Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2143: Chapter 2144: The Old Castle

”He’s gone...” This sound was exceedingly peculiar, as if it were both a real sound and a fluctuation on the energy level.

”Let’s go.” As the words fell, the empty corridor fell silent once more.

There was no fluctuation in the Material Realm, but in the perspective where energy resided, a figure... no, not just one, but dozens, hundreds of figures passed through the stone wall of the corridor, entering the void and vanishing.

...

Revelation Continent, Central Empire.

The gondola cut through the sea of the sky, its hull stirring up white foam as it leisurely proceeded towards Saint Sem City behind the central mountains.

Just as they were about to arrive in Saint Sem City, Angel noticed that little Sem across from him was beginning to appear restless.

His gaze flickered as he clung to the edge of the boat, continually peering downwards.

The Morning Star had just risen, and the sky was just barely turning light. There was a faint cold mist in the air, and visibility was not high; the scene they could overlook was limited, with only the general outline of the landscape visible to the naked eye. Yet little Sem persisted in trying to see.

Soon, the gondola came to the side of the central mountains, from where the bustling lights of distant Saint Sem City could vaguely be seen. However, little Sem still paid no attention to the distant city, continuing to overlook the land.

Suddenly, the cold mist below thinned slightly, and little Sem saw a lake.

His eyes fixed instantly.

Angel could clearly see little Sem’s throat move, his eyes filled with complex and grief-stricken emotions.

Angel was a bit curious about what little Sem had seen that caused such a strong reaction in him. So, he extended a wisp of spiritual power, probing outside the gondola to look downward—

The night had not yet fully dissipated, and under the clouds was rolling cold mist. Amidst the rolling, a clear lake on the mountainside could be faintly seen, along with an ancient castle hidden within the dense forest on the lake’s edge.

The ancient castle was surrounded by black iron railings, looking as if it had been abandoned for a long time, even the road at its entrance was overgrown with weeds.

”Are you very concerned about the castle below?” Angel asked softly.

Little Sem turned back, eyes filled with surprise and doubt: ”Mr. Pat can see it?”

”Yes, an ancient castle that seems to have been deserted for a long time, with a moss-covered statue of a lady at the entrance,” Angel casually described.

Little Sem’s gaze dimmed slightly when he heard about the moss-covered statue of the lady, hesitating for quite a while before speaking: ”... That statue is my ancestor, also the founder of Saint Sem City, Queen Rowling.”

”Oh? So, the castle below belongs to Queen Rowling’s clan, which is also your ancestral family?”

Little Sem nodded slightly.

Angel: ”Since it is Queen Rowling’s clan heritage, why has it been abandoned?”

A complex expression flashed in little Sem’s eyes as he shook his head: ”Only my mother’s branch of the family is in ruins; the main branch remains in the royal family of the Central Empire.”

”I see.” Angel did not inquire further, assuming that this was likely another story of power struggles and internal conflict within the royal family.

He had no interest in these matters.

Little Sem clung to the edge of the boat, watching as the flying boat drifted away from the vicinity of the lake. He bit his lip, turning back to say, ”Mr. Pat, may I... may I go and see the castle?”

Angel did not answer little Sem right away but quietly looked at him.

”I know this request is quite rude, but, but I...” Little Sem’s face turned bright red, failing to find a proper reason and finally lowering his head helplessly: ”Never mind, I’ve been impolite.”

Angel smiled gently: ”Considering you have guided me, I agree.”

Anyway, they’ve already come this far; a detour wouldn’t hurt. Besides, Angel noticed that the castle carried a familiar scent, so after thinking it over, he agreed to little Sem’s request.

Little Sem’s eyes lit up instantly, his gaze towards Angel filled with gratitude.

Angel controlled the gondola to slowly descend, passing through the sparse clouds, and soon, they landed on the lake.

The gondola perfectly transitioned from a flying boat across the sky’s sea to a small boat on the lake’s surface.

It smoothly streaked across the water, docking at an already somewhat decayed landing pier.

Upon stepping onto the pier, they could see the secluded ancient castle fifty meters away from there.

Seen from up close, the grandeur of the ancient castle was even more palpable.

Although the castle was abandoned, covered in moss and vine, judging by Angel’s appreciation for architecture, the castle must have been magnificent at its peak.

It possessed the elegance of Saint Sem City, a city renowned worldwide for its artistry.

Even now, it still seemed like a lady quietly nestled by the serene mountain lake. However, it had gathered some dust.

”This castle is said to have been specifically built by Queen Rowling in her later years for recuperation, and it has been passed down through the ages, later inherited by my mother’s branch,” little Sem explained with nostalgia, as if informing Angel and simultaneously talking to himself: ”From the castle at night, you can see the star-filled still lake, thus my mother named this castle Star Lake Castle.”

”Before the upheaval in my family, every summer my mother and I would come here.”

”That apple tree over there, I planted it together with the gardener’s son; and the marks on that big rock are what I carved when I was mischievous...” Little Sem spoke in a nostalgic tone as he walked towards the ancient castle.

At the iron gate of the castle, little Sem finished recalling his summer memories.

”This place carries my childhood,” little Sem couldn’t help but reflect.

”You’re still a child now,” Angel softly remarked from the side.

Little Sem hung his head: ”In these years, the only one who still says I’m a kid is Mr. Pat.”

After saying this, little Sem walked to the gate of the fence.

Though it was locked, after so many years without maintenance, the corroded gate couldn’t withstand the moisture-driven rust; little Sem simply pushed lightly, and the lock fell off, and the door opened.

Crossing the mud-filled road, little Sem made his way to Queen Rowling’s statue.

Just as Angel had described, Queen Rowling’s statue was covered in green moss, making the once pristine white statue appear moldy and adding an eerie touch to the sculpture embodying pure beauty.

However, in little Sem’s eyes, Queen Rowling’s sculpture still appeared as it did in his childhood. He stood before the statue for a while before circling around it, heading towards the castle.

Unaware that when he turned his back on the statue, Queen Rowling’s eyes flashed a blood-red light.

Angel noticed it, his lips curling slightly, without taking any action.

When little Sem arrived at the castle entrance, he was still filled with emotion, and without hesitation, he wanted to push open the door.

Just as little Sam was about to touch the doorknob, a force suddenly appeared behind him, pulling him back vigorously.

Little Sam staggered, retreating several steps, and finally stood beside Angel.

”Mr. Pat?” Little Sam managed to stand still and looked beside him with some confusion.

Angel’s gaze was fixed intently on the dusty door ahead. After a moment, he chuckled lightly, ”I see some interesting little creatures.”

Interesting little creatures? Little Sam didn’t understand what Angel meant. He also carefully examined the door. It didn’t seem different from when he was a child... or maybe it was; there was a slight difference. When he used to come here, there was always the lingering scent of incense from the Tishion servants patrolling, but now there was an additional odor of decay and mold.

It must be the moldy smell from the dampness of the lake water eroding the wood and the scent of dead rats.

Could it be that the little creatures Mr. Pat mentioned were rats?

Just as Little Sam was about to ask, a strange laughter suddenly echoed in his ears.

Hmm, the laughter came from behind... Is there someone behind? Little Sam wanted to turn his head to see who it was, but as soon as he moved, his vision went completely black.

From Angel’s perspective, Little Sam merely turned his head, and his once clear eyes completely changed.

The whites and irises of his eyes had turned pitch black, with occasional flashes of crimson. The corners of his mouth curled into a bizarre arc, and with a frenzied pace, he charged toward the castle doors.

”Possession,” Angel glanced at the statue of Queen Rowling not far away, then looked at Little Sam, whose expression had drastically changed, and whispered.

Little Sam seemed not to have heard Angel’s voice and excitedly dashed into the castle.

However, before he could make it to the castle door, someone appeared in front of him.

It was Angel.

”I thought you’d try something on Little Sam’s soul, but possession is what you dared,” Angel said, looking at Little Sam with pitch-black eyes. ”How did you do it?”

Little Sam tilted his head, not answering, but instead grinning eerily, ”Those who stand in my way, die—”

The voice, indistinguishable in gender, was definitely not Little Sam’s.

As his words fell, Little Sam’s fingernails began to grow rampantly, sharp and pitch-black within a blink.

”Die!” Little Sam swung his claws, lunging at Angel.

After all, Little Sam was merely a mortal, even possessed, incapable of transforming into a superhuman instantly. His speed was still limited by his physical body.

So, without even understanding what happened, Little Sam found the cold metal gun barrel pressed against his forehead.

It was a revolver, covered with silver patterns, held by Angel, with the muzzle pressed against Little Sam’s brow.

”I don’t know what you wanted to do, but to dare possess someone before me, perhaps you were too bold... or maybe you should just perish completely.”

As his words fell, Angel gently pulled the trigger, and a strange ripple shot from the muzzle.

With a chilling scream, a shadowy undead figure, with eyes as black as ink and veins bulging across its face, floated off Little Sam. It attempted to attack Angel, but before it could move, its entire spiritual body disintegrated, vanishing completely from the world.

As the undead disappeared, the color of Little Sam’s eyes gradually returned to normal, and his nails also reverted.

Little Sam opened his eyes, his gaze slightly confused and unfocused, taking a long time to regain clarity.

”Mr. Pat, I... what happened to me just now?” Little Sam vaguely felt something was off earlier but couldn’t recall exactly what had happened.

”Nothing much, just possessed by a ghost,” Angel said nonchalantly.

”Gh-gh-ghost?!” Little Sam, though unaware of the true nature of the extraordinary world, had heard of the malevolent spirits often depicted in novels.

”Yes, to be precise, it’s a ghost that was hiding in that statue,” Angel said, a slight puzzlement in his tone, ”Come to think of it, that ghost was quite weak, yet capable of possession—an oddity.”

Possession, as described by Nis in the soul tricks, is a relatively challenging technique. Generally, a ghost that had accumulated at least a decade’s worth of resentment might, by chance, learn it.

But the ghost just now had been dead for at most five or six years and already mastered such an advanced skill?

Having faced life and death in a day and glimpsed a corner of the extraordinary world on the Gondola, Little Sam quickly adapted to the news of ghosts, and curiosity soon followed his initial shock, ”Why are there ghosts here?”

Angel: ”The death energy and resentment energy here are exceptionally strong, probably a lot of deaths over the years. In such places, ghosts are likely to gather.”

One reason Angel agreed to Little Sam visiting the ancient castle was ’since we’re here,’ in acknowledgment of Little Sam guiding them; the other was the familiar aura he sensed here.

This familiar aura was undoubtedly the highly concentrated malevolent death energy.

The gathering of such malevolent death energy turned the originally serene castle into a real... haunted castle.

”Are you saying there are more ghosts here?” Little Sam swallowed nervously, looking at the dark, old castle nearby, ”Are they inside too?”

Angel nodded, ”Of course, besides the ghost from earlier, all others... are inside.”

Hearing this, Little Sam’s cheeks instantly went pale with fright.

”Mr. Pat, when you mentioned the little creatures, did you mean...”

Angel nodded: ”Yes, I was referring to the ghosts. For instance, the one at the door right now.”

Little Sam froze, feeling a chill run down his spine. He seemed to move in slow motion as his head slowly turned back and saw a long-haired woman floating at the doorway.

The long-haired woman lifted her face, obscured by strands of hair, when Little Sam looked.

Eyes bulging, marked with cyanotic deaths and a dangling, already blackened... tongue!

At this sight, Little Sam collapsed to the ground, frantically scooting back, his lips trembling.

He finally understood why Mr. Pat pulled him back earlier; the ghost was right there!

”Not just the one at the door, but the window over there, the eaves on the upper right, the chimney on the top floor, beside the second-floor flue...”

Angel’s voice continued, as he spoke, Little Sam saw terrifying shadows intermittently appear at each corresponding spot.

In just a few seconds, the seemingly desolate castle turned incredibly ’lively.’

”...are all filled with ghosts.”

At least thirty ghostly figures appeared in various parts of the castle.

And at this moment, they all directed their malicious, intense gaze toward Angel and Little Sam at the door.