The Date

When they reached the edge of Small Woods not far from their home, Lumian stopped and turned to look at Lya and the others who were following behind.

This place is quite remote, with no villagers around, and the woods are sparse, so you can easily see if anyone is hiding nearby.

As the clanging sound drew closer, Lya asked with a smile, "How did you know we were looking for someone?"

Lumian remained silent, and took out a key item he had specially brought with him:

That Little Blue Book in his house!

He held the object up, showing Ryan and the others the pages with some Vocabulary cut off.

Without needing to say more, Ryan nodded slightly and said, "So you wrote that letter Request for Help."

They never mentioned the Request for Help in Cordou Village, let alone described in detail that the letter was pieced together from Vocabulary cut out from the Little Blue Book.

Unless the other party has a key insider in Bigos, it must be the writer of the letter.

Lya instinctively looked around.

The two Silver Bells hanging from the veil on her head strangely remained silent.

Valentine, seeing this, was about to ask directly, "What's strange about the people around us?" when Ryan spoke up, puzzled:

How can you be so sure we came because of that letter?

You told me yourselves... Lumian laughed:

There are very few outsiders coming to Cordu to begin with, and even fewer who don't buy wool, cheese, or lamb but just wander around the village chatting with people.

"Besides, I didn't say anything; I just showed you this Little Blue Book."

Lya suddenly realized and chuckled:

"So it was just a test."

"A very good idea. People who don't know about that letter Request for Help won't understand your intentions and won't have much suspicion. At most, they'll think it's a prank, and you're the king of pranks in Cordou Village." Ryan nodded slightly.

He subtly hinted that their conversations in Cordou Village over the past few days hadn't been fruitless; at least they'd figured out who the village's more well-known figures were and completed the necessary correspondence.

Lumian immediately revealed a mocking smile:

"You believed it? You believed it?"

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

Lya ground her Teeth:

"As expected of the prankster king of Cordou Village, aren't you afraid that we won't believe what you're about to say because of this?"

"You can choose not to believe it," Lumian said indifferently, "Or you can verify it yourself."

Clearly somewhat displeased, Valentine asked impatiently, "You mentioned in your letter that the people around you are becoming increasingly strange. What exactly are these strange things?"

Lumian exclaimed "Oh dear!" and started counting on his fingers:

"There are many more. Specifically, there's the Parish Priest worshipped Evil God, the Shepherd Pierre Berri who turned people into sheep and drove them back to Cordu, Madame Pualis riding in a carriage pulled by a ' Devil ' across the Wilderness, a transparent Lizard -like creature emerging from the Assistant Parish Priest's mouth while he sleeps, Naroka going to some Otherworld even though she's not dead, Louis Lund, the Administrator's Men Butler, just having a baby of his own, and the Owl from Warlock legends occasionally flying back to the village..."

Ryan, Lya, Valentine were increasingly shocked as they listened, unwilling to believe it, yet also feeling that the young man in front of them couldn't possibly have made up so many outrageous stories.

They were all experienced official investigators who had handled many Paranormal Event, including some involving Evil God and occult arts, but none of them were as absurd and exaggerated as what we are hearing now. It is more normal for the Parish Priest to have a belief in Evil God.

More importantly, most of the incidents they had dealt with before were independent, with at most two or three occurring simultaneously, and they were closely related to each other. Yet, there were so many terrifying anomalies in Cordou Village!

"Where exactly is this place?" Almost instantly, similar thoughts flashed through the minds of Lya, Ryan, and Valentine.

They wondered if they had accidentally stumbled into the legendary Abyss or Hell!

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

Are there any normal people left in this village?

Lumian smiled:

"I haven't finished yet, there's one more anomaly."

"This is the third or fourth time I've talked to you guys about something like this, Ryan, Lya, Valentine, my cabbages."

Ryan, Lya, and Valentine weren't surprised that Lumian knew their names—they had inevitably introduced themselves while chatting with people in the village these past few days.

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

"What do you mean?" Valentine asked, frowning.

"What I mean is that it's been repeating itself these past few days, meaning we're trapped in Time Loop." Lumian didn't let the Three Foreigners guess; he gave the standard answer directly.

Before Ryan and the others could 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?"

Lya and the others fell into deep thought.

After a dozen seconds, Valentine showed a Pain expression:

My sense of time has become blurred; I can't remember the exact dates from two months ago...

"But I remember, I remember celebrating my youngest son's birthday before I left. His birthday is..."

Valentine jerked his head up and blurted out in utter shock:

"It's April 10th!"

So, the real time now is mid-to-late April? It seems the number of Loop I experienced before I had memories wouldn't be many, maybe even less than once... Hmm, that was the initial one, before the Loop started, so I could send letters directly without relying on the river. When the Loop started, going back, the corresponding memories were overwritten, but substances outside that range couldn't return? Lumian has a new guess about that letter.

He nodded almost imperceptibly and said to Ryan and Lya, "You can also Telegram to the outside world to find out the current date in a way that doesn't arouse suspicion."

"You'll believe me then."

"Yes, yes! Telegram!" Valentine suddenly snapped to attention. "Send a request to our superiors!"

Lumian gave him a look as if he were an idiot:

"Help?"

"How does your official response typically handle such bizarre time Loop?"

Ryan paused for a moment before saying, "Destroy it directly to prevent the Corruption from spreading."

"So, asking for help now is practically suicide," Lumian said with a smile, shrugging his shoulders.

Valentine responded with a fervent expression:

"According to regulations, I must report immediately, and I am willing to sacrifice myself for it!"

"..." Lumian was taken aback.

Are there really people like this?

No, we have to get rid of this guy immediately, or we'll all be doomed!

Fortunately, Lya and Ryan clearly felt they could still be saved. They exchanged a glance and nodded to each other.

Ryan patted Valentine on the shoulder:

"Don't worry, we don't know exactly what happened yet, and perhaps there's a better solution."

"If we truly cannot save ourselves, then we will report the situation to our superiors."

"Yes," Lumian quickly added, recounting in detail the discovery and speculations outside the Curly-Haired Baboon Research Society regarding the chest symbol, the Dream Ruins, the mysterious Lady, and so on. He concluded, "The key to the problem is most likely on the Twelfth Night. We must survive until then in this Loop; only then can we truly solve the problem in the next Loop."

Seeing that he had given so many details, and that they corroborated each other, Ryan and the others were completely inclined to believe him. Valentine also calmed down and remembered his wife and children.

"No wonder you recognize us; you know we're looking for someone." Lya breathed a sigh of relief.

It turns out we had discussed this with the picture book ring the time before last.

She subconsciously touched the Silver Bells on her head, wanting to do some Divination, but remembering the strange things Lumian had described, she forcibly restrained herself.

She didn't want the investigation to end before it even began because of Divination she shouldn't have Divination.

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

"Very clever, my cabbage." Lumian chuckled, then said seriously, "First, send Telegram outside, saying that your investigation has yielded preliminary results, and that the Parish Priest seems to have some problems. Then, ask him what exactly the Lizard -like thing that crawled out of the mouth is. This is the least likely of all the anomalies to directly cause a devastating blow. Oh, right, also confirm the real date, and be careful with the method, so that no one outside will suspect anything."

"Secondly, this afternoon, my Older Sister will be inviting Madame Pualis to my house for afternoon tea. I would like you to come with me to infiltrate the Administrator's residence and conduct a search."

"As for what happens next, that will depend on the intelligence we gather today."

Ryan, Lya, and Valentine exchanged glances and decided that Lumian's request was not unreasonable at all.

This is exactly what they are supposed to do.

The four then went to the Village Square. Ryan went to Telegram, while Lya, Valentine, and Lumian waited outside under the Elm Tree.

Having composed herself, Lya glanced at Lumian and asked curiously, "You're Beyonder, and so is your Older Sister?"

"Yes." Lumian didn't hide anything.

Lya chuckled immediately:

"So direct, aren't you afraid of getting arrested?"

"We're all in the same boat now. Faced with this emergency where the ship is about to sink, we can only help each other." Lumian shrugged. "As for what happens next, we'll see. Whether we can escape this Loop is still unknown."

"Is that so?" Lya turned her head to look at Valentine.

She brought up this topic to make her companion understand this principle and not do anything foolish.

Valentine's expression remained indifferent, and he nodded almost imperceptibly.

Lya then asked about something she was more concerned about:

How are you able to retain your previous memories?

"I won't tell you." Lumian laughed.

Before Lya could respond, he shrugged and said, "Just kidding. Actually, I don't know either. I inexplicably retained the memories, and only the last two Loop."

"Think back to what happened back then; that might be crucial," Lya said after a moment's thought.

Lumian said sincerely, "I've been thinking about it a lot lately, but I haven't found it. Maybe I'll suddenly realize it when something happens."

Just as Lya was about to help with the analysis, Ryan, having received a reply, walked out of the building where the Administrator was located.