Chapter 317 Christmas

Seemingly seeing Gillan's confusion, the old man who made the cane laughed twice and explained:

"This is a tradition every year, and the 'gifts for good children' are not limited to real children... Blood Owl, a young man as outstanding as you is likely to be favored by Santa Claus."

"Gifts for good children?"

Gillan raised his eyebrows.

He found it funny for some reason.

If he was a "good child", then there should be no "bad children" in the world...

"Old sir, does this 'Christmas tradition'... involve mysticism?"

Gillan remembered his experience of riding a mysterious carriage in the Land of God.

The wooden house in the snow was the residence of the "Christmas Devil" Krampus, and there was a strange snowman guarding the door.

From the conversation with the snowman at that time, it can be seen that Santa Claus is not a legend, but a real existence...Gillan also had a hunch that both "Santa Claus" and "Christmas Devil" were not ordinary people.

They gave gifts to good children and punished bad children respectively, which obviously seemed to be following some kind of law.

"Yes." The old man, who was much shorter than Gillan, laughed. "This tradition has existed for a long time, even dating back to the Middle Ages."

"No one has ever seen Santa Claus, but many children have received gifts on Christmas Eve... Some people claim to have seen reindeer pulling carts in the night sky, accompanied by the sound of crisp bells."

"Do you know what this is all about?"

Gilan asked humbly.

The old man who made the stick shook his head.

"I have checked a lot of information, but there is no definite statement. Many secret cults have tried to spy on the true face of Santa Claus, but all failed."

"But there is a generally accepted speculation that Santa Claus Germain Nicholas may be a mysterious upper person... By the way, there is also the Christmas demon Krampus, which punishes bad children on Christmas Eve."

"Over the years, most cases of missing children have occurred on December 24, and most of the cases are very strange. Even under the eyes of adults, children will suddenly disappear..."

Hearing this, Gilan looked thoughtful.

He suddenly asked:

"Old man, please tell me, if you don't receive gifts on Christmas Eve, but encounter Krampus, what should you do?"

"Huh?" The old man who made the staff was stunned, as if he didn't expect Gilan to ask such a strange question. "This..."

He looked up at the blond young man and noticed that the other party's expression didn't seem to be joking, and his heart trembled.

"If you are targeted by Krampus...be alert to the sound of chains, and don't touch the Christmas desserts that have inexplicably appeared in your home, and seek help from the investigation committee as soon as you find something unusual...Parra Celsus can help you."

The old man who made the staff said in a serious voice.

"Remember, the strength of Krampus is not something that ordinary mystics can fight...If you encounter it, you can only run away!"

Gilan narrowed his eyes.

...

...

After completing the routine escort mission today, Gilan drove back to Pryce Street.

It was dark, and there was no one on the road.

Only two car lights passed in the darkness.

Woo...

The engine was roaring.

On the way, Gillan remembered the conversation with the old man who made sticks during the day. He thought for a moment, turned the steering wheel, and drove away from the original direction.

The black car turned around and headed straight for East Muse.

After spending some time, Gillan shuttled through the commercial district and finally found a grocery store that was still open.

The owner was an elderly, thin old man who was sitting at the front desk reading a book. His wife, who also had white hair, was sleeping in a rocking chair, covered with a blanket.

The store was brightly lit, with a Christmas pine tree standing, decorated with stars and gingerbread men, and a circle of small colored lights connected to the eaves of the wall.

It was very beautiful and full of warm atmosphere.

Gillan bought some Christmas decorations and a Christmas stocking in the grocery store.

He paid a gold Caesar coin in the old man's refusal and received the old man's grateful wishes.

The reason was simple, the business was too bleak...

At this stage of panic, it is really hard to see the prosperous commercial street scene of the past. Even on Christmas, few people are willing to go out shopping.

Prices are soaring, and people feel extremely uneasy.

…

…

After returning to the rental apartment, Gillan arranged the decorations he bought. After the power was turned on, the whole house was bright and flashing with colorful lights.

The atmosphere and sense of ceremony are quite good.

But Gillan just glanced at it and washed himself and went to bed.

He was not interested in these things.

Before turning off the lights, Gillan deliberately hung a Christmas stocking on the head of the bed.

He didn't know why he did this... Maybe it was curiosity about "Santa Claus" or vigilance against the "Christmas Devil".

In short, he wanted to try it.

And Gillan always felt a little uneasy.

It seems that he has a grudge with Krampus... Although the snowman in front of the snowy wooden house was not killed by him, it is also related to him.

Even the corpse was corrupted by it and turned into a considerable amount of mysterious energy.

If Krampus wanted to take revenge on this, he probably wouldn't go to "Watcher" Tedder. After all, if the persimmon is too soft to pinch, it will definitely come to you first!

Gillan lay on the soft bed and closed her eyes.

In fact, he was not sleeping, but he deliberately slowed down his breathing and pretended to be asleep.

I don’t know how much time has passed.

Maybe it's midnight.

In the dead silence, Gilan suddenly heard a noise——

jingle!

The sound came from outside the window.

‘Really coming...? ! ’

His heart trembled.

The sound of the bells shaking sounded one after another.

Jingle bell, jingle bell…

At the same time, Gilan actually heard another voice——

Wow!

This sound came from the direction of the living room outside the master bedroom, the unique metal friction sound of chains mopping the floor.

'calm! ’

Ji Lan secretly thought.

He immediately used the power of his "anchor" essence to forcibly control his body without making any stress response, and it was still in the state it should be in when "sleeping deeply".

Ji Lan didn't dare to rashly turn on his spiritual vision to check, because strong people were generally extremely sensitive to this and could detect it easily.

He is always prepared, and if something unexpected happens, he can react instantly and strike back.

But since the two sounds were heard at the beginning, there has been a long period of dead silence.

It seemed as if everything was just Gillan's auditory hallucination.

A cold wind blew outside the house.

It suddenly started snowing.

Ji Lan was confused, but she didn't open her eyes to look.

It wasn't until time passed and the sky was dark that he suddenly sat up and a gray cane appeared out of thin air in his hand.

However, the room was empty.

No one.

Just like the scene before he went to bed.

Ji Lan frowned, feeling that things were quite strange.

He carefully got out of bed and began to check everywhere in the room, even under the bed, doors, windows, and blind spots on tables and chairs.

However, no abnormalities were found.

"That's weird..." Gillan murmured.

He was sure that the sound of bells and chains was by no means an auditory hallucination, but real.

Ji Lan opened the door and planned to explore the living room.

However, he stopped at the door and his pupils shrank.

He stared at the black hoof prints left by an unknown creature on the floor outside the door...

The hoof print is divided into two halves, but it is not known whether it was made by a sheep, cow, deer or pig. But judging from the hoof prints, it is more like a creature that walks upright and is very large, at least over three meters.

Gillan found that the hoofprints seemed to spread from the living room, stopped at the door of his room, and then disappeared.

He couldn't help but feel furious.

‘Is it Krampus…? ’

Ji Lan secretly thought.

He bent down and stretched out his hand to wipe the black hoof prints. His fingers were suddenly stained with a layer of dust that looked like soot or coke.

He lifted it up and sniffed it between his nose.

"Charcoal ash... mixed with the smell of sulfur."

Gilan frowned and murmured.

"Is it a creature from hell?"

He stood up again and walked around the entire rental apartment. In addition to hoof prints, scratches left by heavy objects dragging the ground were also found...other than that, there were no other traces.

Gilan took a deep breath, returned to the master bedroom, then opened the window and looked outside.

Soon, he found a palm print on the glass outside the window... It was as if someone was leaning on the glass and peeking in.

Jilan's frown deepened. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he felt that what happened last night was too strange.

At this time.

His peripheral vision wandered around the room and suddenly stopped.

The pupils also shrank sharply.

Because Gillan saw that the Christmas stocking she hung by the bedside was actually bulging!

Someone put something inside at some point!

"?!"

Jilan stood up abruptly.

Then I stared at the red Christmas stocking and held my breath.

‘When exactly was it? ! ’

He couldn't figure it out at all. He didn't sleep at all last night and was still on alert... but he didn't know who came to his bedside and stuffed something into his Christmas stocking!

Gillan was unaware of this!

If that person is not good for him...

Suddenly, cold sweat broke out on his forehead and back.

Gaba.

Ji Lan unconsciously clenched his fists, his joints turned white and made a crisp sound.

With a gloomy face, he walked to the head of the bed, took off the Christmas stocking, and then looked at the contents inside.

The sock contains two small items.

A palm-sized yellow leather booklet and a small bronze iron hook.

The iron hook is only about three or four centimeters long and wide, and the bottom is engraved with crooked small characters in ancient Xilu script.

"Krampus Solomon."

Gillan whispered the name.

Flip the hook over and there will be engravings on the other side:

"Bad boy, should be punished!"

When he saw this, his eyes narrowed.

At this time, Gillan was basically certain that among the unknown creatures that visited last night, there was the "Christmas Demon" Krampus... But for some reason, the other party didn't take action against him, and just left the iron hook as a threat.

‘Krampus Solomon…Solomon? ’

Gilan murmured this name in his mind, thinking of a person... no, a cat to be precise.

"Windmill Cat" Pal Solomon!

‘These two have the same surname, is there any connection between them? ’

Thinking about it, to no avail.

Jilan had to put away the iron hook first.

‘I have to be promoted to the 4th level of Jiushi as soon as possible, I need strength...’

The sense of urgency in his heart became stronger with this invisible pressure.

Then, Jilan flipped through the booklet again.

He was surprised to see a passage written on the title page, also in ancient Hiru script, but the handwriting was obviously much more elegant:

“A gift for good children.”

“This is a secret about the ‘lower level’ of the God’s hometown, and it also comes with a ‘ticket’. You are welcome to visit my residence, Mr. Jilan Ilos.”

“German Nicholas, stay.”

This is written by Santa Claus!

Jilan raised his eyebrows.

In other words...

The sound of bells and chains last night were signs of the visit of “Santa Claus” and “Christmas Devil” respectively.

They both came to see him at the same time? !

Jilan just felt that this matter was too magical, and it seemed both weird and magical.

‘Perhaps… the reason why Krampus didn’t attack me was because of Germain? ’

He thought it was very likely.

Judging from the relationship between the two, they were obviously enemies. Krampus probably didn’t attack Gillan because he was afraid of him.

He left the hook as a threat and left in a hurry.

Gillan inexplicably had a slight liking for the mysterious “Santa Claus” Germain Nicholas.

It just so happened that the Christmas gift from him was what he needed at the moment.

Gillan had just visited the God’s Country and didn’t know much about the “lower” area, so this booklet could help him a lot.

Chairman Pala said that after the 4th level of the “Fire Sword Road”, it would increasingly need the power of the God’s Country.

Wow.

Continue to open and read on.

The booklet records several areas and clearly records some “God’s Country residents” and information that may exist in these areas.

Among them, the swamp that Gillan passed through was mentioned, which was actually called “Olive Withered Land”.

Washerwomen, blue hats, poisonous lizards, and an evil centaur named "Cruz" all appear there.

The booklet also emphasizes the information of the "headless carriage"... It is called "Silent Post Carriage", the specific number is unknown, and it will shuttle through the "lower" area of ​​the God's Land by itself, with its own routes and destinations.

You actually need to pay for the "Silent Post Carriage", and only gold is collected. But for new visitors, there is a free benefit for the first use of the carriage.

The annotations explain that there is an unwritten rule in the God's Land, that is, you cannot easily attack the "Silent Post Carriage", otherwise it will be contaminated with a lot of "mottled air", which is very likely to cause hostility from the residents of the God's Land, and even the thunder pursuit of the "inspectors".

Jilan turned to the end of the booklet, and a golden ticket was sandwiched in it.

He picked it up, and "Ban Lan" gave the entry:

"Ticket to Santa Claus' Workshop. Limited tickets issued by 'Santa Claus' Germain Nicholas himself. With this, you can take the 'Silent Coach' directly to the workshop."