Poncebane pinched harder and harder, his eyes turned red and were about to pop out.
Lumian would have been speechless, but if his vision hadn't started to go dark, he would have definitely said "thank you" to him.
At this moment, a hand reached out from somewhere and grabbed Poncebene's hair, trying to forcibly separate him and Lumian.
"What are you doing? Do you want to kill him? Are you a human being?" Shepherd Pierre Berry cursed in a deep voice while stopping Pons and Bene.
Poncebene turned a deaf ear to him. His bloodshot eyes only saw Lumian's figure. His mind was filled with rage and bloodthirstiness, and the only thought was "kill this bastard".
Snapped!
Shepherd Pierre Berry raised his right leg and kicked Ponce Bennett in the vital part with his brand new "leather shoe".
Poncebene reflexively loosened his hands, covered his lower body, clamped his thighs, and fell to the ground. He unconsciously made a ho-ho-ho sound, and his expression was distorted in pain, like a rooster with its neck being strangled.
Berry glanced at the shepherd Pierre and said calmly, "Take Lumian to the altar once he recovers a little. The ceremony is about to begin." He then retracted his gaze, bent down, stood up again, and checked Lumian's condition.
When Lumian regained consciousness and slowly opened his eyes, he showed his head. As the dark vision was filled with light again, the pain in his neck became more and more obvious. Lumian was disappointed to find that what he saw was not the familiar ceiling of his bedroom, but the bloody and scratched face of shepherd Pierre Berido.
"I'm not dead yet!" He muttered subconsciously in his heart. He turned his head and saw Ponceby curled up on the ground. "Waste!" Lumian cursed with extreme contempt. "Women can't handle it, and men can't kill it. What's the point of you dying alive?"
Ponsbene suddenly felt a surge of anger rising to his head. If it weren't for the lingering pain in his lower body and if the shepherd Pierre Berry hadn't been watching him, he would have definitely lost his mind again.
The dilapidated house of Lumian and Aurore, with half of its roof missing.
Rain, Leah, and Valentine sneaked back here under the moonlight and starlight falling from the sky.
After confirming that there was no one around, Lai En turned his head to Liya and said, "It seems that the situation tonight is more serious than we imagined. Do some divination."
On the road from the edge of Cordu Village to Lumian's house, they found that there was no one in every house and no one knew where they had gone.
This is a shocking anomaly!
"Okay." Leah nodded.
Before she could take out a pen and paper to write down the divination statement, Lai En reminded her again: "Be careful, choose the right direction for divination, and don't try anything that seems too dangerous."
"I understand." Leah has rich experience in this area. She knows that Cordu Village is an extremely dangerous place. If the direction of divination is wrong, it may cause extremely serious injuries to oneself, or even lose control on the spot.
She hesitated for a few seconds, then went into Aurore's bedroom, which had no walls on the corridor side, and found a manuscript to work on.
While Leah was writing the divination statement, Ryan and Valentine walked into Lumian's room, where they had slept before.
Lai En's brown suitcase was placed next to the desk by the window, completely covered by the curtain.
Seeing that the things were still there, Lai En breathed a sigh of relief and said to Valentine, "Be prepared."
As he spoke, he dragged the suitcase out, laid it on the ground, and opened the brass-like metal buckle.
Valentine opened his arms slightly, causing illusory golden flames to jump out of the void and illuminate the room.
With a serious expression, Lai En finally dared to open the luggage. There was no spare clothes, no books or coins inside. Instead, a strange scarecrow folded up in three quilts lay quietly.
The scarecrow's eyes are covered with thick black cloth. Its face, neck, palms, feet, and calves are all made of brown-green straw, but its arms, chest, and thighs are covered. The slightly pale skin looks very real.
This is a magical item that the joint investigation team obtained from the Stone Parish of the "Eternal Sun" Church before setting off.
According to regulations, teams at their level can apply for seals to deal with anomalies.
Lai En closed his eyes, and the information of the magical item in front of him naturally emerged in his mind: "Number: 217.
Name: Tanago Scarecrow."
"Danger level: 2, dangerous, use with caution and moderation, only actions involving three or more people or deacons or diocesan bishops can apply."
"Secrecy level: Bishop, team leader, and above."
"Description: This scarecrow was first discovered in the Tanago region of Leiston Province, on the edge of a village that was destroyed by a cult ritual."
"Two police officers and six farmers disappeared after placing this scarecrow on the road and never appeared again."
Studies have shown that if someone comes within one meter of the straw and is seen by its eyes, they will lose their self-awareness, approach the scarecrow uncontrollably, and disappear after a few seconds, leaving behind only the clothes they are wearing and the items on their body.
When the sun is at its strongest, even if you touch this scarecrow and are seen by it, you will not disappear.
"According to a farmer from another village, this scarecrow was originally normal, no different from other scarecrows, until the village to which the farmland belonged was destroyed.
Every time a person disappears, flesh and blood grows on a certain part of its body, covering the skin, but only a small piece. "It is currently impossible to confirm what will happen to this scarecrow after every part of it has flesh and blood and skin, but we can only speculate that it is very likely to come back to life.
“This scarecrow already possesses certain characteristics of being alive. It will move at night and try to break free from the seal.
"Sealing method: Cover its eyes with a thick black cloth from behind and place it in a small, dark space."
Usage process: The scarecrow can only be taken out under sunlight and the black cloth covering its eyes can be untied.
"Appendix: 1 No matter what, do not let it see you. Even with the protection of sunlight, you will have nightmares for a long time and become mentally weak." 2 Try not to use this scarecrow for more than two minutes each time, otherwise its tendency to escape and resist will become more and more obvious.
"3 Warning: Before this Sun Yi scarecrow can obtain enough flesh and blood, it can be sealed permanently."
While Ryan and Valentine were checking to see if the seal was lost or escaped, Leah had entered a state of "dream divination".
She whispered the divination phrase "Auror's location" to herself, sat down at the desk and soon fell asleep. Leaning back in the chair and closing her eyes, she saw Auror in a simple white robe, something that looked like altar white, the villagers gathered around her, and the stained glass and golden walls in the distance with the help of the four small silver bells.
Leah suddenly opened her eyes, ran out of the room, and hurriedly said to Ryan and Valentine: "They are all in the church! A ceremony is being held!"
Inside the church of "Eternal Sun".
The disappointed Lumien was carried by Poncebenne to the altar filled with lilacs and tulips, with the shepherd Pierre Berry watching over them.
Glancing at his sister Aurore with empty eyes, Lumian tilted his head and smiled at Pierre Berry: "You are just a coward, a waste!
The shepherd glanced at him without responding or changing his expression.
Lumian continued to laugh and said, “Your woman died of illness, but you did nothing and dared not do evil. You only knew how to believe in evil gods.
"Why did she die of illness? It was because the factory boss didn't let them rest and paid them very little." If it were me, I would definitely visit the boss in person and hang his entire family on the factory chimney!
"Did you do it? You didn't! You were afraid, you were afraid that you would die too, you bastard, you coward!" Lumian, who was observing Pierre Berry's subtle movements, quietly added a provocation to the last sentence.
Shepherd Pierre Berry's expression twisted instantly, his originally gentle eyes gradually turned violent and violent, as if a seal had been opened, releasing the demon in his heart.
"Calm down!" Father Guillaume Bene, the parish priest at the altar, looked over and shouted.
Pierre Berry shuddered and regained his senses.
He then tore off the strips of snow cloth hanging from the tattered clothes, crumpled them into a ball and stuffed them into Lumian's mouth.
Lumian struggled hard, but was unable to dodge.
He kept cursing and adding "provocative" words, but because the time was too short, before he could utter a few words, his mouth was completely blocked by the cloth and he could no longer speak.
Feelings of anxiety and despair surged into Lumian's heart at the same time, almost causing him to collapse.
He forced himself to control his emotions and not let the thought of giving up occupy his mind.
As he was carried to the altar, his thoughts raced as he considered other ways to commit suicide.
Soon, he was brought before the parish priest, with only the huge black thorn symbol between him and Aurore.
Guillaume Bene first signaled the shepherd Pierre Berry to help Lumian up, then he looked at the young man's face and said with a smile: "You are better than I thought, but you are still a little bit short."
"This world is too dangerous. A man needs two fathers, but you don't have one. No one can tell you about life experience."
It is an Intis slang term, referring to the father in the family sense and the father in the social sense. The latter often refers to the "godfather".
This is also the reason why it is popular among the people of Intis to recognize godfathers and godmothers.
The parish priest used this proverb to mock Lumian, an orphan with neither godfather nor father.
Then your child may have three fathers, no, four, you, his nominal father, his godfather, and his mother's other lover. If his mouth had not been tightly gagged, Lumian would definitely have taunted the parish priest in this way to anger him, causing him to lose his mind and kill himself on the spot.
Unfortunately, he couldn't say anything.
"Shall we begin the ceremony now?" shepherd Pierre Berry asked Guillaume Benedict.
The parish priest shook his head. "Wait a moment."
"What are you waiting for?" Pierre Berry was quite confused.
The parish priest did not respond, but Lumian was already thinking of new ways to commit suicide.
Soon, he came up with an idea: enter a deep meditation state, accept the gazes of the two beings, try to hear the mysterious and terrifying voice as soon as possible, and bring himself to the point of collapse and loss of control!
Lumian turned his head to look at Aurore, who had a dull expression and empty eyes, but otherwise looked the same as usual, and closed his eyes.
He first sketched the red sun, and when his emotions calmed down, he immediately changed it to the round ball with a cross through the eye.
Silently, Lumian saw the faint green fog again, the chaotic overlapping blocks of color, and many indescribable things that seemed non-existent.
However, this time, he did not have the feeling that he was being watched by some existence from the depths of the gray fog and the infinite heights.
Why is it different? Lumian opened his eyes in surprise.
At this time, a man walked in through the church gate.
He was wearing a black robe and a wide hood, his entire face hidden in the shadows. He was tall, about 1.80 meters.
Seeing the man walking towards the altar step by step, the priest immediately turned sideways, made way for him, and showed a humble and respectful attitude.
Who is that? The one behind the parish priest? Lumian looked over in confusion. He seemed to have seen him somewhere before. The more he looked at him, the more familiar he felt. Finally, he remembered!
That is the figure hiding in the corner of the wizard's tomb!
The black-robed man went up to the altar, leaned slightly in front of Lumian, and said with a low laugh, "Have you discovered that meditation is useless?"
"What? How did he know?" Lumian looked at the other party in shock and astonishment.
At this distance, even with the hood covering his face, he could clearly see the face of the man in black robe: he was about eighteen or nineteen years old, with slender limbs, short dark hair, light blue eyes, deep facial features, and was quite handsome.
Lumian's gaze froze instantly.
He was very familiar with this face; he saw it every day when he looked in the mirror.
This is him!