Chapter 77

Kalanfur, outskirts.

A robin circled in the sky, its silvery-white feathers seemingly merging with the mottled halo of light in the air.

"Is this the place?"

Xia Nan looked at the somewhat dilapidated wooden house in front of him and asked.

Behind him, the accompanying guard nodded in confirmation:

"Yes, sir."

At this moment, he and the Halfling had already left the cemetery and, with a squad of guards, arrived at the residence of the person Ingram mentioned who fit the poem's description.

As for our dedicated Sheriff, he was currently escorting the Grave Keeper to the Church—

With the protection of a Priest and under the gaze of the gods, that place was almost the safest spot in all of Kalanfur.

After delivering the Grave Keeper to be detained, he would immediately come to meet the two of them.

There was nothing strange about it.

Unlike the Grave Keeper's house in the cemetery earlier, the wooden house before them, though it also looked dilapidated, was kept very clean overall.

The small flower bed in front of the door was lush and green, dotted with nameless flowers of various bright colors, full of vitality.

In an inconspicuous corner against the wall, a cluster of brownish mushrooms was even stubbornly pushing through.

After all, it had rained heavily yesterday, and it was currently a muggy season.

Xia Nan didn't think much of it and followed the Halfling to the door.

"Knock, knock, knock."

The door was tapped lightly.

"Coming..."

A hoarse and low voice, accompanied by slow, heavy footsteps, came from behind the door.

Creak—

The dark wooden door opened gently amidst the friction of stiff hinges.

What came into view was an old man with a gaunt face.

He was clearly much older than the Grave Keeper; his very frame seemed to have bent under the heavy pressure of time, hunched and stooped.

It is said that when he was young, he was a not-so-famous Adventurer, until he was blinded in his left eye by a crazed Axe-beak Bird during a mission.

He then stayed in Kalanfur and became one of the few Gravediggers in town, responsible for moving corpses and digging graves.

"Old Blind Eye,"

This is what people call him now.

"You two, is there something you need?" the old man looked at the two people before him and asked slowly.

His sluggish gaze turned slowly, landing on Xia Nan.

For some reason, even though the sun was fierce behind him and the light inside the house wasn't dim,

when the other party pushed open the door, Xia Nan felt as if he had inexplicably sensed a cold wind, accompanied by some strange and unpleasant odor, surging out from the house.

The wrinkles covering his face and the age spots revealing a thick aura of twilight gave him the feeling of the rough, dark oak bark wrapped in mist deep within the Mist Forest;

That grey-white eye, pierced by a hideous scar, was filled with deathly stillness, yet it seemed to swallow Xia Nan's consciousness whole like a black hole.

A strange and grotesque sensation grew wildly in his heart like weeds.

At this moment, he suddenly felt as if he were that mushroom growing at the foot of the wall.

Light, tiny spores germinating in the damp soil, mycelia intertwining and weaving together, condensing into a solid body to extend and develop outward, finally breaking through the soil layer to become...

"Xia Nan, Xia Nan?"

A shaking force came from his arm; as if through the surface of water, a blurred call brought Xia Nan back to reality.

Consciousness returned to his body.

He was suddenly stunned.

He didn't know when it had happened, but he had actually already walked into the wooden house.

At this moment, he was sitting with the Halfling on a soft sofa next to the fireplace.

On the table in front of them sat two cups of tea with rising steam.

"What's going on? You've been absent-minded since just now."

Beside him, Alton looked at him in confusion.

Xia Nan didn't answer, his eyes staring straight ahead at the old man, who was hunched over and looking at him with the same confused gaze.

One second, two seconds...

He shook his head abruptly and rubbed his cheeks hard.

"It's nothing, just a bit distracted."

Was it an illusion?

Xia Nan wasn't sure.

But regardless, this place—or rather, the Old Blind Eye opposite—definitely had a problem!

"How long has it been since we came in?"

"Two hours, maybe? What's wrong with you? Have you really lost your mind?"

The Halfling's answer made him feel even more uneasy.

He suddenly stood up and pulled Alton, who was lying on the sofa in a rather relaxed posture.

"Why hasn't Ingram come yet? Did something happen?"

"I think we should go check on the Church."

"What do you mean?" The Halfling felt it was inexplicable. "You were silent just a moment ago, why so sudden?"

But seeing that he was acting unusually determined at this moment, he didn't resist much, leaping lightly from the sofa with his toes touching the ground.

The hot water in the teacup on the table trembled twice, along with Xia Nan's heart.

"This 'Old Blind Eye' is actually quite nice. He told many stories I'd never even heard before; I wonder where he was an Adventurer when he was young."

"Let's come back in a couple of days and..."

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?"

The Halfling looked at the stiff-postured Xia Nan beside him, his tone carrying a hint of complaint.

"Let's go out first, let's go out."

Xia Nan couldn't help but quicken his pace, almost dragging the other party toward the door.

"What is wrong with you today? You're acting all weird."

"I..."

Before he could speak, Xia Nan felt a sudden surge of heat from the wooden sword behind his back.

And almost at the same time, a huge commotion erupted outside the door.

It was the pained cries and roars of the guards responsible for keeping watch outside.

No more nonsense; the two of them rushed out the door instantly.

The warm air inside the house dissipated in an instant.

Replacing it was a bone-chilling cold wind carrying a thick, negative energy.

Fingers lay limply on the ground, twitching, and fresh red blood dripped silently from the surface of a broken, rusty sword.

The skin was pale and bluish, and the dead-grey eyes, filled with whites, lacked any luster.

Tim stood on the mud in front of the door, quietly watching the two people who had rushed out of the house.

In the center of the tattered scale armor on his body, one could vaguely see the traces of where it had been pierced by the wooden sword earlier, but the wounds inside had already healed, revealing the dry, rough skin beneath.

At his feet lay several corpses of the guards.

"How could it be this fast? I didn't hear a single sound inside?"

Alton hurriedly picked up his lute, his expression surprised.

Xia Nan, however, had already charged toward Tim with his sword.

But strangely, even though the enemy was right before his eyes, he didn't feel the boiling fighting spirit he usually had.

He only felt an involuntary sense of relief because he had walked out of the house and was gradually moving away from that wooden cabin.

Behind him, the impassioned sound of the lute rang out.

Tim, who had been standing in place, suddenly sheathed his sword and turned to flee.

Compared to the ghostly figure that had merged into the night before, it was now broad daylight; although the other party's speed was a bit faster than an ordinary person's, it was completely within the range that Xia Nan and Alton could keep up with.

Swish—

Three figures disappeared at high speed at the end of the road.

Inside the house,

The teacup sat quietly on the table, hot steam rising in wisps.

A withered, thin hand gripped the handle of the cup.

Raising the cup, blowing on it.

Taking a light sip.

(End of chapter)