After the sudden earthquake, the white mist on the street became even thicker, as if thin veils hung everywhere in the air. Moments ago, one could still see the houses across the street from the window, but after the earthquake, only a hazy mist was visible.
The concentration of whisper elements in the dense fog had exceeded the intensity of a Poet Grade relic, so Sister Michelle urgently organized people to seal doors and windows, especially window Gaps, to prevent the white mist from seeping in.
At the same time, the Middllesburg City Hall and the Orthodox Church were also in action. Police officers carrying lanterns ran through the streets, shaking bells and loudly reminding citizens not to go out before dawn tomorrow. They even knocked on doors house by house, reminding people to seal door and window Gaps in time.
Given the size and permanent population of Middllesburg, it was likely that this reminder work was not only being done by local police but also by the Delarion Royal Army stationed on Sicar Mountain.
The lanterns in the police officers' hands were not ordinary items. When Sister Michelle opened the door and spoke with the police, she noticed the Holy Tree Mark on the metal base of the oil lamp. This was a divine alchemy item made by the Orthodox Church to protect these ordinary people so they could walk in the fog.
On a deep autumn afternoon, a heavy fog spread. Xia De, waiting anxiously, stood by the third-floor window looking outside. He couldn't see anything, but he knew that important events must have already transpired on Sicar Mountain, in the Gap.
Priest Augustus, Sister Devlin, Miss Aurora, and even Iluna, might already be engaged in battle with some dangerous enemy, and all of this had happened within a mere hour.
Around 2:20 PM, another earthquake occurred, this time with greater intensity, making Xia De, who had stood up, feel somewhat unsteady. Fortunately, the two consecutive earthquakes this month had accustomed the citizens living here to such events, so no one panicked and fled outdoors due to the earthquake for the time being.
Sister Michelle appeared even more nervous; the senses of the blind nuns were more acute than those of an ordinary Ring術士. She found Xia De on the third floor and hoped he could guard the entrance on the first floor. Xia De, of course, would not refuse.
As he and the nun went downstairs, the booming sound of a large bell came from the City center. The middle-aged nun gestured for Xia De not to speak, quietly counting the number of chimes. Only after the chimes ended did she say to Xia De with concern:
"It's not time for the hour chime. Seven chimes are a sign of a City emergency. Oh, you're an Outsider, so you might not understand; our border City needs such warning measures."
"When was the last time there were seven chimes?"
Xia De asked.
"That was when the full-scale war on the Old Continent had not yet ended."
An Outsider might not understand the meaning of the City bells, but the citizens living in this City certainly did. The white mist containing whisper elements was infiltrating every corner of the City; if doors and windows could not be sealed in time, and one's body was a bit weaker, then they would certainly not survive today.
Orthodox Church personnel were spreading out to every corner of the City. On the lampposts in the streets and alleys that Xia De hadn't noticed, symbols of divine rituals lit up in continuous patterns, forming a ritual array centered on the core urban area, attempting to resist this heavy fog.
This was a truly grand undertaking, almost transforming the entire City into a "sanctuary." And yet, this was only the first step of preparation before the sealing ritual "Holy Tree Mark" began.
But even so, this fog would surely claim many lives in this City.
The overlap between the Gap and the material world was becoming increasingly severe. After the second minor earthquake, Xia De keenly perceived spatial anomalies. And just as he had worried, around 2:40 PM, Sister Michelle told Xia De that the nun responsible for monitoring the white mist from the upper floors of the building had discovered evil spirits in the white mist.
This was a serious matter. It was daytime, and the street where the House of the Blind was located was also considered a bustling area of the City. The appearance of evil spirits here at this time meant that evil spirits would appear throughout the entire City.
The Orthodox Church had not been unprepared for this situation, but their personnel were currently dispersed among three passages and had to manage both the real world and the Gap, making it impossible to clear every corner of the City in time.
But this time, the Orthodox Church's preparations were truly ample. Twenty minutes after the first evil spirit was discovered, a clear horn sound came from the City center. It was like the horn of ancient tribesmen charging at their enemies.
As a Ring術士, Xia De could see a layer of golden brilliance rising from the City center from the first-floor window, followed by a giant golden phantom wearing a crown of thorns appearing in the fog, holding a horn in his right hand and blowing it.
Those golden rays quickly spread throughout the City but did not disperse the white mist. The power Xia De sensed was more like a spell to banish evil spirits, only its coverage was astonishingly vast.
Ordinary people couldn't even hear the sound of the horn, and among Ring術士, only those with acute perception could truly see the golden spiritual light of those divine arts. The horn sound lasted for a full half-minute before ending, and then the City became quiet again.
Inside, Xia De could still detect golden light particles lingering in the air. Sister Michelle told Xia De that the horn just now was the angel-level relic (Grade 1) 【Twisted Holy Sound】 housed in their diocese. This relic had severe side effects; although its sound could expel malicious spirits, it also had the potential to awaken some sleeping sub-space evil entities.
Only the Orthodox Church could use it boldly and confidently in conjunction with divine arts.
According to the general rules of Orthodox Church operations Xia De had heard from Iluna, after using such a wide-range divine art, Ring術士 teams would then be dispatched for targeted clearing.
But the Mountain City of Middllesburg was so vast, and even though Ring術士 from surrounding dioceses had been continuously transferred to support it in recent weeks, Xia De still felt worried about the City's future.
He was still waiting, and this wait was even more anxious than waiting for Darkness to arrive in Tobesk.
After the horn blast, there was no other movement in the City for a long time, only Xia De anxiously waiting for news at the House of the Blind. As the time approached 3:30, a thunder-like explosion in the distance startled Xia De, and according to Sister Michelle's judgment, the sound came from near the summit of Sicar Mountain.
These nuns, who had not used their sight for many years, had even stronger auditory senses than Xia De.
The thunderous explosion indicated that a battle had already erupted on Sicar Mountain, and one side should be the Orthodox Church, because Sister Devlin recognized the sound as the unique sound of the sage-level relic 【Thunder Hammer】 of their church's Nature Diocese when summoning lightning.
It is said that this relic is related to the evil god 【raging storm】, who is also one of the three evil god faiths in Coldwater Port.
The rash use of such a relic suggested that the battle on Sicar Mountain was not simple, but neither Xia De nor Sister Michelle could guess who the other side of the battle was.
At this point, the ordinary people in the House of the Blind were somewhat panicked, especially the blind people who had come to visit in today's heavy fog. They desperately wanted to return to their homes, but for safety, Sister Michelle could not let them leave, so some of them were already on the verge of screaming hysterically.
Ordinary people who had not experienced such events had fragile spirits to begin with, and in a City permeated with whisper elements, they were even more susceptible to influence. Although the Orthodox Church's divine rituals had a calming effect on the mind, they were not omnipotent after all.
As the time approached 4:00 PM, the eerie situation in the City continued. Although the sun had not yet set, the light intensity in the entire area had dropped to almost night-level. In the hazy fog, it seemed as if large groups of people were moving, but people on the street could not see the faces of those figures at all.
Who knows how many people silently prayed in their homes, and who knows how many people, after occasionally witnessing strange scenes on the street, gradually descended into madness.
Even without going out, Xia De could feel the City's anxiety and unease, and he could feel the ominous signs of impending disaster.
And then, the door of the House of the Blind was knocked on at that very moment. The urgent and forceful knocking almost startled Mia, who was taking a nap in Xia De's arms.
"Who would be knocking at this hour? Is the neighbor trying to hide here?"
As he took a few steps closer to the door, the Night Watchman in his hand immediately vibrated.
Xia De frowned slightly, telling the person behind him to inform Sister Michelle, while he boldly looked out through the peephole. Standing in the pervasive fog was a ragged, hunched man. His specific features were unclear; he was just standing at the door with his head down, seemingly a beggar.
"Mr. Watson, who is it?"
Sister Michelle also came over at this time. Xia De described the characteristics of the knocker, and the nun shook her head:
"It's not someone we know here."
"It shouldn't be a beggar asking for help either. I didn't see his shadow; it's an evil spirit in the fog."
Xia De judged, pressing against the door and not feeling a very strong whisper element, indicating it was not a humanoid relic. And such evil spirits, which operate according to certain rules, although not strong in themselves, can cause trouble if not handled carefully.
After telling the nun to be ready to act, Xia De leaned against the door and asked:
"Who's knocking?"
"Sir, could you give me something to eat?"
A hoarse and old man's voice came from outside. The strange voice made Xia De shiver:
"What do you want?"
"Something to eat, anything that can fill my stomach."
"Fill your stomach?"
Xia De called the very frightened servant, asked for a bowl of water, and with a gentle touch, made a blasphemy silver light appear on the water's surface. Then, pressing against the door, he carefully opened a crack in the door.
But before he could even hand the bowl out, a bluish human hand with prominent veins on its surface reached in on its own.
Xia De's face was very close to that hand, and he could clearly see the mud in the long fingernails and the corpse spots on the back of the hand, and even more, he could feel that chilling coldness.
