"There's a problem there," Klein said seriously, pointing to the step separating the living room and dining room.
He had read in the Nighthawks ' internal documents that if a similar situation occurred during Spirit Intuition, it often meant that something evil or filthy was hiding at the target location. If one was not confident, it was best not to try to touch it, otherwise it was easy to lose one's life—sometimes, even just a glance could cause irreversible damage.
Dunn followed his gaze and, with his equally keen Spirit Intuition, immediately sensed something amiss. He turned to Klein and calmly instructed, " Divination whether the exploration there will go smoothly."
Before entering the castle, the captain didn't let me Divination, which shows he was quite confident... This means he believed that what was hidden might be more dangerous than the Wraith... Klein nodded silently, put away his revolver, and handed his cane to Frye beside him.
Then, he took off the citrine pendant from his cuff, held the silver chain in his left hand, and carefully considered the appropriate Divination statement.
In an instant, his eyes darkened, and an invisible breeze swirled around him.
"Exploring the hidden locations in the castle will go smoothly."
"Exploring the hidden locations in the castle will go smoothly."
After silently repeating it seven times, Klein's eyes returned to normal, and he saw the citrine pendant rotating clockwise.
Although the amplitude is small, it is indeed rotating clockwise!
This means the exploration will proceed smoothly.
Klein had become a true Seer, immediately nodded to Dunn and Frye:
"The danger is within a manageable range, or there is none."
Dunn pinned the " Mutated Holy Emblem of the Sun " to his left breast, adjusted his silk hat, and strode towards the step, expertly searching for the mechanism.
After returning the cane that Frye had picked up from the iron gauntlet to Klein, he picked up the revolver and warily surveyed his surroundings, seemingly afraid that an enemy might suddenly appear.
I'm still not professional enough... in the field of Nighthawks... Klein roused himself, drew his revolver again, and began to stand guard.
A few minutes later, Dunn Smith, who was half-squatting down, pressed something, and the steps made a heavy, creaking sound.
The floor there had cracked open, revealing a downward staircase, and a cold, filthy feeling filled the air, almost solidifying into a tangible sensation.
Dunn glanced at it, removed the Sealed Artifact "3-0782" from his chest, and threw it directly into the secret door.
After jumping a few times, the " Mutated Holy Emblem of the Sun " stopped somewhere.
If there are Death creatures inside, they'll definitely pick up "3-0782" and throw it back... That would be interesting... Klein stared at the descending stairs, patiently waiting.
The lingering chill and filth quickly melted away like ice and snow meeting the Sun, and warmth and purity enveloped the entrance to the dark door.
" Klein, the two of us go down. Frye stays behind to prevent other enemies from sabotaging the mechanism," Dunn decided with his experience.
"Okay." Klein was no longer intimidated. He took two steps forward and walked to Dunn's side. Frye nodded slightly, but did not let his guard down.
Tap, tap, tap, Dunn was the first to descend the steps, his footsteps echoing silently.
He did not prepare lanterns or torches, because for the Beyonder in the " Sleepless " Sequence, darkness is not an obstacle, but a blessing.
In such an environment, their vision remains unobstructed.
After walking a few steps, Dunn suddenly turned back and looked at Klein, saying, "I forgot you don't have darkvision. I usually don't prepare any lighting equipment..."
"... Captain, don't worry about it, I have Spirit Vision." Klein found that he wasn't surprised at all.
That dashing captain from earlier is definitely not the norm!
In his Spirit Vision, the darkness ahead was filled with a hazy grayness. Although it was very blurry, it was enough for him to barely make out the steps.
Hmm, the captain looks healthy and in good spirits... Klein carefully extended his foot and slowly descended.
The staircase isn't long; it slopes downwards for about fourteen or fifteen steps before touching the ground.
The Sealed Artifact "3-0782" lies here, radiating warmth, spreading purity, and shining with a faint light.
With the help of this light, Klein could see more clearly. He looked around and found that it was a small basement. The original coolness was gone, but the dampness remained.
In the very center of the basement stood a black coffin, its iron nails a dark red color.
The coffin lid had been pushed open a crack, revealing a skeleton lying inside—a headless skeleton.
Dunn looked around before bending down to pick up the " Mutated Holy Emblem of the Sun ".
"Captain, this coffin, well, its purpose is to prevent the deceased inside from becoming zombies or Wraith..."
Klein examined the dark red iron nails on the black coffin, scrutinizing their arrangement. Relying on his decent knowledge of occultism, he identified it as an ancient ritual—a ritual to prevent the corpse from turning into a zombie.
Meanwhile, he muttered to himself: But, under normal circumstances, who would be constantly on guard against their relative's corpse turning into a zombie? Uh, the people helping with the burial might not even be relatives... Hmm, putting the coffin in the basement instead of the grave is probably to prevent it from being discovered...
At this moment, Dunn, wearing the Sealed Artifact "3-0782," approached the coffin, examined it carefully for a while, and said:
"The deceased likely died from poisoning."
"That means the person who poisoned him used Ritualistic Magic to prevent him from turning into a zombie and seeking revenge... That must have happened 1300 or 1400 years ago, right? He still ended up as Wraith... That kind of willpower is simply astonishing!" Klein also walked to the coffin and said, "Where's his head? That ritual didn't require cutting off his head..."
Dunn thought for a moment and said:
"I have a theory: this Wraith hasn't always been there, but only recently appeared. The town is only a fifteen-minute walk from the castle, and troublemakers from all over the years must have come here often, but before this incident, there were no rumors of Wraith appearing at the castle."
Klein nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Captain, you mean someone recently came here, opened the coffin, and took the deceased's head?"
"Yes, that ritual prevented the deceased from turning into a zombie, but it also locked its resentment inside the coffin, preserving it indirectly. Once the coffin was opened and the ritual was lifted, that resentment quickly transformed into Wraith through the iron gauntlet itself..."
"The person who opened the coffin didn't leave a body behind, so he wasn't an ordinary person... And what was he doing taking the dead man's head?"
Dunn gazed at the skeletal corpse in the coffin and said, "The resentment can linger for so long, besides the ritual, there must also be something to do with the deceased himself. He was probably Beyonder in life, or a descendant of at least two generations of Beyonder was at the Mid-Sequence. Hmm, I mean the Mid-Sequence in the old definition, Sequence 6 or Sequence 5."
"But such corpses are always somewhat special; their heads might, perhaps, come in handy in certain rituals or on certain occasions."
At this point, Dunn paused and said, "What I said before was all speculation, but some of it can be verified. We'll split up later to investigate in the town and see if anyone came to the castle as a child and was injured here. Hmm, if he's still alive, it proves that the Wraith did indeed appear recently."
"A logical way of thinking," Klein remarked, then searched the basement again but found nothing else.
He tried to use Ritualistic Magic to depict the "guest" who had entered the basement, but because at least a month had passed and the Wraith had lingered there for a long time, affecting the environment, he was unable to get any effective results.
He then replaced Frye, allowing the cadaver specialist to conduct a further examination.
Fifteen minutes later, as the Sun was about to disappear below the horizon, Dunn and Frye returned to the castle hall via the stairs.
The former fumbled to close the hidden door, while the latter briefly described:
"It was indeed a case of death by poisoning; the marks on the neck only appeared within the last three months."
This means there's a high probability someone has been here... Klein nodded thoughtfully.
Next, the three Nighthawks rushed back to the Ramde Town before dark and booked two rooms at the inn—the members who obtained the Sealed Artifact "3-0782" needed to take this dangerous item for a walk in a deserted area outside the town, rotating every two hours, so only two rooms were needed.
After a quick dinner, Klein, Dunn, and Frye immediately split up and headed to different parts of the town to inquire with the long-term residents.
In similar scenarios, police identification is extremely useful.
"Officer, why are you asking about this? I remember I used to go to that abandoned castle a lot when I was a kid... Injuries? Of course, kids can't avoid falling and getting hurt. I remember, um, I was cut by the sharp stones on the castle's outer wall..." A man in his forties with soft blond hair looked at Klein with suspicion and answered the question honestly.
This was the fourteenth person Klein had questioned, two of whom clearly remembered being injured in the castle as children.
The captain's guess was correct... Klein made his judgment, retrieved his identification, and smiled as he said:
Thank you for your cooperation, I'm all set.
As he was about to leave, having not taken his cane, the man in his forties rolled his eyes and said, "Officer, are you interested in that castle? My family has a portrait of the first Baron of the castle, my great-great-great-grandfather... well, anyway, a long time ago, he took an oil painting from the castle, which is said to be a portrait of the first Baron Lamud."
"Do you want it? It's a genuine antique!"
If it were a genuine antique, your family would have sold it long ago... This guy's got guts, daring to lie to the police. Should I pull out my gun and scare him later? Klein muttered to himself, thinking that looking around wouldn't cost him anything:
"Who knows if it's a real antique? I trust my eye and judgment."
"Take it out and let me see it."
The blond-haired middle-aged man immediately put on a smile, returned to the house, and searched the place.
After a while, he came out carrying an oil painting.
Klein casually glanced at the portrait in the oil painting and saw that the first Baron, wearing a white curly wig, had soft features, bronze skin, and eyes that held an indescribable sense of vicissitude.
This... it looks like Mr. Azik! Klein's eyes widened suddenly, and he subconsciously looked at the so-called first Baron's right earlobe.
Then, he noticed an inconspicuous black mole nearby.
This is exactly the same location as Instructor Azik's mole!