Langley rubbed his white beard thoughtfully. If he wanted to, he could play Santa Claus every winter, but I doubt he had never thought of accepting such a job.
"I think this is the book you need to read the most carefully. The book contains genealogy from the century, sketches of the leaders of the Kerhan clan, and details of the prophecies that they once claimed to save them one day." A long finger stretched out from his robe, gently turning on the volume he had just taken.
"Langley, thank you again. This is very helpful." I grabbed the book and turned to the first page. Langley had left before I looked back, and I don't know if he heard my thanks to him. It doesn't matter, I have got what I want. I just need to narrow it down.
The first page is the decorated family tree. I followed the tree and found the branches of Grayson Colehan. This shows that he has never been married, but has remained single for centuries. What impressed me was that his parents died shortly after being exiled. Grayson has a younger sister, but her whereabouts are unknown because she disappeared shortly after leaving Mark Till's stronghold.
Flipping through the next few pages quickly becomes tedious. In the Kerhan ethnic group, there are more family branches than I can count. If Mark Thiel is now big, it is now four times the size of before, when Kerhans was still part of the brand. How did such a large pack of wolves disappear from the earth? Why is Grayson born in the 17th century but still alive
They are immortal. The rumors about the curse allowing them to live are true. What if Grayson really has a four-hundred-year-old leftover
When I passed the next part, a feeling of doom filled my heart: a list of known deaths was in the Kerhan bag. There are almost as many names there as all lineages. The heartbreaking thing is that in the last census at the turn of the century, they had fewer than a hundred people left.
What killed them? This is a slow but merciless extinction. Was it the curse that drove them to death? Does it involve some kind of disease that might wilt them into dust? This is related to their nightwing god ability. It must do so.
"Do you remember that statue hall?"
I looked up from the book and watched Langley walk past me, plucking another book from the wall of the shelf. I need a very high ladder to climb to the top of the pile.
"Yes. It's located in the catacombs of the temple, right? Near the western edge of the city? Right next to..."
"It's right next to Zhung Yāng Park."
Something flashed through my mind, and I struggled to understand its meaning.
"There is a large room below, full of gargoyle statues. They are a beautiful landscape. Their wings are tucked on their backs. They have strange faces and fangs from their chins. Claws! Those things can tear anyone into pieces. Pieces of meat."
"Langley, what do you want to say?" I asked.
""Well, I completely forgot the statues, but I think you should know that there is an entrance to the catacombs outside the city. These tunnels stretch for miles under the forest. There, the border of the temple was not reached, and the woods occupied everything. If you count the known corpses of Kerhans, you will find that they exactly match the number of statues. Everyone who died was trapped in the stone. Sleep and wait. "
I looked at him blankly, shocked by his discovery. "Their dead are still frozen in stone prisons? But why? I think they are immortal, but here it says that most of them are dead."
Langley shrugged. "Some people say that the only reason we live is because we approve of the life given to us. What happens if we stop cooperating?"
He walked away, making me even more puzzled.
"What?" I asked aloud. He has gone, returned to the ancient manuscript and his own mind. Of course, he was a little old and confused; he was the oldest resident in the fortress of Mark Till. I doubt he will live for too long, but when he is alive, his knowledge is a bottomless pit.
I looked down at the page in front of me and shook my head. Who would have thought that Kelhan was buried under the temple? They were so crazy that they wanted to send them back to the hidden catacombs in the city. The only thing that bothers me is how they died. Are they just hibernating? wait? If yes, what is the reason? How does one kill an immortal flying stone creature? This curse must be more complicated than anyone has ever heard. I hope I can find it in that book.
As if reading my thoughts, the next page caught me. Two people are drawn on it. One is called Gray and the other is called Lily. Well, it looks exactly like her, but the text indicates that this person is Maria Kelhan. It is a portrait of Sister Grayson.
She was reincarnated
what does that mean? I turned over the next few pages, hoping to find something related to Lily or Maria. How could she be a perfect copy of a long-dead Kerhan? Especially Grayson's sister? There is something I don’t understand, I must find it.
"Langley?" I yelled into the pile of books, listening to the familiar swaying sound of the old man wearing old leather shoes and his robes whistling in front of the piles of books. I yelled again, hoping he hadn't left yet.
"I'm right here." He appeared next to me, and I gave a light jump.
"God, Langley. Make some noise!"
"I apologize. I think I might have missed something important, and I'm right. Here." He took out an old book again, which looked like some kind of memory. The outside is worn leather. Inside, the page has been beaten by wind and rain, but it is newer than some of the other pages I have seen. "It belongs to a Korhan. I think her name is... "ーーHe opened the cover of the book and squinted his eyesーー"...Ah, yes. A woman's name is a woman's name. Me. Think this is what you want."
He put the book in my hand and then disappeared in the library. Before opening the book, I listened to the rustle of his robe. It really belongs to Maria Kelhan. Lily looks a lot like that girl. Looking through the elegant handwriting, I found that many things are useless to me: a girl’s dream, yùwang, yùwang and frequent activities. This is a recording of her life from sixteen to twenty. She recorded ordinary things so seriously and left a deep impression on me. But there are also gaps. For a long time she didn't write any notes at all. I want to know what she did during that time.
I jumped to the last page, where the rune stopped on Lily's palm was hurriedly drawn on one page. There, Maria's handwriting changed and became even more desperate, as if it were soon carved on paper. I turned to the next page and stopped.
I don't know how to tell Grayson but I know how to break the curse. Unfortunately, it still involves death. If I succeed, I may not see my brother for a long time. I know he will figure it out, and he will find me then. He will have to sacrifice so much, and I rest in oblivion, he lives in this poor world. If I succeed, I will break everyone's curse. At the same time, those who don't want to live another day have petrified them with my potion until I come back. They feel no pain, no hope, no need, no cold, no heat, or even hunger. The potion turned them to stone indefinitely, resting in eternal sleep, until I came back to wake them up.
Grayson must activate my memory when I come back. It may take some work and time to remember what I should do, but once he contacts me, it will return like water flowing through a broken dam. Only in this way can I break the curse imposed by my family and ethnic group. I just hope that my reincarnated soul boy can cooperate with him and understand what to do.
I must die so that my wolves can survive. When I wake up in the future, I will make the Little Red Riding Hoods kneel down.
These are the last words written in rì, but there is a folded paper stuffed in the blank page at the back. I pulled it out and found another rune diagram on Lily's palm, as well as several ancient texts, which looked like they were written in Latin.
I hurried to the front of the archives, where modern reference books were kept, and then I took out the Latin-English dictionary. I turned to the page I needed, and when I read the translation, my heart sank: Revenge will be mine.
This is the spell Lily needs to release, no matter what magic Maria prepares for her return. I'm pretty sure Grayson will get the second part of the puzzle. When Lily muttered to herself, Grayson would lead her no matter where she was. These words will release her army of transforming monsters, awaken the sleeping them, and prepare to fight against the Maguire family.
This is impossible. I won't allow it.
Holding the rì note in my hand, I rushed out of the file room and went to find my brother. I wonder if I will tell him that Lily is related to this matter. She is in a dangerous situation, I can't risk her life, no matter how evil her personality is, once her revenge returns with all her strength, her nature will become evil.
My love can make my family surrender, but what else can I do
I stared at the thicker and thicker fog in front of me, and I had not yet returned to the Everem apartment. Instead, both amulets were hung around my neck, and I found myself back in the forest. Back to Grayson. He has so many questions to answer, and I am very angry that he hid so much from me. My legacy and my entire existence.
"Grayson!" I stepped into the thick fog, my heart beating in my ears, because I would run the entire distance from the palace to the edge of the temple. "I know what I am now," I shouted in the forest. "You have to tell me why." (to be continued) (end of this chapter)