Lann suddenly opened his eyes, reflexively taking a long, deep breath.
His breathing was urgent and deep, as if his body, lost in dreams, had forgotten to breathe and now needed to catch up.
His dazed and unfocused pupils darted around until Mentos displayed a vividly flickering image on his retinas, finally drawing Lann’s attention back.
"Sir! You just entered a deep sleep, the kind I couldn’t wake you from... what exactly did you experience?!"
Mentos’s familiar intelligent voice brought Lann a sense of relief.
"I think I had a dream? Or maybe it felt like some mage dragged me into his illusion... I can’t tell."
"Damn it! If only there were a mage here, I’d at least know what kind of trickery I fell for!"
Lann pinched his temples with frustration, even resorting to cursing after a long time.
This sleep did nothing to dispel his fatigue; instead, it left him feeling like he’d gone through another [Memory Deep Dive], exhausting and giving him a headache.
When his fingers touched his head, the Demon Hunter realized he was already drenched in sweat.
"Mr. Lann! Are you alright?"
This wasn’t Mentos’s intelligent voice but Lady Viola’s voice outside the guestroom door.
Lann propped himself up from the bed, instinctively grabbing the Lady of the Lake’s Sword leaning against the headboard.
The moment he took hold of the divine-made armament, the aching in his head was instantly soothed by a wave of coolness.
Golden holy light seeped from the scabbard’s mouth, and without drawing the blade, he knew the runes on the blade must be glowing.
But Lann didn’t have the time to examine Aron Dite’s anomalies now.
Outside, there was an unmistakable anxiety in Viola’s voice.
He had promised Gascogne to take care of his family until he returned.
"I’m alright, madam. What happened?"
Lann swung open the guestroom door, and there at the entrance, Viola’s face was as anxious and flustered as her voice.
In an instant, Lann’s vision encompassed the entire living room, and he noticed the sunlight flooding in through the windows, causing his pupils to contract involuntarily.
The sunlight, compared to the morning, had completely changed direction and... was a deep red, like blood!
This wasn’t daylight...
This was the evening sun nearing sunset!
The Demon Hunter understood why Viola was so nervous.
Gascogne had only gone to buy incense and was supposed to return before noon. Even if he had to travel far, he should have been back in the afternoon, but now it was nearing nightfall.
Did something happen?
Lann immediately steadied himself and regained his composure.
"Gascogne hasn’t returned?"
The young man asked calmly, and this demeanor unconsciously calmed the panicked Viola.
"He, he came back once briefly, brought the incense, and took his weapon. He told me to wake you and get you to leave the city as soon as possible. He looked so serious, I don’t know what happened. But just as I was about to wake you, someone knocked on the door urgently, I got scared, so I..."
So you rushed to wake me up.
Lann quickly pieced together the logic.
At that moment, a new round of urgent ’bang bang bang’ knocking echoed.
The sound couldn’t even be called ’knocking’ and was more like ’pounding.’
The person outside just kept knocking and said nothing. It was natural for an ordinary housewife with two kids like Viola to panic.
Lann watched the ’thudding’ door, his eyes squinting slightly. Orıginal content can be found at N()velFire.net
"It’s alright, I’ll check it out."
He patted Viola’s shoulder and walked out of the guestroom.
The Lady of the Lake’s Sword hung at his waist, and with his left hand pressing the scabbard, he approached the house’s main door.
Two small heads with a red and white ribbon peered nervously from the corner, worried and tense.
Lann flashed them a reassuring smile, and the two little girls nodded back awkwardly, then ducked back behind the wall.
The Demon Hunter reached the doorway, stood side-on behind the door, and opened the heavy wooden door.
This stance wouldn’t expose him in the doorway; if the person outside attempted anything, he could easily slam the door shut.
At the very least, it would trap a weapon, and with some luck, it might even take out an entire hand.
After opening the door, the person outside made no hostile moves.
It was a Hunter wearing unfamiliar attire, predominantly black, somewhat resembling Western monks or friars.
There was a strap with the Healing Church’s emblem draped over his shoulder, likely flung onto his shoulder from knocking on the door. Normally, this strap would hang straight down the middle of his back.
Underneath a wide-brimmed hat were a pair of somber eyes.
"You’re not Gascogne."
Sticking to the tradition of the silent Yan Nan Hunter, the Hunter’s words were straightforward and brief.
After glancing over the Hunter, Lann also noticed the neighbors peeking from behind curtains and glass windows.
This Hunter’s persistent door-pounding without saying a word drew a lot of attention.
Such behavior easily brought to mind that dreadful night.
Yet, people’s glances were hesitant to show blame or hostility, even if they were secretly watching.
So... he’s a Church Hunter?
Without showing any abnormality from his thoughts, Lann calmly responded to the inquiry.
"I’m his friend, entrusted by him to care for his family temporarily. He just left not long ago. Do you need something?"
"He’s already deployed?" the gloomy Hunter muttered with a glance, then scanned Lann a few times.
"Seems like you’re a Hunter too, so I’ll pass the message along to you as well..."
The gloomy Hunter didn’t even seem to want to move his lips more, speaking with minimal movement and a low voice.
"It’s been moved up."
Lann was still processing: "What?"
The Hunter’s eyes stared from beneath the wide-brimmed hat at Lann, the eyes void and gloomy, like black holes that absorbed light.
"The Hunter’s Night has been moved up."
Lann’s brows furrowed; he didn’t know the typical interval for the Yan’an Hunter’s Night, so he asked tentatively, "Moved up... by how much?"
A week early? Two weeks? Surely it can’t be more than a month... right?
Even as a foreigner, Lann was completely stunned by this answer.
The "crash" of porcelain shattering sounded behind Lann.
Lann turned to see Viola, who had been bringing over a cup of tea, now standing dumbfounded, the tea and shattered porcelain cup lying in pieces on the floor.
This response was like a bullet shot from a gun, leaving everyone who heard the news completely bewildered.
Now Lann understood why the Church Hunter had knocked so aggressively.
Even as an outsider, Lann felt a bit breathless now.
After delivering the news, the gloomy Hunter didn’t stay any longer and hurried away.