Start with a core cabin

Chapter 1411 Meijia's Request (Finally Arrived at Xiaoxitian)

As an Old One, the more Duanmu Huai explored his clerical abilities, the more he discovered that his perspective became more different.

To put it bluntly, it is the perspective of the victim and the perpetrator.

The setting of a standard Cthulhu story is like this: a group of people are locked in a closed space without knowing it. At the same time, in the corner of this closed space, there are some terrifying and terrible beings trying to kill them. In order to escape from these terrible guys, the investigators tried desperately. They paid the price of sacrifice and blood. Some were killed to protect their companions. Some were willing to sacrifice their lives to open the mechanism, and some chose to die with the monster.

Finally, the only survivor opened the closed exit, carrying everyone's expectations, and was about to leave this gloomy, terrifying, and evil place and return to the real world. At the same time, he secretly vowed that he would never forget the sacrifice of his companions.

However, when the survivor opened the door, what appeared before him was a flattened city and monsters rampant everywhere. It was not until then that he understood the truth of the matter—the whole world had been destroyed, and this was the last refuge for mankind.

But now, all that is left is despair.

Ultimately, the core of the Cthulhu mythology is irresistible despair, the fear that humans, as tiny creatures, are as insignificant as dust in the face of the universe and those indescribable great beings.

Well, if we use the human empire as an analogy, a group of Astra Militarum encountered cultists and demons at the bottom of the hive. When they fought desperately to repel the enemy's attack and opened the door to try to escape, they found the Grey Knights and Inquisitors appearing in front of them.

Well...my condolences.

This is also the essence of Cthulhu mythology—the victim’s perspective.

In the final analysis, the investigators are powerless. Facing an existence that humans cannot resist, all they can do is resist like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

But the opposite might not be so dramatic.

For example, as an inquisitor, Duanmu Huai learned that there were cultists summoning demons at the bottom of the hive, so he led the Grey Knights to investigate and destroy them. However, when they took the elevator to the bottom of the hive, they encountered bloodstained and half-broken Astra Militarum. Considering that they might be contaminated, Duanmu Huai gave them the choice of either turning around and sacrificing for the Empire or being purified by the Grey Knights on the spot.

There was nothing dramatic, and he wasn't trying to scare these interstellar troops. It was just Duanmu Huai's duty as an inquisitor.

Similarly, if Duanmu Huai led a group of Night Guards to massacre the Na'vi, then in the eyes of the massacred Na'vi, Duanmu Huai and the Night Guards might be as terrifying as those unspeakable demons. But for Duanmu Huai, they were just aliens that needed to be eliminated, that simple.

so……………

"…People feel terrified because they are subjectively aware of the irresistible force, not because the other party is threatening them. Do you understand?"

Duanmu Huai looked at Medea sitting in front of him and spoke.

The reason for this is that not long ago, Duanmu Huai gave lessons to Irisviel and Medea, teaching them some common sense about the Old Ones and the Outer Gods. In order to explain it better, Duanmu Huai also gave the two of them a few stories as examples.

The result was that after listening to it, Medea nodded thoughtfully and then spoke.

"I see. So the Old Ones try to make themselves more terrifying and scare others to the point of mental breakdown? Then, Master, do you also want to become more terrifying? But I think you are already very scary..."

So next, Duanmu Huai had to spend five hours carefully explaining to the two of them the difference - I didn't get the position of the Old One because I look scary!

…………That shouldn’t be the case, right?

  It must not be!

"Ming, I understand......"

  Looking at Duanmu Huai, Medea nodded somewhat uneasily—she had never heard Duanmu Huai talk so much!

"Well, I understand."

Duanmu Huai nodded with satisfaction, and at this time Sha Jiuye also poked his head out from the stairs with dissatisfaction.

"Come and eat now that you understand. Really, my brother always dwells on some weird things."

Why do you want me to always dwell on some weird things? If I don’t get this right, there will be no end to it!

The dinner was made by Sakuya, and it tasted good. The family had a great time eating together. Only Shionji Yuko was a little reluctant. In fact, after she first came here, she stayed in her room and didn't go out. Even her meals had to be delivered to her room by Sakuya, and he would come to take the dishes away after she finished eating.

  But Duanmu Huai doesn't indulge her. This is not a hotel, and Sha Jiuye is not doing room service. If you want to eat, come down and eat! Otherwise, you will starve to death!

So in the end, Shionji Yuko had to obey and come down to eat on time every day. The hall was originally converted from a cafe, so there were many places to eat. It was a bit empty before with only three people, but now with Irisviel and Medea, a total of five people, it seemed a lot more lively.

"That's right, brother."

During dinner time, Sha Jiuye thought of something and looked at Duanmu Huai.

"Are you free next week?"

"What's wrong? What's the matter?"

Duanmu Huai thought about it. Recently, he had nothing to do except tracking down the Light of the Universe. Duanmu Huai also gave the task of tracking down the Light of the Universe Sect to Irisviel, Medea and Shionji Yuko. The former two can detect in reality through familiars, while the latter can track in the information field through the Internet, which just makes up for the weaknesses of both parties. However, up to now, there has been no movement from the Light of the Universe Sect. Apart from that, Duanmu Huai currently... seems to have nothing to do. "Meijia invited us to a banquet..."

"?again?"

"Well……………"

Faced with Duanmu Huai's complaints, Sha Jiuye's expression was a little embarrassed. After all, the last time Mika invited them to a birthday party, something went wrong.

Now it happens again.

and……………

"Actually, Mika wants you to help her investigate a case."

Sure enough, I knew it wasn’t that simple.

"Tell me what happened."

So Sha Jiuye quickly explained the situation.

Strictly speaking, this is not Mika's business, but the Shirafan family's business.

The theme of the event is "disappearance of God".

As mentioned before, the Baifan family has many industries, including a hot spring hotel located in the mountains. Due to its superior geographical location and good environment, the Baifan family has carried out a series of industrial expansion around the hot spring hotel, and of course hired many local people to work there, intending to build it into a high-end convalescent community.

All along, the Bai Fan family had a good cooperation with the village. After all, they hired local people to work there, which provided a lot of jobs for the local area. The village was also very supportive of Bai Fan's work, so it could be said that the cooperation was pleasant.

But all good things must come to an end, and even the most pleasant partners will eventually go their separate ways.

  Not long ago, the son of the village chief found the person in charge of the Baifan Hotel and negotiated privately. To put it bluntly, he wanted money. After all, in the eyes of the village chief's son, these lands belonged to the village. Baifan, as a large capital company, had previously offered too low a price. Therefore, he believed that Baifan Company was maliciously suppressing the price, so he asked them to make up the difference again, otherwise he would see them in court!

The Bai Fan family naturally disdained this. As a capitalist, the lawyers they hired were all calculated on a group basis. Any land acquisition contracts and the like were naturally made very clear. The Bai Fan family wanted to turn this place into a high-end convalescent community, so naturally there would be no hidden dangers. Everything was made very clear, and there was no price difference at all.

So they rejected the man's request - although Bai Fan's family was wealthy, the money didn't come from the wind, and this kind of person was greedy and would never be able to get enough. If they gave it to him this time, he might come again next time. Of course, they couldn't open this loophole!

The village chief's son failed to get the money and left with a gloomy face. At that time, no one took it seriously. After all, the village chief's son had a bad reputation, and he left the village after graduating from junior high school, saying that he wanted to go to a big city to start a business. As a result, more than ten years later, he came back in disgrace and looked even poorer than before. On the contrary, those country people he looked down on made a lot of money by relying on the big tree of Baifan Enterprise. No wonder he would find a way to ask for money.

But after a few days, something bad happened.

First, the village chief mysteriously disappeared, and then the village chief's son also disappeared, which immediately caused a lot of discussion in the village. Not only that, after that, several more people disappeared in succession, and although the police were reported, the police investigation did not make any progress.

This was not a good thing for the Baifan family. After all, the residents there were in a panic. Some even said that the village was cursed and wanted to escape from here. After all, they also made a lot of money when they worked at the Baifan Hotel, so they had the confidence to move.

  Originally, this was not the White Sail Hotel's business, but the problem was that the White Sail Hotel employed only local people! If all the local people ran away, where would they hire people?

And if there is a rumor of a curse, will people still come after hearing it? Wouldn't their high-end health resort be in vain?

"I understand the situation."

After listening to Sha Jiuye's explanation, Duanmu Huai nodded.

"So Mika wants me to investigate the disappearances there? What does this have to do with her?"

  Even if the hotel belongs to Bai Fan, it doesn't mean that Meijia has to show up. What about the owner of the hotel?

"Brother, don't you know? That place was originally a birthday gift from the Baifan family to Mika. She is the boss of the place...but she is currently represented by someone else."

"………………………"

Well, rich people are great, I don’t want to play anymore.

Duanmu Huai sighed silently. So you see, this is capital. The little girl is only 16 years old, not even old enough to drink, but she runs a hot spring hotel.

Ordinary people working hard all their lives probably won’t have this kind of good thing.

  By the way, your family also gives birthday gifts to hotels? When will you give me a plane?

Duanmu Huai finished his complaints silently in his heart and then thought for a moment.

"Okay, I agree."

After all, I am free anyway...