“Blood Feast.”
Xia De by the window instantly thought of the answer.
“Detective, don’t say it out loud.”
The doctor stopped Xia De’s bold action:
“In any case, no matter why you want to taste demon blood, a small amount should not be a problem for a Three-Ring Arcanist like you. At most, your esophagus will be corroded or you’ll be mentally deranged for a while. Besides, don’t you already possess the power of ‘Gluttony’? This will make you safer.”
“What about ordinary people?”
The detailed rules of the last banquet were still unknown, but the blood Xia De brought seemed to be for everyone. If it was too dangerous, he wouldn’t bring the demon’s blood. If it was generally dangerous, he would still bring it. Sharing a small amount of a few types of blood would definitely not last half an hour. That vampire deity would surely make the banquet last until the very last second before announcing its end, so for safety, Xia De needed to bring more types.
“That’s hard to say, after all, no one has tried it.”
The doctor scratched his head:
“Xia De, what exactly are you planning to do? Are there demons in Middlesburg?”
“Not yet.”
Xia De answered casually, still hesitating whether to bring the demon’s blood with him to the past.
Before Leia, using Dorothy’s body, continued Xia De’s lesson on the fairy tale “sleeping princess” that evening, Dorothy needed to use the afternoon to prepare the ritual base and other arrangements that could increase the success rate of the ritual in the attic of Xia De’s house. So, she still left the doctor’s clinic with Xia De.
And tonight, Luvia, just like yesterday, would not come to Xia De’s third floor to stargaze, so she bid farewell to Xia De at the doctor’s clinic.
Overcast clouds covered Tobesk’s night sky, making visibility very poor. Fortunately, she had divined the weather in advance and knew that this gloomy, rainy weather would end by Sunday, and the next one or two weeks would have good weather.
“The Prophet Association could actually increase the sales of their Three Penny Newspaper by publishing extremely accurate weather forecasts, and they could claim to have a partnership with the university.”
This was what Xia De said when he helped Dorothy carry a whole box of matches to the attic that afternoon. The cat was squatting on the box, seemingly waiting for Xia De to open the cardboard box so it could immediately crawl inside.
“The Prophet Association did do that, but they quickly found that as soon as the weather forecast was published, its accuracy would drop to a pitiful level. But as long as it wasn’t published, the accuracy of weather divination was at a normal level.”
Dorothy said as she followed behind Xia De, holding a high-pressure fire extinguisher in her hand.
It was a brass-colored bottle about the length of a normal man’s forearm, its surface polished almost to a mirror finish. It was a purely mechanical structure, and Xia De didn’t know its internal principles, but in the era of steam industry, which had already mastered steam bomb technology, it was quite simple to use high-pressure steam to spray chemical agents for extinguishing fires.
Dorothy’s promotion ritual required a large number of matches, and to prevent this house, already rumored to be a “haunted house,” from burning down another owner, Dorothy had Leia help her get several bottles of fire extinguishers.
Judging by the Cavendish family crest on the bottom of the bottle, Leia most likely had them brought directly from the warehouse of Yodel Palace.
“Speaking of which, have you gone to Old John to ask him to make a new Red Butterfly?”
Climbing the stairs connecting to the attic, Xia De placed the cardboard box full of matches on the highest shelf in the attic. Seeing that he had no intention of opening the box, Mia was very disappointed and just squatted on the cardboard box, refusing to come down.
“I did. Leia directly gave Old John a 3000-pound money order.”
“How much?”
Xia De looked at the Golden-haired girl who was arranging the fire extinguishers in surprise:
“When I asked Old John to make the very first Red Butterfly, he only charged 1 pound for labor and materials.”
“So, it could only allow Leia and me to gaze at each other from a distance for a short time.”
Dorothy bent down and hooked the half of the Red Butterfly pendant on her neck with her pinky, shaking it at Xia De:
“Leia wouldn’t be satisfied with merely letting us gaze at each other.”
“What does she want to do?”
“We also know that it’s unrealistic for an alchemical item alone to completely allow us to ignore the soul’s abnormality and approach freely.”
Dorothy straightened up and clapped her hands, then went downstairs with Xia De to move other things. Mia, seeing Xia De leave, reluctantly left the cardboard box it valued so much and followed him with its short little legs.
“Leia thinks that we should at least be able to touch, even if only for a second.”
“Just that much, huh? She really is rich.”
Xia De sighed.
“Yes, the princess’s life is beyond our imagination.”
Dorothy seemed a bit troubled, but it shouldn’t be because of money.
The time for Xia De to attend the fifth epoch 3014 banquet for the last time was before Sunday dawn. Currently, the only blood he had obtained was the blood of an unfortunate person struck by lightning, bought from Old John, and the blood of the Evil Spirit demon, Sakato the Devourer, obtained from Grandma Cassandra.
To be able to use the key on time tomorrow morning, after helping Dorothy move the boxes, Xia De set off for Middlesburg at four in the afternoon, intending to go to the House of the Blind to retrieve the blood Sister Devlin had promised.
He also promised Dorothy that they could have dinner together that night, which brought a smile to the still busy Writer’s face.
Since this trip to Middlesburg was purely for retrieving items and posed no danger, Xia De brought the cat, who was lounging at home unwilling to move.
Compared to its astonishment when it first saw the sea, the orange cat Mia, after reverting from a doll to a real cat, had little reaction to Sicar Mountain and the forest. Perhaps to this cat, dense urban buildings were not much different from dense trees.
Walking down the mountain with the cat, there was no fog on Sicar Mountain today, so Xia De didn’t fight any Evil Spirits. However, the cat, held by Xia De, kept looking around in the mountains and finally even let out a sudden “Meow~” towards the sky, almost making Xia De think his cat had turned into a wolf.
“Did you see any danger?”
He stood alertly in the forest, observing his surroundings, but not to mention danger, he didn’t even find ants under his feet:
“Don’t make random noises. If you really attract a pack of wolves, don’t try to burrow into my arms even if you’re scared to death.”
He patted Mia’s head. The orange cat took the opportunity to raise its head and rub Xia De’s hand with the side of its face, but it remained very alert to its surroundings, its large amber eyes continuously darting about.
It was almost five in the evening when they entered the City and arrived at the House of the Blind on Lufu Lane. Unexpectedly, Sister Devlin was also there. When Xia De, holding the cat, was led by a servant to the third-floor reception room, Ms. Michelle, whose eyes were covered with a cloth strip, was sitting opposite Sister Devlin.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Watson.”
Ms. Michelle stood up to greet them, while Sister Devlin remained seated, nodding somewhat calmly:
“Good afternoon.”
The nun, wearing a silver coronet-style blindfold, turned her body, seemingly looking at the cat in Xia De’s arms, but said nothing. Instead, she instructed Ms. Michelle to leave temporarily, as she had something to discuss with Xia De.
“This is the blood I promised you.”
She took out a slender silver flask from the pocket of her grayish-black nun’s robe and handed it to Xia De. The metal flask felt not cold at all, but rather somewhat warm. Aside from an eye-shaped emblem on the flask’s surface, the flask was smooth all over. And the “eye-shaped emblem” was precisely the emblem of the Spiritual Cultivation Order.
The opening of the flask was covered by a piece of red silk cloth, inside which was a somewhat heavy solid silver stopper.
Just this exquisitely crafted silver flask looked quite valuable, but Xia De didn’t feel comfortable asking about the flask’s true worth:
“Whose blood is this?”
“The blood of some magical creatures that can survive in magma. A drop was taken from each species and mixed to create this flask of blood. Although not extremely special, I think this flask of blood should contain an entire underground magma creature community.”
The nun said calmly.
“What happens if I drink it?”
Xia De asked the question again. Sister Devlin didn’t seem puzzled like Doctor Schneider; she still had her hands clasped together on her lap:
“I’ve pre-processed this blood; its temperature doesn’t exceed one hundred degrees, so drinking it will only scald your mouth and esophagus. But even if you’re not worried about being scalded, you shouldn’t drink too much. Excessive contact with magma creature blood will definitely cause violent mental changes.”
“I understand.”
Xia De put the flask away and picked up the curious cat, who wanted to know what it was, placing her on his lap:
“You seem to have something else you want to tell me.”
“Yes, there’s something I’d like your help with. Mr. Xia De Hamilton, are you aware of the rumors in this City about the little Boy who can see the death dates of mortals?”
Xia De raised an eyebrow:
“I know. He’s with a local small organization, the Crow Club. I’ve already scheduled an appointment to visit him seven days from now, next Sunday morning. I’m curious to see what kind of death he’ll see for me.”
The nun nodded:
“I hope you can go with me. I will disguise myself as your friend. The Order is very interested in that little Boy, but the Crow Club also knows about the existence of the blind nuns, so I need the cooperation of an outside Ring術士.”
The Spiritual Cultivation Order itself is a special organization that reveres nature and death, so it’s understandable that they would be interested in that Boy.
“Will you go personally?”
Xia De asked curiously:
“For something like this, wouldn’t it be better to have other High-Ring Sorcerers from the Order do it? I didn’t expect you to go see him yourself.”
“I have time, so I’ll go.”
She didn’t want to explain further, so Xia De didn’t ask again:
“Then where should I meet you next Sunday? The Club? Here? Or Grandma Cassandra’s place?”
“Here will be fine. Also, please do not tell the Witch about this.”
The nun said, then hesitated for a moment:
“I’ve been curious since just now, may I ask where your cat came from?”
“Mia?”
Xia De picked up the cat, who seemed a bit sleepy. The cat lazily meowed at the nun.
He introduced with a smile:
“This is actually someone else’s cat, staying with me. Because she secretly ate some… special materials, she unexpectedly gained very high wisdom. What, can you discover anything special about her?”
Xia De asked somewhat excitedly. So far, he had let many people examine Mia, but everyone thought the cat was truly just an ordinary cat:
“Please wait a moment.”
The nun lowered her head, then slowly removed the silver blindfold with intricate patterns. The patterns on the blindfold were hard to describe; they looked like clinging vines, like tree roots, but also like eyelashes around an open eye.
Because the blindfold was no longer restraining it, her unfastened grayish-white long hair slowly spread out by her ears, but the nun didn’t mind.
Raising her head, Sister Devlin looked at Xia De and the cat, who was held by the waist, with her dim eyes:
“So that’s how it is.”
She only looked for a moment, then lowered her head:
“This world, indeed, is Balance.”
“Excuse me, what does that mean?”
Xia De asked, shaking Mia in his hand:
“Is there something wrong with this cat?”
“There’s nothing wrong, just like you, there’s nothing wrong.”
“Is that so~”
Xia De put the cat down, feeling a bit disappointed.
“Do you have to prove that the cat you’re raising isn’t a normal cat for you to be satisfied?”
“She” whispered in Xia De’s ear. Xia De thought for a moment, then shook his head:
“No, of course I hope Mia is perfectly normal... Yes, why am I disappointed? I should be happy.”
The young nun, who looked to be in her twenties, slowly put her blindfold back on, binding her flowing grayish-white long hair. She had been using a rather archaic grammar, and the words she spoke after raising her head seemed even more difficult to understand:
“The disaster of Middlesburg is about to appear. For this City, you are an outsider, Mr. Xia De Hamilton.”
“That’s right.”
“Then, outsider, have you decided whether you want to participate in what’s to come?”
“I think the Orthodox Church should resolve the problem of Between Life and Death, without needing help from an outsider like me.”
Sister Devlin slightly pursed her lips and smiled. This nun rarely showed such an expression; Xia De even thought she was always expressionless:
“My eyes have seen some possibilities. You will definitely become entangled with the matters of Middlesburg.”
The blind nuns of the Spiritual Cultivation Order also possess strong divination abilities, so this statement should not be spoken casually.
“But the seal at the foot of the mountain is already stable, Grandma Cassandra said the Witch Council will deal with the seal on the mountainside, and the Ancient One who sealed the mountaintop passage will be communicated with by the Orthodox Church. I think the outbreak of death should be delayed for a long time.”
“No, the sealed gate will reopen sooner or later. The seal of the Ancient Magic Witches Emperor will never be easily found, and the passage at the mountaintop is already precarious.”
The nun said softly.
Xia De frowned slightly:
“Are you saying this disaster cannot be prevented at all?”
“No, I mean that this City is still very dangerous. If you still intend to operate here, then when you encounter danger, you can move in the direction where flames exist.”
“Is this a Prophet?”
The nun hesitated for a moment, then nodded:
“You can understand it that way. But there’s no need to worry too much; the Order will also do its best to prevent the disaster from happening.”
“The Order is also getting involved in this? Why?”
“Because it’s a responsibility.”
