Chapter 1 Hao Ren Never Expected

Hao Ren never expected to see the name "Blood King" again, not in a wizard's manuscript, but in a common man's diary. As the data terminal finished analyzing the remaining words on the parchment, things began to clear up.

The "Heimurwen" mentioned in the diary matched the nameplate outside the mansion. It was now certain that this person was the master of this town, "Dormir," and several surrounding areas, a minor noble from a remote rural area. The person who left the parchment did not leave their name; it could only be confirmed that they were Heimurwen's steward. The diary seemed to record the events of the last period of time before the town's mutation. The writer's unease could be felt between the lines: a series of bizarre events shrouded the town, and shadows and turmoil filled Dormir.

The beginning of the matter seemed to be an infectious disease. Lily's news from the spirit and the words on the parchment both recorded this event. The children in the town were infected with a strange disease that gradually sapped their strength, and ordinary medicine had no effect. In that dark age, this implied a sense of terror, and people would naturally associate it with witchcraft and curses. However, the lord here, Heimurwen, did not take any action to deal with the spread of rumors. His "personality changed, and he listened to a so-called scholar of unknown origin." This lord not only did not try to cure the disease, but instead launched a witch hunt, which was carried out under the promotion of the "scholar" from outside.

There were not many records about the witch. Hao Ren had no way of inferring whether she was an ordinary woman who had been framed or a witch who really understood magic. Only the fact that a large amount of smoke and ash was produced when the witch's body was burned was somewhat concerning, which seemed to confirm the black ash that could be seen everywhere in the town. If she was a real witch, then the ashes in the town were probably the result of some kind of curse.

Hao Ren and Vivian's main attention was focused on the "scholar." Without a doubt, he was the wizard who left behind the "Blood King Ritual."

Hao Ren flipped through the text analyzed by the data terminal and asked Vivian, "Was this kind of thing common back then?"

"Are you talking about wizards and curses?" Vivian raised an eyebrow. "More or less. Witchcraft, magic, cursed cities and villages, the open and secret struggles between exorcists and demons, and ordinary people trembling and at a loss in the cracks… That was a chaotic era. Demon hunters and other species had not completely faded from the world of ordinary people, and many people died unnatural deaths. However, the situation in this town is relatively rare: it was dragged into another space-time. The wizard who launched this magic was very powerful and must have used some external force—such as the Gate of Purgatory. An ordinary wizard doesn't have this ability."

Hao Ren's movements suddenly stopped: "Are you saying that the power of the Gate of Purgatory trapped this town in this space-time?"

"The beginning of the space-time distortion should be the Gate of Purgatory, but the gate must be closed now," Vivian waved her hand. "Purgatory is very unstable and cannot remain open for centuries."

Hao Ren said "oh" and continued to check the documents. The old steward's records also contained the following information:

"...I found that the scholar always held a black book. When he read those books, a strange expression would appear on his face. Anyone who is blessed should not show that expression when reading beneficial books... I asked him about the book, but was treated coldly. He said it was a handwritten Bible, but for some religious reasons, he could not let anyone touch it. This is enough to arouse my vigilance: what kind of Bible would refuse a conscientious person to touch it? Unless it's the devil's scripture..."

"...I finally found an opportunity to glance at the strange black book he was holding. The gloomy man quickly noticed my actions. His eyes were very terrible in an instant. Although it was only a short moment, he finally took off the pretentious disguise of 'scholar' at that time. I don't think I will ever forget how poisonous a person's eyes can be... That is the kind of eyes you can only get by selling your soul to the devil, as cold and ruthless as glass. His real eyeballs must have been hanging on the devil's fireplace for a long time! But the strangest thing is the book itself... There are no words. As far as I can see, there is only a blank space on the pages. Now I can only believe that God used his miracle to protect a devout servant. The pages must be full of blasphemous symbols, but fortunately I can't see them."

The data terminal flashed twice, indicating that this was all the text that could be analyzed.

"Is the strange black book mentioned above the magic book we found?" Hao Ren muttered to Vivian in confusion, "We didn't find that the words on the magic book disappeared."

Vivian shook her head: "It should be another one. Wizards can't have only one spell book. Anyway, the wizard's identity has been confirmed. I suspect that the plague and witch events in the town before the mutation were all planned by this wizard. He seems to have planned to involve everyone in the town in some kind of ritual... But based on the information at hand, I can't tell what kind of ritual it is."

The two searched the room again, but did not find anything more valuable. In the end, Hao Ren only put away the parchment and returned to the long hall on the first floor with Vivian.

Soon, the others also completed their explorations and returned to the long hall. After everyone gathered, Hao Ren told everyone about his and Vivian's findings, and asked if anyone else had any results.

"Witches, wizards, and curses... I'm not good at dealing with such complicated things," Lily muttered, pointing to her eyes. "I saw a lot of ghost shadows walking around here. It seems they were all servants who worked here. The Heimurwen lord you mentioned should also be among them, but the shadows are too chaotic to tell who is who. Also, I didn't find anything related to the wizard, nor did I see his shadow: his spirit should not have been imprisoned."

"My brother and I found a basement," Nangong Wuyue raised her tail. "The basement is full of rotten potatoes and wine barrels, and more ash, nothing else."

Duncan and Cassandra also shook their heads, indicating that there was nothing in the towers on both sides that they were responsible for.

"That wizard must have lived here, but where did he hide his magic book and casting materials?" Hesperia pinched her chin. "This kind of thing is more important than a wizard's life. He can't not carry it with him..."

Hesperia suddenly stopped talking, and everyone looked up at the direction of the stairs on the second floor. In a silence, Nangong Sanba was the first to break the silence: "Did you guys hear any movement just now?"

Lily's ears twitched: "I heard it, it sounds like footsteps?"

Duncan and Cassandra immediately stood up, each drawing an exquisite noble rapier and a large-caliber pistol from their waists (the Hesperia family's armament style). The two walked cautiously towards the stairs with their guns and swords, but they had only taken a few steps when a large black mass suddenly "walked" down the stairs!

It was a large mass of strange ashes, black and dirty like a mud ball, but with a roughly human shape. After this mass of black ash formed into a human body appeared at the top of the stairs, it swayed, and then walked down clumsily step by step, dropping a large amount of ash and dust with each step. As it got closer, incredible changes took place on this ash mass: its outer surface fell off, revealing the clothes and skin underneath. The upper half of the ash mass slowly emerged with the contours of human facial features. By the time "it" walked into the long hall, it was almost a complete and clear human figure.

Hao Ren and the others watched this strange "thing" curiously and cautiously as it walked all the way, until "it" finally completely turned into a tired-looking middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man who walked out of the ash looked to be in his forties, and his hairstyle and clothing were those of a wealthy man in the Middle Ages. When he first shed his ash, he seemed a little dazed, but he quickly woke up and stared dumbfounded at the group of strangers in front of him.

After a few seconds of愣怔, the man suddenly let out a scream, then turned and ran towards the second floor!

Hao Ren immediately reacted: "Catch him!"

A white light swooshed up, and Lily, carrying a brick she didn't know where she had found, slammed the brick down on the man. Hao Ren was startled when he saw this scene. He thought to himself, this person came out of the ashes. What if his body was really made of ash? Wouldn't Lily's brick smash him into pieces?

Fortunately, the man was only knocked away by Lily, but he got up and stood up as if nothing had happened.

Before the other party could run away again, Lily decisively went up and subdued him in three or two moves, and then dragged her spoils back to Hao Ren as if she was asking for credit: "Caught him!"

The mysterious man, tied up by Lily with a rope, looked at Hao Ren with a terrified expression: "You... What are you going to do?! Are you people or ghosts?!"

Hao Ren thought that the other party was the wizard he was looking for, but he felt that something was wrong when he heard this tone. He asked the other party's identity: "Who are you?"

The man shrank his neck in fear: "I... I am the lord here, Heimurwen Akhtisaari..."