Heidi didn't notice anything unusual in her father's tone.

"Yes," she nodded calmly, "I went with Vana to Mr. Duncan's antique shop, where I had a few conversations, and then I gave Nina a hypnotherapy, and then came back with Vanna. ”

At the end of the day, she hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to tell her father what she had heard about the fire and Vanna's strange reaction when she heard about it, but she finally stopped thinking about it.

Fanna's unusually serious expression in the car at that time was still fresh in her memory, and this incident may have involved a dangerous hidden force, and maybe it was so serious that the slightest hint of it would attract prying eyes - although my father was a believer in the truth who served the god of wisdom Rahhem like herself, and he could be considered half a transcendent, but like most believers in truth, he was more of a pure scholar than good at dealing directly with those dangerous things.

Morris still had a gentle and calm expression on his face, and he nodded slightly, as if casually, "Then you have been there for a long time...... Did you forget the time when you were chatting with Mr. Duncan? He was indeed an inquisitive man. ”

"Uh...... That's not it," Heidi looked a little embarrassed, "it's just...... Nina was hypnosis and was delayed a little. ”

"When you hypnotized Nina?" Morris raised his eyebrows when he heard his student's name, "Not going well?" Is she in a bad mental state? Was it affected by a previous museum fire? ”

Heidi couldn't help but roll her eyes when she heard her father's series of questions: "You really care about your student - don't worry, she's doing well, she's just a little anxious, after my relaxation, she's completely fine, and it won't affect the final exam." I mean delay...... It's because of something else. ”

Morris let out a curious voice: "Oh? ”

"Aha, I might be a little too tired these days," Heidi laughed dryly with embarrassment, "I fell asleep myself after hypnotizing her, and slept until the evening......

"You fell into a deep sleep while hypnotizing Nina?" Morris's expression finally changed slightly, but he quickly regained control, "It's not like you. ”

"People are always negligent, not to mention how long I haven't taken a vacation," Heidi waved her hand impatiently, "Hey, don't ask, I'm such an adult, you and your mother will be nervous like this when you come back later, and the questions are ...... one after another."

Morris just looked at his daughter quietly for a few seconds, and then his face showed the same gentle expression as usual, and he shook his head with a smile: "Okay, then I won't ask - there is still food in the kitchen, just heat it up, I'll go see your mother." ”

"Alright," Heidi nodded, said goodbye to her father, and headed to the kitchen, but after a few steps she suddenly turned around, "By the way, you're going to visit the antique shop later, right?" ”

"Yes," said Morris, who was already standing at the door of his bedroom, the sconces on the wall of the corridor next to him casting a dappled shadow over his old countenance, "is there something wrong?" ”

"I left in a hurry today, and I didn't talk to Mr. Duncan about Nina's condition, and I'm going to write a letter when you come back, and you can take it with you when you pass."

"No problem," Morris nodded, and then muttered softly, as if to himself, "I'm going to go again......"

Heidi was gone, but the gray-haired old historian was still standing quietly at the door of his bedroom, as if in deep thought, and it was only after a dozen seconds that he finally exhaled softly and pushed open the dull wooden door.

The lights in the bedroom are still dim, and only a small wall lamp is lit in the well-decorated bedroom, and the dim light spills down, faintly illuminating the outline of the bed.

Morris turned and carefully locked the door, and slowly paced to the head of the bed.

"Honey, are you okay?"

He spoke softly to the pile of wriggling ashes on the bed that maintained the silhouette of a human.

There was a subtle murmur from the pile of ashes with the vague outline of a human being, constantly floating and wriggling, as if to respond gently, and between the ashes, the knotted ribbon that was about to be braided made a slight grinding sound, and the brilliant silk rope slowly shuttled under the traction of the ash, slowly but surely weaving knots one by one.

"Yes, it's beautiful, and your work has always been good," replied Maurice, who heard the subtle murmur, and said with a smile on his face, praising his wife's weaving skills, "the one you knitted for me is still hanging in my study." ”

The room was silent, and in the dim light, time seemed to be frozen in this moment as if it had been deceived, but after half a minute, Morris still broke the silence: "Heidi went out today, and when she came back, a red agate on her bracelet was missing. ”

The ash on the bed suddenly stopped, and a low grunt came out.

"It's not sure exactly what happened, if it was a shelter from my lord Rahme, it means that Heidi is in danger of penetrating her sanity barrier today, but Heidi herself doesn't know anything, and I don't detect any malicious thoughts in her," Morris said slowly, "It looks more like she was completely unconscious and passed by 'something' and passively activated the bracelet's shelter ......"

Maurice stopped abruptly, listening to the whispering of the ashes.

"Well, at my reminder, Heidi saw the missing piece of the bracelet, and here was the problem - she didn't think the red agate existed in the first place," Morris nodded, "It's a self-protection mechanism, maybe from her instincts, or from the 'enlightenment' of the god of wisdom, but anyway, this protection is preventing her from continuing to understand something......

"Me? I'd like to investigate, I'll do it myself. ”

The pile of ashes on the bed undulated slightly.

Morris shook his head: "There may be a little risk, so I'll do prayer and divination in advance, but I'll have to make a trip - I've been to that place once, actually, it looks like it's just a mediocre antique shop, and there is a diligent shopkeeper and a studious child, and I didn't perceive any malicious or evil forces entrenched there......

"So if the danger factor was in the store today when Heidi was visiting, then the owner of the store might also be threatened - my student lives there, and I'm going to have to check it out.

"After all, I am her teacher and a servant of the god of wisdom......"

Morris whispered, and then heard a whisper from the pile of ashes on the bed, and he listened for a long time before slowly shaking his head.

"No, you can't go and alarm the people of the cathedral...... While they may have been more effective, their overly aggressive style may have hurt my students - for the guardians of the Church, suppressing heresy and eradicating evil is too high a priority, and ......"

Morriston paused at this, and then let out a soft sigh before continuing: "And I don't really want to attract the attention of the cathedral, after all...... I am a shaky hideaway of heresy. ”

His voice was low, and his eyes were tenderly fixed on the ashes on the bed, staring at ...... His wife, who had died in the fire eleven years earlier.

Watching her shadow in the world.

The ashes slowly rose, and a streak of ash seemed to coalesce into an arm, brushing lightly across Morris's face.

"I know...... I know ......," Morris bowed his head, as if to say to himself, as if to confess to some invisible being, "I am a man of wavering faith, and cowardly enough to refuse to fall completely...... The God of Wisdom gave me eyes that day to see through vain, but I feebly closed them to make unrealistic wishes, I wanted to keep you in this world, but I couldn't completely deceive myself...... Instead, he stuck himself in this most embarrassing situation......"

He lifted his head and gently grasped the fluttering wisp of ash, but his fingers passed straight through the dust.

"I wish I had been as ignorant as Heidi, so I could see you differently...... I haven't seen you in eleven years. ”

There was a soft sound from the ashes, as if the dust was rubbing, and as if a warm little fire was crackling, and Maurice listened to the voice, and his mind calmed down a little.

"I understand, I understand...... All this will come to an end, there will always be a time when the stage will end, no matter what responds to my wish on that day, it will always come one day to take away the price of fate, I am actually ready, when it collects the price, I will let myself disappear in this world completely, even if the shadow of subspace, I don't want to touch the real world through this 'wish', but ......"

Morris looked up at the silhouette of the ash in the dim light.

"But, before that day comes...... Just stay with me for a while. ”

(End of chapter)