"I see. We are honored to host you. The snow is really heavy. Please come in. The family members are having dinner. Please follow me. The host will be happy to have you dine with them."
As he spoke, the old butler of the corpse ghost and the maid led Shade to the corridor on the left side of the first floor. So far, the undead maid and the butler both had a strong sense of whispering elements, undead power, crazy curse of the earth, and demonic corruption. With such a complex mixture of forces, even Shade could not tell which one was the real relic just by looking at it.
But at least Shad understood the nature of the "Mad Land" he encountered this time. It was still different from the past. This time, the scenery within the "Mad Land" became a complete whole, allowing any creature entering the scene to forget the existence of the outside world and only think that this area was the whole world. Then they turned into dust in the curse, causing the scope of the curse to continue to expand.
This special distorted nature is the perfect match for this relic. I don't know whether the appearance of the relic induced the distortion of the land, or the distortion of the land attracted this special relic.
The entire mansion was in ruins. The bloodstained red carpet blended in with the dust. Every step on the broken floor made Shade worry that the ground would collapse. Normally it was still morning, but because of the influence of the relics, it was always night. The glass lampshade of the gas lamp in the mansion was almost completely covered with dust, and it could only illuminate a small part of the area under the lamp in the dim corridor.
As he followed the old butler inside, Xia De felt like he was walking in darkness. The dim light was like bait to lure prey, constantly waiting for him ahead.
The smell of decay, the stench of rotting corpses, and feces became more severe as they got closer to the restaurant. While walking through the corridor, Shade also noticed that there were many undead servants in this house, and most of them were ghouls and ghosts.
In fact, this is the normal situation. Before the Watson family all died, they were also well-known wealthy businessmen in the local area. Maintaining such a large family estate naturally requires enough servants and maids. It is abnormal to have something like Oxenfurt Manor.
Because the house was not particularly large, the restaurant did not function as a banquet hall, but was connected to the kitchen as a place for the family to eat. Only the upper half of the wooden door outside the restaurant was left, connected to the deformed door frame by an iron sheet, and the door itself was covered with black bloodstains.
Xia De didn't dare to activate Blood Echo in this environment, for he was worried that he would be blinded by the red light everywhere.
After the old butler knocked on the door, an old man's voice came from the restaurant. After getting permission, the butler and the maid led Shade in.
At this time, Xia De was completely holding his breath, because the stench here was even more terrible than that of the worm cave.
At the entrance of the restaurant, you have to walk down the steps on both sides, and here is a semi-underground room. The area of the entire restaurant is not particularly large, there are no windows, there is a fireplace on the wall opposite the door, on the left is an old wooden cabinet with dishes, on the top of the cabinet are three maggot-covered human heads, and on the right is the door to the kitchen.
There was a long wooden table without a tablecloth in the middle of the room. But although it was a long table, there were five people sitting around it, and only the seats at one end were empty.
Sitting at the end of the table was an old ghoul whose clothes were still intact. His exposed skin had completely turned green, and because the skin and flesh were so loose, his entire body was covered with wrinkles, as if he was wearing ill-fitting clothes. He was also the one who seemed to be the most severely corrupted by the devil's power so far. He had four arms, one on the left and three on the right. His entire body smelled of sulfur, and his face had eight eyes.
There was no need for Shad to guess, as the old butler introduced his identity. This was the owner of the manor, old Watson, the father of Hela Osenfurt.
Among the other four people sitting opposite the table, the ghostly old woman with a light green transparent spirit body is the mistress of the manor and the mother of Hela Osenfurt; the monster curled up on the stool, with a rat tail, who looks like a child, is the son of old Watson and the brother of Hela Osenfurt, and should have been 29 years old before his death; he is extremely obese, and when he sits on the stool, the fat that bulges out almost covers the back of the chair, and his whole body is pink like an ogre, and he is the younger brother of old Watson, the owner of the manor, and the uncle of Hela Osenfurt; as for the last transparent soul who is crying with her face covered, she is a banshee from one of the special undead races. She is the youngest daughter in the family and the sister of Hela Osenfurt.
In addition, there was a ghost dog lying on the ground, chewing a piece of human hand bone.
As for the stench, it came entirely from the family's meals. Xia De didn't really want to use his own eyes to distinguish or use words to describe the things piled on the table. Simply put, the rotten animal carcasses were the things that looked most like food. The human corpses that had been rotting for who knows how long, the obvious diluted feces, and other things that Xia De didn't want to guess were the real source of the stench.
After just one glance, Xia De regretted having eaten breakfast this morning. The churning feeling in his stomach became more and more intense, and he could only desperately imagine Mia running around in front of him, trying to suppress the discomfort with something that made him happy.
This was not discomfort caused by whispering elements or demonic power, but purely an instinctive reaction of the human body. In some ways, unless one gave up the human body, this would be more difficult to contain than the extraordinary curse.
"You are truly an honored guest. Welcome, the emperor's special envoy. Please forgive us for our poor hospitality. May I invite you to have dinner with us?"
Because of the ring, Shade was treated very kindly, and although the old ghoul spoke decently, his voice was still like a "humming humming" and was quite difficult to distinguish.
"Of course, it's my pleasure to bother you. Please call me Mr. Watson. The ruler of Witton has given me a special mission."
He forced a smile and sat down. Fortunately, the table was not very full of plates, and there was no "food" on the table in front of the empty seat.
"Mr. Watson, what do you like to eat?"
The mistress of the manor, the soul of the fallen lady, asked, her voice having an indescribable weirdness.
So all the monsters at the table, each holding their "food", looked in the direction of Shade, and Shade's smile almost froze.
If you eat these foods, you are likely to obtain spiritual runes such as "plague", "filth" and "feces".
she prompted softly.
"Now stop joking!"
Xia De said in his mind, and quickly organized his words:
"My master, Miss Violet, forbids me to eat other people's food outside to prevent me from delaying my journey. However, please allow me to invite everyone to drink together as a thank you for allowing me to rest here temporarily."
As he spoke, he reached into his coat and took out a bottle of red wine. Fortunately, no one cared where the bottle came from, and the ghost maid beside him also filled everyone's glasses with wine.
Xia De used the cup he brought with him and took a sip impatiently. He never liked drinking, but for the first time he felt that alcohol was so delicious.
The old ghoul suggested that everyone toast together, and after putting down the cup, the fat ogre, old Watson's brother, asked:
"Oh, Mr. Envoy, the suitcase you are carrying makes me feel uncomfortable. What is that?"
Xia De's expression remained unchanged:
"That's the important item that my master, Emperor Violet, asked me to deliver to the Sexess Higher Medical School... I think even country nobles like you should know what that school means."
The old corpse ghost still spoke in a "huhuhu" voice:
"Of course, it is one of the greatest witch academies. I had planned to send my two daughters to study there."
It is absolutely impossible for an ordinary person like Old Watson to know about the "Serkses Higher Medical School". This should be the common sense of life in the Fifth Era given to him by the relic.
Xia De then looked at the weeping banshee, and followed up on his words and asked:
"You have two daughters? I only saw this beautiful little princess. Is your other daughter married?"
The undead banshee who was praised by Shade was still sobbing quietly with her face covered. Hela Oxenfurt's brother, the small monster with a rat's tail, replied:
"Yeah, I have a sister too, she married some nasty guy from the other side of town."
These people didn't seem to remember how they died, but when talking about Hela's marriage, everyone became gloomy. The temperature in the room dropped slightly, and the light in the already dim underground restaurant became even darker.
Because of the alchemical items of Priest Augustus, it was not difficult for Shad to deal with these things, but Shad still remembered why he came here.
He held his glass, holding his breath, and pretended to be interested and said:
"An annoying guy? Yes, the families of married girls always hate the man who kidnapped their girls. You have reason to hate him."
"But that guy is not just annoying, he deserves to die!"
The monster, covered in excess fat, chopped the tabletop with the kitchen knife in his hand. All the food on the table was shaking, making the stench even more pronounced.
"If he deserves to die so badly, why did he let the girl get married? He's rich?"
Shade asked again, but this time he got no answer. Except for the weeping witch, the other four people, a total of 27 eyes, looked at him:
"Money? Every penny he has is stained with the blood of innocent people. Would we want his money?"