The Secret Cult Chronicles of the Decaying Lake Manor

Chapter 113 Stone Tablet Inside the Wall

When George returned to the mansion, Carson was waiting at the door.

"Young Master!" Carson's expression relaxed considerably when he saw the expressions on George's and the others' faces.

"You've returned safely—what's the situation at the Night's Watch hut?"

"It's all taken care of," George nodded. "Tom has been rescued, is unharmed, and is being settled in. However, I need to find my father."

Carson seemed somewhat surprised: "The master hasn't returned to the mansion?"

"Father hasn't returned?" George raised an eyebrow.

“When the master returns, he always asks me or Thomas to report on what’s happening at the mansion,” Carson explained. “Perhaps he’s gone to the tower, or somewhere else on the island—the master always has places we don’t know about.”

That sounds like the truth.

George thought for a moment, then finally nodded to the butler: "You're right. Well then, get some rest, Carson. You've had a tough time these past few days."

He turned and headed for the stairs, but the thought in his mind grew clearer and clearer.

There must have been some unexpected events during this half-hearted "trial" that I was unaware of.

However, he put those thoughts aside for the moment, turned around and said goodbye to his teammates who had been up all night, and then went to sleep.

Tomorrow, one of his "Rationality" cards will be off cooldown; there are many things he can do then, so he needs to carefully weigh his options.

The morning after the hailstorm, the sun finally pierced through the normal fog and shone on the land ravaged by snow and hail.

The Viscount's seat on the breakfast table remained empty.

Old Lady Violet's gaze lingered on the empty chair for a moment before turning to George, who shook his head to indicate that he didn't know either.

After the meal, Carson stopped George in the hallway.

"Young Master," the butler said with a strange expression, "the servants reported this morning that the family chapel on the west side of the manor was smashed last night."

He explained under George's furrowed brow, "A section near the back wall collapsed. It looks like something fell from a great height—" Carson's description was cautious, but his eyes clearly betrayed his ominous intent.

"They dare not enter without permission and are awaiting your instructions."

George immediately thought of his mother's tombstone and realized that the family cemetery was behind the chapel.

"I'll go and see for myself," he said briefly.

Carson nodded: "I've already had people guarding the area to prevent any further incidents."

George went back to his room to get his coat and gloves, and then put the golden sun amulet close to his body before walking towards the grove of trees on the west side.

The snow in the forest was trampled into uneven patches, and in some places the ice crust broke, exposing the soil underneath.

Many tree branches were broken, and the ground was littered with broken branches and leaves, as well as some charred, sticky stains that smelled of sweet, rotten stench.

Ignoring the servants standing guard nearby, George approached the half-open oak doors of the chapel.

Even from the outside, the dilapidation at the back of the building is obvious.

George pushed open the door and stepped inside, his footsteps treading on the broken bricks.

There is a huge depression in the ground inside, like a meteorite crater that was abruptly moved there.

Looking up, I saw that the roof near the northwest wall had indeed collapsed with a large hole.

Sunlight streamed in at an angle, illuminating the mess below: broken benches, cracked shards of stained glass, and fallen stones and beams.

George closed his eyes and used his spiritual senses to scan the entire space.

Aside from the chaotic scene, nothing too unusual was found.

He opened his eyes and began to carefully walk around the shards on the ground into the chapel.

The organ was damaged by falling stones, which damaged many of the pipes in the back part, but it still stands in its original position.

And beneath the collapsed roof, a crack was revealed in the wall.

George felt a jolt of unease; he sensed something amiss with the cracks in the wall.

He walked around the messy debris on the ground and approached the crack. Sure enough, he saw something inside; it wasn't an ordinary brick wall interlayer.

He carefully brushed away the broken bricks and dust, and found what appeared to be a stone tablet half-embedded in the wall, with the cracked wall surface exposed.

The surface of the stone tablet was covered with dense symbols and text. George brushed away the top layer of dust with his finger and saw a larger inscription at the top of the tablet.

It was a type of writing that he recognized somewhat, but could not immediately identify.

However, below the text, there is a picture engraved.

The painting is simple, yet lifelike: an island floating in the middle of calm water, with vegetation and buildings on the island.

In the center of the island stood a large tree, its branches entwined with vines and flowers, and beneath it seemed to sit seven blurry, slender figures.

George's breath caught in his throat for a moment.

He had seen a similar picture in "The Glass Island"—a picture of Morgan le Fay and her sisters gathering on the sacred island where the Lake Fairy Morgan le Fay and her sisters resided.

And now this stone tablet has appeared on Paradise Island —

Since no cards for the stone tablet were generated at the card table, he had no choice but to continue cleaning up more text on the tablet.

While he couldn't understand the original inscription on the stone tablet, George found something noteworthy on its side.

Someone inscribed a line of small characters in relatively clear Brittany: "From this day forward, the seven women ascend to heaven, the evil is sealed away, and may the music of the strings endure forever."

George stared at the line of small print, his mind racing.

"Seven maidens" refers to seven fairy maidens in the lake, and "ascension" probably refers to the achievement of ascending to heaven.

Could the "evil thing" be the sealed ancestor, the mad Earl Lincoln?

"Lüxian" is probably a specific reference to a certain rank between the immortals and Siwei as recorded in the previous book.

So the fact that the mother chose to leave a message here, and in this grove of trees she often visited, is probably not a coincidence.

George stood up, filled with suspicion, and took one last look at the smashed stone tablet.

He found some pieces of debris around him and covered the stone tablet with them, then turned and quickly left the chapel.

Back at the main house, George was on his way to the temporary alchemy room when he ran into his grandmother in the foyer.

The old lady seemed to have been standing there the whole time, and when she saw George, she pulled him over.

"George, come sit with me for a while. Don't be so quick to refuse your grandmother. We've only spoken once since you came back."

Although George was confused, he could not refuse and had no choice but to let the old lady take his arm and lead him to the small living room on the second floor, which he had only been to once.

The old lady helped George to sit down in a soft chair and asked first, "How did things go last night?"

"It's alright, Grandmother. There were no casualties."

The old lady nodded, then said, "Carson just told me about the chapel. You went out just now because of that, didn't you? It's heartbreaking, and the weather makes repairs very difficult."

She sighed.

"There are always too many unexpected troubles in this mansion and everything on the island."

Then, the old lady looked at him with a solemn gaze that left George somewhat puzzled.

"George, there's something I think I should give you now."

She stood up and took a dark walnut wood box from the low cabinet beside her.

The box has no carvings or patterns on its surface, but it is polished to a smooth, mirror-like finish, shining like an oil painting with varnish.

She handed the box to George.

"This is what your mother left you," the old lady said softly.

"In her final days, she entrusted it to me for safekeeping. She said—'If one day you begin to truly understand this family and need the truth, then I will give it to you.'"

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