“What is the containment method? What happens if containment is lost?”
“The containment method is to wrap it up when not in use and not point it outwards for long periods. Otherwise, it will spontaneously pull all nearby objects, and even living people, into the mirror world, and once pulled in, it is very difficult to find a way to return to the normal world.”
“Old John, can you appraise this relic for me?”
Xia De thought for a moment and inquired.
“You want to sell it?”
The old man looked at Xia De:
“Although it’s only Document-level, the containment method is simple, and the effect is very practical. If you want to sell it to me, I’m willing to pay 1200 pounds.”
Old John’s place allowed for bargaining. Since he offered 1200 pounds, the upper limit should be around 1400 pounds. It seemed this relic was indeed one of the more valuable items Xia De had acquired.
“I don’t want to sell it for now…”
“It’s not very useful for you to keep it. Why not sell it to me and use the pounds you get to exchange for a practical Miracle?”
“Oh, Old John, I still need to consider it.”
Xia De put away the mirror, and the old man shook his head helplessly:
“Since you’re not selling, I’ll charge you an appraisal fee.”
“Of course, but before that, we can talk about the special blood.”
Including the reward for the investigation mission that he hadn’t yet settled with Grandma Cassandra, Xia De had now obtained two types of blood. Therefore, he was no longer stubbornly in need of other blood types, but if they were truly valuable and the price was right, he would consider buying them.
“This time’s cheap one, I acquired it myself.”
Old John bent down and took out a conical glass bottle sealed with tin from a cabinet under the counter. Inside was a dark red liquid. The liquid was not completely still; small Bubbles were actually forming within it.
“Old Man, tell me the price first. If it’s over 1000 pounds, I won’t buy it.”
He only had the two thousand he earned from completing the Gray Headed Eagle’s intelligence transfer, and he couldn’t spend more.
“Don’t worry, I said I would consider your financial situation. This is very cheap. First, let me tell you whose blood it is.”
The old man reassured Xia De:
“Borbo Brando, born in 1384 common era of the sixth epoch, was struck by lightning 42 times in his life, roughly once a year on average, to the point where almost all of his relatives and friends died. Until he was 43 years old…”
“He finally died from a lightning strike?”
“No, after being struck by lightning, he hit his head due to excessive surprise, and then died from excessive blood loss.”
The old man said, shaking the small bottle in his hand:
“After his death, he was buried in what is now the southwestern mountainous area of Carson Rick. On the day of his burial, that grave was struck by lightning. After that, whenever it rained, the coffin was sure to be struck by lightning, and the frequency became higher and higher, so much so that later, that cemetery was shrouded in thunderstorms year-round, forcing the Church to seal off that area. This is the very famous ‘Brando Lightning cemetery’ area.”
“Which deity did this gentleman from five hundred years ago offend?”
Xia De cautiously pointed to the sky, and Old John also cautiously shook his head:
“Only God knows. However, I have his blood in my hand. Because he was struck by lightning every year during his lifetime, he also attracted the interest of the Ring術士 of that era, which is why this bottle of blood exists. Unfortunately, research on the blood could not help people understand the reason why he was struck by lightning year-round, so this bottle of blood was passed down. But I must remind you, even with careful preservation, after more than 500 years, this bottle of blood is inevitably somewhat deteriorated.”
He handed out the small bottle in his hand for Xia De to examine:
“Although this blood is very interesting, it is actually not very useful, and it is difficult to preserve as a collectible, which is why I bought it.”
“It’s like chicken ribs, tasteless when eaten, but a pity to throw away.”
“No, I never feel it’s a pity to throw away chicken ribs.”
Old John said.
“Well, your life seems really prosperous.”
“Don’t mock me. I’m not wasting food. I often feed the stray animals in that alley with discarded food... How did we get back to this topic? Let’s talk business. One price, 50 pounds. You know, this is blood from five hundred years ago!”
He used a very exaggerated tone.
“At the same time, it can also be considered trash from five hundred years ago.”
Xia De observed the bottle of blood against the gas lamp, very curious how the Bubbles appeared inside:
“30 pounds.”
“Then you might as well just rob me. 45.”
Xia De placed the bottle on the counter, resting his right arm on the counter as well, leaning his body to look at Old John:
“If I really robbed, I wouldn’t just rob 20 pounds. 35.”
“42.”
“37.”
“40.”
“39.”
“39 pounds 10 shillings.”
“39 pounds 5 shillings.”
“39”
Xia De quickly waved his hand:
“Let’s not haggle over a few shillings. How about I give you a total of 42 pounds, including the appraisal fee just now?”
“You really know how to bargain.”
The old man said softly, but this meant it was acceptable.
However, Xia De was not in a hurry to pay; he had another matter:
“Old John, I want to ask you something.”
“Ask me? That’s not cheap. You know, the Hermit Order doesn’t bargain.”
This was the first time he had actively mentioned the Guiding Light Hermitage in front of Xia De.
Xia De nodded:
“It’s about the worship of the twin gods. I learned a possible ritual folk song or poem, and I’d like you to help me interpret it.”
He repeated the strange folk song he had just heard from Professor Manning, and the old man thought for a moment:
“It doesn’t sound like a ritual; it sounds like a method for making alchemical items.”
“How can you tell?”
“For Knowledge hidden in folk songs or legends, different people have different interpretation methods. This is just my interpretation.”
Although Xia De still thought it was a ritual, Old John’s idea could also be tried:
“If I commission you to make this alchemical item, how long will it take? How much will it cost?”
“You’ve given too little information. I can only use the materials at hand to try and make a prototype. I’ll charge you 1 pound for the labor. It’s just some scraps, so no need for material fees. But I can’t guarantee it will be useful, after all, you only gave me this folk song.”
So, with these three transactions tonight, Xia De spent a total of 43 pounds:
“Alright, when can I pick it up?”
“Two hours later. After I finish this business with you, I can close for the day.”
Xia De calculated the time:
“Okay, I’ll pick it up at 10:30 PM. Perfect, I need to go outside the city to buy some undead materials.”
“Corpus’s place?”
Old John asked with drooping eyelids.
“You know him too?”
“We’ve done a few deals. I don’t want to speak ill of people behind their backs, but that person really looks like a true corpse.”
Mr. Corpus’s material shop was located in the cemetery of an unnamed small village in the northern suburbs of Tobesk. Dorothy had once brought Xia De there. This gentleman had a peculiar temper; his shop only opened at night, and regardless of whether a customer was new or regular, they would definitely be “attacked” upon entering the cemetery.
He took a carriage from Old John’s pawn shop, got off at the city edge, and then walked out of the city. When he arrived at the suburban cemetery in the hazy night, it was already past nine o’clock. The autumn night in the suburbs seemed colder than in the city. Putting on his mask, he stepped on dry branches on the ground and entered the cemetery shrouded in night fog. Immediately, he saw a transparent figure floating in the air amidst the fog, carried by the night wind, drifting towards him with painful wails.
“An evil spirit?”
Xia De unhurriedly put on his “Mind Crystal Ring.” When the grim-faced soul approached and extended its hands towards his neck, he suddenly swung his right fist forward:
“Mind Blast!”
The night fog swirled in front of his fist, and a soft 'bang' seemed to echo in the air. The evil spirit retreated out of thin air, disappearing into the fog amidst increasingly faint wails, leaving only a sound that seemed to linger in his ears, refusing to depart.
Xia De touched his fist and continued walking along the cemetery path, arriving in front of the gravedigger’s hut. Mr. Corpus was already waiting there, with the light of a kerosene lamp visible from the half-open hut behind him.
This thin, pale-faced middle-aged man, who looked like he had indulged excessively, glanced at Xia De without asking who he was:
“What do you need?”
Xia De handed him the material list for the Miracle 【Directing Death】. Mr. Corpus lowered his head and checked each item:
“Brown spiritual dust is out. Can I replace it with black?”
“Yes, but you’ll need to increase the weight by one-third.”
Xia De nodded, and the Priest marked the substitute material on the list.
“115 pounds 5 shillings. The 5 shillings in change is an extra labor fee I charge for processing rotten ghoul intestines; that stuff is really disgusting.”
While Xia De was taking money from his pocket, Mr. Corpus turned and went back into his hut to prepare the materials for Xia De. Although not much of each material was needed, precise weighing with a scale took time. So, a full twenty minutes later, Mr. Corpus finally brought out the bottles, jars, and paper packets, packed in a paper bag, and handed them to Xia De.
That paper bag looked exactly like the kind used by bakeries in the city.
With money and goods exchanged, Xia De didn’t want to chat much with this somewhat eerie Ring術士, so he took what he needed and intended to turn and leave, but he was still called back by the other party:
“Excuse me, please wait a moment.”
Mr. Corpus twitched his nose:
“Have you, recently, been to the boundary Between Life and Death?”
Only the sufficiently large life and death boundary beneath Middlesburg could be called the “Between Life and Death”; other similar areas had different names, but Mr. Corpus was certainly referring to such a place.
“Yes, I just returned from out of town. During my travels, there was some trouble on the third floor of the small hotel where I was staying.”
Xia De spoke half-truths.
Mr. Corpus didn’t ask where Xia De was staying:
“Interested in making some money? I’m buying large quantities of Corpse Grass, Netherland, and Black Resentful Woman Flowers produced from the borderlands. Prices are negotiable: 3 pounds 7 shillings 10 pence per pound of Corpse Grass, 13 pounds 15 shillings 5 pence per pound of Netherland, and I can give you 20 pounds per Resentful Woman Flower. But they must be carefully preserved and kept fresh during transport.”
Corpse Grass was a common plant throughout the Between Life and Death, and also a relatively common undead material in the material world; Netherland was often used for potent hallucinogens, growing only in places like cemeteries or ancient battlefields. Xia De remembered seeing a large patch of it nearby when he defeated the undead knight in the Gap; as for Resentful Woman Flowers, Xia De had never even seen them in his second-year textbook. He had only seen descriptions in Miss Felianna’s notebook, knowing it was a plant related to decaying souls.
Mr. Corpus’s offer was about fifty percent higher than plants normally growing in the material world, but Xia De did not agree:
“Mr. Corpus, you also know how dangerous those borderlands are. This business is very tempting, but I don’t want to go there again.”
“No problem, just remember this business. If you have a chance in the future, you can collect some materials and sell them to me. For Corpse Grass and Netherland, I’m currently buying up to 200 pounds (approx. 90.72 kg) and 130 pounds (approx. 58.97 kg) respectively. Black Resentful Woman Flowers are unlimited.”
Xia De was quite curious what the other party needed so many materials for, but he didn’t ask much:
“Okay, if I have the chance, I don’t mind making this money.”
After leaving the cemetery, Xia De used pebbles to draw a ritual array on the ground in a nearby cemetery, taking advantage of the proximity to the cemetery to use the purchased materials to learn the Miracle 【Directing Death】.
By the time he returned to Old John’s pawn shop, it was already eleven o’clock at night, but Old John was still waiting for him. However, as soon as Xia De walked into the shop, the old man covered his nose and complained:
“Detective, what is that smell on you? If you stepped in animal excrement outside the city, please don’t come any closer.”
“I just soaked my hands in corpse fluid and the decaying root system soaking liquid of a three-eyed witch tree, but I had already washed my hands by the small river outside the city before entering.”
“Three-eyed witch trees are notoriously stinky. That smell simply won’t wash off. I have a bottle of deodorizer here. Pour it into a basin of warm water and scrub thoroughly. Give me two shillings and take it.”
“You really know how to make money.”
Xia De said, but still paid the money.
The alchemical item that Old John made based on the folk song Xia De provided, which was likely useless, was also completed. They were two Red Butterfly pendants, each with half a wing, about a quarter the size of Xia De’s palm. The material seemed to be red copper, but after special treatment, it displayed a crimson color.
The wings were double-sided, while the bodies of both pendants were single-sided. The other side of the butterfly body part was flat, inscribed with runes about “Twins” in red pigment. Because magnets were placed inside, the flat surfaces of the two pendant butterfly bodies could stick together, thus forming a complete Red Butterfly with two wings.
“If it’s useless, remember to tell me, I can improve it again, and the next production fee will be cheaper for you. If it’s useful, also tell me, and I can continue to improve it to make the finished product more effective.”
“No problem. Oh, the commission to acquire special blood is finished. This matter can be canceled.”
Xia De waved his hand, preparing to say goodbye, but having reached the door, he turned back and asked:
“Old John, do you know about the Spiritual Cultivation Order?”
“Of course, those blind nuns are very famous.”
The old man, who was dropping the change Xia De gave him into a biscuit tin, nodded:
“Why do you ask?”
“Do you know the origin of the Order? Is it related to ancient gods?”
Old John raised an eyebrow:
“It’s so late, and you’re asking such a question. Given how much business you’ve done with me today, I won’t charge you a data fee—there’s a more than sixty percent chance it’s related, but I don’t know to which one.”
“Thank you, then I won’t be polite.”
Xia De said with a smile:
“Next time I can bring a very good bottle of wine to thank you.”
“You, who are even more stingy than me, what good wine could you possibly have?”
The old man grumbled, telling Xia De to leave quickly, as he was closing the shop to rest.
When he arrived home, it was almost midnight. As soon as he opened the door, Mia immediately sprang down the stairs, almost knocking Xia De over. However, Luvia had already left; she had been extremely busy today, so after finishing her stargazing work in the evening, she returned home to rest around ten o’clock.
However, she had boiled a pot of hot water for Xia De in advance so he could make tea when he got home, and she also left a letter informing him of her and Iluna’s plans in Tobesk recently. As for the matter Xia De asked her to investigate regarding the Spiritual Cultivation Order at the Prophet Association last time, there was no progress yet.
