Chapter 158: Team (26)

It was the darkest moment before dawn, and the glittering wireframe opened in the void, revealing a silvery-blue film like ice, and leaped out of the "door" first It was the thief Gülen, who looked around and found himself in a small courtyard with dense vegetation, an olive tree not so common in the Highlands Norman covered the southern corner of the courtyard, it was dense and lush, full of fragrant white flowers, the thief's sudden visit shook one of its thin branches, and the flowers fell from above.

Glenn moved his body, got out of the way, and walked out of the "door" one after another, Birdwin, Kerribben, and Memi, the black-haired spellcaster was the last, and the "door" became dim and transparent when he walked out, and then vanished.

"Where are we?"

"What can be confirmed is that we are still in the territory of Highland Norman. Kerry pointed to the marble statues used to decorate the courtyard—hideous and bloodthirsty orcs and muscular warriors fighting each other, their weapons and armor in bronze, axes and broadswords with a cold glow that shimmered with a sharp cold, and were mobile, and could be removed at any time if an enemy invaded—the elven rangers had traveled many places, but the Normans of the Highlands were the only ones who had done so and maintained the tradition.

"Very average statue. She said that she placed her hand on the statue, the lines of the statue were very rough, and the surface had not been polished in any more detail, and it felt like caressing an untreated rock, but the forms of both orcs and warriors were captured with such precision and expressiveness that when one gazed at them, one might even think that one heard the frantic roars of the orcs and the cries of the warriors.

"What do you think this would be? a golem, if it were a spellcaster's courtyard," Gülen said, "then your hand would have been cut off by them long ago, priest." "And we can't stand here for so long and not see a man who comes to meet us," he said, tired of it. ”

He bowed to the black-haired spellcaster, "Above all, our mage won't be so reckless as to throw us into another caster's territory. He said with reverence.

I'm sorry, but the souls of the other world say in their hearts that the destination of this spell is indeed uncontrollable - but if this is the caster's mansion and courtyard, then the spell will be interrupted or distorted, and we won't be here. But in the end, he just smiled and didn't make any unnecessary explanations.

"It's just an ordinary dwelling," Kerryben's eyes could see more than Berdwin and Plum in the faint light, "probably belonging to a retired knight." ”

"It's so lifeless. Mei Mi muttered, really, the elf looked around. There is not a single window with a light on in sight, and it stands to reason that the kitchen is the busiest of all mansions, because the owners get up after dawn, so the morning meal must be prepared before then, the porridge and soup need to be boiled, the bread needs to be baked, and the fresh ingredients sent by the agreed vendors need to be checked. And the servants needed more charcoal to warm the room, so the kitchen should be bright and steaming at this time - but the elves could not find anything, the heat of the fire. The aroma of the food, the noise of the servants, the arguments between the vendors and the kitchen supervisors...... No, the whole courtyard and the mansion were in a terrible dead silence.

"Maybe it's scrapped. Berdwin said. Although he didn't think that would be the right answer, he took the broadsword from the statue and looked at it in the faint light. The gleaming metal weapon corroded rapidly in the hands of the fallen paladin, and a thick layer of dark green patina grew on the blade, and with only a little effort, Berdwin severed the place where the blade was connected to the hilt, and the broken broadsword fell to the ground, silently shattering into several pieces—this is what a truly abandoned courtyard should be.

They walked along the corridor that connected the courtyard to the house, and they didn't touch anyone along the way, all the rooms were empty, including the kitchen, which was equipped with all the luxuries, from clay pots, clay pots, lead and tin pots, to iron cauldrons, forks and knives for roasting meat, and amazingly, they were so quietly discarded in their place, that no one came to steal or snatch them. Kerry opened a pot, and there was still half a bowl of rye porridge in it.

"Do you smell it?" asked Cremar quietly.

"The smell of blood. Kerry replied that it was a rotten, fishy-smelling, like the smell of entrails that had been exposed to the sun for a long time on a hot day, and when it was in the courtyard, it was not obvious, almost completely obscured by the fragrance of the flowers of the olive tree, but as soon as he entered the mansion, into the room, the smell of blood became thick, and Gülen frowned all the time, and so did Birdwin, who was very familiar and sensitive to the smell of blood, only Mei Mi was at a loss, she probably just felt that the smell in the room was too muddy.

Kerry had shown Cremar the edge of the hearth, the kitchen was large enough to hold two iron pots at the same time, and in the corner to the right of the hearth, there was a thick layer of grass ash, which was black and uneven in color, "Someone has shed blood here," said the elf, "and they covered it with grass ash." ”

"There's more than that. Gülen said that as a thief, he could also see in dim light, and indeed, as he said, many parts of the kitchen were covered with grass and wood ash, but some places were broken by the chaotic footsteps, "and there were other traces that they did not hide," The thief lifted a dumped rattan basket, which was supposed to be used to hold eggs or duck eggs, and was covered with a thick layer of straw, and the straw was scattered on the ground, and the thief pulled the straw away with his toes, and below it was a yellowish-white granite, which was an inferior stone with a brittle texture, dull color, and easy to absorb moisture and color, and had many natural scars, but because of its low price, people often used it in kitchens and warehouses. The granite was cracked, but I don't know whether it was left before or after it was laid - the crack ran through the whole stone, the thickest part was as thick as a finger, and the thinnest part could be stuffed into a fingernail, and the blood not only formed a dark patch on the surface of the granite in the shape of a molten gel, but also flowed into the crevices, where they solidified and accumulated. It was as if someone had tried to repair the granite with a clumsy technique.

If a person sheds so much blood, his current condition may not be very good. If all the blood in the kitchen belonged to this one person, then he should have gone to the grave.

"Did the thieves do it?" asked Memy maliciously.

She didn't notice that Kerry frowned, "The thief won't rein in his victims. ”

"Unless he intentionally waits for the next prey. Glenn said calmly, "But I don't think a mansion that is remote enough is a place where thieves would choose to stay and set traps - he had taken advantage of the height of the portal to see what was going on when he came out of the portal, and this mansion was on the wing of a wide street, and the nearest neighbor was only a courtyard away from him.

"We went to the host's room to have a look. Carey Ben said.

The master's chambers were located in the deepest part of the mansion, and the corridors that connected it were flanked by bedrooms that might have been intended for his children and guests, but they were all empty, and in a few of them the smell of rancid blood was particularly strong—they thought the same was true of the master's room. But in addition to the increasingly unbearable stench, they found a man alive, even though he was dying.

It's hard to describe what this man looked like, he was once tall and strong, and even now, his body had not shrunk and dehydrated like the dying man Carey had seen, but it was better to see a shriveled body for the soul of the other world—he lay on a bed, wrapped in the gray castor cloth that only the dead would wear. Grabbing the sheets with both hands, a broadsword studded with gold and silver fell beside him, and it was evident that he had been trying to let his hands clench on the hilt of the sword—to die like a knight, but the terrible sickness had caused him to struggle uncontrollably—and the Kerryben solid stone brooch illuminated his bed. It made everyone understand where the stained blood came from—from the human body, the black blood that flowed from the man's mouth, eyes, ears, and nostrils, soaked through the white linen sheets and fur mattresses, and soaked the curtains. If you don't see it with your own eyes, I'm afraid no one will believe that one person can have so much blood.

Memy screamed, turned and fled. Glenn took two steps back and pulled up the hood of his cloak.

"Give him some water. The elf said, and Baldwin glanced at the door where Memmy had left, but didn't move.

Cremar placed his hand over the patient's forehead, cold water pounding against his cheeks and neck. He let out a faint gasp and woke up.

The elf poured some dried nightshade powder into his mouth, the liquor seemed to lift his spirits, and the patient opened his eyes, and he looked at them in bewilderment, as if in a nightmare, but then he choked violently, and more blood gushed out of his mouth, mixed with red-black pieces.

-- Lungs. The lich said suddenly.

――What?

-- Fragments of lungs, this is not an ordinary disease or injury, this is an epidemic, said the former immortal.

"You ......," said the patient in a low, barely audible voice, "...... Leave ......"

Carey had already spotted the frightening crux of the problem: "We're going to leave right away," he said, "Is it just you?"

"Here," the patient moved the corners of his mouth, as if to show a smile, "only ...... I...... But...... Outside......" His blood-soaked eyes looked at the canopy of the tent: "Ah......" he said, "perhaps...... ...... yell, too."

His gaze froze at this moment, and the corners of his mouth were fixed in a slightly upturned position, as if he was laughing at them, mocking whoever was still alive.

Then they heard a suppressed exclamation, and they quickly left the deceased's chamber, and right in the foyer, where they saw Meme, and the priest of Flo was trembling with his lips on his lips, and a man was crawling at her feet, and crimson blood was pouring from under his body.

"The Endless Abyss is below!" the thief shouted.

The gates of the mansion facing the street were open for anyone to enter, and those inside could come out at any time - if he could, the uninvited visitor who suddenly came here saw a dizzying, astonishing number of dead - who fell crookedly down the street, some wrapped in gray castor, some dressed only in their usual clothes, the only thing that was the same was that all the fabrics were soaked in blood, and the cold smell of death hung over the whole street.

The priests of Kranvo, the god of death, purred through the streets with wheelbarrows, dressed in black robes, hoods, and masks modeled after the crows of the sacred bird of Kranvo, the god of death, with brown crystal lenses protecting their eyes, shiny black feathers protecting their cheeks and ears, and a large, curved beak made of rhinoceros horns inlaid with amethysts said to ward off toxins and diseases.

They worked in groups of three, one pushing the cart and two were responsible for piling the bodies onto the cart.

The gates of the mansion facing the street were open for anyone to enter, and those inside could come out at any time - if he could, the uninvited visitor who suddenly came here saw a dizzying, astonishing number of dead - who fell crookedly down the street, some wrapped in gray castor, some dressed only in their usual clothes, the only thing that was the same was that all the fabrics were soaked in blood, and the cold smell of death hung over the whole street.

The priests of Kranvo, the god of death, grunted down the streets with wheelbarrows, dressed in black robes, hoods, and masks modeled after the crows of the sacred bird of Kranvo, the god of death, with brown crystal lenses protecting their eyes, shiny black feathers protecting their cheeks and ears, and a large, curved beak covering their noses and mouths, which were made of rhinoceros

It is made of horns and inlaid with amethyst, which is said to be able to ward off toxins and diseases.

They worked in groups of three, one pushing the cart and two were responsible for piling the bodies onto the cart.

It is made of horns and inlaid with amethyst, which is said to be able to ward off toxins and diseases.

They worked in groups of three, one pushing the cart and two were responsible for piling the bodies onto the cart. (To be continued......)