Old days, dice and investigator's manual

Isaac and Glenn stopped in front of an apartment building not far from Deer Lane.

This building is very similar to the place where Li Jiehao used to live, only it is more dilapidated, with gray exterior walls and windows boarded up.

"You wait here, I'll go in and ask for instructions," Gerald said to Isaac, adjusting his collar.

Isaac leaned against the wall outside the door, adjusted the position of his revolver behind his waist, and rested his cane and sword beside him.

A few minutes later, Glenn came out, his expression slightly more relaxed than before, but only slightly.

"Mr. Helpulin has agreed to let you go up," he said. "Once you're inside, behave yourself, don't touch anything, and don't look around."

"What arrangements will be made for me?"

"Stay here for now, next to Mr. Halprin. We'll decide your fate after the Order's higher-ups finish their discussion," Glenn said, turning and walking into the building.

Isaac put his hands in his pockets and followed.

The stairwell was even more dilapidated than Li Jiehao's previous apartment. There was a faint, strange smell in the air, lingering in the nostrils. It smelled off, but you couldn't quite put your finger on what it was. It was a bit like damp fabric, and a bit like meat that had been sitting out for too long.

The third-floor corridor was brighter than the downstairs corridor, but it had no windows and was lit by the oil lamp Glenn had lit when he came up.

Glenn stopped in front of the door at the end of the corridor. The door was half-open. He knocked three times and pushed it open.

A half-burnt candle illuminated the entire room, and an old man lay on a recliner in the center.

Isaac couldn't make out the man's outline at first glance because the man was so thin that he almost blended into the shadow. He only made out the man clearly after taking a few steps closer.

He wore a dark robe, his skin pressed against his bones, his eyes sunken, his hands resting on the armrests with protruding knuckles, and his skin a waxy yellow, like a dried corpse that had been stored in a dry environment for a long time. But the man was still breathing, and his chest was rising and falling very faintly.

Glenn walked to the recliner, bent down, and lowered his voice: "Mr. Halprin, this is the one I told you about—the one from the FBI."

The old man's eyes slowly turned toward the doorway. His eyes bulged in their deep sockets, his pupils cloudy. He stared at Isaac for a moment, his withered lips twitching, but it was barely perceptible.

Glenn listened for a moment, then turned to Isaac: "Mr. Halprin wants you to stay next door until someone comes to talk to you about the follow-up."

Isaac thought to himself, "They only moved their mouths a few times; did they really achieve effective communication?"

Glenn asked for instructions in a low voice a few more times, then led Isaac out of the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.

He placed the oil lamp on a protruding wall ledge and gestured with his chin toward the door of the next room: "That's where you live. The door isn't locked, and the key is inside."

"Was that a high-ranking member of the Order?" Isaac asked.

"That's right, that's Mr. Halprin, an elder of the Order, a true immortal."

"Really?" Isaac's eyes showed disbelief. The old man on the recliner looked so different from the "immortal" that most people imagined.

"Hmph, Mr. Halprin has been having a bit of a... minor problem lately, but nothing serious," Glenn said. "The Order has arranged for people to take turns looking after you. You'll be staying next door, so no one will bother you, but don't wander around unnecessarily. You're lucky that Mr. Halprin agreed to let you stay. Don't think the Order is just giving you the runaround because he's watching over you..."

Just as Isaac was about to press further, there was a moment of silence, and then Carlo's voice rang out.

"That guy is indeed a high-ranking member of the Ghoul Order, Joseph Halprin. I didn't expect him to be in Vista."

"You stay here and see what's going on with this guy."

The stagnation then subsided, and everything returned to normal.

Joseph Halprin, a name that carries weight in Carlo's knowledge base, is probably not someone that just any cult leader would send a message to him... Isaac pondered, changing the question he was about to ask into a different sentence.

"There can't possibly be only one Mr. Helpulin at this outpost, can there?"

"There are other members living here, as well as people who come to take care of Mr. Halprin, but I can't point out which rooms they're staying in," Glenn said with a hint of warning. "Bringing you this far is already an exception. If you're still thinking of finding out everything about the cult, you're mistaken. If you keep asking these questions, I can only assume you have ulterior motives."

Isaac, realizing he was indeed touching him, didn't argue further: "I'll just trust you for now."

Glenn was taken aback, not expecting the kid to suddenly back down. Based on his previous behavior in the warehouse and Deer Lane, he thought the young man would continue to press for answers, at least until he got a few specific names or address numbers.

"You're much more sensible than before."

"But let me make one thing clear first: if I find anything amiss after I settle in, I'll leave immediately. Don't even think about killing me and then coming back for the ring. The ring is in my possession now, and if I sense anything is wrong, I have a way to make it unusable for anyone else."

Glenn scoffed, "Are the Order the kind of people who would kill someone to steal their possessions?"

"Judging from your attitude towards that informant, it's understandable that I'm worried about being used and then discarded."

Glenn choked, looked away, and said instead, "Don't talk to anyone in the building, don't try to find out anything, and don't bother Mr. Halprin. Your food will be delivered to your door. If you need anything, find me downstairs."

Which room downstairs?

"The first room on the left at the top of the stairs, the one with the patched-up metal door. I'm usually there. If I'm not, don't wander around, just wait."

"No one lives on the third floor?"

"Except for Mr. Halprin's room, all the other rooms are empty." Glenn gestured with his chin. "Of course, you'd better not wander around just because no one's here."

"You were allowed to stay here because Mr. Halprin gave his approval, and it was also your own request. Didn't you want to see someone in charge?"

In other words, there is only one occupied room and one room for him on the third floor, while the other rooms are empty.

Halprin's condition did not look good; he even needed to be cared for, but there seemed to be no place for a caregiver on the third floor.

"Does Mr. Halprin have someone taking care of him?"

"I already said we'd send people over in shifts, but those people aren't on the third floor."

"But it doesn't seem right that an elderly person who needs care is living on the third floor, where he is the only person on the floor."

Glenn chuckled. "The Order is well aware of Mr. Helpulin's condition. We have our own arrangements; you're new here, so there's no need to worry. You stayed in that room because you requested it yourself—to be near a senior officer and ensure he doesn't run away, didn't you say that?"