CHAPTER 380: 0322 CROW AND HUMAN_1

*Was there a problem... How could it not be a problem?*

Although that wasn’t the real Third Generation Director, it was merely the obsession left behind by the Third Generation Director after failing to become the Strongest Blacksmith. But it did look no different from being alive, and with the Director leading him to dig graves, even stealing an old man’s coffin lid, it truly felt awkward no matter how you looked at it.

But compared to these moral blemishes, it was clearly more important to first heal Senior Emma’s injuries, so they had no choice but to apologize to the little old Director first.

Feeling a slight guilt, Leon apologized in his heart to the Third Generation Director. He carried the coffin lid out of the cemetery and ran toward an abandoned lakeside cabin... where he had placed Senior Emma temporarily before the Director had them dig graves.

"Keep an eye on the cemetery for me! Call me if there’s any movement!"

After instructing the little crocodile lying by the door, Leon carried the Third Generation Director’s coffin inside the house. He was just about to follow the Director’s instructions to help repair Senior Emma’s damaged body but suddenly noticed the cabin was empty. Originally, Senior Emma had been placed on an old wooden bed, but now there was no trace of her.

??!!!

Where was she? Wasn’t that crocodile supposed to be watching the door? How did she disappear?

Shocked by Senior Emma’s sudden disappearance, Leon hurriedly dropped the Third Generation Director’s coffin lid and quickly ran outside. He hoped to ask the Crocodile God guarding the door what was happening, but near the lakeside not far from the cabin, he saw a familiar silhouette.

"Leon?"

Noticing the commotion on his side, the tall and beautiful woman sitting by the lake slightly turned, allowing her light chestnut hair to gently fall over her shoulder, revealing a slender, fair neck, and a gentle, smiling face.

Even though the background wasn’t the blue sky and vast sea but the ink-black Lake of the Dead and the lifeless gray sky, Senior Emma’s mature and graceful smile still unexpectedly calmed Leon’s heart.

"You’re awake..."

After stating the undeniable fact, Leon put down the little crocodile that was struggling and wagging its tail in his hand and walked toward Senior Emma, who was sitting on a round stone by the lake.

"Senior Emma,"

Upon reaching the white round stone where Senior Emma was sitting, Leon spoke a bit anxiously, urging,

"The Director found an Anomalous Object that can repair your body’s injuries. You just need to sit inside for a while to be healed, I just hauled it back, so please quickly..."

"Look at those birds over the lake."

Interrupting Leon’s words, Senior Emma, sitting by the lakeside, turned her head back to calmly watch the Crows of Death Report circling above the black lake, speaking with a serene expression,

"Leon, do you know what they represent?"

"..."

*Are you... seeing the Crows of Death Report, being triggered to find me for a heart-to-heart chat?*

*Uh... I don’t mind listening to your heartfelt thoughts. I’d even be glad to be a quiet listener, but isn’t now an inappropriate time for that?*

*The Director is still working hard on delaying the Third Generation Director. We plan to return the coffin lid once we’re done. Isn’t our sudden heart-to-heart chat here slightly inappropriate?*

...

"It seems the Director must have told you."

Watching Leon, whose face was filled with words caught on their path to be spoken, Senior Emma smiled again, then softly spoke with a hint of loneliness,

"These Crows of Death Report are not mine but those from my clan who died six years ago. After that day, while inheriting their lives, I also inherited these Crows of Death Report that belonged to them.

Although I haven’t been to such a deep position before, I’ve actually quietly visited the Realm of the Dead many times and seen them many times. After coming repeatedly, I can even vaguely distinguish which Crows of Death Report belong to whom."

"..."

"The one that keeps flying high and refuses to land seems to be desperately staying away from me; that should be my grandfather’s Crow of Death Report... Such birds inherit fragments of living consciousness and, just like my grandfather, refuse to turn their heads to glance at me till the very end."

"The one resting on the shore should belong to my mother’s Crow of Death Report. It often watches me in silence like this, but merely watching. The moment I walk over, it immediately flies away far off, refusing any contact."

"The only one willing to come close to me should be my sister’s Crow of Death Report. She would have been a few years younger than your sister, always a mischievous child who loved clinging to me..."

"..."

*Although reason told Leon that now he should immediately interrupt Senior Emma’s recount, urging her to quickly lie in the Third Generation Director’s coffin to repair her body,*

listening to Senior Emma recount the origins of each Crow of Death Report and remembering the relatives they represented, the words that had rushed to the tip of his tongue felt as if something was blocking them. No matter what, he couldn’t utter them, up until he heard the little crocodile’s low "grr" from behind.

There was no time to delay anymore!

Looking back toward the cemetery, he saw the signal previously agreed upon by the Red-haired Director and him. Leon, to Emma’s astonishment, sprang up, returned to the already half-collapsed lakeside cabin, and hauled out the Third Generation Director’s coffin lid.

"Senior Emma, I actually don’t mind listening to you talk about this. But this thing is something I, um, the Director and I, borrowed from the Third Generation without telling him when we took it.

Therefore, we can’t use it for long, only for a short time. After using, we need to quickly... return it quietly. So maybe you can lie down first, once I close the lid, we can continue talking?"

"..."

*If you close the lid, I won’t see anything, so what’s there to talk about?*

After casting Leon a slightly reproachful glance, knowing he felt awkward interrupting her, Emma shook her head gently and, with a soft acknowledgment, rose from the round stone by the lake and lay into the empty coffin.

"Leon, can you not close it please?"

Gently placing her hand on the back of Leon’s hand to stop him from covering her with the coffin lid, Emma somewhat absent-mindedly gazed at the hovering crows in the sky, softly negotiating with a gentle tone,

"While on the outer perimeter of the Realm of the Dead, these Crows of Death Report fly particularly high, sometimes only appearing as small black dots in the sky. It’s the first time they’ve come this close, and I’d like to watch them a bit longer."

"But if I don’t close it, it might affect the repair’s effectiveness? Besides, after returning it, we can come back again..."

"It’s alright, as long as most issues are resolved. The last small portion, I can slowly nurse back to health by myself."

"Alright then..."

Seeing the slight entreaty in Senior Emma’s clear eyes, the words that Leon intended to persuade further softened, and he no longer insisted. He raised one side of the coffin, propping it at an angle allowing a view of the lake and crow group and leaned it against his chest.

"..."

"Thank you."