Circle of Inevitability

Lumian halted at the forest's edge, a short distance from his house, and glanced back at Leah and the others.

This spot was quite secluded, with no villagers passing through. The forest was thinly populated, making it easy to spot anyone hiding nearby.

As the tinkling sounds drew nearer, Leah asked with a smile, "How do you know we're looking for someone?"

Lumian remained silent. He pulled out the essential item he had brought with him.

The livre bleu from home!

He lifted the item and showed Ryan and the others the pages where some words had been cut out.

Without hesitation, Ryan nodded and said, "So you wrote the letter for help."

They had never mentioned a help letter in Cordu, let alone detailed that the letter was assembled from words cut from a livre bleu.

Unless the other party had a key informant in Bigorre, it had to be the letter writer.

The two small silver bells hanging from the veil above her head oddly didn't make a sound.

Valentine was about to ask what was weird about the people around him when Ryan asked, puzzled, "How can you be sure that we're here because of that letter?"

You told me yourself… Lumian smiled.

"There are very few foreigners who come to Cordu to begin with. Even fewer who don't buy wool, cheese, and lambs and only wander around the village to chat with people.

"Besides, I didn't say anything. I just showed you this livre bleu."

Realization hit Leah, and she laughed.

"So it's just a test."

"That's a brilliant idea. Those who don't know the letter won't understand your intentions, so they won't be too suspicious. At most, they'll think it's a prank, and you're the Prankster King of Cordu." Ryan nodded slightly.

This seemingly innocent line revealed that the trio had gleaned something from chatting in Cordu over the past few days. At the very least, they had identified the more prominent villagers and taken appropriate measures.

Lumian immediately flashed a teasing smile.

"You believed it? You seriously believed it?"

Seeing Ryan and the others' astonishment, he added, "I was just joking. I'll tell you the real reason later."

Leah gritted her teeth.

"As expected of the Prankster King of Cordu. Aren't you afraid that we won't believe what you're about to say?"

"You can choose not to believe it." Lumian wore an indifferent expression. "Or you can verify it yourself."

Valentine, visibly dissatisfied, asked anxiously, "In your letter, you mentioned that the people around you are getting weirder. What's so weird about them?"

Lumian exclaimed and cracked his knuckles.

"There's plenty. To be precise, the padre believing in an evil god, Shepherd Pierre Berry turning people into sheep and herding them back to Cordu. Madame Pualis rides a demon-drawn carriage through the wilderness. When the deputy padre sleeps, a translucent lizard-like creature crawls out of his mouth. Naroka is clearly not dead, but she wants to go to Paramita. Louis Lund, the administrator's male butler, has just given birth to a baby. The owl from the Warlock legends flies back to the village from time to time…"

Ryan, Leah, and Valentine grew increasingly shocked as they listened. They didn't want to believe it, but they felt that the kid before them couldn't invent so many absurd stories.

They were all seasoned official investigators who had dealt with numerous Beyonder incidents, many involving evil gods and mystic arts. However, none were as ludicrous or exaggerated as what they were hearing now. Only the padre believing in evil gods sounded normal.

More importantly, most of the incidents they had previously handled stood independently. At most, two or three would occur simultaneously. Moreover, they were closely related to each other, but Cordu had too many horrifying abnormalities!

What kind of place is this? Almost instantly, similar thoughts raced through Leah, Ryan, and Valentine's minds.

They suspected they had inadvertently entered the legendary Abyss or Hell!

When Lumian stopped, Leah couldn't help but ask, "You're not joking, are you?"

Was there anyone normal in this village?

Lumian smiled.

"I haven't finished speaking. There's another abnormality.

"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 weren't surprised that Lumian knew their names. It was inevitable when they had been chatting in the village.

They were even more astonished and puzzled by the first half of the sentence.

"What do you mean?" Valentine asked with a frown.

"What I mean is that we've been repeatedly experiencing the past few days. In other words, we've fallen into a time loop." Lumian didn't let the three foreigners guess and provided a standard answer.

Without waiting for Ryan and the others to question him, he briefly mentioned what they had experienced together and finally said, "Think back carefully. Was it really March 29th when you entered the village?"

Leah and the others racked their brains.

After more than ten seconds, Valentine revealed a pained expression.

"My sense of time is hazy. I can't remember the exact date of the previous two months… But I remember. I remember celebrating my youngest son's birthday before I set off. His birthday is…"

Valentine raised his head and blurted out in shock, "April 10th!"

In other words, the actual date now is mid-to-late April? Judging from the looks of it, the number of cycles I went through before I had my memories wiped can't be more than a couple. It can't even be more than once… Yes, that was the first cycle. The loop hadn't even begun, so I could send a letter without the river's help. When the loop happened and time rewound, the corresponding memories would be replaced, but material objects beyond the range wouldn't be able to turn back? Lumian had a new theory about the letter.

He nodded imperceptibly and said to Ryan and Leah, "You can also wire the outside world and get the current date in a way that won't raise any red flags.

"When the time comes, you'll believe me."

"Yes, yes! Send a telegram!" Valentine snapped out of his stupor. "Ask the higher-ups for help!"

Lumian looked at him as if he were a fool.

"Ask for help?

"In the face of such a bizarre time loop, what do you officials usually do?"

Ryan fell silent for a moment before saying, "Stamp it out directly to prevent the corruption from spreading."

"Therefore, asking for help now is as good as suicide." Lumian smiled and shrugged.

Valentine replied fervently, "According to the rules, we have to report back ASAP. I'm willing to sacrifice myself for this!"

"…" Lumian was stunned.

Such people exist?

No, I have to get rid of this guy immediately, or everyone will die together!

Fortunately, Leah and Ryan clearly felt that they could still be saved. They exchanged a glance and nodded.

Ryan patted Valentine's shoulder and said, "Stay calm. We still don't know what's going on. Perhaps there's a better solution.

"If we really can't save ourselves, we'll report it to the higher-ups."

"That's right," Lumian hurriedly added. He recounted the discoveries and speculations minus the symbol on his chest, the dream ruins, the mysterious lady, and the Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society. Finally, he said, "The key to the problem most likely happens on the twelfth night. We have to survive until then. Only then can we truly resolve the issue in the next cycle."

Seeing that he had revealed so many details and that they could verify them all, Ryan and the others were completely inclined to believe him. Valentine calmed down and remembered his wife and children.

Leah exhaled. "No wonder you know us and know we're looking for someone."

It turned out that they had communicated in a previous cycle.

She subconsciously touched the silver bell above her head, wanting to do a divination, but she held back when she recalled the abnormalities Lumian had described.

She didn't want to blow up because of a divination that shouldn't be done before the real investigation began.

Ryan thought for a moment and said to Lumian, "You're telling us this because you want us to cooperate with you and your sister?"

"Very astute, my cabbage." Lumian laughed and said seriously, "First, wire the outside world, saying that your investigation has made some progress. The padre seems to have a certain issue. Then, ask what the lizard-like thing that crawls out of a mouth is. This is the least likely to cause a destructive blowout of all the abnormalities. Ah, right, confirm the real date and be careful in how it's done. Don't let anyone outside suspect anything.

"Secondly, my sister will invite Madame Pualis to my house for afternoon tea this afternoon. I hope that you can sneak into the administrator's mansion with me and do a search.

"As for the future, it depends on the information we obtain today."

Ryan, Leah, and Valentine looked at each other and felt that Lumian's request wasn't too unreasonable.

This was what they would have done.

The four of them arrived at the village square. Ryan went to wire the outside world while Leah, Valentine, and Lumian waited under the elm tree outside.

After calming down, Leah glanced at Lumian and asked curiously, "You're a Beyonder, and so is your sister?"

"Yes." Lumian didn't hide it.

Leah laughed. "Aren't you afraid of being arrested by us?"

"We're in the same boat now. In the face of an emergency where the boat is about to sink, we can only help each other." Lumian shrugged. "As for the future, we'll talk about it later. It's still unknown if we can escape this loop."

"That's true." Leah turned her head and looked at Valentine.

The reason why she brought up this topic was to let her companion understand this and not do anything stupid.

Valentine's expression remained cold as he nodded imperceptibly.

Leah then asked about something she was more concerned about.

"Why can you keep the memories from before?"

"I'm not telling you." Lumian laughed.

Without waiting for Leah's response, he spread his hands and said, "I'm just joking. Actually, I'm not sure either. I somehow retained my memories, and it's only from the last two cycles."

"Think back to what happened back then. Perhaps this is very important," Leah said after some thought.

Lumian said sincerely, "I've been thinking, but I haven't figured out anything. Perhaps I'll only suddenly realize when I encounter something."

Leah was about to help analyze the situation when Ryan, who had received a reply, walked out of the administration building.

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