Ms. Black’s neighbor, the old gentleman who he met walking his dog last time, was home today and still recognized Xia De. When Xia De explained his purpose, wanting to learn more details about Ms. Helen Black, the old gentleman holding the leash shook his head:
“Although we are neighbors, I rarely see my neighbor; I just occasionally help her look after the house. If you want to know more, you can go find old Pasolo. They seem to have a connection. Oh, yes, old Pasolo also passed away a few days ago.”
The old man was a bit sad:
“One less old neighbor on this street.”
“Have you lived here for a long time? Do you know anything about Ms. Grace White, Ms. Helen Black’s sister?”
Xia De asked again.
“Yes, but I don't know much either. I moved here thirteen years ago and have only met Ms. White three or four times.”
So the clue ended here. Xia De tried asking other neighbors on the street, but they were either not home or knew very little. It seemed the person who knew the most information on this street was indeed the deceased Mr. Simier Pasolo.
“However, I still have Ms. White’s address, the client. I even sent a letter to that address.”
Xia De thought of this again as the carriage headed towards the cemetery outside the City. It was on the way, so Tifa had the coachman stop in front of Ms. Grace White’s house.
After knocking, there was indeed no answer. Xia De then knocked on the door of the neighboring apartment, hoping to get information from the neighbors. Unexpectedly, he actually received another letter.
“Ms. White also went to Middlesburg?”
Xia De looked at the letter handed to him by the neighbor with surprise.
“Is this a letter she left for Sparrow Detective?”
Tifa asked.
“No, it’s, it’s for me. Ms. White said she had received the previous letter, and the commission fee would be transferred to Saint Delan Square Six next month. She seemed to have guessed someone would visit. If I hadn’t known Ms. White had died, I might have actually believed this letter.”
He frowned, folded the letter, and put it into his pocket. The carriage started again, heading towards the public cemetery outside the City:
“But this way, the client actively declared the commission ended. Does this mean it has nothing to do with me?”
“So are you still going to continue the investigation?”
Tifa asked curiously; she was also a bit curious about this matter.
“Of course, I’m going to continue the investigation. I’m not someone who gives up halfway.”
Xia De sighed.
After all, the commissions to investigate Mrs. Lasoya and find the ophthalmologist had new developments because Xia De did things beyond his commission duties, which directly or indirectly led to great gains for Xia De.
Now that this matter had become even more confusing and was connected to the already ended fourth time key and Middlesburg, Xia De was naturally willing to continue the investigation until he met Helen Black and Grace White.
Thinking of this, he suddenly frowned, looking past the buildings facing the street from the carriage window, towards the direction of his home under the gloomy sky:
“If I investigate the commission to find Mia more deeply, will there be other gains?”
But no matter what, the most important thing now was to first find the stone figurine inscribed with the fragments of the whispering chapters.
For ordinary people, the best time for grave robbing is definitely at night, but for Ring術士, there aren't so many concerns.
The carriage took the group near the City public cemetery, where two other Sorceress, whose names Xia De couldn't recall, went to investigate the burial site of Mr. Simier Pasolo.
The results came in half an hour later, so Ms. Laila the maid and the coachman were left in the carriage, and four Ring術士, including Xia De, went to the tomb.
Their luck was good today, because Mr. Simier Pasolo was not directly buried, but chose an underground tomb area, so there was no need to worry about digging up other people's graves.
Without even needing Xia De to use the sound-dampening effect of 【Silent Moonlight】, the three Sorceress themselves used Miracles to conceal their figures, eliminate sounds, and block detection.
The only thing Xia De did was use the 【Key of the Door】 to open the Door to the underground tomb. Then, with him leading the way by lighting the Moonlight, the group of four entered the tomb area, which had a strong smell of dampness and mold, and advanced along the direction where the gas pipes extended. After disturbing a few rats and spiders, they successfully found Mr. Simier Pasolo's tomb.
Xia De opened the stone Door at the entrance of the tomb. The two Sorceress went to examine the coffin placed in the center of the tomb. Tifa wanted to discuss spiritualism with Xia De, but she didn't expect Xia De to look directly at the southeast corner of the tomb after entering.
“What’s wrong?”
She also looked over but saw nothing.
“I don’t think we need spiritualism; the soul is right here.”
Xia De pointed to the southeast corner of the tomb. Tifa blinked and pulled out a small bottle from her pocket, containing almost transparent dust:
“Soul-revealing dust, for detecting spiritual bodies difficult to perceive with the naked eye.”
This was a very basic alchemical product, but its use was very narrow. After all, souls that even Ring術士 couldn't sense were basically useless. However, such things often fell into the hands of ordinary people, serving as auxiliary tools for busybodies or occult enthusiasts on their path to death.
Tifa sprinkled some towards the location Xia De indicated. As a faint green light gradually appeared, Mr. Simier Pasolo’s soul became visible. At the same time, the two Sorceress also examined the coffin and the tomb, basically confirming that they were the first ones to arrive here.
“What do you want to do?”
Perhaps because he had only died two days ago, although the spiritual body was faint, the soul still had a strong self-awareness. He had originally just stood there quietly, but when Tifa approached to sprinkle the dust and Xia De looked directly at him, he realized that these people could actually see him, a deceased person.
“We came for a stone figurine.”
Xia De continued to communicate. He had a lot of experience communicating with these ordinary souls:
“It’s an antique that was buried with you. I apologize for disturbing your peaceful rest.”
Xia De said politely. The old man’s soul glared at him, his chin beard sticking up:
“No need to be so polite. Even if I had an opinion, could I stop you thieves?”
“No, no, please don’t be so angry. I know this isn’t right, so I want to help you with your property distribution problem.”
“My property distribution?”
Mr. Simier Pasolo’s soul looked at the young soul in front of him suspiciously:
“Have you been to my house?”
“Yes, we met your children and Ms. Lina the maid, but we didn’t see a will.”
Xia De told the truth. The soul nodded:
“Of course you wouldn’t see it. After all, I didn’t leave a will at all.”
“So that’s how it is.”
Xia De smiled and shook his head. He and Tifa both saw that the maid was lying. They originally thought she was just playing small tricks, but they didn’t expect her to be so bold:
“See, I told you that maid was problematic. We were all tricked by her.”
He said to Tifa, who wasn’t too surprised but smiled.
“What exactly happened at my house?”
Mr. Pasolo asked, somewhat at a loss:
“I thought I was in good health and believed that making a will in advance was a curse on myself, so I never wrote it. I didn’t expect to suddenly have a heart attack... What happened at my house? Did my children fight over the inheritance?”
“No, no, that gentleman and that lady are getting along well. It’s your maid who’s about to fight with them.”
Xia De recounted what he had witnessed a few hours ago. After hearing it, Mr. Pasolo’s soul became unstable due to his emotional agitation:
“Oh! I was so good to her! Even her wages were double that of an ordinary maid! She actually, she actually—”
“We will ensure she receives her due punishment. If you wish to dictate a will, I believe this lady will also help you with it.”
Xia De nodded to Tifa:
“So, in exchange for helping you draft your will, can we take that stone figurine?”
The old man’s soul immediately nodded:
“Of course. Oh, I really didn’t expect that even after I died, I would still encounter such things. Don’t people always say that after death, one can find peace?”
He covered his face, trying to cry, but this soul, which had lingered for some unknown reason, did not have that function.
Having obtained the consent of the coffin’s owner, the two Sorceress raised their hands and used a spell to open the coffin, taking out the stone figurine that was buried as a funerary object. Tifa wrote down the will dictated by the old man—Bick Pasolo would receive five-tenths of all property, Jenny Pasolo three-tenths, and the remaining two-tenths would be donated to the Creation Church—and promised to execute it on his behalf.
After the other party finished dictating the will, Xia De asked again:
“Although I don’t know why you lingered, I think you probably want to leave, right?”
The old man nodded, looking despondently at the tomb:
“Before I died, I truly thought that after death, I would be completely free from all worries. I didn’t expect to find no peace even after death. I accept my accidental passing, after all, people always have to die, but encountering something like this after death is truly depressing.”
“I have an ability that can free you by touching your soul. But before you leave, I’d like to ask some questions about Ms. Grace White and Ms. Helen Black.”
The Death Door could also allow souls to directly enter True Death, but this would prevent contact with the obsessions of lingering souls. Xia De only used the Death Door on evil spirits. For normal souls like this, it would be better to send them off using the power of Directing Death.
The soul looked at him in surprise:
“What an unexpected question, young man. What do you want to know?”
“Don’t you find these two ladies very strange?”
“Of course, they’re strange, but what does that have to do with me?”
“Then you only need to answer two questions for me. Ms. Helen Black, who is 22 years old this year, lost her sister 11 years ago. So, how old was Ms. Grace White when she passed away?”
“22 years old.”
Mr. Simier Pasolo gave the answer.
“Very good. Then, do you know the elder of the deceased Ms. Grace White?”
Mr. Pasolo’s soul actually smiled:
“Young man, you’ve grasped the key point. Very good. I thought I was the only one who could discover this wonderful little secret.”
Xia De narrowed his eyes slightly:
“The elder of Ms. Grace White, who died in 1842, wouldn’t happen to have the surname Black, would they?”
The soul nodded slightly:
“I promised someone I would keep this secret. Young man, ladies’ secrets are not so easy to uncover.”
After speaking, he said no more, clearly not intending to reveal any more information. Xia De, according to their agreement, used the Miracle Directing Death to touch the other party’s soul.
A hand radiating an ambiguous grey light touched the glowing soul, and then scenes from the soul’s life flashed before Xia De’s eyes. Compared to the Knowledge imbued with extraordinary power, the most important few scenes of a mortal’s life caused no pressure for Xia De.
However, as the soul before him dissolved into points of light and Xia De’s vision returned to normal, in the very last scene, he actually saw a Black Dress Girl.
She stood travel-worn on the steps in front of an apartment, like she had returned from a journey, with servants behind her carrying two suitcases. The weather that day was very good, seemingly early spring, and Helen Black wore a long Black dress with a wide-brimmed beige hat adorned with Black irises.
She nodded slightly towards outside the frame, probably greeting the owner of the memory. Under the bright sunlight, this lady with a rather striking face was as beautiful as the most delicate flower in early spring.
Xia De couldn't be sure what era this memory belonged to, but he could be certain that the girl, who looked to be in her twenties and had a Red Butterfly pendant hanging from her waist, had almost the exact same face shape as the thirteen or fourteen-year-old Black Dress Girl he had met at a ball in the previous era.
Her demeanor showed no signs of being an old person who had lived for thousands of years; she still seemed like the girl from back then, playful and a little shy. Just like when she said goodbye to Xia De at the ball that year.
“So it really was them…”
【Surprised?】
“A little.”
Seeing that Xia De had finished talking, Tifa walked over and handed him the stone figurine. Although it was a burial object, the stone figurine had not directly touched the corpse, and it wasn't very dirty after a little cleaning.
Still somewhat emotional, Xia De rubbed the base of the cold stone figurine with his palm, and then, by the Moonlight, looked at the carvings. The fragment only had two sentences:
“death…”
The two Sorceress had already exited the tomb, leaving only Tifa standing beside Xia De. The Black-haired maid looked at Xia De’s profile under the Moonlight, the corners of his lips, with their clear lines, turned up in a smile, and Xia De softly translated:
“The heavy responsibility of death will fall upon the shoulders of those who can see through death. That is…”
The last few words were a bit blurry, and Xia De took a while to make them out:
“That is, the one with the Eye of death.”
