??Chapter 637: 636. Tribute_1
Chapter 637: 636. Tribute_1
It wasn’t until Lu Ban ntioned it that Stone and Shia suddenly rembered this matter.
If it was Mr. Bronning’s funeral, then where was his body?
Even if The Conjuring was real, it would have to start with his body, right?
Why had they ignored this all along?
Stone felt that so extraordinary power might be interfering with and influencing cognition. He stood up, feeling as if his brain was bound by sothing viscous and murky. The electrical signals in the trenches of his mind struggled to spread, as if he had been hit by a muffled blow, leaving him dazed and confused.
Once he steadied himself, Stone was certain that the cognitive manipulation exerted by so extraordinary power was gradually being undone.
It was like a drunken person’s view of the world. Although the eyes understand what they see, the brain would have various thoughts, unable to na familiar people, instead breaking into tears while embracing a stranger.
However, this cognitive manipulation pertained to sothing seemingly insignificant, so much so that they had not noticed it at all.
In everyone’s cognition, Bronning was long dead. Investigating his body was insignificant; what mattered was finding the Soul Device or inheritance that Taoist Crane Cry had left here.
But was it really unimportant?
Before his death, Bronning had maintained a youthful state. How his body was now, and whether it hid any secrets, was crucial for the advancent of their mission.
Yet the three of them subconsciously neglected Bronning’s body, even Bronning’s children had not noticed this.
At first glance, this seed to have no impact. But on second thought, using the extraordinary power to confuse cognition, just to conceal Bronning’s body, was indeed a significant problem.
Shia imdiately stood up, walked to the door, and called the old butler.
“Where is Mr. Bronning’s body?”
Faced with her question, the old butler was startled.
The expression on the old man’s face was fluctuating, as if recalling and pondering sothing all at once.
After a mont’s wait, the butler suddenly ca to his senses.
“The master’s body is in the coffin in the hall, how could I forget…” he seed to still be rebuking himself for the oversight.
“Take us to see it, Stone, you stay here to watch him,” Shia said.
“No problem,” Stone nodded. Byron certainly couldn’t just be left here; a Chosen by Gods had to watch over him.
Lu Ban and Shia followed the old butler towards the hall, and Lu Ban was surprised to find that the largest room in the house was one they had never been to before, moreover, this room was right next to the one they had first entered upon arriving at the villa.
One could say that when they first ca out of the house, following another direction led by the old butler, they could have seen the hall where the coffin was displayed.
Changes in cognition, Lu Ban had experienced many during his missions in the Foreign Domain, but this was the first ti he had encountered a slight alteration in detail that led to a major cognitive deviation.
The cognitive changes Lu Ban had experienced in the past mostly involved direct inability to recognize sothing, being stuck in a ti loop unable to grasp the truth, or visual deception of perceiving monsters as teddy bears—large-scale manipulations.
In such situations, a sense of incongruity was easy to arise as the discrepancy between reality and what was seen was too great. To cover up one lie, a thousand lies were needed, ultimately leading to cognitive deviation and the unmasking of the deception.
However, what they were encountering at Storm Villa were very subtle misdirections.
Such misdirections did not even require the use of extraordinary powers but could be achieved with certain visual and verbal trickery.
The closer they got to the hall, the more Lu Ban felt a sense of revealing anticipation for sothing.
It felt like the minutes before the results of the college entrance exam were released, and during the exam, you had several multiple-choice questions that were uncertain toss-ups, always leaving you with the impression that sothing montous was about to happen.
Turning the corner, Lu Ban saw the door to the hall. He walked in and saw a coffin.
The coffin was pure black, tightly sealed, and looked very secure. The hall was set up like a funeral hall, adorned with Mr. Bronning’s portrait.
The photo must have been taken earlier as the Mr. Bronning in it truly looked like an old man in his seventies or eighties, with a serious expression. The red candles flickered, making the hall dim. Bathed in candlelight, whatever was behind those shadows appeared elusive and inscrutable.
Lu Ban approached the coffin and, at first glance, saw nothing out of the ordinary. But upon closer inspection, everything was a problem.
“The burning of these candles wouldn’t last so many days without soone changing them,”
Shia pointed out the discrepancy.
Even the old steward had forgotten the existence of this funeral hall, naturally, no other servant would co to replace the candles. So, what was keeping these candles burning?
Lu Ban examined the burning of the candles closely and discovered that the candles did not consu any wax. They were like decorations, with only the wick in the middle constantly emitting fierce sparks. It was as if they were frozen in this segnt of ti, unable to burn down normally.
Similarly, the offerings placed in front of the spirit tablets also looked fresh, as if they had just been placed there.
Shia poked the roasted chicken with her finger and could even feel the warmth.
A daring idea erged in Shia’s mind. She grabbed the shiny chicken leg from the roast and tore it off.
“Ah, this…”
The old steward, initially intending to intervene, hesitated for a mont and then remained silent.
For so reason, this act of great disrespect to the deceased seed perfectly normal when it involved Shia.
Moreover, the steward glanced at the armor Shia was wearing and felt he definitely could not beat her, so he simply shut his mouth.
Shia tore off the chicken leg and sniffed it near her nose.
The honey-glazed roasted chicken had an oily surface, crispy skin, and tender, juicy at. Holding it in her hand, the pale flesh was as enticing as a young girl’s tender palm.
Shia took a bite of the chicken leg, and the juice contained within spread bountifully from her lips, flowing down her tongue into her throat, savory and delicious.
“Delicious,”
Shia comnted, and in no ti, gnawed the chicken leg down to the bone, not caring if the worshiped Mr. Bronning had any objections, and eyed another chicken leg hungrily.
“In my holand, the offerings are eventually consud. These items have absorbed the worship and can bring good fortune and blessings,”
Lu Ban explained to the old steward and then tore off a wing to start nibbling on it.
The old steward didn’t dare to make a sound and could only watch as Shia and Lu Ban swiftly polished off the whole chicken used as an offering, leaving them fully satisfied.
After eating, the two didn’t sit idle but started to examine the coffin.
“We need to check the body,”
Lu Ban told the old steward, adding,
“Don’t worry, we won’t eat it.”
He and Shia exchanged a glance and then lifted the coffin’s lid.
After moving aside the heavy wood, they looked inside.
The coffin was empty, devoid of a body.
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