Mystery: A Spark

"Witch Cult!"

Triss's pupils contracted. Without the slightest hesitation, she dropped the suitcase in her hand and turned to run away.

The witch behind her wasn't in a hurry either, simply following Triss at a leisurely pace and consciously guiding her down a certain path.

Is this what they call a preordained crisis? I must survive, I won't just die like this... Triss gritted her teeth and ran away as fast as she could.

"Whoosh!"

She felt something flying towards her from behind and quickly dodged to the side.

The next second, a chilling ice spike pierced her shoulder, causing her to groan in pain.

Although she avoided a fatal blow, she was still injured by the ice spike.

Fortunately, as the ice pick pierced her shoulder, the cold air also froze her wound, preventing her from losing too much blood.

However, Triss soon sensed something was wrong; she found her body gradually weakening and becoming increasingly powerless.

Poisonous! That bastard actually put poison on the ice pick... The thought had barely crossed Triss's mind when she felt herself fall heavily to the ground.

She fell on a street, a quiet and deserted street in the night.

Triss watched helplessly as the witch walked towards her, and a wave of despair washed over her.

To her surprise, the witch didn't kill her. Instead, she took a sapphire ring from her clothes and put it on her finger.

What is she trying to do? Is this some kind of end-of-life care...? Triss couldn't help but wonder as she watched the witch's strange behavior.

She tried to say something, but the toxins in her wounds made her increasingly confused and delirious.

In a daze, Triss heard the sound of a carriage approaching.

In her last moments before losing consciousness, she vaguely saw a carriage stop in front of her, and on the carriage was an emblem of the sword of judgment.

……

Under the night,

Arthas hummed a cheerful tune as he jumped from the top of one house to the top of another, and then to the top of yet another, having a great time.

Suddenly, its body stopped.

Arthas sniffed and looked in a certain direction with some confusion.

After hesitating for a moment, it turned and headed in that direction.

After a while, Alsace arrived at a place a dozen meters away from a house.

Immediately, it smelled a strong stench of blood.

Arthas frowned, and just as he was about to move closer to take a look, he saw a large black dog come out of the house.

Its mouth was half-open, revealing a row of sharp, white teeth that made one tremble. On each tooth grew dark red, rust-like marks, which seemed to be the result of long-term munching on flesh and blood without regular cleaning.

At this moment, the large black dog's teeth were still tangled with bloody intestines and surrounded by dots of torn raw meat.

The black dog looked around, then disappeared into the shadows in the blink of an eye.

In a corner it hadn't noticed, Arthas was in a rather strange state.

The moment Arthas saw that big black dog, a surge of intense hatred welled up in his mind.

The hatred was so intense that even when it was forcibly suppressed, it almost burst forth.

After the big black dog left, Arthas's eyes began to turn red, his claws and teeth began to grow, and he even seemed to grow larger.

Just then, a shout rang in its ears:

"calm!"

The rebuke seemed to carry some inexplicable power, penetrating directly into Arthas's soul, instantly waking him up as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water.

"What... what's wrong with me?" Arthas said, somewhat bewildered.

Its reddish eyes returned to their original clear blackness, its slightly enlarged body gradually returned to its original size, and its grown claws and teeth slowly retracted.

"How did you get yourself into this state?" a voice reached the puppy's ears.

“Mr. Narzdo? I don’t know what happened either, it just suddenly happened like this.” Arthas replied, somewhat confused.

What happened to you just now?

"Just now? I just... saw a demon dog, and then I don't know why I felt very angry, and that's how I became like this."

“But it didn’t spot me, so it shouldn’t have attacked me,” Arthas said, shaking his head.

“Demon Hound…is this your first time encountering a demon?” Nalzdo asked.

“Yes, I’ve only heard of it before, never seen it. Mr. Narzdor, why do I feel such strong hatred for a creature I’ve never seen before?” Arthas asked.

Narzdo was silent for a moment, then said:

"I don't know either; I've never encountered this situation before."

"Could it be my own problem?" Arthas asked, frowning.

If other people encountered a demon and experienced the same thing, then there would certainly be related news circulating.

However, Arthas had never heard from either Arthur or Bernadette that demons were anything special.

The only possibility is that the problem lies with Arthas himself.

“I don’t really know much about your situation,” Nalzdo sighed.

"Don't you know me well? I thought you came to my side because you knew something special about me," Arthas said with some surprise.

"No, it's just that my method allows me to obtain information from the spirit world, which is a kind of special divination. I feel that staying by your side will help me, so I've been following you."

“But actually, I don’t really know what’s so special about you,” Nalzdo said calmly.

"So that's how it is." Arthas's mood was somewhat downcast.

It has a health problem, but it doesn't know why, which makes it feel very uncomfortable.

“But you don’t actually need to worry about something like this happening again,” Nalzdo said at this point.

"why?"

"Your momentary loss of control was probably due to the shock of your first encounter with a demon. After this experience, as long as you are mentally prepared, you won't have such a strong reaction even if you encounter a demon again."

“In addition, I will also help you take some precautions to prevent you from encountering a situation like this,” Nalzdo said gently.

“But this is only treating the symptoms, not the root cause,” Arthas said, somewhat frustrated.

"Right now, we can only treat the symptoms; as for addressing the root cause... let's not think about it for the time being," Nalzdo sighed.

"Is there really no way to cure the root cause?" Arthas asked, frowning.

"Can not do it now."

"When will that be?" Arthas pressed.

"..."

"Mr. Narzdo? Mr. Narzdo?"

Arthas called out several times, but received no response.

Helpless, it could only walk home dejectedly, filled with doubts.

……

Tuesday morning, 7 Downsend Street.

In the bedroom, Arthur was fast asleep on the bed.

Beside him, Arthas, who had regained his energy after a nap, was playfully brushing Arthur's face with his tail.

Arthur, still half asleep, frowned slightly. He reached out and scooped up the mischievous puppy, pulling it into his arms.

"Hmm, I smell a puppy."

Arthur's nose twitched, and he muttered something unconsciously.

While Arthas was completely bewildered, Arthur, with his eyes closed, buried his face in his chest and gave the puppy a loving kiss on the forehead.

Then, I went back to sleep.

Arthas, feeling utterly helpless, was held in Arthur's arms and couldn't move, so he could only obediently close his eyes and go to sleep.

An hour later, Arthur, having had a good sleep, gradually woke up and found the puppy he was holding in his arms. He couldn't help but reach out and pinch its fluffy ears.

Soon, Arthas was also woken up by his manipulation.

“Little guy, I’m taking you to visit someone today, and then we’ll come back for a big meal, how about that?” Arthur asked, lifting the puppy up.

"Who are you visiting?" Arthas asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Klein,” Arthur said with a smile.

Chapter 138 Treating the Symptoms and the Root Cause

15 Minsk Street, Joewood District.

Klein, who had stayed up most of the night testing the effect of the Azik Copper Whistle on waking up the undead, was now fast asleep in bed.

Suddenly, the bell hanging on the door started ringing, waking Klein from his sleep.

"Who is it? Who's looking for me so early in the morning? Hmm, I slept until nine o'clock." Klein picked up the pocket watch next to his pillow, glanced at it, and muttered to himself, still a little drowsy.

He rubbed his face with both hands to try and clear his head.

Then, Klein got up, quickly dressed, and went to the door when the bell rang for the second time.

Arthur? He actually came. But how did he know I lived here...? Klein opened the door with some doubt in his mind.

“Long time no see, Klein.” Arthur, with Arthas perched on his shoulder, greeted Klein.

"Long time no see, Arthur. By the way, how did you know I lived here?"

As Klein led Arthur into the living room, he asked curiously.

“Arthas found you.” Arthur didn’t hesitate to use the puppy as a shield.

The little white dog sitting on his shoulder glanced at him but didn't say anything.