I loaded the Mysticism panel.

"What the authorities need is not one or two geniuses, but an army."

"Even if each soldier is only at the level of a professional, a team of hundreds or thousands of professionals is more than capable of handling the vast majority of abnormal events."

The living room clock completed a full rotation, and the minute hand clicked a step forward.

Richard searched his mind for similar concepts in the information his mother had shared.

He can understand this logic.

In terms of past lives, scholars and hermits are like workshops, producing exquisite products but with limited production capacity; once the master leaves, the craft is lost.

The Hunter family is a factory; their products aren't particularly sophisticated, but they can deliver consistently, with the production line running non-stop, generation after generation.

The official system needs factories like this.

"The Ashford family is just one gear in this gear system."

The mother's voice became even softer.

"In terms of scale, we don't even rank in the top twenty. The Adams and Montague families have deep wells in their pools; you can draw a bucket of water and it's enough to drink."

"The pool in Ashford is a shallow pond."

"Your maternal grandfather's generation was very knowledgeable."

Among his peers were seven or eight practitioners, two minor experts, and several ordinary people who failed the test without getting a response.

"In my generation... your uncle was a hunter, but he stopped before becoming a minor master."

"Your aunt Isabella took the academic route and taught in the Department of Classics at Imperial University."

She was recently promoted to junior expert, which is why she was able to become an associate professor in her early thirties.

"I... am useless."

"Of the remaining cousins, one was injured and forced to withdraw during a mission, and the others were just ordinary practitioners who hadn't even scratched the surface."

"Many more people didn't even have a way back; they were all sent to live ordinary lives."

A light rain started falling outside the window sometime ago; the sound of raindrops hitting the glass was so faint it was almost inaudible.

"If a hunter family doesn't have anyone reach the Great Mastery level for three consecutive generations, they will begin to be marginalized in the capital."

"Resources will no longer be allocated to you, because it's better to invest in families with superior bloodlines than to invest in yours."

"There's a saying about this kind of family in the capital's social circles—'a declining family.'"

"The lamp is still there, and the wick is still burning, but the flame is getting smaller and smaller, and everyone can see that it is about to go out."

"The Ashford house is almost at this line."

Margaret placed her hands flat on her knees, palms down.

"For your maternal grandfather, my approach was simple: sunk costs are not to be invested further."

"But sunk costs are sunk costs, and the debt cannot be wiped off just like that."

"Ten years of resources were allocated from the entire family's resource pool."

Your maternal grandfather was in charge of the accounts, and he couldn't tell the other elders, "The money invested has gone down the drain, let's just forget about it."

"So he needs an explanation."

Richard began to understand.

"Your maternal grandfather had only one condition: you can leave if you want, but you have to leave a way out for the family."

The mother's fingers tightened.

"The agreement is simple: I can leave the capital, marry Rogers, and live an ordinary life."

Ashford will not interfere in my life, will not send anyone to follow me, and will not exert any influence on my marriage.

There is only one condition.

She raised her head and looked directly at Richard.

"If any of my descendants carry a potential loop, I have an obligation to cooperate with the family to undergo screening at the appropriate time."

"The testing protocol is standard; it's a method the Ashford family has used for decades."

I was also tested before I started learning this skill, using a copper ring.

The fever lasted for two days, subsided on the third day, and the circuits were activated; the whole process was smooth and safe.

"So you didn't stop it," Richard said.

"That's why I didn't stop her," the mother repeated.

"When we saw that you were experiencing rejection, the first thing we did was take the pendant off your neck."

She was recalling the order of each step.

"The etheric permeation will stop immediately once the artifact is removed from contact."

I placed the ornament on your bedside table, with a towel as a divider.

After confirming the loop details and explaining the background, Margaret shifted the topic to another area:

"Now you know there's something behind the curtain."

Her gaze didn't fall on him, but on the landscape painting that had been hanging on the living room wall for many years.

"The sounds of death, evil spirits, and wandering souls described in the book are only the most superficial ones."

"Shallow things are terrifying, but they have no consciousness."

A rock rolling down a mountain doesn't pick and choose who it hits; if you get hit, you're unlucky, if you don't, you're fine.

"But my mentor once said: 'In front of the curtain, strength is the shield; behind the curtain, strength is the bait.'"

"The stronger you are, the bigger the things that can smell your scent will be."

The embers in the fireplace finally quieted down.

The only sounds in the living room were the faint hum of the floor lamp filament and the hoofbeats of a returning carriage.

The mother waited until the sound of the carriage had completely disappeared before continuing to speak:

"I can tell you, you probably don't want to stop at the practitioner stage."

If you want to delve deeper into this field, then every step forward will come at a price.

"The cost of the lower stages is time and effort, which you can afford."

"But the higher you go, the more unpredictable the costs become."

"The truly terrible price is that you yourself are changing, but you don't even realize you're changing."

"You will become calmer, more rational, and more patient."

She looked at Richard: "They all sound like advantages, right?"

Richard didn't respond, waiting for her to continue.

"But what if one day, your sister falls down..."

The mother clenched her hand on her knee.

"Your first reaction wasn't to help her up, but rather to assess whether her injury was worth stopping for."

"From that moment on, you have already paid a price that you are unaware of."

The living room remained quiet for a long time.

The sound of Evelyn turning over upstairs carried down through the floorboards, the bed frame creaked slightly, and then silence returned.

"I've met people like that."

Her voice was very low.

"They made the right steps every time, every decision was impeccable, and in the end they became very, very powerful people."

"But they were all alone."

"They're either dead or separated from their families."

After saying all this, the mother's shoulders slumped, as she finally unloaded something she had been carrying for a long time from her back.

"Since your return path is complete, I can't stop you, and neither can your father."

He doesn't know these things, and I don't intend to tell him.

Her gaze returned to Richard's face: "But remember one thing."

"I chose to leave that world because I wanted to live a good life."

"Being alive is good enough. Being able to breathe, eat, and watch you and Evelyn grow up is wonderful."

Her fingers gently touched her chest, the spot where the remaining passage had been.

"These things are more valuable than anything behind the veil."

"If one day you feel you can't go on anymore, just come back."

"Go home, go back to Briston. The air isn't good here, but it's home."

Richard grasped his mother's cold hand.

"I see."

His mother patted the back of his hand, not too hard, about the same force she used when she was a child to lull him to sleep.

"Go to sleep, you have to tutor someone tomorrow."

Richard got up and walked to the door, placing his hand on the doorknob.

Richard.

"What's wrong?"

His mother sat on the sofa, without turning around to look at him.

"You're much better than I was back then."

"This makes me feel both reassured and uneasy."