Ceremony

[The brain storage area. The first few chapters are written a bit slowly. As you begin to gaze into this book, the ancient gods begin to rummage through your mind.]

On the porch floor, there was a fish lying across the floor.

To be precise, it was the carcass of a dead fish with a human face.

The grayish-brown scales glistened with moisture in the firelight, its murky eyes stared fixedly at the ceiling, and its features vaguely resembled those of a human. The stench of decay mixed with the salty smell of seawater assaulted its nostrils.

Lu Yuan stared intently at the thing at his feet, covered his nose with his hand, and spoke in a strained voice:

"Time travel is fine... but starting with this? Isn't that a bit too bizarre?"

The firewood in the fireplace crackled, and the dim, yellowish flames cast distorted shadows on the wall.

As an unlucky mine hunter, Lu Yuan was hiding from black bears in the deep mountains one second, and the next second he was dragged to this godforsaken place.

Compared to that man-eating bear, this thing in front of me, though disgusting, is at least dead.

At least you don't have to worry about dying in the next second.

Lu Yuan frowned, carefully lifted his foot, and gently touched it.

The "fish" remained motionless.

"Really dead?"

He waited a while longer, making sure the thing was completely still, before picking up the clothes next to him to cover his shoes, using his foot to brace against the side of the "fish," and slowly moving it away.

The slippery sensation traveled up the sole of the shoe, giving Lu Yuan goosebumps all over his body.

As for whether the smell was contagious—that was no longer something he could consider. He had already inhaled enough since he appeared.

After finally managing to move the heavy, slippery corpse to the corner of the porch, Lu Yuan felt the stench emanating from the 'dead fish' was almost pickling him up.

After confirming that he had not come into direct contact with the murky slime, Lu Yuan turned around and began to examine the house.

Upon entering, there is a slightly spacious porch. On the left are a shoe cabinet and several small cabinets. On one of the cabinets is a bronze rotary telephone, and next to it is a notebook filled with numbers and names.

There is no traditional living room on the first floor. The entire floor is empty and filled with bottles and jars of various sizes and two small beds side by side.

A slightly yellowed curtain hung between the two beds.

The dim light bulbs hung overhead, swaying slightly at the slightest noise.

The shelves were filled with glass bottles of various sizes, containing the roots and stems of some plants whose names I didn't know, and even some that looked like the organs of some kind of animal.

Lu Yuan leaned closer to a wide-mouthed bottle covered in dust, squinting at the yellowed label on it.

It was a string of characters I'd never seen before; it looked like some kind of Latin script.

"I can't understand it at all..."

Lu Yuan frowned, because this was not good news. If he couldn't understand the language, it would be a question whether he could even survive in this world.

But as soon as the thought popped into Lu Yuan's mind, it was as if something had grown in his brain, followed by a wave of dizziness.

Then a bizarre scene unfolded.

Because those unfamiliar characters in front of me began to wriggle, rotate, and disassemble like living things.

In just two seconds, those characters that looked like earthworms were actually arranged into Chinese characters that Lu Yuan was familiar with.

—【Dried red clover rhizomes】

At the same time, a small black box suddenly appeared in the lower right corner of Lu Yuan's vision, followed by a line of grayish-white text that quietly appeared and then disappeared in the blink of an eye:

[Imperial Language - Reading: +1, 1/1000]

Lu Yuan was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously rubbed his eyes.

Is it a hallucination?

Lu Yuan quickly looked at another bottle next to him.

The process of twisting and rearranging the text reappeared, and although it was still somewhat tiring, it was noticeably faster.

【Trifoliate hemp extract (used to soothe pain)】

[Imperial Language - Reading: +1, 2/1000]

"Comes with a built-in translator, and even has proficiency?" Lu Yuan's panic subsided slightly. "Transmigration comes with a cheat system, it's really true."

In this strange and unfamiliar place, being able to read means having the ability to obtain information; in short, at least Lu Yuan won't starve to death.

Bypassing the infirmary, Lu Yuan carefully circled the building and quickly confirmed one thing:

This is indeed the home of that "fish".

The desk in the bedroom on the first floor was covered with all the personal belongings, along with some old clothes and miscellaneous items.

Some newspapers that looked old were left in a corner, covered in dust.

The second floor was crammed with all sorts of books, but I didn't look at them closely.

Because in the notebook lying on the table in the first-floor bedroom, Lu Yuan found several sheets of paper with neat handwriting, which roughly recorded the owner of the house and his recent itinerary.

The first piece of news is good:

The guy who had turned into a 'fish' seemed to be a doctor, and he had a pretty good reputation in the area, which could be seen from the scattered patient information and billing records on the paper.

The second point is more of an unexpected surprise than "good news".

Because there was a notice written on the paper.

The notice read: "I am temporarily closing my clinic to pursue further medical studies in the capital. If I am not returning for an extended period, a friend has been entrusted to look after the clinic. —Lesen"

Lu Yuan glanced back at the dead "fish" in the corner, its eyes wide open, and clicked his tongue.

Because until the moment Lu Yuan was summoned, the doctor himself—or rather, the "humanoid fish"—was already lying obediently at the door.

Further studies? Perhaps in a sense, they have already "graduated".

This lie is so simplistic. If any neighbor were to pay attention, the lights in the room would eventually give him away, but it seems he has no neighbors.

Lu Yuan immediately realized that this was an excellent cover for him.

"Since the doctor has chosen to publicly claim that he 'entrusted the matter to a friend,' how about I pretend to be that friend from now on?"

In this place where no identification documents are available, the identity of a doctor friend can save Lu Yuan countless troubles.

The premise is that Lu Yuan needs to figure out what this unlucky guy named Leisen has gotten into, and whether he really just lied and didn't actually make friends.

Lu Yuan sat back down in his chair, opened the notebook, and instead of reading it from the beginning, flipped directly to the last few pages.

December 15 (two days ago)

"My waking hours are getting shorter and shorter... The ocean in my dreams is calling me... My waking hours are getting shorter and shorter... I have a premonition that I don't have much time left... I hope that ritual can save me..."

The handwriting was messy, and parts of the paper were even torn by the pen tip, showing that the person who wrote it was in a state of extreme anxiety and frenzy at the time.

"ceremony?"

Lu Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and he continued flipping through the pages.

November 03st

"Damn it! The 'Dream' on the Iron Whale is contagious! Many doctors have been in contact with those crew members...why am I the only one infected...am I going to the Night Watch too? No, they'll get rid of me! Luckily, I still have some Light Silver Grass, I still have time!"

November 21st

"The Iron Whale brought back more than just ore; it seems to have brought back a disease too? The crew dreams of the sea whenever they fall asleep, some even dreaming they've turned into fish, and they're starting to lose their sense of reality... The medicine I prescribed can temporarily alleviate their symptoms, damn it! Why aren't the other doctors here yet?!"

Lu Yuan slammed the diary shut, his face turning somewhat pale.