While no one was in the alley, Shade used magic to unlock the door. After entering the house, he first put on shoe covers and gloves, and then adjusted his hat.
Later I saw that the furniture and daily necessities were still there. I guess that after this matter is over, the landlord and the residents on the second floor will move back.
"I knew that if I wanted to be a thief, ordinary people would not be able to stop me."
Shade thought to himself as he walked up the stairs.
There was no problem on the first and second floors. Xia De did not open anyone else's door, but just walked around the corridor.
There were no strange traces in the Echoes of Blood, but the echoes of the past allowed Shade to hear some interesting conversations.
Within 48 hours, the residents on the second floor had returned. The voices were from a man and a woman, and the discussion was about the young people on the third floor.
They were just chatting as they walked down the stairs, and the general idea was that ever since the young students upstairs moved in, they would always hear strange noises coming from upstairs late at night, so they thought that maybe Sal Hak's death was due to the existence of the "evil spirit".
Entering the third floor, Xia De opened the locked door, but except for the large furniture, all traces of life in the room had disappeared.
Unlike the windows on the first floor which were sealed, the windows on the third floor were merely closed, so sunlight could still shine in through the hazy fog.
Shade's boots squeaked as they stepped on the damp floor. He walked in and looked around. Reminded by the woman's voice in his head, he turned around and saw the soul standing at the bedroom door, avoiding the sunlight.
It was not an evil spirit, but a soul. The soul was almost completely transparent. If it dared to stand in the light, Shad would hardly be able to see its shape. Judging from the facial features of the soul, this should be Sal Hak who lived here.
Xia De saw him, and he saw Xia De, too. At first he thought it was just a coincidence, but seeing Xia De staring at him, Soul looked behind him in surprise and confirmed that there was a closed door behind him:
"Can you see me?"
"Yes, I can see you."
Xia De said, with some regret in his tone. The soul in front of him was very normal, a standard soul stranded in the death zone, and had not been infected by any elements. Therefore, the rumor that this place was "haunted" was true, but it definitely had nothing to do with the relics.
Thinking of this, he suddenly wanted to turn around and leave. But Xia De did not move, because he was also interested in the story of the soul.
It was only nine-fifty in the morning, so he had time to find out what had happened here.
"It turns out that there really is a so-called mystical power in this world."
Perhaps because death happened not long ago, the wisdom displayed by the soul is close to that of a normal person.
"Are you Huck?"
Shade confirmed it, and the soul nodded, looking happy that someone was talking to him:
"Yes, Sal Haq, I died here and was trapped here. May I ask who you are..."
"MI6."
Xia De took out his ID and shook it, and his soul suddenly realized:
"Oh, I know. It's just like the plot in palace novels. In the mysterious MI6, there really is a wizard who can help the king solve witchcraft problems!"
This statement is of course wrong. There may be hired ring sorcerers in MI6, but most of them are those who can't make it in other places or are in urgent need of money. It's not what he thinks.
But Xia De did not correct it, but nodded:
"Your downstairs neighbor reported that the place was haunted, so I was sent to check the house out."
"Haunted? When I lived here, there was never any... Oh, so you're talking about me."
He suddenly realized that it was because the wear and tear of his soul had reduced his intelligence, or because he had not fully accepted his own death:
"I'm sorry, I swear I didn't do anything! I just walk around at night occasionally, and I thought I couldn't interfere in the world of the living."
Sal Hake's soul is weaker than the two souls in the cemetery. Because of half a century of resentment and confusion, the latter can at least work together to control an ordinary person, but the former is really just an ordinary soul.
"How did you die?"
Xia De inquired curiously.
"I was sick. I thought it was just a common gastrointestinal problem, but I didn't expect the pain to be severe in the middle of the night. That night, the landlord's family went to visit relatives in the countryside, and the neighbors on the second floor seemed to be attending a banquet for small civil servants in the city hall. I couldn't ask for help, and then I died."
Talking about his own death, the young man's soul still felt a little regretful, but not dissatisfied.
"According to my preliminary investigation, your neighbor said that there were strange noises upstairs before. That happened before you died. Are you sure there is nothing wrong with where you live?"
"Just sit on the sofa and try it."
The soul said, Xia De hesitated and sat down, nothing happened.
"Try to turn around."
The soul spoke again, and Shad moved again, but still nothing happened.
"Increase waist strength."
Shade did it again, and this time the floor made a very obvious noise. Apparently the floorboards under the sofa were loose, making the noise when the sofa was shaking.
"So, the noise heard by the neighbors downstairs is created in this way... But what kind of vigorous exercise do you do on the sofa every night? Is it exercise?"
"exercise... ... "
The soul still stands in the shadow of the bedroom door:
"Not really. Actually, I know I shouldn't have stayed. The reason I stayed was, on the one hand, there might be something wrong with a necklace I bought before, and on the other hand, there was something I needed to deal with. Sir, there is a floor under the coffee table that can be pried open. Please take out the items inside."
Xia De really didn't feel any trace of elements in the house, and after prying open the floor, he barely noticed that there were alchemical items underneath.
I took out everything inside, including three magazines, a bone necklace, and an old black wallet.
The bone necklace was suspected by Shade to be human bones. From his limited knowledge, it was a standard alchemical item for the dead, but it was badly damaged. It was probably bought by him after it accidentally fell into the store. Even if it was left alone, it would become completely ineffective after a few months. It was this item that caused the soul to stay here.
As for the three books, judging from the cover, they seemed to be women's fashion magazines from last autumn. This was something that noble ladies liked, so it was strange to see them here.
Xia De opened the book, took a look, then immediately closed it with a slightly red face.
There are not a single word in it, just large black-and-white photos of people and paintings, used to show the beauty of the human body and to illustrate that humans can be photographed and painted without clothes.
In other words, the cover is only used to conceal the real content inside. This is a colored picture album.
“You watch this every night?”
Xia De looked at the soul and shook the book in his hand.
"Not every night, maybe occasionally... I stayed here to destroy these things, so I walked around at night. No, you can take them away, as long as no one knows that I have seen them."
Soul said, with no expression on his face.
"No problem, I'll take it away for you and burn it."
Xia De couldn't leave any trace that he had been in the house, so he couldn't burn it here.
"Also, please burn the photos in your wallet."
Soul said again, and Shad opened the old black wallet and checked it. The so-called photos were two very old family photos with a windmill in the countryside as the background. The little boy in the photo should be Sal Hak, but judging by the time, the photo should have been taken decades ago.
"This is a photo of me and my family, but they unfortunately passed away during the plague five years ago. Sir, take the three books away and burn the photo. The money in the wallet is yours. That was the money I had saved to pay for next year's tuition, but I can't use it anymore."
"Don't you have any friends? Who dealt with the body?"
Shade asked in surprise. Sal Hak, whose soul was becoming more and more transparent, shook his head:
"If I had friends, why would I read those magazines at home at night? The school helped me deal with my body, but since I'm already dead, I shouldn't bother the people I know at school because of money. The landlord has my three-month deposit, which I'll give to him as a gift. As for this money, it's about 20 pounds, sir, it's a gift to you, thank you for helping me deal with these things."
It's not that the tuition fee is 20 pounds a year, but that's all the money he has saved so far.
The soul's voice gradually weakened, and Shade only heard the last sentence. He was leaving:
"Sir, I have no family, no friends, and even no one to hang out with at night. I want to change my life by studying alone. As a foreigner, I am very happy that someone can help me deal with my affairs... Thank you."
He disappeared, and Shade looked at the 20 pounds he had earned for free. Instead of being happy, he was surprised and confused:
"So, why did I come here? Isn't this telling me that a stranger with no one to rely on will eventually die alone, without even an heir to his estate?"
The sunlight shone into the room from the window and onto Xia De's face, which showed a look of astonishment. Nothing else could ruin his mood for the whole day like this.
Outsider, don’t you have someone who can inherit your estate
The whispering voice in my ear asked.
"You mean Mia?"
Xia De looked at the wallet in his hand in the sunlight, and the wallet seemed to be mocking him.
I mean your friends. What made you think of that cat
She whispered in his ear, and Shade was speechless:
"Even though there is money to be made, I shouldn't have taken on this commission."
Although a soul had appeared in this matter, it would have been fine if it had been left alone. Now the matter had been perfectly resolved, but the blow to Shade's heart was too great.
After leaving the house and locking the door, Shad used magic to light a fire downstairs and burned the two photos as agreed.
As for the three books in his hand, they were too big to light in the alley, so he planned to take them back and burn them. When he walked out of the alley, he remembered that he could turn them into small toys, but since he was already on the street...
Xia De sighed, holding three books between him, facing the morning sunshine, lowered his head and joined the crowd, merging into the misty street.