Lord of the Mysteries

After seeing the lady disappear for a few seconds, Pacheco turned his head and said to Barton, “Let’s go back to the foundation.”

“Aren’t we going to the suburbs?” Barton asked subconsciously.

Pacheco said with a smile, “Didn’t you already give the bottle away?

“We no longer have a reason to go to the suburbs.

“Perhaps his true aim was for us to hand the bottle to the lady of the Tamara family. What he said before were all lies.

“Of course, this has nothing to do with us. Next, there is no innocent party among them, so it doesn’t matter who dies. All we need to do is perform a certain amount of surveillance to prevent their battle from affecting ordinary people. This will be handled by the police, not by the foundation or the Compliance Department.”

Vernal doesn’t look like he’s capable of this kind of devious plot… Barton mumbled. He didn’t ask further and turned to walk out the door.

Frankly speaking, returning to the foundation was the answer he wanted to hear the most.

It was just a spur of the moment when he asked if they were heading to the suburbs. It was an old habit he hadn’t overcome for many years.

After returning to the foundation, Barton spent the rest of the day feeling rather uneasy. He went through the menial, repetitive routine until evening came.

I originally felt that life was too boring, but I now realize that a monotonous life is so precious. Sigh, I only hope that nothing unexpected happens like in the afternoon… May the Lord bless me… Barton stopped at his doorstep, stretched out his right hand, clenched his fist, and gently struck his left chest.

After finishing his prayer, he opened the door and entered. He took off his hat, coat, and handed them over to his wife who had come forward.

“What happened to Vernal?” his wife asked carefully.

Barton replied calmly in both tone and expression, “He offended some people and was being followed. The police have taken over this matter.

“In the future, if Vernal visits again, don’t let him in. Remember to send someone to inform the police.”

Barton’s wife heaved a sigh of relief when she heard that the police had intervened.

“Alright.”

After dinner, Barton played with his children for a while before finding an excuse to go to his study and sit near the window.

He needed a private space to completely calm his emotions and walk out of the panic brought about by the incident with Vernal.

As such, Barton took out a cigarette from his drawer and put it to his mouth.

He wasn’t addicted to smoking, but he had to socialize sometimes, so he prepared a pack of cigarettes at home and on his body.

He lit the matchstick, lit the cigarette, and took a deep suck.

He then leaned back in his chair and watched the smoke coming out from his mouth and nose.

The white gas quickly spread out in all directions, making Barton suddenly think of the fog coming out of Vernal’s mouth and nose.

He vaguely smelled the faint scent of blood.

To Barton, this wasn’t a very strange discovery. After all, Vernal had stayed in his study before, so he definitely left some traces behind. Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to detect him.

Barton didn’t smell it before, but because he was too nervous and flustered, his attention had been focused on the whereabouts of Vernal and the words he had left behind.

Of course, the smell of blood in the study room was very faint. It was also one of the reasons why it couldn’t compare with the hotel room and the burnt ruins at all.

As the smoke from the cigarette spread, Barton suddenly narrowed his eyes.

He had an ominous feeling!

In an instant, the pale white gas shrank in a certain direction with the smell of blood, forming a figure.

The figure’s upper body was normal with an iconic red nose. It was none other than the archaeologist, Vernal.

The lower half of his body was completely shrouded in air, like a monster drawn out by smoke.

“V-Vernal…” Barton shouted, almost suffocating.

His voice reverberated in the study, unable to penetrate the wall.

“Haha, I’ve already acquired an immortal body. As long as there’s still some fog left, I’ll be able to come back to life!” Vernal burst into laughter.

Compared to before, his expression became more and more crazed, and his eyes seemed to be slightly palish-white.

H-he was already dead just now? This thought subconsciously flashed across Barton’s mind.

Then, he forced himself to remain calm and said, “What’s the matter?”

As he spoke, Barton wanted to stand up on impulse, but sadly he discovered that his body was covered by a cold and thin fog, and he had lost most of his senses.

Vernal stopped laughing and looked into Barton’s eyes. He said word by word, “You didn’t bring that bottle to the suburbs.”

Although Barton had a rash personality, he knew that he couldn’t answer this question directly. He quickly thought of a solution.

A few seconds later, he changed the topic before he spoke again.

“Why did you convert to believing in that entity?

“Aren’t you a loyal believer of the Lord?”

Vernal fell silent for a moment before his expression gradually became fervent.

“I’ve seen an even larger world, a much more vast world.

“Compared to that, the planet we are currently living on is like a grain of sand in the desert.

“There are innumerable civilizations, ancient ruins left behind from hundreds of thousands of years, millions of years, or even tens of millions of years ago.

“This is what the universe looks like!”

Seeing that his question only made things worse, Barton fell silent. He thought about whether there were any non-sensitive topics that would garner Vernal’s interest.

He slowly took a deep breath and said, “Other than the altar, what else did you discover at the Fourth Epoch ruin?

“How much do you know of the Tamara family?”

Vernal’s eyes lit up.

“The Tamara family had its coat of arms replaced once.

“This means that they had encountered something rather major.”

As he spoke, the archaeologist who was just an upper half of a body had extended his right hand. Using the smoke, he drew out two symbols in midair.

The first symbol was formed from a layer of brambles, a shield wall, and a longsword that was vertically inserted into them from above. The main part of the second symbol was a pair of double doors that swung open, and the gap in the middle was taken up by the vertical longsword.

As a barely famous historian, Barton immediately thought of the words of the Tamara family member:

“They are them. We are us.”

“Did the Tamara family fracture?” Barton blurted out.

“I thought so,” said Vernal, smiling with gratification. Then he leaned close to Barton, his face burning with zeal. “Your brain is more tempting than I imagined, and it’s the best supplement for me. Relax a little. Your mind will merge with mine, and we can witness those great civilizations together.”

He looked very weak and eager to recover.

Barton’s heart thumped wildly, and he tried his best to avoid the other party. But no matter how hard he struggled, his body seemed to freeze. He was unable to move at all.

Just as he was about to close his eyes, Barton suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right hand, and he immediately regained consciousness.

The pale white fog in front of him and the monster-like Vernal disappeared as if they had never appeared.

Barton lowered his head numbly and saw that the cigarette in his right hand had reached its limit, burning his fingers.

It was a dream? But I found it so realistic. Barton threw away the cigarette in his hand and instinctively stood up using his spirituality and walked to the window.

He looked out at the streets and saw that under the street lamps, many pedestrians were passing by in the darkness, wanting to rush home as soon as possible.

Among them, an ordinary golden retriever was taking a casual stroll.