It took until sunset to reach the destination after traveling by carriage from Lufu Lane.
After Xia De jumped off the carriage, he thanked the coachman while looking at the western sky.
From his perspective, one-third of the terrifyingly large, dim, setting sun had already hidden behind Sicar Mountain.
Due to the direction, it seemed as if the sun was descending beneath Sicar Mountain, and combined with various local rumors and stories, this sight was truly chilling.
Because the ceremony was to be held in this famous haunted mansion, the Spiritual Cultivation Order cleared the area in advance.
Not only did they set up rituals in the nearby mountain forest to prevent ordinary people from accidentally intruding, but they also sent people to guard important intersections to ensure that tonight's ceremony would not be disrupted by external forces.
A ceremony with material costs alone valued at 3,000 pounds was certainly a major one.
When Xia De got off the carriage, he already saw numerous Sisters and Priests, wearing silver crown-shaped eye masks, meticulously inspecting the surroundings in the abandoned courtyard of the manor, and drawing patterns on the ground with chalk or pure silver scepters.
Their attire was very similar to that of the Order leader, Sister Devlin, both wearing dark Sister robes with a silk shawl of the same color draped over their upper bodies.
However, their hair colors were all normal, unlike Sister Devlin's grayish-white hair, which seemed to have lost its vitality.
Miss Jialinna had said that members of the Spiritual Cultivation Order qualified to wear silver crown eye masks were the backbone of the Order.
At this moment, Xia De could see more than a dozen of them, and it was fortunate that Sister Devlin only charged Xia De for the ritual materials, otherwise Xia De, the Doctor, and the other person would probably have to sell their belongings to afford the labor costs for so many people.
The middle-aged Priest with a bandaged face was already waiting for Xia De at the manor entrance.
Xia De followed him, passing through the courtyard where the ritual was being prepared, and entered the large house whose walls were covered with ivy and morning glories.
Inside the large house, it was unexpectedly not as cold as Xia De had imagined; the floor had probably been cleaned, and there wasn't much dust.
Numerous Sisters and Priests were applying complex Ling Runes to the walls, sketching connecting lines, or walking around while shaking silver bells.
The sound of the bells was exceptionally crisp; each chime made Xia De feel relaxed.
“It’s not relaxation; it’s soul cleansing.”
“Soul cleansing?”
Xia De looked curiously at the middle-aged Sister passing by him:
“It seems that Ring術士 groups that can exist for a long time all have their unique techniques.”
The Spiritual Cultivation Order was transforming the entire manor for the ceremony, which was more troublesome than Xia De had thought, and also made him realize how much he owed them.
He would certainly be willing to help this organization that had helped him in the future, but for now, rescuing Priest Augustus came first.
As he walked deeper into the large house, Xia De noticed an almost imperceptible mist pervading the corridor.
However, the mist's concentration was very uniform, maintaining a subtly imperceptible level even in the deepest part of the corridor on the first floor.
The temporarily fixed “entrance” was on the wall at the end of the deepest corridor on the first floor of the manor.
Complex ritual arrays had already been drawn on both side walls, and Sister Devlin was quietly standing there, waiting for Xia De.
The other three high-ranking Sisters wearing silver eye masks knelt before the wall.
One held a long-handled silver bell, one held a parchment scroll, and one clasped her hands together in front of her chest, all whispering an unknown incantation to maintain the stability of the “entrance.”
“Mr. Watson.”
Sister Devlin nodded to Xia De, and seeing Xia De looking at the wall, she asked softly:
“Can you also see the entrance?”
“Yes, I have the 【Space】 Ling Rune.”
Xia De said, and the Sister paused in surprise for a moment before using an archaic grammar and that elegant, almost toneless voice to ask:
“We rely on our eyes to capture spirituality to see the location of the entrance.
Then, in the true vision of someone with 【Space】 power, what does the entrance in front of you look like?”
Xia De stared at the wall again:
“I see a terrifying black vortex, with white mist drifting out of it.
I cannot stare into the vortex for long; I can feel the terror, coldness, and malice towards the living from the other side.”
After speaking, he averted his gaze; the black vortex on the wall felt completely different from Darkness’s black vortex.
It was hard to say which was more dangerous, but neither was something to be easily touched.
“You can sense this mist?”
Sister Devlin was even more surprised, though her expression and tone did not show it:
“The appearance of this mist signifies that the boundary between the world of the dead and the world of the living is permeating this way.
The mist here is too faint; theoretically, besides the Sisters of the Order, only those with the 【death】 Ling Rune can see this mist.”
“I have Miracles related to eyes,” Xia De simply explained, then asked, “Please allow me to thank you again for your help.
So, what time does the ceremony start after sunset? I have nothing else to prepare.”
Although he hadn't eaten dinner, he wasn't Mia, the lazy cat who loved to eat, so skipping a meal was fine.
“Tonight at ten o’clock, this door to the Gap can only be safely opened at night.
Although tonight is not a night of shining silver moon, tonight’s moon will be exceptionally bright, which will guide you well into the world on the other side.”
Sister Devlin said, then took out a short branch from her robe pocket and handed it to Xia De in her palm.
Her hands were exceptionally fair and slender, the kind of hands very suitable for playing the piano.
“The world on the other side is filled with power that can corrupt flesh; please take this.
This is a branch of elven wood, and it can temporarily protect you before it decays.”
When Xia De learned 【Elf’s Detoxification Art】 last week, he had used this item, and the short branch at that time was roughly this length.
“No need, I have this.”
Xia De took out his pocket watch and removed the youthful immortality leaf from the watch cover.
Even though her eyes were covered and she was blind, Sister Devlin, with her grayish-white hair, still nodded:
“So it’s the relic 【youthful immortality leaf】.
This is indeed the best choice; you are very well prepared.”
She put the short branch back into the side pocket of her robe:
“Please temporarily give me Priest Augustus’s personal belongings; I need to process it so it can guide your direction.”
So Xia De handed the silver pendant that Priest Augustus had left in the catacombs to the Sister:
“This is Mr. Dawn’s holy emblem; will the holy emblem affect the ritual?”
The holy emblems of the Orthodox Church themselves are symbols with mystical significance, and rashly using a holy emblem in a ritual can cause great uncertainty.
“It’s fine; Dawn’s holy emblem can better guide your direction.
The Orthodox Church of Light and Shadow will bless you between life and death.”
While handing over the holy emblem, Xia De also took out the Doctor's three thousand pounds in cash from his pocket.
He had put the cash in a briefcase, so what he “took out” of his pocket was the briefcase.
But Sister Devlin did not touch the money; instead, she told Xia De to hand the case to another Sister later.
All Xia De had left to do was wait.
And when the sun had completely set, the Order lit a bonfire in the courtyard and made dinner, so Xia De also had hot roasted meat.
Perhaps it was the leader’s personality influencing the entire organization’s way of operating, but most of these Sisters and Priests who covered their eyes did not talk much.
However, if Xia De spoke to them, they would respond.
They didn’t mind Xia De prying into the secrets of this ceremony; as long as Xia De wasn’t in the way, they didn’t forbid him from wandering around this haunted mansion.
Unlike Saint Delan Square No. 6, which also had ghost rumors, this haunted manor was truly haunted.
However, before Xia De arrived by carriage, Sister Devlin had already eliminated the three troublesome evil spirits, namely Viscount Russell and his two servants.
But this did not mean Xia De couldn't learn the story here.
After everyone finished dinner, Sister Devlin did not return to the mansion but stood alone by the bonfire, her hands clasped together, facing the huge bonfire.
The orange-yellow firelight flickered on her seemingly silk-like gray-black Sister robe, and also illuminated the silver crown-shaped ornament.
With her eyes covered, it was impossible to judge her mood and thoughts from her expression and gaze.
But Xia De didn't need to judge her thoughts; he was just idle and wanted to know the story of what had happened here.
After quietly asking the question beside Sister Devlin, the Sister replied softly:
“It’s not a very interesting story.
Evil spirits in the deep forest attacked the manor and frightened the Baron to death.
The Baron’s unwilling soul transformed into an evil spirit, and then killed his two servants who were taking care of him.
Subsequently, the souls of the three then lingered in this manor, but because they could not leave here and their power was not strong, they were not discovered by the Orthodox Church.”
Xia De nodded knowingly, then asked curiously:
“But how did you know about this? Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry into your secrets, but can the Spiritual Cultivation Order analyze a soul’s past?”
The Sister maintained her posture with hands clasped together.
She shook her head slightly, her silver-gray hair shimmering in the firelight:
“This is my unique talent; it has existed since I became a Ring術士.
Although my eyes cannot see normal things, when I face a soul that is about to perish, if I remove my eye mask and ‘look’ at them with my eyes, I can see fragments of their past.”
“Oh, that’s truly amazing,” Xia De praised sincerely.
“According to the Order, this is the special ability of my ‘other self’—Eye of death.
For ordinary people, this brings misfortune; for Ring術士, it will inevitably bring me closer and closer to death.
The Order saved me; the Order’s special prayers and spiritual cultivation methods taught me how to understand this ability.
Cold death is not terrifying.”
Xia De nodded and did not continue to ask.
The other party was an Eleventh Ring術士, and her willingness to tell him this already showed that she trusted him greatly.
However, this brief conversation also raised new questions for Xia De.
This special ability of “Eye of death” also seemed to be connectable to the Chosen One.
If the third Chosen One who was about to appear truly corresponded to “death,” then besides Priest Augustus, Sister Devlin also seemed to be a potential Chosen One of death.
