Chapter 364: Church Funeral
Kumar: Thank you. As expected of the Shallow Sea Area, I almost didn't make it back.
Lin Ye: No need to thank me. The funeral hasn't started yet, and many 'guests' have arrived here. It's best not to make a move for now.
Lin Ye: If I weren't afraid of exposing my strength, I would have already sent that seventh-tier spiritual energy user on their way. Anyway, a funeral will be held later, a few more corpses would just liven things up a bit. The master of this place probably wouldn't mind.
Kumar: ... You're absolutely right.
Lucas: What exactly are those 'ghosts'?
Anna: They should be some kind of spiritual residue, but I don't know what purpose they serve.
Lin Ye: These 'ghosts' are likely a product of some ritual. Someone wanted to know the manor's secret, they performed some kind of ceremony, and these ghosts emerged from underground. There should be a sizable underground space beneath the manor.
Lin Ye patted Little Silver's head. She seemed to have grown a little.
This made Lin Ye think of growth-type cards in a certain card game. This type of card, upon meeting certain conditions, would grow into a new card, gain new effects, and could eventually even transform into a card capable of deciding the game's outcome.
'So, what are the conditions for Little Silver's growth? Killing? Or natural growth over time?' Kumar: Then why is someone trying to kill us? We are outsiders, neither the ones who performed this ritual nor the ones who killed the old man. Why do I feel like everyone here wants us dead?
Lucas: ... We've probably become targets pushed out by the manor's owner. Some 'guests' have mistaken us for the manor owner's people and made a probing move. And the manor owner doesn't care about our lives at all, otherwise, someone would have intervened when Kumar was being chased.
Anna: Hearing you say that, it really does seem that way.
Lin Ye: So, we just need to preserve ourselves until tomorrow morning, and by the way, find an opportunity to profit a bit.
Kumar: Can't we just escape the manor?
Lin Ye: And then let everyone think the inheritance is on us?
Kumar: ... Damn, that's really bad.
Lucas: Then what should we do? Right now, the manor is like a powder keg, ready to blow at a spark.
Lin Ye: Since things have come to this, let's eat first. I'm going to have the attendant bring some food over. The banquet later will probably turn into a fight, leaving no time to eat. My friend is still at a growing stage and shouldn't go hungry.
Lucas: ???
Anna: Truly worthy of a third-tier expert. I wouldn't dare eat anything they sent me.
Kumar: Can I not eat?
Lin Ye went out and asked the attendant to prepare some food. The attendant was only somewhat surprised but quickly went to prepare.
Not long after, the attendant wheeled a cart of freshly prepared food into Lin Ye's room.
Lin Ye, of course, didn't actually want to eat. He just wanted to test if he could accelerate Little Silver's growth through other means.
As for the danger of the food, firstly, Little Silver could distinguish where the good stuff was, and secondly, Lin Ye didn't believe some food could threaten an Abyss Card Creature.
"Want to eat something?"
Lin Ye placed Little Silver on a chair in front of the dining table. Kumar watched from the side as Lin Ye interacted with thin air, wanting to speak but hesitating.
"Yoyo?"
Little Silver looked curiously at the food on the table, then tried eating a few bites.
"Yoyo."
Little Silver's eyes lit up, and she quickly cleared the food from the table.
Kumar watched the food disappear into thin air from the table, feeling his scalp crawl.
Before long, Little Silver had eaten all the food on the table. She seemed to have grown a little more.
Lin Ye ordered several more tables of food. Little Silver ate continuously for several tables before finally stopping.
Kumar stood in the corner of the room, terrified that the invisible thing might eat him too.
After the meal, Little Silver grew a bit more, transforming into a girl just over ten years old.
Anna: I feel that weak state has lessened somewhat, but it hasn't completely disappeared.
Lucas: I couldn't find the source of this feeling of weakness. It's very strange.
Lin Ye: The source might be related to this manor.
Anna: We were invited by the manor owner. That means there's another force within the manor that wants to deal with us. This force might be the one who killed the old man.
Lin Ye: Do you want to complete the extra mission?
Anna: No, I just want to distinguish friend from foe.
Lin Ye: Then don't bother thinking about it. No one intervened when Kumar was being chased earlier. Everyone here is an enemy.
Anna: ... Alright, you're right.
Knock knock.
A knocking sound came from outside the door.
"Come in."
Lin Ye picked up the Cross Scepter, ready to go out.
"The funeral is about to begin. Please proceed to the church."
The attendant said respectfully.
"Alright."
Lin Ye had already walked out of the room, with Little Silver following behind him.
Kumar hurriedly followed. He felt he wouldn't survive long in this manor at all.
Anna: They told me to go to the church for the funeral.
Lucas: Same for me.
Kumar: Same here. You'd better be careful. Someone might ambush you on the way. After all, the guests and the master here aren't exactly friendly.
Anna: Don't worry, we won't go running around everywhere.
Kumar: I was helping the team gather information.
Inside the manor stood a two-story, spire-topped church. The church was mostly beige, with some colorful paintings depicted on it.
Lin Ye followed the attendant into the church. At this moment, the church was already filled with guests. A pitch-black coffin was placed on the Altar.
The attendant led Lin Ye to the first row, where there were still four empty seats.
"We sit here? Are you serious?"
Kumar wasn't clear about the local customs, but the other guests in the first row were all high-level spiritual energy users. This was clearly not where they should sit.
"Yeah, there are five of us. Why did you only prepare four seats?"
Lin Ye didn't care at all about the gazes of the nearby high-level spiritual energy users. If these people wanted to make a move on them, then he would just have to summon the War Machine right in the funeral hall.
"... I will get you an additional chair right away."
The attendant quickly brought a chair and placed it beside the pew. At that moment, Anna and Lucas also entered the church. Seeing their assigned seats, they both felt something was very wrong.
"You sit here, don't run around."
Lin Ye had Little Silver sit on the pew, then took the chair and walked up onto the Altar, placing the chair to the side and slightly behind the coffin.
"This spot isn't bad. Since you like having us sit in the front row, it shouldn't matter if I sit here, right?"
Lin Ye sat down facing the guests below the stage, crossed his legs, placed one hand on the coffin, leaned on the Cross Scepter with the other, and a flash of crimson appeared in his eyes.
"Hurry up and start the funeral. I'm getting a bit impatient."
A third-tier spiritual energy user sitting in the first row is an obvious target. Sitting on the Altar makes one the master of the ceremony.
Lin Ye didn't like sitting in seats given to him by others. He could choose his own position.
The guests below the stage looked at Lin Ye with strange expressions. They had never seen such an audacious rogue.