This time, it was still a tiger that appeared, and it was the same tiger as before.
It came out of the woods again, but this time it was not to attack Shade and Mia. Behind it, there was a young man dressed in summer clothes, or rather the soul of a young middle-aged man. The latter's neck was very wrong, and it seemed that this was the fatal injury.
Looking up at the bright afternoon sun above the tree branches, Xia De muttered in surprise:
"A ghost that can appear during the day?"
These ghosts either have had special experiences or are quite powerful.
"Can you really see me?"
The man showed a surprised expression on his face. Shade nodded and looked at the tiger who obviously didn't want to get close to him.
"Is it this tiger that killed you?"
He was about to take action, but the young man hurriedly shook his head:
"No, about two years ago, when I was investigating nearby, I accidentally slipped and fell down the hillside and broke my neck. Although it ate my body later, I was already dead by then. I don't know if it was because of this reason that I was able to follow it all the time, or if it was because it followed me. I helped it scare off small animals like hares, and it followed my instructions and moved around in the forest."
Xia De had never heard of this kind of strange symbiotic relationship.
"At noon, I couldn't move around, so it ran out by itself. Just now, it came back to me with injuries, and I knew that we had finally encountered those people who could use witchcraft and magic as rumored. To be honest, although I was a folklorist when I was alive, I didn't actually believe in these things."
He said while standing in the shadow of the thick tree trunk. Shade nodded. Seeing that the soul was normal and had not been corrupted by killing people, he took the initiative to suggest:
"Since you couldn't leave after death, you should still have some wishes, right? If you want to do something, you can tell me, and I can send you away and let you truly go on."
The man immediately smiled and nodded:
"That's great. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Benjamin Erford, a scholar from the University of Orlick in Willendale. I know my wish myself, and it's a very simple wish."
He showed an embarrassed expression:
"I have been investigating in the Randall River Valley for a year. I have also gained some knowledge about the local folk customs of worshipping the earth and festivals. I have already written an article and it only needs the final revision and polishing. Could you please help me submit it? I have already selected a journal and it should be accepted... If this article can be published before I die, I will probably be able to get an associate professor's degree before I turn 35..."
Xia De didn't hear the last half of the sentence clearly, but he could still feel the sadness of the soul:
"You are already dead. I can't publish this article under your name. Otherwise, it will cause trouble."
Shade said, and Mr. Erfurt immediately shook his head:
"No, no, you don't need to use my name. Just thank me first in the acknowledgments. After all, I've already written it, and I lost my life for it. If I don't publish it, I really..."
Xia De understood what he meant. It was a simple matter:
"No problem, I'll take it to Delarion and publish it, is that ok?"
"Thank you so much."
Just as Shad was about to say no thanks, he immediately remembered what Dorothy had said to him that morning. Therefore, he was a little embarrassed:
"By the way, would you mind if I published it under my name? I'm trying to get... an honorary degree. Oh, lead the way. Where are your notebooks and papers now?"
Then Mr. Erford's soul rode on the tiger, and the tiger came to Shade with its head down and eyes drooping, and then led the way in front. The direction it went was the direction that the man, the tiger and the cat had come just now.
"Never mind, I wonder if I could know, the honorary degree you are striving for is..."
The soul riding the tiger asked curiously.
"Honorary Doctorate in History."
Shad said:
"With this degree, I can be more confident in front of my female friends. Moreover, my current job can also provide me with a degree subsidy."
This is a benefit for public servants, and a degree subsidy is given according to the degree. The subsidy for an honorary degree is about three-fifths of that for a formal degree.
“I see.”
Mr. Erfurt nodded and said with considerable awe:
"I thought that someone like you who possesses extraordinary power would not care about the things that ordinary people care about."
"Even if you have extraordinary powers, you still have to live in a house at night, eat during the day, turn on the gas meter, and keep a cat. It costs money."
Shade said as he followed the tiger forward, while Mia looked at the tiger, not knowing what she was thinking:
"You can't imagine how high the housing prices are in the city where I live. If I hadn't inherited the house left by my uncle, I would have to rent a house, which would have made it inconvenient to do many experiments."
This topic immediately resonated with the soul:
"The housing prices in Willendal are not low. Although I was able to get a position in the college, I didn't get promoted to associate professor, nor did I have a tenured position. My fiancée didn't even want to marry me. But fortunately, we haven't gotten married yet, otherwise it would be a disaster for her now."
As he spoke, Mr. Erford sighed. Shade knew that his sad story had been mentioned, so he changed the subject:
"I will publish the paper as soon as possible. Your name will be mentioned in the acknowledgments, and the corresponding author will be another senior professor's name."
"No problem, but my article is more folk-oriented. If you want to publish it successfully, you'd better find a respected old professor to help you."
Professor Tiris Manning is obviously that kind of respected old professor.
The two walked and talked, and after crossing the frozen surface of the Ailon River, they unexpectedly returned to the place where Shade and Mia had encountered the tiger. However, they did not approach the mountain where the Night Temple was located, but continued to go deeper into the forest. At about four o'clock in the afternoon, after sliding down the snow slope with difficulty, they stopped on top of a pile of rubble that was not very hidden.
This is a very common but also hidden hillside in the mountains. If it is summer with lush vegetation, it is indeed possible to slide down accidentally.
The tiger did not dare to jump into the gravel pit in this season when there were no plants to climb, so only Shade jumped in. Because the dead were nearby, Shade easily found some human bones and a waterproof cloth bag in the gravel with the help of "Blood Echo".
He did not open the bag immediately, but went back to the upper room and found a place with sufficient sunlight to bury the human bones. Then he sat down and opened the bag in front of Mr. Erford to check the contents.
The bag was fairly waterproof, and except for the white bread wrapped in brown paper which had gone moldy and the ink bottle and glasses which were broken, everything else in the bag was intact.
Mr. Erford was very grateful to Shad for burying his body, so he happily said that everything in the bag belonged to Shad.
The tiger lay above the burial site of his remains, and the soul leaned against the tiger as it explained to Shad the information in the notebook, the documents recorded, and the article for which a draft had already been written.
He had actually done most of the work, and only the polishing work remained. Shade felt sorry for Mr. Erford's experience, but two years of ghost life made Mr. Erford understand a lot of things. At least he would not be resentful of his own death and degenerate into an evil spirit:
"To be honest, it's much easier to be dead than to be alive. I don't have to think about how to deal with those students who don't hand in their homework, I don't have to worry about whether all the research work for this year has been completed, and I don't have to think about writing project applications all the time just for those pitiful funds."
Shade sat opposite the soul leaning against the tiger, listening to each other telling about his life when he was still alive. Death is often so sudden. Compared with others, Mr. Erford was at least a little luckier, having met Shade.
He finished explaining his article quickly, and the wallet with little money left in the bag, the room key of the Plenty Land Inn in Randall Valley, the leftover food and his personal letters were not particularly important. Especially the room key, room 303, which was next to the room with the address for mail, had already been rented to someone else.
Shad respected Mr. Erfurt's wishes, burned his private letters and a few personal belongings, and promised to take away the pocket watch with a photo on the cover. Shad could use it for himself or find an opportunity to leave it at the door of the gentleman's fiancée's house.
And in the end, Xia De actually took out a Rhodes card storage box from the side pocket of the shoulder bag, and the box contained a complete deck of cards.
“When you are out and about, playing cards with strangers in a pub or on the first floor of a hotel is also a very interesting behavior.”
Mr. Erford said embarrassedly. Xia De originally planned to send him away immediately after counting the items, but he changed his mind at this time. He looked up and suggested:
"Thank you very much for giving me the article. How about we play one last round of Rhodes and then I'll send you off?"
You really want to thank him, not because you want to...
"That's a good suggestion. Before I really die, playing cards with a stranger I met by chance in the winter forest. Although I don't know his identity, he can use extraordinary powers. This is simply the last thing I can imagine before the end of the best life."
Because of special reasons, he can use his soul to influence reality, so he can also touch his own Rhodes deck:
"Among these cards I have, there is a special card. After this game, it will be yours."