Miskatonic University.

In the middle of this world, this is a university that has a good reputation among players. It has world-class majors in archaeology, occultism, history, and psychology. Not only that, but in the library of the University of Michigan, there are also the most famous magic books, including the original version of the "Necronomicon" that players have been looking at.

In addition, the museum at the University of M-Uchigan is also home to priceless treasures, including jewels from L'Alaye, curiosities from Dreamland and even Naia artifacts from Egypt.

For players, U-M is more than just a university.

It's a treasure trove, a bank!

So many treasures are hidden inside, waiting for them to explore!

That's right, for players, a university like a bank treasure trove like the University of Uchi-U is simply the hottest treasure in their eyes!

Not to mention anything else, the Missile's library alone made a group of players drool.

Want the Necronomicon or not?

Do you want "The King in Yellow"?

Want "The Secret of the Worm" or not?

Do you want the Codex Nackert?

Do you want the "Lalleye Text"?

………… No, I can't go on, just reading the title of this book makes my mouth water.

The kind that can't be stopped.

It stands to reason that in a place like this, players must be rushing to the demons, and the scourge is worse than that of Innsmouth. But this is not the case for two reasons.

First, the security forces of the University of Michigan are extremely strong, and ordinary people can't get out if they go in.

Second, you have a life to take these books, but you may not have a life to use!

Of course, these are not much of a problem for Duanmu Huai, after all, he not only has the genes of the Dark Crow Guard, but even has the Heart of the Blood Crow.

How do you say that?

Knowledge is power!

Let's guard it!

That's right, as an inquisitor who has inherited the heart of the blood crow, what's wrong with Duanmu Huai borrowing a few books?

Can the things of the judge be called stealing?

But Duanmu Huai didn't plan to do it.

The reason is very simple, you have a life to take these books, not necessarily a life to use!

You know, the Inquisitor is enough of a headache just to deal with the subspace evil gods of the galaxy, and this is simply tired of using the cult to provoke those outer gods in the universe.

Of course, it's not that there are no inquisitors who want to drive away the wolf, such as letting the treacherous trick fight Naia............ For most of the Inquisitors, however, they prefer this as a last resort.

After all, no matter which one wins, it's not a good thing for humanity.

And in fact, strictly speaking, many players feel that the evil god has little chance of winning against the outer gods.

Although the two sides have not faced each other head-on, many investigators and judges think so.

The reason is simple.

Evil gods are subspace creatures after all, and they can only "indirectly" affect real-world creatures in subspace. To put it simply, all believers who believe in evil gods take the initiative to start holding some evil and blasphemous rituals after being bewitched by them in the real world, and then use these rituals to weaken the boundaries of the real world and subspace, and then the evil gods can send their own subordinates out to have a party.

But the outer gods are different, their ontology is located in both the subspace and the real world. This is also the reason why many people are able to feel the thoughts of the outer gods through their dreams or through their spirits. Not only that, but the outer gods don't care too much about believers, because they are powerful enough to take their souls and strengthen themselves by seducing and tempting mortals into depravity, as the evil gods do.

Not only that, but the psychic induction of the outer gods is more like a kind of spiritual pollution, which does not transform the staunch believers into degenerates, but directly destroys their minds and turns them into insane fragments.

As we all know, it is far easier to destroy than to build, and of course you evil gods can do everything you can to make mortals fall and bow down at your feet and become your believers. And then if you don't know if your believers look at the outer gods and go crazy directly, and people don't want your believers, they just let him go crazy and collapse, what can you do?

Therefore, compared to the evil gods, everyone is more afraid of the outer gods.

Although one of the Inquisitors once said that if humans could not defeat the evil gods, then he would go to the Eye of Chaos to summon Azathoth.........

Of course, that's just talk. You still have a chance to fight the Chaos Gods. If you really summon Azathoth, then let's wait for death together.

So Duanmu Huai behaved very well in this prestigious university, even if he saw the Mimi library not far away, he didn't want to go for a walk——— now is not the time.

Not to mention that the Mi-Mi Library also has a dog guard who can bite the heir of the outer god......... I can't afford to provoke it.

After the night at the museum, Anthony called for someone to take away the bodies of the monsters and then burned them completely. Later, he went to Maskatonik University in Arkham City with Duanmu Huai to investigate the man named Christine.

"Ah............... Christine......... I remember her. ”

Sitting in front of Duanmu Huai and Anthony was the head of the art department of Miskatonic University, and his whole person looked very rich, with a smooth top of his head, and the pipe he held in his hand gave him a little more artist's atmosphere.

"She was a good girl, she was very talented, and I remember when she wanted to have a solo exhibition......... Come on. ”

"I'm sorry, Professor Osborne, but we're not here to make small talk with you."

Anthony's tone was a little stiff as he interrupted the man in front of him as he tried to soak up his memories.

"We're here because this student is related to an incident we're investigating, I wonder if you can give us any clues? We didn't see her name on the school's graduation roster........."

"Oh, it's easy, because she dropped out of school."

"Withdrawal ???"

I have to say that this answer did surprise both Duanmu Huai and Anthony slightly. Professor Osborne shook his pipe and nodded at them.

"Yes, she didn't graduate, I don't know much about the specifics, I just know that there was a time when she went out looking for inspiration. When she returned, she locked herself in the studio and painted a picture, and then she seemed to be in a state of mental tatters......... I'm sorry, I can't say that, but then her family went through the withdrawal procedures for her and took her home, which was five years ago. ”

"So why are her paintings at the Museum of Art in Newburyport?"

Duanmu Huai stared at the other party and asked, while Professor Osborne recalled for a moment, and then nodded vigorously as if he remembered something.

"Oh, by the way, I remember when the Newbury Harbor Museum asked us for paintings, and we selected some of the students' paintings and gave them them, and maybe that's when her paintings were mixed in."

“…………………”

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai and Anthony glanced at each other, and each other's expressions were a little solemn. Then, Anthony turned his head to look at the old professor.

"Can you tell us the address or phone number of that Miss Christine?"

"Of course there is no problem."

Professor Osborne took a pen and wrote down a list of addresses and phone numbers on a piece of paper, then handed them to Anthony, and then looked at Duanmu Huai with a surprised gaze.

"Oh, by the way, I have a reluctant request."

"What's the matter?"

"This gentleman is really unique in ten thousand, no matter what his body looks like, such exquisite human proportions are even more exciting, I hope to hire him as a mannequin for our art department, what do you think?"

“……………………… I'll think about it. ”

In the face of Professor Osborne's warm invitation, Duanmu Huai twitched the corners of his eyes——— he finally understood why the professor's gaze had been wandering around him curiously since he entered the office.

Sure enough, there are few normal people who can be professors at the University of Michigan.

Professor Osborne was not impressed by Duanmuhuai's reaction, on the contrary, he was very enthusiastic to leave his phone number for Duanmuhuai, and said that if he was willing to come to Michigan to be a mannequin, then he would get a good payment. Considering that there is no harm in establishing a good relationship with the professor at U-Mami, Duanmu Huai still stubbornly accepted the other party's business card with difficulty.

Of course, as for whether he wants to be a mannequin or not, that's another matter.

By the time the two left Miskatonic University, they had pretty much sorted out the situation.

According to the information provided by Professor Osborne, the female student named Christine was a talented painter five years ago, when she went out to find inspiration, and when she came back, she painted the "Empty Ghost", and after the painting was completed, Christine had a nervous breakdown, and was taken away by her own family and applied for withdrawal.

For some coincidence or some other reason, Christine didn't take the painting with her, so much so that shortly thereafter, when the Newbury Port Art Gallery sent a request to Miskatonik University, they packed the painting together and gave it to the Newbury Port Art Gallery as a student piece.

And it is this painting that summons those evil creatures that live in subspace and hides in the museum to attack humans. This eventually led to a series of tragedies.

Well, now that the context of the matter has been basically figured out, there are only two questions at the moment.

One, whether Christine is still alive.

Second, what did she encounter to draw this kind of painting that can summon monsters from another world?

These two questions are very important, if Christine was still alive, would she have painted a second "Empty Ghost" or something like that. By that time, the situation will only get worse. Again, the "inspiration" that allowed her to draw such a terrible monster was just as troublesome.

But no matter what, they can be sure that the focus of all this is on the woman named Christine.

Sheriff Anthony dialed the above number based on the information provided by Professor Osborne, and to be honest, for a moment, he was a little worried about whether the other party had left, or if the phone had long since been discarded. Luckily, the phone was answered, and when Anthony asked about Christine, she said that she was indeed at home, and although Christine's parents were initially a little uneasy about Anthony's request for a visit, they eventually agreed to Anthony's request.

Then the two of them hurried to the woman's house again, and met Christine in the living room.

I have to say that after seeing this woman with their own eyes, Duanmu Huai and Anthony were both taken aback.

They had seen a picture of Christine in the student file given to them by Professor Osborne, a girl with curly brown hair and a sweet smile.

However, what appeared in front of them was a skinny skinny man with all his hair completely lost, looking like a cancer patient who could only survive and die after several rounds of chemotherapy.

According to her parents, after dropping out of school, she has always been like this, not to mention drawing, and she can't even hold a pen steadily. In fact, she now does not even dare to see anything related to painting, whether it is a brush, a paint, or a canvas, and if she does, she falls into a state of hysterical panic.

Even her parents didn't know what this girl had been through.

Duanmu Huai stood in front of the woman, staring at her. Her eyes were as blank as those of a dead fish, and even when she saw Duanmu Huai, she didn't have the slightest change in expression. Her godless eyes seemed to pass through the Duanmu locust completely, and instead looked at a location in the void.

"Hello, Miss Christine."

Duanmu Huai coughed, crouched down and stared at Christine, who was just sitting in a wheelchair, shaking like a patient in a mental hospital, muttering muttered something that no one could understand.

"We are here for your paintings, you should remember ........."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai stared into Christine's eyes.

"That's what you painted, that 'empty ghost' painting."

“………………！！”

Hearing Duanmu Huai say the word "empty ghost", Christine suddenly trembled, and her eyes seemed to have regained some light at this moment——— like charcoal that had been extinguished, and a few rays of fire appeared again.

"Ah............ Ah...............h

She opened her mouth and let out a muffled cry, while Duanmu Huai stared into her eyes, slowly releasing a trace of fear aura.

"Tell me, where did you get your inspiration? How did you come up with that picture?! ”

"No, it's not me......... That's not ............... me."

At this moment, in the living room, not only Christine trembled, but even Anthony and Christine's parents felt the aura of fear coming from Duanmu Huai. They wanted to step forward and stop him from asking about his daughter. However, the aura of fear fixed their bodies so hard that they didn't dare to move.

"Tell me, what's going on!"

"Ah......... Ah...............h

In the face of Duanmu Huai's inquiry and eyes, at this moment, Christine seemed to have finally regained her senses, and that fear saved her from nothingness and numbness, and at this moment, she seemed to have completely regained her original sanity. She trembled and stretched out her hand, took out a diary from under the blanket covering her knees, and handed it to Duanmu Huai with trembling eyes, at the same time, she stared at Duanmu Huai with wide eyes, opened her mouth, and said a place name.

"Dun......... Wich!! ”

(End of chapter)