"I thought that after the battle of Mount Sikar, no evil spirits would attack me anymore."
The evil spirits just won't attack you actively.
The cold feeling spread from the ankles to the whole body, and at the same time a huge force came, trying to pull Shadrak directly into the floor.
He stood there without moving, and the moonlight bursting out from his palms was like the sun exploding in the bedroom.
After the light of the silver moon faded, the surfaces of all the objects in the room seemed to be covered with a layer of light. But in this case, the evil spirit under the floor still rose up, as if it was not affected at all.
"There's something wrong with this undead."
The spirit was a woman with loose hair, but its specific appearance was unclear. The spirit was similar to a traditional evil spirit, but it seemed to be covered with a layer of black soil. Shade had seen countless undead spirits in Midhill Castle, and even saw undead spirits that could fight against high-level warlocks under the blessing of the uncontrolled state of the level 0 relic. The evil spirit in front of him was obviously not that powerful, but it was also very different from those undead spirits.
It can even be said that the soul in front of him is fundamentally different from the "dead spirit". Relying on his knowledge of mysticism, Xia De couldn't explain what it was for a moment. He could only think of it as a resentment born on a certain piece of land. A normal death, a death in a normal place, would never produce such a thing.
"Could this be Miss Norma?"
He thought to himself and pulled out the Moonlight Greatsword from the air. He was about to swing the sword forward, but the evil spirit seemed to sense the danger and disappeared with a muffled bang.
"What on earth is this?"
After confirming that the surroundings had returned to normal, Xia De looked at the secret compartment on the wall behind the original picture frame. Although it was locked, it could not stop Xia De. The space inside was not large. There was a small silver knife in a scabbard and a small enamel bowl. Both of them had quite fresh and long-standing bloodstains.
"... echoes of the past."
Knowing the truth about time, the scope of this magic has been expanded to the past three days. Shade put down the silver knife, frowned, walked around the room to check, and listened to the voice beside him.
The first sound was a knock on the door. It seemed that the neighbor downstairs brought a letter and stuffed it into the room.
The second sound was the noise on the street downstairs. If Xia De heard it correctly, it was two women cursing each other for stealing their husbands.
The third sound finally came from this house. Considering that no one cared about the letters three days ago, this should be the last sound before Miss Norma left home.
"It's time, let's go."
This is the voice of a strange man.
"Well, I will meet that moment, and may the earth be with me."
This should be Miss Norma's voice, and her tone is very light.
"It seems that this investigation has really run into trouble."
Shade muttered, then rummaged through the desk in the bedroom, trying not to touch other people's personal belongings. There were a lot of letters here, and judging from the reading order and the marks, Miss Norma had frequent correspondence with at least five men at the same time, including Mr. Martin, whom Shade wanted to find.
“He’s really resourceful.”
He sighed softly, and then realized from "her" laughter that he seemed to be even more excessive than Miss Norma.
It's just a pity that Miss Norma didn't have the "good habit" of keeping a diary. Apart from those letters, there are no other personal documents and information.
However, after Shad opened the closet, he found a notebook that seemed to have been accidentally left behind under those simple colorful and bold clothes. It recorded the time and place. Shad saw the "Good Gentleman Club" and realized that it recorded Miss Norma's work arrangements and the time she met with acquaintances.
Unfortunately, the record only lasted until three days ago, and there was no new content. On the cover of the notebook, there was also a sentence written -
I will eventually become one with the earth.
"Mia, give it a sniff and see if there are any other clues."
He patted the sleepy cat, hoping that it could be of some use. But no matter how smart the cat was, it couldn't help Shade at this time.
Judging from the clues in hand, Miss Norma, who has also disappeared, has a big problem. Although she does not have a diary, Shade has the addresses of the gentlemen who often contact her - written clearly on the envelope, as well as the list and time of her frequent "workplaces".
He did not take the information away, but wrote it all down and planned to go to the "Good Gentlemen Club" to inquire for more details.
It was only half past ten in the morning, and the winter heating made the air in the city even worse. Visibility in the foggy city was extremely poor. When Shad walked through the block and returned to the door of the club, he met a somewhat unexpected person.
At that time, the carriage happened to pass by him and stopped at the door of the club. The gentleman who got off the carriage with a cane looked back and happened to meet Shade's eyes:
"Oh, Mr. Hamilton!"
"Oh, it's Baron Lavender!"
The man in a respectable black suit was none other than Baron Lavender, Shad's good friend. Shad knew that Baron Lavender was in the antique and perfume business, so his presence in the club was probably not just for fun like Mr. Martin.
At the end of the year, Shad sent a holiday card to Baron Lavender, and the Baron also sent Shad a small bottle of perfume as a holiday gift. They were all very happy to meet here unexpectedly, and the Baron even wanted to invite Shad to the club for a drink, but Shad refused:
"I'm looking for a missing boy, Herbert Martin. Do you know him, Baron?"
Shade briefly told the Baron about his investigation target, but the Baron thought for a while and could not find the person from his memory. He also suggested that Shade investigate Miss Norma, but Shade regretfully said that Miss Norma was also missing:
"I knocked on her door for a long time half an hour ago, but no one showed up. I asked the neighbors and found out that Miss Norma hasn't been home for several days."
Shade shrugged.
"However, I have found several other gentlemen who are familiar with Miss Norma. Baron Lavender, I wonder if you know any of them?"
Shad gave the names of the gentlemen he had seen at Miss Norma's house, and Baron Lavender did know one of them:
"Franco is my friend. We drank together at the club before the end of the year. But I heard a few days ago that he was seriously ill. I was planning to visit him tomorrow."
Baron Lavender was happy to help Shad, but unfortunately he had business to discuss at the club today. However, Shad was very interested in the seriously ill Mr. Franco, who lived in the southern part of Tobesk, so he planned to visit the gentleman.
The Baron wrote a note to Shad to prove that Shad was his friend, so that his visit would go more smoothly.
The Franco family is not aristocratic, but they run two large canning factories in the local area and are emerging wealthy businessmen. Mr. Franco Jr. is the only son of Mr. Franco Sr., who is 51 years old, and is destined to inherit the family business.
When Shad saw Mr. Franco Jr. in the bedroom on the second floor of Franco's house, the sick man in bed looked like he would not live long.
He was skinny, with a sallow complexion, and he didn't even have the strength to sit up. When the worried old Mr. Franco and the servants led Shad into the bedroom, the look in Mr. Franco's eyes when he turned to look at Shad reminded Shad of Detective Sparrow before his death.
"Why is it so serious?"
Because he was worried about disturbing the patient, Shad just took a look at the bedside and then retreated to the corridor with old Mr. Franco.
The worried old man held his hat with both hands and sighed softly:
"He was fine earlier last week, but two days ago he had a nightmare and became like this. I've seen the best doctor in town, but he can't figure out what's going on..."
In this era, sudden death from serious illness is very common.
"Nightmare?"
Xia De raised his eyebrows:
"Do you know the specific content of the dream?"
The old man nodded:
"He told me that he dreamed of a woman crawling out of the ground, grabbing his feet and trying to pull him underground... In fact, he has been having this dream since that night, but I can't connect this nightmare with his illness. But I have found a psychiatrist in the city, and I hope it will be helpful."
The voice was very low. It was a huge blow to the old man to see his only son become like this.
With the consent of Mr. Franco Sr., Shad searched the bedroom of Mr. Franco Jr., who was resting in bed and could hardly speak. If his guess was correct, there must be some special item that caused Mr. Franco Jr. to continue to have nightmares and become what he is now.
Xia De's search ability was very strong, and he was best at finding items with elements among a crowd of ordinary items. And just as he guessed, the strange items carried traces of elements.
It was a potted plant on the windowsill. The small flowers planted in the soil were not important. The soil in the pot had traces of the elements. The black soil felt unusually cold to the touch and seemed to have the ability to attract the eye. The more you looked at the soil, the more you could feel the illusion that your soul was being swallowed by the soil.
This mud had the exact same feel as the undead that attacked Shade.