Chapter 543 Waiting for the dog
Duanmu Huai didn't find any useful clues in his ancestor's bedroom. This is normal. It was more than a hundred years ago, and many people have lived here since then. If there is anything useful, It's not Duanmuhuai's turn to search. At least on the surface, there are no clues here.
But Duanmu Huai doesn't care. The clues are mainly used to improve the task evaluation. If you can find the best ones, you won't look for them if you can't find them.
After all, he didn't come here to find any clues.
"…………You want to live in the yard?"
It has to be said that when the old housekeeper heard Duanmu Huai's request, he was shocked.
"Please don't do that, sir, we have enough rooms..."
"Is this a problem with the guest room?"
Duanmuhuai waved his hand and interrupted the old housekeeper's speech.
"We are here because of the devil dog. Don't you think that the dog will knock on the door and then get into the house? It is only easy to catch it outside. If it is inside the house, That’s not so easy.”
"But...that's what I said..."
The old housekeeper also had to admit that Duanmu Huai's words did make sense, but the problem was...
"Where are you going to live?"
"Whatever, it's best to have a good view, shelter from wind and rain, and a place where you can see the yard at a glance."
"This... we do have a cabin where the caretaker lives in the forest..."
"There it is."
What the old butler was talking about was a small house located on the back hill of Baskerville Manor. It was halfway up the mountain and had a panoramic view of the entire manor. Originally this was a place to protect the mountains and forests, and was also home to hunters. But after what happened before, no one dares to live here anymore. For Duanmu Huai, this place is just right.
However...the next few days were peaceful.
"What a ghost."
Sitting in front of the window, looking at the dark mountains and forests outside, Duanmu Huai couldn't help but want to complain. He finally wanted to do something, but the dog didn't come? Could it be that he was frightened and ran away before? It shouldn’t be...
To be honest, Duanmu Huai has not been idle these days. He goes out for a walk in the mountains and forests every night, but he doesn't even encounter a ghost. There was no good news from Lorena's side, except that the lady seemed to have relaxed a lot because of someone's company during this period. As for the devil dog or something... she definitely hadn't encountered it.
I don’t want to stay here for a year and a half...
While stroking the black cat and white rabbit in his arms, Duanmu Huai also complained. The Baskerville family hopes that they can stay here. Anyway, their family has a lot of money. If they can hire someone to protect this manor all the time, it is nothing to them to spend a little money. But Duanmu Huai obviously doesn't have so much time to waste.
It's impossible to really stay here for a year and a half.
In this case…………
"Let's go, Suzume, let's go out for a while!"
Thinking of this, Duanmuhuai also stood up, opened the door of the wooden house again, and walked out.
It was already late at night, and because of the dark clouds, the moonlight could not shine into the forest, and the entire forest was dark. But for Duanmu Huai, this was obviously a minor problem. He held a flashlight and strode through the forest, making a series of footsteps. It was obvious that Duanmu Huai was luring prey into taking the bait. If the devil dog was really lurking in the forest, it would be impossible for it to let him go.
Although he thought so,...it had been going around for several days, but Duanmu Huai didn't find even a single dog hair.
"It doesn't make sense???"
Walking in the forest, Duanmu Huai was speechless. If you are so arrogant, why doesn't that devil dog come out to die? You can't really allow yourself to urinate to mark your territory, right? Or is this guy going somewhere else again?
"Meow meow!"
Just when Duanmu Huai was thinking, he saw the black cat that had been lying in his pocket suddenly poked its head out and barked into the distance. Hearing the meow of the black cat, Duanmu Huai was stunned for a moment, then turned his head and looked to the other side.
Could it be that this guy went somewhere else?
………………In short, just go and have a look and you will know.
"Crash!"
Hot water poured down from the shower head and enveloped the girl's body. Mary took a deep breath, then lowered her head and soaked her body in the bathtub.
The guest room in Xia Li's house is larger than the apartment she rented in Fog City. Not only that, but the bathroom is also... But I'm used to it. Anyway, being able to soak your whole body in the bathtub is still a very special thing. Something comfortable. Charlie seems to be fine and recovering smoothly. In this case......
"Crash."
However, at this moment, Mary suddenly heard something sound coming from outside the window, which made her stunned. She quickly raised her head and looked towards the window.
"Who is it?"
“……………………”
There was silence outside, with only the sound of the night wind blowing through the forest. Could it be that the leaves were hanging on the window?
“……………………”
Recalling that Donna had warned them that there might be wild beasts in the mountains, Mary also became nervous. She hurriedly wiped her hair, changed her clothes, walked out of the bathroom, came to the window, and looked out carefully. The forest outside was dark, with only a few dim street lights illuminating the nearby ground near the mansion. But under the dim streetlight, everything around seemed darker.
Maybe I just heard it wrong.
Thinking of this, Mary shook her head, then turned around to leave. However, at this moment, she suddenly heard a rapid knock on the door.
"Dong dong dong, dong dong dong."
"Who is it?"
"Yes, it's me, Ashay..."
"Axie??"
Hearing her friend's voice, Mary was stunned for a moment, but she still came to the bedroom door and opened the door. Then Mary saw her friend, the petite and cute Ashelika, standing at the door with a pale face, uneasy. looked at her.
"What's wrong? What happened? Ashay?"
"I.........I don't know..."
Ashelika looked a little nervous.
"I just seemed to see something scary outside...just outside the window, there seemed to be some monster..."
"Monster??"
Hearing what Ashelika said, Mary couldn't help but feel her heart skip a beat. Maybe for Ashelika, this was just an illusion, but for Mary... this was not something that could be laughed off.
"Where is it? Take me to see it."
"Hmm..."
Ashelika nodded, and then took Mary to her room—her room was right next door to Mary, and it also had a bedroom and bathroom design. At least from the outside, there isn't much difference between this place and Mary's room. Ashelika took Mary into her room, and then pointed to the window uneasily.
"Just now, A Xie was about to do his homework after taking a shower. Suddenly, he heard a strange sound coming from outside. Then A Xie looked up and saw what seemed like a scary monster jumping out of the window. ...Although Ah Xie also felt that he might have seen it wrong..."
"…………"
Mary took the flashlight and came to the window and looked outside, but she still couldn't see anything. Under the dark window, only the slightly pale faces of the two girls and a ray of light were reflected.
"Maybe you saw it wrong."
Mary looked out the window carefully, then turned back to look at Ashelika, showing a smile. "Don't worry, Ah Xie, I think it's just an illusion. You may have seen the shadow of the light or something and mistaken it for..."
"Roar————!!"
However, before Mary could finish her words, suddenly, a low roar came from outside. It was obviously not a human voice, but more like the roar of some kind of terrifying monster. This also surprised both Mary and Ashelika. Mary quickly turned her head and looked out the window again - however, she still saw nothing.
So she reached out without hesitation, opened the window, and leaned her whole body out.
"Mary, Mary, be careful!"
Ashelika was even more shocked when she saw her friend's bold move. She even ran to Mary's side regardless of her fear, stretched out her hand and grabbed her clothes.
"………………"
However, Mary looked carefully around the outside, but still found nothing.
"No, is there nothing?"
"Ugh...I didn't see anything..."
Mary shook her head and closed the window again. At this moment, Ashelika grabbed Mary's pajamas uneasily and stared at her.
"Mary, why don't you and I sleep together tonight?"
"Okay."
Mary was not surprised by Ashelika's request. After all, Ashelika was still young, and... the voice just now did not sound like an unexpected rumor. Although he didn't know what was going on, he still let Ashelika sleep with him just to be on the safe side.
The reason why he didn't tell Xia Li was because after all, Xia Li was also recuperating, and it would not be good to disturb her for such a frivolous matter.
Soon, Ashelika packed up her things and followed Mary out of the room. However, just as Mary was leaving the room, she suddenly saw a black shadow swaying suddenly on the wall in the corner of her eye, which made Mary suddenly panic. Stunned, he subconsciously turned his head and looked behind him.
However, it was still dark outside the window and nothing could be seen. Mary stared at the darkness outside the window. She didn't know why, but she always had a bad feeling, as if something in this darkness was staring at her fiercely, as if it would emerge from the next moment. Jump out of the darkness, break the glass, and...
"…………Mary?"
The sound of Ashelika's voice brought Mary back to her senses.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, let's go."
After gathering her mind, Mary glanced at the dark forest outside the window again, then withdrew her gaze and left the room with Ashelika.
"Tch, is it too late?"
Standing deep in the forest, looking at the mansion not far away below, Duanmuhuai smacked his lips. He stretched out his hand and grabbed the tree trunk next to him - he saw that the tree trunk, which was several meters thick, was leaving a mark that seemed to have been torn apart by the claws of some kind of monster. It's a pity that Duanmuhuai seemed to have arrived a step too late. The monster seemed to have noticed his approach and had escaped long ago.
"It's really troublesome, I'm not good at this."
Duanmuhuai stretched out his hand, knocked on the tree trunk next to him, and sighed helplessly. Compared to tracking, he is actually better at waiting for the enemy. Duanmu Huai is not afraid that the enemy will not come, but is afraid that they will go around him. Just like the monster now, it is obvious that it can detect the presence of Duanmuhuai, so it will slip away early before Duanmuhuai arrives. This is actually normal, just like a tiger and a fox in the mountains. The latter will not be stupid enough to jump directly into the tiger's face.
But if it didn't pounce directly on Duanmuhuai's face, it would be very difficult for Duanmuhuai to catch such a monster in the deep mountains and old forests.
Just like just now, Ling Nu had already warned, and Duan Muhuai also arrived in the shortest possible time. But the monster seemed to be aware of the approaching danger, and turned around and ran away without hesitation, not even a moment's hesitation. This is enough to make Duanmuhuai almost mad. If it only stays a few more times, Duanmuhuai will have barbecue to eat tonight.
From this point of view, this thing looks more like an animal than a monster. Subspace creatures like Void Ghost will come out and try to commit suicide even if they encounter danger in such a thing. Only animals have no dignity and run away when in danger without worrying about any strange reactions.
This was the case with this monster. It sensed Duanmu Huai's aura and knew that the opponent was very powerful and couldn't beat it, so it turned around and ran away without feeling embarrassed at all.
But this is Duanmuhuai's biggest headache.
But fortunately... this guy is not without any weaknesses. Monsters have their own methods of dealing with monsters, and animals have their own methods... After all, when humans capture prey, most of them don't directly attack them, right?
At least for now, I still have bait to use.
Thinking of this, Duanmuhuai once again glanced at the foreign mansion not far away and withdrew his gaze.
For now, that's it.
Time passed day by day, and for Mary and others, that night seemed to be just an accident. After all, they never encountered a similar situation again after that. Christmas day was gradually approaching, and the people in the small town... The festive atmosphere gradually began to become stronger, as if the previous riots caused by the devil dogs did not exist. Lanterns were lit on the streets, people hung up parasols outside their doors, and decorated Christmas trees.
And Xia Li and others also received an unexpected invitation.
"Baroness Baskerville invites us to Christmas dinner?"
Looking at the invitation in her hand, Mary was obviously quite surprised.
"Yes, I plan to go to the banquet. In any case, this is also the territory of the Baron Baskerville family. I am taken care of here, so I naturally want to say thank you."
"But Charlie, your body..."
"Don't worry, Mary."
Hearing her friend's uneasy inquiry, Charlie smiled slightly.
"I know my health very well. Isn't it getting better and better recently? And the other party also said that it is just a private banquet and not many people will attend."
"I don't think there's anything wrong with going there. It wouldn't be bad if we all have a lively Christmas together."
Ashelica also raised her hands happily and agreed, while Mary also glanced at Axie and nodded. Of course she understood what Ashay meant. Logically speaking, Christmas was a day for family reunions. But no one came to Charlie to congratulate her. Although she and Asherika were there, she might still feel a little lonely. If we were to attend the Baskerville family's Christmas party, maybe... hmm?
Baskerville?
Speaking of which, had I heard this name from Mr. Duanmu before?
Remember that before he left, Mr. Duanmu seemed to have received a commission from the Baskerville family? ?
There won't be any problem.
"What's wrong? Mary?"
"Ah, nothing."
When she heard her friend's question, Mary quickly shook her head. She actually didn't hear about the specific situation from Duanmuhuai, but she heard that it seemed to be related to the legend of the Baskerville Devil Dog... Maybe she would meet Mr. Duanmu at the Baroness's place?
If that's the case, then ask him what's going on then.
Late at night, the blizzard got worse.
The lively festive atmosphere in the town did not have any impact on the hut on the mountain. Duanmuhuai sat at the table, gnawing on the turkey and looking at the howling snowstorm outside. Since yesterday, the blizzard has gotten bigger and bigger, covering the entire land and forest in a blanket of silver.
There was nothing unusual on Lorena's side, and she said that the lady had already started organizing the Christmas party... Well, it was somewhat understandable, after all, she was the only one left now, and if it wasn't more lively, she would probably die of loneliness. But this has nothing to do with Duanmu Huai. He doesn't plan to attend any dinner, and he has an instinct that the monster may appear again in the next two days.
"Hoo————!!"
The snowstorm intensified again, and at the same time, the black cat that was lying next to him and eating a turkey suddenly turned over and jumped up. It turned its head and stared out the window, and at the same time let out a low groan.
"Meow————! Meow————!!"
"Huh?"
Seeing Ling Nu's reaction, Duanmu Huai quickly tensed up his nerves. He raised his head and looked out the window - he saw a dark shadow flashing past in the forest in the distance under the howling snowstorm. .
Seeing this scene, Duanmuhuai suddenly narrowed his eyes.
Got you!
(End of chapter)