The four people remained seated in their chairs. As Professor Garcia raised his hand, Miss Jones began recording the events that followed even more quickly.
A halo of light appeared around the professor's slightly pointed ears. As he whispered incantations, Xia De saw colorful blocks continuously filling his gas-lit living room.
The entire living room was divided into two. The normal part was the east side where the four people sat, while the west side gradually blurred with the filling color blocks, then slowly became clear again.
However, the clear half of the living room had transformed into a dim, low-ceilinged room.
The low-ceilinged room was also divided into two, connected to Xia De's living room, and the lighting inside was extremely dim. There was a low bed with a dirty yellow sheet, a desk with a rusty metal typewriter, and bookshelves filled with various other reagents.
Soaking in those reagents were human eyeballs of various sizes, and even a small, curled-up, closed-eyed primate-like corpse, which made Xia De very uncomfortable.
The room was incredibly dim, and the old gas lamp above the desk seemed as if it would go out at any moment.
A scrawny, balding middle-aged man in a brown coat, hunched like a mouse on the chair in front of the desk, turned his head in astonishment, looking at the suddenly appearing unfamiliar living room and the four people.
His face was pockmarked, and his large red nose was covered in blackheads. His pupils had shrunk in terror, and the bottle in his left hand was pouring Mercury onto the desk.
"I am using the Miracle, Space Division and Space Combination, which can only be learned at least at the Eleventh Ring," said Professor Garcia of the History Academy.
"Please tell the truth," said Professor Sanchez, his expression serious, as he reached out and pointed at the man in the low-ceilinged half of the room. His finger glowed with an ambiguous pink light.
"Who are you?" the professor asked loudly.
"Peter, the short rat of Mercury Blood," the short man replied, his eyes unfocused under the light of the professor's finger. His accent was very similar to Professor Garcia's, likely both from Carson Rick previously. The Mercury bottle in his hand fell onto the desk, but he seemed unaware.
"What are you doing?" the professor asked again, the ambiguous pink light between his fingers growing stronger.
"We lost an important item—the statue of the Old God, Vampire Duke Loyaer. We wanted to retaliate against the person who stole the statue using a keeper-level relic, but the other party was too strong. So, I was asked to find clues using the Miracle, The Scent of a Rat Companion.
The alley had a very mixed scent, and there was a battle last night. I searched for a whole day before I found that one of the people who had been to the alley was performing a ritual, and his own power was very weak. I am now trying to kill him directly using the Miracle, Mercury Poison Mist."
Professor Sanchez nodded. Xia De looked at the pink light on his finger and felt a bit dizzy himself. Professor Garcia explained:
"This is the spell, Charm Human. Its effect isn't usually this good. It's only thanks to Professor Sanchez's Ling Rune system and frequent practice that it can exhibit such characteristics... It's really not easy to make the disobedient young students in the academy tell the truth about their homework."
"Who else knows about Mr. Hamilton's matter?" Professor Sanchez's normal hand pointed at Xia De. The "short rat" Peter, with unfocused eyes, slowly replied, his voice growing softer, as if speaking to his lover:
"Only me. I haven't had time to report yet; I wanted to take all the credit myself. This move of mine has never failed, even the Silver-Eyed One has praised my Miracle."
"Have you killed anyone?" the professor asked.
"Yes, many. Many Miracles require fresh human organs as..."
"Alright then."
The pink light on Professor Sanchez's finger extinguished, and then a black light flew from his fingertip, crossing the dividing line between the two houses. The short rat Peter's corpse fell to the ground, having fallen into eternal Sleep.
Xia De's mouth slightly agape, gaining a new understanding of the professor's decisive actions. It took him several seconds to remember to say:
"Professor Sanchez, Professor Garcia, thank you for your help."
This completely resolved the trouble he had incurred because of that Old God statue.
As for the dead man, Xia De felt no pity. The other party was an evil person who had tried to harm him, and he was even glad he didn't have to get his hands dirty.
"No need to thank me. If I hadn't been meeting you today, he wouldn't have discovered your identity," Professor Sanchez said, then motioned for Xia De to stand up:
"Go see if there are any important documents on his desk. Do not touch any items. During the ritual, we cannot leave our seats, otherwise the projection will unilaterally interrupt."
Xia De nodded and stood up, hearing Mia's scratching at the door grow louder. The curious but timid cat probably really wanted to know what was happening outside.
He left his seat and walked to the other part of the divided living room. As his body crossed the midline and entered the low-ceilinged room, a stench of long-term lack of ventilation and decay immediately assailed him.
He had crossed from the second floor of Saint Delan Square Six to a narrow, cold rented apartment somewhere in Tobesk City. He didn't check the row of reagent bottles on the bookshelf but went straight to the desk.
On the desk, besides a puddle of Mercury, were the casting materials required for the two Miracles: one for finding clues and one for pouring Mercury. The only document was the unfinished one on the typewriter. It was a letter written in carson rick, with the ending not yet complete.
Most of it was the short rat Peter complaining about the troubles of his work, the dangers he encountered, and the foggy weather in Tobesk City.
The last paragraph only had an opening, mentioning their cooperation with the Cultists of the Evil God, Blood Feast Lord. Mercury Blood was attempting to obtain some materials from the Cultists. Another organization, the Blood Spirit School, had promised to help them but seemed to be busy with some birthing-related matters in the New World. Therefore, so far, they had only sent a keeper-level relic as help, which infuriated the Silver-Eyed One.
The Cultists of the Blood Feast Lord, Mercury Blood, and the Blood Spirit School—this immediately involved three organizations.
Xia De noted down this content, returned to his living room, sat down, and reported it verbatim. The two professors did not comment on it. Professor Garcia withdrew the spatial anomaly, allowing Xia De's living room to return to normal.
Even the Mercury mist had disappeared, as if it had just been an illusion. This way, the cautious Outsider didn't have to worry about dying from Mercury poisoning.
"In short, Mr. Hamilton, as a Ring術士, you should try to avoid participating in such dangerous matters. Where were we just now?"
For the two professors, what had just happened was a trivial matter not worth mentioning. Xia De was also happy that the hidden danger was gone. After noting down the Blood Feast Lord, the Blood Spirit School, and what he had just witnessed, he sat up straight in his chair and said:
"Just now, we mentioned two things. Professor Garcia said he was here tonight to guide my time-travel practice, which will be done after all matters are discussed. The second thing is that you wanted to talk about our five-person group."
Professor Garcia nodded at Xia De, while Professor Sanchez patted his head:
"Oh, yes, about the five-person group. Someone in your five-person group has a major problem. For one of you, the 'other me' is different from normal situations; the academy considers it a major hidden danger."
Xia De, who had just been joyful, suddenly felt a jolt in his heart, and his expression changed dramatically.
