Whispering Verse

"The expression was normal, and he showed no desire to attack the living. When he appeared, it did not cause the people nearby to unconsciously fall into a state of panic. Even only I, a ring warlock, could observe... It's not an evil spirit, just an evil spirit. It can be regarded as a soul that refuses to leave.”

Shade silently concluded in his mind, but on the surface he still looked expressionlessly at the old woman behind the small podium in the church, recalling her past life.

There are many reasons why the soul does not leave with the death of the body. In this world of supernatural and occult existence, relics, the power of gods, the power of strange evil objects, the unlucky place of death, the coincidental date of birth and death, The peculiar way of death, the characteristics of the soul itself, and other reasons may cause this phenomenon.

Attacks by evil spirits on ordinary people are actually the most common supernatural events dealt with by the Zhengshen Church in the steam city, and they are also one of the most harmful events to ordinary people.

The reason is simple. The soul body in this world has the characteristic of being "completely immune to physical attacks." In other words, once they are really attacked by evil spirits, ordinary people, unless they are devout believers wearing holy symbols, basically have no choice but to run for their lives, otherwise it will be useless even if they have steam bombs strapped to their bodies.

And the one beside Shade is not an evil spirit, it can only be regarded as a soul residing in the world of the living, otherwise it would have been eliminated by the power of the church. As for the reason for its appearance, Shade didn't know, and at the same time he didn't want to know. After all, it didn't have any adverse effects.

"This is probably Mr. Watson's spirit, which will disappear after the funeral."

This was a wonderful expectation for the current scene, but it was a pity that he guessed wrong.

Pretending not to see the souls around him, he kept staring ahead for five minutes. Another cold breath appeared on the left hand side, and at the same time a second man's voice appeared:

"It's funny, I got to see my own funeral."

Shade glanced to the left again, and sure enough, a second soul appeared.

The two souls looked to be middle-aged men in their forties, standing side by side on the carpet in the aisle leading from the church door to the podium. They almost blocked the door of the church, and they didn't even notice that someone was watching them quietly.

Judging from the words of the second soul when he appeared, he was the deceased Mr. Watson.

"I didn't expect you to die too, Mason."

Mr. Watson said, and Shade's ears moved. Mason seemed to be Mrs. Watson's maiden name, which was the last name of the guy who killed Mr. Watson.

Shade concentrated his attention and became somewhat interested in the following conversation. After all, a conversation between two souls must be more exciting than a boring funeral of strangers.

"Yes, I am fifteen years later than you. I didn't expect to see you here."

Mr. Mason said, both souls still looking forward and not looking at each other, as if this was just a casual conversation taking place during a funeral.

"I don't know why I'm here. I just heard her crying and I came here. Greta is still so beautiful in her old age. I really hope I can live to see this scene."

exclaimed Mr. Watson.

"I also hope that I can live to see my sister grow old, but it's a pity..."

Mr. Mason sighed. Shade didn't expect that the soul could do such an action:

"Have you ever resented your presence here?"

Mr. Mason asked again in a casual tone, and Mr. Watson replied:

"That happened more than thirty years ago, so what's the use of resenting her?"

"Her? Why resent Mrs. Watson? Shouldn't it be resentment against Mr. Mason?"

Shade said suspiciously, but his expression remained unchanged, for fear that he would be caught eavesdropping and thus not be able to hear the entire conversation.

"Yes, it's been thirty years. I still remember that rainy night when I came to your house to deliver red wine. Sister Greta opened the door and she was drunk. She still smelled of alcohol and blood..."

Mr. Mason paused:

"I've always known that you two have deep conflicts, but I didn't expect that she would kill you."

Shade blinked, not really caring what he was looking at, he was more interested in the conversation between the two ghosts. Mr Watson appears to have been killed not by his wife's brother, but by his own wife.

"She drank a lot that day and asked me about Miss Emma...you know I can't explain it."

Mr. Watson's tone was very complicated. Shade was not the kind of person who could analyze seven or eight emotions from one sentence, but at least he knew that this soul was helpless, annoyed and regretful now.

"Yeah, you can't explain it. After all, that woman is pregnant with your child. Look, the middle-aged man in the third row is also 32 years old this year."

Mr. Mason prompted, and the conversation was interrupted for a while. Mr. Watson's soul looked up for a long time:

"Greta didn't make things difficult for them? I clearly admitted it before I died."

"She drank too much that night, and she couldn't remember what she heard or did the next day. It was me who moved your body away on that rainy night and washed away the traces. Sister Greta only I remember you had a big fight, and then you left the house in anger."

Mr. Mason's soul told stories from the past, and Shade also had a question. Of course, he didn't intend to say it. He didn't want to lose the right to listen to the story because of his interruption.

"Then you 'disappeared'. My sister was very sad. I persuaded her to travel to other places. During this period, I brought your body back and hid it in the basement of your house and sealed it behind a brick wall."

"So she was not questioned by the police and was able to continue to live a decent life?"

Mr Watson concluded.

"Yes, I was suspected of murdering you, so I turned myself in. Later, I spent a very unforgettable time in prison, fell ill, and passed away shortly after I was released from prison. I did not tell what happened that night. , after all, it’s not her fault.”

The two men talked about these past stories without showing much emotion, as if they were just chatting with old friends.

Shade, who eavesdropped on the conversation, was already thinking about telling Miss Louisa what he saw today. This would probably be very good writing material. I accepted this commission just because I wanted to relax before the war and take a look at Mr. Sparrow. Now that I heard such an interesting story, the time spent this afternoon was not wasted.

The conversation between Mr. Watson and Mr. Mason ended here. They stood side by side and watched Mr. Watson's friends say goodbye one by one. The two souls only commented on the old friends' old friends from time to time. Apart from appearance, not much else to say.

When the last pastor came to the stage to evaluate Mr. Watson's life, Mr. Mason laughed at the comment about "loyalty to love". When he heard that "he was generous by nature and willing to do good," he even taunted Watson around him. Mr. Senter.

The latter was not angry either, and just explained his life calmly. Shade heard Mr. Watson's confession in full. If what he told was true, then he should be a typical middle-aged businessman who was lustful and greedy for money.

There's nothing terribly evil, but he's definitely not a good person either.

At the end of the funeral ceremony in the church, everyone stood up and prayed for Mr. Watson together with the pastor. Shade also stood up and repeated the words of blessing to the voice of the old priest.

The two souls did not speak with everyone, but when everyone sat down and the priest announced that the coffin could be moved to the underground tomb, Mr. Watson suddenly raised a question, which was also the question that Shade had while listening to the story:

"You said...Did Greta really completely forget about that rainy night? Or was it just..."

"...Unwilling to take responsibility for killing her husband, her brother ended up in jail."

Mr. Mason completed the last part of the sentence.

When Shade heard this, he quickly glanced at the two souls, worried that they would suddenly turn into evil spirits. But fortunately, they only asked questions and remained emotionally calm.

Everyone stood up, and four professional pallbearers from the church lifted the coffin placed on the shelf in the aisle. The pastor, Mrs. Watson, Shade, and Mr. Watson's brother John Watson were the first to leave the church, followed by the lifted coffin, and at the end were the relatives and friends who came to see them off.

The two souls did not leave or stay in the church. Instead, they moved forward with the team and happened to be still with Shade.

Shade continued to listen to the conversation between the two souls while watching Mrs. Watson being held in tears by the middle-aged bodyguard.

Go along the stone path connecting the small lecture hall, walk forward a hundred steps and then turn left. Placing coffins in underground tombs is a relatively high-end burial method. Large families can even own an entire underground tomb, allowing each generation of the family to sleep together after death.

Of course, expensive and high-end are not because the decoration of the underground tombs is very good, but just because that is the tradition of the people.

"When you say that, I also want to know how she forgot it, or whether she deliberately didn't want to remember it."

Mr. Mason said softly, and Shade caught a glimpse of his soul looking toward Mrs. Watson in front.

"Although the past has passed, I still want to know. After all, she forgot about it, which caused me to be buried thirty years later."

Mr. Watson said the same thing.

"Then why not ask her directly."

"Do you know how to get her to see us?"

"have no idea."

"I don't know either."

The tone of the soul's dialogue was monotonous. Xia De understood that what the book said was correct. Mortal souls cannot stay intact in the world without protection. The two souls around him were probably just fragments, only slightly stronger than the phantom souls summoned by Shade using [Soul Echo].

Even without intervention, they would probably dissipate soon.

Weeds and trees grow vigorously in the cemetery in summer, but the dedicated gravekeepers keep the area they manage well. In the gaps between the flagstones, the height of the weeds was no more than the same level as the stone steps. In the gaps among the neat tombs, big trees allowed the sun to leave mottled shadows on the tombstones.