Chapter 284 Reflection Seeing the charred and tattered wooden door slowly opening backwards, Lumian's scalp suddenly went numb, as if someone had poured ice water on him. Can’t the door be opened? Is my guess wrong? If it could open the door, why would it knock for so long and say so many words? Just do it! Is there something wrong with your brain? Although he had become an "arsonist" and had experienced some big scenes, facing the current situation, Lumian's heart couldn't help but beat faster, like a steam train running wildly on the rails and sleepers. If he hadn't been worried that Gardner Martin or other members of the Iron Cross were hiding nearby and observing closely, he would have wanted to set up an altar on the spot, summon Ms. Magician's messenger, or pray directly to Mr. Fool. Subconsciously, Lumian was about to gather the Fire Crows and create a "cloak" to prepare for battle, but Thermiporos's reminder flashed through his mind again: "Don't respond." This is different from not opening the door! Lumian himself felt that the monster outside knocked on the door first, threatened, and finally opened the door himself, which was very problematic, so he forced himself to restrain himself, remained silent, and looked at the door like a statue. The shaky, charred wooden door continued to open backwards, and the dark gap gradually expanded from the thickness of a finger to enough for one person to enter and exit. But there was nothing outside the door, and the room far away from the window was dark. The crimson moonlight seeping in through the broken glass of the small room barely revealed the outline of broken walls. Where's the guy knocking on the door? Lumian's first reaction was to turn on his psychic vision to see if there were any monsters hiding that couldn't be seen by the naked eye, but he finally controlled himself, fearing that this would be a response.
The wobbly wooden door stopped and did not move. In the deep darkness outside, no one walked out, and no one moved. It was extremely quiet. Lumian remained seated, staring at the place, thinking that this was really fucking weird. Even if he wanted to set fire to the enemy, he couldn't find the target. Silence has become the current main theme, and time seems to have stopped because of it. Suddenly, a drop of water fell from the ceiling and hit Lumian. Lumian's eyelids twitched, and in the crimson moonlight outside the window, he saw that the liquid was bright red and glaring, and looked like blood. Tick, tick, drop after drop of blood fell, gradually dyeing a large area red. Just seeing this scene made Lumian feel uneasy. Tick tock! Another drop of liquid left the ceiling and landed on the right side of Lumian's face, cold, sticky, and silky. This doesn't look like the blood of a living person, but it is not stained with dark color. The strong smell of blood pierced Lumian's nose, making him subconsciously want to roll to the side, stand up, and rush out of the window. "Don't respond." The words of Thermipoulos flashed through his mind again. Lumian adjusted his breathing slightly, letting the drops of sticky liquid with a strong smell of blood hit his face and head. Gradually, he felt his body getting heavier and he examined his hands that were exposed outside his clothes. There were also drops of cold and sticky blood, which expanded silently and merged into one, as if Lumian was wearing a bloody glove. Lumian associated this with other parts of his body and suspected that he was wrapped in a layer of blood and mucus, which was why he felt heavier. He reflexively wanted to put his hand, which seemed to be slow, into his pocket, take out Mr. K's finger, and let the Aurora Society's envoy who was best at blood-related spells fight against this strange blood membrane. “Don’t respond.” This time, it was not Lumian who remembered Thermipoulos’ reminder, but the angel of fate who once again made a powerful voice. Lumian controlled himself again, allowing his body to grow heavier and his breathing to become more difficult.
Soon, he felt the strange blood seeping through his skin and trying to penetrate into his body. They seemed to have their own vitality, slowly but firmly seeping into Lumian's body, "drowning" him little by little from the outside to the inside. Lumian felt that his brain had also been damaged accordingly. His thoughts became more blurred and his various thoughts inevitably became violent. He wanted to kill people, he wanted to burn the area, he wanted to set Trier on fire, he wanted to destroy the world! Fuck! Could it be that Thermipolos wanted to take this opportunity to deceive me and use the strange power here to control me and get rid of the seal? Lumian couldn't help but doubt the effectiveness of Thermipolos's words "don't respond" and the true purpose of the angel of fate. He decided to stop suppressing himself and quickly resist, looking for a chance to escape from the burned building. But he had already suspected that the "abnormality" of knocking on the door, speaking, and asking for permission in the first place had some mystical significance. If he had not harbored such doubts, how could he have completely believed in Thermipolos, the angel of fate who was an enemy rather than a friend, and had endured until now? As his thoughts raced through his mind, Lumian remained calm, preparing to wait and see what would happen. His head was becoming heavier and heavier, his thoughts were becoming more and more confused, a teeth-grinding cutting sound rang in his ears, and his body felt the pain that seemed to come from far away. It was as if someone had put him into a semi-comatose state and taken the opportunity to cut off his arms and legs and dismember his body. Suddenly, Lumian's mind was pulled away. He seemed to be a spirit out of his body, and saw himself sitting by the window, covered in blood, with unusually empty eyes. In front of him was a charred figure, holding a bloody axe and hacking at his thigh, splitting the white bone in two. Uh...Lumian gradually realized that something was wrong. He subconsciously lowered his head and saw that his body was still there! He was still sitting next to the broken window, but what he saw was no longer the crumbling charred wooden door, but the "reflection" of the surrounding area and his own body being dismembered by the burnt figure. Rather than his severed legs and shattered bones, what impressed Lumian the most was his own lifeless eyes. After a brief trance, the horrific and bloody scene disappeared, and the open and dilapidated wooden door once again appeared in Lumian's eyes. He knew clearly that what happened just now was not an illusion, because he now felt as if he was free from the water film and all the pores on his body became comfortable. What would happen if I couldn't help but respond? Would the horror I saw come true? Would the response be a mystical connection that would make those almost hallucinatory horrors come true? Lumian exhaled slowly, still feeling a lingering fear. He raised his hand to press on his left chest, lowered his voice, and laughed softly: "Thermiporos, you are quite impressive." As expected of an angel, even though she was sealed, she could easily see the nature of the current abnormality. Thermipoulos' voice sounded, layer upon layer: "The abnormality here is considered minor." "You still call this mild?" Lumian disagreed. "If you hadn't reminded me not to respond, and I was determined enough, something would have happened. Gardner Martin, that pig, really wanted to kill me!" Thermiporos responded in a magnificent voice: “I won’t die. "The abnormality just now will only change you. While your personality traits, way of thinking, and self-awareness remain unchanged, your ideas will shift, and you will become fanatical about certain things, thus rejecting some ideas." Lumian pondered over this sentence, finding it a little hard to understand.
At this time, Thermopylae added: "It's like you've been conquered, both physically and mentally." Lumian suddenly realized what was going on and said in a low voice: "Gardner Martin asked me to stay here for one night. He wanted to use the abnormality here to control me and eliminate possible hidden dangers?" No wonder I went to Breeze Ballroom late at night without being given more time to think! "Have you only now realized your own shallowness?" Thermipolus confirmed Lumian's guess with these words. Lumian cursed and said to himself: "Even if I succeed, I am controlled by the anomaly here, not by Gardner Martin. Isn't he afraid of problems? "The anomaly here is related to the 'Iron Cross', so he is not worried?" Thinking of this, Lumian frowned and asked Thermipolos: "Since I haven't been affected by the anomaly and haven't been transformed, will Gardner Martin notice something wrong when I go out tomorrow morning?" Thermipoulos said in a powerful voice: "If this level of contamination could be easily discovered, Gardner Martin and his friends would have been cleared out by the official Beyonders long ago. “Unless the source of the contamination provides information directly, they can’t tell you’re not contaminated.” Hmm... Lumian was thinking about it, and suddenly realized that there was a hidden fact in Thermipolos's words: Gardner Martin and the members of the "Iron Cross" around him had already suffered similar pollution! They are all controlled! Hiss... The more Lumian thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed. After a few seconds, he asked Thermopylae again, with the mentality of trying to get as much as possible while he could: "After meeting Gardner Martin, where should I show enthusiasm and what ideas should I reject?" "Fanatical about war and unrest, and intolerant of belief in other gods." Thermipolus actually gave the answer. Lumian nodded, and thought of another question: "Based on the intensity of the abnormality just now, everyone who has been here for a period of time should be contaminated, right?" "Only two special paths will inevitably trigger the abnormalities here. The others must be encountered at a specific time and when specific things are done. The authorities are only aware of the latter situation and only secretly prevent others from entering this building at specific times." Thermipolos replied in an unchanged voice. “Two special paths… ‘Hunter’ and ‘Witch’?” Lumian could roughly guess. Thermopylae did not deny it. Lumian went over the whole thing in his mind again, and finally smiled: "Thermipolos, it seems that you have truly recognized your situation and put yourself in the right position." This time, there was no response from Thermiporos and it fell completely silent. In the next few hours, Lumian encountered two more abnormalities. Once his neck was broken, and once his body imploded, with his internal organs thrown everywhere. He managed to hold on by relying on the words "don't respond", and his thoughts returned to his real body, which was unharmed. Finally, a reddish-gold color appeared on the horizon and the sun gradually rose. Lumian slowly stood up, bathed in the morning light for several seconds, and walked out of No. 13 Market Avenue step by step. Then, he saw Gardner Martin sitting in the carriage opposite, and their eyes met. The next second, Gardner Martin smiled. Lumian also smiled. (End of this chapter)