Proverbs

Lumian observed with keen attention, going through the entire process of "getting to know" Lia and the others from start to finish, right up until they arrived outside the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun. He tentatively confirmed that the three outlanders genuinely no longer "knew" him and were completely unguarded against his corresponding "prank." *Has time really turned back?...* For a moment, Lumian felt somewhat dazed. "We've been here. No one answered," Valentay said, looking at the magnificent building ahead that half-blended into the night, delivering his "scripted" line. Lumian collected himself, no longer sticking to the routine. He stated bluntly, "That's because the parish priest didn't want to pay you any mind." He intended to leave an impression on these three outlanders—who were suspected to be official Beyonders—as someone who enjoyed joking around, but wasn't ill-natured. "You mean the parish priest is right inside the church, but isn't answering the door because of certain matters?" Lia considered several possibilities. Lumian smiled. "An affair inside the church isn't something suitable for prying eyes." After saying that, he instinctively muttered to himself in his mind: *What a pity. I won't get to hear that classic line this time—'You've disrupted an operation of the holy church.'* Of course, after learning more about Madame Pualis, he felt that, in a sense, the parish priest saying so wasn't entirely groundless. Couldn't the parish priest be like the protagonist in one of Aurore's undercover novels—willing to endure temporary humiliation and sell his body to complete an important mission, thereby infiltrating the evil forces represented by Madame Pualis? "An affair in the church?" Dropping his cold demeanor, Valentay demanded sharply. Lumian spread his hands. "What's wrong with that? It's a daily routine for the parish priest. "No need to get so agitated. Isn't there a proverb that goes, 'Since time began, it's been the same: men will always steal another man's wife'?" "But this is in a church!" Valentay said sternly. Lumian gave it some thought and asked inquisitively, "So you mean as long as the clergy don't have affairs inside the church, it's acceptable?" "This is blasphemy against God!" Valentay looked ready to explode. Leyn patted his shoulder, gesturing for him to calm down. At the same time, this steadiest of the outlanders asked Lumian, "Do you know who the parish priest is having an affair with tonight?" Lumian shook his head. "Too many possibilities. His mistresses, just among the ones I know of, include Madame Pualis, Madena Bénet, Philippa Guillaume, Sybille Berry..." "Madena Bénet—she shares the parish priest's surname?" Lia caught on keenly. Lumian nodded. "She and the parish priest are second cousins." "..." Valentay froze for a few seconds, then gritted his teeth and said, "Is Guillaume Bénet a servant of God, or a servant of the devil?" *Is that the only line you know? And I didn't see you smash his head in...* Lumian deliberately defended the parish priest: "It's really nothing. In the Dariège region, there's a saying: 'When cousins are distant and far away, sleeping together is quite okay.'" "Why do you have so many proverbs?" Lia couldn't help letting out a chuckle, the silver bells atop her head jingling. Lumian spread his hands again. "That's just how it is in the countryside." At this point, Leyn asked thoughtfully, "How did you know we aren't from the Dariège region? "Otherwise, you wouldn't have said, 'In the Dariège region, there's a saying.'" *You told me yourselves...* Lumian's tongue had slipped; he had inadvertently treated what happened "before" as known information. He had to make up an excuse on the spot: "Your bearing doesn't look like Dariège locals." He then pointed to the road leading into the village. "I've already helped you find the parish priest. Now I have to go home." "I thought you would follow us inside," Lia said with a faint smile, shooting him a glance. "I wouldn't dare offend the parish priest." Lumian casually threw in, "The villager who snitched last time has been missing for a long time." Without waiting for Leyn and the others to respond, he waved his hand and ran toward the other side of the square, calling back as he ran: "Remember to keep it a secret for me, my cabbages!" *** The crimson moon was veiled by clouds. Lumian walked along the starlit country path. With his hands in his pockets, he pondered the recent turn of events. As he drew near home, Lumian stopped and looked up at the roof of the semi-subterranean two-story building. Sure enough, Aurore, dressed in her light blue dress, was sitting there with her knees pulled to her chest, quietly gazing at the starry sky. In the night, her figure seemed lonely and distant. *It really has repeated... Is it possible that what happened before was real, and I'm dreaming right now?* Just as Lumian formed this new speculation, he suddenly noticed a difference between the two March 29ths: He hadn't seen the lady in the Old Tavern today—the one who gave him the Wands card and taught him mysticism knowledge. This left him somewhat uncertain whether he was dreaming now or not. *I'll confirm it tomorrow...* Collecting his thoughts, Lumian walked over to the house and pushed the door open. Just like "last time," he used the ladder on the second floor to climb onto the roof, walked briskly over to Aurore's side, and sat down. "What's so interesting about looking at that?" Lumian said deliberately. Aurore turned her head, sighed, and was just about to speak when Lumian added, "I mean, what does gazing at the starry sky really mean to you?" Aurore looked him up and down. "So straightforward today?" Then she looked back up at the stars and said in a wistful tone, "You know, I'm not from Cordu, nor am I from Dariège. "I don't know if you've heard a saying: only that which you can never return to is truly home..." Lumian didn't joke around, and joined her in gazing at the starry sky. Once Aurore floated down into her bedroom to write to her pen pal, Lumian refrained from revealing that he had become a Beyonder. Retracing his steps to the second floor, he chatted with his sister for a while about the pen pal. Then, he pulled Aurore's door shut and walked back to his own bedroom. Looking at the bed made with white linens, Lumian suddenly felt a stir of intuition. He walked over and lifted the pillow. Lying quietly beneath the pillow was a card—the Minor Arcana Tarot card representing the Seven of Wands! Looking at the resolute man on the card, dressed in green and wielding a staff to fend off enemies' attacks, Lumian immediately remembered the lady's interpretation of this card: "Crisis, challenge, confrontation, courage..." The more Lumian thought about it, the more he felt these four words truly revealed his current predicament. Even before drawing the card, he had very likely already fallen into a crisis and was facing a challenge! *What I need to do next is muster courage and confront the problem? Wait, hasn't time already turned back? I haven't even met that lady yet, nor have I drawn a card, so why is it here?* A chill ran through Lumian, and he became unsure of his earlier speculations again. All sorts of thoughts and deductions erupted in his mind, bubbling up like boiling water. It made Lumian's head throb with pain, making him feel as if he were going mad. In the end, he temporarily categorized that lady and the item she gave as an "exception," which kept his thoughts from completely detonating. Given the mystery and extraordinary nature that lady displayed, remaining unaffected by the turning back of time was a reasonably normal development! *If I can find her tomorrow and she still recognizes me, that will prove my deduction is correct...* Lumian exhaled, feeling mentally drained. He went to the washroom to wash up briefly, then lay down in bed early. *** Amidst the familiar, faint grayish fog, Lumian woke up. He rolled over and sat up, seeing the wooden table by the window and the slanted chair. Once again, he had arrived in this special dream. Ever since discovering that the Wands card was still there, he knew he would definitely be able to enter again. Lumian subconsciously felt the inner pocket of his clothes, and his expression instantly froze. The gold coins were gone! Every single one of those gold coins was gone! Lumian quickly hopped out of bed, patted down his entire body, and searched where he had just been lying, but he still couldn't find any of the money he had painstakingly gathered. Not even a single copper kopeck! *Has time turned back here too?* Lumian suddenly formed this suspicion. He looked around, but didn't see the hunting rifle, axe, or steel fork that should have been placed here. Calming himself down, Lumian left the bedroom, walked down the hallway, and arrived on the first floor. The nearly two-meter-long steel fork and the iron-black handaxe rested intact in their original spots, just like when Lumian first explored the dream ruins. Likewise, the bucket of corn oil had not yet been placed by the stove. As for the hunting rifle, Lumian searched everywhere and found no sign of it. He leaned more and more toward the idea that time had turned back here as well. "Let's go into the ruins and see if those two monsters are still there..." Lumian muttered silently to himself. Grabbing the axe, he opened the door and walked out. Before long, he crossed the cracked, barren wilderness and reached the edge of the ruins. Unlike his first exploration here, now that he was a "Hunter," a mere casual sweep of his gaze revealed numerous traces left by living creatures. When he focused his concentration, he could even discern that two creatures frequently haunted this place, and the faint footprints of one wound behind a burned, semi-collapsed house. *If the previous me had possessed such Beyonder powers, how could I have nearly been ambushed during my first exploration?* Gripping the axe, Lumian stepped inside the building. He headed straight for his "destination," arriving in front of the shattered clay jar. A glint of gold showed from within. Lumian bent over and picked up the gold louis. Its luster was identical to when Lumian had picked it up the first time. *Indeed, time has turned back. Aside from very few exceptions, everything has returned to its 'initial' state...* Lumian let out a sigh. Suddenly, he dashed two steps forward, twisted his waist, and half-turned his body to the right. Following this surge of force, the axe in his hand swung out. The skinless, blood-red monster had just pounced from the roof when it lost sight of its target; what greeted it was an axe. *Thwack!* Its head flew straight off, and its headless body crashed heavily onto the ground amidst spraying beads of blood and pus.