Chapter 3414: The Familiar Northern Suburbs

The snow did not grow heavier, and the two waiting before the grave continued to wait. When the setting sun's dying rays bathed the entire cemetery in gold, a person who also held no umbrella walked in from the cemetery gate.

From afar, Xia De saw it was a middle-aged man of average height; as he drew slightly closer, Xia De saw the symbol signifying "Human" atop his head. Clad entirely in black with neatly combed hair, his features were effeminate, and his chin was completely clean-shaven.

Before Xia De could guess, Miss Miss Difa whispered before the man truly approached:

"A eunuch. He must have worked in the Yoder Palace."

The largest source of eunuchs in Tobeske was the eunuch servants of the Yoder Palace. They were often obscure in reputation, yet held secrets others could scarcely imagine, with some even wielding power.

Nor did eunuch servants necessarily serve in the Yoder Palace for life; as long as they did not hold confidential posts, resigning and leaving was certainly permissible. Whether they would later attract the attention of MI6 was something only Director Director Anluosi would know.

Regardless, the appearance of a suspected eunuch servant who had once served in the Yoder Palace was enough to illustrate how far the House of Resurrection had developed.

The visitor did not state his identity or name to Xia De; as if he had long known Xia De and Miss Miss Difa, he nodded lightly to them and said:

"Knight Hamilton, have you brought everything?"

"The hair and the photo are with me; the payment for everyone, the Duke has also prepared for me."

The briefcase Miss Miss Difa held in her hand contained cash banknotes; as for the hair and the photo, there were none. The Grey Owl would not leave any front-facing photo of himself, which was quite similar to Xia De.

The stranger with the somewhat shrill voice made an inviting gesture, yet the movement was quite dignified and natural; he must have practiced this tens of thousands of times:

"Please, two honored guests, follow me."

He did not even look at the tombstone of Spyro Hamilton, but led Xia De and Miss Miss Difa out of the cemetery again. As expected, a carriage looking exactly like the rental carriages within the city waited at the cemetery gate. The eunuch jumped onto the driver's seat; Xia De climbed into the carriage first, then reached out to pull Miss Miss Difa inside.

There was no scene of "blindfolding to prevent seeing the route" as Xia De had imagined; the carriage immediately set off with the two, and the direction indicated the city. The House of Resurrection being in the city was the worst-case scenario anticipated during planning, because it meant many methods could not be used freely.

For instance, Xia De would absolutely not transform into something hundreds of meters tall within the city.

Fortunately, the carriage did not head straight for the city center, but arrived at the north of Tobeske, the Lower District. After passing the familiar Song Square as the last sliver of the setting sun remained on the horizon, the carriage continued northward. It brushed past the district where the dilapidated women's shelter "Home of the Carnation" was located, and finally stopped by the banks of the Oser River.

This river was one of the major waterways traversing northern Tobeske; during the flood season, it could even be described as surging. Although the New Moon had not yet ended, the surface of the Oser River had already thawed, and several ships were navigating the river.

The eunuch led Xia De and Miss Miss Difa off the carriage, then walked toward a small boat moored at the riverbank. Here, he handed each of them a mask; Xia De's was black, Miss Miss Difa's was white:

"This is to protect your privacy. Except for me and the High Priest of the House of Resurrection, no one knows your identity."

He explained thus; Xia De was naturally very satisfied. This was not only protecting his and Miss Miss Difa's privacy, but also protecting the identity of the "False Person" about to be delivered, which was also within Xia De's expectations.

Thus the steam engine was started, and the small boat gradually sailed toward the northern suburbs under the illumination of the coal gas lamps lighting up along the embankment, until it completely left the city.

"So it is still outside the city after all."

Xia De thought to himself, and after donning his mask, held Miss Miss Difa's right hand with his left. The wind on the river blew through the young lady's black hair; noticing Xia De looking at her, the beautiful eyes behind her mask also looked at him, showing not a trace of nervousness.

This steamship finally stopped beside a small dock outside the city that Xia De had never seen before; only after disembarking did Xia De see that this dock belonged to a countryside manor.

By now the snow had stopped, and the three moons hung high overhead. Xia De, possessing dark vision, saw that the surroundings were vast tracts of farmland and wasteland; not a trace of the town was visible. Beside that lit manor stood a horse racing track of not large area.

A country road wide enough for two people to walk side by side extended from the horse track and the manor; presumably, during the racing season, this road could serve as a track. With the moon bright and stars sparse, aside from the lit manor house, no one was visible here.

As the eunuch led Xia De and Miss Miss Difa toward the main house, Xia De gazed into the distance and vaguely saw another building far away; that building had a pointed roof and a cross-shaped decorative spire, though it was not particularly close.

"That building looks very familiar... I remember now, it is this place. Coincidence or fate that I used Detective Spyro as an excuse?"

He knew where this was; he had come here once long ago. Miss Miss Difa, meanwhile, focused on that manor building; the nine-ring witch apprentice perceived no very strong whispering elements from the building itself, meaning that while this manor might be the headquarters of the House of Resurrection, it was absolutely not the true body of the House of False Persons.

"Count Fick's manor."

Miss Miss Difa's voice appeared in Xia De's mind; Xia De, keeping his expression unchanged, continued holding her hand and following the eunuch forward. The eunuch servant did not lead the two to the front door, but guided them into the interior through the back door of the main house.

At this moment, Xia De squeezed Miss Miss Difa's hand, meaning she should try not to cast spells afterward. Even Xia De himself had not used the Heart of Stone to listen to heartbeats, yet he instinctively felt that this manor, with all its coal gas lamps on, was emptily terrifying.

No one greeted them inside the main house; the eunuch led them up the stairs to the entrance of the banquet hall on the highest floor of the manor. After a light knock, a creak~ sound occurred as the door opened a crack, while the interior was pitch black.

That eunuch did not enter, but made the inviting gesture to Xia De and Miss Miss Difa again. After the two entered, they found that indeed no lights were on; all furniture in the banquet hall had vanished, and a high platform made of piled stone stood in the center, upon which a stone coffin was placed like an offering.

More than twenty strangers in black robes stood separately along both sides of the banquet hall walls. Xia De glanced over, and the race of each person clearly appeared above their heads. Only two-thirds displayed "Human"; one displayed the mark of the Blood Kind, while the rest displayed nothing, obviously all being False Persons.

"The Blood Kind is involved in this matter? Coincidence, or some other reason?"

The situation he feared most—arriving to find only humans—had not occurred; yet these people not only kept their heads down but also wore masks. Plus, the black robes were loose, so Xia De could not yet distinguish what stage each of these False Persons was at.

The floor of the banquet hall was painted black; subsequently, blood surrounded the high platform holding the stone coffin, painting the pattern of an inverted pentagram. A series of dark brown tapestries hung on the walls, covered with dense black runes resembling tombstone inscriptions; even Xia De could not read those runes, so those runes were all forged occult symbols.

This did indeed look the part, but it was all for bluffing. The methods of the House of Resurrection were indeed good; an ordinary person who knew nothing arriving here and seeing this scene, combined with the mental power possessed by second-stage False Persons, would find it hard to doubt the professionalism here.

The eunuch outside closed the door, and the interior became pitch black, completely lightless. Xia De and Miss Miss Difa both pretended to panic briefly because they could not see the scene before them; only after those black-robed figures each lit the candles in their hands and gathered toward the central high platform did they stop panicking, and by then Xia De had once again grasped Miss Miss Difa's hand.

Thus, among the black-robed figures who had already reached the foot of the high platform, one walked toward Xia De. She actively lifted her hood and removed her mask, revealing a beautiful face and a head of fluffy brown hair. If not for the black fish gills on her cheeks and her two vertical eyes, she should have been considered a very beautiful noble lady:

"Guest, welcome to the House of Resurrection. I am the High Priest of this ceremony; please address me simply as 'High Priest'. I know you care deeply about privacy and do not wish to interact with us much."

Xia De merely nodded slightly, then took the briefcase from Miss Miss Difa's hand and handed the case to her:

"If it were not for my uncle, I indeed would not have come to a place like yours. No need for other words; this is the reward. When do we begin?"

He then pretended to clear his throat, but this was the agreed signal; Miss Miss Difa had already begun contacting the others.

The noble lady smiled, accepted the case, and without opening it to check, handed it to the person behind her:

"Honored guest, I know you miss your deceased relative, but please do not be in a hurry. Reversing life and death is not an easy matter; those returning must travel backward along the Path of the Dead for a long time before reaching their loved ones. Please be patient; I guarantee that before midnight tonight, you will surely reunite with the relative you wish to summon."

Xia De was naturally not in a hurry; he even worried the other side would move too fast, and Luvia and the others would not have time to arrive before it ended:

"So what do I need to do now?"

"The photo and the hair, have you brought them?"

"Of course."

(End of Chapter)