36 Silversilk Castle 4 (1/2)

”A dungeon? Sure, your call.”

The group continued wandering through the forest after Dale Quicksilver found the marking he made on a tree from before. After being led by a few more of these markings, they arrived at an area of open ground.

”This is it. Last time I was here, we even had a barbecue at this place.” Dale Quicksilver laughed as he strode on the grassland. His facial expression, however, suddenly changed after stomping on the ground a couple of times.

”Something’s different, someone has been here already! Si Lan!”

Si Lan hurried to him. She bent down and started fumbling around the ground. Soon enough, she pulled out a metal ring from the soil.

It was a dark red ring, corrupted by rust resulting from the long passage of time. The color of rust greatly contrasted with its true hue, which showed a glint of silver.

Dale Quicksilver, who had also been searching on the ground, rushed to Si Lan immediately after she found the ring.

There, a square wooden cellar door revealed itself as it was pulled up. Chunks of grass and dirt slid off the surface, revealing a dark hole underneath.

Garen didn’t ask how Dale Quicksilver knew that someone had been here, but seeing the expressions of the other two, he felt a bit nervous as well.

He walked up to the edge and looked down. The hole was deep and pitch black.

”I’ll go take a look.” Surprisingly, Si Lan was the first to volunteer, not Dale Quicksilver.

”Be safe.” The detective unexpectedly answered her. He nodded at her with a respectful expression.

”Let me go down instead, this is not a job for a lady…” Garen said, feeling hesitant.

”It’s fine, Si Lan isn’t your usual lady, just watch out for her.” Detective answered calmly.

Si Lan pulled out a white bandana out of nowhere and tied it around her face to cover her nose. She pulled out her black dagger, secured a rope to a nearby tree, and threw the other end of the rope down the hole.

”I’ll go down first; you guys watch out up here. The trace is fresh, so the person may not be far from here!” Si Lan warned them.

”We got it, take care of yourself.” The detective pulled Garen two steps back, his face even more serious.

Si Lan grabbed the rope and jumped down, quickly disappearing into the darkness. The rope instantly became taut.

Ten seconds later, it became loose again, signifying Si Lan’s successful landing.

”Sir, you better come down as well, there’s something wrong here!” Si Lan’s voice came from below.

Dale Quicksilver’s stony face turned even darker.

”If Si Lan is calling for help, it must be very serious. I have to go down myself. Mr. Kelly, the task of guarding this place is on you now. I’ll leave this rifle to you, please don’t go anywhere.”

Garen was slightly surprised. He didn’t know why Dale Quicksilver trusted him so much. However, he still agreed. He still needed something from the detective, so it would be unwise to have any funny ideas right now.

”Don’t you worry, I won’t move an inch.”

Dale Quicksilver nodded. He handed the rifle to Garen and fixed his belt, organizing the items he had on him. He then slid down the rope into the dungeon.

After about ten seconds, he was not visible from above ground anymore.

Garen stood alone next to the cellar door. Holding the double-barreled pipe rifle, he was on high alert.

Fortunately, there was no movement around him except for the tree leaves rustling as they blew in the wind.

After a short while, Si Lan climbed out of the hole with a dirty and tired face.

”There are two corpses down there. It seems they have been rotting for some time already.”

”Corpses?” Garen faked a surprised expression and gulped. ”Ms. Si Lan, you’re not joking, are you?” In fact, he had already either directly or indirectly killed two people, and after comprehending his school’s teachings regarding the heart, his mind had become calm and fearless. Two corpses no longer frightened him.

”No joke, there are two men’s bodies down there.”

Si Lan sat on the grass and stabbed her dagger into the ground next to her. She took out a white handkerchief with a fading red handprint.

”What is this?”

”This handkerchief has the perpetrator’s bloody handprint; this is an important piece of the puzzle.” She carefully folded the handkerchief and kept it inside a small pocket.

”These were taken from inside the dungeon. As skilled as Mr. Dale might be, he couldn’t identify them either.” She pulled out a few pieces of black objects covered in mud. ”He said that this might be an antique. He is still examining the area, so he asked me to bring this to you first.”

”Oh.” Garen carefully received the objects and peeled off the mud on them.