From Prisoner to Si Chen

Seemingly sensing Ji Lan's confusion, the old staff-maker laughed twice and explained:

"This is an annual tradition, and the 'gifts for good children' are not limited to real children... Blood Owl, an outstanding young man like you is very likely to be favored by Santa Claus."

"A gift for a good boy?"

Ji Lan raised his eyebrows.

He felt a little funny for no reason.

If you are a "good boy", then there should be no "bad boys" in the world...

"Old sir, does this 'Christmas tradition'... involve the occult?"

Gilan recalled his experience riding a mysterious carriage in the Land of Gods.

The wooden house in the ice and snow is the residence of the "Christmas Devil" Krampus, and there is a strange snowman guarding the door.

Through the conversation with the snowman at that time, we know that Santa Claus is not a legend, but a real existence... Gillan also has an intuition that neither "Santa Claus" nor the "Christmas Devil" is an ordinary person.

They gave gifts to good children and punishments to bad children, which obviously seemed to be following some kind of law.

"Yes." The old man, who was much shorter than Ji Lan, chuckled. "This tradition has been around for a long time, even dating back to the Middle Ages."

"No one has ever seen Santa Claus, but many children have received gifts on Christmas Eve... Some people claim to have seen reindeer pulling a cart in the night sky, accompanied by the clear sound of bells."

"Do you know what this is all about?"

Ji Lan humbly asked for advice.

The old man who made the stick shook his head.

"I have checked a lot of information, but there is no definite statement. Many secret societies have tried to spy on the true identity of 'Santa Claus', but they all ended in failure."

"However, there is a generally accepted speculation, that is, 'Santa Claus' Germaine Nicholas may be a high-level mystic... By the way, there is also the 'Christmas Demon' Krampus, who will appear in 'Silent Night' Punishes Bad Kids."

"Over the years, most cases of missing children have occurred on December 24th, and most of the cases are very strange. Even under the eyes of adults, children will suddenly disappear..."

Hearing this, Ji Lan looked thoughtful.

He suddenly asked:

"Old sir, please tell me, what should I do if I don't receive a gift on Christmas Eve and encounter Krampus instead?"

"Huh?" The old man who made the stick couldn't help but was stunned, as if he didn't expect Jilan to ask such a strange question. "this……"

He raised his head and glanced at the blond young man, and noticed that the other man's expression didn't look like he was joking, and he couldn't help but feel a shiver in his heart.

"If you are targeted by Krampus... be alert to the sound of chains, and do not touch the extra Christmas sweets at home, and seek the help of the Investigation Committee as soon as you discover anomalies... Parra Cersu Si can help you.”

The old man who made the stick had a serious expression and said in a deep voice.

"Remember, Krampus's strength cannot be resisted by ordinary mystics... If you encounter it, the only option is to run away!"

Jilan narrowed his eyes.

…

…

After performing a routine escort mission today, Gillan drove back to Price Street.

It was already dark, and not a single soul could be seen on the road.

Only two car lights cut through the darkness.

Woo...

The engine roared.

On the way, Gilan remembered the conversation with the old staff maker during the day. He thought for a moment, turned the steering wheel, and kicked the accelerator to drive away from the original direction.

The black car turned around and headed straight for East Muse.

After spending some time, Gilan walked through the business district and finally found a grocery store that was still open.

The boss is an elderly, thin old man who is sitting at the front desk reading a book. His wife, who also had white hair, was sleeping in a rocking chair with a blanket covering her body.

The store was brightly lit, with a Christmas pine tree standing on it, decorated with stars and gingerbread men, and a circle of small colored lights connected to the eaves of the wall.

Very nice looking, full of warm atmosphere.

Gillan bought some Christmas decorations at the grocery store and also bought a Christmas stocking.

When the old man refused, he paid a gold Caesar coin and received the old man's grateful blessing.

There is no other reason, business is too bleak...

In this current period of panic, it is really difficult to see the bustling commercial street scene of the past. Even at Christmas, few people want to go out for shopping.

Prices are soaring and people are extremely uneasy.

…

…

After returning to the rental apartment, Gillan arranged the decorations he bought. After the electricity was turned on, the whole room was bright and flashing with various colors of light.

The sense of atmosphere and ceremony is quite good.

But Jilan just glanced at it, then washed himself and went to bed.

He is not interested in these things.

Before turning off the lights, Gillan hung a Christmas stocking on the bedside.

He didn't know why he did this...perhaps he was curious about "Santa Claus", or he was wary of the "Christmas Devil".

Anyway, he wanted to try it.

And Gilan always felt a little uneasy.

He seemed to be at loggerheads with Krampus... Even though he didn't kill the snowman in front of the wooden house in the snow, it still had something to do with him.

Even corpses were corrupted by it and turned into a large amount of mysterious energy.

If Krampus wanted to take revenge on this, he probably wouldn't go to "Watcher" Tedder. After all, if the persimmon is too soft to pinch, it will definitely come to you first!

Gillan lay on the soft bed and closed her eyes.

In fact, he was not sleeping, but he deliberately slowed down his breathing and pretended to be asleep.

I don’t know how much time has passed.

Maybe it's midnight.

In the dead silence, Gilan suddenly heard a noise——

jingle!

The sound came from outside the window.

‘Really coming...? ! ’

He felt a chill in his heart.

The sound of the bells shaking sounded one after another.

Jingle bell, jingle bell…

At the same time, Gilan actually heard another voice——

Wow!

This sound came from the direction of the living room outside the master bedroom, the unique metal friction sound of chains mopping the floor.

'calm! ’

Ji Lan secretly thought.

He immediately used the power of his "anchor" essence to forcibly control his body without making any stress response. It was still in the state it should be in when "sleeping deeply".

Ji Lan didn't dare to rashly turn on his spiritual vision to check, because strong people were generally extremely sensitive to this and could detect it easily.

He is always prepared, and if something unexpected happens, he can react instantly and strike back.

But since the two sounds were heard at the beginning, there has been a long period of dead silence.

It seemed as if everything was just Gillan's auditory hallucination.

A cold wind blew outside the house.

It suddenly started snowing.

Ji Lan was confused, but did not open her eyes to look.

It wasn't until time passed and the sky was dark that he suddenly sat up and a gray cane appeared out of thin air in his hand.

However, the room was empty.

No one.

Just like the scene before he went to bed.

Ji Lan frowned, feeling that things were quite strange.

He carefully got out of bed and began to check everywhere in the room, including under the bed, doors, windows, and blind spots on tables and chairs.

However, no abnormalities were found.

"That's weird..." Gillan murmured.

He was certain that the sound of bells and chains was by no means an auditory hallucination, but real.

Ji Lan opened the door and planned to explore the living room.

However, he stopped at the door and his pupils shrank.

He stared at the black hoof prints left by an unknown creature on the floor outside the door...

The hoof print is divided into two halves, but it is not known whether it was made by a sheep, cow, deer or pig. But judging from the hoof prints, it is more like a creature that walks upright and is very large, at least over three meters.

Gillan found that the hoofprints seemed to spread from the living room, stopped at the door of his room, and then disappeared.

He couldn't help but feel furious.

‘Is it Krampus…? ’

Ji Lan secretly thought.

He bent down and reached out to wipe the black hoof prints. His fingers were suddenly stained with a layer of dust that looked like soot or coke.

He lifted it up and sniffed it between his nose.

"Charcoal ash... mixed with the smell of sulfur."

Gilan frowned and murmured.

"Is it a creature from hell?"

He stood up again and walked around the entire rental apartment. In addition to hoof prints, scratches left by heavy objects dragging the ground were also found...other than that, there were no other traces.

Gilan took a deep breath, returned to the master bedroom, then opened the window and looked outside.

Soon, he found a palm print on the glass outside the window... It was as if someone was leaning on the glass and peeking in.

Jilan's frown deepened. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he felt that what happened last night was too strange.

At this time.

His peripheral vision wandered around the room and suddenly stopped.

The pupils also shrank sharply.

Because Gillan saw that the Christmas stocking she hung by the bedside was actually bulging!

Someone put something inside at some point!

"?!"

Jilan stood up abruptly.

Then I stared at the red Christmas stocking and held my breath.

‘When exactly was it? ! ’

He couldn't figure it out at all. He didn't sleep at all last night and was still on alert... but he didn't know who came to his bed and stuffed something into his Christmas stocking!

Gillan was unaware of this!

If that person is not good for him...

Suddenly, cold sweat broke out on his forehead and back.

Gaba.

Ji Lan unconsciously clenched his fists, his joints turned white and made a crisp sound.

With a gloomy face, he walked to the head of the bed, took off the Christmas stocking, and then looked at the contents inside.

The sock contains two small items.

A palm-sized yellow leather booklet and a small bronze iron hook.

The iron hook is only about three or four centimeters long and wide, and the bottom is engraved with crooked small characters in ancient Xilu script.

"Krampus Solomon."

Gillan whispered the name.

Flip the hook over and there will be engravings on the other side:

"Bad boy, should be punished!"

When he saw this, his eyes narrowed.

At this time, Gillan was basically certain that among the unknown creatures that visited last night, there was the "Christmas Demon" Krampus... But for some reason, the other party didn't take action against him, and just left the iron hook as a threat.

‘Krampus Solomon…Solomon? ’

Gilan murmured this name in his mind, thinking of a person... no, a cat to be precise.

"Windmill Cat" Pal Solomon!

‘These two have the same surname. Is there any connection between them? ’

After thinking about it, to no avail.

Ji Lan had to put away the iron hook first.

'I have to advance to level 4 Kuze as soon as possible, I need strength...'

The sense of urgency in his heart became stronger with this invisible pressure.

Immediately afterwards, Gillan flipped through the booklet again.

He was surprised to see a passage written on the title page, which was also written in ancient Xilu script, but the handwriting was obviously much more elegant:

"A gift for a good boy."

"This is a book of secrets about the 'lower level' of the Land of Gods. It also comes with a 'ticket'. You are welcome to come and be a guest in my residence, Mr. Gilan Iros."

"Jermain Nicholas, stay."

This is from Santa Claus!

Ji Lan raised his eyebrows.

That is to say...

The ringing of bells and the sound of chains last night were harbingers of the arrival of "Santa Claus" and the "Christmas Devil" respectively.

Did they both come to find him at the same time? !

Ji Lan only felt that this thing was too magical, and seemed both weird and magical.

‘Perhaps… the reason why Krampus didn’t attack me was precisely because of Germaine? ’

He thought it was very possible.

Judging from the relationship between the two, it is obvious that they are old enemies that cannot be dealt with. Krampus was probably afraid of the other party, so he didn't attack Gillan.

He only left the iron hook as a threat and left in a hurry.

Gillan has an inexplicable liking for the mysterious "Santa Claus" Germaine Nicholas.

It just so happened that the Christmas gift the other party gave him was what he needed at the moment.

Gilan has just visited the Land of Gods and doesn't know much about the "lower level" area, so this booklet can give him a lot of help.

I heard from Chairman Pala that after the fourth level of "Road of Fire Sword", it will increasingly need to rely on the power of the Land of Gods.

Wow.

Keep opening and reading further.

Several areas are recorded in the booklet, and some "residents of Shenxiang" and information that may exist in these areas are clearly recorded.

Among them is a mention of the swamp that Gilan passed through, which was actually called "the place where the olives withered."

Washer women, blue hats, monster lizards, and an evil centaur called "Cruz" will all hang out there.

The brochure also focused on the information about the "headless carriage"... It is called "Silent Stage Carriage". The specific number is unknown. It will shuttle through the "lower" area of ​​the Land of Gods on its own, and has its own route and purpose. land.

You actually need to pay a toll to take the "Silent Coach", and only gold is charged. But for new visitors, there is a free benefit for using the carriage for the first time.

The annotation explains that there is an unwritten rule in the land of gods, that is, you cannot attack the "Silent Station" easily, otherwise it will be contaminated with a lot of "mottled air", which is very likely to arouse the hostility of the residents of the land of gods, and even " The thunderous pursuit of the "Watchers".

Gillan turned to the end of the booklet, and a golden coupon was sandwiched in it.

He picked it up and "Banlan" gave the entry:

"Santa's Workshop Visiting Ticket. A limited-edition ticket issued by 'Santa Claus' Germaine Nicholas. With it, you can take the 'Silent Train' directly to the workshop."