“Increasing luck, and from countless possibilities, choosing the one most beneficial to you. Yes, I think this relic should meet your requirements.”
On Thursday morning at Old John's Pawnshop, Old John peeked his head out from behind a newspaper on the counter. The front page of his newspaper carried the news of Margaret Anjou's impending arrival, a headline that graced most respectable newspapers that day:
“You’re lucky, I actually found it. However, those who toy with Destiny will ultimately be toyed with by Destiny, so unless absolutely necessary, young man, I don’t recommend you do this.”
The old man said lazily as he flipped through the newspaper, a well-intentioned reminder.
“Which relic did you find?”
Xia De also knew that Old John was right; he had experienced it many times with the dice of fate and the puppeteer's notes.
“Or, it’s not a relic? Is it a special ancient era transfer ritual? Or a so-called luck potion?”
“Detective, please think carefully. If I had luck potions and transfer rituals, wouldn’t I have sold them to Schneider long ago? It’s a relic, Secret Keeper Level, the Golden Lucky Rabbit Foot.”
Xia De thought for a moment:
“Never heard of it.”
Old John continued to read the newspaper, introducing it lazily. In early winter, the fog in Tobesk was particularly severe. From the display window, one could see the hazy streets where most people walked with their heads down, hats on, and mouths covered. But inside, the pawnshop was warm and comfortable:
“It’s not a very famous relic. Its characteristic is very simple:
Touching the relic grants luck, and every choice made afterward will lead to the optimal option. When you feel you no longer need this extra luck, pour cold water over your head to stop the effect. The negative characteristic is also quite simple: the more luck you borrow, the more rabbits you will dream of at night. So, this characteristic is not entirely controllable, because people often don’t know how much value the best choice they make actually holds.”
Xia De nodded, then asked suspiciously:
“Rabbits in dreams?”
He had only dreamed of cats.
“Yes, swarms of rabbits will invade your dreams, driving you mad. This relic has no different effect on ordinary people and Ring術士; as long as you borrow luck, you can’t escape the rabbit swarm.”
Old John nodded, continuing to flip through the newspaper.
“Is that all? Then how did it get the Secret Keeper Level (Level 3) rating?”
Xia De had had many strange dreams and didn't think that swarms of ordinary rabbits in dreams could warrant such a high danger rating.
“If you only borrow a little luck to make one crucial choice, then it will only drive the mentally fragile fellows who touch the rabbit’s foot crazy for a few days and make them like eating carrots for a period. But if greed arises, and you use luck too many times while the luck effect is active, then…”
Old John raised his eyes from the newspaper and looked at Xia De:
“You’ve probably heard that a large number of evil creatures are sealed in a subspace adjacent to the material world. Among them is an evil creature born in the fourth era, whose true form cannot be described, and even if it could, I couldn’t tell you. But in mortal eyes, it has a fleshy body like an ugly rabbit, skilled at entering dreams and manipulating Destiny. That thing is even more terrifying than the undead aggregate that appeared in Mi Fort last month.
If you borrow too much power from the Golden Lucky Rabbit Foot, it’s possible to summon a projection of that terrifying evil creature.”
He sighed, finally closing the newspaper:
“So, the danger level of this relic is actually not low; it mainly depends on whether the user is greedy. Perhaps the relic’s holder can always maintain sanity and refuse temptation, but how can one ensure that everyone who touches the relic can maintain sanity? The containment conditions are not harsh; just cut off a small piece of rabbit meat every few days and eat it. But what kind of determination must the person in charge of guarding it have to control both themselves and others?”
“Rabbits visiting dreams and a change in diet? I think I can handle that.”
Listening to this, it seemed safest for this relic to be contained within the Orthodox Church. But now, the owner of the relic was Old John’s friend, Mr. Logan Rodriguez, a historian whose public identity was a visiting scholar from the Carson Rick Kingdom.
Old Logan was also a member of the Hermit Order. After Old John confirmed that Xia De wanted to borrow this relic, he had him pay a 10-pound usage fee, and then asked him to temporarily look after the pawnshop before grabbing his coat and leaving to borrow it.
The Secret Keeper Level relic, the Golden Lucky Rabbit Foot, was not the palm-sized, dried rabbit foot Xia De imagined, but a robust, fresh rabbit leg as large as half a pig. Its fluffy white fur felt very textured, and there were even fresh bloodstains at the break of the leg.
Old John packed it in a box and called Xia De to help him laboriously carry it from the carriage into the pawnshop.
As the old shop owner wiped his sweat and lamented his age, Xia De opened the box. For an instant, he saw a pair of eyes staring at him from the white rabbit fur, but when he looked again, there was nothing.
“Soul is too sensitive, Spirit is too high.”
Muttering to himself, Xia De sniffed the smell of flesh and reached out to touch the rabbit leg. The feel of the soft white rabbit fur was nowhere near as good as Mia’s cat fur.
“Outsider, you have gained temporary luck.”
“Is that all?”
Xia De quickly withdrew his hand, and aside from “her” prompt, he didn’t notice any changes in himself.
“What else did you expect? To glow golden all over, or hear music playing in your ears?”
Old John asked with a laugh, then called Xia De to help him lift the item back onto the carriage.
“Having paid 10 pounds, I just expected some kind of reaction.”
After leaving Old John’s Pawnshop, he immediately returned home. His travel preparations were complete, but the Night Watchman was not among the relics he was taking this time. The sword was currently a bit sensitive, and Xia De planned to decide after confirming the specific situation of his destination.
After greeting the cat feigning sleep on the second-floor sofa, he put on his hat and, holding the white stone crystal, entered the basement.
“May the cracks of origin protect me in infinite Space.”
As his words fell, Xia De, touching the ancient god statue, successfully entered the Space Labyrinth filled with white fog.
The Space Labyrinth is different from most other ancient god remnant spaces; here, one absolutely cannot wander aimlessly, or there is a risk of being drawn into disordered Space. The safe area in the white fog is the misty path, where there are now three old signposts corresponding to the basement of Saint Delan Square in Tobesk, the sea cliff cave in Coldwater Port, and the ruined mountain tower in Middesburg, respectively.
Although it was uncertain if there was also an ancient god statue of Space near Huntington City, this adventure for divinity could not be delayed.
Holding up the white stone crystal with both hands:
“Sacrifice.”
“New information has been obtained. New signposts can be searched. Please choose a general direction.”
“South!”
The crystal silently melted into the fog, and some of the mist on the path dispersed, revealing the fourth signpost.
The dilapidated wooden post was slanted in the fog, with a wooden arrow nailed to it, on which the number four was crookedly written.
Xia De walked over, adjusted his mood to face a new adventure, and then placed his hand on the new signpost:
“Now, let’s go.”
“The cracks of origin will guide your direction.”
As the whispers in his ear faded, the surrounding white fog also dispersed. What came into view was a circular space almost identical to the hidden wall behind his own basement.
But here, there were no miscellaneous items piled up by Xia De along the wall, only a human skeleton leaning against the wall, its clothes almost completely rotted away.
The two-headed ancient god statue in the center of the Space glowed, illuminating the area as Xia De watched, while the skeleton remained quietly leaning against the wall, without any movement.
“If there were still undead so close to an ancient god statue, then I should suspect whether I’m still asleep.”
The first thing Xia De did was neither to examine the skeleton nor to leave the place, but to take out a water bottle toy from his pocket, restore it, and then pour a full bottle of water onto his hair.
The good luck granted by the lucky rabbit’s foot immediately ended, and Xia De felt relieved. While wiping his hair with a towel, he approached the skeleton by the wall.
There were no texts or letters around the skeleton, and the severely damaged clothing prevented Xia De from determining the identity of the corpse. The skeleton itself had no special features; Xia De, relying on his shallow Knowledge, could only determine that it was a male. Although the exact time of death could not be determined at all, judging from the degree of decay, it was definitely not within the last 10 years.
Every circular hidden space where an ancient god statue was located was almost identical, so Xia De left different marks at different locations for identification. The skeleton in front of him was clearly not a good marker, but Xia De did not touch it. Instead, he thought of first exploring where this place actually was and, after confirming that this Space, like other locations, was unknown to anyone, he would then bury it.
“Time to explore again. I hope this place isn’t too far from a civilized area, and I don’t have to dive or swim. Climbing mountains is fine, but I remember Huntington is near a large plain, with no mountains.”
Xia De prayed softly in his heart, making the holy emblem of Mr. Dawn on his chest, then summoned his Destiny Ring and illuminated the wall pointed to by the statue with the spiritual light of the 【Time-Space】 Ling Rune.
The hidden wall revealed a pitch-black passage. The good news was that it was completely dark outside, with no sounds whatsoever.
“It’s morning now. No light means there aren’t even windows around. This time, is it still underground? Speaking of which, it seems every hidden wall is below ground…”
He didn't immediately step out, but gently sniffed a few times. As the air from outside the passage flowed behind the hidden wall, Xia De smelled red wine:
“Could it be that a drunkard has been drinking here recently? No, the air is very dry, and this wine aroma is very mellow.”
Not only the aroma of wine, but if he sniffed carefully, there was also the smell of oak and hay.
After confirming that no one was outside, Xia De cautiously stepped out of the wall, but did not immediately call for Moonlight to illuminate. Instead, relying on his dark vision, he looked around in the darkness and saw neatly arranged oak wine barrels.
The current Space was roughly three times the size of Xia De’s main bedroom. The ground was covered with hay, and oak wine barrels of identical specifications were neatly arranged along the walls. Each barrel was fitted with a copper tap, and the only shelf held tools such as crowbars, measuring cylinders, flints, wine cups, and wooden spoons.
The room was roughly divided into two levels, upper and lower, though the upper level was merely a wooden walkway circling the walls. Besides the barrels arranged there, there was only a narrow path and a railing. Although it expanded the Space, it didn't look very safe.
There was no light at all, the walls were unplastered, exposing their rough surface, and the wooden barred door was locked with hinges. The air was dry and stuffy, an environment that was better for fermenting these red wines.
