Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 402 - Chapter 402 Chapter 406 Gunshots in the Cemetery

Chapter 402: Chapter 406: Gunshots in the Cemetery Chapter 402: Chapter 406: Gunshots in the Cemetery In the cemetery, the old caretaker once again lifted his head and glanced at the nearby guardhouse.

He had reported the agitation of the corpses in the morgue to the cathedral in the form of a rapid dispatch, but he had yet to receive a response–at this point, with the entire city shrouded in a strange, thick fog and the sunlight bizarrely vanishing from the sky, the cathedral clearly didn’t have the energy to pay attention to the abnormalities in a small cemetery.

“I have to rely on myself…” the old caretaker muttered, tightening his coat, which had a leather lining and metal inserts that made a slight friction noise. “This fog is spreading far…”

The crackling sounds of friction and knocking broke the dead silence in the cemetery, and under the dense fog, the coffins on several nearby morgue benches seemed to emit a slight vibration.

“… Considering I guard you dead every night, can’t you behave at this moment?” the old caretaker furrowed his brows, slightly lifting his gun barrel. He knew that these corpses, peacefully laid out for days, were “moving” because of the strange fog, but he was powerless.

He could probably only wait for them to rise, then dispatch them one by one with his gun.

Just as he was thinking this, a sound different from the rustling in the surrounding coffins suddenly caught the old man’s attention; he momentarily paused and quickly looked towards the path leading to the cemetery entrance.

A small figure stumbled out from the other end of the path, her white thick coat and skirt hem resembling a bouncing snowball in the dim environment.

“Guard grandpa! Help me! Guard grandpa! Are you there!?”

The bouncing little snowball yelled on the path, her voice carrying a forced suppression of panic and tension.

“Annie!” the old caretaker immediately shouted through the fog to the girl without pausing in surprise, “Come here, don’t go that way!”

The little girl who rushed into the cemetery in a panic finally saw the old man standing near the guardhouse. A momentary relaxation appeared on her tense and frightened face, followed quickly by her running towards him. “Guard grandpa! I’m so glad you’re here…”

“Why are you still wandering around outside at this time!?” the old caretaker couldn’t concern himself with the girl’s cheer, and immediately scolded her fiercely with a stern face, for today’s situation was unlike any other, the danger of the dense fog was not like the usual slippery streets of snow. “Do you know the whole city is under martial law now?!”

“I got separated from my classmates!” Annie was startled by the old man’s stern appearance and tone, but she quickly waved her hand explaining, “We went with our teacher to visit the museum, and encountered the dense fog as we came out. The teacher said he would take us to the nearest Shelter, but they disappeared into the fog the moment I blinked…”

The old caretaker stared wide-eyed, “Disappeared into the fog?”

“Yes, disappeared, just in the blink of an eye,” Annie explained her experience, still appearing unsettled but trying to remain calm, “Then I decided to find a place to take shelter by myself. The museum was locked, I couldn’t find any adults on the streets, all the doors were locked, I knocked hard but no one answered, and then I remembered the teacher saying if we encounter danger, to go find the nearest priest, guardian or sheriff, and the cemetery was closest. I remember you saying you were a veteran guardian…”

While listening to the girl’s rapid-fire explanation, the old caretaker’s expression changed several times quickly. He realized that he had been somewhat unjust to the girl in his haste; her response was calm compared to her peers, but he couldn’t let it go and had to continue with a stern face, “So you came to take refuge in the cemetery?”

Annie nodded vigorously, “Yes, they say veteran guardians are more formidable than regular ones…”

“…But a cemetery is not a suitable place for refuge,” the old caretaker spoke sternly, “Especially not at this time.”

Annie became somewhat flustered, “I… I shouldn’t have come here?”

“…No, there’s no better option right now. The chances of something happening while you wander through the foggy streets are higher,” the old caretaker shook his head, “You just hide…”

Before he could finish speaking, a bizarre noise nearby interrupted him, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a shadow rising from the nearest dissecting table–a poor-quality coffin lid was forcefully opened, a restless arm struggled and lifted from the coffin, and then, the Restless One arose!

There was no time to warn Annie to close her eyes, the old caretaker instinctively raised his double-barreled shotgun, and with a booming “bang,” the shaky risen corpse immediately fell back, losing its balance and rolling off the dissecting table onto the ground.

“Ah!”

Annie, still just a child, was instantly startled by the gunshot, but she was more shocked by the… body that had just sat up in the mist.

“That… that…” the little girl pointed at the dissecting table with a stuttering voice.

The old caretaker instinctively spoke, “Don’t be afraid, that was just…”

“The ‘Supernatural’ Volume 3, Chapter 6 talks about it!” Annie finally caught her breath and shouted quickly, “The teacher said at this time we should immediately chant Bartok’s name in our hearts, then use a branch of sourwood or smoked ropes to whip the Restless Ones, and then find a chance to run to the nearest church for help…”

The old caretaker listened blankly to the girl’s rattling words; after a couple of seconds, he suddenly raised his shotgun again, loaded it without turning back, aimed at another dissecting table, and with a loud bang, another newly risen Restless One lay back to its rightful resting place.

“The textbooks you have now are different from what we had in my day. We didn’t learn this lesson until after high school,” he casually remarked.

Annie instinctively hugged her head, her small body trembling slightly from the impact of yet another gunshot, although her quick response while reciting the text earlier had honestly shown her fear and nervousness.

“Get inside the house,” the old man immediately sheltered the little girl to the front of the guardhouse, opened the door with one hand, and pushed Annie in. “No matter what happens outside, never leave– as long as you stay inside, this cabin is as safe as the sanctuary of a church, understand?”

Annie’s eyes widened in terror, unconsciously nodding while staring at the dense fog outside. In her line of sight, the fog enveloped the individual morgue slabs as they seemingly came to life, shadows squirming between the platforms, invisible roars echoing through the cemetery. Coffins nailed shut burst one after another, opening as horrifying figures woke up and sat up from those “beds” meant for eternal rest.

The old caretaker pushed Annie into the cabin and casually shut the door behind them, turning quickly to fire another shot.

The guardhouse was robust, protected by talismans, but if the entire cemetery’s dead were to rise, this flimsy small shelter might not withstand all the onslaughts– even if it physically held off the attacks, the mental torment from the undead’s siege could pierce through the cabin’s defenses, affecting the child.

The more he killed, the safer Annie would be.

“God of Death above, I’ve been retired for ten years!”

The veteran grumbled hoarsely, adeptly working the bolt of his rifle, ejecting a spent cartridge and chambering a new round. His eyes, already murky, seemed to harbor a flame, targeting the next restless resident almost without aiming.

The gunshot echoed, the dead rested, gun smoke rose, souls transcended.

“‘The Gatekeeper of the Other Side’ sure has his hands full today, hopefully, they can keep up with so many souls departing prematurely.”

Muttering to himself, the caretaker’s hands never stopped moving. Several Restless Ones began to move toward the direction of the guardhouse; he reloaded and fired again and again, ushering his “guests” prematurely on their way.

More and more wobbly corpses appeared around the path.

Those dimly seen figures even caused the old caretaker a moment of confusion–

Were there so many bodies in the cemetery? Could all the morgue slabs combined hold so many corpses?

Did they appear out of thin air from this dense fog?!

Bang!

After another gunshot, the old caretaker heard a very close snarl. Without lifting his head, his left hand reached into his chest, pulling out a short sword that appeared instantly in his hand. The next second, his body seemed to disappear and reappear several meters away by the door, the short sword slashing through the air, cutting down a body, a swollen, misshapen head rolling on the ground.

The old man looked down, noticing that the head had a single large eye on it.

His shock lasted only a moment before he was back at the doorway, raising his gun to target another shadow wavering towards him in the fog.

He pulled the trigger, but the gun didn’t fire, only the click of an empty chamber sounding.

The old man’s eyes shifted slightly, he quickly sheathed the short sword, reaching for the ammunition pouch at his waist– it was completely empty.

After a moment of silence, the old caretaker sighed, “Well, that’s about enough…”

He set down the now empty shotgun, reaching again for his short sword, lifting his head to look at the figures emerging waveringly from the fog.

A slight creaking sound came from behind him.

The guardhouse door had been opened from the inside.

The old man turned in astonishment, seeing Annie carefully watching him.

The little girl was tightly clutching a large-caliber rifle– his backup weapon.

At the little girl’s feet were several ammunition pouches and ammo boxes.

The floor showed clear scratches, these heavy items evidently dragged over from the corner with great effort by Annie.

“Guardian Grandpa, use this,” Annie lifted her hand, struggling slightly to hand the rifle to the old man in front of her, “Will this be of any use?”

“…Yes,” after a moment of silence, the old man nodded and reached for the rifle, tossing the double-barreled shotgun back to the girl, “Load it.”