Strange creatures

Almost simultaneously, Lumian's hair stood on end, his back went cold, and he had a distinct Danger Premonition.

He instinctively drew the "Fallen Mercury" hidden at his waist, ready to tear off the black cloth strip covering it at any moment.

The translucent figure, its vital parts covered by long, bluish-green hair and leaves, floated in mid-air, surveying Lumian in the room. Its emerald eyes were sometimes misty, sometimes smiling, and sometimes like deep Whirlpool, making one's soul want to sink into them.

On one hand, Lumian felt a familiar yet strange impulse that raged through his mind and disrupted most of his thoughts; on the other hand, he felt an uncontrollable fear, like a flying insect encountering a spider that was weaving its web.

He slowed his dance movements, ready to pause at any moment.

The translucent Women figure showed an eager expression, but instinctively sensed something was wrong and resisted approaching Lumian.

It would sometimes peek out from behind the curtain, sometimes retract it, but ultimately did nothing.

After Lumian finished the "Summoning Dance," he heard faint, delicate sounds reaching his ears, so close it seemed to be right next door. One by one, the strange creatures that had been lingering in the room disappeared.

The last to leave was the Women figure, her body wrapped in long, bluish-green hair and fallen leaves, both reluctant and puzzled.

Lumian sighed, closed her eyes, and listened quietly to the cacophony of voices within her body.

He couldn't hear a single word clearly, yet he desperately wanted to hear every single one.

After a moment, Lumian opened his eyes, looked at the window covered by the tattered curtains, and muttered to himself, "What was that just now?"

His intuition told him that the translucent Women figure was far more powerful than the other strange creatures he had summoned, and was beyond the capabilities of Beyonder of his caliber.

If it weren't for the Corruption sealed within his body and the bluish-black pattern on his chest that, even without being activated, could subconsciously deter spiritual beings from approaching, Lumian would suspect that he had already met with misfortune.

This raised a question in his mind:

How did the other ' Dancer ' manage to survive?

He had initially confirmed that the area was not too dangerous before daring to perform the "Summoning Dance," yet he still almost got into trouble. How do other "Dancer" avoid similar risks?

"Was it my ' Gift ' obtained through Steal, lacking certain Mysticism knowledge, or are other ' Dancer ' only able to attract strange creatures similar to themselves? Given that the ' Summoning Dance ' comes from Hidden Being, there shouldn't be any problems under normal circumstances?" Lumian pondered for a while, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that the abnormality might be himself.

He believed that the level of Corruption within his body was very high, and even though it was sealed, he could still occasionally attract strange and quite dangerous things.

"Fortunately, Corruption is also a form of protection..." Lumian breathed a sigh of relief, put away "Fallen Mercury," lit the Iron-Black Carbide Lamp, sat down at the Wooden Table, and began to look through Aurora's notes.

Reading the Mysticism notes from back to front was a very Pain process. Lacking the necessary knowledge, he would often feel like an illiterate person and had to take out Aurora's earliest notes to cram in the corresponding symbols and Mysticism meanings.

But Lumian couldn't settle down and study it step by step from beginning to end. He believed that if there was any important information hidden in Aurora's Witchcraft Notes, it must be in the last year or two, which was the time when the Cordou Village gradually began to show abnormalities and the Shepherd began to "hunt".

After struggling with the knowledge known as "Lightning Spell" for nearly two hours, Lumian declared his defeat and decided to continue the following night.

He quickly washed up and lay down on the bed.

Thinking of the strange creature he had just summoned, Lumian placed the "Fallen Mercury" next to his pillow as a precaution.

Before leaving Cordou Village, he had examined the Evil, silver-black Dagger and confirmed that its Destiny, obtained in exchange from the Flame Monster, was "to suffer the torment of being burned by Flames."

As darkness deepened, the Messy Street remained undisturbed. Singing, shouting, cursing the singers, fighting, chasing, coughing, crying, and exercising rose and fell in waves, as if playing a symphony of the night.

Lumian had grown accustomed to the noise, and even felt that it made him feel alive again.

Before he knew it, he had fallen Past.

At Six in the Morning, the Church bells rang out in the distance, just like those in the Cordou Village.

Lumian woke up on time, unwilling to open her eyes.

A few minutes later, he sat up and put the "Fallen Mercury" back into his waistband.

His Dream were chaotic all night, and nothing particularly special happened.

"Am I overthinking it?" Lumian muttered to himself.

He then opened the door, went into the nearest Washroom, and looked at himself in the mirror in the Dawn streaming through the window.

He hasn't Change at the same time yesterday.

--The color dyed into the hair and the extensions are external things and will not be reset according to his physical condition.

Lumian bent down and began brushing his teeth.

As he was cleaning his mouth, he caught a glimpse of Charlie walking in out of the corner of his eye.

"Don't you live on the Fifth Floor?" Lumian spat out his mouthwash and turned to ask Charlie.

Charlie changed into a faded white shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He yawned and said, "Can you believe it? Those guys were all up before 6 a. m., and the Fifth Floor Washroom were packed!"

He then smiled:

My favorite place is the Washroom on the second floor. Do you know why? Because it's clean!

"That bastard Laurent may have high eyebrows and not know how to help his mother at all, but he does have his good points. He's very clean. Whenever he's in the Apartment, he cleans the room every day, and he also cleans this Washroom. Haha, is the toilet so dirty that he can't poop?"

So he was the one cleaning... Lumian was a little surprised.

The young man named Laurent left him with the impression of being indifferent, Pride, well-dressed, self-important, and inconsiderate of his mother's situation; he was not at all like the kind of person who would come to clean the Washroom.

Lumian had initially thought that other guests on the second floor couldn't stand the Landlord's stinginess and had cleaned their usual areas themselves.

Seeing Charlie's tired face, as if he hadn't slept all night, Lumian asked with a smile, "Did you go to City Wall Street last night?"

City Wall Street is Trier's notorious red-light district.

"How could I afford to go to City Wall Street? I'll definitely go someday!" Charlie said through gritted teeth. "I didn't get back to the hotel until 10 p. m. last night, then I went to the Underground Bar and drank with those guys until midnight. I even had a... hehe, a wonderful dream. Charles, we have the same name, just different accents. Can you imagine how happy and joyful I was in the dream, and how disappointed and... uh, uh..." I woke up feeling.

"Empty?" Lumian helped come up with an adjective.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Charlie walked to the toilet and unbuckled his belt.

He squinted his already small eyes with a look of contentment.

Lumian raised a hand and pinched his nose, scoffing, "Were you having a wet dream?"

Charlie shivered, shook his right hand, and chuckled, "That was the most realistic dream I've ever had. The women in my dream were much prettier than those on City Wall Street, and so gentle and passionate. I simply didn't want to wake up."

"Obviously, you won't last that long; waking up is a mercy to you," Lumian joked.

Charlie didn't refute, and said seriously, "I also plan to go to Nightingale Street nearby on Sundays when I don't have to work after I get paid. There are a few Dance Hall there where I can find some cheap kittens. My colleague told me that there, you can get yourself a 'work bonus' for only 52 Kopek." (Note 1)

"But now, I have no interest in going."

At this point, he suddenly became excited and said to Lumian in a low voice, "You know what? A wealthy guest at the Hotel treated me very well, specifically requesting that I deliver his meals and help tidy his room."

"A man?" Lumian asked deliberately.

Charlie shook his head quickly:

"No, it's a lady. I suspect she's after me. I'm hesitating. If she really makes that kind of request, should I abandon my principles? You know, this kind of thing is common in Trier. I could get my first pot of gold from her and soon own my own hotel."

"I thought you wouldn't hesitate." Although they had only known each other for a little over two days, Lumian believed that Charlie was a person with very flexible moral principles.

Charlie sighed and said with distress, "She's over fifty."

Lumian let out a long "Oh," his expression revealing his inner thoughts.

He said goodbye to Charlie, went back to his room to change into a jacket, trousers, and other clothes that better suited the Messy Street style, went outside and spent 6 Kopek to buy a scallion pancake and 1 Rick to buy half a liter of Apple Cider. He then sat down on a street corner and slowly ate his breakfast.

The shadows of the houses on both sides shielded him from view. He savored the aroma of scallions and the sweet scent of flour, while watching the vendors hawking their wares, women buying vegetables, laborers hurrying by, children picking up trash from the ground, and the Barricades in the alley not far away.

It wasn't until 9 a. m. that Lumian stood up, dusted off his clothes, walked back to the "Golden Rooster Inn," went up to the 3rd floor, and knocked on the door of room number 5.

The Information Broker Anthony Reid lives here.

After a series of thumping sounds, a deep male voice, tinged with an accent from the West Coast of the Sea of Mist, rang out:

"Please come in."

Lumian turned the Handle, pushed the door open, and entered. The first thing he smelled was a slightly pungent, minty scent, which seemed to be used to repel insects.

Then he saw a man in his forties sitting by the bed.

The man was wearing a military green shirt and matching trousers, with laceless leather boots, and his hair was shaved very short, leaving only a thin layer.

He lacked the sharp and capable demeanor of a veteran; his pale yellow hairline had receded considerably, making his forehead appear wide; his face had become plump; his beard was neatly shaved; his skin had a slight sheen; and his nose pores were filled with tiny black specks, giving him a somewhat simple and honest appearance.

Anthony Reid turned his head to look at Lumian, his Deep Brown Eyes reflecting the other's image.

For some reason, Lumian suddenly felt a strange unease.

Note 1: In French slang, "kitten" has a double meaning, referring to a prostitute or Women Reproductive Organs.