Part 1 The Joker Chapter 164 The Pitiful Wretch

　　The color of blood reddened Klein’s eyes, reddening his nearly frozen vision.

　　Just then, there was a sudden soft coughing sound from inside the house, and old Neil rasped:

　　”Dunn, what are ye doing here?”

　　Dunn’s gray eyes were dark to the core, and he answered in a mellow voice without haste:

　　”We heard that you were ill, and we have come to visit you.”

　　The room grew quiet for a moment, and after a few seconds the elder Neil hissed in anger and trepidation:

　　”No! You’re lying!”

　　Without waiting for Klein and the others to speak, his tone softened haughtily:

　　”Yes, I know I’m in a bit of a state.”

　　Old Neil …… Klein snapped his eyes shut, and the blood seeping out of the doorway did not stop.

　　Immediately afterward, Neil Sr. drew up his voice and said:

　　”But all this time, I haven’t hurt anyone, and I haven’t thought about hurting anyone! I haven’t, I haven’t betrayed any important secrets of the night watchman, I’ve, at most, reimbursed a little bit of expenses that shouldn’t have been reimbursed, I really haven’t done anything bad!”

　　”Klein.” He suddenly called out as he always did, “I told you the motto of the Secret Snoopers is ‘Do what you want, but do no harm’, and I’ve always stood by that, preferring to endure, preferring to wait, rather than do anything that would hurt anyone… …”

　　At this, he pleaded fearfully:

　　”Dunn, Loyal, Klein, go back, go back, wait for tomorrow, wait for tomorrow, I’ll be back to normal, I swear, swear to the Goddess, I won’t try to hurt anyone else, really!”

　　Dunn closed his eyes and asked in a very soft tone, “What have you been trying to do? What have you been trying to do?”

　　”Me?” Old Neil stated blankly, then with longing, “I’m trying to resurrect Sallister, Dunn, I’ve found a way to do it, I’m on the right path!”

　　”You should have heard that I made a mistake back when I was performing ritual magic, I failed to cure her disease, I failed to save her, and I know that it was because I didn’t have a good enough grasp of the occult, whereas now, I have enough knowledge and experience to accomplish that! What a pity that I should have missed the best opportunity by failing to be inspired by the maxims of the ‘Peeping Mystic’ and the example of Daley; if, if I had been a High Sequence Strongman, things would have been so much easier.” As he spoke, the old Neil brought on a few sobs, “No, I can’t give up anymore …… Dunn, go back, go back, I beg you.”

　　Klein clenched his teeth and heard the captain’s voice fluctuate slightly as he asked:

　　”How do you plan to resurrect Sallist?”

　　Old Neil became excited all of a sudden:

　　”I’ll use the ‘life refining’ method to prepare a body for her that won’t age… Dunn, perhaps you don’t know that Sequence 4 of the Church of the Mother Earth God specializes in ‘life refining’… The corresponding sequence of the ‘Generalist’ pathway can barely do the same, well, I will do it with the help of the gifts of the gods.”

　　”Then, I will summon her soul from the spirit world and pray for the help of the gods to reunite the spirit with the flesh.”

　　”Isn’t that a great idea?”

　　Dunn said, forcing the corners of his mouth upward:

　　”Yes, a very great idea. Old Neil, let us in, perhaps we can help.”

　　”…… Dunn, you still won’t leave me alone?” Old Neil pleaded, “Go back, you guys, go back, I’ll be back to normal tomorrow, really, Dunn, I swear I won’t steal any more of your coffee beans, Klein, Loyal, I swear I won’t ask you to cooperate with me in reimbursing me for less-than-deserved expenses, really!”

　　In Klein and Loyao’s slightly blurred vision, Dunn lowered his head, and then lifted it up in a whirlwind, “Old Neil, you’ve misunderstood, we’ve come to visit you, you’re our companion, you’re sick and not in the right state, we’ll definitely come to visit you, open the door, let us have a look and reassure us, as long as there’s really nothing seriously wrong with you, we’ll go back right away, you know. Recently, there are especially many tasks, we have to monitor the madhouse on one hand, and deal with various emergencies on the other.”

　　Old Neil hesitated for a moment and said:

　　”I really don’t have any major problems, really, I’ll be back tomorrow.”

　　The blood-red liquid oozing from the cracks in the front door ran down the steps, onto the flagstone path and into the garden soil.

　　”Old Neil, we’ve known each other for what, fifteen years? Partnered in I don’t know how many missions, I care about you, I worry about you, and I have to see you with my own eyes to be reassured.” Dunn said in a mellow voice.

　　”…… Alright then.” Old Neil muttered, “I really don’t have any problems.”

　　With a creak, the front door slowly swung open, and Klein quickly raised a hand to wipe his eyes, bringing his vision back to normal.

　　Then he saw the carpet in the foyer covered in a bloody, sticky, shaggy liquid.

　　Looking forward and gradually moving upward, he noticed that the floor of the living room, the ceiling, the round table, the piano, and the chairs were also covered with a disgusting, sticky, blood-colored liquid with dense, short black hairs.

　　Old Neil’s florid white head hung in mid-air, connected to the ceiling by thick slime, while a pair of eyes, cold and lashless, sprouted from his forehead and cheeks respectively.

　　The keys of the piano were jumping around on their own, playing a beautiful, lilting melody.

　　”Dunn, you see, there really isn’t much wrong with me.” Old Neil said with a wide smile, “Loyal, Klein, you think so too, don’t you!”

　　As soon as he opened his mouth, Krynn saw a viscous, blood-colored liquid with short black hairs flowing from it.

　　Dunn’s gray eyes twinkled for a moment, and he made idle conversation as if it were normal:

　　”Old Neil, where did you learn about ‘life refining’ and ‘resurrection ceremony’?”

　　Old Neil replied excitedly:

　　”I heard it; I tried the first part, and it is indeed true! It was a gift from the gods, k kept telling and describing it in my ears, k was, k was ……”

　　Old Neil’s voice stuck for a moment, ten seconds or so, before he spoke again in bewilderment and fear:

　　”k is the Hidden Sage ……”

　　Hidden Sage? Wasn’t that the same impersonal deity that the Moss Ascetics believed in? And this deity, who later came to life, brought about evil and depravity …… The Moss Ascetic Order holds a complete sequence of “secret peepers” …… Klein’s mind was moved, and he thought of many things.

　　At the mention of the “Hidden Sage”, the old Neil seems to have finally come to his senses, and looked around blankly, surveying everything.

　　In an indescribable silence, he looked at Dunn with all six eyes at the same time and opened his mouth with a bitter smile:

　　”So, so I have become a monster ……”

　　Without waiting for Dunn and the others to reply, Old Neil burst into a panicked, ingratiating, fearful, timid smile:

　　”Let me go, I’ll go into the mountains and never show up again, I won’t hurt anyone, I’ll just quietly try my rituals, really, let me go, please, please.”

　　And just then, Klein only felt something illusory shatter before his eyes.

　　Immediately afterward, the old Niall’s four cold, lashless eyes flashed with an ethereal light, locking firmly on Dunn, his expression then turning indifferent:

　　”You’re pulling me into a dream!”

　　”No, it’s no use! My eyes can see through this!”

　　The blood-colored viscous liquid that covered the ceiling, floor, and walls began to wriggle, like a giant opening its mouth wide in an attempt to swallow Klein and the others whole, while the old Neil’s head became a blur, like a superimposition of heavy phantoms.

　　Instead of pulling out his revolver in a panic, Klein reached into his coat pocket, intending to use the “Sleeping Charm”.

　　Suddenly, he saw that everything had calmed down again, and the blood-colored, viscous liquid with dense black hairs was as peaceful as a windless lake.

　　Old Neil lost his expression of coldness, icy coldness, hatred, and longing, and became peaceful and serene.

　　At some point, Dunn has thrown the seal “3-0611” out, into the pile of blood-colored viscous liquid.

　　Old Neil forehead and cheeks of the four eyes without eyelashes slowly closed, seems to lack the desire to open.

　　Any creature that comes into unprotected contact with the Quiet Hair will become quiet and lose all motivation until the end of its life!

　　Dunn, Klein, and Loyal drew their guns and aimed at each other’s heads.

　　At this time, the old Neil’s face showed extreme fear and struggling look, the strong desire to survive even slightly overcame the influence of the seal “3-0611”.

　　The four extra eyes disappeared, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and around his mouth were so deep, his hair was so gray, and his dark red eyes were slightly cloudy, just like when Klein first saw him.

　　”Dunn, do you still remember that I once saved you ……”

　　”Loyal, do you remember when I helped you save your family’s lives ……”

　　”Klein, do you remember when I taught you the occult every day? Do you remember us discussing how to reimburse expenses? Remember me getting you hand-ground coffee? Remember when we dealt with out-of-control vicarious punishers together?”

　　……

　　A disembodied plea burrowed into Klein’s ears, causing a visible tremor to appear in his right hand as he gripped the revolver and making the trigger feel that much harder to pull.

　　Bang! Bang!

　　Two silver hunting bullets flew out, lodging into the old Neil’s head one after the other.

　　Klein saw that unusually familiar face show a look of despair, saw his skull lifted off the ground, and saw blood red and milky white splash out in all directions.

　　The viscous, blood-colored liquid around them began to shrink, quietly pouring back near the old Neil’s head as it fell to the ground, while Dunn and Loyal simultaneously lowered their guns and fell silent.

　　Kraven watched in silence as the old Neil’s “body” finally turned into a mass of rotting flesh, and saw a pair of pained, dark red, crystalline eyes in the flesh.

　　He felt that it was more like a dream, and couldn’t believe that it had happened just like that, just like that, it was over.

　　He watched woodenly and wordlessly as Dunn took two steps forward and saw the slightly hunched back of the captain.

　　Dunn, dressed in a black trench coat, looked ahead at the “corpse” of the old Neil and said in a deep voice to himself:

　　”We are the Guardians, but also a group of poor people who are always fighting against danger and madness.”