Our Family Has Fallen

Lance didn’t move recklessly, but instead walked around and returned to the stairway entrance.

"Boss!" Boudica was so bored that he was getting agitated, and upon seeing Lance return, he quickly got up from the ground.

"I’ve checked it out and found something very strange."

Of course, Lance couldn’t reveal too much to them, but he still led them to the room.

Before they even entered the room, even the normally relaxed Boudica became serious, not to mention Amanda, who was more sensitive to these things.

After Lance pulled down the black cloth, she didn’t even dare to step into the room, only giving a slight, trembling warning.

"Damn! What is this? We shouldn’t get close, let’s leave quickly..."

"Don’t be afraid, I’m here."

Seemingly aware of Amanda’s unease, Lance raised his hand and pressed it on her shoulder, offering a few comforting words.

This greatly calmed Amanda’s nervousness, and after glancing at Lance, she followed him inside.

"I want to preserve this sealing ritual. Do you think it’s possible?"

"I’m not an expert in this area, so I’m not sure, maybe Mr. Alhazred can do it."

"Do you think removing this object would disrupt the sealing ritual?"

Listening to Lance’s words, Amanda could only give a rather sour smile, "This is a complete ritual, and without knowing the details, it would be hard to replicate. My advice is not to touch anything."

"I understand." Lance nodded in acknowledgment, but he still seemed deep in thought.

He wanted to preserve or even replicate it because the Hamlet Family needed a containment area with sealing capabilities. After all, many items in the display room couldn’t always be carried around.

Seeing that Lance listened to her advice, Amanda also breathed a sigh of relief and began to introduce the situation.

"Actually, there are quite a lot of similar sealing rituals, various factions have them, and ultimately it depends on the choice of ritual materials.

Different materials can exhibit different powers, for instance, the power contained in this Holy Grail should include traits like purification, isolation, and protection..."

Amanda explained at length, essentially saying that the surface aspects of rituals, like steps and patterns, aren’t important; the focus should be on the source of power.

It’s like a phone number being just a string of digits, with many service providers, and making a call being just some actions—what’s most crucial is the person you’re trying to reach.

Lance couldn’t help but turn his gaze toward the altar, then look back at the group, and after a little consideration, he decided to let it go.

If Alhazred or Baldwin were here, he wouldn’t waste any words and would directly activate the altar.

But Amanda was obviously not in the right state, already timid before the battle, and it was uncertain about Audrey; she might die of fright just at the sight of the Limping Walker.

Let’s wait until a team of experts comes to handle it, for now, leave it here...

After a rational struggle, Lance chose to leave the room and closed the door again. They had already searched through the fourth floor, which he hadn’t paid much attention to initially, but midway Audrey suddenly said something.

"Don’t you think there’s something odd here?"

These words made the team halt; compared to Boudica and Amanda’s impatience, Lance was still willing to listen to what she had to say.

"Have you found anything?"

"Although the structure is different from downstairs, the space size is off, and the added parts are clearly meant to steal space." Saying this, Audrey began to move towards the wall, knocking and exploring it.

When she said this, Lance also understood that the main structure of the old mansion was three vertical floors, the fourth floor started to narrow for the roof, and the fifth was completely an attic.

That is to say, the ceiling of the third floor serves as the foundation for the fourth floor; you could extend a balcony, but it’s impossible for part of it to have vanished.

Before Lance could think too much, Audrey had already found the mechanism within the wall’s brickwork.

"Found it, the secret door is here."

Audrey’s voice held some delight, and as she pressed it hard, the decorative plaster relief cracked open, revealing a long-sealed secret room.

Seeing this, Amanda couldn’t help but curb some of her disdain for the tomb robber; she hadn’t expected this guy to have some true skills.

And Boudica was already excitedly trying to rush in but was held back by Lance.

"Let the professional handle it. Don’t cause trouble."

This was undoubtedly encouragement for Audrey, who had finally found her place in the team and went in first.

However, it was unknown whether out of habit, she first lit a candle before entering. That thing, made from corpse oil and ashes, Lance didn’t particularly like but still followed in as the second.

With no windows to provide light, only the doorway and candlelight offered a glimmer of light, making the whole room appear a bit dim.

The room wasn’t large and was quite cramped accommodating four people, given that it was already piled up with various items.

But it was evident that this was not an arrangement of the Sect of Ascension, at least not set by the old ancestor after going mad, as it lacked the kind of deranged blood-red graffiti and had no evil cult objects related to the sect.

Armor, weapons, tools, and two chests... all of these items were covered with a thick layer of dust, indicating a long history.

Audrey glanced at Lance, and seeing his nod, she began to unlock the chests; her technique was much faster and more meticulous than Lance’s, highlighting the difference between amateur and professional.

Once opened, the chests revealed one full of gold coins, while the other contained some crystal gemstones, jades, and diamonds—simply put, money.

Even in the dim environment, they sparkled with brilliance under the faint candlelight; Audrey had seen plenty of wealth, but even she couldn’t help breathing heavily upon seeing this.

Unfortunately, Lance didn’t even glance at it, as his attention was drawn to something else.

In the corner stood a complete set of armor, with hands crossed over a longsword.

This was an extraordinary piece of equipment, and the power it held had prevented it from corroding over the years, still appearing as good as new after dusting off.

Looking at the other items representing power, money... Lance roughly understood that this secret room seemed more like some legacy left by the elders of the Hamlet Family, intended as a backdoor for the wayward descendants (old ancestor).

This inevitably reminded Lance of the hidden compartment found in the bay, a last legacy a person had desperately left for civilization, though it sadly ended up with Lance as the civilization perished.

And now, would the discarded Hamlet Family legacy of the old ancestor fall into his hands again?

Unfortunately, there were others present, so Lance merely quietly took it without saying much.

After clearing the secret room, the recent discovery stirred the interest of the team, dissipating the previous oppressive atmosphere due to the Cripple Walker’s Altar.

As mentioned before, the fourth floor was the last significant structure, with only the attic above.

However, the old ancestor had utilized the unique pointed attic environment of the fifth floor to construct a rather interesting room.

A hexagonal pointed structure, with tall glass windows on each side, allowing easy observations in every direction from the center.

It was filled with telescopes and other precision equipment, some of which Lance couldn’t even identify.

"This is an observatory, though those mages like to call it an astronomical observatory."

Amanda wasn’t extremely knowledgeable about these things, but certainly, she knew a lot, as there was an Elder in the organization who was an astronomy magician and happened to be Tamara’s teacher.

And Romani people themselves were also involved with astrology as a way of divination.

Lance disregarded the rest and indeed found the old ancestor’s records of his celestial studies here.

However, before he could look through them, Boudica, who was leaning on a window, suddenly shouted excitedly.

"Boss, boss! There’s a fight down there!"

Hearing this, Lance couldn’t help but put away the things in his hand for the moment and joined the others at the window; below, figures of the cultists were emerging on a path overgrown with weeds and bushes...