For a moment, Shad thought that Oxenfurt was going to pick up something and hit old Mr. Watson from behind. Judging from the expression on his face, Hela in the illusion felt the same way, but Stone Oxenfurt held back again.
He clenched his fist and a forced smile reappeared on his face:
"How about we sign here? I'll have the servants bring chairs and tables and prepare pens and ink."
The illusion continued, and the old butler of the manor, who was very familiar to Shade, and the maids dressed in old-fashioned maid dresses appeared, carrying tables and chairs.
The group sat down at the door in the snow - of course, judging from their attire, it was still summer.
Old Mr. Watson took out the parchment contract. Stone Oxenfurt took a look at it, then he slammed the table in anger and stood up:
"What does this mean? Why is it different from last time? If the two divorce, all family property will belong to Hela Watson. If Hela Watson dies during the marriage, she must be buried in the Watson family cemetery."
"Father."
Mrs. Hela also held her handkerchief and looked at her father angrily, while old Watson calmly explained to his future son-in-law:
"I don't trust you, so I want to increase your losses when you divorce. The Oxenfurt family cemetery is too shabby, even more shabby than this house, and it's full of rude people. For my daughter's peace after death, she must return to our family cemetery. Of course, if you want, you can also be buried in the Watson family cemetery. I won't make it difficult for you."
"you... ... "
Ossenfurt's illusion raised his hand as he spoke. Although he stopped his movements, his eyes were murderous. This was no joke. He was definitely thinking about killing someone.
Shad suspected that this incident was the trigger for the subsequent massacre at Watson Manor.
But what happened next proved that his guess was wrong.
"If you sign it, I'll agree to your marriage."
Old Watson said, then reached out to the outside of the illusion and took out a wine bottle:
"Although my wife was not here due to illness, she asked me to bring a bottle of wine to celebrate your engagement. I don't like you, but for Hela, I will still bless you."
He seemed certain that Stone Oxenfurt would sign, so he handed the bottle to the old butler beside him, who opened the bottle and poured a glass of wine for each of the three people at the table.
Ossenfurt sat there with a twitching mouth, looking at the parchment and wine glass in front of him. To be honest, at this time, Shade admired his self-restraint.
Finally, he picked up the pen and signed his name, and the size of his signature looked like he wanted to kill someone with the pen.
As Old Watson smiled, Stone Oxenfort dropped the pen, did not toast anyone, picked up the cup and drank it, then began to cough continuously:
"Oh, Stone."
Hela patted his back, but after bending over and coughing twice, Ossenfurt actually spat out a mouthful of blood onto the table.
Now everyone, including Xia De, was shocked.
Stone Oxenfurt stood up and looked at old Watson:
"Poison? You can't help it now. Do you want to kill me and take all my property?"
"What, I..."
Old Watson looked quite surprised as well, but he had no chance to explain before the wine glass was thrown at him by Ossenfort. Because he was too angry, the aim of the attack was not accurate enough, and the wine glass flew past Watson's ear. So the old man stood up and ran out of the range of the illusion that Shade could see.
"Stone!"
Hela Watson, who was still present in the illusion, tried to explain, but Stone Osenfurt pushed her away, causing her to leave the scene as well.
The man with a fierce look on his face, his facial features twitching, stood on the steps in front of the mansion, looking in the direction where old Watson left. He bent down, pulled out a dagger from his boot, and stabbed it fiercely into the parchment contract on the table behind him:
"Do you really think I'm a good person?"
The illusion ended, leaving only Shade standing at the entrance of the mansion, holding a candlestick and looking at the empty snowy surface:
“Haha~”
He laughed dryly twice, not knowing what to say. He knew what happened afterwards. The Watson family was destroyed and turned into a haunted house. The family members, unlucky guests and all the servants turned into half-demons and wandering spirits until they were freed by Shade not long ago.
Of course, Shade thought that the cup of "poisoned wine" was most likely not brought by old Watson. As a bystander, he saw the scene most clearly. Moreover, according to his various inquiries about the Watson family, the Watson family had a very good reputation in the local area and would never use such means to seek the property of their future son-in-law.
Although the tracking of blood dripping into the eyes by "Blood Echo" only lasts for one hour, this magic is essentially related to time. Therefore, although a lot of time was wasted watching the illusion, making the duration of the magic almost reach an hour, the enhancement of the power of time also affected the continuation of Blood Echo, so Shad could continue to follow the footprints and the bloody figure into the interior of the mansion.
This time, the footprints were wandering between the two staircases on the left and right, next to the long dining table under the patio of the house. This place could also be used as the banquet hall of the mansion. The long dining table was facing the fireplace covered with spider webs, and on both sides were corridors and doors. It was here that Shad talked to Hela Osenfurt when he came for the third time.
This time the stone shard was hidden in the fireplace, and when Shad was about to activate the illusion, the ground shook slightly, causing the magnificent chandelier above his head to make a very scary "creaking" sound.
There was another earthquake nearby.
The demonic runes on the stone were activated, and the fourth illusion appeared, showing the Osenfurt couple and two demon servants.
Hela Watson, without a veil, sat at the table, in front of her was a table full of delicacies and gold and silver utensils, while Ossenfurt stood beside her. Judging from the light and shadows shown by the illusion, it should be night, the fireplace was burning, and candles were lit on the table, but the other lamps on the walls were not turned on:
"We're getting married next week. I received a letter from your father saying that his whole family won't be coming. He's probably afraid of me."
"Shi Dong, what did you do to my father? I haven't seen him since then."
The woman lowered her head and asked her soon-to-be husband a question, with an almost pleading look in her eyes.
"Nothing."
Ossenfurt said with his arms folded across his chest. The woman continued to look up at him, and the two servants stood by like sculptures. This illusion lasted for five minutes, and no one moved, which made Shade quite disappointed:
"On the eve of her wedding, she realized that her family had been destroyed."
Xia De muttered softly, following the footprints and the bloody figure up the stairs. This time, he returned to the bedroom on the third floor. The last piece of stone was hidden under the pillow next to the body on the bed.
Just before picking up the stone, Xia De suddenly turned his head and squinted his eyes to look out the window. There seemed to be something big flying in the night sky in the direction of the mountains, and a spot of light was chasing behind it.
Shade activated the fifth stone tablet.
The illusion of the stone slab covered the entire room, and the shabby room instantly turned into a carefully tidied and cleaned bedroom. Hela Osenfurt, wearing a white wedding dress, was lying on the bed, overlapping the position of the body holding a rose in reality, with lifeless eyes looking at the ceiling with tears; Stone Osenfurt, wearing a gorgeous dress robe, stood by the window, with a wine glass on the windowsill. He turned his back to his wife, holding the window frame with both hands and looking at the night.
Shad put the candlestick back on the desk, and then saw a new envelope appear on the illusion's desktop.
The letter looked like it had just been opened. There was no letter paper inside, but a palm-sized cut-out newspaper section. It was the top page, so Shad could see the name of the Randall Valley Evening News, and even the headline of the news on this page -
The Watson Manor Massacre!
As for the content of the news, it was basically that Watson Manor was brutally massacred and there were no survivors. The police were actively investigating the matter and soliciting clues from all citizens.
Shade sighed again as he heard footsteps coming down the hallway.
The door was pushed open, and the real Stone Oxenfurt appeared outside, followed by the old butler and the maid. Because the illusion was still continuing, after Oxenfurt opened the door, he could see his wedding bedroom, the illusion and the corpse on the bed, and the back of "himself" in front of the window.
He showed a somewhat sad look, was silent for a while, and then said to Xia De:
"Why do you have to satisfy your morbid curiosity? Wouldn't it be better to just take the cards and leave?"
Xia De put down the newspaper in his hand:
"That won't do. The demon promised to give me more than I can give you. If you leave like this, neither me nor it will be satisfied."
He raised his sword:
"It's interesting. You went through so much trouble to show me your marriage story. You don't want me to sympathize with your situation, resonate with you, and then let you go, right?"
"I know you very well, and I also know that you probably won't sympathize with someone like me."
Oxenfurt was still standing outside the door:
"I just hope you can understand these stories. After all, you have been too involved in my life and decided to end it all as the 'messenger of justice'."
Shade shook his head:
"If you have nothing else to do, can we start fighting? I have other things to do tonight and I don't have time to stay here with you. As you can see, the fight outside is going on very lively, and I want to join in the fun too."
Stone Oxenfurt blinked, took a step forward and actually walked into the room, with the maid and butler following behind him.
He became a ring mage, now one ring.
"She" reminded softly.
Xia De would not let down his guard just because he only had one ring. After all, when he met Qiao Yin Barton last year, he also had one ring.