The two spoke at the same moment, but stopped simultaneously. Because in the depths of the black mist, which had not been dispelled by the Red Butterfly, chaotic footsteps approached; someone was coming.
The Black Dress Girl’s face instantly turned very ugly. For a moment, Xia De thought she would raze this village to the ground.
“Someone is here to disturb us.”
Saying this, she was about to command the seemingly harmless Red Butterfly to rush over, but Xia De timely grabbed her hand to stop her:
“Let’s see who it is first.”
The Black Dress Girl suppressed her anger and forced a smile, nodding:
“Alright, sir.”
With a slight lift of her left hand, the previously dispersed Red Butterfly all gathered around the two of them. Although they didn't land, they enveloped them.
“I heard that when we are surrounded by these red butterflies, others cannot see us or hear us speak.”
The Black Dress Girl didn't forget to explain.
Xia De actually wanted to know if, at the moment, he were to release Mia, who was on his back, would the cat swat at the butterflies? Speaking of which, he wasn't even sure if the kitten Mia had ever seen a butterfly.
Three people emerged from the black mist, but upon closer inspection, there were four people. It was just that the villager woman, who looked to be forty or fifty years old, seemed to have fainted and was being carried on someone's back.
The three walking were all Ring術士, all male. The forty-something-year-old middle-aged man with a small mustache leading them wore gold-rimmed glasses and a well-fitting formal suit. If he hadn't been carrying a human skull lamp, using the light from the skull to dispel the black mist, he would have looked more like a senior scholar from a university.
Among the two following him, the one holding a book and wearing a robe was very familiar to Xia De. This was the Ring術士 from The Society of Truth whom he and Iluna had jointly repelled in the forest on the day of the Fire Worship Festival banquet a week ago. Because the opponent had “snatched” the Moonlight Greatsword, forcing him to summon another sword using the yellow moon Ling Rune, Xia De had a strong impression of him.
As for the man carrying the middle-aged woman, he looked the youngest, probably only a little older than this body of the outsider. His attire was neither a robe nor a formal suit, but an ordinary, even somewhat shabby, yellow overcoat. Although all three were Ring術士, the young man's status and rank were probably the lowest.
“These are members of the academic organization, the Truth Society.”
The Black Dress Girl explained beside Xia De. The three people walking towards the village tower indeed paid no attention to the two of them.
“A standard field operation team: a High-Ring ‘Professor,’ a Middle-Ring ‘Lecturer,’ and a Low-Ring ‘Apprentice.’”
The Professor should refer to the man carrying the skull lantern, the Lecturer is the man Xia De had fought once, and the Apprentice is the young man carrying the woman.
“What are they trying to do? Oh, they're coming over.”
The High-Ring Sorcerer wearing gold-rimmed glasses was the first to walk to the front of the tower. He glanced behind him and let out a long sigh:
“Truth be praised, we finally made it back.”
This was carson rick.
“Yes, Professor Johnson, getting the key was not easy.”
The Middle-Ring Sorcerer took out a bronze-colored metal key from his pocket that looked like it was stained with blood:
“As expected of a sage-level relic, just finding the key almost wiped us out. It's completely incomparable to those low-level relics. The village chief's evil spirit was really difficult to deal with, and there were those corpse infants that always appeared in the corners. After we go back, I'll probably need psychological counseling.”
His mouth twitched, as if he recalled an unpleasant memory:
“What I can't understand the most is, for what reason was this important key thrown into a cardboard box in the corner of the warehouse?”
“My apologies. If I hadn't wanted to hear the complete last words of the evil soul transformed from the village chief's servant before its collapse, I wouldn't have provoked the village chief's evil spirit to become even more terrifying after collapsing and absorbing other evil spirits. That madman probably slaughtered half the village before dying.”
The young man carrying the middle-aged woman apologized softly.
“Alright, alright, we successfully got the key. As for madmen, aren't we madmen too?”
Mr. Johnson, the leader, joked humorously, then took the blood-stained key:
“Encountering this resurrected person here was an accident. Our main mission is to make this mountain village lose control. If the sage-level relic 【Golden Mine Village】 loses control, and we successfully bring back the resurrected nail, then this achievement will be enough for each of us to exchange for a five-digit Miracle.”
“Resurrected nail?”
Xia De looked at the woman being carried in surprise, while the Black Dress Girl explained in Xia De's ear:
“The only exit from the village is in the gold mine beneath the tower. The remains of generations of miners are buried there, but there is also a secret passage out of the village. It serves as both a passage to secretly sell gold mine output and a passage for sacrificing the children.”
Xia De nodded, then watched “Professor Johnson” take the key and try to insert it into the lock. But the key only touched the keyhole, and with a gentle push, the door actually opened.
After all, the door had already been slightly ajar, but because it was too dark around, the three people from The Society of Truth hadn't noticed.
“This…”
Professor Johnson looked at the door in front of him in surprise. Just as Xia De thought he would guess that someone had opened the door in advance, this “Professor” looked at the key in his hand and suddenly realized:
“Oh, so that’s how it is. The key is just a symbol. The point isn’t to open the door with the key, but the act of ‘finding the key.’ Opening this door is a symbolic ritual, which is why finding the key was so difficult.”
His explanation naturally received the approval of his two companions. The three did not linger at the door and pushed it open to enter.
“Let’s follow them.”
Xia De said to his companion, and so they also entered the village tower.
The outer door provided the best concealment, so there was no need for internal concealment at all. The floor of the tower's first level was a bronze-colored metal lift platform with an unknown power source that could automatically descend when the central button was pressed.
The three members of The Society of Truth had already gone down. Xia De originally wanted to wait for the next trip, but he didn't expect the Black Dress Girl to laugh and pull his hand, directly jumping down.
The Red Butterfly surrounded them, making the descent feel light, as if they had parachutes. The two landed silently on the top cover of the lift platform, then jumped down from the top.
At this moment, the front was already illuminated by the spiritual light from three massive bronze Destiny Ring: the High-Ring was a Ten Ring, the Middle-Ring was a PentaCircle, and the Low-Ring was a Four Ring. And the opponents of The Society of Truth Ring術士 were dense, ferocious evil spirits.
The souls in this bizarre mountain village were incredibly hideous and terrifying due to the black mist. Coupled with the “field effect” in the Sicar Mountain region after two earthquakes, every evil spirit possessed power exceeding that of a Low-Ring Sorcerer.
But even so, there was an insurmountable chasm between the Low-Ring and the High-Ring. Mr. Johnson stood at the very front, his Destiny Ring shimmering with the spiritual light of three Ling Rune: 【Exorcism】, 【Corrosion】, and 【Transformation】. An unknown Miracle caused the gray light floating around him to seem to corrode souls.
“This is a High-Ring Miracle of the undead type—Death Praise. That gray light can easily corrode any soul not protected by a physical body. This is what I heard from my Ring術士 friend.”
The Black Dress Girl’s voice was very soft.
And what surprised Xia De the most was that among this High-Ring Sorcerer's core Ling Rune, there was actually a black-iron colored whisper Ling Rune 【Remains】.
The doctor had told Xia De that while the number of core Ling Rune for human Ring術士 was uncertain, it could only be the brass-colored “inspiration,” because the power of civilization is the most powerful force of the human race. However, some irregular initiation rituals might allow Ring術士 to obtain core Ling Rune of the other three types, but those methods undoubtedly carried huge hidden dangers.
“The Truth Society truly lives up to its reputation as an organization that researches forbidden Knowledge; its core Ling Rune adds whisper element. Madman.”
