"Sir, thank you."
The soul, avoiding the sunlight, bowed slightly to Xia De in the shadows. Xia De shook his head, indicating it was nothing.
Mia looked at the soul, but Xia De didn't notice the cat's movement.
"I don't know if you still remember, but we actually met once in the church. At that time, I didn't notice the problem with you, otherwise maybe..."
"I have no 'what ifs' left."
The soul said with a bitter smile. Compared to the souls Xia De encountered in the cemetery, which were related to love, kinship, and half a century of love-hate relationships, Mr. Freeman was more like a person:
"I know I shouldn't stay here, I should go. It's just, I want to ask you to do something for me."
He bowed again, and Xia De thought for a moment:
"Tell me what you want to do first. I won't casually promise things to others."
"I actually secretly saved a sum of private money. I don't know if you are married, but men who have a family all have this habit."
He gave an embarrassed smile and continued to explain:
"That money is about 50 pounds. I've saved it for ten years. I originally planned to buy some things my wife thought were a waste of pounds behind her back, such as a Carson Rick pure handmade brass battleship model, or collectible commemorative stamps. That money is hidden in our original home, in a hollow under the attic floor..."
Perhaps the hollow where the money was hidden was too small, which was why Xia De and the Priest didn't find it when they checked in the morning.
"Please take this money to my family. It's very important to them now. You can take half, and just give them the other half."
He gave Xia De an unnatural smile, clearly worried that Xia De would keep it all. But he had no other choice, after all, he was just a soul.
"Since that's the case, I promise to Mr. Dawn that I will only take the cost of the round-trip carriage and a 1 pound commission. Although I am not a rich person, I will not earn this kind of money."
Xia De said softly, the soul's expression paused slightly, then he bowed to Xia De for the third time, and then, at one of Xia De's blinks, disappeared into the shadows.
He continued to move on, to where he should go.
When Xia De returned with the money from Hangerton Garden Street, Mrs. Freeman and her party had not yet returned home. So he took the liberty of opening their front door, went to the second floor, and after deducting the carriage fare and 1 pound, he put the remaining change into the opened wooden moving box.
Of course, the oil painting was still in the sketchpad untouched, so the relic's characteristic did not take effect.
To prevent Mrs. Freeman from not seeing the money, Xia De thoughtfully placed the banknotes on top of the sundries, pressing one side down with the children's cloth toy.
But perhaps because the well-made cloth toy was also in the shape of a cat, this greatly displeased Mia, who was being held by Xia De. If Xia De hadn't stopped her, she would have even wanted to rush into the wooden box and fight that "cat" to the death.
Although Mia was timid, once she encountered someone she didn't consider an opponent, this cat would show great courage and strength. This was also why Mia was able to leave a deep impression on the pet shop owner.
"You did well today, we'll go eat something good for dinner."
Xia De said happily, holding the orange cat. He greatly enjoyed the self-satisfaction that doing good deeds brought him.
Walking from the apartment where the Freemans were temporarily staying to Doctor Schneider's clinic, Mrs. Freeman happened to be taking her two children home.
Doctor Schneider had already returned to the clinic and spent some time blurring the family's memories, which was why they encountered Xia De at the clinic entrance.
Their memories were blurred, but Mrs. Freeman's impression of Xia De did not fade so quickly. When she met him, the middle-aged woman thanked Xia De again, and then left with her two children.
Xia De stood at the door, watching their backs disappear into the distance of the street, thinking about the relationship between the mysterious and ordinary people, then shook his head and turned to enter the clinic.
The Doctor and the Priest were waiting for him in the study on the second floor. When Xia De entered, Doctor Schneider was listening to Priest Augustus recount what they had done today.
"Very good, Xia De, this is the standard containment procedure for relics. Discover the problem, investigate, encounter danger, solve difficulties, contain the relic. This time, your actions with Priest Augustus have yielded more than if you had followed me or Louisa."
The Doctor praised him, and the Old Priest smiled with narrowed eyes, humbly saying that today's credit all belonged to Xia De.
Xia De was in a good mood and sat down, then showed the oil painting to the Doctor. As expected, a new house model appeared in the oil painting, which was the appearance of this clinic.
But because no one touched it, the oil painting could be taken out of the clinic. When entering the next house, the model on the table would take on a new appearance.
"According to your description, I think there's a greater possibility that this relic is Document-level (Level 4)."
The blue-eyed Doctor carefully considered and then cautiously made his judgment, explaining the reason:
"When you first encountered it, you didn't discover its ability to transform wood into real objects. Compared to the bandaged puppet that chased you in the house, the transformation of wood into real objects and the cost-free generation of complex building interior models are the most valuable characteristics of this relic."
"But currently, we still don't know how, apart from the puppets Xia De created with Miracles that were originally real objects, to create puppets that can be accepted by this painting under other circumstances."
Priest Augustus pointed out:
"Therefore, I still believe there's a greater possibility that this item is Poet Grade."
Of course, the final rating of the relic would still depend on the academy's records. If there were no records, it would need to be compared with information from other academies and churches. If there were still no records, then a long period of testing would be required to reach a conclusion.
The relic containment report couldn't be written all at once, but the relic could be submitted directly to the academy; no one wanted to keep such a thing at home.
Of course, submitting relics could not be done directly by transmitting them via the Poet Cohen's Manuscript page. To prevent correspondence students from transmitting strange things, the pages were usually stored separately in a secure compartment at the academy.
The Doctor first sent a note stating that the team needed to submit a relic. After receiving a reply from the academy, Xia De briefly described the relic's appearance and basic characteristics, and then sent the message to the academy.
This time, they waited for a full half hour before the other side sent a message allowing the relic's transmission. This half hour was used by the academy to search for information and set up appropriate containment measures, as no one knew what the correspondence students would send.
The oil painting was rolled into a cylinder by Xia De and placed on the poetry manuscript page in the Doctor's hand. Shortly after it disappeared, a receipt appeared from the poetry manuscript page, indicating that Saint Byron's had received the relic sent by the student.
Ten minutes later, a document paper printed with the Saint Byron's school emblem was sent.
This was the official relic reception letter, stating the time, place, the name of the student who submitted the relic, and the names of the student management office and Library Academy professors on duty that day.
In the middle, the specific information of the relic was stated, which meant that this relic had corresponding information found in the records and was a known relic that had been recorded before.
Doctor Schneider's view was correct; this was a Document-level (Level 4) relic.
The Madman Sean's Oil Painting House, a work created by an unknown painter in the Fourth Epoch, was meticulously recorded in the fifth epoch.
The specific characteristics of the relic were almost fully explored by Xia De and Priest Augustus during today's adventure. The only thing they didn't know was what kind of puppet could enter the oil painting, and the academy's records provided the answer to this point.
"A puppet crafted with all passion and heart, endowed with unique inspiration and creativity. For ordinary people, it will consume a great deal of mental power, and may even cause mental derangement. For Ring術士, in addition to superb artistic skill, it also requires spirit and immense passion and focus.
If a living person sends a puppet in their own likeness into the oil painting, it can replace their own puppet within the painting and enhance the puppet's intelligence and movement speed. If the living person affected by the relic dies, the puppet that entered the oil painting can become the vessel for their soul. The soul will not be absorbed by the oil painting until the puppet is destroyed."
Xia De read out the words. Doctor Schneider clicked his tongue, holding a wine glass. After returning from his house call, his work for the day was over, so the middle-aged man could leisurely drink his "after-work drink" and chat with the two:
"If someone truly carved such a puppet, but still unfortunately died, and after death the carved puppet entered the painting, and the oil painting was never touched by anyone else thereafter. Doesn't this mean that the unlucky fellow would have to contend with the bandaged killer puppet you mentioned in the oil painting for hundreds of years, until they were caught or gave up themselves?"
"That's right."
Xia De nodded and continued to read the academy's document.
"Xia De, besides what we did, by destroying the house within the oil painting, is there any other way to contain this relic?"
The Priest asked with great interest, as the method Xia De used was something most people could definitely not replicate.
"There is indeed. The method we used is an extremely rare case. The correct method recorded by the academy is to find more people skilled in carpentry, have them send their carved puppets into the oil painting together, and then have those puppets defeat the bandaged puppet. This way, everyone involved will gain freedom."
Xia De paused to turn the page:
"This method prevents the bandaged monster from escaping into the real world because it's eliminated inside the painting. While our method is simpler, we have to face the final attack."
"So what about the containment method? What happens if this thing goes out of control?"
"The containment method is very simple: store it normally without human contact. This item's loss of control only occurs when the oil painting's characteristics are active. If someone tries to add content to the oil painting with a paintbrush, the bandaged monster will grab that brush and walk out of the painting."
Xia De said, and Priest Augustus showed a relieved expression:
"Fortunately, we didn't think of that method. We are truly grateful to Mr. Freeman; he showed us the direction."
"Come out? Just like what you and Priest Augustus encountered?"
The Doctor asked with a smile:
"Isn't the opponent very weak?"
The Priest, peering at the document in Xia De's hand, shook his head:
"The academy says that what we encountered was an incomplete bandaged monster, because we have already contained it. The complete bandaged monster is an extremely powerful evil object carrying whisper element, which only Ring術士 above 11 rings can deal with."
All three showed expressions of astonishment at the same time.
"Good thing I didn't go, otherwise I would most likely have suggested changing the oil painting with a paintbrush."
The Doctor also said in a low voice.
