Translator: SumTLMan
As Angel disappeared into the descending stairwell, Drew hesitated, unsure whether to follow. Just then, a chilly gust blew in from outside the door, sending a shiver down his spine.
“Better to follow,” Drew chattered, his teeth clattering with the cold. At least with Lord Pat, he should be safe.
With a heavy heart, Drew quickened his steps to catch up with Angel.
The stairwell was cloaked in darkness, surprisingly devoid of dust. However, the air was laced with a faint scent of medicine that unsettled Drew. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that the overpowering smell of medicine was masking something else.
Thud, thud, thud…
Down they went.
The luminescent stone emitted a faint green light, illuminating the seemingly endless staircase. Drew felt as if he was descending a stairway to hell. Each step he took seemed to send a shiver through his heart.
“Lord, why does this basement smell so strongly of medicine?” Drew questioned, eyeing the stern figure ahead.
“It’s because…” Angel paused, turning to look back.
Drew, puzzled by Angel’s sudden halt, pressed on, “Because of what?”
With a faint smile, Angel squinted his eyes and answered, “Because it used to be the infirmary of this orphanage.”
Drew made a face, feeling that Angel was trying to pull the wool over his eyes. After all, what orphanage would build an infirmary underground?
They continued their descent for about a minute more. Drew hugged himself, shivering, “Why is it getting colder and colder? It feels like wind is blowing from all directions.”
“It’s probably a draft,” Angel replied nonchalantly.
Yet another fib. A draft that blows chaotically from all directions? Drew wanted to retort but held his tongue. He was already so cold he didn’t want to expend more energy speaking.
And it seemed to get even colder as they descended further. Wasn’t it supposed to be an infirmary? Why did it feel more like an ice cellar?
Another cold breeze swept across, raising goosebumps on Drew’s back. He thought he heard a clear, high-pitched giggle, like a child’s laughter. The memory of the local residents often hearing a child’s laughter and moving away for their safety crossed his mind.
Could the laughter he just heard be from the malevolent spirits that scared off those people?
“Lord Pat, are there really evil spirits here?” Drew, shivering, asked again.
“Rest assured, there are none.” Angel reassured, “If you don’t believe me, you can look back.”
For a moment, Drew was at a loss, failing to understand why Angel asked him to turn around if there were no spirits. His cognitive gears were grinding too slow, yet his reflexes instinctively guided him to look back.
Then, once again, Drew locked eyes with a pair of orbs.
Pitch-black eyes. A void of lifeless black, akin to a stagnant pool.
Drew gasped, yearning to scream, but his throat seemed frozen. All he could do was retreat step by step until he was cornered against the wall, panting heavily.
It was then that his voice gradually returned. Trembling, he croaked, “Lord Pat…there is…there is…”
Before the word ‘ghost’ could escape his lips, Angel’s voice resonated.
“A tasteless ordinary soul, and it makes you so frightened?”
Drew swiveled his head towards Angel. The latter had already reached the end of the basement, leaning against a firmly shut door, speaking tranquilly.
A tasteless ordinary soul? Drew mulled over this phrase, then turned to observe the owner of the eyes that had so terrified him.
A boy of about seven or eight, dressed in gray ragged clothes, face pale and expression devoid of emotion. His jet-black eyes were unreadable, holding nothing but infinite indifference.
The boy’s figure was ethereal and faintly translucent.
Drew recalled Angel once explaining the difference between souls and ghosts, mentioning that the expressions of ghosts were usually twisted with resentment. In contrast, the boy’s soul before him bore no sign of grudge; indeed, it was characteristic of a soul.
“Even if it’s just a soul, it’s pretty scary,” Drew retorted meekly.
“What if I told you that this little fellow has been trailing behind you ever since you descended the stairs? Would that make you feel any better?” Angel squinted, his tone laced with mischief.
Taken aback, Drew recalled the chilling draft when he descended the stairs…a thought that sent shivers down his spine.
The realization that an unknown soul had been silently following him sent a cold shudder through Drew’s body. No wonder Lord Pat had suddenly paused mid-sentence when he looked back; he must have seen the soul lurking behind him!
Observing Drew’s forlorn expression, a smirk tugged at the corners of Angel’s mouth. Of course, he had detected the presence of the soul long ago. However, Angel noted that the young boy’s soul showed no signs of corruption, and the energy within it was extremely weak. Even if it intended to harm someone, it could merely startle them with minor tricks. For someone as vigorous as Drew, as long as he was alert, it wouldn’t pose any threat.
Hence, Angel chose not to disclose it until Drew unexpectedly asked about demons. Reaching the basement door, Angel decided to let him in on this unsettling secret in a playful twist.
“Who are you, and why are you shadowing us?” Angel posed the question, his gaze fixed on the Little Boy.
With an arch of his brow, the child bared his teeth and let out a shriek.
Angel: “…What are you doing?”
Taken aback, the boy extended his hands, mimicking claws, and yelled again!
It was fierce!
Angel had a hunch about the child’s antics now: “You’re not trying to scare us, you’re throwing a tantrum.”
After a brief pause, an evil grin spread across Angel’s face: “A real scare, however, is like this…”
In an instant, a billow of smoke enveloped Angel. In the blink of an eye, he morphed from a laid-back man into an eerie wraith. His face was indiscernible, but his blood-red eyes glowed with a sinister aura.
“Heh heh heh…” A spooky laugh echoed, reminiscent of a whispering demon.
His feet seemed to step on a fiery abyss, and waves of searing, purple flames swept over. As the boy was taken aback by the flames, a horrific face punctuated with sharp fangs suddenly pierced through the fire, opening its grotesque mouth, lunging towards the boy…
Not just the boy, Drew was also petrified by the terrifying sight. The boy, though, was utterly shocked. He had planned to scare Angel away, but who would’ve thought the newcomer would be more terrifying… He stood still, his whole body trembling.
It took a while for the boy to recover from his fear, and he turned to flee. However, a peculiar mist had enveloped him. Every time the boy tried to pierce through the fog, he inexplicably returned to his original spot.
“Are you ready to talk now? Why are you following us?” Angel’s voice echoed again.
Trembling, the boy turned around, his once indifferent gaze now consumed by fear. When he looked back at the demon from earlier, he found that it had resumed a human form. Yet, even in the face of a human, he dared not let his guard down.
This person was surely a demon in human skin!
“If you don’t answer, the devil may come to eat you tonight,” Angel’s voice was laced with playful menace.
Only then did the boy speak, his icy voice softened by a tinge of youthful innocence: “You can’t go in there, there’s… there’s…”
The boy hesitated, unable to articulate his fears.
Angel glanced at the locked door behind him, his voice a nonchalant murmur: “There’s a girl’s spirit inside, heavily tainted by bloodshed. She must’ve killed many. However… It’s interesting that she hasn’t fallen into darkness yet.”
“So, you’re here to stop us from entering?” Angel asked.
The boy didn’t understand how Angel had discerned the situation inside, but he nodded: “As soon as Sunny wakes up, she becomes extremely volatile. If she sees a living person, she will go on a killing spree. She’s much more formidable than me. If you don’t want to die, it’s better you leave this place.”
After the young boy had finished speaking, it suddenly occurred to him that Angel was a demon, and it seemed like he should be worried about Sunny, rather than these two.
“Seems like you don’t harbor much hatred towards humans?” Angel asked, “Were you killed by a human, by any chance? Perhaps by the director of an orphanage?”
The boy nodded, a fearful expression crossing his face as he recalled the man who had murdered him. “It was Director Tyson who killed me…but that has nothing to do with anyone else. If I were to hate anyone, it would only be Director Tyson.”
Angel regarded him intently. “If that’s truly how you feel, then…many humans are not as understanding as you.”
As he spoke, Angel turned and extended a mental tentacle into the keyhole. With a couple of clicks, the tightly shut door creaked open just a bit.
“Are you really going in?” The boy asked anxiously, “Even though Sunny hasn’t left this place in several months, I can sense that she is still inside.”
Pushing the door open, Angel was met with a strong scent of medicinal herbs wafting from within, along with a chilling frostiness permeating the air.
“The Sunny you speak of is indeed inside, but she’s probably not in a condition to disturb us,” Angel cast a spell of illumination, casting light into the pitch-black interior.
Upon seeing the scene inside, Drew’s pupils contracted in surprise.
The first thing he saw was a little girl, not much older than him, trapped within a peculiar blood formation.
She was wearing a red dress, her dark eyes fixed on them. The sight of her reminded Drew of the red-dressed doll that had given him a scare earlier, making his skin crawl.
“She’s trapped inside and unable to move. So, the possibility of her threatening us is rather slim.” Angel entered first, stopping just outside the blood formation.
“Sunny…what happened to her?” The boy’s eyes flickered with anxiety. He was worried about Sunny’s propensity to kill, but he was also concerned about her well-being.
Angel crouched down, studying the circle drawn in blood. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, “It’s not a demonic formation. The reason she’s trapped is because this blood seems to be filled with an unusual energy.”
“However, instead of delving into the origin of this blood, I am more interested in knowing – who trapped her here?”