Steam Age: I Fight Against Divine Authority with Otherworldly Tales

Chapter 69 The Haunted Basement

"Oh, right, sir, they also brought a raven!"

In the dimly lit examination room, William's voice was somewhat shrill with excitement.

Raven? Suren stroked his chin. The mention of raven reminded him of Mrs. Howard, or more precisely, the "Eternal Oath Knights" behind Mrs. Howard.

That so-called haunted house must be hiding something; no matter what, we have to go there.

Having made up his mind, Suren's gaze fell on William Miller's face. He gave a kind smile and said gently, "Mr. Miller, it would be a troublesome task for you to take me to the so-called haunted house. It's related to an important mission and won't take up much of your time. I hope you will cooperate."

William swallowed hard, looking at Suren's gentle smile. He knew Suren wasn't discussing things with him, so he could only nod helplessly.

The two returned to the consultation room. William Miller comforted the patients inside, left the little girl to watch the shop, and then took Suren to the "haunted house".

Perhaps to ease the tension, William gave a brief introduction to the so-called "haunted house" on the way.

Thanks to William's profession, he saved a lot of money, and later, through an acquaintance's introduction, he bought the small house at a bargain price, only half the normal market price.

Not long after moving in, William noticed occasional noises coming from the basement. One night, he mustered up his courage and went to investigate, only to witness a horrifying scene.

"The demon was shrouded in black mist and had two... no, three heads with sharp teeth! Especially its eyes, which were reddish-green! It even smiled at me, which scared me so much that I ran out of the house that night!" William recounted his experience that night with lingering fear, even adding some gestures.

Suren tilted her head, feeling that William's description was incoherent and sounded like a hallucination that someone who had just woken up in the middle of the night was having in a daze.

If it really was an evil spirit, William would probably have been attacked the moment he saw it, making it unlikely that he could have escaped safely.

Thinking of this, he glanced at William and asked, "How long were those two gentlemen down there? Did you hear anything?"

"Ten minutes? Or twenty minutes?" William smiled somewhat embarrassedly. "I'm so sorry, I was too nervous at the time. I only heard some banging sounds, and then the two gentlemen came out of the basement shortly after and told me that the matter was resolved."

As they were talking, William stopped. The two of them had arrived at the "haunted house." It was not far from the square, and the surrounding area consisted of similar row houses. The overall environment was not very good, but it was clean.

Watching William unlock the door, Suren asked, "After those two gentlemen helped you get rid of the evil spirit, did you go to the basement?"

"I went downstairs with those two gentlemen, and I haven't checked on it since they left." William pushed open the door and gave a wry smile. "To be honest, I've already decided to sell this house, but I haven't found a suitable buyer yet."

Suren entered the room and looked around. There was some dust in the room, and it looked like no one had lived there for at least a week. It seemed that William Miller was too afraid to live here alone after his accident.

William led Suren through the corridor to a staircase leading down. He handed Suren a key and said awkwardly, "Well, I won't go down with you. Just call me if you need anything."

Suren chuckled; this guy was indeed a bit timid, but that was only human nature.

Suren took William's key and went down the stairs, the floorboards creaking and groaning.

Suren pushed open the basement door and turned on the gas lamp using the light from outside. The dim light illuminated the basement and dispelled the darkness inside.

The basement wasn't particularly cluttered; it was rather spacious. In one corner stood several old storage cabinets with cloth bags on top, their contents unknown.

Suren had already grasped the "Eye of Annihilation" in his hand. He briefly examined it but found nothing unusual.

"No, if there really were evil spirits, this place wouldn't be so clean, so spotless that there isn't even a trace of a fight."

Suren shook his head, stopped, and frowned slightly, trying to recall if he had overlooked any details. Remembering that the person with the Eternal Oath had appeared twice with illusions, Suren had a guess in his mind.

He activated the "Source of Knowledge" to connect with the node of the "Cognitive Fog," and the symbol of "Secret Knowledge" appeared in his eyes. As he scanned the row of storage cabinets, that hazy feeling reappeared, but the surrounding scene did not change.

However, Suren was not disappointed. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. He knew where the problem lay.

He walked towards the few storage cabinets in the corner, reached out his right hand and touched them one by one. With a flash of white light from the "Mandala Ring", the cabinets disappeared into thin air and reappeared beside him.

On the wall that they originally covered, a hidden door appeared. The door was exactly the size of a person, and its edges fit the wall perfectly. Only upon close inspection could one see the existence of the hidden door.

Suren took a deep breath, holding the gun in one hand and cautiously pushing the hidden door with the other. The door opened with a slight creak, and a faint smell of blood entered Suren's nostrils.

Suren's gaze pierced through the crack in the hidden door, peering into the scene inside. Bright light was still shining from the room behind the door, illuminating the small space of only a few square meters. The room seemed to have been cleaned up, with only a few empty boxes remaining. There was a pool of blood on the floor, which should be the source of the smell Suren had just caught.

"Click."

Suddenly, a barely perceptible sound rang out.

In that instant, Su Lun's hair stood on end. His nerves were on edge, and he didn't have time to think. He pressed his right hand hard against the wall and pushed off with his right leg, falling backward.

In the instant he was thrown backward, a blinding white light flashed from within the hidden door, covering the entire wall with a layer of white frost, followed by a series of fine, crisp sounds.

Suren staggered when he landed, but he braced himself with his left hand to steady himself, and then looked down at his right leg.

Fortunately, he retreated in time, and the frost only barely touched his trouser leg. However, the affected part was completely changed, with ice crystals spreading at a visible speed.

Without hesitation, Suren no longer held a revolver in his right hand, but instead a dagger.

He grabbed the unaffected part of the trouser leg, brandished the dagger, and with a swift stroke, the frost-covered fabric fell to the ground with a thud, like a block of ice hitting the earth.

Suren's gaze fell on that patch of fabric, where the white frost was still spreading firmly, reaching all the way to the ground.