North District, Alka Street.

Copsted Reid was sitting in an easy chair in the living room, lost in thought, with a charcoal-burning fireplace in front of him.

As a senior teacher in a public school, he earned more than 4 pounds a week, which was enough for a single man to live quite well. However, the clothes he wore at home had many patches on them and the teacups on the table were also very simple.

Without removing her wig, Kapusti's most striking features are her high cheekbones and relatively mild pectus carinatum - a deformity in which the breastbone bulges forward.

A collection of poems written in the ancient Feysac language was spread out on his knees, but he hadn't turned a page for a long time.

Kopusti stared blankly with an unfocused gaze, when suddenly he heard someone chuckle in his ear:

"I'm confused. You didn't run away, but stayed at home. Aren't you afraid that the police would come?"

The voice was deep and hoarse, like that of a boy going through voice change.

Kopusti shuddered all over and nearly jumped out of his armchair.

He suddenly turned his head and saw a figure sitting on the sofa a few steps away.

The figure was wearing a summer linen shirt and thin trousers, and his face was hazy and difficult to see clearly.

"You, who are you? What are you doing here?" Kopusti asked repeatedly, holding the handrail tightly.

Klein, who used his illusion ability, leaned back, clasped his hands, and spoke leisurely:

"Last night, heh, it should be early this morning, I just saved you."

"Saved us?" Copsty relaxed a little when he saw that the other party didn't seem to have any ill intentions. "You, you are the one in the woods? You got rid of the corpse we woke up?"

As he spoke, he moved awkwardly, showing obvious fear.

He was able to sneak in while I was awake and unaware, so I definitely wouldn't be able to resist... Similar thoughts flashed through Kopsit's mind quickly.

"You are lucky enough that I happened to pass by. Otherwise, there would be corpses everywhere, bodies torn into pieces." Klein smiled and said, "Let's get back to our previous question. I am curious. You dared to stay at home. Do you know what crime you have committed?"

He was sure from Kopusti's behavior before and after the "resurrection ceremony" that the other party was just a rookie and could not have the skills to hide his true emotions. Therefore, he planned to find out the whole thing only by questioning and "clairvoyance", and at most verify it with divination in the end.

"I, I know that buying corpses privately and digging up other people's graves are crimes that can put me in prison for more than ten years. Moreover, I will definitely be punished by the church." Copsty, who looks less than 30 years old, took a breath and smiled bitterly. "However, as long as I don't cause too much trouble, those children and their parents will not report me, because they have done the same thing. Even if they are rewarded with meritorious service and their sentences are commuted, they will still end up in prison for a while."

"Ha." Copsty laughed at himself. "Some children have already told their parents my identity. They asked the gang to warn me and asked me to resign within a week and stay away from school. I agreed."

Klein nodded slightly:

"It's a good thing to change your environment. Of course, don't do similar things again. It's a great evil to incite ignorant children to commit crimes."

"No, never again. I didn't think it would be so dangerous. I just saw that they had the same hobbies as me, so I thought of teaching them and leading them to find the secret of eternal life. As for digging graves, many doctors have done it a long time ago." Kopusti sighed in fear.

His emotions matched his current state... He didn't sound like a member of the Spiritual Cult... Klein thought for a moment and asked directly:

"Where did you learn the 'Spirit Dance'?"

"Spirit dance? Ah, I call it the dance of death." Kopsti was stunned at first, then he understood, "This is what an old man taught me."

"An old gentleman?" Klein asked.

Kopusti was in a trance for a moment because of the memory:

"He was a homeless man who collapsed at my doorstep due to a serious illness."

"I didn't know he was sick at the time. I thought he had simply fainted, so I helped him back home, gave him a hot towel, and applied medicated oil on him."

"After he regained consciousness, he asked me not to take him to a hospital or clinic, and mentioned that death was not the end."

"I have experienced the death of my parents and several relatives, and I am very interested in similar things. So, I chatted with him and found that he has profound knowledge and admirable philosophy in this area. He seemed very satisfied with my curiosity, and finally even performed the miracle of killing a mosquito and waking it up again."

This is the beginning... I've read at least ten similar novels in my previous life. In each of them, a story is about a kind-hearted man who is about to die and takes him home, and then encounters an adventure... Klein twitched his lips and said:

"So, you left him at home?"

Kopsti nodded solemnly and said:

"Yes, if time was not enough, I would even like to become his student."

"In those few days, he taught me the dance of death and taught me a lot of knowledge. Unfortunately, the time was too short. Just as I got into the state, he died, leaving behind only a bronze whistle."

Before he finished speaking, Kopsti took out a copper whistle that was finely crafted and not old-fashioned:

“This is it.”

I have one too... probably an ancestral-level one... Klein complained and asked thoughtfully:

"How long ago was this? What did he look like? Where did you bury him?"

"Half a year ago, his most obvious features were his gray hair and red spots on the sides of his face. He asked me to bury him in the garden at the back." Kopsti calculated the date.

He is not Mr. Azik, but he is most likely a member of the Spiritual Cult. His sequence may not be low... Klein asked:

"Besides the 'Spirit Dance', you only learned the 'Resurrection Ceremony'?"

"I have only learned half of that ritual. I can only perfect it step by step and improve it again and again based on the scattered knowledge and folk legends I have found." Kopsti answered very honestly.

Perfected according to folklore? Oh, that poor black cat, may the goddess bless you... Klein resisted the urge to draw a scarlet moon on his chest.

"Besides that?" he asked.

"Well, there is also this copper whistle. I think it is the key to communicating with the world beyond the senses." Kopstie raised his hand and blew it, and said with emotion, "Every time I blew it, I could feel the surroundings become cold, as if someone was watching me, as if someone was pulling me..."

As he spoke, Klein, who had his "psychic vision" activated, saw ripple-like patterns spreading out on the ground. A cold and gloomy atmosphere filled the air, and the fire and lights also dimmed.

Then, a skull with three dead fish eyes emerged, with black, arthropod-like tentacles tangled around it.

A tentacle stretched out, sometimes touching Copstick's leg, sometimes pulling his clothes, appearing quite impatient, but Copstick did not respond at all, as if he didn't notice it at all.

Is this a messenger? The copper whistle is used to summon the corresponding messenger... What does it mean that you summoned it but didn't give it a message? Klein looked a little stunned.

At this time, Kopsti looked at him excitedly:

"Do you feel it? It's getting colder all around! The gas lamps are getting dim!"

"Really, someone is watching me and pulling me!"

The scary-looking messenger tried to touch Copsty over and over again, but ultimately did not receive the letter and reluctantly went back "underground".

Klein watched with a slight twitch in his mouth, and muttered to himself in his heart:

"I take back what I said before, he is not a vegetable, he is a vegetable's foot picker."

"He's not a Beyonder at all!"

"I thought he was just getting started in mysticism, but now it seems he hasn't even found the door yet..."

"A 'Corpse Collector' at Sequence 9 of the 'Death God' Path can directly see ghosts and spirits..."

Combined with Kopsti's performance of using the copper whistle to command the zombies after the ceremony, Klein was completely convinced that he was not lying and could not help but sigh silently.

Immediately, he thought of a question:

"If I write a note to that messenger, where will it go?"

"A true member of the Spiritual Cult? A senior member?"

Suppressing this thought, Klein nodded and said:

“It’s definitely getting gloomy.”

After responding, he quickly changed the subject: "Have you felt anything unusual since the old man's death?"

"Well... not before, but in the past two weeks, I occasionally feel that someone around me is like a corpse, the kind that can be awakened." Kapusti asked half-fearfully and half-confusedly, "Is this an illusion?"

This is consistent with what Atreus said. He didn't lie... Klein glanced at the color of Copsty's aura and reminded him sincerely:

"I suggest that you go to church at least three times a week for the next two months, attend mass, and listen to prayers."

"If you don't want to do that, you can reserve a grave for yourself first."

"Okay..." Copstil responded slightly disappointed.

He thought it was a sign of progress!

Klein thought about it for a moment and said in a commanding tone:

"Take me to see the old gentleman's body."

"Ah? Okay." Kopusti wanted to refuse, but he immediately faced the reality.

He picked up the tools and led Klein out of the back door of the kitchen, into the garden with withered grass and trees, and stopped in front of a crooked tree.

Klein stood nearby, watching Copsty skillfully dig up the dirt, gradually revealing the stone slab underneath.

After finishing the upper layer, Kopusti used tools to pry open the stone slab.

puff!

The stone slab was pressed on the soil that had just been dug out, and the not-so-deep tomb was sprinkled with the crimson moonlight that faintly penetrated the clouds.

Copstick looked at it subconsciously, and suddenly screamed, took a few steps back, and fell to the ground.

There were no rotting corpses or bones in the tomb. Instead, the bottom was littered with white feathers, white feathers stained with pale yellow oil!