I, the leader of the esoteric sect, am doing great things in the infinite world!

Li Lin, who loved to stir things up and create excitement, yelled at the top of his lungs, "Close your eyes when it gets dark!"

Li Lin then quickly got up and drew the curtains around him, making the already slow-moving train compartment even more dim and drowsy.

As it turns out, atmosphere really does matter when reading "Silence".

When Li Lin opened the title page, a line of bold, vibrant characters immediately caught his eye; the characters were thick, black, and very eye-catching.

[Waterloo! The Liberators suffer their first major blow within the city; dozens of their heads discovered in a secret shrine in Vienna!]

Below this sensationalist headline is a chilling image of a dark, narrow shrine filled with dozens of skulls reduced to mere thin skin.

These skulls are piled up haphazardly, like discarded basketballs, their empty eye sockets staring at the onlookers outside the photographs.

“Ligiya?” Li Lin looked at the exile.

They only wiped out a small squad of the liquidators, and those liquidators were killed after they left.

"Ten years." The exile simply gestured to Li Lin. "That's a full ten years. All we get in return is a promise of non-aggression with Ligeia. But whether the other liquidators will suffer because of this is not within the scope of this contract, my lord."

Clearly, she had made a rather harsh deal with Ms. Schrussel, who lived in Vienna, over a full decade earlier.

However, Ligeia's name is not even known to the vast majority of people in the hidden world, so they would naturally not jump out and put the blame on themselves.

In other words, Li Lin inexplicably became an accomplice in the massacre of the exiles.

This title is a good thing for the key hunter. At least now Li Lin has become a minor celebrity in the hidden world, and his file has been placed on the desks of official powers in various countries. Some secret cults may react to his identity because of this.

Contrary to the shocking style, the following text is the main body—

The author of "Silence" used a subtle rhetoric to express his condemnation of this atrocity.

Ironically, he didn't specify "whose atrocity it was," leading both Defoe and the exiles to believe he was blaming the other.

"Defour is going to end up shooting himself in the foot," Li Lin said meaningfully.

The exile, who didn't understand why Li Lin said that, was about to ask, but then remembered that Li Lin never said anything nice, so he wisely chose to remain silent.

Aside from Defoe's impotent rage at the beginning, this episode of "Silence" also features a major highlight: Li Lin's collaborative paper exploring historical possibilities.

No matter how you look at it, this article, which is full of Zhihu style, doesn't seem to be serious or accurate enough. But unfortunately, it was submitted by the Re-Shaping Hands organization.

This is similar to the dissertation by Dr. Long that was recently submitted by the London Defence Force.

As the official weekly occult publication of Silent Bookstore, "Silence" always has to give some face to official forces in various countries.

This article, co-authored by Key Hunter and Dickens, is even less substantial than the last one; in other words, it's a complete Zhihu (a Chinese Q&A website) style piece. However, its publication in Silent Times is not solely due to Reincarnation.

At the end of the article, someone offered some commentary.

The difference between mystics, extraordinary individuals, and ordinary people lies precisely in this: we always value the seventy-seven blinks of an eye, the colors history itself leaves on texts, and the techniques applicable to the waking world. At the boundary between the Sun House and the waking world, some speculations are as bizarre and fantastical as the text itself suggests.

The person who tagged the person signed it "D," meaning "daydream."

This passage, like most documents in the esoteric Buddhist world, doesn't speak in plain language.

After translation, it seems that "Daydream" acknowledged the value of the paper, believing that it would provide another way to break the deadlock in exploring the mysterious realm.

Just like Li Lin's clearing of the Vienna battle scenario, it was clearly impossible for a few superhumans and mystics to kill 250,000 Ottomans. They only needed to find the gaps and loopholes in history itself and fill them in with a reasonable excuse.

"Daydream" was one of the seven councilors of the Silent Bookstore, and it was clear that he overruled the objections and published this seemingly ridiculous paper in the journal.

As if remembering something, Li Lin slammed his fist on the table in a fit of rage, shouting, "Damn it!"

The exile looked up, a hint of confusion in his eyes: "What's wrong?"

"My royalties!" Li Lin said resentfully, staring at the exile with a deep gaze, as if trying to make her feel ashamed through his eyes.

He co-authored this article with Dickens, but for the royalties to reach him, they had to go through the Walden Pond pub. Now that he has left Vienna, how can he get the money?

“Uh…you don’t seem to be short of money either—” the exile fiddled with his hair, “I know there are so many children in Vienna who are starving, and you always take out a considerable amount of money to help those hungry children…”

This was a good deed performed by the Key Hunters in the past, and this good deed continued after Li Lin became a Key Hunter.

On the one hand, he really doesn't need much money; on the other hand, even a mentally ill person has feelings of kindness in their heart.

The key point is not how much money there is, but whether you can get it.

Li Lin was heartbroken and pulled out a wad of gold coins from his pocket, so crumpled they were barely recognizable: "Do you want to buy it?"

"what is this?"

"Gold pounds," Li Lin answered truthfully.

The exile seemed a bit confused by Li Lin's money-buying-money approach: "How much are you planning to sell it for?"

"Two hundred pounds!" Li Lin demanded exorbitantly.

“But there’s only fifty pounds in here at most,” the exile said.

Li Lin was even more furious: "Isn't the principle the same? I sponsor children, I respect the elderly and care for the young, I obey traffic rules—does that conflict with me being a capitalist who should be hanged from a streetlight?!"

Master Li was about to cause trouble when he suddenly heard Nian's voice in his ear.

Hello? Can you hear me?

"Hmm?" Li Lin hesitated, then crawled under the table with a puzzled look on his face.

Before he could search the trash can, Nian's voice rang out again.

[What are you doing, you idiot? Log on now, your trial has been approved!]

171 Fun fact: The daughter of the creator of the Cultist simulator plays Genshin Impact ( )

In the waking world, every minute is equal to 60 seconds; a day is equal to 86400 seconds.

The situation is different at Mansu.

Every minute could have passed in sixty-one seconds or even fifty-nine seconds.

A faint cobalt blue light spread out, and the night fog receded to both sides, revealing a dilapidated temple standing on the overgrown ground. Nian was sitting on the steps in front of the temple.

Talulah and the Kingslayer were nowhere to be seen. It was obvious that the voice just now was from the chat channel that Nian had been using with Li Lin.

Upon seeing Li Lin appear, Nian waved to him, signaling him to come over.

"Come here, let me show you a treasure?"

Li Lin's expression shifted: "If I call your name, would you dare to answer?"

Nian laughed heartily: "Climb."

"If you tell me to climb, I'll climb. Wouldn't that make me lose face?" Li Lin argued, focusing on the wrong thing.

"My dear minister, you may rise and disobey." Nian retorted casually, but as their conversation began to veer off course, he remembered the purpose of calling Li Lin over.

"Guess what your next trial will be?"

"A trial, huh (meaningful)." Li Lin grinned mischievously, then reached out to take off his clothes to cosplay Diablo. Unfortunately, the ManSleep system was too inhumane, and Li Lin still couldn't figure out how to take off his clothes.

"Ahem, ahem, ahem." Nian cleared his throat. "You will be traveling to a world ruled by the Night Watchman, Pupil Door, and He will judge your performance in that world throughout..."

"It sounds a bit like a news anchor," Li Lin commented.

"Pretty much, anyway, this kind of thing is quite rare in Mansu." Nian put his hand into his pocket. "So those real named individuals, as well as the immortals who are granted permission to live in Mansu, will watch your performance in that world in real time."

"Depending on how good your antics are, someone might even give you a tip or something."

Li Lin was startled. Could there really be such a good thing?

"Oh right, this is a keepsake."

Nian took out a square pendant-like ornament from his pocket. The metal edge was outlined with a certain regular pattern, and a square, crimson gemstone was set in the square frame.

Before Nian could say anything, Li Lin stumbled back several steps, his face filled with terror: "I...this is—"

You're a limited-time character from Arknights, and you're bringing up a Teyvat specialty? Do you know what kind of reaction will occur in the comments section?!

This is an anomaly that even Reimu Hakurei would cry out in disbelief!

"This is a token—"

"This is!" Li Lin screamed.

"This is a token..."

"This is!!" Li Lin's eyes widened as he began to repeat.

"This is a token!" Nian angrily smacked Li Lin on the forehead with its tail, then wrapped it around Li Lin's mouth, which seemed to have ADHD. "Let me finish!"

The peace and quiet that had finally arrived began as the year began to explain: "Its name is the Eye of God. As you can tell from the name, it is a kind of certificate issued by the Night Watcher of the Stars, Pupil Door. In that world, you can use this external organ to manipulate elemental forces and release certain special powers."

In the cult of worship of the Night's Watchman, Pupil Door, the pupil, the sun, the mirror, and the egg are seen as one in some respects; clearly, the Eye of God is the credential issued by this lord.

"Although that's the name, I actually made it by hand using synthetic jade, and then had Theresa take it to the Night Watchman, Hitomi no Tobi, to have it enchanted."

"Hahahaha." Li Lin, entangled by the tail, laughed bitterly towards the sky, "I, Li Lin, have committed countless evil deeds throughout my life, and this time I have finally received my retribution."

"What do you mean by that?" Nian tossed the fire-attribute Eye of God to Li Lin, gesturing for him to attach it.

"I wanted to buy osmanthus flowers and share wine, but alas, my old friend, when will we meet again?" Li Lin read aloud with dead fish eyes, then put the rope of the Eye of God around his neck.

"That's not how you tie it." Seeing that Li Lin was about to strangle himself, Nian quickly stopped him, grabbed the Eye of God and tied it around his waist, then patted him on the shoulder.

“Young man, you have a long way to go. Whether you can be recognized by Sichen and escape the judgment of history depends on this one move. But even if you fail, don’t worry. If all else fails, I will think of another way.”

He said it casually, as a young man.