A middle-aged man dressed in formal attire and exuding an air of wealth smiled toward their direction and spoke:
"Two friends from afar, would you like to join us for a dance?"
------------------------------------------
Discovered, there really are Beyonders here.
Hastur thereby confirmed his suspicions, looking at that giant toad with a bit more vigilance.
Maric revealed a fierce gaze, glanced at Hastur, and said in a low voice, "Shall we go up and deal with him?"
"Negotiate first; the other party hasn't shown hostility yet."
Hastur tugged Maric's arm, signaling him to calm down and not act rashly.
"We just happened to pass by and were attracted by the commotion here."
Hastur led Maric out of the dense forest, drawing curious looks. Their expressions were calm, without any of the panic of people whose secrets had been exposed.
The middle-aged man spoke with a smile: "Anyone who can come here is a favored child of the Lord."
"The Lord?"
Hastur deliberately showed a curious and interested expression.
The middle-aged man's smile grew brighter, his voice soft: "We worship the Sovereign who governs the final resting place of all deaths. He is the Lord of the Undead, He is the Great Lord of Darkness, He is the Merciful Father who grants living beings peaceful slumber."
"You are all His believers?"
"We believe that only when souls rest completely after death can they find happiness in the next life. We are followers of His will."
"Then what are you doing here?" Hastur pointed at the people dancing around the bonfire.
"Although the Lord does not care about our gratitude, we still need to use dance to please Him, as a way to show our devotion and joy."
Hastur nodded and smiled: "Then please continue; we'll take our leave for now."
"..."
The middle-aged man's smile stiffened slightly, then returned as he said with a smile: "Not far from here is my manor. You can stay there for the night. We are always willing to offer what help we can to those in need."
The nearby manor's owner, this man is that Count Richard?
"Thank you for your kindness, but we deliberately came out to camp in the wild."
Hastur still politely refused and turned to leave.
He was only probing and didn't actually intend to leave at this moment.
If this Count Richard chose to act against them, it would confirm they were not good people. If he didn't, they could continue to talk a while longer.
"There are quite a few beasts here. Friends, if you camp outside, be careful. If you need help, you can come find us."
The middle-aged man's smile remained friendly, and he no longer tried to engage Hastur in conversation. Instead, he moved among the crowd, guiding them into another round of ritual dancing.
His dancing was clearly far above the average of the others, almost certainly marking him as the host of this event.
Other believers also joined the dancing group, leaving only Hastur and Maric standing outside the circle.
"Want to try their dance?" Hastur suggested with a smile.
Maric asked in surprise: "Haven't you always been cautious? Why are you being so reckless now?"
"Life occasionally needs a little indulgence."
"You weren't persuaded by just a few words from him, were you?"
"I'll try first; you keep watch here."
"..."
Maric watched Hastur join the dancing group.
The middle-aged man was delighted to see Hastur return and personally instructed him on how to properly dance this ritual dance.
Hastur learned quickly, which made the middle-aged man even more optimistic about him, praising his talent repeatedly.
Soon, Hastur was dancing the ritual dance skillfully and naturally blended into the group.
Only Maric, left outside, seemed out of place, drawing curious and puzzled looks.
After the dance ended, Hastur excused himself from Count Richard and returned to Maric, sharing the information he had gathered.
Through his earlier integration and conversation, he confirmed that the middle-aged man was indeed Count Richard, full name Dylan Richard.
Every night during this period, they gathered here to dance, worship, and pray, asking the Lord of the Undead, who governs the world of souls, to allow their relatives' souls to rest peacefully and thus attain better happiness in the next life.
This belief was almost similar to the Buddhist teachings Hastur was familiar with, which also believed in blessings in the afterlife.
To ensure they could please the Lord of the Undead, they had to perform this ritual dance for thirteen consecutive days. Now, only two days remained until the thirteenth day.
"You seem… quite different now."
Maric circled Hastur, looking him over. What concerned him was not Hastur's ease in gathering intelligence but the change in his temperament and character.
Looking closely, Hastur's youthful innocence and naivety seemed to have faded significantly, replaced by maturity and reliability.
"People always change depending on the situation; there has never been a person who stays the same forever."
"That's true."
Maric nodded, not dwelling on the matter further, and quietly asked: "You're not really planning to dance with them at midnight, are you?"
"Aren't you even a little curious?"
"Curious? Heh, I don't think I've lived long enough to risk it. I'd rather pretend nothing happened tonight."
Hastur pondered for a moment and sighed: "Maric, you've successfully changed my stereotype of you."
"… I find you're becoming more and more annoying now." Maric's mouth twitched slightly.
Hastur chuckled and stopped joking. The reason he wanted to understand what these people were doing was entirely because this Count Richard lived too close to his own estate.
If this was just a simple branch of the Spirit Cult's Sleep Faction, then even reporting them to the Church of the Evernight Goddess would be pointless.
Sleep was also within the domain of the Evernight Goddess.
Her full and proper title was:
The Evernight Goddess stands higher than the cosmos
and more eternal than eternity.
The Mother of Concealment,
The Empress of Misfortune and Horror,
Mistress of Repose and Silence.
Perhaps these followers of the Spirit Cult didn't even know that the power of sleep wasn't only under the control of the God of Death but also under the Evernight Goddess.
Moreover, from the conversation earlier, Hastur found that while Count Richard was enthusiastic about spreading his faith, he was not a bad person by nature.
Many people here had once received help from Count Richard. He not only provided all the assistance he could but also comforted their grieving hearts after the loss of their loved ones.
Maric advised earnestly: "I know you long for the Mysticism world, but this world is dangerous, far from as simple as it appears to your eyes."
"Such as?"
"For example, right now, you don't actually think what you see with your eyes is the full picture here, do you?"
Hastur showed an intrigued look, and after a moment of hesitation, Maric lowered his voice and said: "There's a huge spirit world creature here, watching over all of us."
"A spirit world creature? Where? Why can't I see it?" Hastur appropriately showed nervousness, excitement, and curiosity.
"You haven't become Beyonder yet, so you can't open spiritual vision, and therefore can't see creatures from the spirit world."
"What a pity." Hastur sighed regretfully.
"I can't tell whether that spirit world creature is good or evil; it's best to stay away from it."
"You're right, but Count Richard is my next-door neighbor; we're bound to meet again sooner or later."
"…"
Maric stayed silent for a while, still thinking that directly reporting to the Church of the Evernight Goddess was the safest and simplest option.
Just then, Count Richard came over again, enthusiastically sharing the philosophy he followed and inviting Hastur to join them.
"I don't really have any sadness at the moment." Hastur declined at first, then added, "But I do agree with the idea that only when souls rest can they find happiness in their next life."
Count Richard understood what he meant and extended an invitation: "Tomorrow night and the night after, we'll still be nearby. If you're interested, you can come and see."
"We will definitely come."
After getting a positive response, Count Richard became even more hospitable and warm, repeatedly inviting Hastur and Maric to spend two days at his manor.
For such an invitation directly to their stronghold, Hastur smiled and declined.
Around three in the morning, the liveliness finally began to subside. Count Richard organized people to extinguish the bonfire with soil and clean up traces of their activity.
Hastur curiously asked about this, and Count Richard told them their Lord loved the tranquility after merrymaking, and as His believers, they should not disturb His peace once the ritual dance was over.
Soon, as dawn began to break, Count Richard led his people away, and the giant toad-like spirit world creature also vanished once the bonfire went out.
Hastur and Maric exchanged glances, marveling at the strange experience of last night.
"They seemed pretty normal, if not for that spirit world creature." Maric gave his evaluation.
"He's a count. If he were actually doing something evil, some kind of wicked ritual, it would have drawn the orthodox church's attention long ago."
"Let's hope so." Maric nodded and, seeing Hastur looking energetic, asked curiously: "You stayed up all night; aren't you tired at all?"
"… I'm just too excited."
When they returned near the lake, Hastur pretended to look exhausted and suggested heading back to the estate to rest so he'd have energy for the evening gathering.
Maric went to check on his zombie squad to make sure nothing unexpected had happened.
At Aster Manor, Butler Neil looked at Hastur's leaf-and grass-covered appearance with a complicated expression.
What's so fun about camping in the wild? In such dense mountains and forests, there are plenty of mosquitoes, snakes, and rats, and you can't even sleep peacefully at night.
How could that compare to the comfort of a big bed at home?
But he didn't interfere too much, assuming Hastur was still young and seeking thrills.
That evening, Hastur once again suggested camping outdoors. Then, together with Maric, he sat by the lake, burning a fire and playing cards for two hours.
They even included one zombie, making it three players, and played several rounds of "Fight the Evil."
But the zombie's intelligence was limited, and when faced with this relatively advanced game, it obviously couldn't keep up.
It couldn't tell teammates from opponents, threw bombs at random, and always played its highest cards regardless of context.
Around midnight, the temperature dropped, and from deep in the forest came the faint sound of a whistle again.
Hastur and Maric stopped their card game and followed the sound to its source.
They eventually found Count Richard's group, who had already prepared a bonfire. Their number was about the same as the night before, around a dozen.
Seeing Hastur arrive as promised, Count Richard greeted him warmly.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Hastur curiously asked: "Why is the place for tonight's ceremony different from last night's?"