The howling wind blew through the chimney, and the slender flue leading straight to the fireplace whimpered like water boiling. The ashes were blown down and poured into the fireplace, making the fire even brighter.
Ampere prefers warmth to humidity and coldness. It lay down and curled up in a ball in a dry cave.
The howling wind outside the cave was intensifying. Remi led the children to the cave, worried that the wind and rain would blow them away and make them lose their way.
The storm was coming. She wanted to invite the lonely Adangfuya to her place, and she had to check the condition of the hut - even though she had already checked it several times after it was reinforced.
The children crawled towards Ampei, treating it as a low mountain that was almost integrated with the rock wall, and climbed up and down to chase and play.
One of them became an exception. It climbed to the bookshelf outside the refuge, raised its head, and its melted and blackened face under the broken glasses seemed to be looking at the books on the bookshelf.
A hand stretched out from the side, pulled out a book and handed it to it.
This bedtime book contains simple fairy tales.
It raised its head and raised its charred claws a little, but before it touched the book, it turned and ran back to its companions.
Lu Li silently put the book back in its place.
"It is..."
Anna rummaged through distant memories for details about the children.
"Weier." Lu Li watched it playing with other children.
He walked past Ampere and the children and stood at the edge of the cave.
A biting cold wind blew across the top of the cliff, bringing with it the rustle of the elm forest behind. At a certain moment, the wind stopped briefly, and a hand stretched out of the cave.
Snap.
A drop of rain as big as a bean hit Lu Li's palm.
The rain began to fall, hitting the soil and rocks, and the broken water drops jumped away.
The wind blew again, bringing more violent rain.
Cold water vapor hit his face, and Lu Li stepped back a little with his shoes stained with muddy raindrops.
Under Lu Li's suggestion, the crops also had sheltered huts like Annie. He wanted to know whether his power could affect more profound laws - such as temperature.
But there is no such luck for those weeds that have just emerged from the ground. They have to rely on themselves to survive the upcoming storm.
The strong wind carried the rain, forming a sloping rain curtain. Lu Li held an oil lamp and looked quietly in front of the cave for a moment before turning around and returning to the refuge.
As we moved away from the cave entrance, the sound of rain peeled away from Lu Li, leaving only the whining wind blowing across the cliff top and chimney.
"I thought of a storm..." Anna followed Lu Li and walked back, recalling and slowly said: "The lightning illuminated the night sky as if it were daytime, and the thunder made the earth tremble like an earthquake. I hid in the parliamentarian's bedroom thinking it was punishment from the gods.
The sins I committed, all night long——"
The words stopped abruptly, and Anna's face showed panic and fear.
This is not her memory.
This is Sarah's.
The oil lamps and fires swayed, and shadows wandered around the refuge as if they were real.
"Maybe I'm too tired. I need to take a rest..." Anna didn't dare to look at Lu Li and walked outside. "I'm going to find Remi and the others to come in and protect you."
"I'll go talk to them," Lu Li said.
"……Um."
Anna stopped trying to be brave and lay down on the bed. This time it was Lu Li who waited for her to fall asleep. The unprecedented emotions brought Anna's consciousness back from the chaos.
"wait for me."
Anna's whisper echoed in the room, and she closed her eyes and sank into the depths of her consciousness.
The oil lamp was placed on the desk beside the bed. Lu Li sat on the wooden chair, his eyes the same color as the darkness lowered, fixed on Anna's peaceful sleeping face.
Some noises at the entrance of the cave attracted Lu Li's eyes.
"Can we come in to take shelter from the rain?" Remi looked a little embarrassed. "Those pieces of wood can't stop the rain at all. They seeped through the boards and fell into the house."
"Well, come here." Lu Li nodded gently.
Remi was about to leave when she noticed Anna who was quietly closing her eyes on the bed.
"What's wrong with Miss Anna?"
"Sarah's memory is infecting Anna's consciousness." Lu Li answered briefly.
"Isn't Miss Anna already living in Werther...?" Remi asked in a daze.
"It's another kind of subtle change."
Such as habits, personality, and ideas.
Sarah has a memory of more than two hundred years, while Anna's life will always stay at the age of eighteen. For the former, the latter is as fragile as a wooden house downstream of a torrent.
"That's really bad..." Remy sighed.
Although she knew that Anna had become friendly in recent days because of Sara's memory, Remi did not want Anna to become another Sara.
She should be herself.
"Do you know any way to suppress memories?" Lu Li asked Remi who had not yet left.
"Some kind of seal on memory?" Remy rummaged through the memory carefully. "He in the book can indeed do it... The evil god has power that we can't understand."
"The same goes for other evil gods?"
"The power controlled by the evil god comes from the same source, but there are some slight differences... Yes, the sealed memory is not a unique ability."
"Mother of the swamp..."
Lu Li whispered and looked at Anna on the bed.
If Anna doesn't get better, maybe she should try the Swamp Mother after the storm is over.
When Anna becomes "sick", the task of protecting Lu Li becomes Jimmy and his sister, who happen to be hiding in a cave to take shelter from the rain.
As morning approached, Anna did not wake up, and an unexpected guest stepped into the cave.
Tick-tock——
Tick-tock——
The tall silhouette stood in front of the refuge, blocking the narrow dim light outside the cave, with water dripping from its wet clothes.
The businessman opened the huge backpack behind him and took out a still dry copy of the "Investigation Institute Weekly" and a radio-style machine.
"The evil spirit broadcast given to you by the United Exorcist Organization." The merchant spoke in a low voice and told Lu Li how to use it. He did not ask if a transaction was needed as usual, and hurriedly left the cave under the curious eyes of the residents of the Elm Forest.
Lu Li first looked at the "Investigation Institute Weekly". Only five days had passed since the last issue, and it was not yet time for the new issue...
Wow——
Unfolding the newspaper, Remi walked to her side with an oil lamp, and a dark and short title appeared on the newspaper that smelled of ink.
[The third disaster is born, the exorcist team is destroyed, and no one survives]
"This is……"
Remy frowned.
Lu Li didn't answer and looked down quietly.
【We failed】
[The third disaster has not been eliminated in the cradle]
[Let us remember the exorcists who contributed to this]
[But we didn’t find nothing. At least when it was killing us, we collected information about its rituals... and frequency]
[The third disaster is named "The Time of Silence". The Time of Silence will soon cover the entire world like other disasters. It appears from time to time. When it appears, any sound we make may
Discovered by it]
[We will tell everyone this news as much as possible. Whether you are in a city, a gathering place, or a refuge in the wilderness]
[When it appears, church bells will ring around you and on the radio]