The Petrel turned its sails and left the dock for about two nautical miles west, when Nicole suddenly stood on tiptoe, leaned her lower belly against the guardrail, and pointed to a small black dot on the sea in the distance and exclaimed:

"Look! there's something there!"

"Really?"

Clark clasped his hands into a telescope, observed them for a moment, and said with some suspicion:

"Like...... Is it a ship?"

"Is it really a ship?"

Beverly's whole body suddenly became energetic, and while learning from Clark's long-distance observation, he yelled at the captain's room:

"Hurry up, get the boat over!"

A few nautical miles ahead, in the broken gold sunlight where the sea and the sky are not separated from each other, a small iron boat floats leisurely on the sea, surrounded by water vapor.

The Haiyan's bow was raised high, parting the azure waves and swimming towards the lonely tin boat floating on the sea.

Clark threw a rope a few hundred meters away, tied to the rudder of the tin boat, and pulled it far away, and Nicole was ready to watch out for possible traps inside the tin boat.

The trio was only slightly less vigilant when the small tin boat floated in front of them, for there was a dying fisherman lying in the houseboat. He looked badly dehydrated, covered in dirty salt stains from sweat drying, and had a frightened expression on his face even in his sleep.

Clark lightly jumped into the tin boat, picked up the unconscious fisherman, and then jumped back to deck:

"He's very weak right now, and he's going to have to get treatment as soon as possible. ”

"Ship Doctor!"

Beverly immediately yelled. And couldn't wait to jump into the tin boat, Nicole hurriedly followed, and the two searched in the cramped houseboat for a while. A torch was found near the stern.

The red-haired boy leaned over to pick up the torch, poked his fingers at the cloth at the end of the stick, and sniffed lightly:

"Just used it a short time ago. ”

"So what?" Nicole followed behind him, hugging her shoulders for some reason.

"Nothing...... It's just a little curious why the fisherman uses torches instead of oil lamps, after all, the wind at sea is strong, and this thing is easy to blow out. ”

"Maybe the oil lamp is out of oil. It could also be accidentally falling into the sea...... All in all, if you're done checking out, go back with me. The knight clearly felt that a torch was not a clue. I don't care about that.

"Wait a minute. ”

Beverlimore rubbed his stubble chin, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Take this boat with you, maybe it will give us clues later." ”

"It's up to you. ”

Nicole stooped out of the houseboat and jumped onto the deck. Grab the rope and tug hard. Directly dragged the iron boat and Beverley into the air, and then took a few steps backwards to catch it steadily.

Bang!

The tin boat was gently placed on the deck by the female knight, sprinkling a puddle of dusty rust, and Beverly crawled out of the houseboat with a touch of his red head, glaring at her angrily:

"Before you do this kind of thing in the future, please make sure that I am mentally prepared. ”

"Hahaha, that's boring. ”

Nicole put her hands on her waist and laughed, and replied heartlessly.

......

The Petrel. Medical room.

"Deep coma, severe dehydration. There were a lot of cuts on his body, and some were malnourished...... It's definitely okay to keep your life, but I'm afraid I won't be able to wake up anytime soon. ”

The ship's doctor put down his stethoscope and patiently explained to the three people who were waiting.

"Slash, what slash?" Beverly hurriedly asked.

"I guess it's a broad-edged sword, or a double-edged axe, and the wounds on his body are wide, but not deep...... I don't know the specifics, but it's definitely some kind of large weapon. The ship's doctor replied hesitantly.

"Large Weapons ......"

Beverly first thought of the black goat's emissary's axe, but he felt that it was wrong, because the concentration of negative energy on this monster weapon was very high, and ordinary people could theoretically not survive half an hour when they were slashed.

"What should I do, do I still want to go to the island?"

Clark observed the fisherman's expression, then glanced at the red-haired boy who was lost in thought.

"Of course we have to go, we can't come for nothing. ”

Beverly gritted his teeth, took a Polis cutlass from the wall, and held it in his hand: "Let's probe from the perimeter and look inside to see if we can find another survivor, and if we encounter danger, we will immediately retreat."

......

Since their mission was only to gather intelligence and inspect various places, the Governor's Palace did not send many people to accompany them, and in fact there were two Scourge Knights as bodyguards, which was already quite luxurious.

Armed only with three oil lamps and a map, Nicole, Clarke, and Beverly set foot on the Isle of Case, where the yellow-brown rocky road was littered with corpses, and the trio stopped and stopped until they reached the only settlement of the island's villagers, a deserted village.

In the distance, there is a wall made of brown and yellow stones, and in the near distance are the frozen corpses of villagers, and at the feet are the road dyed and mottled brown, twisting and turning. Pieces of cloth scattered and fell onto the pavement, on rooftops, into wells, and on the faces of the trio.

"Why are there so many broken steps?"

Nicole took a broken step from her forehead, held it in the palm of her hand, and said helplessly.

"The murderer's bad taste. ”

Clark looked at the leaf-like scraps of cloth fluttering in the sky and gave an uncertain answer.

“......”

Beverly didn't speak, reaching out to grab a broken step, reaching out to look around vigilantly.

The sky was so blue, the lifeless village was unusually quiet, and the rags were scattered like snow, and the red-haired boy felt that a danger was looming, like the signs of an earthquake.

"Can you feel the breath of a survivor?" he asked in a whisper.

"Nope. ”

"I don't feel it. ”

The two closed their eyes and let go of their senses, and after searching for a moment, they came to a similar conclusion.

"That's not right!"

Nicole closed her eyes and suddenly tightened her eyebrows, her body turning northwest with her senses. A little vigilantly said: "In the northwest direction, six hundred paces ahead, there seems to be something hidden. ”

"Are you sure your perception is okay?" Beverly asked, surprised and delighted.

"Nicole's perception range is larger than mine. It's also a little more accurate than me, and there shouldn't be anything wrong with that. Clark opened his eyes and nodded at the red-haired boy.

As soon as the honest man spoke, his credibility immediately increased several times, and Beverly then turned his body to the northwest corner, and found a large sealed mansion six hundred paces away.

It is a house in the Celtic style with a huge courtyard. The fences are tight, the house facades have plaster-like plaster, and the slate roofs are high and pointed. It looks harmonious and dignified.

Unlike the majestic styles of Rosevia and Polis, the highland kingdoms are often simple and majestic because of their poor materials. The unique rectilinear style creates an extraordinary building that stands out with just a few lines. It is easy to refresh people who are aesthetically tired.

The dwelling in front of them. It was like a work of art, and judging by the generally miserable living conditions in the village, it is likely that this dwelling belonged to the village chief or the sacrifice.

"Is that the house?" Beverly said, gesturing to the home that stood out from the crowd.

"Hmm!"

Nicole nodded affirmatively and said solemnly:

"There are weak power fluctuations in it, and if you don't pay attention, it's easy to ignore, it's very unique, I've never seen this type of fluctuation. ”

"Let's go check it out...... Be careful......" The red-haired boy said as he honestly hid behind the two.

They walked in and found out. This tall, indifferent building has doors and windows, and the neighborhood is dimly lit. The courtyard is cold and filled with dead leaves and rags, and there is an eerie atmosphere.

The only exit from the fence was a rusty iron gate with no locks.

As legal intruders, the three of them naturally pushed open the iron door and swaggered directly through the main entrance.

When Beverly entered, he found two sunfish-shaped trash cans behind the fences on both sides of the iron gate. Between the garbage cans and the gate of the mansion was a stone path overgrown with weeds, on which the sun shone on it, empty and cloudy.

A flock of scavenging crows jumped around in the meadow, aimlessly searching for food, and the red-haired boy stared at the figure of one of the crows, observed for a moment, and suddenly realized that there was no shadow under it.

In the sunlight, Beverly glanced down at his own shadow and saw that the narrow shadow was frozen in the grass, with a sneaky feeling.

He tried to move a few steps forward, only to find his shadow in place, as if bound by some invisible force, motionless as the weeds undulated.

"Wait a minute. ”

The red-haired young man hurriedly called the knight couple who were striding forward, a few drops of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he said in a dry voice:

"You ...... Look at yourselves. ”

"Shadows?"

Nicole and Clark looked down at the same time, realizing that there was no shadow beneath their feet, only knee-deep thick weeds.

"Where is my shadow, where is my shadow?"

The female knight jumped onto Clark's shoulder, her eyes glancing, and soon stopped not far from the iron gate—the shadows of the two of them were moving forward, frozen on the grass behind them.

"Our shadow is frozen...... How so?"

Nico rubbed her eyes and grew her mouth in surprise.

"You're right, there's something wrong with this house. ”

Beverly raised his head and looked at the gray-white tall mansion in front of him, with a determined look on his face, and suddenly asked abruptly, "What would happen if people didn't have a shadow?"

"There is no shadow...... Of course not. Clark replied honestly.

"I heard ......"

The female knight showed a chattering expression, covered half of her pretty face under her bangs, and said faintly: "If the shadow of the person is lost...... It means that the deadline is approaching......"

"Isn't it?"

The red-haired boy's expression, which was still extremely firm a second ago, instantly collapsed, and he drooped his shoulders and looked at Nicole with a sad face:

"Don't talk nonsense at a critical time, people will die without a shadow, how can there be such a thing. To be clear, my shadow is still at my feet, and it is you who have been separated from your own shadow. ”

"That's ......"

Nicole raised her head, showed a sunny smile, shook her body and said, "Then there is no problem, even if there is no shadow, people will not necessarily die." ”

"I'm an idiot trying to reason with you. ”

Beverly took a deep breath, then took a step, leaving behind his shadow in the grass and striding towards the tall, lifeless mansion.

"He was angry. The female knight looked at his back and stuck out her tongue.

"Not everyone can handle your humor. Clark followed with a blank face.

......

Squeak!

Clark and Nicole pushed open the main entrance of the mansion at the same time, and the golden sunlight suddenly spread into the room, and at the same time, an inexplicable smell of stench came to the face with the air current.

"It stinks!" the knight immediately held her breath.

"It seems that the house has been closed for a long time. ”

Clark stirred the air with his hands, pushing a gust of fresh air into the room and stepping into the hall first.

The space is full of burnt furniture, and in the light of the sunlight, you can see the simple three-dimensional graphics on the ceiling.

This simple Celtic tone extends all the way to the floor, echoing the same type of graphics, and the original pastel color scheme can still be seen under the charred black walls. Compared with the deep and gloomy environment at the moment, it merges into a strange atmosphere of mystery and emptiness.

"You can see that the owner of this mansion has good taste. ”

Nicole followed behind Beverly, glanced at the fluorescent light fixtures that were still glowing slightly, and said in amazement.

"This person's identity is definitely not ordinary, as long as I go back and find out his information, I believe I can solve part of the puzzle. ”

Beverly walked to the southeast corner of the hall, in front of a blackened vertical wine cabinet, and forcefully ripped open the door, and a dead body slid out of the wine cabinet with the door.

This is a woman's dried corpse, dressed in a black and white maid outfit, covering her mouth with her hands, and you can vaguely see the extremely frightened expression before her death.

"Unlike the villagers in the outside world who had obviously died due to a sudden disaster and didn't even have time to flee, she seemed to know something in advance, so she hid in the wine cabinet......" Nicole tightened her eyebrows, reasoning carefully.

"It's nothing, if the demon plague starts to break out from the outside, it will definitely take time for the monster to kill in the center of the village, so it is not surprising that she hid in the wine cabinet beforehand. Beverly glanced at her.

"Not true. ”

The knightess shook her head, glanced at the maid's corpse, and said with a determined face: "If the demon plague starts to break out from the outside, it is impossible for that fisherman to survive." And as you can see, though he was badly wounded, he was not immediately dead. ”

"What do you mean...... The Demonic Plague is starting to erupt from within?"

Clark showed a surprised expression, and then, the cold hairs on his whole body stood up, and a dull popping sound sounded in his head, and in an instant, a creepy feeling enveloped his whole body.

"Get down!"

Nicole and Clark put on the Scourge at the same time, and threw the red-haired boy to the ground, protecting him.

Boom!

A powerful tearing force suddenly appeared, and the entire mansion fell apart in an instant, being pulled into countless dense lines, and merging into a black void. (To be continued.) )