The Secret Cult Chronicles of the Decaying Lake Manor

Chapter 116 The Wisdom of Janus

George was about to ask "why it must be completed as soon as possible" when he met his mother's determined gaze.

His eyes, as hard and clear as amber, reflected a profound emptiness within him.

Then, a chilling realization dawned on me instantly.

George swallowed the question that was rising in his throat and nodded to indicate that he understood.

Upon seeing this, Edrina's image immediately quickened its speech, its hands rapidly tracing paths in the air.

"The core of refining lies in a triple balance. First, the molten gold must be kept at a constant temperature by the flame of the 'heart candle,' neither too high nor too low —"

George listened for a while, but when his mother mentioned the third point, "the sulfur and mercury must be added according to the scale of the stars of Cronus," he finally couldn't help but raise his hand to interrupt.

"Mother, I'm familiar with these steps from previous experiments. The real problem is—" He coughed lightly.

"I need the power of the crescent moon drawn from the spirit world to balance the symbolism of sulfur and mercury—a step I find difficult to achieve in my attempts."

As she spoke, Edlina's figure began to flicker erratically, with noise appearing at the edges like a television screen experiencing severe interference.

But when she heard about George's predicament, a relaxed smile appeared on her pale face.

"Ah, George, it seems you have a lot of talent; you've accomplished this so quickly."

She began to explain some deeper concepts: "Perhaps you are still relatively unfamiliar with the essence of the 'string'—the sensation of vibration is proof of connection. And the lightning that transcends heaven and earth is also a form of communication; this is the key to this device. To introduce sufficient string-calibrating power, you only need—"

As she spoke, Edrina's image suddenly clutched her temple in pain, leaned forward, and her features became violently distorted.

In the rapidly flashing light, George was horrified to see his mother's once gentle face momentarily obscured by a dark shadow.

A dark figure appeared.

In a daze, the area constructed by his consciousness became extremely unstable, his sense of space became chaotic, and he found it difficult to grasp the distance between himself and his mother.

Edlina's voice seemed to come from a very distant place.

"—Remember——make good use of—the branches" (Bugh) —"

The last word, "twig," rang out, and then her entire figure seemed to be wiped away by an invisible hand, turning into a rapidly fading afterimage.

Before George could react, a tremendous suction force suddenly pulled at his consciousness, and the space in front of him collapsed in an instant.

After the world spun around him, he gasped for breath and found himself sitting on the cold floor, his back soaked in cold sweat.

He forced his heart to calm down and looked out the window.

It was nearly noon, and the faint sound of the clock downstairs reminded everyone that it was lunchtime.

George rubbed his temples, but instead of immediately getting up to go to the alchemy room, he went downstairs to eat first.

The Viscount was still nowhere to be seen at the lunch table, and everyone seemed to have gotten quite used to it.

The younger sister appeared to have just visited the chapel to observe, and she was discussing the reconstruction with the old lady at the dinner table, while the uncle would occasionally chime in to express his support or offer his opinions.

After a brief exchange with Bates, George went to the alchemy room alone a little later after dinner.

He sat at the workbench, not in a hurry to take out the materials for refining the golden branch, but instead picked up the book "The Book of the Threshold" that he had only read half of.

His fingers traced the cover covered with intricate geometric patterns. He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into that familiar card table.

The cards on the book floated silently.

【The Book of the Threshold】

[Sexual Forms: Mirror, Dust, Books]

[A compilation of manuscripts written in the 13th century, whose creators firmly believed that the portal gods and the three Fates worshipped by the ancient empires shared the same origin.]

George mentally summoned a "Rationality" card that had finished cooling down and placed it face down. Blue light mingled, and words cascaded down his consciousness like a waterfall:

The Gate of San Panacrezio, located on the hill of Janiculum west of the Tiber River, is home to a monastery nearby where the descendants of stonemasons secretly worship Janus, the gatekeeper of the ancient empire, and three Fates, claiming affiliation with the "Atroposian Order."

"—In all sacrificial rites, He is always the first god to be invoked—intentionally and unintentionally. The learned Varro summarized it as: penes lanum sunt prima, penes lovem summa, meaning that the beginning belongs to Janus, the highest to Jupiter."

By invoking the wisdom of Janus, the legitimacy of our rituals will surely be preserved. He is the god of January, who begins each year; He governs gates, passageways, entrances, and beginnings, and also the moment when a ritual comes into being; war and peace are connected to Him in different ways, and every formal prayer and sacrifice begins with the invocation of Janus.

An abundance of ritualistic knowledge flooded into George's mind; the obscure symbols, complex steps, and precise prayer times were pieced together like jigsaw puzzle pieces.

After the light disappeared, new cards appeared on the card table—

The [Celestial Zodiac Ritual], a ritual card that was once only briefly used for contact analysis, has now jumped out of the deck.

At the same time, the card [Heterogeneous Melody (Fragment)] that had been used earlier slowly rose up, and the strange ripples on the card surface automatically began to recombine, becoming coherent and full of rhythm.

The brand-new card exudes a classic and dignified aura:

The Boundaries of the Self

[Nature and Appearance: Mirror 10, Dust 6, Secret Transmission]

The ashes defined the origins of all rituals, but our boundaries are derived from imagination and desire.

George stared at the three cards for a moment.

Originally, he thought this book was a perfect fit for his current core need to "open" a stable channel to seek help from higher powers, but the acquisition of the other two cards was an unexpected bonus.

He left the card table, took a deep breath, and took out the "withered golden branch" that had been carefully wrapped.

He spent some time trying to figure out what his mother meant, but he eventually understood.

He then took out the gold nuggets, sulfur crystals, mercury, and all other refined materials he needed from the cabinet, and began the refining process.

At roughly the same time, in a relatively secluded small room on the second floor of Paradise Island Manor.

Viscount Edward, dressed in a heavy, dark morning robe, handed a parchment letter sealed with sealing wax to Arthur de la Pole, whose face was so gloomy it seemed to drip water.

"Take this." The Viscount's words were quite direct. "With the Colonial Minister's handwritten signature and summary of the secret terms inside, you have enough leverage to open up opportunities in high society and new business circles on the New World."

"Especially the newly developed Consnowden mine—it should be one of those iron rivers"—is a major project undertaken by the believers. With this document, you can acquire a stake and thus get closer to them.

Arthur took the letter but didn't read it immediately. Instead, he pinched the sealing wax with his fingers.

His face was solemn, and the lines on his forehead were deeply furrowed.

"Edward, the Confederation Conference of the Northern and Southern States of the New World is just around the corner, is this all you're planning?"