Chapter 181: Airing Out

"Who brought them back?" Saul asked in surprise.

Both of these people had died in Hanging Valley, at the hands of the vengeful spirit, Morton. At that time, they were in a hurry to escape due to pursuers behind them, and they hadn’t had time to collect the bodies.

He never expected to see them again.

"Probably Mochi Mochi. He lives in the Black Fortress Forest at the border. When you go out in the future, you can rest at his place."

Mochi Mochi was that unusually tall and thin man who also lived in a long and narrow dwelling.

Saul hadn’t expected that he could retrieve the bodies from such a dangerous place like Hanging Valley.

However, these two corpses looked slightly different from when they were alive.

It wasn't due to livor mortis, giantism, or other typical postmortem changes, but rather a subtle transformation.

Herman’s skin had become rough. Looking closer, it wasn’t that his skin had merely turned coarse, but that it was covered in numerous tiny pores.

It was as if someone had used a fine needle to puncture tiny holes in an orange peel—on closer inspection, the difference was obvious.

"Did something seep out from beneath his skin?"

Heywood smiled slightly. "A type of silver metal. You’ve probably seen it before. But after seeping out, the corpse became severely deformed, so for the sake of maintaining the collection’s aesthetic, I had to fill in some other materials."

Heywood knocked on the glass coffin-like box. "It hasn’t fully dried inside yet. Be gentle when moving it."

Saul opened the lid of the box, pulled out a metal rod from his pocket, and lightly pressed it against the back of Herman’s hand.

A milky white liquid oozed from the tiny pores on his hand, but as soon as Saul removed the metal rod, the liquid slowly reabsorbed into the skin.

"The seepage rate is a bit high. I’ll let it air out before placing it in the corpse collection." Saul then looked toward Bill’s body. "Is there anything I should be aware of regarding Bill’s corpse?"

Heywood said, "Nothing major. Mentor Gudo has already helped neutralize the toxins in his body, but he still needs to—"

Before he could finish speaking, a rush of air suddenly forced Bill’s lips open slightly.

Pfft—

"…vent some gas." Heywood finished his sentence without changing expression.

Saul: "…"

"Alright, I’ll let this one air out too."

The two of them took out the transfer documents, formally logging these two freshly processed specimens into the second warehouse.

Heywood nodded in satisfaction. Seeing that Saul was already pushing the two transparent boxes, he turned to leave.

At that moment, a tear appeared in the hood behind him, revealing a pair of eyes brimming with excitement.

But the excitement didn’t last long.

"Where are your eyes???" a hoarse female voice, slightly agitated, came from behind Heywood’s head.

Before Saul could say anything, Heywood chuckled and replied, "Isn’t it obvious? He hid them."

Heywood turned back to Saul. "Of course, if you ever change your mind, we can still make a deal… for those beautiful eyes you’ve hidden away."

He grinned and backed out of the second warehouse.

"Did Heywood recognize the Nightmare Butterfly, or did he just realize the cocoon was valuable?" Saul could only heighten his vigilance against that man’s uncanny perceptiveness.

He transported Bill and Herman’s corpses into the storage room.

Since the condition of the two new specimens was still unstable, Saul left them inside their transparent containers.

"How interesting… Their consciousnesses are with me, and now their bodies have been delivered to my hands. It seems fate has reunited them."

Just as Saul was pondering the strangeness of it all, a sudden chill rushed through his body, surging toward the two new specimens.

A thin layer of frost formed on his eyebrows and hair.

He quickly stepped back to avoid the unexpected cold current, and only then did the surrounding temperature return to normal.

Something seemed to have slipped into the corpses from the air around them.

"This doesn’t feel like a simple temperature drop… Was it a spirit?" Saul entered a semi-immersive meditation to scan the two new corpses, but he found nothing. "The coldness vanished before I could observe it. Next time a new specimen arrives, I must remember to check for spiritual anomalies."

As he contemplated, he recorded his observations.

By now, it was close to his scheduled meeting with Kongsha. Saul temporarily suspended his examination of the new specimens.

He walked between the shelves and stopped below Item No. 117.

In his past efforts to organize the warehouse, he had inspected every numbered item one by one.

Some of them looked terrifying and dangerous, while others appeared as ordinary as common household objects.

"Item No. 117—Elven Whispers." Saul carefully took down a bottle filled halfway with a transparent liquid.

A twig was slanted inside the bottle, with a portion protruding above the liquid, sprouting two small, vibrant green leaves.

It looked full of life—small and adorable.

The actual "Elven Whispers" was the twig inside the bottle, not the bottle itself nor the liquid within.

Those two elements were merely used to seal the Elven Whispers.

The warehouse manual warned:

"Do not pour out the liquid inside the bottle. Do not remove the twig from the bottle. If either rule is broken, immediately notify Mentor Katz or Tower Master Gorsa. If you see a creature with pale skin, golden eyes, and long ears, do not initiate conversation!"

Beyond that, the manual did not record the usage of Elven Whispers. But Kongsha must have her own method—Saul didn’t need to concern himself with it.

Their agreement was simple: Saul would move the item to the inner side of the bronze gate, open the gate at the agreed time to let Konsa in, allow her to use the Elven Whispers for one minute, and then ensure she left immediately.

The riskiest part for Saul was the transport of the Elven Whispers.

But he was no longer the powerless Level 1 apprentice he had once been.

Who hasn’t broken a few rules as a student?

After confirming there were no warnings in his journal, Saul placed the bottle containing Elven Whispers onto a cart.

Before leaving, he also grabbed a small hourglass timer.

He only intended to give Kongsha one minute to minimize any unexpected incidents.

To Saul’s surprise, he reached the bronze gate smoothly without any trouble.

He pulled out the hourglass and waited for 7:55 PM.

It was already 7:53 PM—not much waiting left.

Time seemed to slow down.

Saul tapped his finger rhythmically on the cart’s handle, growing increasingly restless.

After sixty taps, he glanced at the hourglass.

Still 7:53 PM…

"Did I misjudge time, or is the hourglass broken?"

Saul turned away, counted to sixty again, and looked back. The hourglass still showed 7:53.

"Something is definitely wrong." He turned his gaze to the tender green twig. "I didn’t touch it, nor did I open the bottle. So, merely moving it already has an effect?"

Saul steadied himself, suppressing the inexplicable irritation, and entered a meditative state.

In meditation, he finally noticed an unusual fluctuation in his mental energy—something he hadn’t detected before. Fortunately, the disturbance wasn’t severe, and meditation quickly restored his stability.

When he looked at the time again—7:56 PM.

He immediately let go of the cart, walked to the bronze gate, and pushed it open.

Outside, a woman with half her face obscured by a hood stood motionless in the dark corridor.

The shadows pressed against her, as if trying to force her away from the first floor of the East Tower.

Hearing the door open, the motionless woman lifted her head.

"You’re one minute late. What happened?"

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