I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

"?"

Trist looked at Lu Ban as if he were talking to an unseen being, and a question mark appeared above his head again.

"The funeral home was in complete chaos, and our request was delayed until the afternoon."

Xia sat down and said something aggressively.

What are you doing at the funeral home?

Lu Ban was curious.

What are you doing at the funeral home?

Trist retorted irritably.

"I don't know either, I was already in a coffin when I arrived."

Lu Ban claimed innocence.

"what?"

Tristana's question mark resurfaced.

"Xia arrived last night. We thought you had already arrived. We searched for a long time, but we never expected you to be in the coffin."

"So, I might have arrived last night too, but I slept in the coffin without realizing it?"

The flow of time varies greatly in the Silent Land. What Lu Ban perceives as a few seconds might be half a day in the Ruins.

"In any case, let's go to the funeral home to examine the body this afternoon and then see."

Tristana picked up his pipe, lit the tobacco, and took a puff.

"A corpse?"

Lu Ban felt that there might be a time difference between himself and the other two people.

"The doctor's body, Dr. House."

Tristan explained.

“We went to the funeral home to investigate his body, hoping to find some clues.”

"I see."

Lu Ban nodded, and when he saw the person eating cookies with gusto, his expression softened.

However, the cookies on the plate suddenly seemed to have been stolen by some small animal, and one was missing while Xia wasn't paying attention.

"Speaking of which, does Sia have any magic that can make the dead talk, such as reading their memories or summoning spirits?"

Lu Ban asked again.

Although this is theoretically a reasoning-based task, the Silent Land doesn't prohibit cheating. If Sia could summon the dead directly like those necromancers and make them talk, many problems would be solved.

"Spells aren't that convenient, didn't I tell you?"

As Sia answered, she reached for the last cookie, only to find the plate empty. She looked puzzled.

"What about the other two bodies?"

Lu Ban asked again.

"The other two?"

Trist didn't quite understand, but looking at Lu Ban, he quickly grasped the meaning.

"You used [the madman's knowledge] again?"

"Yes, there should also be a gang member and a prostitute who were killed in this case. It's a serial murder case."

Lu Ban's words were concise and to the point.

“But there don’t seem to be any similar cases lately… I might have to ask the sheriff.”

Drizzt stroked his chin, deep in thought.

"Before we go any further, let me briefly share the intelligence we have so far."

He took out his small notebook and opened it to a page.

"The deceased was named House, a doctor who ran a clinic in Grey Alley. He served patients from the working class and also took on some jobs in the slums, treating minor illnesses for the poor for free. He had a good reputation in the neighborhood and was a well-connected figure in both the underworld and legitimate society."

"He was found dead in his own clinic bed two days ago. The manner of his death was quite bizarre. The police opened a case and asked me to participate in the investigation. As you know, I am a detective, and I have a fairly good reputation in the ruined city now."

He said this with a hint of pride.

"Oh."

Lu Ban nodded, ignoring Trist's joke.

"...Because Dr. House has a wide social circle, including Mrs. Martina of the Catania family, she privately commissioned me to investigate a medical record of Dr. House. If I'm not mistaken, it may be a record related to her lover."

Drizzt lowered his voice again.

"So you're still investigating infidelity."

Lu Ban asked subconsciously.

“...I had already stopped taking on these commissions, but Mrs. Martine was offering just too much.”

Tristan should do so.

“I understand. If a roast chicken were in front of me right now, I would do anything.”

Xia nodded in agreement.

"I also want to eat roast chicken."

Lu Ban echoed.

Drizzt glanced at his two companions and suddenly had the illusion that the difficulty of this mission's "mutation" stemmed largely from the two of them.

Chapter 393 made me hungry.

The layout of the funeral home in the ruined capital is different from other places.

In a normal funeral home, the mourning hall and crematorium are connected. After seeing the body for the last time in the mourning hall, the body is sent directly to the crematorium for incineration.

However, the funeral home located near Grey Alley, situated between the dark streets of the slum and the area where ordinary people live, has been involved in some shady dealings to some extent. It also has a spacious morgue and an autopsy room.

“People die every day in Black Street. At first, no one dealt with the corpses, but they could easily cause plagues and pollute the water. Later, someone from higher up probably couldn’t stand it anymore and donated some money to this place. The interest on that money was used to deal with the corpses in Black Street, of course, only the ones that could be found.”

The staff member explained as he led the three towards the morgue.

The funeral home's paint scheme was solemn and dignified, predominantly black, and the walls were mottled as if they had been burned, with traces of charcoal smoke.

The corridor was long and somewhat narrow, making one wonder how a trolley carrying a corpse could possibly get through.

Occasionally, you can see photos hanging on the wall, mostly group photos of funeral home staff, black and white, faded, standing alone, more like memorial portraits.

The funeral home was a bit dim in the afternoon, but at least there was still light.

As I passed some rooms, I could hear soft voices coming from inside the doors.

Lu Ban looked up at the name of the room: Morgue 02.

Perhaps it was a conversation between family members or staff who examined the body.

Upon arriving at the room at the end of the corridor, the staff member had just taken out his key to open the door when he suddenly glanced at Lu Ban behind Trist.

"I feel like I've seen this guy before."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ban remained calm and composed.

“I had a relative who was cremated here. Thank you for taking care of me.”

"Oh."

The staff didn't investigate further, but instead inserted the key into the lock and tried turning it.

"Huh, that's strange, I remember it was locked."

He pulled out the key and pushed the door open.

The morgue was empty except for a body lying on a bed.

"He doesn't seem to have any relatives. The police said it's a homicide and told us not to rush to dispose of the body. To be honest, Dr. House has always been a good patron of our business, and I'm also very sorry about his death. Um, you're the ones assisting the police, right?"

The staff member walked into the morgue and asked another question.

"These are your identification documents."

Drizzt pulled out his identification and glanced again at the corpse shrouded in white cloth.

"Why did the police think it was a murder case? Couldn't it be that the doctor choked while eating too fast, stood up to get a drink of water, tripped, hit his head, and bled to death?"

Lu Ban asked.

"?"

The staff member gave him a suspicious look.

"You'll know when you see the body."

He lifted the white cloth.

Lu Ban finally understood why this mission was called "Glass Flower".

Because what was presented to them was a glass flower.

Dr. House was a composed middle-aged man, but at this moment, a crystal-clear flower bloomed from the center of his well-trained body, a flower so intense and unforgettable.

All of the man's internal organs were forcibly dragged out by something. Most of his spine and ribs were crushed and frozen together with his internal organs at the moment they were pulled out. The solidified glass perfectly preserved the posture, turning it into a flower blooming on the corpse.

Such a posture of death undoubtedly indicates murder.

Moreover, Lu Ban estimated that nine times out of ten, those who killed him were not normal humans, but rather those from the evil god's clan or alien monsters.

Is this really glass?

Lu Ban instinctively reached out to touch it, but then suddenly realized that it seemed to be someone else's internal organs, and it might be impolite to touch it casually, so he withdrew his hand.

"I guess so. It's formed from bones or something that have been melted by a sudden high temperature and then solidified. How exactly does this thing come about?"

Trist put on gloves and gently touched the glass flower.