Chapter 20 Meditation Mrs. Pualis didn't talk to Aurora for long. After more than ten minutes, they walked out of the study. Lumian accompanied his sister and escorted Mrs. Pualis all the way out the door. He then looked at Aurore: "What did she ask you to do for me?" Aurore curled her lips and said: “I was asked to lead the singing at the praise celebration, but I refused.” There are three parts to Lent in Koldu Village: the first is the "Spring Spirit" blessing parade, the second is the waterside ceremony, and the third is the praise celebration held in the church. The last one is mainly in the form of playing musical instruments and chorus. In the Dariege area, the lead singer is often the church choir, but in Cordu Village this condition is not available, so they can only find someone who is good at singing to take their place. As for playing musical instruments, the villagers are not worried about it. In villages with shepherding traditions, music or musical instruments are indispensable in daily life. You know, shepherds live in the wild all year round, either living in shacks or digging pits. Apart from their companions and sheep, the only thing they deal with most often is the flute they carry with them. In addition to herding, playing cards and chatting, playing the flute and using music to soothe one's heart is something almost every shepherd does.
That is why the phrase used to describe a shepherd’s difficult and impoverished situation is “he doesn’t even have a flute.” With so many shepherds around, other villagers in Koldu Village are inevitably affected to a certain extent. When they gather and chat in the square, there will inevitably be people playing musical instruments, letting the melodious melody echo. "Yeah." Lumian was pleased to see his sister's determination. It is enough to just watch and join in the fun at those celebrations. If you really want to be the protagonist, it will not only be a waste of time, but will also easily attract some unnecessary covetousness. In order to protect his eyesight, with only a kerosene lamp to provide lighting, Lumian only read for a while before choosing to wash up and go to bed, thinking seriously about how to safely test to find out what was special about himself in his dreams. The lady's advice was so accurate several times in a row that he couldn't help but completely believe her words. In the dead of night, Lumian once again entered a dream and woke up there. He felt in each pocket, counted them habitually, and confirmed that the harvest of 217 Felgin and 25 Cope was still there. With a sigh of relief, Lumian picked up his axe and fork, went downstairs and headed straight for the stove. The fire was out. "When I wasn't dreaming, the clock here was still running..." Lumian frowned slightly. In such a "real" dream, how could I be so special? ——"The clock is still running" is a common saying in the Liege region, which means that time does not stop for humans and always flows forward. Lumian returned to the bedroom, which he thought was the safest place, put down his axe and pitchfork, and quickly took off his clothes. Then he walked to the full-length mirror attached to the wardrobe and examined his body inch by inch to see if there were any differences compared to reality. Nothing unusual. “Spiritually special?” Lumian didn’t rush to put on his clothes. He walked straight back to the bed and sat down cross-legged like his sister. Previously, in order to enable him to have lucid dreams, Aurore had taught him some simple meditation methods that did not involve any mystical elements. He now wanted to give it a try to see if he could perceive any special mental and physical aspects that might exist in a completely quiet scene. The first step is to regulate your breathing. Lumian deepened his breathing and slowed down the corresponding frequency.
With each slow and rhythmic breath, Lumian emptied his mind little by little. At the same time, he imagined a red sun in his mind, focusing all his attention and thoughts on it, so as to eliminate other messy thoughts. This was what Aurore had specifically reminded him of, telling him to choose things that exist in reality and represent light when meditating, so as to avoid being targeted by some filthy, evil things. As a believer in the Eternal Sun, Lumian's first reaction was to visualize the sun. His mind gradually calmed down, and the whole world he perceived seemed to be left with only the scorching red sun. Suddenly, Lumian seemed to hear a sound. It seemed to come from an infinite height, yet also seemed to ring right next to one's ear. It was difficult to hear clearly, yet it had the sound of thunder. Amidst an indescribable buzzing sound, Lumian's heart began to beat wildly, and it felt as if someone had inserted an iron rod into his head and stirred it vigorously a few times. Intense pain broke out instantly, and the scorching sun turned bright red like blood, and quickly turned into a deep black. The meditative picture was shattered. Lumian suddenly opened his eyes and gasped for breath, feeling as if he was about to die suddenly. It took more than ten or twenty seconds for him to recover from the near-death experience. He instinctively lowered his head and examined his body. He saw something strange on his left chest. Some dark, thorn-like symbols seemed to come from the heart and grew out of the body. They were connected one by one, extending behind the back like a chain. Above these "thorns" are patterns that look like eyes and twisted worm-like lines, all of which are blue-black in color. At this time, these tattoo-like things are slowly fading. Lumian was startled at first, then he had many thoughts. He quickly got out of bed, ran to the full-length mirror, and pointed his back at it. Then he turned his head as far as he could to the left to check his back. He could just barely see the chain of black "thorns" going back into his body at the vest. In other words, this "thorn" chain locked his heart and the corresponding body in the form of a ring. "The black and blue-black ones are two different symbols. The blue-black ones look familiar. Hmm... they are very similar to the ones on the old man I helped when I was wandering... It was from that time that I started to have dreams of large areas of fog..." Lumian analyzed the "special" things on his body that were different from reality until they completely faded and disappeared. Seeing this scene, Lumian was quite disappointed. Although he found something special, he felt it was meaningless. Because the process of guiding them to appear caused him extreme pain and brought him close to death. In this state where I am about to pass out, what is the difference between facing the monster with a shotgun and delivering food to it? But if he waits until he is able to fight again, his "specialness" will soon disappear. The weather in the dream was quite cold, like early spring in the mountains. Lumian was not very comfortable being naked all the time, so he quickly put on his clothes.
Just by doing such a simple thing, he felt extremely tired and his head started to hurt again. Obviously, the impact of meditation just now cannot be recovered in a short period of time. In this situation, Lumian decided to give up exploring tonight, not to make any attempts, to sleep well and rest seriously. ………… When he woke up, it was still dark. Looking at the darkness in the room and the hint of red near the curtains, Lumian carefully recalled what happened in his dream. “I have meditated many times in reality before, and I didn’t hear that strange sound, nor did I feel any pain… “It’s only in that dream that something special happens?” Lumian sat up in confusion, intending to confirm. He followed the process again and tried to meditate. The red sun quickly appeared in his mind, and the chaos in his mind gradually settled down. This was the meditation experience that Lumian was familiar with. There were no strange noises, no severe pain, and no near-death experience. After a while, he ended his meditation, unbuttoned his clothes, and looked down at the position of his heart. There wasn't a single symbol there. "Sure enough, that is something special about dreams and it cannot affect reality..." Lumian didn't know whether he should be happy or disappointed. He raised his head and looked at the window covered by curtains. His thoughts began to spread. He wondered whether the "specialness" in the dream could be utilized and how it could be utilized. At this moment, he saw a small shadow outside the window. Lumian's pupils suddenly dilated and he became extremely nervous. His most instinctive reaction was to call his sister, but then he remembered that he was at home and Aurora had said she would be watching this side, so she should have noticed something. So he got out of bed carefully and slowly approached the window. During this process, Lumian was always waiting for his sister to call a halt. Aurore did not appear. Lumian came to the window, grabbed the curtain, and carefully opened it a crack. Outside the window was a quiet and deep night, with a crimson moon hanging far in the sky. Not far away, on an elm tree with its leaves gently swaying, an owl stood quietly, facing Lumian's window. It was a bit bigger than most of its kind, and its eyes were not dull or stiff at all. The look it gave Lumian was filled with an indescribable sense of condescension. That owl! It's coming again! Lumian's heart suddenly hung in the air. Just like last time, this owl stared at Lumian for more than ten seconds, then spread its wings and flew into the depths of the night without doing anything. “…” Lumian was speechless for a moment.
After a long while, he finally opened the curtains and cursed: "Are you sick in the head? "Every time he comes to take a look, then leaves without saying anything! "Are you mute, or is there something wrong with your IQ that you haven't learned human language in all these years?" In fact, Lumian had his own guess about the owl's behavior. He thought that it was the presence of his sister that made it dare not do anything. After all, Aurore said that as long as you don't leave the building at night, you can guarantee safety. If he had just stuck his head out of the window in a moment of impulse, the owl might not have flown away quietly like it did now. After cursing for a while, Lumian decided to close the curtains and catch up on some sleep. His eyes glanced outside casually and suddenly froze there. A dozen meters away, at the edge of a small woods, a figure was walking slowly. She wore a long dark dress made of coarse cloth, and her hair was thin and pale. "Naroka..." Lumian recognized the figure. That was the Naroka he had asked about the wizard legend before. Naroka's face seemed to be half-melted into the darkness, her eyes reflecting a strange light under the faint crimson moonlight, and her whole body movements were unusually stiff, like a wandering ghost. PS: Thanks to Heiye Youli for rewarding the Silver Alliance. (End of this chapter)