Chapter 55 Death Night Crow
When Ulu returned to the hotel, the proprietress Kaya was sitting behind the counter, lighting a candle and writing something.
After hearing the footsteps, Kaiya raised her head and looked at Uru, then forced a smile: "You are back, guest."
Uru looked at Kaiya carefully. Kaiya's face looked even worse than when he saw her in the church before. She was even weaker than Uru, the guy who was parasitized by the "evil god", as if her life was already in countdown.
Oh, maybe you can remove the word "as if".
Twenty years ago, Ulu had seen such a situation. Every day was weaker than... no, even every minute was weaker than the previous minute, just like the candle on the counter. After it had burned out, it continued to support itself by relying on the wax that had already burned once, but it could go out at any time.
Originally, Ulu didn't want to pay attention to Kaiya, but for some reason, he stopped, looked at Kaiya deeply, and then said: "Your health is already very poor."
"Ah, you finally saw through it." Kaiya smiled helplessly.
"It's hard not to see." Uru asked expressionlessly, "What is the disease? Can't the Rhine priest cure it?"
Kaiya shook her head: "The priests tried their best, but my disease is really strange, and they can't do anything."
They have no solution?
Ulu thought of the conversation between the two priests he had heard earlier and fell silent.
Kaiya didn't say anything either, and the two completely unfamiliar people just looked at each other in silence.
Finally, it was Ulu who broke the silence: "Where's that kid?"
"Are you talking about Leah?" When mentioning Leah, Kaiya's lifeless eyes showed some light again. She smiled and said, "She has gone to bed. She has worked hard these days. Not only did she send me to the church to see the doctor, but she also did all the work I was supposed to do. She is such a sensible child... But the work is still a bit too much for her to do alone. You know, I had to hire someone to work with me to complete it before."
Standing at the counter, Ulu lowered his head.
When he first arrived at this hotel two days ago, the table was still a mess with a layer of dirt, but now it is very clean. Ulu raised his left hand and stroked it gently. He did not hear Bai Wei's threat, which meant that even this person could not find fault with it.
"Very sensible." After a long silence, Ulu said this.
"Thank you." Kaiya looked very happy. "If Leah is still awake, she will be very happy. You are the first guest she has received. She hopes to get your good comments."
Uru looked at Kaya.
Even though he was already at the end of his rope, he was still beaming with joy when he mentioned that little kid.
What a damn sense of déjà vu.
You are dying!
Can you take care of yourself?
Ulu felt a nameless anger rising in his heart. He looked at Kaiya coldly and said, "You are almost dying."
Kaiya's eyes, which had been burning with anger, dimmed in an instant.
"Ah, yes, you are right." Kaiya's voice immediately became much softer, but she did not blame Uru, and even blamed herself a little. "Liya's mother died in the famine some time ago. Other relatives did not want her, so I took her in. I just didn't expect my health to deteriorate to this extent. She is actually a very strong child. Even after encountering those things, she still..."
Seeing Kaiya rambling on, Ulu interrupted her with some annoyance: "Okay, I'm tired, I'm going to rest first."
Kaiya was slightly startled, a trace of helplessness flashed across her eyes, but she quickly recovered, chuckled and nodded: "Thank you for listening to me for so long."
Ulu ignored him and turned away.
But Kaiya stopped him and said, "Can you please do me a favor?"
Ulu stopped but did not look back.
Kaiya picked up the letter in her hand and said helplessly: "This is a letter to my brother. I want him to come and help me take care of Leah, but my body doesn't think I can send this letter out, so can you... help me?"
Uru heard a hint of pleading in Kaiya's words.
But after a long silence, he still replied coldly: "Do you think I am a kind person who likes to help others? I am very busy."
Ulu didn't turn around, so he couldn't see Kaiya's expression. He could only hear Kaiya softly say, "Really? Sorry to trouble you."
He raised his foot again, and then heard Kaiya say from behind: "Tomorrow's breakfast will still be grilled sausage and fried eggs, okay?"
Ulu said without even turning his head: "I don't eat breakfast."
He quickened his pace and soon disappeared from sight.
But before going upstairs, Ulu still glanced at the exhausted proprietress out of the corner of his eye.
Then he clearly saw a black worm poking out of Kaiya's ear, but it quickly shrank back.
His eyes narrowed slightly, but he said nothing, and without stopping, he quickly went upstairs.
But here he stopped.
Because he saw Leah sleeping in the corridor with the broom in her arms, obviously she fell asleep while cleaning.
Ulu watched in silence, and then heard a voice in his mind.
"This little ghost is not completely ignorant." Bai Wei said slowly, "I heard that most people will grow up quickly after experiencing life and death, but it is still too early for a little ghost. She has realized what will happen, but she doesn't know what to do. She can only try her best to make herself sensible and do all the things that don't belong to her, as if this can prevent something... Don't you think so?"
Ulu asked coldly: "Who are you talking about?"
"This little brat." Bai Wei said with a smile, "Who else could it be?"
Ulu was silent for a while, then asked, "What's the matter with that bug?"
"Ah, you finally decided to ask me. I thought you would keep it to yourself... But I'm sorry, that worm is related to what I'm going to tell you last, so I can't tell you everything." Bai Wei asked, "But I can tell you something in advance. That worm is related to the bishop."
Ulu didn't say anything. He just stood there and looked quietly at Leah who was sleeping in the corridor.
After a while, he turned and went downstairs.
Kaiya, who was about to fall asleep, heard footsteps and subconsciously raised her head. She saw Uru picked up the letter he had just written, then put a few copper coins on the counter and turned to go upstairs.
Kaiya only heard his voice when the figure disappeared at the end of the corridor.
"I don't like salty food. Tell that kid to put less salt."
Kaiya was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "Okay."
…
After returning to the room, Ulu did not lie down on the bed. Instead, he closed the door and sat down with his back against the door.
It was still raining heavily outside the window, and the strong wind was blowing the rain against the old-looking windows, as if some indescribable existence was roaring at the Uru in the room. And this small room became the only shelter.
Ulu slowly closed his eyes.
He didn't know why he did that just now. Now Corey knew he was in the city. It could be said that the more he did, the more mistakes he made.
So why is that?
Ulu himself couldn't find the reason, and he didn't want to find it anymore.
He was tired, really tired.
In a trance, he heard a strange sound.
“Crunch, crunch…”
What is that?
Ulu didn't know, he just felt that the voice was familiar yet strange. Then he heard the sound of two people talking, which was vague at first, but soon became clear.
"Mom, was that a cicada just now?"
“That should be it.”
“When the cicadas start to chirp, does that mean there will be a harvest?”
"Haha, yes."
"Mom, are you going to be okay... You are going to be okay!"
"Of course, silly child, of course mom will be fine."
The scenes in his memories became clearer little by little. Ulu saw the heavy snow all over the sky, and on the snow, his mother's face as pale as paper, trying hard to smile at him.
Ulu woke up suddenly and felt his face wet, as if he had been caught in the rain. This made him subconsciously look up at the window. He thought that the dilapidated window had been destroyed by last night's heavy rain.
But what he didn't expect was that the window was still closed.
And the rain stopped.
Although there were still dark clouds in the sky, making the whole city look dim, Ulu knew that it was already dawn.
But even though it was daybreak and the rain had stopped, it did not bring the slightest sense of freshness. Instead, the humid water vapor in the air made it so oppressive that it made people feel breathless.
Ulu was silent for a long time before wiping the "rain" off his face.
The dreams of the past are becoming clearer and clearer.
It had been so long since Ulu had dreamed of his mother's face so clearly that he almost thought he had forgotten it.
Memories that he thought were dead are chasing him.
Ulu didn't know whether this was good or bad.
But the dream just now made Ulu feel a little strange and a little uncomfortable, as if something was not right.
But he couldn't remember it for the time being, and trying hard to recall it only made his head ache unbearably. So he shook his head vigorously, getting rid of those strange thoughts in his mind, and then he gradually calmed down.
"Visas." Uru said slowly, "Are you awake?"
"Of course." Bai Wei said calmly, "I haven't slept in a while."
"Are you ready then?"
Bai Wei smiled: "The question should be, are you ready?"
"...Although I don't know why you have to stay until today to tell everything." Ulu said, "But today must be the last day."
"Of course, I will tell you everything." Bai Wei said, "Today."
Ulu nodded silently, then opened the door and prepared to leave.
Then he found a plate outside the door, with grilled sausages and fried eggs on it.
Ulu was stunned for a moment, then he slowly bent down, grabbed the sausage and fried eggs with his hands without using a knife and fork, and stuffed them directly into his mouth. After he finished eating them in a hurry, he whispered.
“There has been progress indeed.”
…
As soon as Ulu went downstairs, he saw a scene that surprised him.
The proprietress Kaia was cleaning with Leah.
Kaiya, who was so weak that she could hardly stand up last night, now looked radiant, with all her fatigue and sleepiness gone.
"Good morning, sir!" Leah was very happy about this change, and her words of greeting to Ulu were full of joy.
"Good morning, guest." Kaiya also said to Uru with a smile.
It seems like I'm really healed.
But Ulu thought of something and pursed his lips little by little.
Because this wasn't the first time he had experienced this.
This made him feel even more depressed, so he did not respond to the two of them. He just nodded and quickly walked past them.
Then, he heard Kaia whispering in his ear.
"Sir, please take care of the letter."
Uru turned to look at Kaya, and on the counter behind her was the candle lamp.
The flame was flickering, as if it would burn out in the next second.
But at this moment, the light it emits seems to be brighter than last night.
"……knew."
Ulu nodded silently, then stepped into the alley where the water was still lingering.
…
Looking at the heavy rain outside the window which had completely stopped, "Night Raven" Knight Matthews lit a cigarette for himself with a melancholy look.
"Why did the rain stop?" Matthews sighed while smoking.
If the rain continues, today's work will most likely be cancelled.
Although the work of the Night Crow is very special, that is, the undertaker, according to the Rhine regulations, no matter what the weather is, the work of the Night Crow is not allowed to be postponed or cancelled. But that was a rule a long time ago, after all, and few people follow it now. Anyway, there are so many people dying every day, and it is impossible to finish the funeral, so it doesn't matter if it's a day earlier or later.
Not to mention...
Matthews looked at the crow mask on the table and sighed again.
Not to mention that you have to wear this mask the whole time when you are working. To be honest, wearing this mask in this kind of weather is really torture.
I just hope that not so many people died today so that he can come back and rest earlier.
But he knew that was impossible, for today was a "harvest" day and was destined to be very busy.
He glanced at the time on his watch. There were still a few minutes before the gathering, which should be enough time for him to finish this cigarette.
But at this moment, there was a knock on his door.
Matthews frowned: "Who is it?"
The person knocking on the door didn't say anything, but just knocked harder.
"... Damn it, it's killing me." Matthews muttered as he stood up and opened the door, "Can't you just let me smoke this cigarette first..."
Before he could finish his words, a knife was stabbed into his throat.
His eyes widened, his body unconsciously took two steps back, and then fell to the ground.
The man stepped over his body and put the short robe belonging to Night Raven on the hanger on himself.
“You…you…you…”
Matthews covered his throat tightly and wanted to say something, but the blood began to flow back and he couldn't utter a word.
His consciousness was rapidly blurring, and he tried his best to hold on until he saw the man walk to his table and slowly put on the Night Crow mask that symbolized death.
"Matthews, assemble!"
Someone is shouting outside the house.
So he walked out like this, and his movements were as natural as if he had returned home, put on his own clothes, and then went out to work.
The last image Matthews saw before his consciousness completely faded was the man's glance back as he closed the door.
This was the only time the two looked at each other.
Under the dark crow mask,
A pair of cold and ruthless eyes.
"Bang".
The door is closed.
Ulu walked towards this sunless day.
(End of this chapter)
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