[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies":3,"chapter-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-327":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Notes on Kraft Anomalous Studies",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2283805,4467,"Chapter 327: Abandonment","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-327",327,"\u003Cp>Raymond’s discovery sparked discussion; over a dozen knightly order members gathered around this detail, eagerly applying the fresh knowledge they’d just brought from the Academy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Subjective interpretations of artistic schools, symbolic meanings, and regional cultural differences—though they didn’t quite understand, to outsiders these explanations sounded plausible enough to make judgment impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, they reached no consensus, but proposed a relatively plausible hypothesis: this might be an expression of local religious orders incorporating regional elements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, the Prilier Domain is a basin surrounded by mountains; similar terrain is common here, and integrating elements familiar to locals would more easily resonate with and be accepted by the faithful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t without precedent—for instance, frescoes in the northern kingdom favored pure, clean snowscapes, while sacred scenes around Westmin were typically lush with vegetation. Yet such alterations to key content were rare, especially in the crucial “Ascension” scene.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was merely rare—they didn’t linger long, continuing upward; perhaps the answer lay within the monastery itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The “Ascension” was indeed the final painted relief along the path; after traversing the last stretch of uphill path thick with fallen leaves, they saw the monastery—the one that had long lingered only in their sketches.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was built on a relatively level area still some distance from the summit, larger than they’d imagined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gray-black complex followed the terrain’s contours; at its center stood the church, clinging to the mountainside, adopting a Gothic style similar to the Cathedral of the Virgin but with simpler ornamentation—windows were deep, narrow, and positioned higher, while outer arched decorative carvings expanded the visual width to avoid clashing with the overall scale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Asymmetrical auxiliary buildings extended from either side of the main church, staggered in height and varying in surface tone, likely added in phases after initial use, yet maintaining a unified overall style.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether due to technical constraints or other considerations, the thickness of the outer walls—evident from the deep windows—far exceeded that of typical buildings of the same type.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stone walls two men tall enclosed the courtyard in front of the monastery, creating an inaccessible inner space, with only a small platform before the main gate for visitors to pause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The solid wood door, iron-banded, had peeling paint, rusted blisters rising in clusters; the wood had rotted beyond identification, yet remained far from easily breakable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, the owner hadn’t intended to return. Several horizontal planks had been nailed across the door, their long, evenly spaced nails proving no thought had been given to ever removing them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kraft suddenly understood why, as the new owner, he’d never received a key.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this problem was easily solved. Though no locksmith was present, the party included a blacksmith and carpenter, both hired at high cost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They cleanly sawed through the planks sealing the door, yet still couldn’t push it open. The experienced craftsman noticed several spots along the door seam that didn’t transmit light; after inserting a file and rubbing, he scraped off some powder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s lead,” he licked his finger, spat in disgust, and blew the powder off his fingertip. “Someone poured molten lead into the seam.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some of the seasoned veterans had never seen a door sealed this way and couldn’t devise a way to get the party inside before sunset.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kraft abandoned fighting the damned door and chose to scale the wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, two long ladders were hastily assembled. The leading monk paused in slight surprise, then simply vaulted over, landing firmly; the wall obscured him below the waist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t even a fence—it was a defensive structure akin to a city wall, only slightly more restrained, lacking battlements or arrow slits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kraft climbed up and found multiple wider steps on the inner side, designed for rapid movement and transport of large equipment—a semi-militarized fortress, at least two generations more advanced than the Prilier family’s castle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While old monasteries did require some defensive features, the builders here clearly suffered from paranoid delusions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The good news was, it would now belong to the Knightly Order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone was highly satisfied with the asset’s quality; this satisfaction allowed them to temporarily ignore the chaos of the courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Untrimmed saplings had grown wildly for years after humans left, spilling beyond garden boundaries; years of fallen leaves carpeted the ground so densely it resembled a forest trail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grapevines hung like disheveled ghostly hair, nearly crushing their trellises, strangling nearby unpruned trees, and dripping down their slanted branches in unhealthy, sun-starved pale yellow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More delicate flowering plants had long been eradicated in this unbounded competition; the entire courtyard now held only a chaotic, unhealthy patchwork of yellow-green, thick with the scent of decaying humus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Feels like it’s about to be haunted?” muttered a garrulous unlucky soul, immediately met with angry glares.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No problem—we’ve got plenty of specialists,” Kraft stepped down from the wall and into the leaves, the plant corpses reaching past his ankles. “Scripture literacy exceeds most regions of the kingdom; if each of us recites one line, we’ll send the devil straight back to hell.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The church’s main door wasn’t nailed shut, but wouldn’t budge; the high windows eliminated any hope of climbing in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After studying it, the carpenter concluded there was likely only one wooden bolt, and replacing the door was more cost-effective than repairing it; Kraft promptly assigned the task to the eager Yin Feng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After an unconventional but effective procedure, both the door issue and some new members’ attitudes toward the girl were resolved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The professor’s youngest student stepped into the church, iron hammer in hand, still looking exhilarated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Conditions inside were slightly better than outside; aside from unavoidable dust and dampness, the mountain-side construction further limited light, leaving the hall dim even at noon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Few stained-glass panes remained in the window frames; cool-toned natural light filtered through, casting several beams through the drifting dust in the vast space—beams that made noses itch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sneezes erupted in succession; no nightmare was worse for allergy sufferers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kraft pulled his collar over his mouth and nose and walked inward, until he stood at the hall’s center, sensing for any breath beyond moisture and dust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The answer was no. Nothing detected—or not obvious enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He cast a subtle questioning glance toward Kup; the man nodded firmly, then couldn’t help sneezing again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though this place looked exactly like the setting for a classic Gothic horror tale, it was far safer than Dunling—at least no one had to worry about a giant timed bomb hidden beneath every cushion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His foot stepped on something, similar in texture to the fallen leaves outside; Kraft pulled on gloves from his pocket and bent to pick it up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The contents inside the half-bound cover had already been loose; the poor preservation conditions had destroyed the binding threads, and a light tug scattered them across the floor like wet sand or year-old decayed leaves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stop,” Kraft raised his hand to halt the others, directing their gaze toward the shadows ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The stone floor was covered in something leaf-like, carelessly strewn and abandoned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were countless pages of books, layered, piled, and utterly rotten.\u003C\u002Fp>",1174,"2026-06-20T02:15:56.940Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","770f05ce7efc979fa2a2571686d77d199eea5eee5fc2fa86f916e4101ddd02ff","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-328","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-326",406,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fnotes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-cover.jpg"]