"What … is an infant corpse?"
Although they did not know what kind of monster Ciri was talking about, the two girls still felt a little strange from the term.
"It's a monster born from an abandoned, unburied infant. It leaves its nest at night and lurks beside a pregnant woman's bed to absorb her and her child's life force. When the pregnant woman is too weak to resist, it will suck her blood until both the mother and child are dead."
"… There should be a solution to this."
Liz clenched her hands and prayed halfway through, but she did not know what to do. On the Semlia continent, there were only a few cases where ghosts appeared, and most of them were not real. As a Subordinate Knight of the Starcup Knights, Liz had a lot of combat experience, but her enemies were generally either evil people or magical beasts that wreaked havoc and attacked the people.
Liz had no idea how to deal with this curse-like monster. Perhaps holy spells would work on it?
"There's a way to lift the curse."
Fortunately, although Ciri was only a rookie demon hunter, she had received a lot of training from demon hunters, including familiarizing herself with the records of all the magical beasts on the continent. Although Hiri also complained that it was a painful training, she had to admit that the spoon-feeding method of education was quite effective at times.
"According to ancient legends, as long as the infant corpse is buried under the eaves of the house, it will transform into a housekeeping spirit that protects the family."
"What kind of principle is that …?"
Liz was confused after listening to Ciri's description. She really did not understand why the curse could be lifted by burying the infant corpse under the eaves of the house. According to Liz's understanding, when dealing with things like curses or ancient relics, shouldn't a lot of rituals or magic arrays be needed?
"Uh … I don't know. That's what the legends say."
Ciri had nothing to say in response to Liz's question. She had only learned about the infant corpse and the method to lift the curse. As for how it could be lifted … only God knew.
"In short, there are only two ways to get rid of the infant corpse. Either we kill it, or we turn it into a housekeeping spirit to lift its curse and pain. Besides, if we can successfully transform it into a housekeeping spirit, we might be able to find Madam's location through its blood connection with Mother. "
"Alright, it's decided then."
Hearing this, the Bloody Baron made up his mind.
"Then let's do it. Lift the child's curse. Consider it … a little compensation."
"Then let's set off as soon as possible."
Taking a glance at the dusk outside, Ciri stood up.
"Lord Baron, I hope you can give the order for everyone to close the door and sprinkle a thin line of salt at the door."
"Alright, no problem. Let's go now."
The Bloody Baron slapped his thigh and stood up abruptly. At that moment, Ciri, who was about to leave, suddenly thought of something and turned around to look at the baron.
"Oh, right. Lord Baron, do you want a round of Gwent?"
"…"
What did you say?
Fangzheng, Rize, and Miao Jie were dumbfounded. Young lady, didn't you just say that time was of the essence? What cards are you playing? Besides, the baron is still sad about this. Is it appropriate for you to say this now?
However, to the trio's surprise, the gloomy Bloody Baron's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard Ciri's question.
"Of course, I'm Valen's famous Gwent card expert. Come, come, if you defeat me, I'll give you a special card!"
"That's a deal!"
"…"
The two happily sat back down at the table, took out two sets of cards from their pockets, and started playing. Fangzheng, Rize, and Miao Jie were completely dumbfounded.
"… Mr. Fangzheng, what should we do now?"
Miao Jie blinked and asked in surprise. Even though this noble lady was extremely intelligent, she did not know how to react to the situation before her. They had just said that the situation was urgent and they had to leave immediately, but now they were playing cards in front of them … Didn't they say they were in a hurry?
"What else can we do? Wait."
Fangzheng spread his hands helplessly. The two main characters were not in a hurry at all, so what else could they do?
With no other choice, he and the two girls watched Ciri and the Bloody Baron play cards.
After watching for a while, Fangzheng gradually understood the rules of the game. To put it bluntly, it was a competition of points. It was simple, crude, and straightforward. Each person would draw ten cards from the pile, then use these cards to increase their points. Whoever had the highest number of points would win. It was best of three. It was a game that tested one's brain.
Fortunately, this was not a game of mahjong, so they did not have to go to the Southwind Arena. After more than ten minutes, Ciri won. The Bloody Baron also gave her a card. After the two finished playing, the atmosphere became much more harmonious. They then went out again.
Soon, the sky turned dark.
Under the Bloody Baron's order, everyone in the crow's nest shut their doors. Although they did not know what was going on, the Bloody Baron was the local tyrant here. Everyone had no choice but to obey his orders.
But the night was not very good. Accompanied by the whistling wind, dark clouds covered the sky, making it look gloomy. The Bloody Baron brought the four of them to an old house not far away. According to him, he was afraid of being discovered, so he hurriedly ran out, dug a hole here, and buried the baby.
"Look, it's over there …."
As he spoke, the Bloody Baron stretched out his hand and pointed not far away. Then, he froze.
There was only a big hole dug out on the ground. There was no corpse in it!!
"What … What's going on?"
Seeing this, the Bloody Baron was dumbfounded and did not know what to say. Could it be that someone followed him and secretly dug out the baby?
And just as he was feeling bewildered, he saw Fangzheng sweep his surroundings before retracting his gaze.
"Oh, he's here."
"Huh?"
Everyone was stunned when they heard Fangzheng's words. Then, they saw a black shadow crawling out of the broken wall not far away and appearing in front of them.
"Hiss …."
After seeing the true face of the black shadow in front of her, Liz took a deep breath and stepped back. Miao Jie hurriedly hid behind Fangzheng. Although she tried to remain calm, Fangzheng could feel that her arm, which was holding his sleeve, was trembling slightly. It could be said that this noble lady, who always had an elegant smile on her face, was really scared at this moment.
But that was normal, because no ordinary person would be able to remain calm when they saw something in front of them.
What appeared in front of everyone was a baby covered in blood. It looked like a newborn, but its body was swollen, and it was about the size of a medium-sized dog. Not only that, but when the baby opened its mouth, they could see a sharp tongue sticking out from it, and it kept shaking.
"F- Mr. Fangzheng, w-what should we do?"
Liz asked in a trembling voice. If it weren't for Fangzheng, this Miss Nun would have thrown a bunch of holy magic at the baby. Even though she had encountered countless zombies and mutant monsters in the Resident Evil world, the scene in front of her still made her nauseous. Because this was a monster that had been transformed from a baby!!
"How would I know? Ask Hiri."
Fangzheng shrugged and looked at Hiri. The latter was also a little stunned by the scene in front of her, but after hearing Fangzheng's voice, she immediately reacted and turned to the Bloody Baron.
"Quick, go and pick it up."
"I-I'll go and pick it up? Won't that make it angry? "
Hearing Hiri's words, the Bloody Baron was taken aback.
"It's not angry yet, but if you dilly-dally any longer, it will. Hurry up."
"Ah, okay …."
Hearing Hiri's urging, the Bloody Baron nodded.
"By the way, what will happen if it gets angry halfway?"
"It'll tear your neck and suck all your blood …. I'm not sure if I can stop it in time."
"Ugh …."
Hearing this, the Bloody Baron's face suddenly turned pale. He stared at the undead baby in front of him and hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he still stepped forward and reached out his hands to lift it up like he was holding a real child.
Seeing this, Liz and Miao Jie's expressions softened a little. After all, after learning that the Bloody Baron had abused his wife, they did not have a good impression of him. After all, in their opinion, it was too much for a man to beat his wife in a drunken stupor. Although the other party was in the wrong in the first place, he should not be tortured like this.
But now that the Bloody Baron knew that he could be killed by the undead baby, he still gritted his teeth and picked it up. From this point of view, he was not really a bad person.
Then, the group of people surrounded the Bloody Baron and walked back. Along the way, the Bloody Baron kept holding the undead baby high. Although it struggled occasionally, he did not let go at all. Of course, this was also thanks to Fangzheng. Although he did not make a move, he still paid a little attention to the undead baby. Every time the undead baby was about to go berserk, Fangzheng would calm it down.
But there was no need to say too much. After all, as Fangzheng said before, apart from helping Hiri solve the problem, he also wanted his students to gain more experience. As the saying goes, reading a thousand books is not as good as walking a thousand miles. Letting Miao Jie and Liz experience it firsthand would also give them some experience and ideas.
After all, they had to hand in 3,000 words of experience when they got back.
It did not take long for them to return to the gate of the castle. At this moment, the Bloody Baron was holding the undead baby in his arms and looking at it with a complicated expression. The undead baby still looked like an ET. It had a huge head, a mouth full of sharp teeth, and a pair of big eyes that made it look like an alien. At this moment, the baron hugged it and didn't know what to do.
"Repeat after me."
Hiri glanced at the Bloody Baron and said in a low voice.
"With the power of the earth and the sky, with the world that was supposed to be your home. The child that came to me, but I did not accept you, please forgive me. "
"With the power of the earth and the sky …"
The Bloody Baron repeated Hiri's words. The more he read, the more sorrowful he looked. When he said "please forgive me", this seemingly strong man was already crying.
"Thy name is … Tia. I accept you as my daughter."
When the Bloody Baron finished reciting the incantation, the undead baby raised its thick hands as if it wanted to touch its father, but the next moment, it suddenly drooped down like a puppet with a broken string. It no longer responded as if it was dead.
"Now … let's bury it."
"…"
As Hiri spoke, the Bloody Baron placed the undead baby in the hole at the doorstep and buried it.
"I don't think … he's a bad person."
Seeing this scene, Lissi had mixed feelings. She could tell that the Bloody Baron was truly saddened by the death of this child. He really loved his child. If the child had been born, perhaps this man would have held her gently, teased her, and brought her a smile.
"He was a good father, but not a good husband."
Fangzheng shrugged. Miao Jie sighed but did not say anything.
"What do we do now?"
After burying the undead baby, the Bloody Baron looked at Hiri again.
"Tia should turn into a housekeeping elf in a day and a night. When that time comes, we can summon her and ask her to take us to the madam," said Hiri.
Ciri said as she looked at the Baron.
"Go back and rest. There's nothing else to do here."
"But, that's my daughter, my child … I want to wait with you all …"
Faced with Ciri's advice, the Bloody Baron was at a loss, while Fangzheng shook his head.
"You won't be of any help even if you stay here. If you're really sad about this, take this as a warning … Drink less in the future. No matter what, excessive drinking is not good for your health."
"… Alright."
The Bloody Baron nodded, turned around, and left. Fangzheng and the others looked at the small grave in silence.
"What's next?"
"All we have to do is wait."
Hiri looked at the grave and sighed.
"If the legend is correct, Tia will become a housekeeping elf in a day."
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