May 9, 1879
At first there was only a gust of wind, a light, refreshing breeze, but the animals, sensing danger by instinct, fled from Umr in droves.
Countless birds flew up from their roosts, and even the adult birds ignored their chicks. They flapped their wings desperately to get away from the place where the disaster was about to strike.
In the inconspicuous sewers on the roadside, groups of rats, cockroaches and other creatures that usually live in the shadows appeared. They ignored the surprised looks of the crowd and were only concerned with their own escape.
Various strange phenomena warned the people in Umr, but most of them just stood there without knowing why or were busy with their own work.
"Wow! Wow!"
This is the cry of Albert in Hermann's house. No matter how Mrs. Kirk coaxes him or how Hermann makes faces, Albert cannot stop crying.
Mr. and Mrs. Hermann were annoyed by Albert's crying. A feeling of uneasiness suddenly arose in their hearts, as if warning them.
Hermann felt very annoyed, but he couldn't vent his anger, so he could only walk to the window and look at the street scene outside.
He saw a scene that terrified him: countless rats running across the street, like a dark wave.
Herman, who had received higher education, immediately called Kirk, "Honey, come and see!"
"Oh my God, is there going to be an earthquake?" Kirk looked at Herman in panic. She was also frightened by the scene on the street.
"Let's leave quickly. Such a large-scale escape of creatures is definitely not a good thing if it is not an earthquake." Hermann took a deep breath and said this calmly.
"Butler! Take our valuables with you, and we will leave immediately and come back later! Hurry!" Hermann shouted to the butler, and he went to the study to pack some necessary documents that Hermann had to carry with him.
The Hermann family packed their luggage in a short time and were ready to leave at any time, but several horses in the stable broke free from their reins and ran away in a group.
"Oh, what should we do?!" Hermann stamped his feet anxiously. Without a carriage, they had no way of leaving with their valuables.
“Beep!”
A whistle sounded from the Hermann's door, and a strange vehicle made of steel stopped at the Hermann's door.
"Mr. Herman, it looks like you need some help?"
The person who got off the vehicle was Elphis, who had sensed the power of the Yellow King and the disappearance of Yudkao's life characteristics from the manor. Elphis had invited Hermann once before, but Hermann was busy with his electric light business, so he kept delaying it; Elphis thought about it and thought that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get in touch with Hermann, so he used this gas engine-powered vehicle.
Although this was a prototype that had never been made public, thanks to the capabilities of Daying Trading Company, they were able to obtain one for Elphis to try out early on.
The main reason why this metal vehicle has not yet been named is the instability of the pneumatic cylinder and the excessive energy consumption. It is not yet suitable to be promoted to the public as a mature product, but it is an invention of a new era.
"Oh, Mr. Elphis, that's a great help." Hermann said when he saw the vehicle that could seat four people, and then gave Elphis a hug of gratitude.
"It's a small matter. I'm here for my lovely adopted son." Elphis said exaggeratedly.
"Good! That's great! You are my Herman's brother today." Herman said happily.
"Okay, go ahead. I feel like something big is going to change next." Elphis said, rubbing his brows.
Dark clouds had gathered in the sky, and they seemed to be moving too fast; from Elphis's perception, a disaster was about to happen, and there were only five minutes left before the disaster struck.
"Let's go quickly. Let the servants follow us?" Elphis suggested.
"Okay, I'll listen to you." Herman first helped Kirk, who was holding the child, to sit firmly, and then sat next to Kirk.
"It may be a little bumpy, but it's much better than walking with those dirty bugs and rats." Elphis said helplessly.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Elphis." Mrs. Kirk thanked Elphis while wearing a top hat.
"You're welcome, beautiful Mrs. Kirk. Hold on tight, we're about to set off." Elphis started the gas engine, and after a rumbling sound, the entire vehicle sped towards the suburbs.
People who saw this scene were all surprised, but they didn't know that a catastrophe was about to come, and they still went about their own business.
Kirk sat in the bumpy vehicle and glanced at the sky over Umr City. A large patch of dark clouds began to rotate in the air, and a vortex had silently formed in the sky.
A strong wind blew from a distance, blowing away Kirk's top hat, and her beautiful and fluffy brown hair scattered in the air.
She seemed to see the beige top hat flying to the center of the vortex under the influence of the air current, and then being torn into pieces.
Kirk covered her mouth at the shocking sight, and she didn't dare look back at the vortex.
A strange magical power overflowed from the vortex, and a slightly glowing mark appeared from the vortex.
That is the mark of the King in Yellow, twisted and hateful, mysterious and terrifying.
People who were still in Umr City unconsciously stopped what they were doing and went to the windows or the streets to stare into the sky.
The magic power emanating from the mark lingered in everyone's ears with unexplained whispers:
Carcosa! The indescribable high priest!
Praise you! Lord of the deep sky and sea of stars, symbolizing the wind, by the shore of Lake Hali!
Such whispers rang in the ears of the citizens, and countless people shouted, screamed, and wailed loudly at that moment.
They covered their ears, plugged their ears with things, and even pierced their eardrums frantically, but they could still clearly hear the whispers that were enough to destroy their will.
Some people chose to self-destruct while they were still sane, some fell into madness and did whatever they wanted on the streets, and some revealed the beast in their hearts and became monsters driven by primitive desires.
The current city of Umr is just like the city of Suduma in the Holy Book of Light. Such crazy and weird people have no concept of morality at all. Desires and the power from the Yellow Seal have made them lose the constraints called reason and morality.
This day was a day of disaster, and later generations called it "the day of Umr's sorrow."