When they reached the edge of a grove not far from home, Lumian stopped and turned to look at Leah and the others who were following behind him.
This place is quite remote, with no villagers around, and the trees in the forest are sparse, so you can see at a glance whether there is anyone hiding nearby.
As the tinkling sound approached, Leah asked with a smile:
"How did you know we were looking for someone?"
Lumian said nothing, and took out the key item he had brought with him:
The little blue book in his house!
He held the object high and showed Ryan and the others the pages with some words cut out.
Without further ado, Ryan nodded gently and said:
"It turned out that letter asking for help was written by you."
They had never mentioned a letter for help in Koldu Village, let alone a detailed description of the letter being pieced together from words cut out of the little blue book.
Unless the other party has a key insider in Bigorre, it must be the writer of the letter.
Liya looked around instinctively.
The two small silver bells hanging from the veil above her head made strangely no sound.
Seeing this, Valentine was about to ask directly, "What's so strange about the people around you?" Ryan asked in confusion:
"Why are you sure we are the ones who came because of that letter?"
You told me yourselves... Lumian smiled:
“There are very few outsiders coming to Cordu, and even fewer who don’t buy wool, cheese, or lambs but just wander around the village chatting with people.
"Besides, I didn't say anything. I just showed you this little blue book."
Liya suddenly realized and laughed:
"It turns out it was just a test."
"This is a very good idea. I wonder if the person who wrote the letter for help doesn't understand your purpose at all, so they won't have too many doubts. At most, they will think it's a prank, and you are the prank king of Cordu Village." Ryan nodded slightly.
He pointed out this inconspicuously, indicating that the three of them had gained a lot from chatting in Koldu Village these days. At least they had found out who the more famous people in the village were and completed the correspondence.
Lumian immediately gave a teasing smile:
"Believed it? You believed it?"
Seeing Ryan and the others' stunned expressions, he added:
"I was just joking. I'll tell you the real reason later."
Leah gritted her teeth:
"As expected of you, you are the prankster of Cordu Village. Aren't you afraid that we won't believe what you say next?"
"You can choose not to believe it." Lumian said indifferently, "You can also verify it yourself."
Obviously a little dissatisfied, Valentine asked anxiously:
"You mentioned in your letter that the people around you are becoming more and more strange. What are the strange things about them?"
Lumian said “Ouch” and counted on his fingers:
"That's a lot. Specifically, the parish priest believed in evil gods, the shepherd Pierre Berry turned people into sheep and drove them back to Cordu, Mrs. Puaris rode in a carriage pulled by a 'devil' in the wilderness, a lizard-like transparent creature would come out of the deputy parish priest's mouth when he slept, Naroka was not dead yet but was going to some other world, the administrator's male butler Louis Lund just gave birth to a baby, and the owl in the wizard legend flew back to the village from time to time..."
Ryan, Leah, and Valentine were more shocked the more they listened. They didn't want to believe it, but they also felt that the boy in front of them couldn't make up so many outrageous stories.
They were all experienced official investigators who had dealt with many extraordinary events, including those involving evil gods and the occult, but none of those were as absurd and exaggerated as what we hear now. In other words, it was quite normal for the parish priest to believe in evil gods.
More importantly, most of the incidents they had dealt with before were independent, with only two or three happening at the same time at most, and they were closely related to each other. However, there were so many terrifying anomalies in Koldu Village!
"Where exactly is this place?" Almost instantly, similar thoughts flashed through Leah, Ryan, and Valentine's minds.
They wondered if they had accidentally entered the legendary abyss or hell!
When Lumian stopped, Leah couldn't help but ask:
"You are not kidding me?"
Are there any normal people in this village
Lumian smiled:
"I haven't finished yet, there is another anomaly.
"This is the third or fourth time I've talked to you about something like this, Ryan, Leah, Valentine, my cabbages."
Ryan, Leah and Valentine were not surprised that Lumian knew their names - when they were wandering around the village and chatting with people these past two days, they couldn't help but introduce themselves.
They were even more surprised and confused about the first half of the sentence.
"What do you mean?" Valentine asked, frowning.
"What I mean is that it has been repeating over and over again these past few days, which means we are trapped in a time loop." Lumian didn't let the three outsiders guess and gave the standard answer directly.
Without waiting for Ryan and the others to question him, he briefly mentioned what they had experienced together, and finally said:
"Think carefully, was the day you entered the village really March 29th?"
Leah and the others fell into deep thought at the same time.
After more than ten seconds, Valentine showed a painful expression:
"My sense of time has become blurred and I can't remember the exact dates of the past two months...
"But, I remember, I remember celebrating my little son's birthday before I left, his birthday was..."
Valentine raised his head suddenly and blurted out in shock:
“It’s April 10th!”
In other words, the real time now is mid-to-late April? So it seems that the number of cycles I experienced before I had memories would not be many, not even more than one... Well, that was the initial one, the cycle had not yet started, so the letter could be sent directly in the middle, without the help of the river. When the cycle appeared, it would go back and the corresponding memory would be overwritten, but the matter beyond the range could not be returned? Lumian had a new guess about the letter.
He nodded slightly and said to Ryan and Leah:
"You can also send a telegram to the outside world to obtain the current date in a way that will not arouse suspicion.
"Then you will believe me."
"Yes, yes! Send a telegram!" Valentine suddenly came to his senses, "Ask for help!"
Lumian looked at him as if he was a fool.
“Help
"When faced with this weird time loop, how do you officials usually deal with it?"
Ryan was silent for a moment and said:
"Destroy it immediately to prevent the pollution from spreading."
“So, asking for help now is almost like suicide.” Lumian smiled and spread his hands.
Valentine responded enthusiastically:
"According to the regulations, I must report back immediately. I am willing to sacrifice for this!"
“…” Lumian was shocked.
Are there people like this
No, we have to get rid of this guy immediately, otherwise we will all be doomed!
Fortunately, Leah and Ryan obviously felt that they could still be saved. They looked at each other and nodded.
Ryan patted Valentine on the shoulder:
"Don't worry, we don't know what happened yet, maybe there is a better solution.
"If we really can't save ourselves, we will report the situation to the higher-ups."
“Yes,” Lumian added quickly, recounting the chest symbol, the dream ruins, the mysterious lady, and the findings and speculations outside the Curly-Haired Baboon Research Society. Finally, he said, “The key to the problem is likely to be on the Twelfth Night. We must survive until then in this cycle. Only in this way can we truly solve the problem in the next cycle.”
Seeing that he had given so many details and that they could corroborate each other, Ryan and others were inclined to completely believe what he said. Valentine also calmed down and remembered his wife and children.
"No wonder you know us and know we are looking for someone." Leah breathed out.
It turns out that this was the same thing we exchanged last time.
She subconsciously touched the small silver bell on her head, wanting to tell fortunes, but when she thought of the anomalies Lumian had described, she forced herself to hold back.
She didn't want to explode just because she got something wrong before she even started the real investigation.
Ryan thought for a moment and said to Lumian:
"You told us this because you want us to cooperate with you and your sister in doing something?"
"Very smart, my cabbage." Lumian laughed and said seriously, "First, send a telegram to the outside world, saying that your investigation has made preliminary progress and that the parish priest seems to have some problems. Then ask what the lizard-like thing that came out of the mouth is. This is the one that is least likely to directly cause a devastating blow among all the anomalies. Oh, by the way, then determine the real date, and pay attention to the method and method, so as not to arouse suspicion from the outside world.
“Well, this afternoon, my sister will invite Mrs. Pualis to my house for afternoon tea, and I hope you can sneak into the administrator’s residence with me to do some searches.
"As for what happens next, it depends on the intelligence we gain today."
Ryan, Leah, and Valentine looked at each other and felt that Lumian's request was not excessive at all.
That in itself is what they have to do.
The four of them then came to the village square. Ryan went to send a telegram, while Leah, Valentine and Lumian waited outside under the elm tree.
After calming down, Leah glanced at Lumian and asked curiously:
"You are a Beyonder, and so is your sister?"
“Yes.” Lumian did not hide it.
Liya laughed immediately:
"So direct, aren't you afraid of being caught by us?"
"We are all in the same boat now. When faced with an emergency situation where the boat is about to sink, we can only help each other." Lumian shrugged. "As for what happens next, we'll talk about it later. Whether we can escape this cycle is still unknown."
"That's right." Leah tilted her head and looked at Valentine.
The reason she brought up this topic was to make her companions understand this truth and not do stupid things.
Valentine's expression remained indifferent, and he nodded imperceptibly.
Leah turned to ask about something she was more concerned about:
"Why can you keep your previous memories?"
“I won’t tell you.” Lumian laughed.
Without waiting for Leah to respond, he spread his hands and said:
"I'm just kidding. Actually, I have no idea. I somehow retained my memory, and only the most recent two cycles."
"Think about what happened at that time. This may be crucial." Leah said after a moment of hesitation.
Lumian said sincerely:
"I have been thinking about it for a while, but I haven't found anything. Maybe I will suddenly realize it when something happens."
Just as Leah was about to help analyze the situation, Ryan, who had received a call back, walked out of the building where the administrator was.
PS: Ask for monthly ticket~