" Vanessa Department Store's flavored dried fish looks good, but Wind Pavilion Bakery's jam-filled muffins are 40% off right now. Martha, can you tell me which one I should buy?"
Jeffrey, with his pale skin, white lips, and dark circles under his eyes, also stepped out of the carriage. 👊😂 ☹🍭
The Red Hair replied irritably, " Jeffrey, that's not how I use my divination."
Sifa craned his neck, but didn't see any more people in the carriage. He asked in confusion, "Where is Commander Lewis?"
Martha had taken out the candy box but hadn't opened it, shrugged and said, "The captain and Warren will stay in town. We're not sure if the thing is hidden in the mountains, so they'll be searching the area around town."
"Moreover, we must be wary of one problem."
Sifa casually asked, "What's the question?"
Martha smiled slightly, a slight upturn at the corners of her lips. "That's not something for you to consider. Let's go, Mr. Sifa, if you've already had breakfast."
Sifa nodded, called Matthew, gathered their gear, and boarded a police-operated carriage to head to town.
They came to Qingxiang Road to visit the hunter Leon, and they needed a guide to travel in the Awwabergen Mountain.
Without a doubt, Leon is the best guide.
After learning of Sifa and the others' purpose, Leon did not refuse and readily agreed.
While Leon packed his things, Sifa waited at the door. The hunter's house wasn't spacious enough to fit so many people. ✋♣ 🐠👣
Qingxiang Road is as bustling as ever, with various street vendors hawking their wares, pedestrians hurrying by, and occasionally a few children running past shouting.
Sifa glanced in the direction of the Sea Monster Tavern. He had been too busy lately to go to the tavern and didn't know if Doug had given the full amount of the bounty to the bartender, Sanchi.
"Cowardly Rodney, cowardly Rodney. His wife is having an affair, and he turns a blind eye, turns a blind eye."
"Useless Rodney, unlucky Rodney. He's always being wronged and bullied, and he doesn't dare to fight back, he doesn't dare to fight back."
A child's voice came from the street, catching Sifa's attention. He saw several eight- or nine-year-old children circling around a man, singing in unison what seemed to be a rhyme they had made up.
The man's hair was disheveled and unkempt. His eyes darted around, his gaze fixed on the street in front of him. He was hunched over, his furtive manner quite unpleasant.
Even when mocked by the children, he neither chased them away nor argued back.
Among the group of children, a boy of about ten years old was the most boisterous. This boy had rough, yellow hair and had lost a front tooth.
He boldly picked up a stone from the street, threw it on the leg of the man named Rodney, made a face, gestured, and led the children like the wind into the alley next door.
"We can set off now."
Leon's voice rang out, causing Sifa to look away. By the time they boarded the carriage, the man named Rodney was no longer visible.
It was nearly noon when they entered Awwabergen Mountain, but with his personal valet carrying a bag containing plenty of water and food, Sifa wasn't worried about going hungry.
On the way here, Sifa had already spoken with Leon, hoping to find the same strange wolf they had encountered last time.
Those wolves were clearly influenced by some force; they were stronger and more ferocious.
They are related to Gorey; if Gorey is in the mountains, then perhaps these wolves can help them find Gorey.
After entering the mountains, Leon, true to his Hunter nature, searched high and low.
Around 1 p. m., they finally made a discovery. In a low-lying area of Awwabergen Mountain, on the rocky bank where Silver Snake Creek had broken, they found two of those unusual wolves.
These wolves were larger than the ones Sifa and his companions had encountered before, and they had all shed their fur, revealing smooth, gray skin.
They were drawing water from the stream, completely unaware that several pairs of eyes were watching them from the grass in the distance.
Following the wolves, Sifa and his companions moved along Silver Snake Creek, heading downstream.
Silver Snake Creek is the only creek in the Awwabergen Mountain, winding its way through the deep mountains like a giant silver serpent.
No one knows where Silver Snake Creek originates, but most people know that the creek flows out of Awwabergen Mountain, passes through Enqi Town, and eventually empties into the sea.
When Sifa opened his pocket watch with its beautiful feather pattern again, it was around three in the afternoon. He looked ahead and saw that they were in the middle of the lower reaches of the Galaxy Stream. Not far from the stream, there was a gloomy forest.
In front of the woods, Sifa saw a church that had already collapsed.
"It doesn't look like a church," Martha said softly. As a Seer, she was also interested in history and had seen many church buildings from various periods in her books. So she could tell at a glance that the church did not look like it was built by the Church of the Evernight Goddess.
Although most of the church walls have collapsed, the main structure has been barely preserved.
Although not large in scale, the original magnificence of this church can still be seen from its spires and sculptures.
It is full of classical beauty.
1, 2,
Martha was counting something, which prompted Sifa to ask.
"Commander Martha, what's going on?"
"You can call me Miss Martha," the Red Hair inspector said, pointing to the church in the distance. "I'm counting its columns. Looking at the main entrance, you see, there are four on the left, but only three on the right."
"And it doesn't look like just one of the pillars collapsed, so this is what's called an asymmetrical design."
Jeffrey interjected, "I remember the asymmetrical design is Fourth Epoch architectural style. Doesn't that mean this building has been here for a long time?"
He then asked in bewilderment, "Why would people from the Fourth Epoch build a church deep in these mountains? There doesn't seem to be any sign of human habitation around here."
"I understand now, but don't you think it's possible that thing is hidden in the church?"
Jeffrey narrowed his eyes slightly and cautiously took out his short stick engraved with incantations. "There is indeed a need to explore this further."
Just as he uttered those words, a muffled voice suddenly reached Sifa's ears.
Pong-
The sound seemed to come from underground, or perhaps from inside the church. Sifa looked around, but the others didn't notice anything unusual.
It seemed that only he could hear this voice.
Pong-
Another slapping sound rang out, Sifa involuntarily trembled. Even though Silver Snake Creek was illuminated by the Sun, looking at the church in the distance, submerged in the shadows of the trees, he felt fear and dread.
It's like there's something terrifying inside the church, waiting for explorers to come knocking.
"You stay here, I'll go check it out."
Jeffrey stood up and was about to leave his hiding place when he was suddenly grabbed.
Sifa said in a deep voice, "Wait."
The two inspectors looked at him with puzzled expressions. Sifa coughed and said to the Red Hair woman, "Officer Martha, shouldn't you do some divination before taking action?"
"I've read some novels, and I've heard stories from adventurers on my journey to West Balam."
"In these stories, many of those remote, secluded buildings conceal some kind of danger."