CHAPTER 1352: CHAPTER 1352: AN UNSPEAKABLE PAST

Shard turned his head to see, only to find on the bed stained with dark red blood, the brother of Haila Osenfort, a monster with a rat’s tail and extremely skinny form, lying there, holding the skeleton of a Maid’s dress as he slept.

Shard’s arrival did not wake it, but when Shard looked at it, its rat-like eyes immediately opened.

Shard’s first reaction was to drop a Silence Charm, then step back, his body appearing at the room’s doorway, avoiding the small monster’s attack.

This man, who should have been 29 years old, became like this, showing that the degree of demonic corruption he suffered was quite high. Even though it didn’t hit Shard with a single strike, it was still able to cling to the wall like a gecko, letting out a strange noise to intimidate Shard, before climbing vertically up the wall to the ceiling, then pouncing down at Shard from above.

During this, Shard took a small bottle from the suitcase, holding the Magic Potion in his mouth. As the thing above lunged at him, he directly sprayed the liquid from his mouth.

"Ah~"

The scream almost pierced Shard’s eardrum, as the small monster in the air fell to the ground, desperately rolling and crawling on the ground as smoke rose from its body, trying to rub off the liquid from its surface. But Shard did not give it this chance, still sending out a Holy Silver Binding Aura that wrapped around its neck and limbs while the small monster with a rat’s tail crawled about.

Clear water was poured down, washing away the mixture of forty percent Holy Water No. 3, fifty-nine percent Holy Light Potion, and one percent Weak Angel Potion from the monster.

Because this thing could almost be considered a Lower Demon, using the previous method against the Corpse Walker would not work if he wanted it to provide information.

Shard found a wooden Angel Statue from the suitcase, with a red Rune imprinted by the Demon Hunting Seal at its base.

"Praise the King of Angels!"

He said again, then crouched down, respectfully placing the statue on the monster’s heart where it was immobilized.

Even though it was currently bound by the Binding Light, the monster still convulsed violently. After a long moment, its rat eyes suddenly turned white, and then transformed into normal human eyes.

Those eyes gazed at Shard with a look of Desire:

"Kill me, kill me, I beg you, kill me quickly!"

Its state was quite unstable, and Shard could probably only ask one question:

"I will ensure your entire family gains freedom. Please tell me, how do I enter your parents’ bedroom?"

Since the window had protective measures and couldn’t be entered casually, it was likely the door wouldn’t just open with a push. Shard could try using the Key of the Door, but if he could find out the location of the key, that would be even better.

"My mother has the keys to all the rooms on her body! She’s in the kitchen now!"

Dark light surged on the monster, directly ejecting the wooden Angel Statue, so the human eyes once again became rat eyes.

Shard took out the Mind Crystal Ring and placed it on his finger:

"Psychic Shockwave!"

His fist struck the monster’s forehead, and after confirming it was bleeding from all seven orifices and had fallen into a coma, Shard rummaged through the box to find four silver nails, pinning it to the ground:

"The kitchen..."

The Butterfly Swarm once again carried the suitcase out the window, this time down the wall. Shard did not know the location of the kitchen, but luckily he remembered the location of the dining room. Although the semi-basement structure of the dining room meant it had no windows, Shard could find a room adjacent to the dining room.

After flying in, using an Illusion Technique to avoid the Wraith Maid, Shard followed that distinct stench into the dining room. The small door on the side wall of the dining room opened a crack, and after pushing the door open, it was the kitchen.

The lady of the manor, Haila Osenfort’s mother, in soul status, was directing three Wraith Maids to pour some rotting animal corpses into a large cauldron emitting a green glow. Upon discovering Shard at the doorway, the four souls nearly simultaneously pulled out cleavers emitting a green glow from their chests, then charged at Shard.

"Their cause of death, all were killed by cleavers..."

Shard sighed softly, at the same time raising the withered finger he had long since taken out from the suitcase.

This was the top-tier Divine Item "Death Withered Finger" provided by Priest Augustus, with the raw material being the right middle finger of a suicide’s corpse. Once used, indiscriminately, all living beings within the area must make an instant death determination; if their resistance wasn’t high enough, they would die immediately.

Even the Circle Sorcerer using this item must undergo this determination. Fortunately, after the incident of being Chosen by Death, Shard was nearly completely immune to instant death attacks.

And against souls, the role of the "Death Withered Finger" was to cause the souls to fall into complete slumber. As the charred bone emitted dark light, the four ghosts rushing at Shard all halted, the pale green spiritual bodies floating mid-air, closing their eyes without moving.

But they weren’t simply ghosts; the Earth’s Curse and Demonic Power’s corruption layered together, making it impossible for them to fall asleep for too long, and Shard needed to act quickly.

"The key is on my mother..."

Obviously, spiritual bodies could not carry keys. Luckily, with the corrupted soul in a dormant state, communication was possible. Shard rummaged through the suitcase and found a section of charred yellow candle, using his finger to spark it alight, letting the yellow smoke rise immediately.

He placed the candle beneath the spirit of the old woman, and yellowish smoke gradually infiltrated the wraith. After a brief wait, the soul mingled with the pale yellow smoke opened its eyes again, but the look in its eyes was still crazed.

Shard kissed the Moonstone Ring on his finger and continued to use his Arcane Technique:

"Muddle."

Yellow moonlight emitted from the ring, and in the moonlight, the old woman’s eyes gradually calmed down, then she looked at her hand with disbelief:

"I...am I free?"

Shard looked at the yellowish candle, it could burn for about half a minute:

"I don’t have much time. If you want me to save you, listen carefully to my questions."

Shard spoke quickly:

"First, where is the master bedroom key?"

The old woman hesitated for just a moment before answering:

"On my corpse, the corpse is in that water tank over there."

She pointed to the large pitch-black water tank in the kitchen corner.

"Very well. Do you know someone else is in the house? Who else?"

This concerns whether Shard can expel the Relic.

The old woman thought for a moment, then shook her head hesitantly:

"Someone else?"

She probably wasn’t aware of the Relic’s influence on them.

"Then assume there’s no one else. Do you remember how you died?"

As Shard’s words fell, the candle suddenly began to burn rapidly, the old woman’s spirit’s eyes widened, a painful expression appeared on her face, a dense Rune Chain representing Demon Power surged from her chest like a waterfall:

"Damn Osenfort! He’s a demon, a phantom monster, he killed us all! He..."

The candle extinguished, and the old woman, turned into a Fallen Evil Spirit, lunged at Shard, then was too afraid to advance due to the Desecration Cross raised high by Shard.

A bright Silvermoon seemed to descend upon this tiny room, and the moonlight bursting from Shard’s fingertips forced the old woman back again. As five silver rings flew out of the moonlight, the battle was already over.

The Binding Light disabled the evil spirit, and then another black candle was lit by Shard and placed at the old woman’s feet. Before this black Soul-Soothing Candle burnt out, it would not move again.

"Water tank..."

A circular wooden lid covered the water tank, as soon as it was uncovered, a swarm of flies flew out, clearly, this family used the tank as a meat storage. Shard didn’t want to explore what had happened to the obviously butchered corpses inside, he flicked his finger, and the blood-stained key flew out, then quickly replaced the tank’s lid.

"Three years ago, here...it’s about time to end."

Instead of choosing to transform again into a Red Butterfly swarm to navigate the mansion’s exterior, Shard carried a briefcase from the kitchen into the dining room, and then directly walked into the corridor.

As Shard dealt with two of the manor’s five owners, the mansion seemed to realize what Shard had done. The Wraith Maids in the corridor were gone, indoor lights dimmed even further, occasionally flickering.

The traces of souls and monsters that once lived here were rapidly disappearing within this abandoned haunted house, returning slowly to reality, which also meant that the remaining opponents would be even more powerful than the former two.

On the first floor and stairs, Shard wasn’t attacked in the dim environment. But on reaching the third floor, with a deep voice sounding, and the floor making terrible vibrations, Haila Osenfort’s uncle, the ogre with rolls of fat, charged at Shard like a war chariot, its body opening countless mouths, each repeating the same words:

"Damn you, you’re an assassin sent by Ston Osenfort too! This time, I will protect my family!"

His body was so massive that all the rolls of fat were squeezed together against the corridor walls, each step causing the floorboards to creak, the charging momentum incredibly imposing.

The figure’s size was such that, unless Shard moved back to the stairs, evading was impossible. Fortunately, he didn’t have to dodge since the other was only imposing in presence:

"Another thing akin to a Lower Demon, a desire for gluttony...?"

This time, Shard didn’t take out any weapons or Magic Potions from the briefcase, nor did he make any attack moves. He merely stood there with a grim face, showing a corner of the Spirit Rune behind him.

The suddenly flashing Desecration Spirit Rune of Gluttony, illuminating Shard below with silver Spiritual Light, eerily didn’t cast his shadow.