Taking advantage of the empty alley, Xia De used a Miracle to unlock the door.
After entering the house, he first put on shoe covers and gloves, then adjusted his hat.
He then saw that the furniture and daily necessities were still there, presumably the landlord and the residents on the second floor would move back after the matter was resolved.
"I knew it, if I wanted to be a master thief, ordinary people definitely couldn't stop me."
Xia De thought as he went up the stairs.
There were no issues on the first or second floor; Xia De didn't open other people's doors, merely walking around the corridor.
Blood Echo didn't find any strange traces, but Echoes of the Past allowed Xia De to hear some interesting conversations.
Within 48 hours, the residents on the second floor had returned.
The voices were a man and a woman, discussing the young man on the third floor.
They were just chatting as they went downstairs, the general idea being that ever since the young student upstairs moved in, strange noises would always come from upstairs late at night, so they believed that perhaps Sal Hark's death was because an "evil spirit" had already existed.
Entering the third floor, Xia De opened the locked door, but apart from large pieces of furniture, all traces of life in the room had disappeared.
Unlike the first-floor windows which were sealed, the third-floor windows were merely closed, so sunlight could still penetrate through the hazy mist.
Xia De's boots creaked on the somewhat damp floor.
He walked in, looked around, and at the reminder of the woman's voice in his head, turned to see the soul standing in the shadows by the bedroom door, avoiding the sunlight.
Not an evil spirit, just a soul.
The soul was almost completely transparent; if it dared to stand in the light, Xia De would probably barely see its form.
From the soul's facial features, this should be Sal Hark who lived here.
Xia De saw him, and he also saw Xia De.
At first, he thought it was just a coincidence, but seeing Xia De staring at him, the soul looked behind him in surprise, confirming that the door behind him was closed:
"Can you see me?"
"Yes, I can see you."
Xia De said, with a hint of regret in his tone.
The soul in front of him was very normal, a standard soul lingering in the death zone, untainted by any elements.
Therefore, the rumor of "haunting" here was true, but it definitely had nothing to do with a relic.
Thinking of this, he suddenly had the urge to turn and leave.
But Xia De didn't move, because he was also very interested in the soul's story.
It was only nine fifty in the morning; he had time to inquire about the story that had happened here.
"So, there really is such a thing as mysticism in this world."
Perhaps because the time of death was not long, the wisdom displayed by the soul was close to that of a normal person.
"Are you Hark?"
Xia De confirmed, and the soul nodded, looking happy that someone could talk to him:
"Yes, Sal Hark, I died here, and then I was trapped here.
May I ask who you are..."
"MI6."
Xia De took out his identification and flashed it, and the soul suddenly understood:
"Oh, I know, it's like a plot from a court novel, in the mysterious MI6, there really are wizards who solve witchcraft for the King!"
This statement was, of course, incorrect.
There might be Ring術士 hired by MI6, but most of them were those who couldn't make a living elsewhere or were in urgent need of money, not what he imagined.
But Xia De didn't correct him, instead nodding:
"Your downstairs neighbor reported that this place is haunted, so I was sent to check the house."
"Haunted?
When I lived here, I never... Oh, they were talking about me."
He suddenly understood, unsure if the wear and tear on his soul had reduced his intelligence, or if he hadn't fully accepted his death:
"Sorry, I swear I didn't do anything!
I just occasionally walked around at night, and I thought I couldn't interfere with the world of the living."
Sal Hark's soul was weaker than the two souls in the cemetery; the latter, due to half a century of resentment and confusion, could at least collectively control an ordinary person, while the former was truly just an ordinary soul.
"How did you die?"
Xia De asked curiously.
"Illness.
I originally thought it was just a common stomach problem, but I didn't expect it to suddenly hurt so much in the middle of the night.
That night, the landlord's family went to the countryside to visit relatives, and the neighbors on the second floor seemed to be attending a banquet for City Hall's minor civil servants.
I couldn't call for help, and then I died."
Speaking of his death, the young man's soul still felt some regret, but no dissatisfaction.
"According to my preliminary investigation, your neighbor said there used to be strange noises upstairs.
That was before you died.
Are you sure there's really nothing wrong with where you live?"
"Try sitting on the sofa."
The soul said, and Xia De hesitated for a moment and sat down; nothing happened.
"Try turning your body."
The soul said again, so Xia De moved again, but still nothing happened.
"Increase your core strength."
Xia De did as he was told again, and this time the floor made a very distinct creaking sound.
Apparently, the floor under the sofa was loose and would make noise when the sofa swayed.
"So, the sound heard by the downstairs neighbors was made like this... But what kind of strenuous exercise were you doing on the sofa every night?
Was it exercising?"
"Exercising..."
The soul still stood in the shadows by the bedroom door:
"Not really.
Actually, I know I shouldn't have stayed.
The reason I could stay might be partly due to a necklace I bought before, and partly because there was something I needed to deal with.
Sir, there's a loose floorboard under the coffee table; please take out the items inside."
Xia De really hadn't felt any traces of elements in the house, and only after prying open the floorboard did he barely detect alchemical items underneath.
He took out everything inside: three magazines, a bone necklace, and an old black wallet.
Xia De suspected the bone necklace was made of human bone; from his limited knowledge, this item was a standard necromantic alchemical object, but it was severely damaged, probably occasionally ending up in a shop and bought by him, and even if left alone, it would become completely ineffective in a few months.
It was this item that caused the soul to remain here.
As for the three books, from their covers, they seemed to be ladies' fashion magazines from last autumn.
These were things Noblewoman liked, so their presence here was very strange.
Xia De opened one and glanced at it, then immediately closed the book, his face a bit red.
There wasn't a single word inside, only large black-and-white photos of people and oil paintings, used to display the beauty of the human body and explain that humans could be photographed and painted without clothes.
In other words, the cover was merely to conceal the true content inside; this was a colored picture book.
"Were you looking at this every night?"
Xia De looked at the soul, shaking the book in his hand.
"Not every night, just occasionally, perhaps... I stayed because I wanted to destroy these things, which is why I walked around at night.
No, taking them away is fine too, as long as no one finds out I ever looked at them."
The soul said, with no expression on its face.
"No problem, I'll take them for you and burn them."
Xia De couldn't leave any traces of having been in the house, so he couldn't burn them here.
"Also, please burn the photos in the wallet."
The soul said again, and Xia De opened the old black wallet to check.
The so-called photos were two very old family photos, with a rural windmill in the background.
The little Boy in the photos should be Sal Hark himself, but considering the time, the photos must have been taken decades ago.
"These are photos of me and my family, but they unfortunately passed away in the plague five years ago.
Sir, take those three books, burn the photos, and the money in the wallet is yours.
That was the money I had saved up for next year's tuition; I no longer need it."
"Do you not have any friends?
Who handled the body?"
Xia De asked in surprise, and the increasingly transparent soul of Sal Hark shook his head:
"If I had friends, why would I be watching those magazines by myself at home at night?
My body was handled by the school, but since I'm already dead, I don't want to bother anyone I know at school for money.
The landlord has three months of my deposit; give it to him as a gift.
As for this money, about 20 pounds, Sir, consider it a gift from me, thank you for helping me deal with these matters."
It wasn't that a year's tuition was 20 pounds, but that he had only saved that much money so far.
The soul's voice gradually weakened, allowing Xia De to hear only the last sentence; he was leaving:
"Sir, I have no family, no friends, not even anyone to go out and entertain myself with at night.
I wanted to change my life by studying alone.
As an Outsider, I am very happy that someone can help me with my last rites... Thank you."
He disappeared, and Xia De looked at the 20 pounds he had unexpectedly received, not happy at all, but rather surprised and a little confused:
"So, why did I come here?
Isn't this telling me that an Outsider with no one to rely on will eventually die alone, without even an heir?"
Sunlight streamed into the room from outside, falling on Xia De's face, which showed a stunned expression.
Nothing else could ruin his entire day's mood like this incident.
The murmuring voice in his ear asked, "Outsider, don't you have someone who can inherit your legacy?"
"Are you talking about Mia?"
Xia De looked at the wallet in his hand in the sunlight; it seemed to mock him.
She asked softly in his ear, "I'm talking about your friends.
Why would you think of that cat?"
Xia De was speechless:
"Although I made money, I shouldn't have taken on this commission."
Although a soul appeared in this matter, it would have been fine even if left alone.
Now the matter was perfectly resolved, but the blow to Xia De's spirit was simply too great.
Leaving the house and locking the door, Xia De used a spell to start a fire downstairs and, as agreed, burned the two photos.
As for the three books in his hand, they were too large to simply light a fire in the alley, so he planned to take them back and burn them later.
As he walked out of the alley, he remembered that he could have turned them into small toys, but since he was already on the street...
Xia De sighed, clutching the three books, and with his head down, he joined the flow of people, merging into the misty street under the morning sun.
