Chapter 338 – Guests

Chapter 338 The Guest
The old caretaker of the cemetery didn’t like these days when it snowed all the time – not only because the cold weather would make his already overburdened joints sore, but also because these snowy days always reminded him of something that happened a long time ago.

Something not so good.

Like that rebellion fifty years ago, like the freeze thirty years ago, like the big collapse in South City seventeen years ago……. It was always not good when it snowed this much.

The old man rubbed his hands together and looked back at the cemetery, which had also been covered in snow.

Cemetery paths are blurred by snow boundaries, the white ground only footprints outline the route to the mortuary and guard hut, gas lamps have been extinguished, blackened lamp poles like dead tree trunks standing in the snow, looks quite lonely.

Several steamer cars were parked in the clearing within the cemetery, already completely covered in snow, and the black-clad guardsmen were laboriously clearing the snow from the cars and attempting to clear a path through the snow that would be passable for the vehicles – it looked rather lugubrious.

They had to finish the job before the snow froze hard and the road became more difficult to clear.

A howling wind blew through the vicinity, a gray smoke fleeting in the wind, and Agatha’s figure stepped out of the wind and the smoke, the young keeper coming over to the old caretaker, “Half of the men will be withdrawn today, leaving only two squads to watch the cemetery for you.”

“They can all be withdrawn, I can still have some peace and quiet,” the old caretaker raised his eyelids and glanced at the gatekeeper, “It’s a waste to stay here with so many men.”

“It’s not a waste of manpower – and you needn’t worry about my lack of manpower.”

“I’m not that free to worry for you,” the old keeper grunted, then mentioned, as if offhandedly, “You sent an elite squad out in the latter part of the night yesterday, something happened in the city?”

Agatha looked to the old man, “You still care about what happened outside the cemetery?”

“I’m just asking, feel free to say anything.” The old guard shrugged.

“…… There’s a situation on Fireplace Street, a high-level Transcendent erupted into a fight, the commotion was not small, the patrolling guardsmen rushed over but swooped in,” Agatha said slowly, “Right now, we can only be sure that one of the two sides of the encounter was an Annihilationist – they died horribly, and one of them died in a bizarre manner that didn’t match any of the known Transcendent powers.”

The old guard’s eyebrows twitched visibly, and there was more than a little seriousness in his tone, “Fireplace Street?”

“…… Don’t worry, no innocent citizens were hurt,” Agatha seemed to know what the old man was worried about, “But from what the squad has reported back, there’s more than one creepy trail over there, so I may have to go check out the situation myself. ”

The old guard didn’t say anything, just nodded lightly, but the gaze under his eyes had become serious.

Agatha was a young gatekeeper, but even if she was young, her identity as a “gatekeeper” had been obtained through rigorous training and difficult tests, and as the Church’s highest spokesperson in the city-state, her actions themselves signaled the urgency of the situation.

I’m afraid that the situation that took place on Fireplace Street is not as light as her attitude shows at the moment – and it’s by no means as simple as a Transcendent battle. An elite team of Guardians went to investigate, only to have the Gatekeeper himself go over to deal with it in the end, so this was no small matter.

But that was a matter outside the cemetery, not something that he, the retired Tomb Guardian, should be concerned about.

Let the young gatekeepers and guardians deal with it.

After much effort, the guards finally cleared away the snow and activated the cars’ steam cores, and the two dark gray steam cars drove out of the cemetery and soon disappeared into the path leading to the neighborhood.

The old guard watched the two cars leave and shook his head as he prepared to return to the cemetery.

But just as he was about to turn around, the remaining light from the corner of his eye suddenly saw a familiar tiny figure appear at the end of the path.

A little girl wearing a thick coat was walking somewhat laboriously towards the direction of the cemetery.

The old guard immediately stopped his movements as he watched the tiny figure approach this way, but the expression on his face seemed to be somewhat angry, while that tiny figure also saw the old man standing at the entrance of the cemetery at the moment – she stopped at the side of the road, raised her face, and waved her arms happily before continuing to walk deeper and deeper towards the old man.

Finally, she walked to the rut marks pressed out by the two steaming cars leaving earlier, and when her footsteps finally relaxed a little bit, she bent down and patted the snowflakes that were stained on the hem of her clothes and her pants, and came to the entrance of the cemetery, smilingly looking at the old man before her, who had a serious face and was even a little bit angry.

“Grandpa caretaker, here I am again!” Annie happily greeted the old caretaker.

She had changed into a white thick coat with the same white long boots today, and with the same white woolen cap on her head, her whole person seemed to be melting in this snow-covered city.

“To go out in this kind of weather, and to come to a place like this!” The old guard glared, his tone very stern, “You’ll make your family worry.”

“I told my mom I’d be back soon today,” Anne smiled, her face a little red from the cold, “School’s out, and I was supposed to be playing with my friends, but none of them wanted to go out, so I came to see you!” “…… It’s better to stay at home like your friends than to run to the cemetery in snowy weather that closes the roads,” the old man’s tone was cold and hard, “The cemetery is closed today, there’s too much snow in there, so go home. ”

However, the girl did not seem to hear, just probed her head to look behind the old man, and then raised her face expectantly, “My father he ……”

“Didn’t come,” the old man said bluntly, “With this bad weather, even if there really was a plan to deliver the spirit, it would have been postponed.”

Anne froze for a moment, but was not quite lost, she pursed her lips, “Then …… I’ll come back and ask again when the weather gets better …… He’ll always come, won’t he?”

The old guard quietly gazed into the eyes of the child, for a brief second or two, he even regretted a little, regretting that he should not have promised the child six years ago, “Your father will come back here” promise, in the final analysis, his own heart …… or The first time I saw him, he was a little bit soft.

Silence for an unknown period of time, the old man finally opened his mouth: “…… Perhaps, one day in the future you can hear his news.”

This has been his biggest euphemism.

A twelve year old child should have heard this long ago.

Anne blinked, some smile on her face, then reached into the small bag she carried and fished out a packet to hand to the old man in front of her.

“Cookies again?” The old guard raised an eyebrow.

“It’s ginger tea powder, I helped my mom make it together, and it’s got herbs in it to ward off the cold and warm the stomach!” Anne said proudly, and without any further ado, shoved the stuff into the old man’s hands, “You’re always guarding the cemetery by yourself, and now that it’s snowing, it must be cold at night, right?”

The old man looked at the thing in his hand.

He didn’t need this – the potion supply that the church sent to the cemetery caretaker was ten times more effective than this, and his seemingly thin caretaker’s hut was actually covered with protective spells and special materials, not to mention resisting the cold winds, even if the cemetery really went out of control, the hut could also resist external impacts like a steel fortress.

“Thank you,” he accepted Anne’s gift, perhaps it had been too long since he had smiled, the curves of his mouth were a little stiff, “it’s useful to me.”

Then immediately afterward, his expression went cold and hard again.

“I’ll take the stuff, so hurry home and try not to leave the house for the next two days either.”

“Why?”

“…… It’s not safe in the city these days,” the old watchman said gravely, thinking of what Agatha had just mentioned to him, and of the transcendental events that took place on Fireplace Street last night, “Go back and tell your mother to cut down on recent going out, and if you find anything wrong, ask for help from the nearest church or sheriff-Anne, this is serious business, do you remember?”

Annie seemed to be calmed by this sudden stern tone of the old man, and was stunned for a moment before nodding her head in a panic, “Remember …… remember.”

“Good, then go home,” the old man exhaled and gave his expulsion order, “while it is still ……”

He looked up, the latter half of his sentence ended abruptly.

An extraordinarily tall and lanky figure had appeared near the cemetery gate at an unknown time, and was looking up this way – the figure was wearing a long black trench coat, a wide-brimmed bowler hat, and his face was wrapped in bandages, with all the details of his entire body hidden in his coat, hat, and bandages.

And there was another person next to this lanky figure, that was a petite lady wearing a deep purple gorgeous long dress, with blonde hair like a waterfall, wearing a floppy hat and a veil over her face, her appearance could not be seen clearly, but she exuded a kind of elegant and mysterious temperament.

But almost all of the old guard’s attention was focused on that tall and lanky figure – he was staring dead on in that direction, his eyeballs were difficult to turn as if they were anchored by an invisible force, slight noises began to drum in his mind, and the edges of his field of vision began to show subtle jitters and deflections, which were clearly signs that the spirit was suffering from a mild form of contamination, interference.

The experienced old guard instantly realized what was happening – it was the Visitor.

He himself had been in contact with this unnamed guest many times, and had fallen into a state of madness under the influence of incense, so that he had established a certain connection with him!
But it was only a preliminary and almost harmless connection, so the old guard was not almost incapacitated as before.

The self was still able to move – so he reached out and pulled Anne behind him.

“Don’t look over there, child.”

(End of chapter)