Chapter 73: Cemetery

Nearly summer, the sun was fierce.

The traces left by the heavy rain pouring all night melted away into nothingness in the morning sun.

Only the tiles occasionally blown down by the gale on the street and the grass sheds collapsed by the rain on the roadside vaguely showed the tragic scene of last night.

A silver-white robin flapped its wings lightly, flying over the dense and dilapidated housing area, revealing the messy cemetery standing with countless tombstones behind it.

"Achoo!"

The Halfling sneezed fiercely, rubbed his goosebump-covered arms, his tone filled with complaints.

"Is this the place? Don't you guys manage this place at all?"

In the previous life, people felt "gloomy" in the cemetery, largely because cemeteries were often built in remote areas with open environments, lacking vegetation, no high-rise buildings, cold air could circulate without obstruction, and psychological factors in special environments.

But in this world, the sudden drop in temperature in the cemetery really might be because of the negative energy lingering and permeating the air.

In many large cities with dense populations, there would even be relevant churches and specialized municipal organizations to regularly inspect and maintain nearby cemeteries to prevent some bad situations.

Kalanfur was just a border town in the kingdom, and the church in town only worshipped "Amaunator," so naturally, it didn't have such conditions.

To Alton's nagging, the handsome and three-dimensional face of the sheriff couldn't help but reveal a hint of embarrassment.

Not knowing how to answer, he could only pretend not to hear and look around, searching for whether there were any suspicious traces around.

Xia Nan didn't care much about this.

By comparison, what he cared more about was the wooden sword 【Green Pine】 that started to heat up slightly after he walked into the cemetery gate.

He felt alert in his heart.

At the same time, he was even more satisfied with this blue-quality weapon of his.

Even if it was rarely used, just carrying it on his back was equivalent to carrying a sensing radar aimed at undead, and snake/scorpion-type monsters.

Very easy to use.

When his strength gradually improved in the future and the wooden sword's strength couldn't keep up, maybe he could use its characteristics to make some sensing-type accessories that were easy to carry.

I wonder if its Flaming Sun damage could...

"Hey!"

The Halfling's voice interrupted Xia Nan's reverie about the future.

"Isn't there anyone nearby who is slightly familiar with the situation here?"

He asked the sheriff.

"Yes, yes." Seeing that the other was no longer concerned about the maintenance of the cemetery, Ingram's expression relaxed slightly, and he nodded.

"I remember there is a gravedigger who has been doing it for many years; he was already in town when I first came."

As he spoke, he identified the direction and led the two toward the depths of the cemetery.

This was a small wooden house that looked exceptionally dilapidated.

The eaves were covered with spider webs, and the window sills were covered with a thick layer of dust.

Only from the footprints in the mud in front of the door and the garbage scattered on the roadside could one see traces of human life.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Ingram's sturdy and strong body stood on the steps before the door, knocking lightly on the wooden door.

"Who!?"

From inside the house came a male voice that was quite impatient.

Accompanied by the movement of tables and chairs and the friction of the floor, slow and dragging footsteps gradually approached.

Creak—

The wooden door slowly opened from the inside out.

A thin old man, seventy or eighty years old, with a head of white hair, appeared behind the door.

"What..."

Suddenly catching sight of the sheriff before him, the gravedigger's originally gloomy and irritable face froze.

A stiff smile squeezed out on his face:

"Respected Mr. Ingram, may I ask what you are looking for me for?"

Without pleasantries, the sheriff went straight to the topic.

"There was a report from a passerby saying that they saw unclean things in the cemetery."

"You are the gravedigger; did you find any situation last night?"

Xia Nan clearly noticed that when Ingram pointed out the purpose of the visit, the old man's already bloodless face turned even paler.

"Situation? No... no!"

As if he had hit some vital point, the gravedigger suddenly raised his tone and replied, trembling.

"I, last night, very early... very early, I went to sleep; I don't know anything!"

Xia Nan stood to the side, his mouth couldn't help but twitch.

This "guilty conscience" look of the gravedigger, even if he had no interrogation experience, he could see the other's wrongness at a glance.

Ingram had served as sheriff in Kalanfur for many years, and naturally, he also discovered the other's abnormality.

His gaze instinctively followed the half-open wooden door of the old man and looked into the house.

Bang—

And just as he looked, it was like poking the other's dead spot.

As if some kind of stress reaction, the gravedigger pushed the door fiercely.

While letting the door opening outward hit the sheriff, his thin body lowered, and the whole person slid out like a loach.

Looking at Xia Nan and the Halfling blocking the road at the door, a fierce light suddenly appeared in those turbid eyes.

Taking a dagger flashing with cold light from his waist, he stabbed fiercely!

The strange environment of the cemetery and the wooden sword burning behind him kept Xia Nan alert.

Almost the moment the other moved, he reacted.

"Thump!"

The short dagger stabbed directly onto the wooden sword body, making a slightly dull sound.

Xia Nan frowned slightly.

The gravedigger's stabbing speed was very slow, and the force was not even comparable to a goblin.

As if he were really just an ordinary old man.

And because he instinctively pulled out 【Green Pine】 under the heat, facing the gravedigger's attack.

Although the hilt temperature rose further, it didn't burst out the "Flaming Sun" damage flame light like last night.

Thoughts flashed through his brain.

Since the other had already taken the initiative to attack him, he didn't have the possibility of holding back.

The combat technique book he had practiced hard for many days was far from reaching the level of "combat technique," but it also gave Xia Nan several techniques to deal with the enemy.

He pressed and twisted his wrist gripping the hilt, feeling the friction between the sword body and the dagger.

Suddenly upward!

"Block and slash upward!"

Swish—

A short, dense whistling sound sounded in his ears.

The black sword light passed by in a flash.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!"

The thin palm holding the short dagger, along with half a forearm, flew up against the backdrop of eye-stinging fresh blood.

The intense pain of the severed limb almost made the gravedigger faint on the spot.

His figure stumbled as if he were about to fall the next second.

But he maintained his body's center of gravity in the swaying.

The only remaining left hand tremblingly took out a bone whistle from his bosom.

Blew it hard!

Beep—

The sharp whistle spread through the entire cemetery in an instant.

Xia Nan held his sword and wanted to pursue, but saw the gravedigger throw the bone whistle in his hand onto the ground before him.

"Slap."

The pale bone whistle fell on the moist and soft black soil ground, stained with a few mud spots.

Vibration.

The vibration coming from below.

Bang—

Mud stars mixed with gravel splashed up.

A skeletal palm, reflecting a cold, gloomy light, suddenly reached out from the mud.

Five fingers closed.

Grasping the bone whistle tightly in the palm.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 74 =====