As soon as they took two steps outside the gate, a man with long, neatly tied black hair approached them. He wore a worn hat and immediately handed them two copies of the newspaper.
The newspaper contained big news: an explosion at Eaurealis Castle, political turmoil in the city, and reports of unusual deaths found early in the morning.
Liam read it with wide eyes. His chest tightened. He knew that yesterday's explosion had claimed dozens of lives, but the report of the strange death made him uneasy.
"Ugh, what is really happening to this world?" he said softly as he stared at the newspaper in his hand.
Forn turned to Liam, who was reading the newspaper silently. On the other hand, he was still holding the newspaper in his right hand, not reading it, and focusing on supporting Liam's body with both shoulders.
There were many people passing by, often bumping into him, and he was also scolded for standing still in the middle of the pavement.
Feeling annoyed, Forn finally decided to continue walking, guiding Liam so they could quickly arrive at his house.
Shortly after that, they both arrived at a house directly facing the river. Forn lived with his parents and his younger sibling who was still in school.
Click.
The door opened, and a gust of wind immediately greeted them. The house seemed quiet, with only Forn and Liam inside. Forn's parents had left for work at six in the morning, while his younger sibling had left for school an hour later.
Click... Liam took his watch out of his trouser pocket and immediately opened the cover. He slowly walked towards the sofa in the living room while watching the hands of the clock turn.
"It's already 8:20!" Liam was surprised when he realised this. He sat down abruptly, glanced to his right, and saw Forn still standing in the doorway.
Liam knew that Forn was thinking about something, keeping quiet, watching, and not wanting to interfere in other people's business because it could cause him trouble in the future.
Shortly after thinking that, Forn took a step, turned to his right before continuing on his way.
He did not sit on the sofa with Liam and talk to him. He hurriedly climbed the stairs as if something was disturbing his thoughts.
Liam stared in amazement after witnessing his behaviour.
He saw Forn suddenly climb the stairs, go down, and then climb back up again, about five times.
But after that, he waited for two or three minutes, but did not see Forn coming down the stairs again. Liam was curious about him, his jaw immediately tightened, he stood up and immediately put the newspaper on the table.
He climbed the stairs carefully. Afterwards, from a distance, Liam stared at the long corridor in front of him. This house was very spacious; Forn's parents had well-paying jobs in the city of Moran.
They worked in a steam factory, making useful items for everyday life in the kingdom of Norn. Their monthly salary was around five hundred pence, which was enough to provide for their two children and buy a house in an elite neighbourhood with two floors and a fairly large area.
Although the house was very large, the owner was very stingy with lighting in the corners of the second-floor hallway. Liam walked down the hallway with minimal lighting.
But he was still able to walk without bumping into the walls around him, feeling his way until he found another hallway to his right. Then, he went to check the end of it.
A few seconds later, he saw the door at the far end of the hallway wide open, with a lantern lying on the floor.
Because the light was blinding in the sea of darkness, Liam planned to take the lantern and use it to search for Forn.
Liam stood frozen, staring at the glimmer of light without blinking. He wondered why the lantern was there? And why was the door open?
What, was the woman in the room over there?
He said to himself as he pointed at the open door, then Liam decided to step forward to pick up the lantern.
Upon arriving, Liam first glanced into the room and saw no one there. He tilted his head, confused.
His gaze shifted back to the lantern at his feet. He bent down, intending to pick it up. As his hand reached for the lantern's handle below, the flame suddenly became unstable, swaying from side to side as if someone were blowing on it.
Finally, the flame went out, and darkness enveloped the room once more.
"Huh!?" Liam was startled. There was no strong wind blowing the lantern, yet the flame had simply vanished.
A moment later, a cold breeze crept in from the cracks in his shoes, creeping up his legs. His body stiffened, unable to move. He wanted to turn around, wanted to run, but his body refused to obey.
Suddenly, the lantern lit up again. Its dim light dispelled some of the darkness, and at the same time, Liam was able to move his body again.
Still trembling, he stared intently at the lantern. Not knowing what had just happened, he lifted it slowly, trying to find out if there was anything strange about it.
"Blood?" Liam said in surprise, continuing, "No, that's impossible..." Suddenly he was frightened, turned around, and ran towards the living room.
He hurried down the stairs, and when his gaze fell downward, Liam was shocked by a horrific sight: a pool of blood that had suddenly appeared in the middle of the floor leading to the stairs.
He continued walking and immediately approached the pool of blood. Liam took a newspaper from the table and tore off a few pieces, rolling the newspaper with both hands to make it resemble a pencil.
He used it to touch the pool of blood and sniffed it to determine whether it was human blood or belonged to an animal that had been seriously injured.
Previously, when he was on Earth, Liam had the strange ability to distinguish between human and animal blood with his unusual sense of smell.
When he smelled animal blood, he felt a pleasant aroma enter his nose. When he smelled human blood, he felt an unpleasant smell that immediately made his nose stop working.
"This blood is very strange," he said as he sniffed it again, continuing, "No... This is not human or animal blood, so whose blood is this?" Liam was confused after witnessing this.
He shouted, calling Forn's name with a tone of anxiety and fear. But, after shouting for half a minute, Liam received no answer.
In his panic, he suddenly remembered something. Quickly, Liam took a piece of paper from his trousers and read the contents, which was none other than Albert's home address.
The piece of paper went back into his trouser pocket, and afterwards, he threw the rolled-up newspaper into the pool of blood. He stood up and left the house without looking for Forn, who had suddenly disappeared.
The door opened, Liam went out, not forgetting to close the door again, hoping that Forn would return. He sighed deeply before moving away from the house.
But, unexpectedly, the rolled-up newspaper that he had thrown into the pool of blood turned into a strange creature that resembled a human but had two wings under its shoulders.
The blood suddenly moved after the appearance of the strange creature, floating and splattering on every object around it, and slowly turning into black flames that gradually consumed the entire contents of the house, without Liam's knowledge.