Chapter 44 Epitaph

Klein felt a little heavy in his heart. After saying goodbye to the Blue family, he went straight back to No. 2 Daffodil Street, his home.

"Huh..." Only after locking the bedroom door did he finally relax, as if that ordinary wooden door could block all prying eyes and malice.

Klein resisted the urge to climb into the gray fog and used meditation to gather his chaotic thoughts and spirituality...

After making sure there was no risk of losing control again, he picked up the ritual silver dagger, created a sealed spiritual wall, walked four steps backwards, and entered the gray fog.

Gray fog surged, and Klein the Fool was already sitting at the head of the ancient and mottled bronze table.

He spread his spirituality and received a distress message from the ever-shrinking and expanding crimson star that belonged to the priestess:
"A fool who does not belong to this age;"

……

“I pray for your attention;”

"I pray for your power... to defeat the Hidden Sage..."

……

"I beg you to allow me to use the family treasure to fight against the Hidden Sage..."

……

Klein was stunned. It turned out that the content of the priestess's prayer... was not to save Old Neil, but to pray for strength to deal with the hidden sage...

Yes, Old Neil doesn't believe in fools, so how can the priestess believe that a fool would save an unrelated person...

Old Blue prayed for power but received no response, so he used the family treasure... So that's it, the light gun was the power of the sea, not the seal carried by the Punisher...

Klein the Fool couldn't help but cover his face and rubbed it hard. "Even if I climbed the gray fog at that time, what could I do? Grant strength? Could I save Old Neil with just a hand?"

"I chose not to go up into the gray fog. It was a spiritual intuition... It was my own choice..."

"I see. Haha, haha."

The corners of Klein's mouth curled up. He suddenly realized that after returning to reality, his "Joker" potion would continue to be digested.

"What is this? Playing the clown?"

Klein the Fool tried his best to grin, and used two fingers to pull them hard, revealing a hideous smile, with illusory tears flowing down his cheeks into his mouth. "You really look like a clown."

……

"Ha, I'm going to expose your secrets, 0-08, what can you do to me?" Old Blue figured out one thing: 0-08 was not under Ins' control... In fact, Ins was just a pen holder... He always wanted to kill this pen holder.

As long as he is not sealed and not taken by that person, he is very happy to change a pen holder... and then kill him. This may be due to his evil taste when he was the "Nightmare Dragon"...

"I want to see how far you can go..."

"Afu! Let's go! I'll take you for a walk!"

Old Blue shook the chain, and the well-fed Husky ran over happily, "Ah, ah!"

Old Blue, who had put a collar and chain on Alfu, suddenly stopped, patted Alfu on the head, and asked, "Have you learned to clean up your own dog poop?"

Erha looked up at Old Blue innocently, whined twice, and squatted down, ready to...

"Fuck!" Old Blue picked up Erha and rushed to the bathroom. "Why does it feel like the "Fortune Teller" potion doesn't improve my intelligence? Fortune Tellers are a bunch of... Bah, you almost scolded me, I'll calm down..."

"But fortune tellers do tend to get stuck in a rut... Maybe they didn't find the 'bug'? Or maybe they didn't find the 'door'? Ha, ha! What a hell of a joke..."

……

Klein took advantage of his "sick leave" to check the remaining ten houses with red chimneys. Unfortunately, none of them were the ones he saw in his dream. "Haha, I should have thought of this a long time ago," Klein felt that he had become more cheerful, which was pretty good. After all, a guy who loves to laugh won't have bad luck, right?

"I divined the mastermind in the gray fog before and saw the red chimney, but the second time I went to divine, I was disturbed... It was very obvious that he realized I was looking for him... But he didn't change his residence..."

Klein patted the sixty-page investigation report. "This is a full seven pounds in exchange for... a house worth one thousand six hundred or seven hundred... Hey, in the detective profession, even if I go begging or starve to death on the street, I would never..."

The flag is raised high. I have completely understood the true meaning of the Joker. How can I be a good "Joker" without raising the flag? Go to Gotham?
Klein, who was about to go home and use the investigation report as ignition material, suddenly discovered that this area was very close to Mr. Azik's residence.

"According to Old Blue's description, Mr. Azik is at least a High-Sequence Expert... The ancient castle in the town of Ramde may really be related to him. We should inform him of this as soon as possible..."

"Before Mr. Azik left for his trip, he wrote to me and told me that he would be back this week, but he didn't mention the exact date. I just happened to stop by to take a look and leave a note for him. Then I'll take a public carriage home..."

……

The next day, Wednesday, August 8, at 21 a.m., moon time, Raphael Cemetery.

Klein was wearing a pure black suit and shirt, holding a silver-studded cane, and standing quietly in a corner of the cemetery.

A neatly folded white handkerchief was stuffed into his chest pocket, and in his palm was a bunch of solemn and quiet sleeping flowers.

Old Bruce and Matthew were dressed similarly. As parties involved and friends who had known each other for a long time, they were also invited to witness Old Neil's last journey.

At this time, Dunn, Frye, Leonard and Coenley carried the black coffin containing old Neil's "corpse" step by step to the front of the tombstone, and silently placed it in the dug grave.

As she watched the brown soil being shoveled down, Luo Shan, who was wearing a black dress and a white flower on her head, sobbed softly:
"Can anyone tell me, is this all true?"

"Why do we have to lose control? Why do we have to take potions? Why do we have to become extraordinary? Why do we have to have vengeful spirits? Why do we have to have monsters? Why can't there be a safer way? Why..."

Klein listened silently until Old Neil's coffin was covered by the soil and until all traces of his existence were buried deep in the grave.

"May the goddess bless you." He drew a crimson moon on his chest, then took a few steps forward, bent down and placed the bouquet of deep sleeping flowers in his hand in front of the tombstone.

"May the goddess bless you." Dunn, Frye and others tapped their chests four times clockwise at the same time.

Old Blue and Matthew remained silent. They couldn't make the prayer gesture that symbolized the goddess of night, nor could they shout "The storm is with you"...

Old Blue followed Klein's gaze and saw a line of epitaph engraved below the black and white photo on the tombstone:

"If you can't save her, be with her."

……

Old Blue stood for a while, said goodbye to the night watchman, and walked to the other corner of the cemetery. Matthew just followed him silently.

On the not-so-new tombstone, Jenny's hair was gray, her eyes were clear, and she smiled very gently and happily. Under the photo, there was a lonely inscription:

“The best mother.”

Next to it is a very new tombstone. Little Blue has a clean face and a resolute expression. His outline is almost identical to that of old Blue. Under the photo, the epitaph he chose before his death is engraved:
"A lifelong rebellious child who wanted to follow in his father's footsteps."

Old Blue stood quietly, his figure straight and tall, not at all like an old man who had entered his final days. Even the cold wind could not shake his figure in the slightest.

Matthew was touched when he saw that old Blue, who had a bent back, had become straight again. This old man was unwilling to show his old age only in front of his family... He still wanted to support this family...

Old Blue closed his eyes. Some people died of normal causes, while some did not.

Since I have traveled through time and space to your body... I will avenge your son...

I will claim the lives of your enemies for you, one by one.

　Second update, thanks for watching!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)