“I have a friend in Middlesburg, a Captain, who asked me to inquire about the twin gods worship.”
Xia De said casually.
“Oh, Middlesburg, I see.”
Professor Manning put down his teacup:
“But I must emphasize first that some of the texts I saw back then were content forbidden by the church. I had signed a contract with the church, and some content cannot be disclosed.”
“It's alright, just tell me what you can.”
Xia De said:
“First, I want to know if the prehistoric twin gods worship tradition is related to death?”
“death?”
The Professor was startled, then shook his head:
“What do these two have to do with each other? No, it doesn't seem entirely unrelated. I was very young back then and not a primary excavator, so I didn't see much textual material... But I heard a saying in Middlesburg that twins can actually be seen as one person. Therefore, when one of the twins is seriously ill and might face death, it is possible to prevent the death of the seriously ill person by killing the other, thereby bringing death forward.”
He glanced at Xia De's expression:
“Of course, this is just a barbaric practice. In my youth, it was already just a rumor used to scare children.”
With that said, the twin gods worship should be unrelated to the third Chosen One.
“Then, in the twin gods worship, is there a ritual that allows twins who are far apart and never meet to express their thoughts, or even break through their barriers?”
“This question is quite strange.”
The Professor said, but still nodded:
“Of course there is, but I must remind you that I am a professor of history and archaeology, not a professor of folklore. So I don't understand those occult things. I only restore ancient Knowledge based on my own observations and Knowledge.”
“Yes, Professor, I haven't seen any illicit materials here tonight.”
Xia De immediately said. Professor Manning then smiled and nodded, calling his servant to retrieve documents from the archive room on the third floor.
Professor Manning had not compiled the archaeological data from his youth on Sicar Mountain into a book, but he had written it into his lesson plans as material for teaching young people:
“Look at this, Red Butterfly, yes, that's it.”
He handed Xia De the pages clipped in a hard folder, and as Xia De flipped through them, he said:
“The remaining texts of the Twin Cult that we excavated record that the holy emblem of the distant great one twin gods resembles a butterfly. Later, through communication between folklorists and the Prophet Association, it was discovered that the 'Red Butterfly' imagery in divination itself has meanings such as sacrifice and twins.”
“So, the way to break the barrier between twins is related to the Red Butterfly?”
“Yes, a strange and complex poem. I only recorded it because I was interested back then.”
Professor Manning narrowed his eyes, recalling the past, while Xia De flipped through the pages, and he narrated the lesson plans he had taught for a lifetime:
“The Red Butterfly spreads its wings and flies,
Flying over towering peaks,
Flying over black rivers,
May the wind carry eternal thoughts,
Until the end of life and death.”
What Professor Manning said was exactly the same as the text record:
“It sounds like a folk song too.”
“Yes, there should be other meanings in the poems and folk songs, at least that's what I and most scholars believe.”
The Professor nodded:
“How nostalgic. When I first read this passage, I was only a little older than you are now. I didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, I'm already this old.”
He sighed, not knowing what he was thinking.
Professor Manning suddenly became sentimental, so Xia De discussed some past events with him, listening to him recount interesting anecdotes from his youth traveling across the Old Continent, until he left at eight in the evening.
Tonight's second stop was Old John's pawnshop. Pawnshops usually close at ten at night, so Xia De's late visit was not impolite.
As he pushed the door open, Old John under the gas lamp was pouring himself tea. Hearing the door open, he looked up:
“Oh, good evening, Detective. I was just about to look for you. The special blood you asked me to find has news. I know you might be out of money, so this time it's a bit cheaper.”
“We'll talk about the blood later, Old Man. First, help me appraise a relic.”
Hearing this, Old John immediately became interested. After putting on his gloves, he picked up the silver mirror Xia De placed on the counter:
“Tsk tsk, a mirror. relics with this appearance are rare. Since that's the case, it should be easy to find information. Detective, wait for me.”
He put down the mirror and walked to the second floor of the pawnshop. In just five or six minutes, he returned, and from the expression on his face, he already had a result:
“I found it. So it's this, a Document-level (4th level) relic - 【Corpse Concealing Mirror】.”
“Hmm?”
“Don't worry, it's not an undead type of relic. This should be considered a spatial relic.”
“What's its function?”
Xia De asked curiously. Old John unhurriedly returned behind the counter:
“Currently, two characteristics are known. First, this mirror can contain almost an infinite number of corpses. Yes, you can carry corpses hidden inside the mirror. When Saint Byron's first contained this mirror, they obtained it from a grave robber. Of course, corpses stored in the mirror have a chance of being transformed into low-level undead, so people speculate that this mirror was originally created by a witch skilled in spatial power and undead power.”
“Can it be used as a spatial tool to hold other items?”
“No.”
“Then the mirror seems useless.”
Xia De shrugged. If he wanted to transport corpses, the Miracle 【Toy Making】 would be enough.
“Don't rush, listen to the second characteristic. Holding the mirror, the holder can enter the mirror space.”
“What do you mean?”
Now Xia De was interested.
“Holding this mirror, you can find another mirror, and then walk into the mirror. Oh, let me demonstrate.”
Saying that, Old John moved an antique-looking full-length mirror from among the cluttered goods in the pawnshop. He held Xia De's 【Corpse Concealing Mirror】 and then reached out to touch the large mirror.
The mirror surface seemed to ripple, and Old John actually walked into it just like that.
The mirror reflected Xia De outside the mirror, but Old John inside the mirror could also be seen. This scene was very strange. Xia De also reached out to touch the surface of the full-length mirror, but he couldn't enter the mirror.
“Very interesting, isn't it?”
Old John hid behind the shelves in the mirror, so he could no longer be seen in the mirror.
He walked out of the full-length mirror, returned the 【Corpse Concealing Mirror】 to Xia De, and continued to introduce its characteristics:
“You can carry any soulless item, including relics, into a mirror while holding the 【Corpse Concealing Mirror】, and you can choose any size of mirror. But when you leave the mirror, the items you carried in will also be ejected.”
In other words, this small mirror cannot be used as a spatial item.
But Xia De suddenly thought of another possibility:
“If I hold the 【Corpse Concealing Mirror】 and enter another mirror, can the mirror I'm hiding in be moved?”
If it could, Xia De would let others enter the mirror, and then he would move the mirror through the statue of the 【cracks of origin】 to achieve spatial movement.
“No, when the mirror you choose is entered, the mirror will be fixed in space in a similar way and cannot be moved at all. Furthermore, if the mirror you choose is broken, the 【Corpse Concealing Mirror】 will be automatically ejected, and the mirror holder will be permanently trapped in the mirror space.”
Old John said, and Xia De nodded:
“So, besides concealing corpses, it's also a small hiding place?”
“Yes, and after entering the mirror space, it can greatly reduce external mental and soul pollution, which is a very useful characteristic.”
However, the 【Corpse Concealing Mirror】 is also dangerous. Besides the possibility of undead revival from storing corpses, if the user stays in the mirror world for too long, they might also become completely lost.
There are actually many dangers in the mirror world, and contemporary Ring術士 have not yet explored enough of it. But for Xia De, this mirror was already valuable enough.
