Chapter 204: Chapter 162 Dark Shadow (Ben Meow biting its tail and rolling)_2
Almost the next moment, Old Bent collapsed onto the floor, unable to even crawl up.
“Did I scare you? Sorry, because nobody else would open the door no matter how we explained earlier, we had to resort to this. Apologies.”
“You…you really are adventurers here to investigate?”
Old Bent took a breath to calm himself and fearfully looked towards Duanmu Huai and then at Greiya – there was a colossal gap between the two!
“Yes, as you can see, I have no reason to lie to you, sir.”
Duanmu Huai sat down on the floor, eyeing Old Bent.
“If we were really some kind of demon, we’d have chopped you up and eaten you by now. Why would we still be here chitchatting with you?”
“Wait, Sir Knight, that’s not a very good way to say it…”
Hearing what Duanmu Huai said, Greiya hurriedly tried to say something, but Duanmu Huai just stretched out his hand and grabbed hold of Greiya’s tail, gently rubbed the underbelly of her tail, and the next moment, Greiya moaned softly and collapsed, showing no more movement.
“Alright, the troublemaker is quiet now.”
After a glance at Greiya, Duanmu Huai shifted his focus back to Old Bent.
“Mind telling me about what happened earlier?”
“Of, of course, what would you like to know?”
Although Old Bent was still somewhat terrified of Duanmu Huai, he thought there might be hope this time because the adventurers who came were so…out of the ordinary. Maybe they could really solve the problem this town was facing?
“Start from the beginning, when did you notice something was wrong? What were the symptoms?”
“O-ok, I’ll tell you all I know.”
Old Bent took a deep breath, nodded vigorously, and after a brief moment of recollection, he began to speak.
“The way I see it, it all began around two months ago… I can’t remember exactly which day it was. I only remember that the carpenter, Carl, died that day…”
“Died? How did he die?”
Old Bent shook his head.
“Indeed, it was strange. Carl went to cut wood in the mountains that day. He returned for lunch, rested, and by the afternoon we heard his wife crying that Carl was dead… We were all shocked. After all, he had been perfectly fine at lunch, and he just suddenly died…”
“What was the cause of death?”
“I don’t know. Priest Allen, who was responsible for taking care of the corpse, couldn’t figure it out either. There were no visible injuries, only suspicions of poisoning or something else…”
Recalling the events of that day, a long sigh escaped from Old Bent.
“I attended Carl’s burial that night. The way Carl lay in the coffin looked as if he were asleep. To be honest, I wondered if he was simply asleep at the time. However, he wasn’t breathing… Plus, his body was as cold as a block of ice. That’s not a human body temperature.”
“Then… strange things started happening.”
Old Bent shivered as he recounted.
“Strange indeed. Two days later, Carl’s wife also died. No one knew how she died. Her best friend went to visit her, but when the friend knocked on the door and got no answer, she looked inside through the window to see her laying on the bed. Eventually, with everyone’s help, the door was opened, only to find her already dead on the bed. As for how she died…no one knows.”
As he narrated, Old Bent sighed helplessly.
“Everyone assumed that Carl’s wife was overwhelmed with grief and had possibly consumed poison, leading to her death. Therefore, she was immediately buried. But then…”
“Let me guess, the next one to die wasn’t the good friend, was it?”
Duanmu Huai raised his eyebrows, and hearing his words, Greiya curled up even more. Old Bent responded with a heavy nod.
“Indeed, right after that, that good friend also died! By then, people in the town were starting to feel uneasy. After all, three people they all knew died in just a few days. Everyone felt something was off. We even asked the priest for help, but there was still no resolution. No one knew what was going on. The day after her good friend’s funeral, her mother claimed that her daughter came back to visit her that night… She said it was so cold in the cemetery, she wanted to come out…”
Now, Greiya was even more terrified. After all, this wasn’t just a ghost story, it was something that actually happened!
“Then the mother of the friend died too?”
“Yes… the day after she said those words, she died.”
“At that time, we all panicked. After that, no one dared to go out. But after a few days, when no further deaths occurred, people began to relax and return to work. But then, we received news from the mine that the miners had been attacked by wild beasts. Of the five who had gone underground, only one survived. But when the miner woke up, he said… what they encountered was not any beast, but the very people they had just buried, like Carl!”
“At that time, everyone was afraid to go down into the mine, so we sent for the Lord. Later, the Lord did send people over who searched all over the mine, but they found nothing. The leader of the group, after hearing about Carl and the others, felt that something was strange. He went to the cemetery and dug up their graves, and then people made a staggering discovery… ”
Recalling that sight, Old Bent involuntarily swallowed.
“The bodies of Carl and the others were gone! And there was a hole beneath each casket, making it clear that they used this hole to dig a tunnel and escape!”
“Beneath the coffin?”
At this point, Duanmu Huai’s eyes flashed.
“Are you sure it’s beneath? Not above?”
“It’s beneath, I’m sure.”
Old Bent nodded firmly.
“Everyone was scared out of their wits at the time. Some suggested that Carl and the others had turned into ghouls. So, initially, the soldiers patrolled. But when they had no results, they returned, and we formed our own patrol team to patrol. But then…”
As he said this, Old Bent rolled up his sleeve to reveal a long scar clearly visible on his arm.
“Yes, they suddenly lunged out from the fog. We had no idea what was happening, and then several people were dragged away. My quick reaction helped me dodge in time, otherwise, I might also have been one of those dragged away. But, after that, people were too scared to go out again and had to ask the Lord to send more guards. This time, the leader was said to be a guard from the Lord’s side, but he was… he was killed.”
“Killed? Are you sure? Not like the others who died of unknown causes?”
Old Bent shook his head.
“According to the guard who was responsible for watching over him, it seemed like he was in his sleep when his throat was cut, and the dagger was deliberately left by his side…”
After listening to this, Duanmu Huai nodded. He had felt earlier that Lord Frederick was a little vague about it. It now seemed more like a warning or show of power.
Otherwise, why would the murder weapon be left at the crime scene, right?
At that moment, Old Bent had narrated all he knew. Duanmu Huai paused to reflect for a while and then nodded.
“Alright, let’s move on then.”
In response to Greiya’s query, Duanmu Huai rolled his eyes.
“We’re obviously going to the cemetery.”