Most of the buildings in the town of Morse follow the style of a hundred years ago, and the most eye-catching one is the pointed-roof, black church.
After getting the carriage ready, Klein and the others quickly finished their lunch of bread, toast, bacon, butter, and coffee.
"Under the purification of Sealed Artifact 3-0782, we can still hold out for two hours and thirty-five minutes." Cornley stood at the door of the church, took out a gold-cased pocket watch from the inside pocket of his formal tuxedo, opened it and took a look, and said, "I suggest that we deal with those suspected haunted incidents first to prevent possible deterioration, and then return to the church to take turns guarding and recover."
- Under normal circumstances, Sequence 9, Sequence 8, and Sequence 7 Beyonders who are close to their limit need to stay away from the "Mutated Sun Holy Emblem" for 2 hours before they can fully recover. However, if they are not at their limit, or if they only want to partially recover, then it depends on the situation, and the minimum time is 1 hour.
"OK."
"I have no objection."
Klein and Leonard spoke at the same time.
"Which case should we deal with first?" Coenley asked his companions for their opinions.
Leonard put away his nonchalant attitude and said, "The one where the old man who lived alone heard heavy footsteps in the house and called back."
"Why?" Cornley subconsciously asked the reason. Klein also waited for someone's explanation with great interest.
Is this what is called a poet's intuition? He quietly mocked the other person.
Leonard's gaze moved from the short-statured Cohenley's face to Klein's face, then back again. He chuckled and said,
“Because it’s closest to the church.”
"How do you know? It's not written in the information..." Klein asked.
Leonard chuckled and said, "During the meal, I went to the bathroom. On the way back, I met a trainee pastor and chatted with him for a while. He told me that Noah's home is near the church. Well, Noah is the name of the old man who lives alone."
As expected of a night watchman with more than three years of experience, he is very skilled in carrying out missions... Klein laughed dryly and turned his head to say to Corneli, "Then let's go to Noah's house first."
"Okay." Cohen Li had no objection to this.
And just one minute later, they arrived at Noah's home...
Noah is an old man with sparse white hair. When he was young, he lost his left hand forever in a war and had to leave the army, take compensation and return to his hometown.
At this time, he opened the door, looked at the three strangers in front of him, then looked at Siel who hurried over from the church, and said in a hoarse voice:
"Come in. I hope you can solve my problem. I heard that you brought holy water, holy emblems, silver daggers, and garlic. That's great. I feel relieved. Please forgive my nagging. You have to understand the state of an elderly person who has not been able to sleep peacefully for two consecutive nights. Oh, goddess, I have been so scared that I have become dazed."
As soon as he entered the gate, Leonard suddenly straightened his back and looked around as if he was actually looking at the surroundings.
Soon after, Klein sensed the chilly aura lingering in the room. It was the trace left by the ghosts that had once been active here.
"Unclean creatures have indeed been here." Cornley was the last one to notice the situation here, and he lowered his voice and said.
"Very weak." Leonard retracted his gaze and spoke leisurely.
Among all the Sequence 8s recorded in the church, "Midnight Poet" can be considered a "profession" with higher inspiration.
"Yes." Klein felt that the warmth and purity naturally emitted by the Sealed Object "3-0782" was rapidly dissolving the cold aura, and the other party had no resistance.
At this moment, the townspeople who had been waiting for a while gathered at Noah's house, staring at Klein, Leonard, and Coenley with curious and expectant eyes.
"Ahem!" Leonard cleared his throat and said loudly, "We have the goddess's blessing. Those unclean creatures will disappear soon and won't cause any trouble."
After saying this, he signaled with his eyes for Klein to perform the "Purification Ceremony" for everyone.
Why me? Klein asked back with his eyes.
Of course, he didn't know if Leonard could understand his eyes.
Obviously, Leonard understood what he meant and said in a low voice:
"You're a pro, when it comes to ritual."
Well, who asked me to volunteer to help? Klein sorted out his clothes and took the holy water, holy emblem, silver dagger, and garlic from Leonard.
He first put the "Dark Holy Symbol" on his chest, then broke the garlic and threw it into every corner one by one.
"Hey, is this how garlic is used to exorcise ghosts?"
"It's different from what was described in the newspaper..."
"Will this work?"
…
The townspeople who were watching the scene immediately began to talk about it, feeling curious and excited, as if they were at a circus.
It's no use! I'm just pretending! Klein suddenly felt like he had become a "clown". He quickly half-closed his eyes, picked up some holy water with a silver dagger, and sprinkled it on the ground.
He walked around the house while sprinkling the water, muttering to himself:
"The goddess of night..."
"Mother of Secrets... Lord of Crimson..."
"The Queen of Misfortune and Terror..."
"Lord of sleep and silence..."
…
This typical charlatan act immediately shocked the whole audience, and the townspeople fell silent one after another.
Once people enter a quiet state, they can easily notice things that they had previously ignored.
“It feels very warm.”
“It’s like basking in the sun…”
"No, I seem to see the pure sky..."
"It's amazing... Is this the effect of holy water?"
"As expected of a priest sent by Saint Selina Church!"
"Praise the goddess!"
…
The townspeople discussed quietly, looking at Klein, Leonard, and Cornley with awe. The homeowner Noah was visibly relaxed, no longer doubting whether the matter could be resolved.
This is the effect of the Sealed Artifact "3-0782"... We don't actually need to do anything to exorcise ghosts. Just staying where we are for a minute is enough... It doesn't have to be tiring or troublesome... After Klein had purified the cold air in every corner of the house, he opened his eyes, put away the silver dagger, and solemnly and seriously drew a scarlet moon on his chest:
"Praise the goddess!"
"Praise the goddess!" the townspeople responded devoutly.
"There are still some things to deal with, but we need absolute silence." Leonard looked around and said with a smile.
The townspeople, who had seen what "professionalism" meant, did not dare to stay any longer. At the call of Pastor Siel, they left Noah's house like a tide. Even the owner of the house had to leave temporarily.
"Actually, I really want to take a nap right now..." Noah muttered as he walked towards the church.
Leonard stepped forward, stretched out his hand, closed the door, turned around and said to Klein:
"Please divine the cause of the incident."
“No problem.” Klein also wanted to try and see what he could divination from this.
I know it was done by Mr. Azik... but his status seems to be quite high. Haha, someone who can live for 1,300 to 1,400 years must not be of low status... Therefore, my divination will inevitably be affected... In this case, without the help of the mysterious space above the gray fog, I don’t even know what revelation I can get... Klein took out the paper and pen he carried with him and wrote down the "divination statement":
"The cause of the haunting at Noah's house."
He took the paper, walked to the round table, sat down, closed his eyes, and leaned back in his chair.
In the blurry and hazy world, Klein suddenly saw a black mausoleum.
It is similar to a pyramid, but is embedded in the ground upside down, almost buried.
Inside this ancient mausoleum, thick black fog obscured everything.
Klein suddenly woke up and opened his eyes.
"What did you find?" asked Cornley with concern.
Klein thought for a moment, then described the revelation he had gained from his dream in detail without hiding anything, and finally said:
"This is definitely not the mausoleum style of the Northern Continent. I mean the Fifth Era. In this area, I can barely be considered an expert."
Leonard nodded as if he was thinking:
"That is the 'inverted pyramid' of the southern continent, which means entering the underworld from the human world. Whether in the former Balam Empire or its branch Highland Kingdom, only the so-called descendants of the God of Death can build such a mausoleum for themselves."
"In a sense, this is the symbol of 'death'."
"Well, ghosts are definitely related to the god of death. This divination result is undoubtedly correct."
Ignoring Leonard's ridicule, Klein was lost in thought and came up with an interesting idea:
Could it be that Mr. Azik is a descendant of the god of death, or that he was able to have such a long life because of some kind of deal with the god of death?
According to the corresponding chapters of "Apocalypse of Night" and the internal records of the Night Watchers, the God of Death is an evil god who once caused a catastrophe in the northern continent at the end of the Fourth Epoch. That period of time was called the "Pale Age".
Well, it was said that He was killed by the combined forces of the Seven Gods... The initial age of Ramd Castle is no longer verifiable, but it could not be earlier than the "Pale Age".
If there is a connection, then the mastermind living in the Red Chimney House who took the skull of Mr. Azik's child can be explored...
Of course, this could also be an excuse for the northern continent to colonize the southern continent, after all, the main belief there is in the god of death...
Because they found nothing else, the three night watchmen did not stay too long and soon left Noah's house to deal with two other suspected haunted incidents.
The same process, the same result, they quickly freed the town from the aura of death, but did not find the source of it all.
On the way, Leonard asked the townspeople if any strangers had come in the past few days, but received a negative answer.
Mr. Azik has never been here? He must have arrived secretly and left quietly, and no one noticed... He was indeed cautious... What he meant by returning to Tingen City on Wednesday was that even if we don't deal with it, those "ghosts" will disappear on their own on that day? Klein thought about it and followed Leonard and Cornelius back to the entrance of Morse Church.
And they can still hold out for 1 hour and 45 minutes under the "Mutated Sun Holy Emblem".
"We will take turns guarding once every hour." Klein suppressed his excitement and looked at the sky. "We will try to get back to Tingen City for dinner.
"No problem." Leonard glanced at Klein and chuckled, "But to ensure safety, I suggest that two people guard and one person rest, and we take turns."
…Klein was stunned for a moment, his thoughts quickly changed, and he responded with a smile:
"Okay, but then we have to figure out the most reasonable rotation method. Who will rest first, who will be next, and who will be last? How long will it take to recover each time? How much will it take to recover? Well, I think we have to establish an equation with unknown variables to find the optimal solution and compare it with single-person guarding... It would be best if there is an efficiency function... Let's assume that the unknown variable is..."
"Stop!" Leonard's green eyes were filled with confusion and fear. "In this case, let's just have one person guard the place. The person whose turn it is will stay inside the church. It's big enough. Of course, we have to let Pastor Siel and the others go somewhere else. The other two will guard outside the church to prevent anyone from approaching."
"That's my opinion, too." Cohen found that he got a headache whenever he heard about mathematical problems.
“Okay.” Klein nodded reluctantly.
If he hadn't been able to convince his two teammates just now, he could only try to trade with Leonard like he did last time, using the fact that everyone has their own special secrets, paying a certain amount of information in exchange for his departure.
And now, the problem is completely solved!