The Modern Age of the Mysterious

Sean found an apartment with a decent environment not far from Ninth Avenue, outside Modisi Park.

This place faces the park, you can't see the neon lights shining all night, and there is not much traffic, so it is a good place to live.

The landlord is a tall and thin man named Harris, who looks gentle and easy to deal with.

Harris initially quoted a monthly rent of NZ$25 per month. Sean had a rough idea of ​​the rent of the apartment building before negotiating the rent, and knew that there was no moisture in Harris' quotation. However, to save money, Sean used his function to dominate the conversation with Harris, making him realise that $20 was a more appropriate price.

For the sake of safety, Sean used a false name to sign the contract on the pretext that he lost his documents. Harris was a little reluctant at the beginning, but Sean offered to pay an extra month's rent as a deposit, and he readily agreed.

"It is clearly mentioned in the "Explorer's Manual" that supernatural powers cannot be used to occupy the interests of ordinary people." Sean opened the curtains in a fully furnished room, watching the back of Mr. Landlord leaving downstairs, "However, I am in The ability to guide conversations is more similar to words, and does not involve the moral issues of the explorers.

"Just now, Harris also seemed relatively calm, and there was no sign of guilty conscience." Putting down his fingers, the curtains blocked the light from the window, "This place can be considered safe for the time being."

Sean waited for a while, and after making sure there was nothing else, he put on his hat lower than usual, raised the collar of his trench coat, and left the apartment building.

When I was packing my things in the "Mist and Rose" hotel room, the door was knocked. When Daisy entered the door, her face was a little dark: "Sean, didn't I say you can live here forever? Why..."

Sean quickly explained, "No, Daisy, I didn't leave here because of you or because it's not good. It's just, you know, I'm in a lot of trouble. Like the last Aaliyah photo, and the corpse. The attack, I live with you, always brings some bad things. You are a hotel after all, and I will feel sorry if it affects your business.

"Besides, I don't live far, just around here, we can still walk around often."

Daisy's face changed from gloomy to enlightened and moved: "So that's the case, it seems that I misunderstood you. In fact, you don't need to pay too much attention to this, and I hope I can help you."

"You've already helped me too much," Sean said seriously, holding Daisy's arm lightly, "really, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have made the progress I am now."

Daisy looked at Sean in a trance, and her green eyes kept flashing. After a long time, she sighed: "Actually, the decision to help you at the Discipline Institute that day was an impulsive decision of mine.

"Because your eyes are so similar to him."

Sean looked at Daisy with some confusion, the latter smiled slightly, and the smile seemed a little tired: "Okay, remembering the past will only make me weak. I still have something to do, so I won't accompany you. ." After that, she returned to that confident and charming look, winked at Sean, and left.

Sean looked at the empty doorway, and Daisy's tired smile just flashed in his mind: "What has she experienced before?"

————

There were not many things, so Sean quickly packed up and moved into his new home. Because there is a kitchen and utensils in the new home, he went to the market to buy vegetables such as beef, tomatoes, onions and lettuce to prepare his own cooking.

After eating a long-lost Leon-style dinner, Sean poured himself a cup of hot water and sat on the green leather sofa in his new home.

"It is indeed much quieter than Ninth Avenue." On the sofa, he relaxed his nerves comfortably. At this moment, the curtains are closed, and he can see the firefly-like street lights in Modisi Park from a distance, as well as the pedestrians hurriedly walking under the street lights wrapped tightly in their clothes.

In the quiet night, he warmed his hands with a warm mug and began to think about his future goals: "Obviously, the first task now is to figure out what organization the 'Seraph' logo left by Arya represents. ——It can basically be concluded that this organization kidnapped Aaliyah, and as long as there is any information about it, the next step of the investigation can be carried out.”

However, Sean has also looked up almost everything he can find in the library about semiotics, religious signs, and trademark symbols.

As it turned out, no sign came close to what Aaliyah depicted.

"They must be a very secretive organization, and you can't find relevant information in the public library." Sean lowered his head and took a sip of hot water, "There is only one way to get this kind of weird or confidential information— By becoming an official explorer, you will be able to unlock access to the 'Explorer Library' of the corresponding level.

"They are a mysterious organization, and they should be able to find relevant information in the explorer's library.

"So now I must pass the test of the explorer as soon as possible!"

Thinking like this, Sean stood up, walked to the desk, and put the last of the ten books Catherine gave him - "Research on Practical Folklore Techniques" in front of him.

After Katherine's introduction, I learned that this book requires the knowledge of other books to read smoothly, and it is also the most difficult to read among the ten books. However, among all the basic knowledge books, it is also the most useful for newcomers - it will provide some spells similar to "divine magic" that can be used without belief, for any explorer to use.

Although they are some of the most basic spells, having these means also means having basic methods to deal with evil.

For Sean, in addition to his own spiritual ability, there are some more ways to deal with it.

"It's another sleepless night." Sean closed the curtains, turned on the lamp, chose a suitable posture, and started his book-writing journey tonight...

————

About sixty kilometers west of New York City, Lewin Township.

In his sleep, Johns Hopkins seemed to hear a shrill cry, and he woke up with a start.

There has been some unrest in the town recently. A few days ago, thousands of bats flew over the town. Yesterday, the horse of Sam's house next door was attacked by some wild beast. It was eaten until his stomach was empty. Sam's youngest son cried for a long time.

I don't know if these strange events caused John, who had always slept well, to wake up in the middle of the night.

He smelled an indescribable odor, and felt uneasy in his heart. He struck a match with his cold hand, lighting up the lantern on the table.

He stepped into his boots with bare feet, put on a vest, wrapped a blanket, and walked out of the door to the street.

The smell seems to be coming from the old church next to it. John is a devout believer. He knows that it is useless to hide in the face of strange things, so he took a wooden stick, carried a lantern, and boldly walked towards the church.

Squeak! A nearby door was suddenly opened, and John was startled.

Fatty Jock also held the lantern and shrank out from behind the door: "John, it's you! I just heard someone shout..."

It's not my hallucinations. John nodded: "I heard it too. There seems to be something going on at the old church. I'll go and see now, are you with me?"

Jock hesitated for a moment, then said, "Wait for me." He returned home, put on his clothes and shoes, and came out with the lantern.

The closer you got to the old church, the more pronounced the stench became. John not only has a very smart nose, but also has an excellent olfactory memory: he finds the smell a bit familiar. When he thinks about it carefully, it seems to be the smell of blood mixed with the smell of livestock excrement in the slaughterhouse he has been to - it is like hell. the taste of.

John not only had a jolt. The two stopped, and the timid Jock pushed him: "What are you doing?"

John took a deep breath and took out a warm diamond-shaped frame. This diamond-shaped frame was made of copper with rounded corners and seemed to be some years old: "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, evil and filthy things, Get out of here now!"

This is the prayer taught to John by the old priest in the town. After John read it out in a firm voice, he felt a little more courage in his heart.

After seeing his companion's eyes become firmer, Jock calmed down a lot.

The two walked out to the door of the old church with the lantern. The old wooden door with green paint on both sides ~www.NovelMTL.com~ turned out to be open, and the disturbing smell became more obvious.

Jock raised his head, as if he saw something, and narrowed his eyes: "John, what do you think that is?"

Following Jock's line of sight, John looked up. He saw what seemed to be a black flag hanging at the top of the old church, fluttering in the night wind.

"Black flag?" John frowned. "Pirate flag?"

In their opinion, pirates only exist in novels and movies. Even if there were pirates, how could they come here?

The two looked at each other and decided to go to the church to have a look.

The two walked into the church next to each other. As the lobby was empty, the footsteps of the two echoed.

Jock was so smoked by the stronger and stronger smell that he was about to vomit. He swallowed repeatedly, suppressing his gag reflex.

John stopped, and Jock turned his head to look suspiciously. He found that extreme fear was frozen on John's face.

"What's the matter, John?" Seeing John's expression, Jock's heart fell into an ice cave.

John held the lantern high, as if it had become a sculpture frozen in a moment of shock.

Jock followed John's line of sight.

On the huge diamond-shaped frame hanging above the podium, a man who was turned upside down was tied. When he saw the man's appearance, Jock spit out "wow".

John trembled and took a few steps closer, the light of the lantern shining even more clearly. The bound man's head was on the ground, dripping with blood, and a dark red pool had formed on the ground... The skin of the man was peeled off, and blood was constantly flowing from the bright red muscles.

John suddenly remembered the "black flag" fluttering in the wind outside the church.

His eyes seemed to fall into madness: "That's not the black flag... that's the skin of the priest..."