Xia De knelt beside Miss Louisa, panting, and after waiting a while longer, he withdrew his trembling hand.
Ignoring the scratches on his wrist, he poured four-fifths of the water from his small bottle, after it had been treated by Gluttony's Feast, onto Miss Louisa's face, and then helped her up to feed her the rest.
The weak girl slowly drank the water, which shimmered with a strange silver spiritual light.
Her lips were chapped, but her consciousness was fully clear: "It's like a brief nightmare suddenly waking up... Detective, is my face very horrible?"
Her voice was unusually hoarse, and her emerald eyes revealed a weary expression.
"It's alright now, you have to trust my Miracle," Xia De whispered, looking uneasily around.
This place felt off.
Helping Miss Louisa to her feet, the Golden-haired girl reached into her pocket and, breathing heavily, pulled out her small mirror.
Only after confirming that her face was still as it was, did she almost burst into tears.
At the entrance of the Dace family's house, when Miss Louisa observed the first person through the door crack, the murmuring in Xia De's ear had already begun to repeat the appearance of 'whisper' and 'blasphemy' elements.
At the time, he thought Miss Louisa had also noticed this, and therefore wanted to fool whatever was inside the house, but when the second and third people appeared one after another at the door crack, he was completely certain that Miss Louisa had been affected; Miss Louisa was no longer Miss Louisa.
Neither of them expected that the loss of control of the Drowned Man's Scales had not been contained.
Unlike the fortunate Professor Manning, something terrible had happened in this alley.
Because he didn't know what was inside the house, Xia De didn't dare to expose everything directly in the alley.
It wasn't until he and Miss Louisa reached the alley entrance, and he realized "she" wanted to drive him away, that he suddenly attacked the transformed girl.
Fortunately, after being infected by the fish scales and losing her own will, Miss Louisa seemed unable to use a Ring術士's power, otherwise, dealing with this matter would definitely not have been so easy.
"What did you see just now?" Xia De got some more water and dripped it onto the scratches on his wrist.
The Golden-haired girl was somewhat weak, which was mainly a mental issue.
She leaned on Xia De as he stood up, looking apologetically at his injuries: "I can't remember clearly either.
My last memory is of me putting my eye to the door crack, and I saw... Oh!"
She clutched her head in pain.
"Don't think about it, don't try to remember.
Open your eyes and look at me!" Xia De said hastily.
Miss Louisa squinted at Xia De, and the silver Moonlight shimmered before her eyes; this was Cindy's Silver Moon Gift.
"Things are probably worse than we thought.
Leave here now; this is not something we can handle.
Go notify the Orthodox Church.
I suspect something terrifying has already come into that house... something more terrifying than a relic losing control."
A relic losing control was never a joke; even if it wasn't the girl who lost control, she merely touched the uncontrolled relic once, and it caused such consequences.
Professor Manning, who also experienced a relic losing control, was one of the very few lucky ones.
Miss Louisa, whose consciousness was still not fully clear, was supported by Xia De.
The two walked along the riverside street towards the intersection, thinking of finding a carriage.
The closest Orthodox Church in this area was that of the Lady of Creation.
Miss Louisa was quite adept at reporting unexpected incidents to the Orthodox Church.
However, after walking for a long time in the dense fog, they still hadn't seen the intersection.
The alert Xia De stopped, first seeing Miss Louisa squinting, almost unable to open her eyes, and then realizing that the surrounding scenery had almost returned to the location of the Dace family's alley entrance.
"Is it the original location?" he asked in his mind.
The dense fog obscured most of the view and also hindered my observation.
"Are there many elements nearby?" Xia De changed his approach.
This fog is very peculiar; it seems to be able to block the perception of 'the other me'.
Now, take a deep breath and get closer to these fogs.
So Xia De opened his mouth wide and took a deep breath; even though he choked, he didn't cough.
This kind of breath analysis was very effective, and he got the answer: "The whisper and blasphemy elements are strong, the latter more so."
"How can there be more blasphemy elements?
Fish scale disease, could it have attracted some evil god?" he said incredulously, then patted Miss Louisa's wrist: "Miss Louisa, wake up, it seems we can't get out."
Xia De was, after all, still inexperienced; he needed the Golden-haired Writer's help.
"Can't get out... Oh, Detective, I'm so sleepy... so sleepy."
The mental trauma she suffered was not so easily healed.
Even if she forced herself to stay awake at this moment, she still inevitably slipped towards the edge of unconsciousness: "Detective, don't stop me from sleeping.
I have a small talent; a few seconds of sleep can replace several hours for others."
This sounded like a lie.
The Golden-haired Writer, leaning against Xia De, forced a smile, then closed her eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep.
Xia De pursed his lips, watching all of this, and after confirming her unconsciousness, he took a deep breath and summoned the Destiny Ring behind him: "If there's really no other way, I can't be stingy with that drop... I want to see exactly what it is..."
"Detective, I have a plan."
The unconscious Miss Louisa suddenly opened her eyes and then moved away from Xia De's arm.
She twisted her neck, yawned, and her pretty emerald eyes looked spiritedly at the bewildered Outsider in front of her: "What's wrong?
I told you, I'd be fine after a nap."
Her complexion was rosy, and her eyes were bright, completely different from how she looked a few seconds ago: "Detective, thank you for your care, I'm much better."
"Hmm?" If it weren't for her tone and demeanor being normal, Xia De would have almost thought she was controlled by something again.
He asked hesitantly: "Excuse me, when we first met, you said not to let me choose..."
Miss Louisa touched her earlobe: "Don't choose the College of Chemistry.
You looked so interesting back then, like you had just arrived in this world, uneasy about everything but also curious.
However, waking up from foolishness is understandable.
Do you believe it's me now?"
She smiled, and Xia De nodded, but still harbored doubts about the so-called "quick sleep" statement.
The Golden-haired girl pointed in the direction of the alley where the Dace family's house was located: "Based on past experience, I think this time, Little Sophie's fish scale disease is probably deeper than we thought.
This disease has not only infected her family but has even attracted the attention of an evil god or a void evil creature.
Since we can't go in other directions, the exit must be here."
"Wait, are you saying we have to face what's inside the house?" Xia De hesitated, looking towards the alley entrance.
He had been avoiding re-entering that alley.
"'It' wanted to drive you away just now, instead of transforming you too, which means that whatever it is, its manifested power in the material world is not particularly strong.
Even if we can't defeat it, we can at least find an opportunity to escape."
She threw a page from her handwritten book into the air; the page burned, and the figure of the match girl appeared in the light of inspiration.
The elements seemed to dispel the surrounding fog, and as the match girl appeared, the surrounding visibility became clear.
They were indeed at the entrance of the Dace family's alley.
"Detective, stay close to me; I will get you out safely."
