Mystery: The Stars Returner

At night, a bonfire was lit in the open space beside the lake.

On the edge of the bonfire, there were seven or eight small wooden sticks with disemboweled fish of different sizes strung on them.

Maric glanced at the charred fish skewers in his hand, and then glanced at Hasta opposite.

I always feel that this scene is a bit ridiculous and unreal.

Hastur Campbell, a young and handsome baron, the last heir of the Campbell family, should have been a nobleman known for his elegance.

But now, his behavior of fishing in the water and grilling fish is even more proficient than the skills he has honed over many years of living in the open air.

Is this his nature liberated in nature?

Facing Maric's appraising gaze, Hasta took a bite of the fish with a natural expression, frowned slightly and said, "It's a pity that there is no seasoning here."

The fish was a bit fishy. It was definitely not because of the poor grilling skills, but because there was no seasoning to enhance the flavor.

Speaking of which, he hadn't experienced the taste of spiciness in a long time. The grilled fish would be more delicious if it was spicier.

"Have you been suppressed for too long?"

As Maric spoke, he secretly threw the charred grilled fish in his hand into the fire.

"To be more precise, I want to try something new."

"...You nobles are really idle."

"Yes, most nobles are very leisurely. They don't need to consider material needs, so they have a lot of leisure time."

"Is this also the reason why you want to set foot in the extraordinary world?"

Hasta did not continue discussing these worthless topics with Maric, and quickly brought the topic to Miss Sharon.

He is very interested in Miss Sharon's past life. He has heard Maric's version of the adventure story, and he also wants to hear Miss Sharon's version of the adventure.

It's just that Miss Sharon obviously doesn't like talking and introducing herself.

"Sharon is different from me. Her temperament has been like this since she was a child. She is quiet, doesn't like talking, and hates making noise. Apart from her preference for beautiful dresses, it's hard to find other girlish aspects in her."

"Her teacher is a very capable person. Sharon learns and grows very quickly. If it weren't for that accident, her life would be far more exciting and stable than it is now. There is no need to risk her life and come to Backlund to live in hiding."

"She never complained about the hardships of life. No matter how the world changed or how dangerous it was, she always moved forward according to the principles she adhered to in her heart."

Hasta listened silently and asked curiously: "Hasn't Miss Sharon done something more naughty and out-of-the-box before?"

"Of course, when she was a child..."

When Maric reached the key point, he stopped hurriedly, coughed slightly and said, "I was still young at that time, so I can't remember some things clearly."

He felt that if he dared to reveal the embarrassing things Sharon had done as a child in front of Hastur, he would definitely be beaten.

"Maric, being good at sharing is a good virtue."

"I'm sorry that my moral character has been at a low point."

"There are only two of us here, do we still need to worry about this?"

"Haha, do I look stupid?"

"Ugh."

Seeing that he could not convince Maric, Hasta did not continue to ask.

The two chatted for a while, and Maric went back to stay with his zombie team. Hastur flattened the grass and originally wanted to get a blanket to spread it on, but later gave up the idea.

If you want to play a barbarian, you have to be thorough.

You cannot become a barbarian if you live a too civilized lifestyle.

Late at night, a light mist came in, adding a bit of chill to the whole air.

Hasta, who was lying in the open space near the bonfire, woke up from his sleep and listened for a moment, and indeed heard the whistle from Maric's mouth.

Are the people in the Spiritual Religion so idle?

Come to this remote mountain and forest to hold a dance party in the middle of the night every day?

Or are they holding some kind of ceremony and have reached a critical moment?

"Want to go and see it together?"

Hastur was interrupted from his contemplation by Maric's sudden voice. He got up from the ground and looked at Maric who was coming with the zombie team.

"Didn't you say that the whistle will cause the living corpse to mutate?"

"Don't worry, I'll keep them away from here. Just you and I will go take a look."

"Okay, I'll go with you."

Hasta agreed to Maric's invitation, and he was also interested in what the Spiritual Religion Group was going to do.

"I'll go take care of it first. You wait for me here."

Maric led the zombie team away from here and tried to suppress their possible changes before returning to join Hastur.

The two of them walked carefully along the source of the whistle under the moonlight.

After walking for about twenty minutes, they saw a ball of fire from deep in the forest.

Even under the cover of the dense forest, the fire was very dazzling.

If there is really any ceremony going on, it must be very large.

Hastur and Maric looked at each other and both knew they had to be more careful on the next road.

The two pushed aside the branches and vines blocking the road, with Maric walking in front and Hasta following behind, gradually approaching the source of the firelight and whistle.

After getting closer, Hasta and Maric vaguely heard voices coming from the firelight.

Words such as soul hell, Lord of the Dead, and happiness in the afterlife are mentioned many times.

From this information, Hastur has been able to confirm that the organization causing trouble tonight is definitely the Spiritual Religion Group. As for which lineage it is, he cannot yet judge.

Although the Spiritual Cult believes in death and the true god who stands at the top of the path of death, they are divided into several factions.

There are the Royal Faction, the Artificial Death Faction, the Sleeping Faction, the Underworld Faction and some other small factions.

Each faction advocates and pursues different goals.

The Royal Faction advocates supporting the descendants of the God of Death and has extremely high rights in the Southern Continent; the Artificial Death Faction tries to activate the uniqueness and let the God of Death return from the depths of the underworld, which is the most crazy and dangerous lineage.

The Hypnati sect simply believes that the soul will be left behind after death. Only by allowing the soul to sleep peacefully can they obtain happiness in the next life. The existence that controls whether the soul sleeps or not is the God of Death.

This lineage is very calm and has good original intentions. It is the best lineage to deal with. What it seeks and does is more in line with the authority of the goddess of the night.

The Underworld Sect advocates summoning creatures from the underworld, which is similar to the branch of the Summoning Flow.

Hastur has little understanding of other factions.

"continue or not?"

Maric gave Hastur a look.

"be careful."

Hastur nodded, agreeing with the idea of ​​continuing to explore.

The two of them tiptoed and cautiously approached a distance.

Through the gaps between the branches and leaves, you can vaguely see a group of people circling around the fire, dancing an uncoordinated sacrificial dance.

Maric's expression was solemn, while Hastur's expression was relaxed.

Even the sacrificial dance was danced so loosely and irregularly. At first glance, it didn't look like a regular member of the Spiritual Religion Group, but more like a non-staff member of the Spiritual Religion Group.

"Should we leave first and then report it to the Church of the Night?" Maric suggested in a low voice.

"..."

Hasta glanced at Maric in surprise. Shouldn't this kind of behavior be something he is better at?

Maric, a member of a non-Orthodox church, now has such a high level of consciousness?

"The Church of the Night handles these extraordinary events more seriously." Maric couldn't understand Hastur's complicated eyes and said in a lower voice.

"Don't worry, let's see again."

Hasta said, motioning for Maric to continue to open the way forward.

The two of them went deeper and were about fifteen meters away from the blazing fire.

By the light of the fire, I could already see clearly the group of people dancing in circles.

There are elderly people, middle-aged people who have started to lose their hair, and there are young people, children, both men and women.

The firelight illuminated their faces, and there was deep sadness behind their calm and pious expressions.

After dancing, some people could no longer control their sadness and sobbed quietly, while others blew brass whistles and sobbed, causing the surrounding temperature to drop again.

They shouldn't have summoned any spiritual creatures, right?

How about a spiritual vision?

While Hastur was thinking, Maric beside him had already opened his spiritual vision first. From his unsightly expression, it could be seen that he must have seen incredible spiritual creatures.

"Is it dangerous?"

"Not yet." Maric gave his own judgment.

Hastur put aside his worries, gently rubbed his fingers, and turned on his spiritual vision.

The first thing that caught the eye was a huge and bloated spiritual creature.

It looks like a toad, but it has no limbs and can only lie on the ground.

Its head was so big that the bonfire was only a small flame compared to it, and the group of people dancing in circles were not enough for it to swallow in one gulp.

It looks very quiet, and its expression only fluctuates slightly when the whistle sounds.

In addition to the largest toad-shaped spirit world creature, there are also several spirit world creatures a few sizes smaller. They open their eyes and stare at the brass whistles, and make a few whimpering and urging sounds from time to time.

Could these be the spirit messengers summoned by the brass whistle?

Is there not even one person in this group of people who can see?

Hastur was confused and felt that it was not that simple.

That toad-shaped spiritual creature was too huge, and its performance proved that it already possessed considerable intelligence.

It should not be a messenger, but a spiritual creature that signs a contract with people.

Whose messenger would make such a big mess? By the time it finishes delivering the letter, no one knows how long it will take.

Could this be the missionary site of the Spiritual Religion Group?

As soon as the thought came to Hastur's mind, he heard a middle-aged man in formal attire at the bonfire in front of him, smiling and speaking in the direction where he and Maric were:

"Two friends from afar, do you want to dance together?"