Genshin Impact: The Road to Reversal

Chapter 562 The Haunted House

"How many floors does this building have?" Claire asked, looking up at the upper floors.

Hawke walked over and said, "Two floors. The first floor has a hall and kitchen, and the second floor has a bedroom and a small storage room. We've checked everything, and there are no problems."

Clementine didn't speak. She stepped onto the stairs, her gaze sweeping over the upper and lower rooms before she pondered for a moment.

“Well, nothing unusual was found upstairs, but…” she walked down the stairs, looking at Hawke again and asking, “Then… is there a basement or anything like that?”

Hawke thought for a moment: "I have heard Glenn mention it, but the entrance has been sealed off and there are shelves on top of it. Glenn said he never opened it himself, and we also confirmed during our inspection that the wooden boards showed no signs of being tampered with."

Claire raised her head slightly: "Take me to see the sealed entrance."

Hawke nodded and led everyone to a corner of the kitchen. There, against the wall, stood a heavy wooden shelf. Beneath the shelf, the floor was a slightly different color from the surrounding area, and a square outline could be vaguely discerned.

Zixuan squatted down and tapped lightly with her fingers, producing a hollow sound from below.

"The bottom is empty."

Clementine looked at Hawke again: "Are you sure there's only one entrance?"

“Yes, we searched inside and out, and this is the only entrance to the basement.”

Claire was silent for a few seconds: "Move it."

Hawke nodded and, together with the other knights, moved the shelves and the clutter on the floor.

Geek!

With a few sharp cracks, the nails on the wooden board were pried open. As Zhao Heng used his gun to pry up the floorboards, a gust of cold wind instantly rushed out from below.

"It's so cold..." Zixuan couldn't help but shiver.

Clementine's expression grew even more serious: "It seems that's where the problem lies."

She looked up at Hawke: "Captain Hawke, have the Knights guard this place and not allow anyone to come near."

"Understood," Hawke replied.

Following Claire, Zixuan and Zhao Heng descended step by step into the darkness along the decaying, damp wooden steps.

She manipulates flames as a light source to guide her through the darkness.

When they walked down the tunnel, the scene in front of them left them dumbfounded.

The stone walls of the corridor were covered with countless damp, rotten yellow papers. Wind chimes could also be seen hanging from the ceiling from time to time.

"These are... talismans?" Zixuan leaned closer to examine them carefully. "They look somewhat familiar."

Clementine looked around and said, "Hmm, it looks like a magic weapon from Laoshan, but it's probably not authentic."

“Laoshan?” Zixuan lowered her head and thought carefully. “I remember now, isn’t the Taoist magic of Laoshan used by Miss Jiexiang of the Seven Stars?”

"Sky Swift Star? So you two know each other," Claire said with delight.

Zixuan nodded and said, "Yes, we received a lot of help from her in Chicheng and Linhui before."

“I see, that makes it easier to explain.” Claire looked at the magical artifacts hanging above her head. “As you can see, these are indeed very similar to the magical artifacts used in Laoshan Taoist practices, but unfortunately they do not come from the orthodox Laoshan Taoist lineage. Orthodox Taoist talismans, even after the passage of time, will not easily dissipate the ‘righteous energy’ or ‘spiritual light’ they contain.”

"So you mean these are just imitations?" Zhao Heng asked.

“Yes, but even counterfeits will have some effect.” Claire nodded, “but…”

Claire raised her hand, her fingertips lightly brushing against a yellowed talisman. Instead of burning, the talisman hissed softly before turning into a wisp of black smoke and dissipating into the cold air.

“The talisman paper is soaked in water, and the ritual implements are rusted and corroded… The moisture-proofing measures are inadequate. Otherwise, the yin energy here wouldn’t have leaked out. However, the workmanship here looks like it’s from 200 years ago,” Clementine said.

"200 years ago? That long ago?" Zixuan exclaimed in surprise.

“Yes, to be honest, it’s quite amazing that a counterfeit can last this long.” As she spoke, Clementine looked ahead. “Let’s keep going. Although I don’t know what it is, my intuition tells me that what happened here is not as simple as it seems.”

The three continued along the damp corridor. The air grew increasingly cold and sticky, and the stone slabs underfoot were covered in slippery moss. The runes on the walls became denser, in some places even layered upon each other, exuding an almost frenzied obsession. The hanging wind chimes remained motionless in the air currents, as if frozen in time.

At the end of the corridor stood a heavy wooden door. There was no lock on the door, but it was covered with many pieces of rotten yellow paper.

"A sealed wooden door... why is it this kind of plot again?"

Zixuan complained that, after all, she and Kailin had experienced a basement incident when they were investigating "Eric" in Chicheng. Although it wasn't as gloomy as it was now, she still remembered it vividly.

Looking at the yellow paper covering the door, Claire crossed her arms and smiled gently: "With so many runes on one door, it seems the original owner of this house was very afraid that the things here would escape."

"If that's the case, then we still need to..."

Just as Zixuan was about to ask whether they should proceed, before she could finish speaking, Claire lowered her hands.

"However, people are very curious, and the more curious they are, the more they want to find out."

Before she finished speaking, without a word, she took the talisman from the door and pushed it open. Instantly, a chilling aura dozens of times stronger than that in the corridor rushed out.

But Claire didn't care and still stepped into the room. She glanced around, then put her hands on her hips and chuckled, "What? It's just an abandoned storage room."

The room contained many large, rotten wooden crates, which looked like they had once been used to store miscellaneous items.

"Hmph, I'll see what's so special about this place." With that, she walked deeper into the room.

Seeing this, Zhao Heng and Zi Xuan had no choice but to follow.

The room was small, only about the size of a normal cellar.

Scattered on the ground were some broken pottery jars and worm-eaten wood chips. The only eye-catching thing was a wooden box with yellow paper pasted on it, placed in the center of the room, with the words "Keep Out" clearly marked on it, though it was blurred due to age and dampness.

Just as Claire was about to peel off the yellow paper, a crisp sound rang out, followed by Zhao Heng's call from behind.

"Come and see!" Zhao Heng used his gun to pry open a row of wooden crates on the left.

"What's wrong?" Zixuan leaned closer to take a look and was instantly dumbfounded. "These are... clothes?"

Zhao Heng mentioned one of the garments. Due to the passage of time, the fabric had become brittle and the color had faded considerably, but the size was still vaguely discernible. It was a child's outer garment, roughly the size of a five- or six-year-old child.

In the box next to it, there were several similar small clothes folded up, although they were covered with dust and mold.

Claire put down her hand and walked over. She picked up one of the pieces of fabric and examined it closely.

"Children's clothes? Wait, these shapes... they look familiar."

"Look, there are some small toys in the box over there," Zixuan called out, turning around behind her.

Scattered in the box were several faded wooden puppets, a toy car with broken wheels, and several unrecognizable balls of yarn. Without exception, all of these items had decayed with the passage of time.

Zhao Heng frowned slightly: "If it's just a regular storage room, why would you specifically store children's old clothes and toys there?"

"Moreover, the fact that they used talismans to seal the gate is quite intriguing," Zixuan added.

"Perhaps... these are the remains of the original owner's child?"

Claire gently put down the small clothes in her hands and turned her gaze to the wooden box in the center of the room that was labeled "Keep Out".

"But if it's just an ordinary relic, why go to such lengths to suppress it with so many counterfeit talismans? It's more like... sealing something away."

She lowered her head, pondering carefully, when just then a cold whisper came from a dark corner.

"Cressy?"