The old woman's clothes were ragged and her face was covered with deep wrinkles. Her cloudy eyes were full of despair and pleading, and her skinny hands tightly grasped the corners of Moria's robe, as if it was the last life-saving straw.
"Master Priest... please..." Her voice trembled with excitement, with an almost tearing hoarseness.
Moria had just treated the wound of the businessman, and he was leaving with great gratitude. He turned around and gently held the old woman's arm to prevent her from falling due to excessive emotion. His voice was gentle and steady, with a power that could soothe people's hearts. "Please don't be anxious and tell me slowly, what happened?"
"It's my grandson, my little Jamie!" the old woman cried incoherently, "He's going to die! He's cold all over, and he has terrible black spots on his body... The doctors in the town shook their heads and said he was hopeless... Pastor, you are the messenger sent by Radiance. You must have something to do, right?"
Hearing the words "black spots" and "cold all over", Moria's expression immediately became serious. Without any hesitation, he nodded slightly to Li Wen, who was also looking at her, and then said to the old woman, "Please take me over, madam. Let me see the condition of your grandson."
The old woman nodded repeatedly, as if she had received the permission of the gods, and tremblingly led the way. Li Wen followed silently, pulling his hood lower to block the curious glances from passers-by around him.
Oak Town's streets are paved with cobblestones of different sizes, and the old woman's home is deep in a narrow alley. It was a low wooden house, and the air was filled with the smell of humidity and poverty.
Pushing open the creaking wooden door, a cold feeling hit my face. The room was dimly lit, and the only window was covered by a thick curtain, as if to protect against some invisible invasion. A boy of about twelve or thirteen years old was lying on a straw bed in the corner, covered with a thick old quilt, but he was still shivering.
Moria walked forward quickly, while Li Wen stopped near the door, leaning against the wall, observing quietly.
The boy's condition was worse than the old woman had described. His eyes were closed tightly, his face turned an abnormal blue-grey color, and his lips were purple. On his outer cheeks and neck, there were patches of light black, like corpse spots. The edge of the patch was not still, but was slightly squirming at an extremely slow and almost imperceptible speed, as if something alive was parasitic under his skin.
Moria's brows furrowed tightly. He reached out his hand and stroked the boy's forehead.
The moment they touched the boy's skin, those black patches quickly receded as if they had encountered a nemesis, and the boy's painful moans also became much lighter. However, when Moria moved his hand away, those black spots stubbornly and slowly spread again, even a bit deeper than before.
"It is the power of darkness." Moria retracted his hand, his voice low and solemn, "And it is a very pure, corrosive curse. He is not sick, but his soul has been corroded by some evil existence."
When the old woman heard this, her legs softened and she almost collapsed to the ground. Fortunately, she was supported by Moria in time.
"Curse? How could it be... my Jamie is so good... how could he provoke such a thing..." The old woman burst into tears.
"Madam, please think about it carefully." Although Moria's tone was serious, he still remained patient. "Before this happened, had your grandson been to any special place or been in contact with any strange people or things?"
The old woman tried hard to remember, her muddy tearful eyes widening with fear. After a while, she seemed to remember something and suddenly grabbed Moria's arm. Her voice became sharp with fear. "It's a mine! It's the abandoned mine east of the town!"
She explained intermittently.
About half a month ago, news suddenly began to spread in the town. Some people said that treasures left over from the ancient kingdom were found in the iron mine cave to the east of the town that had been abandoned for decades. No one believed it at first, until a lazy man who drank all day long suddenly appeared in Tavern with a few brand-new gold coins, bragging that he had made a fortune in the mine.
The gold coin was of excellent quality and had an ancient heraldry that had never been seen before that looked like a crown.
For a moment, the entire Oak Town was boiling. Greed is an infectious disease more terrifying than the plague. Countless idle young people and townspeople who have lost hope in life rushed to the abandoned mine with hoes and shovels, hoping to become the next lucky one.
"Jamie He... his friends also went..." the old woman choked, "I couldn't stop him. He said he wanted to dig up gold coins, buy me a new skirt, and repair our leaky roof... He followed that group of people for three days, three days..."
"The night before yesterday, he crawled back alone and became like this... None of the children who went with him came back, they were all gone..."
The old woman's cry echoed in the dim room, full of endless sadness and regret.
Li Wen listened quietly, his amber eyes shining thoughtfully under the shadow of the hood.
Abandoned mines, ancient treasures, mysterious gold coins, missing treasure hunters, and the deep dark curse on the victims.
All these elements combine to form a perfect trap. The so-called gold coins are just bait to lure prey into taking the bait. Deep in the mine, there must be an evil supernatural being Umbral Lineage.
For Li Wen, this is both a danger and an opportunity.
An extraordinary creature entrenched in a fixed location means stable experience points, extraordinary materials that may be dropped, and it may even hide some unique items or clues. Before heading to Camelot, it seems to be a good choice to solve this trouble and improve your strength.
Moreover, this place is not far from Royal Capital. The power of darkness is entrenched here but no one is there to deal with it. It can hardly be called an accident.
On the other side, after listening to the old woman's story, Moria's expression became extremely determined. As a priest of Radiance and a knight of the Templar, he would never tolerate the evil in front of him.
He turned around and solemnly promised the old woman, "Madam, please rest assured. I will go to the mine to investigate and eradicate the source of all this. Before that, I will pray for Jamie. Maybe I can temporarily suppress the curse in his body and buy us some time."
After saying that, he put his hand on the boy's forehead again, closed his eyes, and began to chant ancient and sacred prayers in a low voice.
After the prayer ended, the boy's breathing suddenly became much calmer, and the painful look on his face gradually relaxed, and he fell into a deep sleep.
After doing all this, Moria stood up and prepared to leave.
"I'll go too."
Li Wen's voice came from the door, calm and clear.
Moria turned back to look at her.
"I'm quite interested in this matter." Li Wen slowly walked out of the shadows and came to him, "Besides, we are companions."
Her reasons are impeccable.
So Moria nodded without too much hesitation. "Okay. Then we will set off immediately."
The two said goodbye to the old woman and asked her not to let anyone get close to the boy again, then turned and left the cabin.