1502 Sister Yan Qiu
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
Brianca did indeed know an Undead Mage in the Holy Judgment Court. She reached out and called the Undead Mage, who was in charge of scrolls, over. The old man walked back and forth in front of Yuria’s grave and said, “I heard her voice many times. She’s calm and sincere, unlike most of the souls. She did not display any strong hatreds, nor was she clinging to her past life…”
Heidi and Brianca were startled by the old man’s words. Did that mean Yuria’s soul had always been around this little grave?
“Don’t worry, she didn’t turn into a vengeful spirit,” the old man rea.s.sured them.
“So she has rested in peace here?” Heidi asked.
The old man shook his head and said, “I remember she was still here last month, but she’s gone now. If her soul left, judging from her serenity, she might eventually return to the Alps, but it’s strange that her corpse isn’t under here, too.”
Heidi and Brianca s.h.i.+fted their gaze to Mo Fan. It was just as he had mentioned: someone had dug the grave up! Yuria’s corpse was no longer around!
“Did she leave by herself?” Mo Fan asked.
“No, I already told you, she didn’t turn into an undead. Besides, this is the Holy Judgment Court, a place protected by holy spirits. No dead person could possibly become undead here, regardless of how strong they were. Even their souls would rest in peace in no time,” the old man said.
The old man left after answering their questions. He was obviously not interested in the owner of the grave. The peaceful spirit of the woman would occasionally be sitting quietly on the icy cliff when he pa.s.sed by late at night…
“Someone took her corpse,” Mo Fan said.
“What kind of demented person would do a thing like that!?” Heidi said furiously.
Heidi was even more impressed by her senior sister after learning about the truth of her death. She was thinking of visiting her grave on behalf of Miss Ceylan, but she did not expect it to come down to something like this!
“That’s strange! Only a few people knew Yuria was buried here. Even the name on her tombstone was replaced with the name of her favorite flower, considering how sensitive the incident before was. It’s unlikely anyone knew she was buried here!” Brianca was utterly confused.
“Is it possible to track her body? The person that stole her corpse surely has some ulterior motives!” Heidi said.
“There’s no way we can track the person down now. We don’t even understand what’s going on!” Mo Fan shook his head.
It was impossible for them to retrieve the dead body. There were no other traces, apart from the sign that the soil was dug up recently. Even the old man’s Undead Element would struggle to find any trace of Yuria’s corpse!
—
It was nothing they could do anything about, so the three returned to the Hall of Deities. Heidi and Brianca were so troubled by the discovery that they had lost the mood to enjoy breakfast. They were planning to report this back to Ceylan and Headmistress Perry, but Mo Fan doubted it would make any difference regardless…
Was Yuria’s corpse related to some other secrets?, Mo Fan wondered to himself.
However, the timing did not make any sense. Izisha and Edith would not know where Yuria was buried. Brianca strongly insisted that only three people knew where Yuria’s grave was. in addition, Yuria’s corpse had gone missing one or two months ago, indicating that the two incidents were not related.
If they were related, they might still have a chance to track Yuria’s corpse down through Edith. They could visit Headmistress Perry to see if there were any other secrets related to Yuria. However, if the two incidents were not related at all, they would have no clue on where to start. It was possible that some deviant Undead Mage had taken the corpse away when they pa.s.sed by the area!
——
The day of Mo Fan’s trial soon arrived. The outcome was no surprise: Mo Fan was found not guilty and was released. Both the Heresy Judgment Court and Holy Judgment Court were unable to prove that Mo Fan was the demon. As a result, they could not prove the Golden Sun Knight had died to Mo Fan, either.
The Parthenon Temple was in such a great mess, it felt like a revolution. Izisha’s old subordinates had killed lots of people behind the scenes to get rid of her enemies. If anyone was the demon, Izisha was truly the one, even though she did not actually do anything as she was lying inside her coffin…
“Things were a lot simpler than I imagined!” Zhao Manyan patted Mo Fan on the shoulder in congratulations.
“It was only simple for my side,” Mo Fan replied.
Mo Fan was not relieved that he had been released so easily after learning Izisha’s true goal. She had only used him for her plan. Not only did she deliver a great blow to the rival Alps Inst.i.tute, she had also established a friendly relations.h.i.+p with the strongest clan in Europe. It was extremely important for her future chances for the role of the G.o.ddess!
“Shouldn’t you be happy that nothing happened? Do you really want the Holy Judgment Court to continue with the investigation?” Zhao Manyan said.
“By the way, where did Mu Bai go?” Mo Fan asked.
“How would I know!?”
—
To the west of the Holy Judgment Court stood a finely detailed wooden mansion. Beside it was a huge hot spring, a rarity on the snowy mountain. Tall walls of ice had surrounded it, forming a perfect place to relax.
“Our young duke is inside, you shouldn’t be disturbing his rest!” the henchman in the red outfit said.
“Perfect timing. I wanted to know if he was doing well or not, too,” Mu Bai said as he went inside. The henchman tried to stop him, but he was a little hesitant since they were currently on the Holy Judgment Court’s territory instead of on their private lands. Any guest of the Holy Judgment Court was allowed to use its facilities!
“You better stay away from the young duke!” the henchman warned him.
“Mm, I’ll enjoy my bath… by the way, is the woman taking care of your young duke from the Rhines?” Mu Bai asked.
“How did you know?” the henchman blurted out, but he soon realized he had accidentally spilled the beans. He said, “Do you have some ulterior motives? I’m telling you, if you dare to harbor any evil intentions toward our young duke, we’ll kill you right on the spot, even if we are currently in the Holy Judgment Court’s territory!”
Mu Bai ignored the warning. He proceeded to change his clothes and picked a spot where the angry henchman could not see him. He observed Herr Casa from the distance and the woman in her thirties who was serving him.
She had an Asian face, and was mature and pretty, but Mu Bai did not feel comfortable after seeing how respectful she was toward Herr Casa.
“I’ll change the towel for you,” the woman said.
Herr Casa was laying in the hot spring, no longer under the poison and the Curse, and had fully recovered . He glanced at the maid indifferently.
The woman walked towards the cabin, and happened to pa.s.s by Mu Bai’s seat. Mu Bai was staring at her from the moment she walked toward him and as she came closer.
“I’m Mu Bai. I’m from Bo City… Xiyi is my mother,” Mu Bai said loudly as she pa.s.sed.
The woman did not pay any attention at first. However, she immediately came to a stop and looked at Mu Bai in surprise when he mentioned his mother’s name!
However, the woman seemed quite intimidated by Herr Casa and the henchman. She continued on her way, but when she pa.s.sed by Mu Bai, she said to him with a soft voice that only the two of them could hear, “Come here when the clock strikes at midnight.”
Mu Bai was relieved when the woman responded to him. However, he could tell how strong the grudge Herr Casa had toward him, Mo Fan, and the others was, seeing how cautious she was. Herr Casa might pick on her if he knew the relations.h.i.+p between her and Mu Bai.
Mu Bai was more than smart enough to say nothing further.
—
—
The snow was falling even heavier that night. It sounded like the heavy chimes of the clock tower had almost frozen.
The chimes echoed across the sky. A pet.i.te figure hurriedly headed toward the deserted hot spring. She would occasionally look back in an extremely cautious manner.
Mu Bai saw someone pus.h.i.+ng the door to the hot spring open. He smiled when he saw it was the woman that had been serving Herr Casa so humbly.
She was most likely the only person he had been missing in the world. Mu Bai had sworn he would pay her a visit when he saw the stars in the sky on Kunlun Mountain.
Mu Bai was still very young, so he only had a blurred impression of his sister. He could not even remember what she looked like; he only knew she was brought to a huge renowned clan in Switzerland. They had kept in contact with letters for a few years at first, but he completely lost contact with her afterward. Mu Bai was worried that something might have happened to her. However, he was relieved when he realized that the woman was indeed his sister, and she was unharmed.
“Sister Yan Qiu,” Mu Bai went up to the woman. He was extremely excited to see her.
“Is it really you, Xiao Bai?” Yan Qiu quickly went up to Mu Bai in disbelief.
“Yes, it’s me!” Mu Bai nodded.
“I thought I was dreaming? Where’s mother? Is she here too?” Yan Qiu was extremely excited. She was grabbing Mu Bai so strongly that he was hurting a little.
“Mother has already pa.s.sed away,” Mu Bai told her softly.
Yan Qiu was stunned. Her face immediately filled with sorrow.
After a long time, Yan Qiu calmed down. She said guiltily, “I should have gone and visited her. It has been so many years…”
“Why didn’t you write to us for so long?” Mu Bai asked.
“Since I started serving the young duke, they have not allowed me to write letters to anyone, in order to prevent me from leaking information that will put the Casas in an unfavorable situation,” Yan Qiu explained.
“How unreasonable are these people? Sister, I know Herr Casa is far from a good man. You shouldn’t stay by his side any longer. Come with me… we’re going back to our homeland. I’ll take good care of you!” Mu Bai was hoping that she would accept his suggestion. After all, she was his sister. Even though they were not related by blood, he would still protect her with everything he had!
“I’m afraid I can’t make the decision for myself. Mu Bai, I know you care about me. You have grown up and become an impressive Mage. I’m so proud of you, but the Casas have always been like this, especially Herr Casa; he doesn’t like other people disturbing him… Don’t worry about me. In a few years’ time, he will find someone younger than me to serve him. Isn’t it better if I go back home then?” Yan Qiu stroked Mu Bai’s cheek with a smile on her face.
“I’m not scared of them,” Mu Bai said firmly.
“It’s not about being scared or not. It’s just unnecessary to provoke them. Listen to your sister, we’ll keep it this way. Don’t tell anyone about me. If Herr Casa learns, he’s going to pick on me and not let me leave ever. Your two friends are quite reckless, so don’t tell them about me, either. I can leave when the time comes, so there’s no need to stir up any trouble,” Yan Qiu said seriously.
“Oh, alright,” Mu Bai nodded, agreeing with Yan Qiu’s words.