Because on Wednesday, Xia De spent almost half of his entire day in bed. This kind of 'slothful' life made Xia De believe it was influenced by the sloth Ling Rune. But amidst 'her' laughter, Xia De also thought it was influenced by lust.
"That's not right, I haven't even opened the pink book yet."
In any case, after eliminating Sister Devlin as the primary suspect, the possibilities shifted to Priest Augustus and the Ring術士 Joey Barton.
So, early on Thursday morning, Xia De set off for Middleshburg. Of course, he brought Mia with him, as he wouldn't dare leave the cat alone at home now.
After finding a way to contact Priest Augustus from the Dawn Church, the two booked a room at the Sicar Inn.
Then, Xia De used the Traveler's Travel Door key to connect his home with Mi Fort again and had Luvia come to the inn to observe Priest Augustus closely.
"What exactly are you two doing?"
The Old Priest, wearing a gray cloth robe, simply sat in his chair the whole time and only asked Xia De curiously after Luvia left.
"Luvia's divination abilities have improved greatly recently, and she wants to do a divination for all her friends."
Xia De explained, and Priest Augustus suddenly understood, not thinking much of it:
"I've finished analyzing the blood brew you gave me at the Fire Worship Festival dinner. Just as you said, it only contains some illegal hallucinogenic drug ingredients."
"The local Vampires are really just a bunch of drug dealers. So what do they want with so many relics?"
"Oh, Xia De, there's no time to worry about the Vampires anymore. The problem of the Gap is the key."
The Priest stood up from his chair and patted Xia De's shoulder:
"If there's nothing else, I won't have lunch with you. The church still needs my help. That large ritual will probably start next week or the week after. After the ritual, I can return to Tobesk, and I should be able to see you before winter arrives."
After speaking, the Priest bid farewell and left, while Xia De remained in the room. An hour later, he activated the key again, allowing Luvia to return.
"The first candidate for the death Chosen One is not the Priest either."
The purple-eyed girl sat on the chair by the door and gave a brief answer:
"But what's strange is that the Priest, like Sister Devlin, also has a probability of being a candidate for the Chosen One."
"That's not strange at all."
Xia De shook his head:
"I'll go to the Witches first to ask about their findings from exploring the large cave in the mountain, then I'll take Iluna to visit Joey Barton this afternoon. Tonight, we'll perform divination again. This time, we must figure out the matter of the third Chosen One."
"Then be careful with everything."
When Xia De arrived at the Cassandra Auction House, Grandma Cassandra and Miss Aurora were both there. It happened to be lunchtime, so the Witches invited Xia De to have lunch with them.
During the meal, they also explained their findings from yesterday. Just as Xia De expected, behind the platform on the other side of the large cave in the mountain was indeed the ruins left by the Witch Emperor.
"Violet Marshall, the ruler of Witten, the Witch Emperor at the end of the fifth epoch. But she was not a participant in the final war. Strictly speaking, she was the second to last Great Witch of the fifth epoch."
The knowledgeable Grandma Cassandra introduced the situation, and Miss Aurora, holding a teacup, added:
"This Emperor left many illusion mechanisms and ritual traps in the mountain ruins. It's hard to imagine that after two thousand years, those defensive measures can still be effective. Grandma Cassandra and I only found valuable things in the final room. It was the Great Witch's notebook, recording some Witch Knowledge, and also some interesting alchemy item recipes. In addition, there was a stone tablet that detailed the problem of the mountain waist passage in the Gap."
"So, the mountain waist passage is really in the corresponding position in the Gap?"
Xia De asked with anticipation.
"Yes."
The Old Witch nodded very cautiously:
"The problem of the Gap can no longer be delayed. The church's seals on the foot and top of the mountain are already being prepared, and the seal on the mountain waist must also be reinforced as soon as possible. Xia De, if you decide to come with us, then come here at 8 AM next Wednesday."
A week's time was for preparation. The Witches couldn't go empty-handed to seal the passage to the concept of death. Moreover, after two earthquakes, the evil spirits in the Gap were definitely not as weak as when Xia De entered a month ago.
"I'll go with you. Don't worry, if there's really danger, I can stay away from the passage."
Xia De promised. It was evident that Miss Aurora didn't want Xia De to go, but she couldn't think of a reason to persuade him.
"Also, have you heard about the four dead people who returned to the world of the living?"
Xia De asked again.
"Yes, when the Speaker informed the Five Gods Church that we would assist in sealing the mountain waist passage, the church passed on the intelligence to us. Now, among the methods to stabilize the Gap, pulling out those four nails and reinforcing the three seals are equally important, but neither can completely solve the problem of the Gap."
But for Middleshburg, delaying the disaster as much as possible is the current priority.
After lunch, Xia De went to the local Sun Church, found Iluna, who had secretly slipped out, and went with Iluna to the Crow Club located in Pig Tail Lane.
To prevent Iluna, the Chosen One, from being recognized, Xia De once again borrowed the keeper-level relic, the 'Identity Card of Unknown Name,' from Grandma Cassandra. This time, Iluna's identity was Agatha Holmes, the fiancée of the Writer John Watson. Because Mr. Watson had witnessed Joey Barton's miraculous abilities last time, he brought his fiancée to try it out as well.
"Speaking of which, why do you look even more handsome?"
This was the question the seventeen-year-old girl suddenly asked when they got off the carriage. It seemed the Phoenix's flame was indeed very useful.
In short, the two successfully met the 'Reverse-Born Person' Joey Barton in the dimly lit room at the deepest part of the club. This gentleman, about 5 feet (about 1.52 m) tall, with unusually thick limbs but a very thin body, was still dressed as he was last week. Only the turban on his head had changed from brown to black, but Xia De could still tell he had no hair.
Joey Barton also had a strong impression of 'John Watson,' a guest who should have died at the beginning of the year. After exchanging pleasantries, Xia De introduced his fiancée to him.
Iluna, adhering to the principle of 'less said, less wrong,' played the role of a quiet and shy girl, so she just nodded and sat next to Xia De.
Mia was still with Xia De at this time, but Xia De wasn't worried that Mia would expose his identity. After all, Mia was not very distinctive. Although she was very cute, she was indeed a mixed-breed City tabby cat. However, Mia was a bit uncomfortable with the scent of spices in the room and was full of hostility towards the crow in the cage by the door.
As for the crow, it seemed very afraid of Mia. After the two people and one cat entered, it huddled in its cage without making a sound.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Barton. There's no need to do a divination for me this time. This time, please do a divination for Agatha and my dear pet cat, Sherlock."
Xia De patted the cat's head, and the cat immediately let out a gentle meow. The dim room couldn't hide the luster of its fur. This cat was very well-nourished.
"No problem, animals can also be divined, but the accuracy is not as good as humans."
Joey Barton obviously didn't want to do a divination for Xia De again, so he breathed a sigh of relief, and the smile on his face became much more genuine.
As last time, before the official death divination, a divination was first performed using divination cards. After Iluna stated the card she wanted to draw, Xia De turned it over for her, and the card face was 'Hero.'
"A good omen."
The situation from last time didn't occur, and everyone was very happy.
Then it was the tabby cat's turn to draw a card. Xia De was worried it would cause trouble, but when he held the cat close to the coffee table, the cat just extended its small paw and patted the card in the second row. When turned over, the card face was 'Sun.'
Divination cards were not originally the current one hundred and eight. It is said that the earliest divination cards only had thirteen, and 'Sun' was one of the earliest divination cards.
"Mr. Watson, this is also a good omen, indicating that your pet cat's vitality is very strong and it's very healthy."
Mr. Barton said polite words about not needing pounds, motioning for the people across the coffee table to sit properly, as he was about to officially begin the divination.
He still took out the rhode cards whose front could not be seen to cover his right eye, then looked at Iluna with his left eye. The brown-haired girl was a bit nervous, pulling Xia De's sleeve with her right hand.
After waiting a few seconds, Mr. Barton put down the card and shook his head with some regret:
"Sorry, I can't see anything."
Although his tone was a bit confused, he wasn't as surprised as he was last week when he divined for Xia De.
"Can't see?"
"Yes, it's a rare situation, but I haven't not encountered it before. Just like the Diviners of the Prophet Association, it's impossible for them to make accurate predictions for every single thing, and even for me, it's impossible to see everyone's death date. This is very normal—at least more normal than your situation."
Mr. Barton said, not giving Xia De a chance to ask questions, and once again covered his eyes with the card, then looked at the cat held by Xia De.
"Meow?"
Mia squatted on Xia De's lap, her confused big eyes also looking at the 'child' across the coffee table.
After the cat's meow, the room was silent for a moment. A strange intuition made Xia De realize that something was about to happen—
"Oh!"
Mr. Barton screamed and lowered his head, the card in his hand casually tossed onto the tabletop. This middle-aged man, who looked like a child but was actually over forty, covered his face with both hands. And Xia De clearly saw blood flowing from between his fingers; his left eye was bleeding.
PS: Alliance leader bonus chapter. Thanks to reader @Aaron_Harlan for becoming the 15th alliance leader of this book.
Originally, the alliance leader bonus was a 4K chapter, but there have been too many updates these days, so I'm temporarily unable to add a 4K chapter. This chapter is 3K, and the remaining will be added tomorrow. Tomorrow evening's 2K will be changed to 3K.
