Whispering Verse

The two of them soon arrived at the entrance of the cemetery. Although they were in the wild far away from the village, the sultry summer night was not quiet at all. The wind brought the chirping of cicadas and the rustling of treetops to their ears, but it was muffled by the hood. But I couldn't feel the coolness of the wind.

Of course there are no obvious lights near the cemetery, but the light of the gravekeeper's cabin in the center of the cemetery can be vaguely seen.

The cemetery is surrounded by an iron fence, and due to heavy rains in the past few days, the paths are covered with dried mud. It looked like the fence gate was locked, but when I got closer, I discovered that two fence gates with spikes on the top were just tied together by chains.

Although it is a village cemetery, it looks relatively formal probably because it is close to the city. Unlock the chains and enter the cemetery. A straight path less than thirty steps long leads directly to the tombkeeper's hut located in the center of the cemetery, while other parts of the cemetery are past and present graves.

Different from the hometown of outsiders, according to the tradition of Delaraion and the funeral regulations of the Tobesk region, the height of the mound of a general grave cannot exceed the length of the thumb, but it is allowed to use long strips of white stone on the ground to surround the edge of the grave. , to facilitate identification of the location of the tomb. Following Miss Louisa, I looked at the cemetery under the moonlit night. I could only see graves with similar looks lying there, and there was a frightening chill in the silence.

The styles of tombstones vary. Most of the small stone tombstones are embedded directly in the soil in front of the tomb. This is a cheaper burial method. Although Shade has never visited Detective Sparrow in the city public cemetery, his grave probably looks like this.

Tombstones that can be erected on the ground represent that the deceased had something worth recording during his lifetime, or that relatives are willing to pay for an expensive tomb. Just like Shade himself, if he died tragically, with his current savings and the soon-to-be-received "Delarion Honorary Knight Medal", he would be eligible to have a standing tombstone.

"Huh? What am I thinking."

He asked himself silently.

After entering the cemetery, it seemed that the temperature suddenly dropped a bit. The woman's voice in her heart once asked Shade if he was afraid of ghosts. Although Shade was indeed not afraid, he still couldn't help but feel a little worried in this environment.

"However, in this mysterious world, visiting the cemetery at night seems to be a good story plot."

He was amusing himself while thinking about it, but Miss Louisa suddenly stopped and looked to the left side of the road.

Shade also looked over. Two long and two short white stones surrounded the tomb. Then, in the moonlight, he could vaguely see the words on the tombstone. The unlucky guy lying here died 24 years ago. The cause of death was a peanut stuck while eating breakfast. Hold the trachea. It was already three days before people found his body.

What was unusual was not the cause of death, but the shaking of the stones on the tomb. But this was not an earthquake. Under the gazes of Shade and Miss Louisa, a rotten finger stretched out from the soil first, and then a corpse palm with a foul smell also pierced the ground.

"Mr. Copus, why don't you scare me next time with an evil spirit?"

Miss Louisa shouted to the lit gravekeeper's cabin, and there was a match in her right hand under her robe. She just twisted the match and flicked it in the air, and the match head lit up.

Then he threw the burning match at the hand stretched out from the tomb. Almost as soon as the flame touched the rotting corpse, the fire lit up like a firework. But it was only for a moment. When the light disappeared, only the green smoke of the match rose from the ground. The tomb was intact, and the extinguished match stem lay there quietly.

"It's this little trick again."

Miss Louisa commented dissatisfiedly, and then the two of them heard a bang. Turning around, the door to the gravekeeper's hut was opened.

Contrary to Shade's imagination, even in a village cemetery, the gravekeeper's hut is not simply made of straw and looks like it will fall down if it is blown. This is a real stone house. Inside the door is the dim light of a kerosene lamp. A thin, middle-aged man with a pale face who looks like he has overindulged himself, walks out of the light in the house and looks impatiently at the man in black. Two people in robes:

"I knew there would be no peace tonight. What do you want?"

Although he looks strange, Mr. Copps, the gravekeeper, speaks normally.

Miss Louisa pushed Shade, and Shade knew it was better not to stay here for a long time:

"A small bag of bone meal, a bone whistle made from human hand bones, two eardrums, thirty ears of corrupted blood, and a human face stone."

"Human Face Stone" is a stone cultured from corpses using special techniques. It's more of an alchemical material than a mineral, and it's also the most expensive of the bunch.

"Did you bring enough money?"

The impatient middle-aged man asked. Shade noticed that he was wearing a black apron, which reminded Shade of the butcher inexplicably:

"How much?"

"Twelve pounds."

"Payment is available now."

"Then wait."

After a brief conversation, Mr. Copps turned and returned to his cabin. The two people outside the door could hear him rummaging around. After a while, he walked out holding a paper bag.

He walked towards Shade, and as the two approached, Shade smelled a familiar smell of corpses (note). This was definitely a smell that could not be washed away after being exposed to corpses for many years.

After handing over the money and delivering the goods, Mr. Copps returned to the hut and closed the door, with no intention of talking to the two of them again. If he were running a store normally, he would probably never get rich with this attitude.

Even including the time Mr. Copus spent searching for things, the entire transaction process did not take more than 10 minutes.

"Don't forget to put the chain back on when you leave."

These were the last words he said to the two of them.

Miss Louisa shrugged at Shade:

"He always does this, no need to be surprised."

After leaving the cemetery and entering the grove, Shade directly used the materials in his arms to learn thaumaturgy. He didn't want to walk around holding this pile of things.

"Shad, you will come into contact with more ring warlocks in the future, and then you will find that Mr. Copus is definitely not the weirdest person."

This was Miss Louisa's comment about Mr. Copps. She leaned against the tree and watched Shade inspecting the bag of bone meal. Among the three effects of the thaumaturgy [Soul Echo], the only active "channelling" requires casting materials, which is bone powder. Fortunately, the amount used was very small, so this small bag was enough for Shade to consume for a long time.

Then he put the stone on his ear.

"But the ring magicians I came into contact with all seemed normal...except for La Zoya."

Shade spoke, but his attention was mainly focused on the face stone in his hand. These strange stones are made from corpses, and according to alchemists, they have the ability to speak because they absorb the broken souls. One of the steps in learning thaumaturgy is to listen to what the stone is saying.

As for the bone whistle, eardrums and other messy materials, they are all for auxiliary purposes.

"Detective, that's because most of the ring warlocks you come into contact with are those trained formally by academies and churches. Ring warlocks who work informally are at greater risk of losing control and have weirder personalities."

She said, then yawned. Seeing Sha De looking over, he turned his head with a slightly red face. Although the hood had been taken off, the moonlight in the forest was dimmer, so Shade couldn't see her expression.

"Why, haven't you ever seen a lady yawn?"

asked the blonde.

"...have seen a lady burp."

Shade joked, and then he knew that the joke was inappropriate, because Miss Louisa reached out and broke off the branch above her head and threw it at him.

(Little Mia is running...)

Sunday came again in the blink of an eye. When he opened his eyes from the bed, Xia De couldn't help but sigh in his heart that since joining MI6 on Monday, this week has passed so quickly.

The most important thing today is to go to the royal manor outside the city in the evening to attend the recognition dinner. If it weren't for this incident, Shade would have used the white stone crystal to conduct the first space teleportation during the day.

Of course, he did not waste this day. After breakfast, he first wrote another letter to the client, Mrs. Le Maire, to confirm more details about receiving the inheritance next week.

Later, Captain Rades came to visit again. Although the captain did not receive any medal or other awards, he was still on the commendation list, so he invited Shade to set off with him in the evening.

After seeing off the captain, I originally thought of going out to send a letter and then go find Priest Augustus. Go to Dawn Church to listen to the sermons, and at least become familiar with the church.

Unexpectedly, before he had changed his clothes to go out, Shade's boss, Mr. Anlos, actually came to the door.

He did not enter the door, but was standing in the foyer talking to Shade:

"Hamilton, the situation has changed. You may not be able to get the 'Delrayon Honorary Knight Medal' originally mentioned."

This gentleman probably came in a hurry, sweating profusely as he grabbed the door frame behind him.

"Why? Oh, please come upstairs with me and we can sit down and talk."

"There's no need to go upstairs. I'm busy with other things. You know, our department is never idle. As for your medal..."

He suddenly approached Shade, his eyes widened but his voice was very soft:

"I heard the news, and I want to give you a greater reward than a medal."

Then the body returned to its original position, and the middle-aged man wiped the sweat with the back of his hand regardless of his appearance:

"Speaking of which, it's really cool in your house...So, be sure to arrive on time in the evening and be well dressed. Never be late."

"Is it more important than a medal? The royal family wants to give me a title?"

Shade was stunned for a moment and then asked in surprise.

"What good thing are you thinking of?"

Mr. Anlos smiled and waved his hand at him:

"The news I heard may not be correct, but the Dawn Church has made great efforts. You are really smart and know how to get support from the Zhengshen Church. Oh, and there is also the royal family. I don't know who it is, but there are people there. I will try my best to help you win the reward. No, it’s not Queen Diana or Miss Carina, it’s another important member of the royal family..."

He looked at Shade, as if he wanted to get to know the young man in front of him again:

"Anyway, never be late tonight. Remember, never be late."