, Lumian suddenly recalled the faint bleat he had heard last night.

Could that have been the sound made by one of the people being sacrificed? He shared his speculation with Leon and Valentine, carrying this doubt.

"Not likely," Leon shook his head. "The church is several hundred meters from your house, and the altar is underground."

His meaning was that even with the enhanced hearing of a "Hunter," it would be impossible to hear sounds originating from the underground altar of the church.

Lumian also believed this, but he couldn't explain why he had heard the bleat. At the same time, he felt a noticeable burning sensation in his chest, and the black thorn symbol partially activated.

This couldn't be faked!

The burning sensation... Lumian's heart stirred as he recalled something the mysterious lady had said: praying to oneself... the principle of proximity... and the ritual for invoking the power of the "Dancer," during which the black thorn symbol on his chest had also become prominent. He suddenly had a new hypothesis: he could hear the bleat of the sheep during the sacrifice due to a metaphysical connection!

In simple terms, when the parish priest and others performed the ritual and invoked the hidden entity, the principle of proximity also directed the invocation to the pollution within Lumian, partially activating the black thorn symbol. Therefore, Lumian could faintly hear the bleat of the sheep from such a distance.

Since he did not respond, and did not know how to respond—after all, the pollution was sealed by the owner of the dark blue pattern—the ritual ultimately "connected" with the hidden entity.

When the ritual ended, the burning sensation in Lumian's chest naturally subsided.

From this, it seemed that last night there was no无形的、诡异的力量侵蚀进奥萝尔的房间，只是我身上的异常被本堂神甫他们的仪式半激活了……Lumian大概想明白了前因后果。

At this moment, Leon reminded his companions, "It seems our exploration of the underground of the church has made the parish priest and others feel a strong sense of crisis, so they repaired the altar and invoked power in advance.

"From now on, we must be extra cautious and not think that the situation will only become dangerous as Lent approaches."

"If not for the concern of restarting, we would have dealt with them long ago!" Valentine said with a hint of resentment.

Then, he added gloomily, "Can we stop calling that servant of the evil god a parish priest? He doesn't deserve it!"

Why would an unworthy person become a parish priest? Lumian didn't dare to voice his thoughts.

This time, he wasn't afraid; he mainly wanted to maintain his image in Valentine's eyes, as he might need to persuade this fervent believer to do certain things later, such as using suicide to verify the nature of the cycle.

Leon nodded, "We should hurry to visit Mrs. Poualiès to replenish our food and water, and try to avoid going out as much as possible afterward."

Lumian didn't say more, turned, and left the back door of the shepherd Pierre Berry's house, heading toward the hill where the castle was located.

Passing through the colorful garden, he arrived at the gate, which was only half open, and said to the male servant wearing a red coat and white trousers, "We have something to discuss with Mrs. Poualiès."

"Please wait." The male servant glanced at Leon and Valentine and hurriedly turned, disappearing through the gate.

Soon, the "midwife" in a gray-white dress came out.

Compared to the last time, her face was even more pale, and her eyes were so lifeless that they chilled the heart.

If Lumian hadn't told Leon and Valentine that the "midwife" was not "dead," they would have been shocked.

Just seeing a dead person turn into a zombie wasn't uncommon; "Sun Priests" specialized in handling such cases, and Valentine had purified dozens of similar entities. However, a human who had been chopped into pieces and could still reappear in their original form, closer to a living person than a corpse, was beyond their current understanding.

The "midwife" opened her mouth and said in a completely flat tone, "Mrs. Poualiès does not want to see you; she asks you to leave."

"We have very important matters," Lumian said directly, "Does Mrs. Poualiès not worry that the entity underground will disrupt her plans?"

The "midwife" maintained her tone, "Mrs. Poualiès says it will not affect her."

Hearing this, Lumian felt a chill run through his body.

This meant they would find it very difficult to gain the help of the powerful Mrs. Poualiès.

Lumian smiled, showing no signs of disappointment or dejection, and looked at the "midwife," "But we might explore that tomb."

His implication was that during the exploration, if anything went wrong on either side, the cycle might restart prematurely. The "midwife's" expression remained unchanged, stiff and lifeless, "You can try, but the result will only disappoint you."

What does that mean? Lumian couldn't understand what Mrs. Poualiès was trying to convey.

She meant that they could explore, and she would provide some help at a critical moment, but they wouldn't find any valuable clues? Lumian thought more and more that Mrs. Poualiès probably didn't mean what he had guessed, otherwise she wouldn't have refused to meet them through the "midwife."

Before Lumian could consider other possibilities, Leon asked, "Is Mrs. Poualiès telling us that the entity or entities in the tomb can easily control us and successfully prevent us from investigating without triggering the cycle?"

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

Lumian, Valentine, and Leon exchanged glances and left with a bit of frustration.

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

—Compared to water, which can easily spoil, wine is easier to store and can be used for hydration later as long as it's not too strong.

Entering the old tavern, Lumian immediately looked around but didn't see the mysterious lady.

He slightly disappointedly retracted his gaze and walked to the bar, telling the owner Maurice Béne what they wanted to buy.

While Leon and Valentine went to carry the barrels of wine out, Lumian lowered his voice and asked, "Where is the other lady?"

Maurice Béne shook his head, "I don't know. She might be in her room, or somewhere else in the village, or she might have gone to Liège. Her rent is paid until the 9th, so she can do whatever she wants."

The 9th? The twelfth night? Lumian nodded thoughtfully.

April 9th was the "twelfth night" he and Orla had calculated.

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

And if Leon and the others hadn't coincidentally entered Cordu Village on the first day of a cycle, it would mean that the cycle would immediately restart and begin on March 29th whenever outsiders entered the area.

"Oh." Lumian patted his head and said to the tavern owner Maurice Béne, "My stomach isn't feeling well; I need to use the restroom. Tell them to wait for me."

Maurice Béne had a "what are you up to now" look on his face, "Don't cause trouble here!"

The downside of a bad reputation... Lumian chuckled, "Don't worry, I really just need to use the restroom!"

He said this while waving and quickly ran to the entrance of the stairs.

He did indeed need to use the restroom, but the one upstairs.

Maurice Béne glanced at his back and muttered, "Spring has arrived, and this brat is in heat..."

His voice was just loud enough for Lumian to hear.

On the second floor, Lumian went to the restroom opposite and stood in front of the mysterious lady's room.

Knock, knock, knock, he knocked on the door.

No response.

Seeing no "Do Not Disturb" sign on the doorknob, Lumian knocked again, each time louder.

Unfortunately, the mysterious lady never appeared.

Lumian thought for a moment, took out a thin piece of wire, and pried at the lock.

The door creaked open, revealing an empty room with no one inside.

The bed was neatly made, as if no one had stayed there for a while.

Lumian silently sighed, didn't try to enter, and closed the door.

In the afternoon, under the pretext of teaching Lumian Hermes and urgently enhancing his abilities, the siblings gathered in Orla's bedroom.

Lumian lowered his voice and told his sister the key points of his exploration in the dream ruins last night, and finally asked, "Do you have anything to add? About hunting the flame monster."

Even with preparation and the abilities of "Fallen Mercury" and "Invisibility," he still lacked confidence in hunting the flame monster.

It was a significant sequence in the "Hunter" path!

Orla laughed, "You've considered everything. The only thing I can add is..."

She raised her hands, made fists, and gently shook them, "Good luck!"

"..." Lumian was defeated by his sister's joke at such a time.

But his inner tension was somewhat alleviated.

Orla then added, "The rest is just some unoriginal advice: 'Be careful, be careful, be very careful.'"

She sighed, "It's a pity that the mysterious lady isn't here; otherwise, I could have made some simple, auxiliary talismans. Along with the 'Upright Brooch,' I could have let you take them into the dream."

"Yes." Lumian was disappointed but not discouraged and didn't plan to give up.

In the evening, around 9:50 PM, Lumian left Orla's bedroom and headed to the restroom.

He intended to clear his stomach before his night watch.

Under the crimson moonlight, the restroom was dim, with only the area around the toilet being relatively clear.

Lumian approached, unbuttoned his belt.

Suddenly, the shadow on the wall behind him began to wriggle and formed a figure holding an axe high!