While Captain Rades was busy directing the police who had just arrived to search the secret room, and the entire castle's attention was drawn away, Xia De found Professor Dunn again in his office. After explaining the situation, the Professor looked troubled and very worried:
“That bronze pot was used as a container for boiling corpses? Oh.”
“Yes, the Captain said that Henry Val was looking for an antique of a certain age to use as a container, and then you just happened to acquire that bronze pot, and he took a liking to it.”
“Oh, my God, that's an old antique! Heating it with fire will damage its appearance!”
The Professor's worry seemed not to be about the pot containing a corpse.
“But in any case, the investigation into the antique is over. I think Ms. Cassandra will be able to retrieve that antique, which is being held as evidence, from the police station.”
Xia De said, and the Professor nodded:
“I never thought something like this would happen. I'll find time to apologize to Ms. Cassandra. I didn't supervise it well, so I'm also responsible.”
Saying that, he pulled open a drawer, took out a ten-pound banknote, and handed it to Xia De. After Xia De thanked him, his expression became serious:
“So, Professor, can we now talk about the local twin gods worship customs?”
“Oh, yes, I think so.”
When discussing his specialty, Professor Dunn temporarily put aside his regret over the antique possibly being damaged:
“Sit down, let's talk slowly. So, Mr. Watson, let me think about where to start… Yes, the twin gods worship is a very, very ancient Old God worship in the Middelsburg area. The evidence comes not only from local traditions but also from prehistoric relic excavations.”
“Prehistoric” in common parlance actually means before the current era.
“My teacher once assisted the Church in participating in that Sicar Mountain relic excavation and left me some materials. The stone tablets excavated at that time contained a lot of information about religious rituals and strange ceremonies, but unfortunately, they were all taken away by the Church. But a diary among my teacher's relics once mentioned that in prehistoric times, the great one who came from the sky, that is, the Old God - the twin gods, once truly set foot on this land.”
Xia De frowned slightly; this seemed to describe a divine descent ritual.
“Of course, whether the so-called Old God truly exists is still debated in academia, but we are discussing this purely from an academic perspective, so we are not trying to blasphemy the gods.”
Professor Dunn took out a pipe, gestured to Xia De, and seeing that he didn't mind, he knocked off some ash while speaking:
“Those ancient texts recorded many things. It, please forgive me for using this word to refer to it, cough cough, when its cult first appeared in this area in prehistoric times, it summoned the great one to descend, granting a pair of twins, representing black and white, with very powerful blessings. It allowed them, sorry, I don't know the specific gender, so I use the neutral 'it,' to possess great power and defeat a terrible enemy.”
Although the Professor, as an ordinary person, was discussing matters of the gods, because he only knew very vague content, the Professor showed no abnormality from bearing the Knowledge.
“This is indeed more specific content than local traditions and customs. Besides those ancient texts taken by the Church, do you have any other materials?”
Xia De couldn't possibly go to the Church to ask for materials.
Professor Dunn lit the tobacco in his pipe with a match and took a satisfying puff:
“Of course, these stories that occurred in prehistoric times have long become part of Middelsburg's local ancient legends. If you often go to taverns, you can even hear some stories of questionable authenticity from local Bards. After all, Bards use exaggerated stories to attract people, while we folklorists are responsible for organizing that content.”
The Professor pushed up his glasses:
“Mr. Watson, even if that ancient faith has long since departed, Middelsburg is still deeply affected.”
“Twin worship has continued in this City until today. If a family gives birth to twins, it will be regarded by the local people and neighbors as a very good omen. This tradition even extends to the entire area around Sicar Mountain, and can be seen in Carson Rick on the southern foothills of the Rommel Mountains.”
“So, faith became culture, which then forged a part of civilization?”
The Outsider asked, and Professor Dunn looked at him in surprise, adjusting his chair with the pipe in hand to face Xia De; he had been sitting at an angle just now:
“Yes, your statement perfectly aligns with my view on folklore. When faith becomes culture, then have the Old Gods, who are said to have departed in legends, truly departed? Perhaps the great ones and indescribable natural phenomena are merely coexisting with us and our world in other ways.”
Professor Dunn's words were insightful, and Xia De nodded thoughtfully:
“Yes, I've always believed that perhaps the Old Gods have only temporarily departed. Faith becomes culture. So, if I want to delve deeper into twin worship, how should I go about it?”
Twin worship is not only related to this City but may also help solve Dorothy and Leia's issues, so Xia De was very attentive:
“My teacher has passed away, but some of the folklorists and archaeologists who participated in that archaeological excavation should still have some materials. Please wait a moment.”
The Professor got up and searched for a while on the bookshelf on the wall by the office door, finding a notebook that had clearly not been taken out for a long time.
The notebook was very old. Professor Dunn returned to his desk and opened the notebook. The pages inside were yellowed, and there were even traces of wormholes. It recorded some names and addresses, but most names had already been marked with death dates:
“This was left to me by my teacher; they were his friends. After all, those of us in this line of work often visit various places for academic exchanges, so having more friends is always good.”
He quickly found the names from the archaeological excavation on the northern foothills of Sicar Mountain thirty years ago:
“Oh, good, a few Old Professors from that excavation are still alive. But they are all out of town. Let me see, I highly recommend this one.”
“Who is it?”
Xia De also tilted his head to look, and Professor Dunn pointed to the handwriting in the notebook:
“He is a Professor of Archaeology from Tobesk. By his age, he should have retired long ago, but such a senior Professor should be rehired. Let me check the address, yes, it's this one, Tyris Manning, residing at 17 Cat Tail Lane, University District, Tobesk City. When I went to Tobesk for a conference five years ago, I visited him. Professor Manning looked very healthy then; I wonder how he is now.”
Professor Dunn gestured for Xia De to copy down the address from the notebook and write to Professor Manning for help.
“Professor Manning, huh?”
The Professor's past with the dream brush and cat once again popped into Xia De's head.
A smile appeared on his lips as he copied down the address he was very familiar with. He wondered how many other archaeological excavations Professor Manning, as his friend, had participated in. A month ago, when Ms. Aurora took him to a small town in the countryside near Coldwater Port to seek the Vibration Ling Rune, he also met an elderly person connected to Professor Manning.
“Okay, if I need anything, I'll come back to you. Then, I'll take my leave, Professor Dunn.”
Xia De got up and left, and Professor Dunn saw Xia De out the door. As he closed the door to continue writing his report, he muttered softly:
“Ms. Cassandra, why is she so persistent about that worthless bronze pot? She even sent someone specifically to investigate.”
He put down his pipe and thought for a moment:
“Could this be related to Ms. Helen Black, who just returned to the academy?”
Now that he had the next clue, Xia De could leave Middelsburg. Before leaving, he also greeted Captain Rades, shared 5 pounds of his reward with him, and left the House of the Blind's address as his contact information.
The Captain enthusiastically wanted to invite Xia De to be a guest at Red Water Camp on Windy Path. Captain Rades couldn't freely enter and exit the military camp, but he could come out when he had a holiday next Thursday.
And Windy Path, as the most important mountain road through Sicar Mountain, has a camp for merchants and travelers near Red Water Camp, where the Captain won the gun of kindness playing rhode cards in the tavern there.
When he bid farewell to the Captain, only the first hint of evening glow appeared in the sky, but by the time Xia De passed through the forest and arrived at the abandoned tower in the mountains, the last ray of sunlight had already disappeared behind Sicar Mountain.
The harvest month was already nearing its end, and the daytime was getting shorter and shorter.
When he returned to Saint Delan Square, Luvia had already arrived and was continuing her stargazing on the third floor. She didn't have time to talk to Xia De because she was a bit behind schedule.
“Want to go to dinner together?”
“Oh, Xia De, you go ahead. I'm busy here.”
The voice came from the third floor.
“Then I'll bring some back for you!”
Xia De stood at the second-floor stairwell and shouted, and after receiving an answer, he looked at Mia at his feet:
“Have you had dinner yet?”
“Meow~”
Mia quickly ran down the stairs, probably not having eaten, implying she wanted Xia De to take her to eat.
Because he had to bring food to Luvia and didn't want to take Mia to Professor Manning's place, Xia De sent the cat home after dinner. As he went upstairs, he happened to meet Luvia coming down from the third floor with tea. She thanked Xia De and, holding her teacup, asked curiously:
“I've already fed the cat for you, why did you take it out to eat again?”
“Hmm?”
Xia De looked at the ginger cat squinting and lying in his arms:
“But it ate very happily just now, not at all like it had already had dinner.”
“Meow!”
The cat let out a soft meow, rubbing against Xia De's clothes on his chest. The purple-eyed girl smiled and said:
“It seems you've been tricked by a cat.”
Leaving Mia to run around freely at home, she actually went straight to the third floor instead of sharpening her claws on the second floor. Xia De didn't bother with her; running around after eating would also help the cat maintain its figure.
After saying goodbye to Luvia and explaining that he might be home very late, he went out into the night again, heading to Professor Manning's home in the University District.
Of course, the Professor was home so late, and he happily welcomed Xia De after seeing him. After the usual pleasantries, Xia De asked about the twin gods and twin worship. The Old Professor, wearing pajamas at home, looked at the young man at the edge of the gas lamp's light from behind his desk with some surprise:
“Oh? Why suddenly mention this?”
