The sun is high

Shuge knew nothing about the incident that occurred at the southern gate of Salem City.

After leaving the Peace Newspaper Agency, he immediately returned to Ernst's old house and carefully inspected his "harvest" in Philip's office.

In that palm-sized exquisite iron box, there is indeed a magic certificate issued by the Legal Committee. Its appearance is basically the same as other pass documents issued by the Legal Committee, but the one in front of you, The top is engraved with a handshake pattern symbolizing Salem City's armistice celebration, while the bottom is engraved with the unique fleur-de-lis mark of the Royal Family of Deland.

Xiuge stretched out his hand and touched the iris mark gently, and then he discovered that this was not a decorative pattern, but a real magic emblem. The magic power was continuously flowing back and forth among those fine patterns, and when When Xiuge tentatively released his magic power, the power hidden deep inside the magic emblem suddenly became violent.

They responded to the temptation from the outside world at an astonishing speed. At that moment, Xiuge only felt an invisible sharp blade stabbing his palm fiercely. The severe pain made him shrink instinctively. As soon as he raised his hand, the magic proof in his hand fell to the ground.

"hiss……"

Xiuge took a breath. He quickly checked his palm and found that there was an obvious red mark on his palm. Although the magic power stored in the magic emblem was extremely violent in nature, its total amount was limited and not enough. to cause substantial harm to oneself.

After the pain subsided, Xiuge put the magic proof back into the iron box.

"This isn't right."

Xiuge stared at the delicate iris pattern, his brows gradually wrinkled.

In conventional wisdom, the Legal Affairs Commission uses extremely tough attitudes and techniques to control these important documents and certificates circulating in the official environment no matter when and where.

These pass documents will be infused with corresponding magic power for the pre-set magic rituals in specific places. Under normal circumstances, once a certain place enters a state of lockdown due to special requirements, anyone who does not carry the correct pass certificate will be Being repulsed by the magic ritual in operation, this rejection takes different forms depending on the power of the ritual.

Generally speaking, those intruders will only be bounced or knocked to the ground by the magic power in the ritual. However, on some extremely important occasions, the Legal Committee will also deliberately increase the power of the magic ritual, so there will be Some tragic cases of intruders being crushed alive by magic.

The "Three Warriors of the Walter Kingdom" incident, which is famous throughout the Luowei Plateau, is a typical example.

At the coronation ceremony twenty years ago, three scholars who were against the current king resolutely entered the coronation venue with the belief that they would die, and were eventually "executed" on the spot by a terrible magic set in the square. , the tragedy of the scene shocked the country for a while, leaving a serious psychological shadow on many people.

"How could the people of the Legal Committee allow the people of the Kingdom of Delan to use the royal magic emblem in such a place?"

Shuge turned over the paper filled with various clues and evidence, and soon his eyes were fixed on the surname "Morrell".

After linking the nobles of the Kingdom of Delan, the recent movements of the Peace Newspaper Agency, and the extremely special magic pass certificate in front of him, Shuge extended a new conjecture from the known clues.

"The emblem of the Royal Family of Delan appears on the pass. If such a certificate can be used normally, it means that the magic rituals that sealed the gates of Salem City have been secretly changed and adjusted at some point."

"Judging from Vereen Ernst's previous reaction, a considerable number of people in the Legal Committee, it can even be said that most people know nothing about this matter... However, among the senior officials of the Legal Committee, Someone must have reached an agreement and a tacit understanding with the Kingdom of Deland, and only with the cooperation of these spellcasters can the Royal Family of Deland complete this series of operations so smoothly."

"So, what exactly do they want to do in Salem City?"

Out of the professional habits he had developed in the past, Xiuge pulled out a blank piece of manuscript paper. He drew a long and thin straight line on the paper with a pen, preparing to try to use the clues he knew to come up with a rough timeline. Come.

However, before Xiuge started writing, his ears caught a very slight sound.

The sound was extremely soft, and its source was in the kitchen near the foyer.

If it were in the past, with Xiuge's original poor physique, he probably wouldn't have noticed such a tiny sound at all. However, after completing the magic inscription, Xiuge's reaction, strength and senses have been greatly enhanced, so Not only did he hear the noise, but he also made a judgment very naturally.

He was certain that the noise was definitely not made by mice or other small animals.

"Footsteps...and more than one person."

The magic disc in Xiuge's spiritual world began to rotate faster, and the dark green crystal embedded in the center of the disc began to slowly emit its own dark light toward the surroundings. Under its influence, the dark green crystal embedded in the concave surface began to rotate. The black tentacles and three-tailed mouse patterns in the slot have become extremely active.

"I didn't expect that even Ernst's old house, known as the ghost mansion, would receive a visit from a 'thief' one day."

Xiuge silently put down the magic pen in his hand, stretched out his hand to open the drawer, and put the manuscript paper on the table and the special magic pass into the deepest part of the drawer.

Then he stood up from the chair and gently moved his neck and wrists.

If in the past, he would have felt uneasy and frightened when faced with this kind of guy who had inexplicably sneaked into his mansion, and he would have even listed escape as his priority.

But now, facing the huge pressure accumulated over the past few days, facing the many dissatisfaction in the heart towards the people and things in Salem City, and the suppression of the impulse to use magic hidden deep in the heart... Xiuge is inexplicably... Feeling a little excited.

No matter who the person who broke into his home was, he was already prepared to give him a grand "meeting gift."

…

If the peculiar architectural style and refreshing sour beer represent the beautiful side of Salem City, then this ancient and gloomy Ernst House has become a symbol of the dark side of Salem City.

Among the many buildings in Salem City, this old mansion belonging to the Ernst family is so eye-catching. Its gray color is incompatible with those Derain-style buildings with colorful paint, and the old and outdated building appearance , and are obviously different from those spire houses originating from Votel.

Its geographical location is so subtle and special that any traveler wandering around the city will inevitably see this weird old house, and there are endless horror legends about it.

Some people say that the souls of the ancestors of the Ernst family actually live here. Those terrible ghosts who have participated in countless conspiracies, assassinations and wars will gather in this old house every night and speak in a language that humans cannot understand. Planning more horrific events.

Some people say that the old Ernst house was actually a hidden dungeon used by the Ernst family during the war. Those ruthless Walter nobles tortured many people to death in this old house, and they even used those Victims conduct heinous magic experiments, and exaggerated bats, worms that love human blood, and various modified half-human and half-animals are all frequent visitors here.

This mansion is such a wonder and embarrassment.

It was stuck in a delicate position, and no one knew what to do with it. After all, the Ernst family was prosperous, and no one wanted to anger that kind of family for an old house.

So it was left for a long time.

However, in the city of Salem, there is a kind of person who is absolutely not afraid of Ernst's old house.

Those are the stalkers and thieves who belong to the Three Color Brotherhood.

Some of them have been assassins who licked blood from their swords, some have been grave robbers who haunt cemeteries in the middle of the night, and some have won the reputation of "robbers" in certain towns. Even the least popular ones A group of people can also flexibly climb up to the mansions of nobles alone in the middle of the night.

As a group of people who live with the night, they have no fear of Ernst's old house, and even regard the so-called scary legends as a laughing stock.

As for the frail young man who lives here alone and can only rely on writing vulgar literature in exchange for royalties, they regard him as the butt of their jokes.

It is precisely because of this that when Roy, who has the nickname "Long Hands", and Bart, who is known as "Silver Scissors", received the task of "searching Ernst's old house" from the brotherhood, the faces of the two people All showed expressions of disbelief.

They don't think there is anything to explore in this place, and they don't understand what their superiors are crazy about. After all, they know very well that there is nothing useful in this old house. Could it be that the members of the Brotherhood need that very much? A new manuscript for Bastard?

Are the guys in the fraternity so lonely?

But no matter what, an order is an order.

Obeying orders and performing tasks is the foundation of the members of the Tricolor Brotherhood. They must take every assignment seriously, otherwise they will be regarded as "untrustworthy" by the members of the Brotherhood.

Thieves and stalkers with such names often do not receive help and support from their colleagues when working. Once an accident occurs under such circumstances, it will be a matter of time before they are thrown into a prison cell.

Therefore, for the sake of their own reputation and career, Roy and Bart had to hold their noses and carry out this task.

Both of them knew that Putlin, who had a huge future in the brotherhood, was a friend of the illegitimate son. It was precisely because of this that they did not choose to take action in the dead of night, but decided to use the most conspicuous time to kill him. Leave your mark on this mansion with your arrogant methods!

"It is a disgrace to the fraternity to be friends with nobles! Even if it is just an illegitimate child abandoned by nobles!"

"Silver Scissors" Bart followed his companion and climbed through the open window. The two landed on the kitchen floor one after another. They were very experienced. Even if the wooden floor in the kitchen was very old, they could No unnecessary noise was made.

Bart licked his dry lips and silently turned the fishing net hanging on his arm.

Before coming, he had already discussed it with Roy.

Regardless of whether they can find anything valuable here, the noble bastard should suffer some hardships... Countless thieves died at the hands of the Ernst family, including some famous master thieves.

Both believed that torturing the members of the Ernst family with fishing nets and ropes would be an excellent way to demonstrate and vent their anger.

Roy, who was walking in front, glanced at the empty kitchen. Although the kitchen was huge, the furnishings in it had nothing to do with aristocrats. The large and small cupboards were either empty or filled with tableware and supplies needed for daily life. , some of them were even used as cabinets for storing scraps, and some paintings, sculptures and decorations that did not meet the taste were stuffed in them.

"Damn, that's so shabby!"

He made a mouth gesture towards Bart, and then took out a strange earmuff with a tiny magic crystal embedded in it.

After putting on the earmuffs, "Long Hands" Roy slowly approached the wall and put his ears against the wall.

This is a small prop commonly used by thieves.

This kind of earmuff is not even a formal magic item, but under the special structure, the magic crystal embedded in the earmuff can make the originally small sound extremely clear, and use it to judge the room. situation, basically nothing can go wrong.

Roy squinted his eyes and listened carefully for a few seconds, then he raised his hand and gave a thumbs up to Bartle beside him.

This means that there is someone in the house at the moment.

Roy, who is known as "Long Hands", has many specialties. His palms quickly changed gestures, and the code words belonging to the thieves were passed on one after another.

"He's upstairs... getting ready to go downstairs."

"He had something in his hand."

"Get ready to take action."

Roy's palm slashed downwards, and the face under the black hood immediately became ferocious. His companions were very good at torturing people. Under the small pair of scissors he carried with him, few people could do it. keep on.

but……

Just when he was ready to cooperate with Bart to control the poor illegitimate child, a sound that was obviously not human came from the wall. It was a burst of footsteps with extremely high frequency. It sounded like Something was approaching towards him along the gap in the wall.

"Uh...is it a mouse?"

Roy was stunned for a moment, but before he could identify it carefully, the sound suddenly accelerated, and he heard a series of "thumping" sounds. Before Roy could react, the source of the strange sound had already come. to his ears.

"squeak!!!"

With a sharp scream, the wooden wall that Roy was clinging to was suddenly lifted open.

Immediately afterwards, a huge rat with glowing dark green eyes poked out from the gap in the wall. Before Roy could react, its sharp and huge teeth had already bitten his ear hard.