The Divine Hunter Chapter 2: Strange noises
In the simple temple restaurant, at the corner of a rectangular table made of wooden boards, between two cloaks stained with snowflakes, a hungry demon hunter was eating quietly and efficiently.
Karl swallowed half of the pie into his mouth, letting the soft wheat bran soaked in potato soup ferment in his mouth, and the aroma lingered.
The priestess sitting opposite sighed slightly in pain.
"The two masters are professionals, the nemesis of monsters and supernatural creatures. They should know that in this kind of rural place, there are countless monsters and ghosts, such as Qiqimo, ghouls, leprechauns, and some of me. An unspeakably terrifying existence..."
"On the contrary," Karl said old-fashionedly, putting down the plate that had been licked as clean as new. "In recent years, the number of monsters has been greatly reduced. In comparison, there are only bandits, mercenaries, looters, and wandering monsters." Soldiers are the biggest threat to mankind! By the way, you mean there is something unusual in the temple?"
Daisy folded her hands on the square table, supporting her pointed chin with the back of her hands. She glanced at the bald man next to her. The firelight illuminated the smooth and delicate skin of her face and the anxiety between her eyebrows.
"Since half a year ago, I can hear the sound of infiltration every night, which makes me feel uncomfortable. Do you know what it feels like? It seems like a pine caterpillar is drilling into my ear, and it seems like there is a tongue. Licking the back of my neck."
Bald Bruqi clenched his fists as big as sandbags and described vividly, his buttocks against the bench twisting uneasily.
"Sometimes it sounds like a baby's babbling, and after a while it turns into the chirping of a mouse, or even the sound of a lute!"
"We searched the entire temple, and the strange noises came from the cellar under the floor where debris was piled up and pickled vegetables and meats were stored. Dino and I went down to investigate"
Arkham pricked up his ears, took a sip of slightly sweet goat milk, and quickly glanced out the window. A girl with blond hair as dry as straw was leaning over the window sill and looking eagerly into the restaurant, facing the rich food. She swallowed her saliva after dinner, and the night breeze made her rub her hands continuously, making her slender body tremble.
The dusk outside the window was deep, and the witcher's mutated vision could still clearly glimpse the familiar face of the other party. It was almost exactly the same as the naughty, beautiful, noble-tempered girl in his memory, who was loved by Geralt and Yennefer.
How is this possible? Isn't she in Skellige? Well, it must be a coincidence.
“There’s a dirty thing hiding behind that row of marinated pork!”
The flesh on the bodyguard’s rough, red face undulated, and his voice trembled uncontrollably.
"Don't be nervous, tell me slowly, what does it look like? Don't miss a hair!"
Arkham's sonorous and powerful words seemed to contain magic, soothing the big man's nervousness.
"Like an old woman wearing a gauze dress, with rotten flesh on her face, emaciated and stooped! Of course it can run ten times faster than the old woman."
Arkham touched the stubble on his chin and frowned, "Are you sure you read that correctly?"
"I didn't dare to stay underground for too long, I just vaguely saw its outline." The big man blushed and stammered.
"One end?"
"To be honest, if there were two ends, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to get out!" the bearded man continued,
"That thing screamed and chased after it. Dino's torch blocked it, otherwise I was almost knocked down! Rebbe was on top. I was so scared for the first time in my life, and my whole body stood up with goosebumps. I was so frightened that I almost peed, but luckily we had good legs and feet, so we climbed up, covered it with a wooden board, and sat on it to block it!"
"Your Excellency..." Arkham looked at the bald man up and down, "You're not as brave as he looks."
"Being brave doesn't mean being stupid! I won't chew rocks with my teeth! Even a soldier who has experienced hundreds of battles can only run away when encountering that thing!"
This is the normal reaction of 90% of ordinary people when faced with unknown and terrifying things.
"That thing didn't break out of the door?" Arkham asked,
"Bless Lebiuda, it only roars in the cellar!" Dino, with a beard on his face, said in surprise and some relief,
"Isn't this a ready-made target? Then what method did you use to deal with it?"
Karl’s eyes slowly swept over the three people and asked,
“Smoking smoke at the entrance of the cellar, reciting the prayers of Lebiuda, and throwing pig bladders filled with children’s urine, virgin menstruation, and black dog’s blood into the cellar according to traditional methods of exorcism… But none of them worked! It's strange to say that when we go down to the cellar during the day, we can't see any ghosts, but at night, the crow will definitely sound, more punctual than the crowing of a rooster!"
"Have you ever tried starting a fire?" Carl asked.
"Burning the temple is a great disrespect to Lebiuda!" said the priestess.
"Since there's nothing you can do about it, why don't you just move it away?"
"Where can there be room for so many children? Besides, Lebiuda's followers must not be scared away by a mere ghost!"
The priest spoke righteously and sternly.
"Then remember what time it appears at night?"
"Well...after the moon rises, you can hear the cry on a moonlit night anyway!"
Karl's eyes looked thoughtful, that thing is not afraid of smoke, is trapped in a narrow basement, disappears during the day, and appears after the moon comes out?
"Besides howling, does it have any worse behavior?"
The three of them shook their heads at the same time, and the priestess said happily,
"This evil thing only dares to wreak havoc in the shadows of the cellar. It has no way to escape and harm the children, so we continue to stay in the temple and endure its annoying screams! But I'm worried. , sooner or later it will come out and attack everyone!"
Karl rubbed his temples.
Listening to their description, the monster had a human-like appearance, and he immediately thought of tomb witches, leprechauns, evil spirits, and ghouls.
But first of all, the habitat is not suitable, and secondly, these monsters cannot be locked up with just a piece of wood and a few locks in the cellar. When they go out to look for food, everyone in the temple should be reduced to a meal.
Exclude!
Karl nodded and asked again,
"Have you had many nightmares in the past six months?"
The three looked at each other, and the priestess thought for a while,
“Only the first few days when I couldn’t sleep, the rest of the time there was no problem. Well, it must be Lebiuda’s blessing!”
There was a glint in Karl's eyes. If he were a little earth spirit who loved to play pranks, these temple residents would inevitably have frequent nightmares and enjoy a feast of pranks.
"Last question, has anyone died in the cellar?" Arkham took over, his eyes slowly scanning the faces of the three,
Daisy was stunned for a moment, her face flushed angrily, "This is a sacred temple, Master, don't joke with us!"
"Are you sure?!"
"I swear!"
The restaurant fell into a brief silence.
"Does Master have a clue?" the bald man asked,
"There is a preliminary guess, but there are some contradictions in it. We need to go in and find out."
The two teenagers thought of "an earth-bound spirit in biology" in tacit understanding.
Human form, appears and disappears when the moon rises, and its screams penetrate people.
It stands to reason that that kind of thing was only born on corpses, and should not appear in the temple cellars on moonlit country lanes.
"Priest Daisy, I would like to ask, from the beginning to the end, Lebiuda's Holy Spirit did not help you drive away this monster?"
In the cognition of demon hunters, "haunted" is possible in both urban and rural areas. Only temples are basically insulated from ghosts and monsters.
In Elland, Ms. Meriteri has not shown miracles to the world for a long time. Her temple still has divine protection, and evil spirits will be naturally deterred from causing trouble here.
Including Cliff, the Father of the Sky, other temples that can be regarded as "righteous" beliefs can deter evil spirits and Xiaoxiao.
Daisy thought for a while, took a deep breath and said, "Maybe I'm too young, I only worked in the Pine Forest District, and my qualifications are only half a year old. I think the monster under the cellar may be a test for me by the prophet!"
"Then the children in the temple have only been here for half a year?"
"You don't know something," Daisy looked out the window, with pity and love on her pretty face. "Most of the children are orphans who fled from Sintra and Soden a few years ago. There are also some whose families cannot afford to raise them." Poor children who were brought alive for us to teach. Priest Xinni used to take care of them. Later, she went out to travel, and I started to take charge of temple affairs."
抆愯瘽璇达纴鐩铓嶆湕畇簲恉涔︽涶濂界敤镄刟pp锛屽挭鍜阒呰合纴瀎厮渶鏂 Dress up to increase the umbrella
"It's not easy to raise so many mouths in the freezing Powis wilderness." Arkham admired.
"Thanks to the relief and donations from the villagers, everyone barely survived." The priestess said gratefully.
Arkham shook his head silently. During his wandering years, he realized deeply that the more remote the country, the more vicious, ignorant, and stingy he was.
It is difficult for farmers to raise their own families, so how can they be kind enough to help children who are not relatives.
But he didn't refute.
"The two master demon hunters look extraordinary and must have a good heart!" The bearded man suddenly complimented,
"For the sake of those kids, can you help the temple?"
Daisy clasped her slender hands on her chest, her big bright eyes flashing with pleading.
"The rules of a witcher are to use money to eliminate disasters for others, and according to your description, the monsters in the cellar are quite difficult to deal with." Karl.
The priestess suddenly looked embarrassed,
"How much do you want to be paid?"
"Show mercy, demon hunter, there is no money in the temple!" Bruzzi was like a standing giant bear, clenching his fists and making a loud sound, "There is only a little food left in the temple to survive the winter." ! Just now, I have used the most valuable and delicious part of it to entertain you two~IndoMTL.com~!"
Carl and Arkham rubbed their noses awkwardly.
Reject?
No, this boring journey killed a water ghost, and it was too frustrating to rush into the city in despair.
You can do it for free. Can they imagine Seret yelling at you? Are you two such kind people? !
How about trying the accident law and trying to take the child away? But after entering the temple gate and seeing the group of children, I was completely surprised.
After a long time, Arkham rubbed the gryphon badge on his neck with his left thumb, saying in his heart that this is my journey and it is up to me!
It's time to show off your talents and gain some honor.
"Cough, cough!" He cleared his throat and stood up suddenly, paced around the dining table, and said loudly and with a righteous face, "You are lucky if you bump into me, Arkham Tom, Griffin Faction In line with the spirit of chivalry, I will make an exception and sell it once. As a reward, we will accept the mission!"
"You...you are serious, you won't lie to me with a joke, right?" Daisy breathed a sigh of relief and opened her mouth in surprise,
“A witcher keeps his word.”
Seeing that his companion had made a solemn statement, Karl covered his forehead and sighed helplessly.
"I'm so grateful! May Lebiuda bless you!" The priestess bowed to the two of them with great joy. As if she was afraid that they would regret it, she hurriedly said, "What do we need to do? How can we help? ? Just ask!"
"Take care of your children and yourself, don't let us be distracted."
Karl looked out the window, and before he knew it, the sky had turned completely dark. The dim light illuminated the white snow in the center of the courtyard and the statues in the shadows.
The sacred Lebigold stone sculpture is wrapped in a rich and thick layer of darkness.
"Give us some time to prepare and do it when the moon rises!"