Xyrin Empire

Chapter 126 -126: Welcome to Dalaran County

We cautiously approached the bizarrely grand house, each of us on high alert.

Lin Xue was the most experienced among us at dealing with mysterious phenomena, as the Superpower Team regularly encountered all sorts of strange incidents. Sixty percent of these were the products of overactive imaginations of boring citizens, thirty percent were the result of discord-sowing troublemakers, and the remaining ten percent were unexplainable by current human science, much like what we faced now.

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Despite the secrets of the mansion having been unraveled by Sandora, it didn’t dampen our spirit of exploration. The fact that such legendary things existed on Earth honestly fascinated me more than the dragon-slaying wars of the Otherworld!

The moment we got near the iron fence outside the mansion, everyone distinctly felt the environment change around us.

A sinister, chilling aura spread towards us from all directions, causing our scalps to tingle—it wasn’t just the cold but seemed mixed with various negative emotions and a greedy malevolence. I had felt a similar atmosphere only in one other place: the morgue in a hospital.

Of course, compared to the eerie atmosphere here, the morgue could be considered a Grand Cathedral bathed in Holy Light.

...

Almost instantly, Alaya, who had been either sleeping or daydreaming in my Spirit World, reacted to this unclean aura. With faint, hymn-like sounds wafting through the air, a holy white light descended from the sky. Alaya appeared out of nowhere, her massive white wings slowly descending to about one or two centimeters above the ground. As she hovered, she looked around, her golden pupils filled with confusion.

Despite having seen it many times, I was still profoundly moved by the holy and beautiful sight of Alaya’s arrival.

Such a holy and beautiful image and Alaya’s naturally airheaded essence were ironically contradictory!

Regardless, be it airheaded or silly, the intense Holy Light Energy brought by Alaya’s arrival instantly purified all the unclean aura around us, allowing us to catch our breath. Then, simultaneously, we all activated our Spirit Barriers, shutting out the chilling aura that made our flesh crawl.

Even though she was inherently a natural airhead, now working, Alaya didn’t ruin the current beautiful scene but frowned and said with displeasure, “There are scents of death and resentment, as well as unsettling thoughts echoing around… My Monarch, where are we now?”

“Lin Xue’s backyard.” I looked around at the completely transformed scene and shrugged.

“Could we have traveled through time again?” Lin Xue scanned her surroundings, eyes filled with disbelief. She probably even doubted whether she had some undiscovered superpower. Anything related to her seemed to eventually transform into a massive trouble, even the places she secretly played at as a child turned out to be the Otherworld…

However, Pandora denied the possibility of us having traversed again. She shook her head and calmly said, “Our absolute spatial coordinates haven’t left Earth.”

“Does that mean we are still inside that spatial anomaly?”

As I asked this, I looked up at the completely different scenery.

A gray-black sky mixed with dingy green, heavy clouds pressing down over our heads. The feeble white sun hid weakly behind the clouds that nearly cloaked the entire sky, seeming almost ready to extinguish at any moment. The low wind that blew past us—perhaps it was an illusion—seemed to carry faint hoarse whispers and a suspect deep growl, causing Qianqian to involuntarily cling tightly to my arm. On the other side, Little Baobao almost entirely clung to my body; I could distinctly feel her small form trembling intensely.

Beneath our feet, the barren land displayed a decaying ash-black color, with wisps of gray-white mist continually rising from the ground and gathering around us. The mist was incredibly odd; within a few meters around us and in front of the mansion, there was no impact from the fog—it was perfectly clear. However, behind us, in the direction we had just come from, the area was completely enveloped in dense fog, making it impossible to see anything.

It seemed we were trapped near this large house.

However, we weren’t worried at all. Pandora’s spatial positioning system was still functioning normally, which proved that our current situation wasn’t disturbed by Abyss Energy like it had been in the Otherworld, preventing us from returning home. The only thing obstructing us was the strange gray mist. Even ordinary people could ignore this mist and leave the haunted house—of course, they would definitely fall seriously ill afterward due to the corrosion.

At that moment, I suddenly remembered what Lin Xue had told us; her grandfather had once ordered the demolition of this house, which led me to doubt.

Ordinary people couldn’t easily linger near this ghost house for long—the chaotic space-time and harmful energies in this area could likely lead to their death. That meant the people Lin Xue’s grandfather hired were definitely not ordinary demolition workers!

But those matters would have to wait until we saw Mr. Lin again.

In Sandora’s pupils, the shadows of black flames were reflected. Although the surrounding impure powers were strong, compared to the Abyss, they were nothing to mention. She merely tapped into a bit of Abyss Power, and the stirring gray mist around her immediately retreated. If Alaya’s holy aura made these entities deeply fearful, the Abyssal Aura from Sandora made them completely surrender—there was absolutely nothing in this world more pure in its corrosiveness and impurity than the Abyss.

We cautiously moved forward, stopping beside the small garden outside the house. There, a section of the rust-covered iron fence, seemingly filled with chop marks from sharp weapons and suspicious dark red traces, stood with only half of an old wooden board dangling on it. The engraved words on the board had faded, making them unclear, but after being wiped down, they were distinguishable due to the etching.

After some struggle, the words on the board finally became clear; they were an extravagant flourish of script in Latin.

So, I said, rich people are always such bored folks, putting such fancy writing on a simple sign! Are they trying to make me feel illiterate?

But Lin Xue, recognizing the board that looked like a mystery to me, kept nodding as she looked at it, appearing to understand.

Alright, alright, you traveled the world from a young age, mastering the languages of eighteen countries, and obtained degrees from everywhere, truly a genius miss. And here I am, a layabout youth not seeking improvement, understanding nothing—yet you find it necessary to glance at me with disdain every time you nod your head? The jobless youth in front of you is still the Imperial Leader, you ordinary civilian!

After a long while, Lin Xue seemed to have indulged enough in despising me, lifted the wooden board, and said, “This is a plaque indicating the house owner’s identity, different from the common Japanese ‘nameplates’ you’re thinking of. This item was universally made and distributed by the local government, with designs varying according to the homeowner’s status. The pattern on this plaque indicates the homeowner was a person of great wealth and prestige, yet without noble titles. This type of identification plaque is no longer used, but it was quite fashionable in parts of historical Europe.”

We immediately showed eager expressions of thirst for knowledge—at that moment, I couldn’t help but recall the fat classmate who had graduated and gone our separate ways. He liked to do exactly this: tantalize people and then collect a crowd of curious babies with a thirst for knowledge. Of course, every time, his ending was dire, either beaten down once or multiple times… It’s clear to see, the same deed done, the success rate between a sleazy fat guy and a beautiful lady is worlds apart!

Lin Xue nodded in satisfaction, then cleared her throat, pointing to the board and said, “This mansion’s owner is named Fowler, though the surname and family name are unclear due to the damage. He was a major merchant and philanthropist in the local area. Now, let me see where this plaque was issued… Really, why are there so many scratches here…”

Lin Xue examined the plaque closely for a long time, and finally deciphered the severely damaged writing, reading: “The issuance – Dalaran County Town Council… Dalaran County!”

“Dalaran County!” I exclaimed alongside Lin Xue.