The Secret Code of Monsters.

Chapter 1117 (Ch.1116) - Homecoming

"You'll never break this habit, will you?"

Roland rubbed his temples as he glanced at the cloth bag that someone was tossing up and down in their hand.

Second-floor private rooms.

Harida stood quietly to one side. To Roland's left was Sindel, and to his right was a girl who had been missing for many days: her skin had become whiter, her eyelids were red, and her green cat eyes were still darting around.

only…

Some things are different now.

"They are not good people."

Rose rested her chin on her hand, casually glancing at the little heads below.

"The money will naturally flow into the hands of those with more skillful techniques..."

Rose did not hide anything about what had happened to her from the members of the tea party—including Shandel Kratoff.

Attack, battle, death.

as well as…

The disappearance of little Roland, and everything that old Shelley later told her.

A cocoon.

"So, you've now become... 'Plague'?"

The gray-haired girl first mocked the other party for being willing to die for someone other than Roland, and then began to be curious about Rose's path—you know, changing paths is an extremely difficult and demanding thing.

Besides the known fact that the high-ring cultists of "Cradle of Flesh and Blood" possess the power to 'corrupt' ritualists...

—But those who are ‘corrupted’ in the rituals cannot be considered true ‘transformation paths’.

They were stuck in the middle, neither fully possessing the power of the original path nor truly having all the abilities of the "flesh and blood" path.

Of course, besides power, that path also grants longer lifespan…

This is probably why a few ritual practitioners are willing to participate.

Besides.

Currently, among those who participate in the ritual, there are no reports of anyone successfully converting to a different path.

Sender was very curious.

"of course."

Rose smacked her lips a few times and casually picked up a piece of the pre-cut soft cake.

The answer was extremely perfunctory.

Sindel's beautiful blue eyes scrutinized her for a while: "What about your 'aptitude'?"

Do you possess the qualifications for both "secret exams" and "disasters"?

Not only that, she also asked Rose if she had seen the gods again, and why He was so fond of someone who wasn't really talented...

Rose ate her cake, ignoring her, but her mood improved considerably.

When she emerged from her cocoon and heard Old Tom complaining that the pretty-faced girl who didn't know her place was always sneaking around climbing walls, she was already in a much better mood.

And now, looking at Xander's longing expression...

hum.

I feel better.

“I am exceptionally gifted, Chandeli Kratofer. The gods say I am the most suitable person in the world,” Rose raised an eyebrow. “I have love and kindness in my heart… These words are very foreign to you, aren’t they?”

Sender smiled.

"Just like you wouldn't be familiar with 'gifted,' Van Sittard."

Rose shook her head: "Call me Shelley, Kratofer."

Xander was taken aback.

Shelley?

She is not...

“From today onwards, I am a Shelley…” Rose put down the cake, looked at Roland, and said softly, “I am a Shelley daughter now, Roland. From today onwards.”

…………

……

When the thief opened her eyes again, a barrage of memories from before her death struck her like bullets fired from a gun: she could clearly remember old Shelley's tears, smell the blood, and see the rotting, melting, writhing flesh...

Their cries.

It was a wonderful feeling that was hard to describe.

From another perspective, a more detached and rational one.

But soon, an indescribable fear blew away her chance to survive.

gun.

That gun that she couldn't pull the trigger with.

Rose admits she's not smart (compared to Kingsley), but all the strange things that have happened before, when put together, now prove one thing.

Yes.

Old Shelley.

How could a top businessman in London not have doubts?

Even if 'God said'.

She was about to hatch the trembling little quail in her head again, but when the maid who came to the room on time found that their mistress had broken out of her cocoon like a bird and was staring blankly on the bed—in the midst of the chaos, she could no longer care about fear and thought.

First, seven or eight maids carefully used warm, damp towels to melt away the remaining calluses on her skin. Then, they forcibly dragged her into the washroom and thoroughly 'shed' her skin there.

A full hour.

She didn't know why she was so dirty.

Then it was old Tom's turn to appear—I mean, after she came out of the bathroom, got dressed…

Civilization has emerged.

The old man was even thinner and frail, as if he had been deflated in just a few days, and was emaciated beyond recognition.

"He is waiting for you."

He said.

Without using terms like 'sir,' 'master,' or 'father,' both of them knew who it was.

then.

The anxious Miss Quail kept her head down the whole way, measuring every inch of the carpet pattern in Shelley's old house with her toes.

It took almost ten minutes of dawdling.

Finally, old Tom caught up and 'escorted' him into Shelley's study.

As soon as she entered, she smelled the familiar tobacco scent again.

The difference is with Roland.

Perhaps it has nothing to do with tobacco products.

—Have you ever stared at a certain smell?

The smell of clothes washed by mother, the indescribable scent of lover, the unforgettable smell of pets no matter how much time has passed, the not-so-delicious but unforgettable soup from my hometown, the familiar, pungent smoke that permeates the air, both annoying and comforting...

Rose couldn't explain it clearly. But she also knew... she could.

So she became even more terrified.

Because having this feeling now means she has to carry it with her as she faces an upcoming separation...

Regrettably.

There was no further distinction.

"I thought you were going to sleep for days on end..."

The old man with the pipe greeted the young woman. Under her incredulous gaze, he smiled and showed her his upper arm: an empty arm.

She even waved playfully.

Yes, his forearm disappeared.

Rose knows why.

She couldn't stop sobbing, a sob she hadn't uttered even during the several near-death experiences she and Anne had shared while they were homeless—a sob born of fear. Then, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably again.

She was like someone who had opened a floodgate.

soon.

The old man's tears also extinguished the flickering embers in the rice bowl.

"I swear I'll give my life for yours, my child."

James laughed through his tears, then roughly rubbed them together with the heel of his hand. Clearly, he too had received a tough-guy upbringing.

"But the gods said, 'I don't want mine, and I don't want yours either...'"

Rose couldn't hear the words, and she covered her face, sobbing. Even when she heard the old man's increasingly heavy and unsteady footsteps, she couldn't react at all.

She stood frozen on the floor, until a man who looked like a father pulled her into his arms and gently patted her back.

She hiccuped, stammering as she tried to cover her shame in another way, saying that even when she was homeless and captured by several men who threatened to torture her, she still dared to greet those scoundrels' mothers who spent their days mingling with stray dogs, even with blades and hammers on her back…

Even if Annie didn't show up in time and beat them to a pulp, she would probably still bite off pieces of their flesh before she died.

She said this, but instead of being scolded, the old man gently patted her back.

should…

Like something she had never experienced before.

Yes, child.

Old Shelley's emotions seemed to melt her.

"Yes."

He said.

"Those were tough and difficult days, but also carefree and happy days."

He didn't criticize Rose's behavior as right or wrong, nor did he talk about Bang and Anne, who, like a gentle old cradle, silently rocked a girl whose soul could never catch up with the growth of flesh and blood.

The cradle cannot express itself.

But through its swaying, it can tell robust, wandering adults where their souls find their home.

(End of this chapter)