CHAPTER 12: CHAPTER 12: THE GROOM ISN’T YOU

Spiritual Power increased by 0.3, but Herag didn’t feel anything palpable, and was momentarily unclear about the function of Spiritual Power.

"How is it? Are you alright?" Emil saw Herag spacing out, so he asked.

"I’m fine, I was just thinking about why I fainted," Herag explained.

"I’ve heard many stories like this before, but actually encountering one is a first. There are still too many unknowns in this world," Emil sighed.

After leaving the northern lake, Herag and the others continued to inspect other areas, but they didn’t find anything unusual.

"Once the wedding is over, I will report the strangeness of this place to Lord Baron," Emil noted.

"This place is crowded in the spring and summer seasons, but I’ve never heard anyone mention anything about this place. And the lake water only appears in winter, indicating that the cries at night only occur in winter, that is, when the lake water appears," Herag briefly summarized.

Whenever he thought of that pale face he saw on the lake, his back felt a chill. He didn’t know what it was, but it couldn’t have been his hallucination.

The sunset dipped westward, and the golden sunlight cast on the snowy mountains created a different kind of scenery.

At night, the wind blew stronger and stronger, the sound of the wind howled, more intense than the night before.

"Woo... woo..."

The familiar crying sound rang again, and it was more noticeable than the previous night.

Herag lay inside the house, ignoring the cries coming from afar.

Unexpectedly, the cold wind outside became violent, slapping his windows.

"Woo woo woo..."

The cries grew louder, and Herag pricked up his ears to listen, feeling as if the cries were right outside his window.

"Shenlan!"

He glanced at the little map of Shenlan, but there was nothing outside, no sign of animals or people.

"Woo woo woo... ah!"

A particularly piercing scream of a woman sounded, and Herag immediately felt his head go blank, with a splitting headache, and his vision flickered between black and white, on the verge of fainting at any moment.

"Detected unknown radiation energy attack, it is recommended to temporarily block hearing."

"Block hearing!" Herag immediately issued the command.

Whoosh~

The whole world seemed to quiet down, and Herag’s head no longer ached.

Herag touched the window, realizing it wasn’t his hallucination, as there wasn’t even the slightest breeze outside.

"I wonder how Emil is doing," he suddenly thought of Emil still next door. He could use Shenlan to block his hearing, but Emil couldn’t.

He opened the door and found that the door to Emil’s room was already open.

"Where is he?" Emil’s room was empty, but the bed was still warm, indicating he had just left.

The bedroom was on the second floor, and when he ran to the first floor, he found the main door open.

"Why would Emil go out so late?" Herag was full of doubts.

He thought about it and decided to go out to check. Searching around the farm, he couldn’t see any sign of Emil.

When Herag passed by Massimo’s house, he heard loud snoring inside, thinking to himself, "This old man’s sleep quality is really good, no wonder nothing has happened after all these years. Sleeping so soundly that no one can wake him."

"Could Emil have left the farm..."

When he reached the gate, he confirmed his suspicion. The farm’s iron gate had been chained and locked from the inside, but now it had been slashed apart by a sword, and the gate was open.

Herag stood at the gate looking at the empty outside, feeling a sense of foreboding.

It’s impossible for Emil to run outside without saying anything to him, with a high possibility of encountering some accident.

He went back inside, grabbed his Longsword and slung the Longbow on his back, then went outside to search for Emil.

The first direction he searched was north, towards the direction of the eerie lake.

In the darkness of night, Herag moved swiftly and lightly, proceeding quickly.

Soon he saw Emil, dressed in casual clothes, holding his Longsword, walking stiffly forward, heading towards the lake.

"Emil!" Herag quickly approached and called out twice.

Emil showed no reaction, not even glancing at Herag.

Herag tried to block Emil by stepping in front of him, then suddenly noticed Emil’s eyes were hollow and pitch black, startlingly reminding him of the face seen in the lake earlier that day.

Emil bypassed him and continued onward, not responding to any of Herag’s actions or words.

Herag moved behind him and looked at Emil’s back neck, pondering whether to give him a strike.

With a sideways chop, Emil reacted quickly, as if he had eyes on the back of his head, swinging the Longsword backward to force Herag away.

After driving Herag back, Emil continued moving, gradually approaching the lakeside, his steps unhalting, seemingly intent on walking directly into the lake.

The lake water was deep, bottomless, and chillingly cold. Entering would certainly be fatal.

Anxious, Herag shouted, "Melissa got married, the groom is not you!"

Emil halted, his mouth slightly ajar as if about to speak, his hollow eyes gradually regaining clarity.

He turned to see Herag, confused: "Why am I here?"

Herag said speechlessly: "You were like possessed, relentlessly heading towards that lake, unstoppable."

"That bizarre?" Emil looked puzzled, "I remember hearing a scream and then lost consciousness, and when I came to, I was here."

"So it’s indeed the scream." Herag realized and was glad he had blocked his hearing in time, or they both would have ended up feeding the fish in the lake.

"What’s in this lake that even a Knight Level could only be manipulated by it?" Herag remarked, gazing at the calm lake surface.

Emil was also somewhat spooked, as it was his first time encountering such a situation.

Swish!

There was a sudden commotion in the lake.

"Careful!" Emil gripped the Longsword tightly.

Herag also stared intently at the lake surface. The little map showed nothing, but with the naked eye, they could see two figures slowly emerging from the lake.

"That armor... looks like the castle guardians!" Emil deduced details from the armor worn by the figures.

Herag thought of something, "Castle guardians? So the previously missing guards actually entered this lake..."

The two figures moved slowly, eventually reaching Herag and Emil.

They then saw clearly that the two figures were skeletons clad in armor, wielding Longswords now rusted.

That was not all; there was more commotion from the lake, as three more figures slowly emerged from the lakebed.

"Wanna try?" Emil wasn’t scared, rather a bit excited.

"I’ll take left, you take right," Herag chuckled.

It was the first time they fought such undead beings, and in their very bones, there was an eager excitement for battle.