“This card is truly interesting.”
Looking at the card's face, the strange entity gripping a soul on the card seemed to come alive under the glow of the kerosene lamp.
Xia De shook his head, dispelling his illusion, then asked, “So, what's the situation on the third floor?”
The long-faced man replied, “The third floor is inhabited by a group of very rude people. There are about fifteen or sixteen of them. My friend told me that most of them don't like to go out, keeping themselves shut upstairs all day, occasionally going downstairs at night to find some girls. They are waiting for a ship to the New World; perhaps they are wanted fugitives.”
Saying that, he stood up and bid farewell to Xia De, who also took the card and bid farewell to Asmont.
He had a very peculiar premonition, which might be a Ring術士's special ability. Xia De would definitely meet this man, who called himself a Demon Scholar, again.
After Asmont left, Xia De also went to the counter, placed a penny coin on the table, and pushed it to the woman:
“Help me deliver a letter to Darkness upstairs.”
Xia De lowered his voice and tore a piece of paper from his notebook:
“I know he lives here.”
Having obtained definite intelligence that Darkness's companions were here, Xia De arranged to meet him at another location.
He didn't write who he was, only that he was a companion from that ship and wanted to invite the other party to meet. It would be best if the other party came; if not, Xia De would seek Leia's help and have the police search the place under the pretext of fire safety hazards, which would surely make Darkness appear.
The woman took the silver coin and looked at it under the gas lamp:
“You came here just for this, didn't you? Actually, you don't need to specifically buy wine and look at rhode cards; just give me the money.”
“You'd probably rather do favors for your customers than for a suddenly appearing stranger.”
Xia De said, anyway, buying wine didn't cost many pennies, and it also gave him a chance to investigate the hotel's situation. This was a small trick for getting things done.
“So, are you interested in our girls here? Perhaps while you wait, you can amuse yourself.”
The middle-aged woman asked with a smile, reaching out to touch Xia De's face.
Xia De stepped back, shook his head regretfully, and his voice returned to its normal volume:
“I prefer rhode cards to women.”
Behind him, someone choked on their drink, followed by the men's laughter:
“Mrs. Mary, your trick isn't working.”
This should be the name of the woman behind the counter.
“Pah, damn gamblers.”
The woman cursed softly with a smile. Xia De, in a good mood, pretended not to hear and turned to walk out of the Pink Rose Inn.
The place he arranged to meet Darkness was on the rooftop of a building still under construction, about twenty minutes' walk from here. The house was largely built, but the surrounding steel pipes and locks had not yet been removed. There was an iron ladder on one side of the wall, which smelled strongly of paint, making it easy to go up and down. For some reason, there were no workers here today, making it convenient to meet a stranger.
After climbing to the rooftop, Xia De held his umbrella and looked at the hazy harbor in the rain. Because the building was relatively tall, he could vaguely see the distant sea level. The drizzling rain made the ancient harbor City seem to be covered in a hazy mist, but he wondered how long this current calm could last.
After waiting for half an hour, the sound of boots hitting iron plates finally came from below. After waiting quietly for a while, Darkness indeed came alone. Because Xia De had prepared a mask beforehand, he could not see Xia De's appearance at this moment.
The middle-aged man with withered yellow short hair and everted eyelids wore a red glove on his right hand, just like last time.
He and Xia De both held black umbrellas. The two men stood at the edge of the rooftop, gazing at each other from a considerable distance, neither speaking first.
Xia De was not Luvia; he did not have the ability to identify The Chosen at a glance. The feeling of as if all the light in the world shone on one person, which he experienced when he first met Iluna at the pet shop entrance a month ago, did not appear at the cruise ship auction. Therefore, Xia De, like everyone else except Luvia, could not distinguish other Chosen Ones before they truly awakened.
The woman's voice in his ear, when Xia De met Iluna again at Lakeview Manor, had hinted at descriptions like “destiny.” But on the cruise ship, she did not react at all. It seemed that she, like Xia De, only reacted to Iluna as an individual.
“No, I said that your 'other me's' true talent is to rebound destiny. I can feel The Chosen One's destiny influencing your destiny, for example, that night at Lakeview Manor, the ritual to summon the evil god and her encounter.”
“But on the ship, I was also implicated on the Fishbone Pirate Ship due to the special destiny of The Chosen.”
“But that was just a slight ripple of destiny. Compared to an evil god, a sage-level relic is nothing.”
What she said seemed to make sense. In other words, only when Xia De was again involved in something related to a god because of The Chosen would he be able to clearly know whether the other party was The Chosen.
But it didn't matter if he didn't know. There were still a few coins in the god's gift box. What Xia De wanted to do was to meet The Chosen, and even acquire items they had used, and then let Luvia divine on questions such as “Did Xia De meet a Chosen One candidate today?” and “Does this clothing belong to The Chosen?”
This was not directly divining The Chosen themselves.
Darkness seemed determined not to speak first, so Xia De said:
“Good morning, sir. I don't think there's any need for such an awkward atmosphere between us. I wanted to ask you if you have a good idea to deal with the mermaid's song curse on us. I assume you couldn't possibly be unaware of this.”
“Actually, what I'm more interested in is, how did you find me?”
The middle-aged man asked with a frown, then added:
“Also, if you could take off your mask, I would trust you more.”
“No, no, no, that would make me not trust you.”
Xia De shook his head, then softly said:
“We are all survivors from that ship. Why don't we unite to solve the curse?”
“Sorry, not interested.”
Darkness shook his head slightly, his eyes fixed on Xia De:
“Is there anything else?”
“The Church has been looking for us recently; you should be aware of that, right? If we hide separately, we will be found sooner or later. Isn't it safer to search together for the reason the Church wants to catch us?”
“I'm safer with my friends. As for you, I am a Six-Ring Arcanist, what about you?”
He smiled, his attitude undoubtedly looking down on Xia De.
Those blood-red gloves were the only colorful thing on this rainy rooftop.
