Chapter 42


    ??The Sleeping Curse actually had forty-seven nodes.


    It seemed this skill had quite potent effects.


    Lynn took out Minor Fireball Spell and memorized all twenty-seven nodes on it.


    Then, sitting on the bed, he began meditating to construct nodes. With the experience from the first time, the speed of building nodes was much faster this time.


    Moreover, Lynn discovered that the speed of node construction was rted to his mental strength.


    The stronger the mental strength, the faster the construction of nodes.


    Byte afternoon, the sounds of their return echoed from downstairs.


    Lynn opened his eyes, having built four nodes in the afternoon alone.


    At this rate, if he worked overtime in the evening, it would probably take only three or four days toplete the spell framework of Minor Fireball.


    He joined his family for dinner downstairs, listening to their cheerful conversations. Today, they scouted a shop, investigated the market in Bangor Port, and had a meal together.


    They believed that opening a tailor shop targetingmoners, with affordable prices, would be a profitable venture. Many local tailors served the nobility, making it difficult formoners to find suitable clothing.


    Thus, they nned to open a tailor shop catering to themoners. Lynn thought his parents’ idea was forward-thinking. There was certainly a market—the poor in Bangor Port were different from those in other ces.


    Even the poor in this developing port city had higher ies than those in other cities in the ind Erdolu Kingdom. However, due to the higher cost of living, many struggled to make ends meet.


    If there was a rtively affordable tailor shop, it would undoubtedly be popr among the poor. Once a group of regr customers was established, even with thin profits but high turnover, it wouldn’t be difficult to sustain a family.


    After dinner, Lynn went to Lauren’s house under the pretext of taking a stroll.


    Entering the house, he recounted the events of the day to Lauren.


    Lauren listened hesitantly, a mix of worry and nervousness evident on his face.


    “Others have already said they wouldn’t care about your appearance now, and every rtionship needs a conclusion,” Lynn remarked.


    “Are you nning to end things with your wife like this?” Lynn inquired as Lauren shook his head, looking lost.


    “Then go!” Lynn urged. “Don’t let yourself regret it. With your current lifespan probably exceeding that of an ordinary person, do you want the rest of your life to be filled with regret for today’s decisions?” Lynn continued.


    Lauren, firming his resolve, clenched his fist and nodded.


    How Lauren went about it, what he said—Lynn didn’t care. He believed Lauren could handle this matter.


    Later, Lynn returned to his room, engaging in his daily meditation exercises. When meditation reached its limit, he constructed spell nodes.


    After feeling the fatigue from meditation and spell node construction, he rxed by reading books.


    This was the fulfilling sense of progress that Lynn sought.


    As winter in Bangor Port wasing to an end, a piece of news shocked the entire city.


    Some time ago, the Bolent family mobilized arge number of ships to set sail. However, they encountered an unprecedented storm at sea, and almost all the ships sank. Only a few small boats with a handful of skilled sailors managed to escape.


    The entire Bangor Port was plunged into an atmosphere of mourning.


    As a port city, many residents of Bangor Port made their living from fishing. The sailors on the sunken ships were crucial pirs in many families that relied on the fishing industry.


    Countless families were shattered by this sudden cmity.


    Adding to theplexity, it was reported that the patriarch of the Bolent viscount family in Bangor Port had recently died due to an ident. The old patriarch, who had been in retirement for a long time, regained control of the family. He personally led the ill-fated expedition, apanied by many young members of the Bolent family.


    However, with the unexpected disaster, the Bolent family was suddenly left in a state of chaos, and the few remaining family members began to fight for the vacant viscountcy, intensifying the internal struggles within the family.


    As a family that grew alongside Bangor Port, the influence of the Bolent family in Bangor Port was unquestionable. As this family fell into turmoil, the overall security of Bangor Port descended into chaos for a while.


    The external turmoil didn’t significantly affect their household, except that Lynn sometimes heard from Anika at the dinner table that the prices of materials like linen, wool, and leather for making clothes had risen slightly.


    With the Bolent family selecting a new patriarch to inherit the title, the situation in Bangor Port gradually stabilized, and the previously turbulent prices of goods returned to normal.


    For many nobles in the kingdom, they needed a stable Bangor Port to continuously provide them with wealth.


    At the edge of the port, although Bangor Port had given birth to many wealthy individuals with its development, life for many lower-ss fishermen seemed to have changed little. They still went fishing and sold their catch every day.


    In the eyes of their neighbors, Bayer was just a solitary old bachelor who liked to drink.


    Bayer, wearing ear-muffling hats on the boat, struggled to pull up the fishing in his hands.


    “Damn, did I catch a corpse?” Bayer muttered irritably.


    The thing in the fishing didn’t struggle at all—it clearly wasn’t a fish. If it were a fish, there would be some resistance. Only when the caught a stone or something heavy would it feel this dead weight.


    Laboriously pulling up the fishing, Bayer, looking at the messy with the half-person-tall bronze statue, felt a hint of confusion in his eyes.


    He stopped cursing and instead bent down to untangle the fishing, taking the bronze statue out and cradling it in his arms.


    Like caressing a cherished treasure, he couldn’t help but stroke it lovingly.


    “Oh, this is definitely a treasure. I need to hide it well—otherwise, others will surely try to snatch it from me,” Bayer murmured.


    He even forgot about fishing, hastily steering the fishing boat back.


    For the next few days, Bayer didn’t leave his house after returning home.


    The neighbors noticed something unusual about him. In the past, this alcoholic used to go out at least every other day to buy liquor. If it wasn’t for his drinking habit depleting his funds, he wouldn’t have remained a lonely old man to this day. No woman would want to marry a poor drunkard.


    Concerned neighbors approached, knocking on his door, wondering if the old drunkard had encountered some mishap.


    As soon as they reached the door, they caught a whiff of a strong, metallic scent.


    Quickly summoning other neighbors, they opened the door to find the house in disarray. The floor of the room had been cleared, and blood smeared on the ground formed a pattern resembling some kind of sacrificial ritual.


    In the center of the pattern, a womany on the ground in a position of both terror and misery. A gaping opening extended from her windpipe to just below her navel, resembling an open door. All her internal organs were missing, leaving only an empty chest cavity.


    “<em>Gag</em>—”


    Someone covered their stomach and vomited profusely.


    ——