As she spoke, the Mermaid’s face in the water gradually deformed, surprisingly transforming into Luvia’s appearance. But her features were even more exquisite, her beauty not resembling a mortal.
She waved at Xia De and asked with Luvia’s voice, smiling, “Xia De, want to bathe together?”
“Madam, that is truly impolite,” Xia De said with a serious expression, though the urge rising within him almost got out of control. Just being in the same space as the desire meant his own desires were at risk of losing control at any moment. Even though Xia De had experienced it once before, he still couldn’t avoid being affected.
The Mermaid’s danger level was directly proportional to her appearance.
“Excuse me, what exactly do you want to do?”
“No, I don’t want to do anything; this encounter is merely accidental.”
She resumed her face of transcendent beauty, but the color of her eyes remained the same as Luvia’s.
Her arm, extended from the pool, rested on the dirty ground. When her fair skin was stained by the filthy dust, it surprisingly appeared even more attractive than before:
“Look, I was already here; you yourself intruded.”
That was true, and the Sin Mansion’s trader had also said that the guest in the underground wine cellar had arrived long ago.
“Then… may I leave?” Xia De asked hesitantly.
“Of course, but the exit is beneath the pool,” she said with a smile. Each sound of her breathing made Xia De confirm that he could still maintain his sanity. If this were a dice-rolling game, then each of her gasps would be an attack.
“The door is in the pool… Alright, this time, what do I need to do for you to let me leave?”
Judging by her demeanor, she didn’t seem to intend to attack him this time.
“I crave your interesting soul, but watching you become even more interesting would satisfy me more.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly, and her face seemed to resemble Miss Jialinna somewhat again:
“Go, go meet the master of this mansion, go let him witness your sins.”
There were now two ways to leave: one was through the underground wine cellar, and the other was to meet the master of the mansion. And the desire’s request basically meant there was only one path left.
However, compared to facing the Mermaid in front of him, Xia De felt that meeting the master of the mansion might be a safer option.
Moreover, the Vampire Bernhardt and Sister Devlin should both be upstairs.
“Alright, then I’ll go meet the master of the mansion.” So Xia De readily agreed.
“Don’t rush. Ask the master of the mansion for a pair of pearl earrings on my behalf. You don’t have to say I asked for them; get them by your own means.”
Her hand retracted into the water, but Xia De could hear the sound of her hand sliding underwater. The hazy blue light in the water made the woman’s head even more captivating. She tilted her head, looking at Xia De, her wet lips very alluring:
“Just like last time, if you fulfill my request, I’ll let you go, and I can even give you a gift.”
“This time, I don’t want to eat your flesh again.” Xia De immediately shook his head.
“Oh, are you still thinking about that? No, if you want to eat my flesh, you can do so anytime.”
She bit her own lip:
“In fact, I’m willing to be eaten whole by you, to completely merge with you. Do you want me to be torn apart bit by bit while crying out, or do you want me to be pushed into the oven with a smile after being covered in oil…?”
“No, no, let’s go back to the pearl earrings.”
Xia De could only maintain his sanity by constantly hearing the whisper in his mind. Compared to their last encounter, his resistance was much weaker this time. He didn’t know if this was due to having eaten her flesh before, or because Xia De was no longer pure.
“Alright, interesting soul, this time, I can give you some interesting things. Go, when you encounter difficulties, you can softly chant my name. Perhaps, I really can hear you. No one in this Sin Mansion can stop me.”
A wisp of ambiguous pink light drifted from the pool and entered Xia De’s hand. The desire in his heart intensified again, but this also enhanced her power:
“Go meet the master of the mansion. My mark will protect you until you return again.”
It was clearly a threat for Xia De to return, yet her tone remained so gentle.
Watching Xia De, her wet black bangs clung to the desire’s cheek. This time, her fair left arm extended, but after twirling a strand of hair, she didn’t tuck it behind her ear. Instead, she brought it to her mouth and gently bit it:
“Or, if you’re willing to play with me in the water for a while, I can also let you go. That would be… very joyful.”
Xia De, startled, turned and left, while the desire’s characteristic light laughter came from behind him.
“Quick, laugh,” he urged in his mind, and that familiar laughter still brought Xia De such peace of mind.
Having realized that there was an inconceivable-grade relic in the underground wine cellar, Xia De no longer cared about any dangers on the three floors above ground in the Sin Mansion as much as he had before.
He practically fled the basement, then, without looking back, followed the gradually extinguishing flames down the corridor, winding his way back to the main staircase of the mansion. Only then did he stop, panting heavily. He was truly grateful that the desire had never shown too much hostility towards him; otherwise, the last drop of Divine Radiance reserved for his Four Ring advancement would probably have been consumed here.
“What the hell is Middelsburg? Can anything more dangerous happen here?”
“More dangerous than an inconceivable-grade relic is probably only the great one in the sky,” she reminded him softly.
“No, no, it’s already chaotic enough here.”
He, uncharacteristically, drew the holy emblem of Mr. Dawn on his chest:
“May God bless this City.”
He ascended the stairs to the second floor. The second floor looked even more dilapidated than when he had left, with not only claw marks on the walls but also scorch marks from flames. The mysterious flames controlled by Sister Devlin had a very strong restraining effect on this mansion.
Xia De then returned to the room where he had met Bernhardt. The trader was still there and immediately grinned when he saw Xia De appear:
“Generous guest, you’ve returned. What do you need this time?”
“I want to know if a sister came looking for you earlier? Where did she go?”
“Help me bear 0.1 units of perfect sloth sin.”
“Why is it perfect sloth again?”
“I am a senior trader.”
“Can’t it be ordinary?”
“I don’t haggle here.”
Xia De gritted his teeth: “Fine, 0.1 units.”
He handed over his parchment again, and after increasing his sin, he also got the answer he wanted:
“About 10 minutes ago, a sister wearing a spiritual silver eye patch came, wanting to trade for ‘Sin Fire’ with me. But this peculiar flame is only possessed by the master of the mansion. So, she went to find the master of the mansion. Also, that Vampire went to find the master too; the Blood Chalice he wants is the master’s personal collection.”
“Why do you always disclose information about the Vampire for free?” Xia De asked curiously.
“Because he fought with me. Although he paid the price to make me spare him, I therefore have no obligation to keep his secrets. I also informed that terrifying sister just now about the Vampire. If I’m not mistaken, the flame in her hand should be the Original Fire. These guests this time are truly extraordinary. Is something big about to happen in the material world?”
Since the two potential helpers had both gone to the third floor, Xia De had no other choice. He went up the stairs to the third floor, returning to his starting point, then bypassed the corridor and found the banquet hall located at the back of the mansion.
A battle had also taken place here just now, and it was even more intense than downstairs. The black double doors, which seemed to absorb light, were tightly closed. The patterns on the doors were extremely intricate, expressing such a profound meaning of filth and sin that it would probably drive any sane ordinary person directly insane.
After gently knocking, he heard no sound from inside, so Xia De himself bent down and pushed the door open.
The light inside the door was even dimmer than outside. The somewhat spacious banquet hall was filled with life-sized stone figures of various sizes: humans, elves, Mermaids, and many other exotic races that Xia De couldn’t identify.
In the center of the banquet hall was a long dining table covered with a pure black tablecloth. At the end of the long dining table sat a decrepit, bald old man with a pale face and a mass of wrinkles.
Sister Devlin and Mr. Bernhardt sat on either side of the long dining table closer to the door. And this scene, for a moment, made Xia De almost think he was back at the Divine Banquet in Night Manor.
He looked down at his hand; the Divine Radiance had not appeared, proving that this relic had nothing to do with the power of the gods. And upon arriving at the core room of the relic, the influence of the whisper element became even stronger.
But compared to witnessing the desire just now, the negative thoughts at this moment were simply not worth mentioning.
“All the guests who entered this time are present, so please take a seat,” the decrepit old man said in a hoarse voice, and the door behind Xia De automatically closed.
Xia De first looked at the Vampire. Armand Bernhardt nodded to him as a greeting. Then he looked at Sister Devlin. The sister merely turned to look at him; because she was wearing an eye patch, Xia De truly couldn’t discern her expression.
He chose not to sit at the end of the long table directly opposite the master of the mansion, eventually sitting next to Mr. Bernhardt. The latter, having a bond of mutual healing with Xia De, was not surprised. And the reason he didn’t sit next to Sister Devlin was that there was no need to expose their acquaintance.
It seemed that every time Xia De sat at such a long dining table in a banquet hall, something incredible was bound to happen. In any case, due to the desire’s request, Xia De was forced to sit here this time.
And when Xia De took his seat, the hoarse voice of the mansion’s master rang out again. If a normal human made such a sound, they would probably be close to death:
“This house does not always appear in the material world. My encounter with the three guests here is also a serendipitous splash of water on a stone in the long river of fate. This epoch seems more interesting. I would very much like to see if the steam technology of this epoch is any different from that of the fifth epoch.”
The Witch Emperors of the fifth epoch were not idle; limited evidence suggests that traces of steam industry already existed in some regions before the end of the fifth epoch. Unfortunately, the epochal transition erased most of the data, so research material is scarce.
“Each of you holds your own sins.”
He motioned for Xia De, Mr. Bernhardt, and the sister to take out their respective parchments.
Because Xia De was sitting next to Mr. Bernhardt, he glanced at the other’s parchment. Mr. Bernhardt’s sin entries were also around eight or nine. But before Xia De tried to look at his soul quality, the Vampire subtly tilted the parchment, avoiding Xia De’s gaze.
“Excuse me, we each have something we seek. How do we obtain what we want?” Xia De asked.
“To exchange your sins for what you seek would be too uninteresting,” he said. Hearing this, Xia De and Mr. Bernhardt both raised an eyebrow. The reason why most people disappeared after meeting the master of the mansion was now clear.
“Then, what do you wish to do?” the expressionless sister asked, her voice still so steady and ethereal. Xia De, for a moment, actually thought Sister Devlin’s voice was very similar to the desire’s voice, and then realized this was another influence from that inconceivable-grade relic.
The master of the mansion at the end of the table coughed:
“Let’s play rhode cards.”
The apprehension towards the desire was suppressed, and Xia De’s heart swelled with joy.
“How about rhode cards? A card game that has spanned the entire sixth epoch, symbolizing the power of your civilization and inspiration. As for the stakes, use your respective sins. If you run out of sins, get off the table and stand with these stone figures.”
Xia De’s peripheral vision caught sight of the stone figures with various expressions beside him. In the distant past, these too were outsiders who had sat here and gambled with the master of the mansion.
“Once you obtain what you desire, you may leave. So, what do you seek?” he asked the three of them.
“Sin Fire,” Sister Devlin said, her clear, cold voice a stark contrast to the master of the mansion’s voice.
“The relic, Blood Chalice,” Mr. Bernhardt said, his brow furrowed, lost in thought.
“A pair of pretty golden pearl earrings.”
Xia De felt he was the most innocent; after all, he had already obtained what he wanted. If it weren’t for the desire in the wine cellar, he would now be back in Sicar Mountain, basking in the sun and waiting for Sister Devlin.
“Golden pearl earrings? No problem. I didn’t expect anyone in this epoch to know I possess such things.”
He coughed:
“The sister who seeks Sin Fire can leave by winning 1 unit of valuable sin from me. The Vampire who seeks the Blood Chalice can leave by winning 6 units of perfect sin from me. As for you, outsider who follows desire, you need to pay more.”
“Why?”
“Because what you seek is not your own desire.”
His cloudy eyes looked at Xia De:
“You need to win 3 units of valuable sin. Yes, 3 units of valuable sin.”
Xia De pursed his lips and said nothing. The perfect sloth had already had a subtle influence on him. 3 units of valuable sin, unless it was valuable Gluttony, would definitely lead to more severe consequences.
