Relics

For a fleeting moment, Lumian wondered if he was hallucinating:

There was no Couple involved, and there was absolutely no attempt to blow out the candles!

If the memory weren't still so vivid, and if he hadn't had such a clear understanding of the dangers of the Underground Trier, Lumian would definitely have looked for the problem within himself, rather than searching for traces of the Couple's existence here.

The guests who had been behind the Couple quickened their pace, caught up with the people in front, and filled the gaps that had suddenly appeared in the group.

They showed no surprise, no fear, and no confusion.

Everything was normal.

Lumian, already under the watchful eyes of countless invisible gazes, found the goosebumps on his body becoming increasingly noticeable.

He instinctively glanced at Kendall, the Catacombs Administrator walking in front of the two Police, to see how he would react to what had just happened.

Wearing yellow trousers and a blue vest, Kendall carried an extinguished Carbide Lamp in one hand and a quietly Burning White Candles in the other. He walked straight back the way he came towards the Catacombs, seemingly oblivious to what was happening in the group next to him.

Suddenly, he turned around, and his gaze met Lumian's.

"Is there something you need?" Kendall's slightly deep voice echoed in the Passageway flanked by Tomb Chamber, and reverberated in the Cavern of the nearby Skull.

Lumian showed no sign of distress and calmly replied, "I'm afraid of losing them."

Kendall nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Then I'll go slower."

He continued toward the exit doorway, his pace slowing considerably, leisurely, unsteady, and utterly silent, like Living Corpse described in some horror novels.

Holding White Candles with a flickering yellowish Flames, Lumian walked past the group Participant newlyweds who were still laughing and joking, occasionally making deliberate eye contact with a certain white Skull, and a series of thoughts flashed through his mind:

"They really didn't notice someone was missing..."

"Once they leave the Catacombs, will the man and woman's families discover that their relatives are missing?"

"I've been wondering before, with Catacombs open to the public and college students frequently coming here for adventure, dancing with skeletons, isn't there bound to be a problem?"

Even among visitors guided by the Catacombs Administrator, there are those who ignore warnings, let alone young people who enter the Catacombs carrying only a White Candles...

"I initially thought there were safer protective measures in place, or that the frequency of incidents wasn't high enough to scare those people away. But now it seems like it's something else entirely..."

Lumian suspects that not only do the bodies of those "swallowed" by the Catacombs disappear, but even their presence in the minds of their friends and relatives is erased!

Why can I remember them? Because Termiboros is sealed within me, and my Destiny is somehow intertwined with His?

"Why would the government and the two major Church open such a dangerous place to the public? What do the Catacombs need to have a large number of living people coming and going frequently to suppress? Are those who ignore the warnings considered necessary Sacrifice?" The more Lumian thought about it, the more his hair stood on end, forcing himself to stop analyzing it in depth.

Lacking sufficient information, he was unable to conduct an in-depth analysis.

Anyway, there's nothing in the Catacombs worth the risk of exploring. Coming here occasionally, as long as he follows the rules, there won't be any problems!

From the moment they entered the Catacombs, That One "talkative" Police Robert fell silent, seemingly unaccustomed to his surroundings.

He didn't speak, and no one else chatted. The four of them returned to the natural archway with its exquisite relief carvings in an unspeakable silence and went outside.

The moment Lumian crossed that boundary, he immediately felt countless invisible gazes vanish.

The Chill inside his body disappeared, and his skin quickly returned to normal.

"Phew..." Robert let out a long breath. "Every time I go into the Catacombs, I feel uncomfortable. Kendall, how can you go in more than ten times a day and still be so happy?"

Kendall chuckled and said, "You think we're unaffected? As long as we don't have to work night shifts, those with families rush to find their wives, while those without go to places like City Wall Street to warm themselves with the warmth of other people."

"Honestly, after staying here for so long, I feel like I'm slowly turning into a Corpse."

During their conversation, Kendall lit the Carbide Lamp and extinguished the Candle in his hand.

Back on the ground, Robert glanced at the Market District Police Headquarters parked outside the entrance building and said awkwardly to his colleagues and Lumian, "I've been feeling uncomfortable for too long, so I need to pee. Wait for me, I'm going to the restroom."

After saying that, he Past the two-story, mud-gray building that sold tickets for the Catacombs.

Lumian glanced at the Dome covered with stone carvings and reliefs, stood by a pillar at the edge, and aimlessly observed the pedestrians heading towards Inferno Square, while the other Police got into the carriage and sat waiting.

Just then, Lumian suddenly felt a Chill again.

This was very similar to his experience after entering the Catacombs, but not as intense.

He instinctively and warily turned around and saw Kendall, the Catacombs Administrator, standing behind him, staring at him expressionlessly.

"Is there something you need?" Lumian asked calmly.

Kendall, with his thick brown beard, asked in a deep voice, "What were you looking at just now?"

Lumian's heart sank slightly, and she asked, half sincerely and half theatrically, "Which time are you referring to?"

"On the way back, when I passed by that group of people," Kendall said in a flat tone.

Lumian feigned sudden realization:

"I'm intrigued by the wedding held amidst piles of corpses; they didn't seem afraid at all and were having a great time."

Kendall stared at him for two seconds, then nodded and said, "Don't be like them."

After saying this, the Catacombs Administrator, carrying an unlit Carbide Lamp, walked step by step toward their two-story, mud-gray building.

Not long after, Police Robert came jogging over, and the carriage returned to the Honest Market District.

The Market District Police Headquarters is located in the "Relics Room" Depths the first-floor corridor.

Robert walked to the Wooden Frame divided into several compartments, pointed to one of them, and said, "Look, Flamang relics."

There was a dark-colored suitcase, Fountain Pen, Paper, Ink Bottle, and several large books crammed inside.

Lumian pulled out a book, flipped through it briefly, and found it was a Mineralogy textbook about the Trier underground rock formations. For him, an out-of-school youth, the content was very difficult, and there were even a lot of unfamiliar Vocabulary, which were specialized terms in Mineralogy.

The other books also fall under the category of Mineralogy, some being basic textbooks and others being more complex collections of papers.

After a quick check, Lumian took out the suitcase, placed it on the ground, and opened it.

Besides two sets of clothes and essential personal items, the suitcase was filled with small Grayish-White Cloth Bag, each bearing a different name written in Fountain Pen:

Flowers, Papyrus, Sheep...

These are the names of different rock strata beneath Trier that Flamang mentioned... Are the bags filled with corresponding mineral specimens? Lumian recalled briefly and roughly guessed what was in those bags.

Even after Flamang went mad, he didn't forget to bring his research subjects with him!

These things meant nothing to Lumian, who began to consider letting the Police Headquarters handle it themselves.

Just then, the Termiboros rang in his ears:

The cloth bag on the far right.

"Oh, so you loser finally spoke again?" Lumian's first reaction was to mock Termiboros, before turning his gaze, both surprised and suspicious, to the bag That One the Fate Angel had indicated.

The cloth bag was located on the far right of the suitcase, with Flamang's socks on top and his razor below, its surface bearing a compound proper noun written in dark blue ink:

"Earthblood"

Earth... blood... Lumian, who was squatting next to the suitcase, muttered silently as he calmly picked up the cloth bag and opened it in front of the Police Robert.

Inside the bag was a flat stone, brownish-red in color and pitted, with Stars red spots scattered throughout each pit, as if the earth were seeping blood.

For some reason, Lumian felt quite irritated just by looking at this thing.

He didn't touch the mineral specimen with his hands, tied the bag back up, and put it back in his suitcase.

He then quickly flipped through the Mineralogy book describing the underground rock formations of Trier.

Because his purpose was clear, he quickly found the answer:

"The ' Earthblood ' rock layer is located 55 to 56 meters below the Underground Trier, and is about 0.76 meters thick... This is the deepest layer of minerals we were able to collect. Below that is an ancient ruins Protected Zone, where entry is prohibited..."

Beside this textbook description, a few Recording were added in Flamang handwriting:

"A small amount of mineral within the ' Earthblood ' rock layer is more unusual than the rest, and is suspected to contain volatile toxins that can make people irritable, even leading to a mental illness known as Mania disorder."

"A researcher suddenly went berserk and injured a colleague with a knife."

"Appropriate protective equipment must be worn to handle specific mineral specimens from the ' Earthblood ' rock layer."

"Www. hetushu. com. com" is Earthblood rock formation near Trier from the Fourth Epoch? It also has obvious Special Trait features... No wonder Termiboros drew my attention... While Lumian, Police Robert urged, "Do you want it or not? Make a decision quickly!"

"Yes." Lumian stood up.

Although all he wanted was the mineral specimen from the "Earthblood" rock layer and a Mineralogy textbook describing the underground rock layers of Trier, he still signed for and took all of Flamang's belongings to avoid arousing suspicion.

Back in Room 207, Golden Rooster Inn, Lumian, without even bothering to wash off her Mysticism makeup, whispered to Termiboros:

What's so special about this mineral specimen?

The voice of Termiboros echoed in Lumian's ears once more:

"You don't think it's normal that the Montsouris Ghosts hasn't come to kill Flamang, do you?"