"Vanessa Department Store's dried flavored fish seems good, but the puff pastries with jam from Fengting Bakery are 40% off right now. Martha, can you help me divine which one I should buy?"
Jeffrey, with his pale complexion, light-colored lips, and today, a pair of dark circles under his eyes, also emerged from the carriage.
The Red-haired Miss responded testily, "Jeffrey, my Divination is not for such uses."
Lex looked forward eagerly but saw no one else in the carriage. He asked in confusion, "Where is Officer Lewis?"
Martha, taking out a candy box but not opening it, shrugged and said, "The Captain and Warren will stay in the Town. We're not sure that thing is definitely hiding in the mountains, so the two of them will search near the Town."
"Besides, we need to guard against a problem."
Lex casually asked, "What problem?"
Martha's lips curved into a slight smile: "That's not for you to worry about. Let's go, Mr. Lex, if you've already had breakfast."
Lex nodded, called Matthew, gathered their equipment, and boarded the police System's dedicated carriage to head to the Town.
They arrived at Kingston Road to visit the hunter Leon, as a guide was needed to move around Eberly Mountain.
Undoubtedly, Leon was the best guide.
After learning of Lex and the others' purpose, Leon did not refuse and readily agreed.
While Leon packed his things, Lex waited at the entrance. The hunter's home was not spacious enough for so many people.
Kingston Road was as noisy as ever, with various street vendors hawking their wares, pedestrians hurrying by, and a few children occasionally running past, shouting.
Lex glanced in the direction of the Sea Monster Tavern. He had been too busy recently to go to the tavern and didn't know if Doug had given the bounty in full to the Bartender Sanchi.
"Cowardly Rodney, timid Rodney. His wife is with another, he turns a blind eye, turns a blind eye…", "Useless Rodney, unlucky Rodney. He's always wronged and bullied, he dares not resist, dares not resist…", A chorus of children's voices drifted from the street, catching Lex's attention. He saw several children, about eight or nine years old, circling a man and singing a song they seemed to have made up.
The man's hair was disheveled and uncombed. His eyes darted about, his gaze fixed on the street in front of his feet. He was bent at the waist, hunched over, and his furtive appearance was quite unlikable.
But even when mocked by these children, he neither drove them away nor retorted.
Among the children, a boy of about ten years old was the most boisterous. This boy had coarse yellow hair and was missing a front tooth.
He boldly picked up a stone from the street, threw it at the man named Rodney's leg, made a face, gestured, and led the children rushing like the wind into the nearby alley.
"We can set off."
Leon's voice sounded, causing Lex to withdraw his gaze. By the time they boarded the carriage, the man named Rodney was no longer visible.
It was almost noon when they entered Eberly Mountain. However, his personal valet carried a satchel filled with ample water and food, so Lex was not worried about going hungry.
On the way, Lex had already communicated with Leon, hoping to find the unusual wild wolves they had encountered last time.
Those wild wolves were clearly affected by some power; they were stronger and more ferocious.
They were connected to Gore. If Gore was in the mountains, then perhaps these wild wolves could help them find Gore.
After entering the mountains, Leon displayed his hunter's true colors, searching diligently along the way.
Around one in the afternoon, they finally made a discovery. In a low-lying area of Eberly Mountain, by the stony beach where Silver Snake Creek was interrupted, they found two of those abnormal wild wolves.
These wild wolves were larger than when Lex and the others had encountered them before, and their fur had completely fallen out, revealing smooth, gray skin.
They were drinking water by the creek, completely unaware that several pairs of eyes were watching them from the distant grass.
Following these wild wolves, Lex and the others moved along Silver Snake Creek, heading downstream.
Silver Snake Creek was the only creek in Eberly Mountain, winding its way through the deep mountains like a giant silver snake.
No one knew the source of Silver Snake Creek, but most people knew that this creek would flow out of Eberly Mountain, pass through Enki Town, and finally merge into the sea.
When Lex once again opened his pocket watch with the beautiful feather pattern, it was around three in the afternoon. He looked ahead; this was already the middle-lower reaches of Silver Snake Creek, and not far from the creek bank, there was a gloomy forest.
In front of the forest, Lex saw a collapsed church.
"It doesn't look like it belongs to a Church," Martha said softly. As a Seer, she was also interested in history. In relevant books, she had seen many Church buildings from various periods, so she could tell at a glance that the church did not seem to have been built by the Church of the Night Goddess.
Although most of the church walls had collapsed, the main structure was still barely preserved.
Despite its small scale, its original splendor could still be seen from the spires and sculptures.
It was full of classical aesthetic beauty.
"1, 2, 3"
Martha was counting something, which made Lex Can't help it ask.
"Officer Martha, what are you doing?"
"You can call me Miss Martha." The red-haired Inspector pointed at the distant church and said, "I'm counting its colonnades. Centered on the main door, you see, there are four on the left, but only three on the right."
"And it doesn't look like one of the pillars fell, so this is what's called asymmetrical design."
Jeffrey interjected, "I remember asymmetrical design is a style of Fourth Epoch architecture. Doesn't that mean this building has been here for a long time?"
He then asked in confusion, "Why did people of the Fourth Epoch build a church in these deep mountains? This area doesn't seem to have ever been inhabited."
"I don't know about that, but don't you think that thing might be hidden in the church?"
Jeffrey narrowed his eyes slightly and cautiously took out his short staff engraved with incantations: "It is indeed necessary to explore."
Just as he spoke these words, Lex's ears suddenly caught a dull sound.
Bang—
The sound seemed to come from underground, yet also from within the church. Lex looked around, but the others did not notice anything unusual.
It seemed this sound was only audible to him.
Bang—
Another thud echoed, and Lex involuntarily shivered. Even though Silver Snake Creek was illuminated by the sun, looking at the distant church, submerged in the shadows of the forest, he felt dread and fear.
It was as if something terrifying in the church was waiting for explorers to deliver themselves.
"You all stay here, I'll go take a look."
Jeffrey stood up, about to leave their hiding spot, when he was suddenly grabbed.
Lex said in a deep voice, "Wait."
The two Inspectors looked at him with puzzled eyes. Lex cleared his throat and said to the Red-haired Miss, "Officer Martha, before taking action, aren't you going to divine first?"
"I've read some novels, and I've heard some stories from Adventurers on my journey to West Balam."
"In these stories, many of those deserted buildings hide some kind of danger."