2 Water Lily Street, Klein nodded at Azk and walked quickly to the front of the house. He took out the key and opened the door.
Melissa, who had already returned home, heard the sound of the lock turning and hurried from the kitchen to the living room.
Seeing Klein, her eyes shone brightly and she said:
"I've bought the groceries. There's chicken, potatoes, onions, meat and fish, turnips and peas. I also bought a small jar of honey."
Sister, have you gotten used to the occasional little "luxuries" now? Klein chuckled softly and said:
"Today it's your turn to prepare the dinner. Don't think about my share. I have something to do and might have to be back late at night. Well, do a favor for Professor Azk, an instructor in the History Department of Hoy University."
While speaking, he turned slightly and pointed to the waiting carriage outside.
Melissa's lips moved twice and then she pursed them, saying:
"OK."
Klein said goodbye to his sister and walked out of the gate, getting into the hired carriage of Azek. It took him two hours and forty minutes to arrive at the town of Ramde.
It was nearly nine o'clock, and the sky was completely dark. Only the occasional red moon piercing through the clouds and the scattered stars illuminated the place without gas street lights.
After instructing the driver to wait in the town, Klein led Azek and set off on the road to the abandoned castle.
As they walked, he noticed that Azek was moving faster and had to run to keep up. Eventually, Azek even led the way ahead.
Klein wanted to say something, but when he saw the silent face and tightly pursed lips of the other person, he wisely swallowed his words back into his throat.
At such a speed, the two didn't take long to reach the front of the abandoned castle.
It was almost turned into ruins, stretching its body in the thick darkness, extending spires towards the sky, bleak, wild, sinister, and dim.
Azek gazed at the abandoned ancient castle, slowing down his own pace.
He stopped there, his gaze deep and misty at times, as if constantly wandering between dreams and reality.
Suddenly, he let out a painful groan, raised his hand to pinch his forehead, and the muscles on his face twisted into a hideous expression.
"Mr. Azek, you... what's wrong with you?" Klein started up his telepathy and cautiously asked.
Even on the way back to Narcissus Street in the hired carriage, he had secretly done a quick divination by playing with a coin, predicting that the return to Ramde would be almost without danger.
But he believed that divination was not omnipotent. He was always on guard against his own misinterpretation or problems with the organization of the divination sentences. Plus, the Azek instructor was a mysterious and powerful figure, no one knew what he was like in the past, and no one knew what he would do in response to stimulation. Caution, vigilance, and worry became Klein's normal emotions.
Azek didn't answer immediately. With a painful step forward, he loosened his grip on his forehead, pointed ahead, and in a dreamlike tone said:
"I saw this ancient castle in my dream."
"At that time, it was still intact, with a solid outer wall and tall pointed roofs."
"I remember it was the stable there, there was the well, there were the soldiers' barracks, and a piece of land was cleared there for growing potatoes and sweet potatoes..."
"I remember there was a practice field. My child, a boy, was only seven or eight years old but already loved to run around dragging a broad sword that was taller than him, saying that he would become a knight in the future..."
"My wife always complained that it was too dark in the castle. She liked sunlight and the feeling of warmth..." ...
Klein, who was observing the color of the other person's aura, felt a chill run down his spine, but also a slight sense of emotion, as if he were experiencing an eerie story firsthand.
This ancient castle was indeed related to Mr. Azk... Could he really be the first Baron Ramde, a supernatural being who lived for over 1,300 years? Was he human or an evil spirit? No, there couldn't be an evil spirit running around in the sunlight and having contact with the night watchmen... Klein couldn't control his thoughts, allowing them to collide with each other and generating more ideas.
Just then, Azk stopped mumbling and stepped into the gate.
He walked all the way to the interior, without needing Klein's guidance, and easily found the mechanism, opening the hidden door leading to the basement.
Holding the walking stick tightly, Klein lagged behind by two steps, walked down the stairs, and returned to the place where the coffin was placed.
Unlike what he had seen before, the lid of the coffin was now closed, and the warm and pure feeling had vanished completely.
The coffin was closed... It must have been Fry who did it. This is the professional ethics of the "Gravekeeper"... Klein nodded thoughtfully, using his spiritual vision to watch the emotionally disturbed Azk teacher walk forward to the coffin.
Azk reached out and pushed the lid of the coffin, creating a gap.
He stared for a long time at the headless white bone inside, suddenly emitting a sound that was both sorrowful and painful.
With heavy steps, Azk retreated and stumbled, falling against the wall and sliding down.
He covered his face with his palm and sat there, despondently. The surrounding environment seemed to become even darker in an恍惚 manner.
Klein took two steps forward, intending to reach out, but he recoiled and didn't dare to disturb.
Just then, his inspiration told him that the current Azk Mr. was very terrifying, terrifying to the point that the basement became even colder and more sinister.
Klein moved his steps silently, approaching the stairs.
He believed in Azk Mr.'s character, but was afraid of his loss of control.
In this unease, he waited for several minutes, finally seeing Azk lower his hands and slowly stand up.
Azk Mr. seemed to have changed a little... This was the answer given by the inspiration... But in the spiritual vision, his aura color did not show any obvious change, and his emotions were still as low, lost, and painful as before... Klein quickly made a judgment, feeling that the Azk teacher had become deeper and more majestic.
"I remember some things, but only a small part." Azk said in an emotionless tone.
Immediately after that, he looked around the area and said:
"I sensed the force that disrupted your fate here."
"Ah?" Klein was stunned for a moment, then asked in surprise, "Can you trace its source?"
The mysterious figure living in the red chimney house, apart from secretly creating coincidences, also came to Ramde Castle and took away the head of the black armored knight?
What did he want to do? What was his true purpose?
"Too long ago, but I want to give it a try." There was a rumbling in Azk's deep voice that seemed to contain a volcano about to erupt.
"How to try?" Klein asked curiously.
Azk walked back to the front of the coffin, gazing at the white bone inside and said:
"He took my child's skull. I want to use the connection of blood to find him."
Your child? Mr. Azk, do you confirm that the black armored knight is your child? You are really an old relic... Do you really lose your memory every once in a while? And this is the price for obtaining a long life? Klein took a deep breath, feeling as if he were in contact with a mythical creature.
At this moment, Azk extended his right hand and, with a suddenly sharp thumbnail nail, scratched his index finger.
A drop of red blood fell down, precisely staining the white bone.
It quickly soaked in, instantly turning the entire skeleton blood red.
Wow! Wow! Wow! Suddenly, Klein heard the baby's crying and felt someone staring at him from behind.
He quickly pulled out his revolver, pointed it in the direction of the back, and then slowly turned around. But as he looked around, there was nothing - no one, no place.
Even the stairs leading to the ground were gone! Wow! Wow~!
The baby's cries pierced through Klein's ears. He once again looked towards the coffin area, and in astonishment, he saw a multitude of faces, either intangible or distorted, rising up amid the black fog, forming a strange door.
Creak!
The illusory door opened wide, and pale arms rushed out one after another. But in front of Azk, they all turned into black fog.
Through the crack in the door, Klein saw a white skull, casually discarded under a dark brown tree, rotting into powder in the wind.
Clang!
Countless pale arms were suddenly snapped by the suddenly closing door, falling to the ground.
At this moment, Klein heard a long sigh, a sigh from Mr. Azk, piercing through the thick, historical-like sigh.
With this sigh, the black fog suddenly vanished, and the baby's crying stopped abruptly. Everything returned to its original state, but it was much colder.
Klein gritted his teeth, shivering, looking into the coffin. He saw the red bones turn back into white, crystal clear white.
"Sorry, I couldn't find him..." Azk, facing away from Klein, spoke in a deep voice.
At the same time, he reached out and closed the coffin lid.
"Not finding him is normal. Finding him is a surprise," Klein comforted the other.
Anyway, in this matter, I have already been disappointed many times... He silently added to himself.
Azk looked at the coffin in front of him again, slowly turning around.
"I will continue to investigate, hoping for your help."
"No problem. This is exactly what I want to do," Klein suppressed the urge to tell Azk about the "Red Chimney" right now.
Because saying it wouldn't do any good. Only he himself could confirm the target.
However, this also solved one of his major problems, that is, after finding the Red Chimney house, how to introduce the night watchmen - he didn't believe that he could defeat such a mysterious and terrifying mastermind alone.
Now, he could seek Mr. Azk's help!
Azk opened his mouth, but said nothing. He just sighed and walked silently towards the stairs.
Out of the basement, he closed the hidden door, and the two walked along the path covered with weeds and thorns, without saying a word, towards the abandoned castle.
In the thick night, Azk suddenly spoke:
"After this matter is resolved, I will resign and leave Tingen to pursue my lost past."
"Mr. Azk, do you understand what exactly happened to you?" Klein couldn't help asking with curiosity.