In the humble temple dining room, in the corner of a rectangular table made of wooden boards, between two cloaks covered in snow, the hungry witcher was eating quietly and efficiently.
Carl shoved half of the pie whole into his mouth, letting the fluffy bran soaked in potato bisque ferment in his mouth for a long time.
The priestess sitting opposite sighed slightly in pain.
"The two masters are professionals, the nemesis of monsters and supernatural creatures. They should know that there are countless monsters and monsters in this country, such as Qiqimo, ghouls, leprechauns, and some I can't tell. Terrible existence..."
"On the contrary," Carl said old-fashioned as he put down his licked-up plate, "the number of monsters in recent years has declined, compared to bandits, mercenaries, marauders, and wandering soldiers. The greatest threat to humanity! Then again, do you mean there is something unusual in the temple?"
Daisy folded her hands on the square table and supported her pointed chin on the back of her hands. She glanced at the bald man beside her. The firelight revealed her smooth and delicate face and the anxiety between her brows.
"Since half a year ago, I can hear the sound of infiltrating people every night, which makes me very uncomfortable. Do you understand the feeling? It seems that a pine caterpillar is digging into my ear, and a tongue seems to be licking me. the back of the neck."
The bald-headed Bruzzi clenched his fist as big as a sandbag and described it vividly, twisting his buttocks against the bench uneasily.
"It sounds like a baby's babble at times, and after a while it turns into a rat's chirp, or even a lute!"
"We searched the whole temple, and the strange noises came from the cellars under the floor where the junk was piled up, where the pickles and cured meats were stored. Dino and I went down to investigate—"
Arkham pricked up his ears, poured a mouthful of sweet goat milk, and quickly glanced out the window, a girl with dry blond hair like straw was looking into the restaurant from the window sill, gulping down the sumptuous dinner. , The night wind made her keep rubbing her hands, and her slender body shivered.
The twilight was dark outside the window, and the witcher's mutated vision still caught a glimpse of the other's familiar face—nearly identical to the mischievous, beautiful, noble girl in memory that Geralt and Yennefer loved so much.
How is that possible, isn't she in Skellige? Well, it should be a coincidence.
"There's a dirty thing hiding behind that row of marinated pork!"
The bodyguard's rough, red face was undulating in waves, and his voice trembled uncontrollably.
"Don't be nervous, talk slowly, what does it look like? Don't miss a hair!"
Arkham's sonorous and powerful words seemed to contain magic, soothing the tension of the big man.
"Like a thin, hunched old woman in a gauze dress with rotten flesh all over her face! Of course it runs ten times faster than the old woman."
Arkham touched his chin and frowned, "Are you sure you read that right?"
"I didn't dare to stay underground for too long, I just saw its outline dimly." The big man blushed and stammered.
"One end?"
"To be honest, if there are two ends, I'm afraid we won't be able to get out!" The bearded man continued.
"That thing was screaming and chasing after its ass, Dino's torches blocked it, or I almost fell! Rebbie was on top, I was so scared for the first time in my life, I got goosebumps all over my body, almost We were scared to pee, but fortunately, we had neat legs, climbed up, covered the plank, and sat on it to block it!"
"Your Excellency..." Arkham looked up and down at the bald giant, "It doesn't look so heroic."
"Heroic doesn't mean stupid! I won't bite stones with my teeth! Even a soldier who has experienced a hundred battles can only run away when he encounters that thing!"
This is the normal response of 90% of ordinary people to unknown horrors.
"That thing didn't break out?" Arkham asked.
"Bless Rabbi, it's only roaring in the cellar!" said Dino, who was full of beards, surprised and a little fortunate.
"Isn't this a ready-made living target? And what did you do to deal with it?"
Carl's eyes slowly swept over the three and asked,
"Smoke smoke at the entrance of the cellar, recite the prayers of Rabbiuda, follow the traditional remedies to exorcise evil spirits, and throw pig bladders full of boy urine, virgin menstruation, and black dog blood into the cellar... But it's useless! Strange, we go down to the cellar during the day, obviously we can't see the ghosts, but at night, the crowing will definitely sound, more punctual than the rooster's crowing!"
"Have you tried lighting it?" Carl asked.
"To burn the temple is a great disrespect to Rabbiuda!" said the priestess.
"Since there is no way to take it, why don't you just move it away?"
"Where can there be a place for so many children? What's more, the believers of Lebbiuda must not be scared away by a mere ghost!"
The priest said righteously.
"Then remember when it appeared at night?"
"Well...after the moon rises, you can hear the cry on a moonlit night anyway!"
Carl's vertical pupils showed a thoughtful look, that thing is not afraid of smoke, trapped in a narrow basement, disappeared during the day, and appeared after the moon came out
"Anything worse than howling?"
The three shook their heads at the same time, and the priestess said happily,
"This filthy thing only dares to make a fortune in the shadows in the cellar, and can't escape from the cage and hurt the children, so we continue to stay in the temple and endure its annoying screams! But I'm worried, sooner or later there will be One day it will come out and attack everyone!"
Carl rubbed his temples.
Hearing them describe that the monster had a human-like appearance, he immediately thought of the tomb witch, the dwarf, the evil spirit, the ghoul and the like.
But first of all, the habitat is not suitable, and secondly, these monsters cannot be locked with a piece of wood and a few locks in the cellar. When they go out for food, the people in the temple should be reduced to belly Chinese food.
exclude!
Carl nodded and asked again,
"Have you had many nightmares in the past six months?"
The three looked at each other, the priestess thought for a while,
"Only the first few days can't sleep, other times it's fine. Well, it must be the blessing of Rebiuda!"
There was a glint in Karl's eyes. If it was a small earth spirit who loved mischief, this group of temple residents would inevitably have frequent nightmares and enjoy a mischievous meal.
"The last question, has anyone died in the cellar?" Arkham took the conversation, and his eyes slowly swept across the faces of the three of them.
Daisy froze for a moment, blushing angrily, "This is a sacred temple, Master, don't joke with us!"
"you sure?!"
"I swear!"
The restaurant fell into a brief silence.
"Master, does this have any clues?" the bald man asked.
"There is a preliminary guess, but there are some contradictions in it, and we need to go in and find out."
The two teenagers tacitly remembered a kind of earthbound spirit in "Biology".
Humanoid, haunts when the moon rises, and the sound penetrates people.
It stands to reason that that kind of thing is only born on the corpse, and the moonlit country lane should not appear in the temple cellar.
"Priest Daisy, take the liberty to ask, from the beginning to the end, the Holy Spirit of Rebiauda did not help you drive this monster away?"
In the witcher's cognition, to say "haunted", it is possible in both urban and rural areas, only the temple is basically insulated from ghosts and monsters.
In Ellander, Ms. Meritelli has not performed miracles to the world for a long time, and her temple still has divine protection, and evil things will be naturally deterred and dare not do anything here.
Including Cliff, the father of the sky, other temples that can be regarded as "righteous" beliefs can deter evil spirits and Xiaoxiao.
Daisy thought for a while, took a deep breath and said, "Maybe it's because I'm too young to work in the Pine Forest District, and I have only half a year of experience. I think the monster in the cellar may be the prophet's test for me!"
"So the children in the temple have only been here for half a year?"
"Your Excellency does not know," Daisy looked out of the window with pity and love on her pretty face, "Most of the children are orphans who fled from Sintra and Soden a few years ago, and there are some who can't support them and send them here. The poor children we teach. It was Priest Xinni who took care of them, and when she traveled, I started to preside over the temple."
"It's not easy to keep so many mouths in the cold Povis field," Arkham said in admiration.
"Thanks to the relief and donations from the villagers, everyone barely survived." The priestess said gratefully.
Arkham shook his head silently. In the years when he was a wanderer, he deeply realized that the more remote the countryside, the more fierce, ignorant and mean he was.
It is not easy for farmers to raise their own families, so how can they kindly help children who are not relatives and not related to each other.
But he did not object.
"The two witcher masters look extraordinary, they must have a good heart!" The bearded man suddenly complimented,
"Can you help the temple for the sake of those children?"
Daisy folded her slender hands in front of her chest, her bright eyes flashing pleading.
"The witcher's rule is to use people's money to save people's disasters, and according to your description, the monsters in the cellar are quite difficult to deal with." Carl.
The priestess suddenly looked embarrassed,
"How much do you want?"
"Have mercy, witcher, there's no money in the temple!" Bruzzi, like a giant bear standing upright, clasped his fists and pleaded, "There's only a little leftover in the temple for the winter! Treating the two of you has used up the most valuable and delicious part of it!"
Carl and Arkham rub their noses awkwardly.
reject
No, this boring journey killed the water ghost, and it was too embarrassing to sneak into the city.
For free, they can imagine Serrit yelling at him - you two are really good people? !
Why don't you try the accident law and try to take a child away? But he had already entered the gate of the temple, and when he saw the group of children, he was surprised.
After a long time, Arkham rubbed the griffin badge between his neck with his left thumb and said in his heart - this is my journey, I make the decision!
It's time to flex your muscles and add some kudos.
"Cough, cough!" He cleared his throat abruptly and got up, pacing around the dining table, and said with a straight face, "You bump into me Arkhamtom, you are lucky, the Griffin Sect pays attention to chivalry. , I will make an exception to sell it once, and this meal will be paid as a reward, and we will take over the task!"
"You... you're serious, you won't lie to me, right?" Daisy breathed a sigh of relief and opened her mouth in surprise.
"The witcher does what he says."
Seeing that his companion made a vow, Carl covered his forehead and sighed helplessly.
"I'm so grateful! May Lebiwoda bless you!" The priestess bowed to the two of them with joy, as if she was afraid that they would regret it, and hurriedly said, "What do you need us to do? How to help? !"
"Take care of the kids and yourself, don't let us get distracted."
Carl looked out the window, and before he knew it, it was completely dark, and the dim light illuminated the white snow in the center of the courtyard and the statues in the shadows.
The sacred Rebbiuda stone sculpture is wrapped in a rich and heavy darkness.
"Give us some time to prepare, when the moon rises!"