Chapter 956: Chapter 149: Then They Began Fighting, Smashing the Chairs to Pieces
The smoke drifting from the chimney blended into the stormy, snowy night.
The fireplace, buried under wet mud, returned to silence.
"Don’t light a fire; it attracts too much attention."
Lu Li, who was using planks dismantled from wardrobes and tables to cover the windows, relayed Ophelia’s reminder.
They were outsiders, still a group of humans. In a city dominated by the strange, being high-profile was unwise.
"But our clothes and boots are soaked through. If we don’t deal with them, getting sick would be even more troublesome." Katerina looked at Ophelia, "If Ophelia could dry them, that would be best."
"Only... Lu Li’s... can." Ophelia was firm on this point.
Katerina then looked at Lu Li, who was busy, "Or could you have Anthony take the wet clothes to dry and bring them back?"
"Merchants aren’t servants to do such things."
Lu Li, who was blocking the prying eyes outside with planks, said.
"So you can’t?"
"I can."
Blocking the last window in the living room, Lu Li used the remaining furniture to block the stairs leading upstairs.
Of course, they couldn’t stop the strange, but they could warn when it approached.
"...10 investigation points."
The merchant seemed to express his protest only in this way.
"Deduct it from Lu Li." Katerina, taking off her coat, put her hands behind her back to unhook her leather armor.
A month ago, if someone had offered 100 shillings to wash her clothes, she would have shoved that person’s mouth into their butt.
But things were different now; how could the only exorcist lack money, especially when Lu Li held more wealth than all of humanity combined—
In the end, Lu Li didn’t have the merchant play the role of a servant to "take a pile of wet clothes to dry and bring them back," only to bring some new clothes.
The merchant walked toward the door, and Lu Li picked up the oil lamp to follow.
"Where are you going?" Katerina asked.
"To see if the tracks have disappeared."
The raging snowstorm pushed against the wooden door, flooding the gap with snow into the living room, seeming to darken even the light of the oil lamp and fluorite.
The blizzard raged through the streets; the footprints of the group had long disappeared into the accumulating snow in the corners.
After Merchant Anthony went out, Lu Li closed the door and latched it. A few minutes later, Merchant Anthony returned, and Lu Li opened the door for him.
"Lu Li, help me take off the leather armor," Katerina said.
Her left hand was twisted, making it hard to reach the leather armor’s connections.
A heat wave came from behind, and Ophelia helped her unfasten the leather armor.
"Thanks."
Barely taking off the last layer of close-fitting garments, Katerina used a blanket to wipe her body, carefully avoiding the eyeball on her abdomen, before changing into dry clothes.
"What is... that?" Ophelia asked, staring at the eyeball protruding from the skin.
"My pollution." Katerina put on her clothes to cover the deformity.
Without a fireplace, cooking was impossible, so they simply placed the canned food beside Ophelia to heat.
On a snowstorm-whistling snowy night, after dinner, everyone fell asleep again, leaving Ophelia and a book Merchant Anthony brought back from the Vena Ice-Free Port.
For a wraith who didn’t need rest or food, books were among the few psychological comforts.
Perhaps, besides secluding herself, the books were what kept her from being polluted into an evil spirit in the Inner World.
Katerina and Puxiu didn’t sleep well. Among the causes were the long-lasting cold-caused hypothermia and the dangerous snowstorm howling outside Reilston City’s walls—all made sleep difficult.
The crashing of tiles and planks against the wall, as if uninvited guests had knocked at the door, lasted for several hours, taking Katerina out of a half-sleep-half-awake state and into night sleep, whereas Puxiu ran off to Ophelia’s side to read after waking with a start.
...
Hoo—
In the morning, Katerina slowly awoke.
As she opened her eyes, the gaps sealed by wooden planks leaked faint light; daybreak had come.
Puxiu had fallen asleep beside the oil lamp, and Lu Li was buttoning his shirt sleeves. Everything exuded tranquility.
Katerina was glad to see the morning light again and to have her companions by her side.
Woo...
Puxiu’s whimper suddenly caught her attention.
Puxiu, lying on his side, looked anxious and fearful, flailing his limbs as if fleeing something.
Ophelia patted him awake, and the startled Puxiu gasped for breath.
"Another nightmare?" Katerina sat up, wrapping herself with the sliding blanket.
"Hmm..."
Puxiu’s wet fur was drenched in sweat.
Lu Li’s questioning gaze turned to Ophelia.
"It didn’t... bother him." Ophelia replied.
"I’m fine... Mr. Lu Li." Puxiu weakly got up, turning his head to shake his fur.
Shifting his gaze, Merchant Anthony pulled out a can to hand to Ophelia to prepare dinner.
Gusting winds blew outside the window; the storm still ravaged the land, although not as terrifying as last night.
While waiting for the cans scattered around Ophelia to heat up, they quietly listened to Lu Li arrange the next plan.
The fortress built by the previous generation around the excavation site wasn’t found. This means it was difficult for them to get there directly. Moreover, the gray fog may have permeated the entire excavation site.
This means, no matter what, they must enter the gray fog, contact the presence in the fog, and the lord known as Socrates.
Assuming the lord hasn’t changed.
"Wait until we reach the gray fog," Lu Li paused briefly, his calm black eyes surveying them, "I will enter the gray fog; you will stay outside."
"No... don’t even think about it." Katerina shook her head.
"I will go with you." Ophelia said.
"The lord’s rank is no lower than an Evil God." Lu Li answered.
Katerina’s protest was fiercer than expected, "Maybe we’re not as smart or clear-minded as you, but don’t underestimate our survival experience."
No one backed down at this moment.
After breakfast, they donned bulky clothes and cloaks and left the cabin.
Reilston City gradually disappeared behind them in the wind and snow; perhaps the destination lay ahead, perhaps it was no longer against the wind, or did it have nothing to do with any of this — maybe the gray fog was spreading outwards.
The blizzard gradually weakened by afternoon, and amidst the vast white brilliance of the earth, they could see the hazy boundary far off between the white and gray.
With a slight pause before the eerie pervading gray fog, they stepped inside.
They had come precisely for this.
The howling storm outside faded away as they entered the gray fog.
"Let’s stay close and not get separated—"
Puxiu’s whisper abruptly ended; he turned in panic, finding only the surging gray fog beside him...
...
Lu Li calmly gazed into the depths of the gray fog.
He felt something lurking within, waiting for him.
Were the others perhaps experiencing the same?
Stepping on crushed stone and gravel, Lu Li walked deeper into this desolate excavation field shrouded in gray fog.
Broken rocks, fractured picks, they crossed Lu Li’s path, gradually becoming whole. Complete stones, intact picks, a fuzzy outline of a statue, with picks piled nearby—
At the end of the road, a stone statue carved into a man-sized head stood silently.
"Seeker of answers lost in the paths..."
The statue’s murmur echoed around.
"What troubles you...?"
"I am looking for someone; her name is Anna." Lu Li felt the statue’s gaze on him. Its hair and beard were connected, like tendrils piled at its chin.
"Why..."
Whispers in the gray fog were tinged with confusion.
"She has always been by your side..."