Deep Sea Embers.

Chapter 845 Going Home
A slight dizziness and a vague sense of disharmony came over her again. At the last crossroads on her way home, Heidi stopped in confusion and looked back in the direction she had come from.

A thin mist covered the streets, clouds pressed low over the roofs, street lamps emitted a cold and dim glow, and some shadowy, swaying and creeping shadows rose and fell in the mist, occasionally emitting chaotic noises that were difficult for humans to understand, like the talk of dreams, but there seemed to be nothing unusual.

She frowned, and out of the corner of her eye she saw a line of words carved on the wall next to her by someone unknown. The crooked symbols on it gave her a headache.

A stout lady was standing at the door on the street not far away. She probably noticed Heidi, who was daydreaming on the road, and cast a curious look at her: "Good evening, do you need any help?"

"...No," Heidi hesitated and replied, "I'm fine, I just felt dizzy for a while."

"Please take care of yourself. Dizziness is not a small matter," the sturdy lady said with a friendly smile. "If you feel uncomfortable, you can come in and sit down. I have hot tea here."

Sensing the other party's pure kindness, Heidi smiled and waved her hand: "Thank you for your kindness, but I'm much better now."

"Really? It seems that breathing some fresh air is indeed good for you. Today is a nice day..."

Heidi nodded, thanked him politely and looked away, and then she saw a stranger in a long blue coat walking towards her from the fog. He was carrying a heavy-looking package in his hand and was in a hurry, with a look of panic in his eyes - as if something terrible was chasing him in the fog, making him look around anxiously as he walked, but he didn't dare to make any big movements, as if he was afraid of disturbing something in the fog.

Heidi frowned subconsciously and walked towards the panicked man: "Hello, sir, are you in trouble? I am a psychiatrist..."

The man in the blue coat was startled, stopped and stared in Heidi's direction with wide eyes. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to speak, but then he seemed to have discovered something in Heidi. His eyes suddenly became nervous and alert. He waved his hand almost rudely and turned to walk into the depths of the mist without saying a word.

Heidi frowned in confusion and looked down at herself, feeling that there was nothing disgusting about her.

The slight dizziness and vague sense of disharmony became stronger again.

Heidi felt a sense of alertness in her heart. Although she didn't know what she should be alert to, her spiritual perception that had been dormant for a long time seemed to suddenly revive. On the streets around her that seemed to be normal, she gradually felt... danger and coldness.

There is something... wrong, right in my sight, right around me, but I ignored it... those things that are out of place...

Heidi quietly retreated to the side of the road, carefully observing her surroundings while silently reciting the name of Lahem. She lowered her hand, and a sharp golden cone slid into her hand silently.

But she didn't know what kind of "enemy" this golden cone could be used to deal with... Are there really enemies?
The pendant on the chest emits a slight heat, as if reminding someone of something.

Heidi's eyes swept around her, and the "graffiti" carved on the wall by someone unknown came into her eyes again. The crooked lines were creeping and shaking, and suddenly they became readable: "Waves, death, the temperature of fire..."

Heidi was suddenly stunned.

The howling reason and memory came rushing in like the waves that had once disappeared from her cognition, and came upon her as inevitably as death. She began to understand, to feel, and to realize the changes that had taken place in the world. The panic that had been suppressed for who knows how long almost knocked her down in the first second - but years of mental training allowed her to stand firm. With an adaptation speed faster than anyone else, she forced herself to maintain her reason and courage, and raised her head to look around.

Dark red shadows like flesh and blood permeated the night, covering all the surrounding walls and roofs. The clouds hung down above like another piece of earth that had been crushed down. The cold light of the Creator of the World passed through the clouds and turned into a series of shapeless, strange and trembling shadows, licking and wandering over the entire city as if they had life. On the mist-covered streets, the dazed human silhouettes swayed like zombies, emitting low murmurs and sobs.

A man in a grey coat came over, holding a piece of rotten and suspicious substance in his hand, and stuffed it into his mouth while mumbling.

A bicycle without anyone controlling it was moving slowly and alone on the street. The rotten wheels and chain made a squeaking noise, and there was only a wriggling shadow the size of a human head on the seat.

A huge fleshy limb emerged from a house not far away. Thousands of eyes at the end of the limb blinked in the mist. The terrifying piece of flesh turned around. In the cold night, those eyes looked around randomly in every direction. However, a human-like voice came out from the piece of flesh:

"Good evening...it's a nice day today..."

Heidi took a deep breath, and the coldness that almost froze her heart and lungs penetrated deep into her blood vessels.

She suddenly remembered the extra graffiti and scratches she saw on the road every day these days, the inexplicable discomfort she felt, and the man in the blue coat who was panic-stricken and hurried.

Thinking of my mother who is staying at home!
She took a deep breath, turned around and ran towards the foggy street, running towards home as fast as she could.

Someone seemed to be screaming in a low voice in the fog, and someone seemed to be calling her name in the distance. The dark red flesh-like shadows on both sides of the road squirmed, trembled, gathered together, and then slowly separated to the sides in a disgusting way. Gunshots were heard from the next block, as if someone had caused a riot in fear. A steam walker with many eyes and mouths staggered from the opposite side, and the pressure pipe opened its mouth, humming a weird and monotonous ballad.

But Heidi seemed not to hear or see any of this. She blocked out everything that could interfere with her mind and ran across the street without distraction. Through the mist, the lights at the door of her house finally appeared vaguely in her sight.

She grabbed her long skirt and ran the last few dozen meters without any ladylike manners, but stopped for a moment before opening the door. She hesitated for a moment, put the sharp "golden cone" in her left hand, adjusted her breathing, then carefully took out the key, unlocked it, and turned the handle.

The door opened, and the cold and bright light in the living room came into view. Heidi saw that everything in the house seemed to be the same as usual - although some creeping shadows could still be vaguely seen in the corners of the walls, it was at least countless times more "normal" than the streets outside.

My mother was sitting by the fireplace at the end of the living room, seemingly concentrating on reading a newspaper that had been delivered to her at some point.

Hearing the door open, the old woman by the fireplace raised her head with a gentle smile on her face: "Heidi, you're back - did your visit go well?"

My mother was still the same as usual, and there was no expected "intruder" in the room.

Heidi breathed a sigh of relief, put away the golden cone, and then calmed down and walked quickly to the fireplace: "There is no time to explain, mother, you must follow me now, we have to leave this place, this neighborhood is not safe, there is something outside..."

As she spoke, she stopped hesitantly.

Because there was only a gentle smile on her mother's face, without any surprise or doubt - after Heidi stopped hesitantly, the old woman nodded, then stood up and walked to the stairs on the other side of the fireplace.

She retrieved two suitcases from under the stairs.

"Everything necessary is here. The shelter has basic living facilities and sufficient supplies - Dante Wayne has always done a good job.

"Your 'medical kit' is also packed. It's on the table in your room. Go get it yourself. The shelter will still need it.

"Take your revolver and a few extra boxes of bullets - try not to use them, but if you must, shoot well, because bullets are still effective against things that are flesh and blood and crawl around."

As the old woman spoke, she walked to the fireplace again, tiptoed slightly, and with some difficulty took down the old rifle hanging on the brass hook.

With a few clicks, the old woman skillfully checked the condition of the bolt, pushed the bullet into the chamber, and then casually pulled it out and reloaded it.

"I'll just use this. I used it when I accompanied your father on an outing. This old thing is very reliable. It can kill all the cultists with one shot."

Heidi stared at this scene in amazement. It was not until this moment that she gradually reacted and looked at her mother in disbelief: "Mom, you have already..."

"They were ready when they first put up flyers on the telephone poles, and then they just waited for you to wake up," the old woman looked up at Heidi, "It's not that bad, we didn't have to wait too long."

Heidi was speechless for a long time in shock, until her mother began to urge her, she finally woke up, hurriedly agreed and ran upstairs to her room - she found a small suitcase that her mother had helped her pack on the table, and several cardboard boxes next to the suitcase.

Opening the paper box, inside were shiny yellow pistol bullets. Each bullet had a special ink printed on it with the sacred motto of the God of Wisdom, Lahm:

“Let knowledge enter the mind.”

Heidi looked at the yellow bullets, calmed herself down, hid some of the bullets in several pockets on her body, and carefully wrapped the rest and put them in the medical box.

After doing all this, she turned around and ran downstairs quickly.

"Mother, I'm ready, let's..."

Heidi stopped suddenly on the stairs.

She saw that the door of her house was open and a familiar figure was standing at the entrance.

He was wearing a slightly worn but clean woolen coat, a monocle and a pipe.

Father is home.

(End of this chapter)