Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Chapter 154 Cash or...

At 10 a.m., in a small booth of a coffee shop at the border of Hillston and Joewood.

Yu Jin pushed open the door to the cubicle, where a young man stood. He looked to be in his early twenties, with eyes similar to an old woman's. Despite the increasingly chilly weather, he wore a black double-breasted tuxedo popular among the gentlemen of Backlund, a half-high silk hat, and a bow tie befitting a banquet. It seemed he would never relax his self-discipline at any time or in any situation.

"I ordered you a coffee."

Klein said with a smile, "I don't know if it suits your taste."

Ember glanced at the coffee and immediately recognized it as the cheapest Nanville coffee. It wasn't terrible, but it was only slightly below average. However, he wasn't there to satisfy his cravings, so he didn't say anything, turned and sat down opposite Klein, casually asking:

"Is this your only outfit?"

"..."

Klein paused for a moment, then answered seriously:

"No, I have two sets, but they are exactly the same style."

"That makes perfect sense." Yu Jin nodded slightly in agreement.

Klein felt uneasy, sensing that the embers were alluding to something, and immediately changed the subject:

"How is the condition of Amon's mausoleum?"

After a two-second pause, Yu Jin succinctly stated:

"I met Amon there."

"Amon?"

Klein felt a chill run down his spine and blurted out, "That Amon from the Forsaken Land?"

There has only ever been one Amon.

Upon hearing Ember's "answer," Klein gasped and couldn't help but ask:

"What do you mean? The entire Amon family in the Fourth Epoch is fake, and there was only one Amon from beginning to end? Everyone else is just his clone?"

"Um."

Ember nodded slightly, the answer concise and clear. Although Klein was somewhat prepared, his nerves tightened instantly, a chill running down his spine. At the same time, Klein felt a sense of relief, thankful that he hadn't rashly explored Amon's tomb, but instead had notified Ember to dig it up. Otherwise, Mr. Fool might have been replaced.

Klein thought for a moment, then asked with some hope:

"You killed Amon?"

Yu Jin shook his head and said, "His true form doesn't come to the Northern Continent easily; it's just his avatars."

"I can't even handle a clone."

Klein scoffed inwardly, then calmly asked, "What is the strength of Amon's clone?"

If it's Sequence 5, he might also have a chance to encounter a single clone.

Ember glanced at Klein, seemingly seeing through his thoughts, and said directly:

"Amon's weakest clones are at least Sequence 4, and each clone has the ability to continue to differentiate. They can even parasitize tiny organisms invisible to the naked eye in the air. So..."

Ember paused for a moment, then continued, "If you happen to run into Amon, my advice is to go around him."

Klein immediately dismissed any sliver of hope in his heart and nodded solemnly without hesitation. His mood was somewhat heavy. Even the weakest clone had a Sequence 4, and it could continue to differentiate. If he encountered it, he would definitely die, and he wouldn't even know when he was parasitized.

However, if someone is parasitized without realizing it and unknowingly returns to the gray fog, the 'Fool' will immediately replace them.

Moreover, I've gotten a bit too arrogant lately! I'm only at Sequence 6, and I actually dared to think about going up against Amon's clone? Am I courting death?! Klein, after much painful reflection, realized that this kind of mentality was really unacceptable, and he must be extremely cautious in his actions from now on!

In short, it boils down to one word: from the heart!

Ember gave Klein some time to process the information, then continued:

"The total value of this exploration is approximately 60,000 gold pounds. As agreed, you will receive one-tenth, which is 6,000 pounds. Is it cash, or an equivalent amount of extraordinary materials? Or extraordinary properties?"

Klein thought for a moment and asked, "Does it possess the extraordinary characteristics of a Master of Puppets? Or perhaps the dust of an ancient vengeful spirit combined with the core crystal of a six-winged gargoyle?"

"no."

Klein said directly, "Then let's keep it in cash."

If he were still a 'Magician,' he might still need the properties of the Shadow of Human Skin, but now he has become a Faceless Man. Without the extraordinary materials needed to advance to the Master of Puppets, nothing else is of much use to him; it's more practical to just ask for cash.

Yu Jin nodded slightly, and with a wave of his hand, a large number of extraordinary materials and properties appeared on the table as light flashed. He then spoke:

"You can offer these as sacrifices to Mr. Fool, and then give them to Mr. Hanged Man. When Mr. Hanged Man sells them for cash, you can get your share."

Klein's eye twitched upon hearing Ember's words. The idea was good, and the logic was sound. After all, only Mr. "The Hanged Man" had the most extensive "stories for disposing of stolen goods" in the entire Tarot Club; entrusting these items to him was the best course of action.

But the only problem is that he can't offer a sacrifice!

Sacrifice must be a two-way street; someone must perform the ritual in the real world, and someone must respond to the prayers above the gray fog. In the real world, anyone could perform the sacrifice, but not Klein!

Because he was alone, he couldn't be in two places at once and couldn't both offer a sacrifice in reality and respond to the prayers above the gray fog! Of course, theoretically, he could hold the sacrifice ceremony first and then go above the gray fog to respond to the prayers.

However, unlike responding to a prayer, a sacrifice cannot delay the answer, and the stable channel created by the sacrificial ritual can only exist for a very short time. This means that he must wait above the gray fog in advance and remain above the gray fog to stabilize the channel spiritually. In that case, he would be unable to complete the sacrifice in reality.

Of course, he also has other ways to do the same thing, such as summoning himself.

But this raises the second issue—he couldn't possibly perform this maneuver in front of Ember.

Klein's eye twitched slightly, and he wanted to slap himself. If he'd known it would turn out like this, he would have been better off meeting Ember above the Gray Fog as "The World"—online dating would have been so much safer and more convenient! Why did he have to insist on meeting in person? Was he crazy?!

But in the current situation, it was clear that the die was cast and could not be cast. He simply could not refuse Yu Jin's reasonable request!

Klein took a deep breath, his thoughts racing as he considered a solution. After a moment's thought, he said:

"No problem, but it's not very safe to hold a sacrificial ceremony here. Could you go outside and keep an eye on things for me? I'll call you back after I'm done."

Klein didn't choose to use a subtle approach because he knew that Ember had the ability to 'summon'. If he were to be more subtle, Ember might simply send his summoned creatures out to guard the gate, which would be pointless.

Of course, even if he spoke out, there would still be risks, but Klein clearly had no better option at the moment.

"Can."

Faced with Klein's request, Ember simply nodded slightly, got up, and walked towards the door.

Klein finally breathed a sigh of relief and rushed forward, like a thief caught in the act, to lock the door. At the same time, he quickly pulled a candle infused with sandalwood from his pocket—it was originally meant for emergencies, but now it came in handy.

Klein casually lit a fire with his spiritual energy, and that was it for setting up the altar.

"I--"

"I summon in my own name:"

"A fool who does not belong to this era, a mysterious ruler above the gray fog, the king of yellow and black who holds the reins of good fortune."

The chanting echoed in the cramped private room. Klein's spiritual energy surged forth, mingling with the candlelight to form a palm-sized, greyish-white light screen. Then, he took four steps backward, piercing through the roar, and entered the grey mist.

Klein didn't dare waste any time and immediately responded to his "summons," pushing open the mysterious door. After the chaos and dizziness, he saw the small but soundproof private room, and he saw himself.

Klein floated and flew to the table, quickly enveloping the extraordinary materials and properties on it with his spiritual energy. He then ended the summoning and returned directly to the gray mist. Upon returning to the gray mist, Klein also quickly enveloped himself with his spiritual energy and plunged into the boundless gray mist, into the world of matter.

Klein snapped out of his daze and let out a long sigh.

There was no rush to extinguish the candles, nor was there a rush to call the embers in.

Instead, he waited a moment, estimating that it was about time, before getting up and walking to the door. He grasped the doorknob and gently pulled, but the door didn't budge.

Klein paused for a moment before realizing he had locked the door from the inside.

Embarrassed, Klein unlocked the door and gently pulled it open.

Then he saw that Yu Jin was not facing away from the door, but was facing the door of the private room, with a deep look in his eyes.

At that moment, Klein even had the illusion that he was completely seen through, but both the 'Faceless Man' and the 'Joker' perfectly concealed his emotions. Therefore, he didn't reveal the slightest flaw, only giving a barely perceptible nod.

"Alright."

As he spoke, he stepped aside to let Yu Jin in.

As Yu Jin walked towards the private room, he suddenly spoke:

"I remember you still owe me two things, right?"

Klein's expression froze instantly, and he said helplessly, "That's right."

Although 10,000 gold pounds wasn't an insurmountable debt for him now, he didn't regret owing Ember those two things. After all, the Sacrifice Ring was worth far more than 10,000 gold pounds; it was a genuine act of bringing the dead back to life!

But now that Ember brought it up, he couldn't help feeling awkward. After all, being in debt wasn't something to be proud of—just like with the loot from the ancient tomb this time, even though he got the money, he still had to rush off to pay off Miss 'Justice''s debt.

However, why did Ember suddenly bring this up? Is there something he needs his help with?

As Klein was thinking this, he suddenly saw Ember nod slightly. He thought he was going to make a request, but then nothing more came of it. The two of them quietly drank their coffee, and after finishing their coffee, they quietly said goodbye and left in opposite directions.

"this……"

Klein walked down the street, still somewhat doubting his sanity. "Could he have really figured something out?"

Klein felt increasingly uneasy as he thought about it.

He was so nervous just now that he overlooked some details—for example, how did Ember discover Amon, who was parasitizing those tiny organisms invisible to the naked eye?

Klein actually had a guess about this, which was that it was 'locked'.

But if it really was locked, then when Ember was facing the door of the private room, did he also "see" the "Fool's" "divine descent"?

Moreover, he could have easily refused Ember's request to pray on the spot—

Using the lack of materials for the ceremony as an excuse!

But he forgot that he was only thinking about praying to himself, and that the ritual could be simplified as much as possible, requiring only a candle and no complicated ceremony. But in Ember's eyes, all of this was likely full of doubts.

If he connects all of this, will he guess something?

Klein became increasingly suspicious that Ember had seen something, but he couldn't possibly confront Ember directly, which was driving him to the brink of a breakdown.

Klein took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down and stop thinking about these things. Whatever, so be it. He's seen through now, so he'll just start showing off. Besides, Ember didn't say anything, did he?

That would be best if he didn't notice anything. But wouldn't it be even better if he did notice something but still didn't say anything?

Yes, that's right, there's nothing to worry about!

After a wave of self-comfort, Klein's mood calmed down considerably, and he subconsciously ignored the idea of divination.

Instead, they quickly began to think about another question:

"Although Ember has already explored the tomb, the others obviously don't know that. Should I sell this information to the Machine Heart again and get some payment from them? Although the extraordinary characteristics and such have already been taken, there should still be some murals and books inside, which are also very valuable. The Machine Heart certainly won't refuse."

"Although these things will only bring in less than a hundred pounds, every little bit helps. Besides, the people from Mechanical Heart can help with the cleanup. Hmm, perfect."

He took a deep breath, boarded a carriage at the street corner, and headed straight for the Brave Ones' Bar in the Backlund Bridge area.

mingling among the workers finishing their lunch break, Klein ordered a South Wales beer and lunch at the bar. He ate his lunch slowly, insisted on finishing his South Wales beer, and then leisurely walked through the rising waves of cheers from the boxers, leaving the bar and getting into a horse-drawn carriage.

Feeling the wheels rolling, he deliberately closed his eyes, and suddenly heard a light knocking on the window.

Klein's facial muscles twitched slightly as he opened his eyes and looked ahead, where he saw Miss Sharon, pale-faced and exquisitely beautiful, sitting quietly opposite him.

Before the other party could ask, Klein smiled and said:

"I sold the information you provided last time for a good price, the one about the Amon family tomb."

Sharon didn't speak, but quietly looked at him straight ahead.

Klein paused, then continued:

"The total value is around six thousand pounds, three thousand pounds each. However, those items still need to be liquidated, so you may have to wait a while."

She looked up, hummed in agreement, and asked simply:

"What's inside the tomb?"

"Amon!"

Klein's expression turned serious, and he said in a deep voice, "That's Amon's tomb. Amon is inside!"

Considering that Miss Sharon was also an ally and had helped him a great deal, Klein didn't hide too much. He only omitted some key information and told him everything about Amon.

Miss Sharon remained silent, simply resting her chin on her hand as she listened intently, as always.

Klein was not surprised by this, because he knew that this "vengeful spirit" seemed to have a penchant for watching sitcoms and listening to all sorts of rumors.

Klein concluded by reminding him:

"If you happen to encounter it, be sure to go around it."

Sharon's expression remained unchanged, and after a few seconds of silence, she said:

"Someone is digging a tunnel to the underground ruins."

"ah"

Klein didn't immediately realize what the other person was talking about.

But he soon understood what Sharon meant by the underground ruins.

Both of them knew of only one underground ruin: the ruins of the Tudor dynasty of the Fourth Age, where a terrifying evil spirit resided.

Someone is digging a tunnel, trying to get into that underground structure? Klein pondered for a few seconds, then suddenly an idea struck him:

"That Baron, what's his name?"

"Yes," Sharon replied affirmatively.

Suddenly, Klein had the urge to call Ember to dig up his grave again.