Chapter 2143 Shadow Stone <TOC> Chapter 2145 Doubts and Suspicions
Next page password is bold portion: brIt8yo5=Z!SwOsAq
Translator: SumTLMan
“He’s gone…” This voice sounded quite peculiar, as if it were both a sound in reality and a fluctuation at the energy level.
“Let’s go.” As the words fell, the empty corridor once again plunged into silence.
There were no fluctuations in the physical world, but in the realm of energy, a figure… no, not just one, but dozens, even hundreds of figures, passed through the stone walls of the corridor, entering the void and disappearing from sight.
…
Revelation Continent, Central Empire.
The Gondola cut through the sky-sea, its underside producing white foam, leisurely heading towards Saint Seim City, beyond the central mountain range.
As they were about to reach Saint Seim City, Angel noticed that Little Seim was becoming restless.
His gaze flickered, clinging to the railing, constantly peering downward.
The morning star had just risen, and the sky was only faintly lit. The air held a slight chill and mist, limiting visibility. From their vantage point, they could only make out the general contours of the landscape. Yet, Little Seim still strained to look down.
Soon, the Gondola reached the side of the central mountain range. From here, one could vaguely see the distant lights of Saint Seim City. However, Little Seim paid no attention to the city far away, continuing to look down at the ground.
Suddenly, the cold mist below slightly dispersed, revealing a lake.
His eyes suddenly fixed on it.
Angel could clearly see Little Seim’s throat move, his eyes filled with complex and sorrowful emotions.
Angel grew curious about what Little Seim had seen to evoke such intense emotions. Thus, he extended a strand of his mental power out of the Gondola, looking downward——
The night had not yet fully receded, and below the clouds, cold mist churned. Amidst the churn, one could faintly see a clear lake on the mountainside and an ancient castle hidden in the dense forest.
The Castle was surrounded by black iron fences and appeared long-abandoned. Even the path to the gate was overgrown with wild grass and weeds.
“Do you care about the castle below?” Angel asked softly.
Little Seim turned back, his eyes filled with surprise: “Mr. Pat, you can see it?”
“Yes, an ancient castle that looks long-abandoned, with a moss-covered statue of a lady at the entrance,” Angel described casually.
Hearing the mention of the moss-covered lady’s statue, Little Seim’s eyes dimmed slightly. After hesitating for a while, he finally spoke: “…That statue is of my ancestor, Queen Lorraine, the founder of Saint Seim City.”
“Oh? So, the castle below belongs to Queen Lorraine’s lineage, which is your ancestral family?”
Little Seim nodded slightly.
Angel: “Why has it fallen into disrepair if it’s the legacy of Queen Lorraine?”
A look of complexity flashed through Little Seim’s eyes, and he shook his head: “The disrepair only concerns my mother’s branch. The main lineage still reigns over the Central Empire.”
“I see.” Angel did not inquire further, guessing this involved stories of power struggles and internal conflicts within the royal family.
He wasn’t interested in these matters.
Little Seim clung to the railing, watching as the flying boat was about to leave the lake. Biting his lip, he turned back and said, “Mr. Pat, can I… can I go take a look at the castle?”
Angel did not immediately respond to Little Seim, but simply gazed at him quietly.
“I know this request is rude, but, but I…” Little Seim’s face turned red with effort, unable to find a reason for ‘but’, and could only lower his head helplessly: “Forget it, it’s my impertinence.”
Angel smiled lightly: “Considering that you guided me, I agree.”
Anyway, they had already reached this place, and a little more time wouldn’t matter. Moreover, Angel noticed a familiar aura wafting through the ancient castle and decided to agree to Little Seim’s request.
Little Seim’s eyes lit up instantly, filled with gratitude when he looked at Angel.
Angel controlled the Gondola to descend slowly, passing through sparse clouds and mist. Before long, they landed on a lake.
The Gondola transitioned perfectly from a sky vessel to a boat on the lake’s surface.
Gliding across the water, they docked at a somewhat decayed pier.
Standing on the pier, they could see the secluded ancient castle fifty meters away.
A closer look allowed them to appreciate the castle’s enormity.
Although the castle was abandoned and covered with moss and climbing vines, Angel, with his architectural appreciation skills, could tell that the castle must have been incredibly beautiful in its heyday.
It possessed the grandeur reminiscent of the famous art city, Saint Seim City.
Even now, it appeared like a noble lady situated beside a quiet mountain lake, just slightly dusted with dust.
“This castle is said to have been built by Queen Lorraine in her later years for recuperation and has been passed down for thousands of years. Later, it was inherited by my mother’s lineage,” Little Seim said with nostalgia, as if explaining to Angel and reminiscing to himself: “From the castle looking towards the lake at night, one can see a tranquil lake filled with stars. Hence, my mother named it Star Lake Castle.”
“Before the troubles began in our family, I used to come here every summer with my mother.”
“That apple tree over there, I planted it with the gardener’s son; and those marks on the large rock, I sketched them when I was naughty…” Little Seim walked towards the castle, speaking in a nostalgic tone.
Reaching the iron fence at the castle’s entrance, Little Seim finished recalling the summertime memories.
“This place holds my childhood,” Little Seim couldn’t help but be sentimental.
“You are still a child now,” Angel said softly.
Little Seim lowered his head: “These past few years, the only one who said I was still a child was Mr. Pat.”
After saying this, Little Seim walked up to the fence’s gate.
Even though it was locked, the neglected, decayed gate could not withstand the rusting from the moisture, and Little Seim only had to push lightly for the lock to fall off and the gate to open.
Crossing the muddy path, Little Seim walked up to the statue of Queen Lorraine.
As Angel mentioned, the statue of Queen Lorraine was covered in green moss, making the pure white sculpture appear moldy and adding a bizarre twist to the sculpture meant to represent pure beauty.
However, in Little Seim’s eyes, the statue of Queen Lorraine still looked as it did in his childhood. He stood in front of the statue for a while before circling it and walking towards the castle.
Little Seim did not notice that when he turned his back to the statue, a flash of blood-red light passed through Queen Lorraine’s eyes.
Angel saw it, his lips curling slightly, but he made no move.
As Little Seim reached the castle door, still lost in his sentiments, he unhesitatingly tried to push it open.
However, just as Little Seim was about to touch the doorknob, a force suddenly appeared behind him, pulling him back forcefully.
Little Seim stumbled and retreated several steps, finally standing beside Angel.
“Mr. Pat?” After finally steadying himself, Little Seim looked puzzledly at the person beside him.
Angel’s gaze was fixed on the dust-covered door in front. After a while, he chuckled, “I saw some interesting little fellows.”
Interesting little fellows? Little Seim didn’t understand what Angel meant. He also looked carefully at the door. It seemed no different from his childhood… But no, there were some differences. In his childhood, the air always carried the fragrance of perfumed servants on patrol, but now, there was an added whiff of decay and mold, probably due to the proximity of the lake, the moisture corroding the wood, and the smell of dead rats.
Could the little fellows Mr. Pat referred to be rats?
Just as Little Seim was about to ask, a strange laughter suddenly reached his ears.
Eh, the laughter came from behind… Is someone behind him? Little Seim thought to turn and check, but as soon as he moved his head, everything went dark.
In Angel’s view, Little Seim just turned his head and his clear eyes completely changed.
His sclera and pupils turned pitch black, occasionally flashing with crimson light. His lips curled into a strange smile, and he rushed towards the castle door with a mad pace.
“Possession,” Angel murmured, glancing at the Queen Lorraine statue nearby, then back at the greatly altered Little Seim, speaking softly.
Little Seim, as if he hadn’t heard Angel’s voice, excitedly continued towards the castle.
However, before he reached the door, someone appeared in front of him.
It was Angel.
“I thought you’d try to attack Little Seim’s soul, but possession? How did you manage that?” Angel looked at Little Seim with pitch-black eyes, “How did you do it?”
Little Seim tilted his head, not replying, but smiling creepily, “Those who obstruct me, die——”
The voice was indiscernible in gender, definitely not Little Seim’s.
After he spoke, Little Seim’s fingernails began to grow wildly, quickly becoming sharp and black.
“Die!” Little Seim, with his clawed hand, lunged at Angel.
Being a mere mortal, even if possessed, Little Seim couldn’t suddenly become superhuman. His speed was still limited by his body.
So quickly, Little Seim didn’t even see what happened; a cold metal gun barrel pressed against his forehead.
It was a revolver with silver patterns, held by Angel, its barrel pressed against Little Seim’s brow.
“Though I don’t know what you’re planning, daring to possess someone in my presence, you’re either too bold… or better off obliterated.”
As Angel spoke, he gently pulled the trigger, a peculiar ripple emanating from the barrel.
Amidst a piercing scream, a ghostly shadow with pitch-black eyes and a face covered in blue veins drifted from Little Seim’s body. It attempted to attack Angel, but before it could act, its entire spirit dissipated, vanishing from the world.
With the ghost’s disappearance, Little Seim’s eyes gradually returned to normal, and his nails reverted back.
Little Seim opened his eyes, looking dazed and unfocused, taking a while to come to his senses.
“Mr. Pat, what happened to me just now?” Little Seim faintly felt something was wrong earlier, but he couldn’t recall what had transpired.
“Nothing much, just possessed by a ghost,” Angel casually said.
“Ghost?!” Little Seim, although still unaware of the true nature of the extraordinary world, had heard of these malevolent spirits often depicted in storybooks.
“Yes, exactly, it’s a ghost hidden in that statue over there,” Angel continued, slightly puzzled, “Come to think of it, that ghost’s power is weak, but it surprisingly can possess, which is beyond my understanding.”
Possession, as described in Nisi’s Soul Trickery, is a relatively difficult technique. Generally, only a ghost harboring resentment for over a decade might coincidentally learn it.
But the ghost just now, dead for merely five or six years, knew such an advanced technique?
Having experienced life and death within a day and glimpsed the extraordinary world on the Gondola, Little Seim, after his initial shock, quickly accepted this reality and even curiously asked, “Why is there a ghost here?”
Angel replied, “The Death Aura and resentment here are incredibly strong; probably many people have died over the years. In such places, ghosts tend to congregate.”
Angel had agreed to bring Little Seim to the castle partly because “since we’re here already,” acknowledging Little Seim’s help in guiding the way, and partly because he sensed a familiar presence there.
This presence was undoubtedly the intense malevolent Death Aura.
These malevolent Death Auras had gathered, turning this once serene castle into a true… Ghost Castle.
“So, you mean there are ghosts here?” Little Seim swallowed hard, glancing at the dark, ancient castle nearby, “Inside too?”
Angel nodded, “Of course, apart from the one we met earlier, all the other ghosts… are inside.”
Hearing this, Little Seim’s cheeks turned pale in an instant.
“The little fellow Mr. Pat mentioned earlier, could it be…”
Angel nodded again, “Yes, I’m referring to the ghosts. Like, the one at the door right now.”
Little Seim froze, feeling a chill down his spine. He turned his head slowly, as if in slow motion, and then saw a long-haired woman floating at the door.
As Little Seim looked her way, the woman lifted her face, hidden by her hair.
Bulging eyes, purplish bruises, and a blackened, hanging… tongue!
Seeing this, Little Seim was so frightened that he sat down on the ground, scooting back and trembling.
He finally understood why Mr. Pat had pulled him back earlier; the ghost was right there!
“Not just the ghost at the door, but also by the window, the upper right corner of the eaves, the chimney on the top floor, next to the smoke duct on the second floor…”
Angel’s voice continued. With each mention, Little Seim saw a terrifying shadow appear at each specified location.
In a matter of seconds, the once desolate castle became “lively.”
“…all haunted by ghosts.”
At least thirty ghosts appeared throughout the castle.
And at that moment, they all fixed their venomous gazes on Angel and Little Seim at the entrance.
Chapter 2143 Shadow Stone <TOC> Chapter 2145 Doubts and Suspicions