Forbidden Scrolls

The ritual mentioned in the diary is clearly the culprit that caused my transmigration, but there's still a problem: the doctor was infected, so is it possible that I could also be infected...?

But it's too late to undo what's done.

Moreover, judging from the outcome, the doctor's attempt to save himself clearly failed.

What the doctor summoned was not a dragon or lamp that could grant wishes, nor a deity that would bestow blessings, but a black-haired, black-eyed man who was almost eaten by a bear and was now half a dinner.

Lu Yuan looked down at the scroll placed under the diary, which was pressed down by a yellowed scroll that felt like some kind of leather.

As soon as Lu Yuan pulled the scroll out, a chilling sensation spread from his fingertips. He rubbed his hands together and then fully unrolled the scroll.

On the scroll, a twisted, dark red pattern was drawn.

The pattern was densely packed with lines, and upon closer inspection, one could even vaguely discern some kind of regularity, resembling some kind of writing.

Next to the pattern were lines of text that were trembling violently.

Lu Yuan stared intently, waiting for his 'translation' system to take effect, but after a few seconds, the cheat system that Lu Yuan had just activated seemed to have stalled.

"wrong!"

Lu Yuan suddenly realized that it wasn't the golden hand pointing out the problem, but rather the text on the scroll that was resisting!

The lines on the scroll, resembling blood vessels, were now wildly twisting and turning, like a swarm of worms writhing and contorting their bodies.

Translation failed... Translation failed...

Finally, a line of gray text appeared in his vision, and at that moment Lu Yuan noticed that the world in front of him seemed to be shaking.

Without warning, a soft whisper sounded in my ear.

"...Hiss...Great...mercy..."

The sound was very distant at first, as if it were calling from across the deep sea.

But in the next instant, that distant and ethereal voice seemed to be right next to Lu Yuan's ear.

His speech became faster and faster, his tone becoming sharp and shrill, with a kind of nauseating fanaticism.

Lu Yuan sensed something was wrong and tried to look away, but found that his gaze was stuck to the screen, completely out of control, and he could only stare intently at the distorted scroll.

At this moment, a sharp pain began to emanate from deep within my brain, as if something was trying to crawl out from inside.

At the edge of the field of view, the gray-white system frame flickered wildly:

[You seem to have detected something that shouldn't be there...! Warning! Your sanity is being eroded!] [Sanity I: +1.../20]

[You have glimpsed an ancient taboo, unlocking new knowledge] [Taboo Studies - Spy: +0.5, 0.5/10] [Taboo Studies - Spy: +0.5...]

"Fuck you!"

At the critical moment of life and death, Lu Yuan's strong will to survive finally allowed him to regain control of his body for a brief moment.

With all his might, he flicked his wrist and sent the scroll flying.

"Clatter".

The reel lay on the floor, still trembling.

But the next moment, an invisible force seemed to emerge, slowly pressing down on the reel and eventually restoring it to its original state.

Just as the scroll returned to normal, the maddening whisper in Lu Yuan's ear abruptly stopped.

The room instantly returned to a deathly silence, with only the occasional crackling of firewood in the fireplace.

Lu Yuan slumped uncontrollably into his chair, panting heavily. Cold sweat instantly soaked his back, and the frenzied low moans still faintly echoed in his ears.

Patting his head, Lu Yuan stared at the reel on the ground, a hint of apprehension flashing in his eyes.

"What kind of world is this...?"

[Taboo Studies - Voyeur: 4.5/10]

[Rationality I: 11/20 (Experience)]

Lu Yuan glanced at the pop-up notification, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and only stood up after the lingering anomaly around his ear disappeared.

Thinking about how to deal with the scroll in front of me.

"Or should we just throw it into the fireplace?"

But Lu Yuan immediately dismissed the idea.

Since this scroll involves that so-called "ritual," it means that if one wants to go home in the future, one must decipher the secrets it contains.

But certainly not now.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Yuan grabbed the other books on the table, quickly picked them up, and stuffed them into the drawer in the table, then weighed them down with several heavy medical books.

After doing all this, Lu Yuan slumped onto the sofa, slowly exhaled, and suppressed the goosebumps that had appeared on his arms.

Lu Yuan had a vague premonition that if he had continued to stare at that scroll for a few more seconds, [Forbidden Science] would probably have leveled up directly, and the leveling up might bring unexpected effects.

"However, I might also die directly."

Lu Yuan muttered to himself, forcibly shifting his attention away from the drawer.

There's no time to think about these trivial things; there's a very important thing to do right now.

That is, how to deal with this dead fish that is as long as a person.

Based on the current temperature, this huge dead fish will rot and stink within a few hours at most.

Once more than fifteen hours have passed, the building can basically be abandoned.

But another problem is facing Lu Yuan: how to deal with it?

If you were to dig a hole and bury it, not to mention how long it would take to dig a hole as tall as a person, just the transportation itself would be a huge problem.

Secondly, Lu Yuan was unwilling to come into contact with the dead fish, because the diary clearly stated that Dr. Leisen, that unlucky fellow, had been infected by the "Strange Dream" on the Iron Whale. If he didn't touch it, he could more or less reduce the probability of being infected.

But Lu Yuan fell silent at the thought of the scene that would appear before him after the scroll was opened.

"Can avoiding contact really reduce the probability of infection?"

After a series of choices, Lu Yuan realized that he really couldn't come up with a good solution.

It was now nearing evening, and night had enveloped everything outside.

It's unrealistic for Lu Yuan to ask for help right now. Putting aside who he is, the origin of this giant fish is hard to explain.

There was no other way but to bite the bullet and do it myself.

Lu Yuan searched the small building and finally made a discovery: the small beds placed side by side on the first floor, one of which had two metal wheels installed under one of its bed legs.

Lu Yuan planned to use this bed as a trolley.

Then, I took two pieces of clothing from the closet that I no longer wanted, laid them flat on the floor, rolled the fish onto the clothes, and slowly lifted it onto the small bed, securing it with a rope.

Opening the door, Lu Yuan prepared to first find a place to throw the 'fish'.

As can be seen from the diary, this is a coastal town, where throwing fish into the sea would be perfect.

Moreover, one can faintly hear the sound of the ocean waves from outside, suggesting that this small building nestled in the woods is not far from the sea.

But pushing a bed around in public like this just seems really strange, doesn't it? And what I'm wearing...

With no other option, Lu Yuan searched the doctor's house and finally found two wearable outfits in the closet: a dark-colored custom-made suit with a pocket watch and top hat, and a somewhat worn-out vest.

After changing out of his original clothes into a suit, Lu Yuan looked at himself in the mirror, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes. Finally, it wouldn't look so abrupt.

Moreover, if you encounter a "patrol team," you can use excuses like "a doctor is on an emergency transport of a patient" or "transporting medical equipment" to get out of it.

Of course, this is on the premise that there is a 'patrol team'.

This also allowed Lu Yuan to roughly determine that the technological tree of this world was somewhat chaotic. They were still using electric lights and rotary telephones, but they also had steel behemoths that could sail far into the sea.

This roughly corresponds to a period between the mid-18th and late 19th centuries in Lu Yuan's memory.

Lu Yuan took off a bowler hat and put it on his head before stepping out of the house.