Baker assumed it was just another bad debt and didn't take it too seriously. After running a pawnshop for so many years, he had plenty of ways to resell and cash out these things.
What truly made him realize the ring's real value was his mother-in-law.
Baker didn't like the old woman. She lived in the countryside, but every few days when she came to the city, she would wander into the store, claiming she was visiting her daughter, but actually her eyes were always glancing at the cabinets, trying to steal some pawned trinkets, saying things like, "Nobody wants them anyway."
That afternoon, my mother-in-law came again, holding up her bare finger, and rambled on for a long time. "My ring... I don't know where it went, I've looked for it for ages but can't find it..."
Baker understood what she meant; she simply wanted to see if there was anything suitable in the store that she could take with her.
So he took out the wooden box, and his mother-in-law picked up the ring and examined it for a while. She said it wasn't very pretty, but she had already deftly slipped the ring onto her finger.
Baker thought the matter was over, but three days later, he received a message from his father-in-law in the countryside, delivered through a messenger, saying that his mother-in-law had passed away.
Baker was taken aback. Although his mother-in-law was old, she didn't have any serious illnesses. How could she have passed away so suddenly?
He rushed to his in-laws' house. His father-in-law opened the door, his face ashen, looking more like he had been frightened by something than sad.
He followed his father-in-law into the master bedroom. His father-in-law opened the door, Baker glanced inside.
The person lying on the bed should be his mother-in-law, but the person lying on the bed looks completely different from the person he saw three days ago.
His skin had a grayish-brown, waxy texture, his eye sockets were sunken, and his lips were shrunken... He didn't look like someone who had just died at all.
The dark silver ring was still firmly fastened at the base of her finger.
Baker felt a chill run down his spine as he recalled the words of the man who had pawned his ring.
"Items from the Ghoul Cult can grant the wearer eternal youth, but require corpses to maintain their effect."
He initially dismissed it as nonsense, a fabricated story to inflate the price, but now his mother-in-law lies here, dead for less than a day, and her body has already deteriorated like this...
My father-in-law recounted the events of the past two days in fits and starts, saying that my mother-in-law's spirits had suddenly improved. She walked with a brisk pace, spoke loudly, and seemed ten years younger. She no longer tossed and turned in bed all night. When asked what was wrong, she said she wasn't sleepy and couldn't fall asleep.
My father-in-law thought she was in a good mood, but last night, my mother-in-law suddenly sat up in bed, muttering words he couldn't understand, and then collapsed and died.
Baker asked his mother-in-law what she said before she died. His father-in-law was in shock and couldn't understand or repeat what he said, but he mumbled a few words, one of which confirmed Baker's suspicions.
Morzul.
He had initially thought the name was something the person who pawned the ring made up on the spot, but even though he had never told his mother-in-law it, she uttered the name in her dying whispers...
Baker agreed with his father-in-law, saying that people are said to have a sudden burst of energy before they die, and while his father-in-law was entertaining the neighbors who came to pay their respects, he quickly went to take off the ring.
The ring was stuck very tightly. He twisted it a few times before finally managing to slip it off. The moment it left his mother-in-law's finger, he vaguely felt that the corpse seemed to have shriveled up even more.
His father-in-law asked him if he wanted to have someone from the church come and take a look, Baker quickly stopped him. If someone from the church came, they would definitely ask about the cause of death, and if they found anything wrong, they could trace it back to him.
His pawnshop couldn't withstand scrutiny. He knew perfectly well how much of what he had taken in over the years was stolen goods and how much was of dubious origin.
"If the church people come and investigate, and it all comes back to me, I'll lose my pawnshop. If you still want me to give you your retirement money every month, then don't tell anyone about this."
After these words, the father-in-law finally shut up. Baker breathed a slight sigh of relief, but the funeral and requiem ceremony were unavoidable hurdles.
Fortunately, news travels slowly in the countryside, unlike in the city, and the church has fewer people. Baker said he hired someone from the city, secretly bribed someone to impersonate a priest, and spent money to hold a funeral at his house. He didn't take the body to the church, and told everyone that his mother-in-law didn't like the atmosphere of the church and wanted to rest in her own yard.
After the funeral, the ring became a hot potato. Baker dared not keep it on his hand. His mother-in-law died suddenly just three days after wearing it. The ring's effects were definitely not as simple as "preserving youth".
But leaving it there isn't a solution either. What if someone finds it someday, or what if the ring causes some trouble on its own? He can't afford to take that risk.
After much deliberation, he decided to sell the item on the black market, which was the fastest way he could think of. They didn't care about its origin; as long as someone was willing to pay, the item could be sold, and he could even recoup his losses.
He had considered changing his story about selling the ring, such as not mentioning the condition of "needing a corpse" and only saying that it could prolong life, or simply making up other effects.
But then he thought, what if someone traces this back to him and finds out that he intentionally concealed crucial information? His situation would be much worse than it is now.
So he continued to sell it according to the man's original words: to maintain eternal youth, which required corpses to sustain the effect. As for any problems that might arise later, he simply said he didn't know.
He spent several days in the black market, and people came and went, asking about his price. The gimmick of eternal youth was indeed attractive, but when they heard that "a corpse is needed," most people chose to wait and see.
Baker grew increasingly anxious. He considered lowering the price, but worried that lowering it too quickly would make people think there was something wrong with the item, even though he did believe there was something wrong with the ring.
Fortunately, he finally sold it tonight, although the price was much lower than he expected, and he was also bothered by those two hooded guys, but at least he got rid of it.
Now, he can finally get a good night's sleep.
"The above is what the Joint Investigation Bureau learned after conducting Spirit Mediumship examination of Handel Baker's body."
Inside the Joint Investigation Bureau conference room, Morris addressed the other attendees at the table.
Five or six people sat on either side of the long table. Some of the attendees were writing something in their notebooks, while others were looking through folders containing photos and sketches taken on-site.
Carlo, sitting at the end of the table, raised his hand. "So, even Spirit Mediumship can't reveal what happened to Baker before his death?"
Morris didn't look at him, tacitly agreeing.
A representative from the City Police Force, an inspector, raised his hand and asked, "Why would the Joint Investigation Bureau directly resort to Spirit Mediumship practices that desecrate the souls of the dead? Can you provide an explanation?"