“You want to die? How could it be so easy?”
The playing card fell, and the middle-aged man with yellow hair, whose heart had been pierced, looked at Xia De in front of him with a shocked expression. The Destiny Ring behind the man dissipated, but before he could breathe his last, Xia De’s hand reached out:
“False Immortality!”
Then, with a forceful push, he made the man lie on the ground. Xia De gritted his teeth, holding the sword with both hands, and with two strikes, he chopped off both of the man’s hands. Without both hands, the severely wounded Ring術士 had no chance of turning the tables.
Looking at those two hands, the Outsider, doing this for the first time, felt extremely nauseated. He turned and picked up the water cup on the table, lightly touching it, and a silvery spiritual light appeared on the water's surface. Xia De splashed the hot tea onto the man’s wound to prevent him from losing the state of False Immortality due to excessive bleeding:
“I ask, you answer.”
“You… you wish you could get any answers from me! Everything for the lord of the scarlet spiral! Kill me.”
A faint trace of life remained in his body, and his voice was very weak.
“Kill you? Even if I kill you, I can still commune with your soul. Whether you are alive or dead, you can’t keep any secrets.”
“Then kill me! My soul is favored by my Lord, and you won’t get any information!”
Though weak, he still stared at Xia De with hateful eyes.
“Die?”
Xia De’s mouth twitched. If he wasn’t worried about Leia, he would never do such a cruel thing:
“Do you know what it feels like to be drowned by drinking too much water?”
Xia De shook the water cup in his hand, and more and more clear water appeared under the power of the curse.
“You devil!”
The weak voice cursed.
“I don’t want to torture you, that’s meaningless. I want you to realize something.”
Xia De had already squatted down, his back to the gas lamp on the wall, which made his face in the shadows look particularly terrifying:
“You are a Guardian of the Mermaids—a follower of the lord of the scarlet spiral. If you, as a kin of this great one, end up choking or even bursting from water, do you think that god will acknowledge your identity after you die?”
For the first time, an expression of terror appeared on the man’s face:
“You, you…”
“Will It still protect your soul forever?”
“You demon!”
“No, at least from my mortal perspective, I don't think so.”
There was no hint of a smile on Xia De’s face:
“But the God of the Drowned Abyss would be very willing to take your soul, sir. Since you are a cultist in Coldwater Port, you should also know that great one is very interested in drowned Mermaids… especially drowned Mermaids in Coldwater Port.”
“No, no!”
Because of the talismans left at the door, no one knew what happened in the room next. When Xia De opened the door and came out, he was holding a puppet of a corpse with severed hands. In the room behind him, the carpet had been rolled up and placed aside, to prevent bloodstains from frightening the maids who would clean the room.
Xia De quickly walked down the corridor:
“The Scarlet Cult wants to perform a sacrifice to the sea when the red ocean appears tomorrow. Besides the human followers who voluntarily offer themselves and the citizens they captured, there must also be a high-born woman as the final prelude to the Sea Offering Ritual.”
This was the information Xia De had just obtained. Under the fear of his soul being seized by an alien god, the other party still revealed some information. However, he died before he could finish speaking. It wasn't due to his injuries; he died of fright.
People in this world have a completely different attitude towards faith than Outsiders.
In the violent night rain outside the window, Xia De walked through the corridor with windows on one side:
“This kind of sacrifice is not a necessary step for the Sea Return, but rather a ceremony similar to a blessing… The Sea Offering Ritual will begin at the first ray of sunlight in Coldwater Port tomorrow, and the sacrifice will also begin at that moment. Besides Leia, the Scarlet Cult has five or six other targets, one of which is…”
Xia De looked in the direction of the City:
“Hivi Aurora.”
He called the servants to tidy up the messy study, while he stood in the corridor, looking at the heavy rain outside the window:
“Things are getting more and more interesting.”
Although the heavy rain continued all night, the small-scale battle around Sophia Manor only lasted for half an hour.
Continuous reinforcements forced the attackers to abandon their targets. In particular, the attackers who entered Sophia Manor had not sent any news, which made the house, lit up in the night rain and sea breeze, appear particularly eerie.
With the Great Witch of the Twelfth Ring and Leia together, Xia De’s worries were greatly reduced, so he did not venture out into the rain.
He had intended to wait for Leia to return before resting, but after midnight, when the time reached Wednesday, the Princess’s carriage still hadn't appeared at the manor gate. The servants sent to inquire about the situation reported from the rain that the City was under martial law; carriages could leave the City but were not allowed to enter. Sophia's Great House had suffered a frantic attack from the Mermaids, and presumably, a similar incident had broken out in the City. The inability to get news of Leia made the unease in Xia De’s heart, who had initially thought nothing would happen, rise again:
“Even if the Mermaid attack before dawn didn’t harm Leia, if she doesn’t return tonight, then when the ritual begins, I won’t be by her side.”
After midnight, Xia De rested for two hours in his room. Upon waking, he greeted the maid Leia had left behind and then left the manor by carriage.
However, he did not enter the City but had the carriage take him to the Sea Cliff Lighthouse, also located in the north of the City. When Leia was using the alias Miss Princess, she had brought Xia De here once. The Watcher here was Mr. Edmund, a folklorist.
Struggling with an umbrella in the rain, he looked at the lighthouse’s beam and climbed all the way to the top of the sea cliff. After knocking on the door with his mask on for a long time, Old Edmund’s cautious voice finally emerged from behind the door:
“Who is it?”
“Introduced by Old John of Tobesk!”
Xia De said.
The last time he came with Leia, Leia mentioned half of Old John’s name. At that time, Xia De didn't know the Writer’s and Princess’s secret, so he didn't think much of it, but later he understood.
“Don’t lie to me! Hmph, on a rainy day like this, even if he introduced you, no one would brave the rain to knock so late!”
The old man behind the door said discontentedly.
“It really was him who introduced me. I came once before, do you remember? That day you came back from fishing, but there was only one small fish in the bucket. My companion bought a Saint Laurent ring, and I sold you a book.”
Xia De shouted loudly; the rain here was simply too heavy.
“Oh? There was such a thing…”
The old man inside the door hesitated.
“Old John! Old John, that stingy fellow, oh, I’ve never seen anyone so stingy in my life.”
The door was suddenly pushed open. Before Xia De could react, the old man’s strong hand pulled Xia De inside.
Although the lighthouse was dilapidated, the interior, separated by just a wooden door, was incredibly dry and warm.
Old Edmund was wearing pajamas with a coat draped over his shoulders, holding a kerosene lamp in his hand. He frowned slightly, looking at Xia De under the lamp:
“Yes, he is indeed the stingiest fellow in this world. It seems you are truly his friend, young man. What exactly do you want to do so late? Do you think I am as young as you?”
The old man complained, but still told Xia De to find a place to sit down and brought him a dry towel.
The ground floor of the lighthouse was The Watcher’s living area. Although not large, it met the necessities of life.
Xia De took the towel and dried his hair:
“Sorry to disturb you so late. The Sea Return, the red sea, will appear at dawn today.”
“Oh? So what?”
The old man asked, sitting in a chair in front of the desk. The lighthouse was actually connected to a gas pipeline, and the gas lamp on the desk had been lit by him.
Xia De took a deep breath and draped the towel over the back of the chair:
“You must know more about the Sea Offering Ritual. Last time, when The Lady and I came, you didn’t tell us everything.”
Edmund watched him quietly. His eyes were not as cloudy as those of ordinary old men:
“So what?”
“I have money.”
“But you need to convince me to agree to this transaction.”
“Guiding Light Hermitage.”
Amidst the terrifying sound of waves crashing against the cliff outside the lighthouse, Xia De gave the answer. Mr. Edmund instinctively narrowed his eyes, then relaxed:
“John shouldn’t have told you this.”
Through the transaction concerning “Kiss of the Tree,” Xia De learned that Old John belonged to the Guiding Light Hermitage, and the latter even wanted to know Xia De's expression when he learned about it. And Edmund of Coldwater Port, like Old John of Tobesk, both operated secret Ring術士 black market stores, both were highly knowledgeable but unwilling to do other things.
Therefore, it was not difficult at all to deduce that Old John’s friend, Mr. Edmund, who could introduce business to each other, was also a member of the Guiding Light Hermitage.
“What does that matter? I don't care about your secrets. I only know that as long as I pay, you are always able to help. I have no aversion to your preparations for surviving the apocalypse.”
From behind his mask, Xia De stared intently into the old man’s eyes.
“What do you want to know?”
Probably sensing his determination, the old man pondered for a moment before asking in a low voice.
“It’s simple. My friend, The Lady, has a Mermaid curse. Now I know that binding her with a fishing rod and line can reduce her urge to enter the red ocean. Besides that, is there any other way?”
Xia De said quickly.
“No.”
The old man shook his head. Xia De didn't mind, because he wasn't here to ask about this; this question was just to circle around and prepare the other party:
“I also want to know…”
He instinctively lowered his voice:
“The original intention of the Sea Offering Ritual is to awaken the power left by the evil god in the deep sea, thereby calling forth a great flood to submerge the City. So, what exactly did the god leave behind?”
Lightning flashed outside the window, and white light illuminated both their faces through the window. The waves roared, but were suppressed by the thunder.
The storm had arrived.
