novelraw Chapter 245: The Silent Manor
Chapter 245: The Silent Manor
The old investigator, already on the verge of collapse, turned deathly pale upon hearing the codename of that legendary UMA. His body swayed unsteadily, and he nearly fainted.
After a brief moment of shock, a fighting spirit belonging to a top-tier hunter ignited in Ethan's eyes.
The unknown is always the most terrifying.
Once an enemy bares its fangs and reveals its name, it is no longer a "ghost," but prey that can be analyzed, tracked, and hunted!
"That old man Henderson sure knows how to arrange things." Ethan's tone regained its composure and confidence. "Getting to warm up with a Town-class 'appetizer' before heading to North America isn't too bad."
This time, Lin Jie did not rush for quick success as he had in the past.
The disastrous defeat in Egypt was a brand seared into his heart, making him deeply understand the crucial importance of intelligence and preparation in a hunt.
Facing a Physical Hunter like the Tongue-Ripper, renowned for its speed and stealth, any underestimation or recklessness was tantamount to suicide.
Lin Jie rejected the local branch's long-outdated map of the manor grounds and ignored the old investigator's various subjective conjectures based on fear rather than fact.
The first thing he did was to have Ethan do what he was best at."Use money. Smash it open."
After listening to Lin Jie's entire plan, a pleasant smile with a distinctly "capitalist" flavor appeared on Ethan's face.
Early the next morning, a joint scientific expedition team formed by the "Royal Geographical Society" and the "Redgrave Mining Exploration Company" made a high-profile entrance into the Sintra Mountains on the outskirts of Lisbon.
They quickly purchased a large tract of land on the periphery of Don Almeida's Silent Manor, then rapidly established a heavily guarded temporary camp under the pretext of "conducting geological surveys for rare mineral veins."
Tall barbed wire fences were erected, hung with warning signs reading "Private Property, No Trespassing."
Dozens of "private security personnel" composed of former British Royal Marines soldiers began patrolling the manor's perimeter around the clock, armed with live ammunition.
They drove away all journalists, the curious, and local police attempting to approach.
In less than half a day, Ethan used his formidable "power of money" to create a private, undisturbed hunting ground for the upcoming hunt.
Meanwhile, Lin Jie used this time to immerse himself in intelligence analysis and tactical planning within a canvas tent at the survey camp.
Spread out on the table before him was an architectural blueprint. This was the most original and accurate version of the manor, which Ethan had used his connections to retrieve from the highest archives of the city hall.
Every room, every corridor, every window, even every hidden underground drainage channel and ventilation pipe in the manor was precisely marked.
Lin Jie held a red charcoal pencil, slowly sketching on the blueprint.
"According to Karl's records, although the Tongue-Ripper has no vision, its hearing and sense of smell are extremely sharp." Lin Jie's voice sounded in the quiet tent as he explained his tactical thinking to Ethan beside him.
"It can hear a mouse's heartbeat from hundreds of meters away and track prey through lingering scents in the air."
"So we can't passively wait for its attack like we did in the past."
"We must actively set up a 'feast' it cannot refuse."
His charcoal pencil pressed down forcefully, drawing a red circle on the location of the "ballroom" on the manor's first floor—the largest room with the most windows, directly connected to the exterior gardens.
"This will be our stage."
"There are quite a few pillars and chandeliers around the ballroom, allowing us to set up fishing nets in advance."
"And the several main corridors leading here can be used to set up tripwires."
"The most crucial part is this."
Lin Jie's finger pointed to the small raised platform in the center of the ballroom, originally meant for the band.
"Here, will be the final position for the bait."
Watching the complex markings of traps and killing intent Lin Jie had drawn on the blueprint, Ethan revealed genuine admiration.
This young Eastern man before him had grown into a Master possessing excellent tactical thinking and a strategic overview!
Nightfall slowly descended, cloaking the entire Sintra Mountains in darkness.
Lin Jie and Ethan, the two fully armed hunters, silently infiltrated the deathly silent manor that had been quiet for a week.
The manor was in utter disarray.
A heavy, sour stench and the smell of blood hung in the air, yet there was no trace of any corpses.
Moonlight filtered through dust-covered stained-glass windows, casting mottled light and shadow onto overturned expensive furniture and scattered silverware on the floor, creating an eerie atmosphere.
Ethan subconsciously tightened his grip on the two pistols, [Morning Star] and [Evening Star], at his waist. He could feel his own heartbeat sounding unnaturally loud in the deathly silence.
Lin Jie, however, appeared very calm.
He crouched down, put on a pair of thin leather gloves, and began meticulously examining every detail on the floor with a rigorous attitude.
"No bloodstains, just as the report said." His voice was soft but enunciated clearly. "Not a single drop of blood was found on the floor, the walls, or even on these overturned pieces of furniture."
"That doesn't make sense." Ethan responded in a hushed voice. "The dossier says Don Almeida's body was completely drained of blood. No matter how clean that UMA's feeding method is, it couldn't possibly achieve that level."
"Unless," Lin Jie's fingertip lightly traced a tiny slit torn by a sharp object on the carpet, "it didn't feed here."
His gaze slowly swept over the chaotic front hall.
"Look at the direction these pieces of furniture fell," he pointed to an overturned Louis XIV-style armchair, "and the pattern of these scattered silverware. Although their scattering appears chaotic, they ultimately all point in the same direction."
His finger finally pointed towards the deepest part of the manor.
"One could say, an invisible 'wind' blew from that direction, 'overturning' everything in its path."
"Wind?" Ethan frowned, unable to comprehend Lin Jie's seemingly "mystical" deduction.
"Yes, wind." Lin Jie stood up, his eyes sharp. "A 'wind' generated by extreme speed."
He began reconstructing the "crime scene" in his mind.
"Imagine it, Ethan." His voice was low and guiding. "That UMA's target was something within this manor that attracted it."
"So it burst in from the darkness, charging towards its target in a direct, brutal, straight line!"
"Its extreme speed generated powerful air currents, creating a force that overturned everything blocking its path!"
This vivid deduction sent a shiver down Ethan's spine.
"...Then," Ethan's tone was somewhat dry, "what was its true target for this trip?"
"The answer should lie at the endpoint of that 'wind.'"
Lin Jie's gaze pierced through the darkness, locking onto the end of the corridor leading to the manor's deepest recesses.
This discovery confirmed one of Lin Jie's conjectures.
This Tongue-Ripper's action logic was simple, direct, and brutal, displaying the efficiency unique to beasts.
And what they had to do was exploit this instinct.
The two men hesitated no longer. Following the route planned during the day, they moved straight through the chaotic front hall and dusty corridors towards the study at the manor's deepest point.
That was where Don Almeida had died last.
It was also where the entire tragedy began.
The study door was slightly ajar, its hinges letting out a piercing, grating "creak" due to the damp air.
Ethan took the lead, cautiously raising his gun and peering inside.
The study was similarly in disarray.
Many precious, leather-bound, gold-embossed ancient books were scattered across the floor.
A massive mahogany desk lay overturned. The inkwell on it had been knocked over, leaving a shocking, large stain of black ink on the expensive Persian carpet.
Lin Jie's eyes quickly scanned the entire room, finally settling on the empty mantelpiece against the wall.
Right in the center of the mantelpiece was a square indentation left by an object that had rested there for years.
A thin layer of dust, cleaner than the surrounding area, covered the indentation.
This indicated that something quite important had indeed been placed there not long ago.
But now it was gone.
"It seems the report was true." Ethan's voice was grave. "That thing really has gone missing."
Lin Jie, however, shook his head.
His gaze was sharp, scanning the seemingly chaotic traces on the floor.
"No, that's not right." His voice carried certainty. "Look at the dust here."
He pointed to several subtle drag marks on the Persian carpet in front of the mantelpiece.
"These marks are fresh, disturbing the original dust settlement layer on the carpet. Furthermore, judging by the direction of the marks, they lead from the mantelpiece's position to that bookshelf over there."
Following his finger, Ethan saw, in the deepest corner of the study, a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf made of precious oak, reaching the ceiling.
"You mean to say..." A flash of understanding dawned in Ethan's eyes. "That thing didn't go missing."
"It was hidden?!"
Lin Jie didn't answer. He walked up to the empty mantelpiece.
Then he took a deep breath and placed his right hand on the square indentation that still carried the lingering aura of the [Blood Holy Grail].
[Reverberation Touch] silently activated.
A torrent of chaotic memories—cold, filled with panic and despair—flooded into his mind.
This time, he did not attempt a deep interpretation.
Lin Jie only precisely captured the final scene he needed from the chaotic fragments of memory.
A blurry, dynamic, first-person perspective image instantly flashed before his eyes.
He saw a pair of violently trembling, aged hands covered with liver spots.
Those hands were frantically lifting a grotesque skull statue emitting an ominous red glow down from the mantelpiece.
Immediately, a horrified male voice sounded in his ears.
The voice was muttering incoherently to the air.
"No... impossible... how could it have tracked me here..."
"I must hide it, I must hide it!"
"As long as I cut off the call, that thing won't find its way here and will surely leave!"
Accompanied by this panicked muttering, Lin Jie's perspective began to shake violently.
Those aged hands, clutching the terrifying statue, stumbled and rushed towards the massive oak bookshelf.
Then, he saw those hands press a hidden mechanism button disguised as a book spine on the side of the bookshelf.
The massive bookcase, filled with heavy tomes, slowly began to rotate inwards.
It revealed a pitch-black secret chamber hidden within the wall.
And those trembling hands, without hesitation, shoved the [Blood Holy Grail] emitting ominous red light into that profound darkness.
The memory abruptly ended there.
Lin Jie withdrew his hand, a layer of cold sweat already beading on his forehead.
"So, Don Almeida had already sensed the Tongue-Ripper's arrival. It's just a pity he was ultimately a step too slow." He thought to himself.
"I know where it is."
Lin Jie straightened up, walked directly to the massive oak bookshelf, and reached out to precisely press the hidden mechanism buttons concealed within the spines of "Don Quixote" and "The Age of Discovery."
Accompanied by a dull mechanical sound identical to the one in his memory, the massive wall of books slowly began to rotate inwards.
A pitch-black secret chamber, permeated with the scent of dust and death, appeared before the two men.
And on a stone platform in the deepest part of that secret chamber, a blood sacrifice statue carved from the grotesque skull of an unknown creature was quietly emitting a faint, pulsating red light.
The skull's material was neither metal nor jade, presenting a dark red color like congealed blood.
Its design possessed a primitive, savage religious beauty, with two massive ram horns stretching menacingly towards the sky.
Within its hollow eye sockets were embedded two rubies emitting a faint red glow.
What concerned Lin Jie most was a complexly shaped "goblet" symbol carved with a sharp tool on the statue's forehead.
A faint yet attractive spiritual fluctuation was emanating from the statue.
The fluctuation wasn't evil, nor did it possess an aggressive nature.
It was more like an unconscious, continuous "call."
Like a lighthouse constantly flashing its light on a dark sea.
"...So that's how it is."
Lin Jie roughly pieced together the sequence of the entire tragedy.
Don Almeida, this experienced old hunter, had likely, during some routine maintenance or research of this [Blood Holy Grail], accidentally triggered some out-of-control "switch" within it.
This caused this originally controlled Grotesque Armament to enter an activated state as a "non-discriminatory beacon."
The blood-scented spiritual fluctuation it emitted attracted the blood-craving UMA, the Tongue-Ripper.
This appeared to be a typical disaster triggered by the loss of control of a Grotesque Armament.
"Our 'Last Navigator' played with a fire he couldn't handle in his final moments." Ethan looked at the statue carrying an ominous aura and sneered coldly.
Lin Jie remained silent. He stepped forward, preparing to retrieve this culprit that had caused all the tragedy.
However, just as his fingertips touched the cold-textured statue, an icy, bone-chilling, malevolent wind suddenly and quietly swept in from the window behind him!