Chapter 368

Taking advantage of the fact that there was no one in the alley, Xia De used a mystical art to pick the lock. After entering the house, he first put on shoe covers and gloves, then adjusted his hat.

Subsequently, he saw that the furniture and daily necessities were all there. Presumably, after the matter was over, the landlord and the tenants on the second floor would move back.

"I knew it, if I wanted to be a master thief, ordinary people definitely couldn't stop me."

Xia De thought to himself while walking up the stairs.

There were no problems on the first and second floors. Xia De did not open anyone else's door, just walked around the corridor.

【Echo of Blood】 did not see any strange traces, but 【Echo of the Past】 allowed Xia De to hear some interesting conversations.

Within 48 hours, the tenants on the second floor had returned. The voices were a man and a woman, and the content of their discussion was about the young man on the third floor.

They were just chatting while walking down the stairs. The general meaning was that ever since the young student upstairs moved in, strange noises would come from upstairs late at night, so they thought that perhaps Sal Haque's death was because the "evil spirit" had already existed.

Entering the third floor, Xia De opened the locked door, but except for the large furniture, the traces of life in the room had all disappeared.

Unlike the windows on the first floor which were sealed, the third floor only had the windows closed, so the sunlight passing through the hazy fog could still be projected in.

Xia De's boots stepped on the somewhat damp floor, making a creaking sound. He walked into the room and looked around. Under the reminder of the woman's voice in his head, he turned around and saw the soul standing at the bedroom door, avoiding the sunlight.

Not an evil spirit, just a soul. The soul was almost completely transparent; if it dared to stand in the light, Xia De would probably barely be able to see its form. Judging from the facial features of the soul, this should be Sal Haque who lived here.

Xia De saw him, and he also saw Xia De. At first, he thought it was just a coincidence, but seeing Xia De staring at him, the soul looked behind him in surprise, confirming that the door behind him was closed:

"Can you see me?"

"Yes, I can see you."

Xia De said, his tone filled with some regret. The soul in front of him was very normal, belonging to a standard soul stranded in a death zone, not contaminated by any elements. Therefore, the rumors of "haunting" here were true, but it certainly had nothing to do with relics.

Thinking of this, he suddenly had the thought of turning around and leaving. But Xia De didn't move, because he was also very interested in the soul's story.

It was only 9:50 in the morning, and he had time to find out the story that happened here.

"So, there really is such a thing as mystical power in this world."

Probably because the time of death was not long ago, the intelligence displayed by the soul was close to that of a normal person.

"Are you Haque?"

Xia De confirmed, and the soul nodded, looking very happy that someone could talk to him:

"Yes, Sal Haque. I died here, and then I was trapped here. May I ask who you are..."

"MI6."

Xia De took out his credentials and shook them. The soul suddenly realized:

"Oh, I know, that's a plot in court novels. In the mysterious MI6, there really are wizards who solve witchcraft for the King!"

This kind of statement was of course wrong. There might be hired Ringed Ringed Shushi in MI6, but most of them were people who couldn't make it elsewhere or were in urgent need of money, not what he thought.

But Xia De didn't correct him, instead nodding:

"Your neighbor downstairs reported that it was haunted here, so I was sent to check the house."

"Haunted? When I lived here, I never... oh, so it was talking about me."

He suddenly realized, not knowing whether it was the wear and tear of the soul that reduced his intelligence, or that he hadn't fully accepted his own death:

"Sorry, I swear I didn't do anything! I just walked around occasionally at night. I thought I couldn't interfere with the world of the living."

Sal Haque's soul was even weaker than the two souls in the cemetery. The latter, because of half a century of resentment and confusion, could at least work together to control an ordinary person, while the former was really just an ordinary soul.

"How did you die?"

Xia De asked curiously.

"Illness. I originally thought it was just a common stomach problem, but I didn't expect it to hurt so badly in the middle of the night. That night, the landlord's family went to the countryside to visit relatives, and the neighbor on the second floor seemed to have gone to attend a banquet for small civil servants at the City Hall. I couldn't call for help, and then I died."

Speaking of his own death, the young man's soul still had some regrets, but no dissatisfaction.

"According to my preliminary investigation, your neighbor said there were strange noises upstairs before. That was before you died. Are you sure there was really no problem where you lived?"

"Try sitting on the sofa."

The soul said. Xia De hesitated for a moment and sat over, but nothing happened.

"Try turning your body."

The soul said again, so Xia De moved again, but still nothing happened.

"Increase the force in your waist."

Xia De followed suit again. This time, the floor made a very obvious creaking sound. Apparently, the floor under the sofa was loose, and it would make noise when the sofa shook.

"So, the noise the neighbor downstairs heard was made like this... but what kind of strenuous exercise were you doing on the sofa every night? Was it for physical exercise?"

"Exercise..."

The soul was still standing in the shadows at the bedroom door:

"Not really. Actually, I also know I shouldn't have stayed. Being able to stay, on one hand, might be because a necklace I bought before had a problem, and on the other hand, there were things to deal with. Sir, there is a floorboard under the coffee table that can be pried open. Please take out the items inside."

Xia De really hadn't felt any traces of elements in the house, and only after prying open the floorboard did he barely perceive that there were alchemical items underneath.

Taking out everything inside, there were three magazines, a bone necklace, and an old black wallet.

Xia De suspected that the bone necklace was human bone. From his shallow knowledge, this thing was a standard necromantic alchemical item, but it was severely damaged. It was probably accidentally left in a shop and bought back by him. Even if left alone, it would be completely ineffective in a few months. It was this item, plus a strong desire, that made it possible for the soul to linger.

As for the three books, judging from the covers, they seemed to be fashion magazines for ladies from last autumn. These were things noble ladies liked, and it was strange for them to appear here.

Xia De flipped through them and took a look, then immediately closed the books, his face turning a bit red.

There wasn't a single word inside, just large black-and-white photos of people and black-and-white oil paintings, used to demonstrate the beauty of the human body and to explain that humans can also be photographed and painted without clothes.

In other words, the cover was just used to cover up the real content inside; this was a colored picture book.

"You were looking at this every night?"

Xia De looked at the soul, shaking the book in his hand.

"Not every night, occasionally... I stayed behind actually because I wanted to destroy these things, that's why I walked around at night. No, taking them away is fine too, as long as you don't let others find out I once looked at them."

The soul said, with no expression on his face.

"No problem, I'll help you take them away and burn them."

Xia De couldn't leave traces of himself having been to the house, so he couldn't burn them here.

"Also, please burn the photos in the wallet too."

The soul said again. Xia De opened the old black wallet to check. The so-called photos were two very old family photos, with the background being in front of a windmill in the countryside. The little boy in the photo should be Sal Haque in front of him, but calculating the time, the photos should have been taken more than ten years ago.

"These are photos of me and my family, but they unfortunately passed away during the plague five years ago. Sir, take those three books away, burn the photos, and the money in the wallet is yours. That was the money I originally saved for next year's tuition; I don't need it anymore."

"Don't you have friends? Who handled the body?"

Xia De asked in surprise. The soul of Sal Haque, becoming increasingly transparent, shook his head:

"If I had friends, how would I be reading those magazines alone at home at night? My body was handled by the school, but since I'm already dead, don't disturb people I know at school because of money. The landlord has my three-month deposit; give it to him as a gift. As for this money, about 20 pounds, sir, this is a gift for you. Thank you for helping me deal with these things."

It wasn't that the tuition for a year was 20 pounds, but that this was all the money he had saved so far.

The soul's voice grew weaker and weaker, only letting Xia De hear the last sentence. He was leaving:

"Sir, I have no family, no friends, not even anyone to go out and have fun with at night. Alone, I wanted to rely on reading to change my life. As a stranger, I am very happy that someone can help me deal with my funeral... Thank you."

He disappeared, and Xia De looked at the 20 pounds he had obtained for nothing in his hand. Far from being happy, he was surprised and filled with doubts:

"So, why did I come here? Isn't this telling me that a stranger with no one to rely on will eventually die alone, and there isn't even anyone to inherit the estate?"

Sunlight shone into the room from outside the window, shining on Xia De's face. It was an expression of astonishment. Nothing else could destroy his mood for the whole day like this matter.

【Stranger, don't you have candidates who can inherit the estate?】

The whisper in his ear asked.

"Are you talking about Little Mia?"

Xia De looked at the wallet in his hand under the sunlight. The wallet seemed to be mocking him.

【I am talking about your friends. How could you think of that cat?】

She asked softly in his ear. Xia De was speechless:

"Although there is money to be made, I shouldn't have come to do this commission."

Although a soul appeared in this matter, it would have been fine even if left alone. Now the matter was perfectly solved, but the blow to Xia De's heart was really too great.

Leaving the house and locking the door, Xia De lit a fire downstairs with a spell and burned the two photos as agreed.

As for the three books in his hand, because they were really too big, he couldn't just light a fire in the alley. He planned to take them back and burn them. When walking out of the alley, he remembered that he could turn them into small toys, but since he had already come to the street...

Xia De sighed, clutching the three books, facing the morning sun, and with his head down, he merged into the hazy street with the crowd.