55 Massacre

Moxinke didn't show up again after breakfast, and no one knew what he was doing with his sister. Han Jin bid farewell to Sunier, and went out with Cessacioun, Miss Keeley, and Little Joseph.

"Here it is, My Lord," Little Joseph said with his index finger pointing at a courtyard. He was not at ease after seeing Han Jin's space ring, which not only provided another space for storage, but also represented the status of a person. Han Jin had told him to get into the carriage with them several times along the way, but he had refused.

Han Jin looked around for a moment. It was a remote courtyard which covered a huge area, and its walls were over two meters in height. Through the walls, they could see a row of buildings made of bricks and stones. Like Radon Town, civilians here could only afford wooden houses, as wood was cheap due to the geographical advantage of being near a forest. Those slightly richer or with higher status would build houses made of bricks and stones. The ones with fortunes would even pay alchemists to produce magic bricks and stones to build their houses. Houses made of these materials were not only fireproof and mothproof, but also had defensive mechanisms to a certain extent like a fortress.

Han Jin gave Little Joseph a glance. The boy knocked on the gate. "Is anyone there? Is anyone there?" he repeated.

But there was no response from inside. Han Jin walked forward and tentatively pushed the gate. It was locked from inside.

"They must be out, My Lord. Let's come back here in the afternoon," Little Joseph said.

But the expression on Han Jin's face was stoned. He looked up at the signboard of the commercial corp hanging on the gate, and walked aside. Jumping with his hand holding the wall, he climbed over and landed safely inside.

"My Lord..." Little Joseph screamed in astonishment. He looked around nervously.

The gate was pulled open from inside with a clattering sound. Two broken iron chains were still shaking and slamming against the gate.

"Come on in," Han Jin slowly said.

"We can't, My Lord. If the members of the commercial corp come back, they will think that we're thieves!" Little Joseph cried.

"They will not, because they will not be back again." This said, Han Jin sheathed his sword and strode inside.

Cessacioun fell into silence for a while and looked at Han Jin's back with a heavy heart. He had understood the meaning between the lines.

Inside the courtyard, there were nearly ten buildings that were all empty. They searched around separately before they gathered in the main hall, but none of them found anything.

When Cessacioun and Miss Keeley came in, Han Jin was squatting down in front of a pile of ashes and was searching for something. "What have you found?" Cessacioun asked.

"They've left this city," Han Jin slowly said. "These must be their accounting books."

"All gone? What shall we do next?"

"Nothing, we are not powerful enough." Han Jin forced a smile. "Take Miss Keeley back to the hotel, Little Joseph."

Miss Keeley was full of disappointment. She followed Little Joseph and went outside. Suddenly, she stopped at the door and turned around. "You… you found something, haven't you?" she asked.

Cessacioun glanced at Han Jin and stood silently. He didn't know how to answer her. She ground her teeth and said word by word, "If you really did find something, tell me. I have the right to know!"

Han Jin hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand. "Wait for us outside, Little Joseph. Don't let anyone else in."

"Yes, My Lord." The boy walked out confusedly.

"I sense death." Han Jin stared at Miss Keeley.

His sudden and devastating words shocked her. "What… do you mean?"

Han Jin turned his eyes to the west side of the hall. He was a private detective in the past, so no sense of death or anything gloomy, hostile, unwilling or desperate that had or would happen could escape from his nose. He had perceived this when they were just outside the courtyard. And the people had done it sloppily and had left too many clues behind. The ants that were crawling in and out, along with the flies trying to squeeze into the crevices, revealed enough information to confirm his suspicions.

"A massacre occurred here." Han Jin glanced around and said, "Are you sure you want to take a look at them?"

"Yes." Miss Keeley bit her lips.

Han Jin didn't say anything more. He walked over to a slightly sunken brick and heavily trampled on it, but nothing happened. He was shocked for a while but understood it immediately: the gear underneath it must have been damaged.

"Can we release any magic here, Cessacioun?"

"It depends on what kind of magic you want to release," Cessacioun replied. The ants on the ground had also attracted his attention. He moved over to Han Jin and stomped on the brick. "I can't open this." He shook his head.

Just then, a loud colliding sound came from underneath. Cessacioun was taken aback and jumped a few steps back. "What's this..."

Bang... Bang… The sound was getting louder and was nearing faster. He dashed in front of Miss Keeley and started chanting. In no time, a Magic Shield was released. It was a sixth-grade magic spell, and it was the first time Cessacioun had used it in a fight since he had upgraded to a high grade warlock. He was not fully confident with it, so he released the Shield of Earth as an added protection for Keeley and himself.

Han Jin's finger moved in the air, and a flickering paper charm was made which floated in the air.

Boom! The stone slab burst open, and several bloody monsters started crawling out from it. "Go!" Han Jin shouted with his hands waving.

The floating charm turned into a ray of white light which illuminated the whole hall and fell down into the hole. The monsters screamed harshly and immediately turned into pieces of ash.

"Zombies! Why are there zombies here!?" Cessacioun exclaimed.

A loud sound came from underground, and rays of white lights were shot out from the hole. A moment later, everything turned still.

Han Jin cautiously looked down into the hole. The Charm of Pure Light was very useful when dealing with creatures like this; even the ghosts that he summoned couldn't withstand it, let alone zombies. However, the charm could only wipe out the monsters, and not the odor. A strong stinking and disgusting smell wafted out from underground.

Miss Keeley walked over one step at a time with her teeth gnashed. But when she was near the hole, Han Jin stopped her with an arm. "You'd better not look at it." He sighed. He didn't mean to stop her. After all, disaster and grief were, in most cases, the only factors that allowed people to grow, but the scene underground was too miserable. With dismembered corpses lying everywhere, he was not sure if Keeley could endure it.