Chapter 1 The Familiar House

The familiar house stood quietly at the end of the quiet neighborhood, the windows on the first floor emitting a bright and warm light.

The sky had completely darkened, and the streetlights along both sides of the road made the surroundings even quieter. Heidi slowed down the car. In the last hundred meters before arriving home, she slowly adjusted her emotions with light, deep breaths.

She had helped Vanna calm down, but she knew that her own mood was not as relaxed and indifferent as it seemed.

The scene of saying goodbye to her father seemed to have just happened. At that time, she had no idea what was about to happen in the city—but her father had clearly sensed something.

It was a belated farewell to life and death. Her father had told her to seek refuge in the cathedral, while he had gone to that old shop in the lower city... But why did he go to that old shop?

A series of questions suddenly surfaced in Heidi's mind, but she quickly put them aside for the time being—the light in the house's entrance hall was on, waiting for her.

The dark gray car smoothly entered the courtyard. Heidi pushed open the front door and took a few steps inside, suddenly stopping in surprise.

Waiting for her at home was not her father, who should have been home long ago, but her mother—her mother was wearing a wool shawl with dark blue stripes, sitting on a cushioned chair beside the dining table, wearing a pair of delicate glasses, intently reading a newspaper. A large pile of newspapers was stacked on the table next to her, seemingly old newspapers moved from her father's study.

Heidi stood at the entrance of the dining room, momentarily unable to react.

She couldn't remember how long it had been since her mother had left that bedroom—it seemed that for many years, her mother had always stayed in that dimly lit bedroom in her memory, while the dining table always had an empty seat. Her father said that the seat was for her mother, but no one ever sat there.

Heidi had always found this to be a strange thing, but after so many years, she had become accustomed to her mother's seclusion, until this moment... Seeing her mother sitting in that chair, she felt an unreal sense of being separated by many years.

Heidi subconsciously took two steps forward. The sound of her footsteps finally caught the attention of the old woman by the table. The latter raised her head and, upon seeing her daughter, immediately smiled: "Ah, Heidi, you're back."

"I..." Heidi opened her mouth, finding herself unsure how to talk to her mother. Even though she greeted her parents in their bedroom almost every day, she now felt as if she hadn't seen her mother in over a decade. "I... I was delayed at the cathedral for a while. Are you... are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm right here." Her mother smiled happily, her eyes seeming to hold a light that Heidi couldn't understand. She got up from the chair and slowly walked towards her daughter, looking at Heidi's face with a somewhat absent gaze, and then reached out to touch her hair. "Let me take a good look at you... It's been so long since I've really looked at you..."

"Don't we see each other every day?" Heidi said subconsciously, then looked at the old woman in front of her with some concern. "Why did you come out of the bedroom? Are you feeling better today?"

Her mother smiled, as if talking to herself, yet also speaking to her daughter: "I'm better now, I'm better now... Oh, right, why hasn't Maurice returned yet?"

"Father hasn't come home yet?" Heidi was stunned upon hearing this, a hint of worry surfacing in her heart. "He should have been home long ago. The place he went to is closer than the cathedral, and he wasn't delayed like I was..."

"Perhaps the car broke down on the way," her mother said slowly. "His driving skills have never been reliable. Come, let's wait for him together."

Heidi hesitated and nodded, following her mother back to the dining table. Then, she noticed the lavish meal on the table—it wasn't the usual few dishes made by the temporary maid they employed.

"Did you make this?" Heidi raised her head in surprise. "You haven't cooked in a long time."

"Yes, it's been so long since I've cooked. I couldn't even find the ingredients. I had to ask that maid to help me, and I don't know how it tastes," her mother said with a faint smile. "Fortunately, I still remember the general process."

Heidi listened, the light falling on the food on the table. She couldn't help but reach for a fork, wanting to taste it, but just as she raised her hand, she heard her mother's voice from the side: "Wait until your father gets home before we eat."

Heidi's movements stopped abruptly.

She hadn't heard those words in many years.

Just then, a slight noise suddenly came from near the door. It sounded like the flapping of large bird wings, mixed with a soft pattering sound. Just as Heidi was wondering what was making the noise, she heard the sound of a key being inserted and the doorknob turning. The front door was being opened.

Her father was back.

Maurice stood dazedly at the door, the dizziness from being directly teleported from the *Lost郷(Xiang)* by Aiyi not yet subsided. The churning and chaotic senses made him dizzy, so much so that for more than ten seconds, he thought he was hallucinating.

He saw his wife sitting at the dining table, waiting for him to come home for dinner. Then, he realized it was not an illusion.

The "miracle" he had sought from the sub-space eleven years ago had finally been solidified on this side of the veil after this intersection of flames and history—the thing he dared not even ask for in his dreams had come true.

Standing there like a statue for a long time, Maurice finally took a step forward, his pace gradually quickening.

Sharing the flesh and blood of Deep Sea Spawn with the眷属(Juan Shu) on the *Lost Xiang*, asking the shadows of sub-space for knowledge, becoming a member of a secret society... Just a short time ago, these things had weighed heavily on his heart, but suddenly, the weight of these burdens seemed to disappear, and he seemed to see the most reasonable interpretation in all of this.

The realization of any miracle requires a price to be paid, and now, this price has fallen upon him in the gentlest and most appropriate way. It was time to accept it with joy.

His wife stood up from the dining table, and Maurice embraced her tightly.

"I finally see you..." The old scholar's voice was low, as if afraid that Heidi next to him would hear, yet also afraid that his wife in front of him would not hear. "I..."

"Alright, the child is watching—you have plenty of time to explain to me what exactly happened, but there's no rush now."

"Oh... oh, you're right, you're right."

Maurice responded somewhat慌乱(Huang Luan). He released his wife and turned his head, seeing Heidi looking at him with a surprised expression.

"Ahem... I'm late. On the way... the car broke down. I'll have to find someone to tow it back tomorrow," Maurice explained somewhat unnaturally, then quickly changed the subject. "Are you alright? The cathedral... is everything alright there too?"

"Apart from being quite frightened and full of confusion, I and the others are unharmed," Heidi replied, then sized up her father. "But you... I think you seem a bit strange? Did something happen on the way back?"

"What could happen to me?" Maurice said immediately, as if afraid that Heidi would steer the topic toward his travels over the past period. Then, he noticed the lavish meal on the table.

The expression on the old scholar's face immediately became complex.

"I... I already ate before coming back," he said hesitatingly. "On the ship... at Mr. Duncan's place."

His mind flashed back to those ugly and terrifying "fish".

At the "Sub-space Feast," he was as wary of the fish as that ancient幽遥(You Yao) hunting dog, but under Mr. Duncan's gaze, he still bit the bullet and ate the flesh and blood of that Deep Sea Spawn—he didn't remember what happened afterward very well.

He only remembered it smelled really good.

Now, he couldn't eat anything.

But his wife's voice came from the side at this moment: "This was made by me."

"Mother hasn't cooked in many years," Heidi quickly added. "She felt a little better today, so..."

"Then I'll eat some more." As soon as Maurice heard this, he sat down at the dining table before his daughter could finish speaking, and immediately picked up the bowl of soup on the table, gulping down a large mouthful.

"How... how does it taste?" his wife asked expectantly from the side.

"A little... salty," Maurice said hesitantly, but then picked up the bowl again, gulping down a few more mouthfuls, swallowing as he smiled. "Salty, too salty... You always cook so salty..."

"If you don't like it, then don't eat it!"

"I didn't say I didn't like it..."

"Then shut up and eat your meal. Why are you still talking so much at the dinner table?"

Heidi raised her head and looked at her father, then at her mother.

She hadn't heard such a conversation in many years—and after so many years, nothing seemed to have changed.

So she smiled, lowered her head, and cut off a piece of fried steak and put it in her mouth.

It was indeed a bit salty.

……

Her uncle was already asleep, sleeping soundly—he didn't seem to have had a good night's sleep in a very long time, so much so that he had started snoring halfway through their conversation.

Vanna walked slowly towards her bedroom.

She had already changed into her home clothes, simply tying her hair into a ponytail. After changing out of that battle-worn armor and putting down that greatsword, the trial judge who had returned from battle put away all her fierce aura, as if turning into a young girl like any ordinary person, with her own life, her own joys and sorrows.

When she was at home, she would not hide her emotions and worries, so her uncle had obviously seen that she was preoccupied, but he hadn't asked anything during their conversation.

The two of them had also tacitly not mentioned anything about the "sub-space blessing."

Her uncle didn't want to add to her burden, that was very obvious.

But Vanna herself knew that the burden in her heart at this moment was not just the so-called "sub-space blessing," and it was not even related to her own life and death.

She returned to her bedroom, closed the door, and walked to the dresser, taking out that ritual dagger with ornate纹饰(Wen Shi) from the drawer.

This was a sacred object of the Deep Sea Church, and it was also a gift that Bishop Valentine personally blessed and gave to her after she was baptized.

This sacred object symbolized the beginning of her faith in the Storm Goddess Gomona.