Deep Sea Embers

Chapter 321 A snowy day

A small figure was standing at the entrance of the cemetery - it was a girl who looked about eleven or twelve years old, wearing a dark brown woolen coat and a black skirt, as well as warm little cotton boots and thick gloves. She seemed to have been waiting at the entrance of the cemetery for a long time. Snow began to fall in the frosty city-state in the evening. A lot of snowflakes had fallen on the gray woolen hat on the girl's head, and a slight heat was rising in the dusk snow.

The little girl stomped her feet lightly on the spot, looking towards the slope opposite the cemetery from time to time. When the caretaker appeared, she suddenly laughed and waved her hand vigorously in this direction.

"……here we go again."

When the old guard saw the girl, he couldn't help but grunted. His tone seemed a little impatient, but he still quickened his pace slightly and came to the girl.

"Annie," the old man frowned and looked at the girl in front of him, "you came here alone again - how many times have I told you that the cemetery is not a place where a child like you can come alone, especially in a It’s approaching dusk.”

"I already told my mother," the girl known as Annie responded with a smile. "She said I just need to go home before curfew."

The old guard quietly stared at the little girl who was smiling in front of him.

Most people here don't like the guards of the cemetery, and they don't like to be close to this weird and dangerous place, but there are always surprises in the world - for example, a little girl who is not afraid of her.

"Grandpa Caretaker, is my father here?" Anne raised her head. In the falling snowflakes at dusk, she looked expectantly at the stooped old man in black in front of her. Those clear eyes made most people afraid. It didn't make him feel relaxed.

"...No," the old guard replied as always, his voice as cold as the wind swirling in the cemetery, "He won't arrive today."

"It's a little worse to expose a child's expectations than that," a young and slightly hoarse male voice suddenly came from the side, interrupting the old guard's muttering, "You didn't have to say that just now - a seventeen-year-old Children, you will gradually understand what you should understand. Sometimes we don’t need hard-hearted adults to expose the truth.”

This time, the old man, who always had a stiff attitude, finally remained silent for a moment. It wasn't until snowflakes fell on his eyebrows that his dark eyes turned slightly: "The dead will eventually gather in the cemetery and stay forever opposite that door. Enjoy peace—but not necessarily in an earthly cemetery, and not necessarily this one.”

Agatha paused for a moment with a strange expression.

Agatha was silent for two or three seconds;

After thinking about it, he said softly: "But there is another possibility. For a superior being like that, his concept of time is very likely to be different from that of ordinary people - the second visit may be tomorrow, it may be a few years later, or even more Maybe after you die, contact you in some way that transcends life and death.”

"We haven't done much preparation work here, but it seems that this 'visitor has no intention of returning here in the short term," he said casually after seeing the old guard appear, "Have you confirmed that this 'visitor has been here before? Did you reveal any information that you will come again?”

This sentence is written in the church's classics. However, when faced with the same proverb, adults and eight-year-old children will always have different understandings.

The old guard snorted noncommittally and glanced at the black-clad guards in the cemetery and the lanterns burning quietly on the tops of their canes.

But just when he took a few steps, the old guard suddenly turned around: "Annie."

The old guard turned around and saw Agatha, the "gatekeeper" in black clothes with a bandage on her black clothes, standing at the gate of the cemetery at some point, and the previously locked cemetery gate was not opened.

Around these few coffins, there are at least two church guards standing next to each platform, and black and white canes can be seen everywhere in the open space between the platforms - black canes are the iconic equipment of the guards of the Church of Death. They will The cane is inserted into the ground in the distance, and a sacred lantern is hung from the top of the cane to maintain a large-scale "sanctuary", which can effectively combat these polluting forces from higher beings.

Shaking her head: "Let her continue to expect that her father will be sent to this cemetery, and then he will run to this ghost place alone on this snowy and cold day?"

"The true essence, the purest and most holy substance, the 'drop of reality' given to the world by the Holy Lord of the Deep, - this is how this group of heretics describe it," Agatha's tone did not conceal her fondness and sarcasm, "Beautiful words , it’s really disgusting for them to use it.”

He stretched out his hand, took the biscuit, and then patted the other party's wool hat casually, flicking the snowflakes off: "I'll accept it. You can go home early."

Anne still raised her head: "But he will always come, right?"

"Their evolution, in fact, has not stopped yet. As of the time he left the cathedral, these things were still taking on new forms and properties. In the past period of time, they even briefly took on a metal-like appearance. And the state of the rock, it feels like something that the Annihilation cultists occasionally mention in their heresies.”

Annie was not frustrated, she just smiled as usual: "Then I'll ask again tomorrow."

Agatha shook her head, said nothing, turned and walked towards the inner path of the cemetery.

Dusk is already deep at this time, and the snowy sky makes the sky much darker than usual at this time. In the increasingly dim cemetery, the lanterns hanging on the tops of walking sticks burn quietly like phosphorous fire, emitting a quiet but yet peaceful atmosphere. Eerie atmosphere.

But suddenly, Annie laughed and waved to the old man with a smile: "Then just think that I am here to see you specifically. Mom said that elderly people need someone to talk to often."

The girl stopped and looked at the cemetery caretaker blankly.

Annie nodded with a smile, adjusted her scarf and gloves, and then walked towards the path leading to the residential area of ​​the city.

"All these arrangements are just our self-protection," Agatha said. "After all, even though you said that you inhaled too much incense, which caused you to lose control of your spiritual vision, none of us knew. Does this 'visitor have the tendency to actively release mental pollution? If we want to face the supernatural, we must at least ensure our own sanity."

"...Old man..." The old guard looked at the girl's leaving figure and waited until she ran away before muttering, "This child also has evil intentions."

"Isn't it good? At least when talking to the child, he seems to have some warmth."

"This is the result of discussions by the Vatican advisory board."

"Not today," the old man shook his head. "Cemetery No. 3 is in ordinary condition. There are church guards stationed there. It is not open to the public today. You should go home, girl."

"ah?"

"...Can you wish me a better life?"

The old man looked at the things in the girl's hands and the snowflakes on her body.

The old guard followed him. He first turned around and locked the door. Then he went to his guard's hut to put away the things he had purchased. He completed the handover with the guard on duty during the day and then came to the morgue in the cemetery. area, and found the "gatekeeper" who got here first.

Compared with before, the morgue is obviously much empty now. Most of the stone platforms are empty at the moment, with only a few simple coffins placed on a few platforms at the edge.

"...This is what a gatekeeper should say."

Seventeen-year-old Anne stood blankly for a long time. The cemetery guard in black stood at the tall and locked gate like a stiff iron statue. There were fine snowflakes flying between them, and the coldness of winter filled the air. In dusk.

"Oh," Annie agreed, but didn't seem to take it seriously at all. He just turned his head, glanced at the locked gate, and asked curiously, "Can I go in and have a look? I want to stay in your cabin. Roast in the fire..."

The little girl turned and ran away, floating lightly like a sparrow across the gradually snowy path. She slipped at the end of the slope, but immediately got up and patted the snowflakes and dust on her skirt and warm pants.

Tu, left quickly.

The old guard frowned quickly: "You mean...'Yuansu,?"

"Are you talking about these cultists, or this pile of corpses that melted into mud?"

"...Okay," Anne nodded a little frustrated, and then she dug into her small bag and took out a small bag of things wrapped in rough paper and handed it to the old man, "Then this is for you - It was my mother who baked the cookies. She said I couldn’t cause trouble all the time.”

"I'll come tomorrow too."

"You shouldn't doubt the hypnosis skills of professional psychiatrists," the old guard shrugged, and then added after a pause, "I can't remember most of what happened that day, and the buzzing noises gradually faded away. It disappeared from my mind, but after several times of hypnosis, I was able to recall a few things... The clearest of them was the visitor's intention of revisiting before he left."

"Okay, Grandpa Caretaker."

"There is nothing to say about these cultists. The minions of the Annihilation Sect and the extraordinary beings who are deeply symbiotic with the devil are quite powerful. It will be very dangerous for special church guards to confront them. Unfortunately, these heretics obviously lack good luck. And as for that 'mud,"

"...I just hope that these arrangements will not anger the 'visitor', and will not be considered as some kind of offense or trap by the sleeves - in the final analysis, we know too little about him."

The old guard was noncommittal. He just pondered for a moment and then suddenly changed the subject: "Have you reached any conclusions about the samples you took away before?"

The dead come to this cemetery - no matter how separated they were in life, Bartok's foyer will be the place where they are finally reunited.