Chapter 176 A Warm Family

Nina came into Duncan's view—the girl was jogging, a joyful smile on her face. Upon seeing her uncle sitting dazed at the entrance of the antique shop, she quickened her pace, waving her hand in greeting, "Uncle, I'm back!"

Duncan was startled from his thoughts. He set his worries aside for the moment and stood up to greet his "niece." Noticing her panting, he paused, frowning slightly. "Didn't I give you money for the bus? Why did you run all the way back from school?"

Nina stopped in front of Duncan, took a few breaths, and scratched her head sheepishly. Then, she reached into her schoolbag and rummaged around, eventually pulling out a small paper packet and handing it over. "I passed Doctor Albert's clinic on the way back."

Duncan took the packet and squeezed it, realizing there were some pills inside.

"'Doctor Albert said that long-term use of alcohol for pain relief, even though your health has improved and you've successfully quit drinking, can easily cause adverse reactions once someone who's been drinking for a long time abruptly stops!' " Nina explained softly. " 'This is medicine to alleviate alcohol withdrawal symptoms. You can take one if you feel unwell. Also, Doctor Albert said that if your health hasn't worsened recently, you can stop taking the previous medication completely, but he still suggests you go to his clinic for a thorough checkup when you have time.' "

Duncan listened silently to Nina's soft, almost cautious explanation, not saying a word for a long time. Only after Nina finished did he silently and carefully put the small packet of pills close to his body.

Then, he reached out and gently rubbed the top of Nina's head.

"Uncle?" Nina looked up, a little puzzled, only to see a strange, indescribable seriousness on Duncan's face. There was even a hint of worry in that seriousness, which made her sensitive heart feel a little uneasy.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Or..."

"I'm fine." Duncan suddenly smiled, bending down slightly to look into Nina's eyes. "But don't use the money I gave you for the bus to buy medicine for me anymore. We're not short of money at home now. You can also carry some extra pocket money. If you don't have enough, just ask me."

Nina looked at Duncan in a bit of a daze. She felt that her uncle had suddenly become a little strange, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong. After a long while, she hesitantly nodded, "Okay, okay."

Then, she thought for a moment, peeked into the shop, and a look of anticipation and hesitation appeared on her face. "Uncle, you said... you'd teach me to ride a bicycle when I got back from school."

"The weather's not good right now," Duncan raised his eyebrows. "It might rain."

"We'll just be at the door," Nina grabbed Duncan's arm and muttered softly and expectantly. "We can go back in right away if it rains."

"Alright, put your schoolbag away first. I'll teach you to ride a bicycle, but we can only practice for a little while. I haven't made dinner yet."

"Yay!"

Nina cheered softly and ran into the antique shop like a shot, casually throwing her schoolbag onto the counter before pushing out the brand-new bicycle.

Her posture for pushing the bike was crooked, and she struggled for a long time next to the doorframe before successfully pushing the bike in front of Duncan.

"Actually, I think you need to learn how to push a bike from scratch," Duncan sighed, both amused and exasperated, looking at Nina's clumsy appearance. Then, he stepped forward to steady the handlebars. "But seeing how eager you are, let's get you on first—I'll hold the bike for you, and you can experience pedaling and balance while moving."

Nina obediently nodded, and after Duncan steadied the bike, she grabbed the handlebars tightly, stepped on the pedals, and climbed onto the seat with all her might, emphasizing repeatedly, "Uncle, you have to hold on tight! Don't let go!"

"Alright, alright, just trust me." A slightly fishy, salty, and chilly wind blew through the old streets of the lower district, swirling up fallen leaves and dust between the low, dilapidated buildings.

The dark clouds were very low, but the rain that might fall at any moment seemed to hesitate in the sky, not falling to the earth for a long time.

In the small open space in front of the antique shop, there were excited and nervous exclamations from the girl, the occasional chaotic ringing of the bicycle bell, and, mixed in between—Duncan's occasional guidance and teasing.

A pure black, old-fashioned private car stopped in the open space near the antique shop, and an old man wearing an old-fashioned scholar's woolen coat, carrying a cane, and wearing a short top hat opened the car door and looked up at the antique shop.

Maurice saw that familiar, old shop, and he also saw the uncle and niece practicing cycling in the open space in front of the shop.

An ordinary lower-district street scene, a warm and ordinary family's daily life, everything looked so normal, even warm and peaceful under the overcast sky and the chilling autumn wind.

However, Heidi had only spent half a day in this antique shop, and she had already used up one of the Wisdom God Rahm's blessings, and that was with a Deep Sea Inquisitor protecting her.

And afterward, neither Heidi herself nor the Inquisitor Vanna had noticed anything unusual.

Maurice took a deep breath. Despite seeing such an ordinary scene, his heart slowly began to beat faster.

Then, he gritted his teeth and didn't rashly go to greet the uncle and niece who were active in front of the antique shop. Instead, he prepared to first complete his observation of the shop. If possible, he really didn't want to involve unrelated people in supernatural events.

The old man fumbled in his coat pocket, pulled out a monocle with a light gold chain. One end of the thin chain was clipped to the inside of his pocket, and the other end was connected to the frame. On the frame, the name of the Wisdom God Rahm and many sacred symbols were engraved in ancient Cretan script, and faint light flickered in the transparent lens.

"May wisdom grant me insightful eyes, enlighten my mind, and allow me to see the truth and pierce through the mist."

Maurice whispered a few blessings, then clipped the monocle to his eye socket and "opened" the eye he had voluntarily closed eleven years ago...

Maurice hesitated for a moment, looking down at the monocle in his hand, seeing the name of Rahm and many sacred symbols engraved on the frame, faint light flickering in the transparent lens.

"May wisdom grant me insightful eyes..."

He whispered a few blessings, clipped the monocle to his eye socket, and looked up.

Maurice hesitated for a moment, looking down at the monocle in his hand.

A gust of cold wind suddenly blew from across the street, carrying a low murmur. The old scholar suddenly stopped the action he was about to take, then suddenly raised his right wrist.

A string of beads woven with colorful stones and silk threads was on his wrist. There were eight stones in total.

The cold wind blew over, carrying fallen leaves from the roadside and the cold of late autumn. The sounds in Maurice's ears seemed to fade away. The traffic on the street and the distant chimes of the church bells were as distant as if they came from another world. He only heard his heart beating rapidly, the sound of blood rushing like thunder, and among the heartbeats, only the sound coming from one direction was still clear.

A girl's cheerful but slightly nervous voice: "Uncle, hold on tight! Ah, it's tilting... tilting... the bike's going to fall!"

A middle-aged man's gentle voice with a smile: "I'm holding on, it won't fall—straighten the handlebars and it won't tilt. Keep pedaling, keep going forward, that's how bicycles are, as long as you pedal forward and hold the handlebars, you won't fall."

"You have to hold on tight! I'm going forward!"

"Go ahead, I'm behind you."

Maurice suddenly heard another sound, the creaking of bones rubbing against each other, and with this sound came a slight shift and rotation of his vision—it took him a second to realize what was happening.

He was slowly turning his neck, shifting his gaze from the antique shop to the open space in front of the shop.

A strong warning surged from his soul. The bracelet with eight stones remaining seemed to emit a low, strange sound, like weeping. Each stone became hot, like pulling a drowning person out of the water, futilely pulling at his sanity. Maurice could still think. He knew that the blessings he had placed on himself before setting out had been activated and were working, but he could only perform these basic thoughts. His neck was still turning, his vision was uncontrollably drawn in the most dangerous direction.

Close your eyes, close your eyes, close your eyes!

Countless voices exploded in his mind, but Maurice's reason couldn't drive his muscles to complete even the simplest action. He slowly turned his head like this, and finally, with his eyes that had once been blessed, he saw the direction from which the sound came.

He saw a vortex of crazily writhing light and shadow, inside which seemed to simultaneously reflect all the spaces of...

Crushed mirrors and other things were mixed together, mixed into a giant who barely maintained a human outline, whose body surface was covered with starlight. This giant was slightly bent, carefully supporting... supporting a surge of arc-shaped flames.

Maurice's mind exploded, and then the whole world became quiet.