Shadow had not made an appointment for this visit in advance, but when the professor heard that it was a writer from Delrayon who was paying a special visit to collect material for a new book, he was still very happy to invite him in and received him in the study. Shard.
Professor Kansas Drake is a thin old man, wearing a pair of brown-framed reading glasses, and his legs are covered with a checkered red blanket, so Shade can’t see him below the waist. . Unlike the Delarians that Shad often saw, Professor Drake had a standard Old World southern appearance, that is, his face was very long, his skin was slightly dark, and his eyelashes were slightly raised.
Shad entered the study first, and then the maid pushed Professor Drake in. He asked the fat maid who seemed to be very reliable to prepare tea, and then started talking to Shade.
This is not the first time that Shade has disguised himself as a writer in Delarion, so he can talk about this career that he is not engaged in. He quickly transitioned from the topic of local folklore to the legend of the “Lady of the Lake”.
“Yes, I have indeed studied this legend. Mr. Watson, you should also understand the general content. In a certain lake west of Huntingdon, there lives a goddess who can grant people’s wishes.”
The old professor solemnly drew the Holy Emblem of the Church of Nature on his chest. This is a loyal believer of the God of Nature:
“Mortals are always eager for such legends, but most research believes that perhaps in ancient times, a solitary woman lived in the lake area to the west of the city. Local villagers occasionally saw her bathing in the lake, Or you saw her walking in the forest on a foggy morning, so the legend of the Lady of the Lake spread. You also know that country people always like to exaggerate their experiences, and those stories that have been passed down by word of mouth have spread throughout the ages. Later, it became the legend we know now.”
“But is this really the case?”
Shad asked suspiciously, of course that is not the case, otherwise Sister Devlin and Mr. Edmond would not have to recommend Shad to come here.
“This is only the most widely circulated theory at present, and it is also the common view among scholars who study the local history and folklore of Huntingdon.”
The professor shrugged and answered Shade in Delarian. Although Professor Drake is a southerner, he lived in the North for a long time when he was young, and his Delarian language is very good.
“What do you think? Viscount Bernhardt, who introduced me here, said that you are a scholar with great ideas of your own.”
Xia De gave a small compliment, and Professor Drake also smiled:
“Young people today are so nice to talk to. I know what you want to know from me, and you are not the first person to ask me this question. Yes, I do know some things that ordinary people don’t know. , but I can’t tell you directly.”
“You need krona? No problem, I’m willing to sponsor your research.”
Xia De put down the teacup and was about to take out his wallet, but the professor shook his head slightly:
“Young man, let me ask you three questions. The answers you give will determine whether you can get an answer from me.”
Xia De did not expect to encounter such a request, but still nodded:
“No problem. Although I don’t brag too much about my wisdom to others, but it’s just three questions, I can probably handle it. Professor, please ask.”
A sparrow flew outside the window and landed on the window sill of the study. The professor turned to look at the sparrow and sighed softly:
“In my opinion, wisdom is equal to wealth. I don’t want your wealth or your wisdom. Please listen, Mr. Watson, if you meet the Lady of the Lake and she gives you the opportunity to make a wish, What will you wish for?”
Xia De thought for a moment:
“In addition to wanting to collect materials, I have actually been looking for lost things recently. If I really meet that goddess, I will ask her to tell me how to find the lost things. Or, she may be able to directly find the lost things. Give me something.”
Xia De said, his eyes also saw the sparrow on the windowsill, and then he thought of Mia, who was still sleeping when he left home. The cat may have woken up now and was “inspecting the territory” at home.
“Second question, if the Lady of the Lake can help you realize your wish, but you must pay a price to realize your wish, are you willing to pay?”
The physically disabled professor asked again, looking at Xia De with sharp eyes. Xia De thought for a while:
“Is it an equal exchange? Or do I have to pay more?”
“You don’t have to pay, but when you get what you want, some subtle change has already happened.”
Old Professor Drake whispered, and Shade raised his eyebrows:
“Then I won’t make a wish. Although I want to find a certain item, there are actually other ways to try. There is no need to take risks. After all, I have too many treasures in life that I don’t want to give up, Professor. The third question What is it?”
“If killing the Lady of the Lake would make your wish come true at no cost, would you do it?”
The professor finally asked, Shade shook his head:
“Although I don’t think the goddess of the lake in local rumors is a truly great person like the gods, I guess it shouldn’t be that easy to kill such a legendary creature, right?
“Assume that the other party does not resist at all.”
The professor stared at Sha De, who still shook his head without thinking:
“Professor Drake, this is a really strange question. But a long time ago, when I was still young about the world and my own life, I once said to my friend: Murder other people for your own purposes. , you will only get the guilt that you have to carry for a lifetime.”
This is the content of Shade’s conversation with Priest August and Dr. Schneider. It was still in the summer.
Professor Drake smiled:
“Very good. You are more sensible and kind than most young people I know. I am curious about your growing environment.”
He raised his hand and pointed behind him:
“Now, can you hand me the red photo album on the third floor of the bookshelf? Please forgive the request of an old man with limited legs and feet.”
Xia De stood up and found a photo album from the bookshelf and handed it to the professor. The professor opened it with a nostalgic expression, took out one of the albums and handed it to Sha De:
“Mr. Watson, please look at this one.”
The black and white photo touched my finger, and a voice immediately sounded in my ears:
【You have come into contact with “Whispers.”】
This is an extremely weak whisper element. Without “her” prompt, Shade wouldn’t even be able to detect it immediately. He was slightly startled, but did not show too much surprise, but looked at the photo itself.
It is difficult to distinguish fine details in black and white photos, and the photo in his hand has already turned yellow due to oxidation. Even though the professor’s finger pointed out a clear location, Shade still could not see anything special. . It was a landscape photo by the lake. The photo was taken at least ten years ago.
He looked at the yellowed old photo very carefully. It was obviously a very normal lakeside scenery photo, but the more he looked at it, the more he felt panicked, as if he was staring at something terrifying, but the photo was really just an ordinary photo. lakeside scenery.
“Do you feel it? If you stare at it for a long time, you will feel uneasy.”
The professor said softly, and then pointed to the photo:
“Look behind that tree, there’s a face here.”
Xia De looked down at the tree suspiciously, trying to imagine the shadow behind the tree as a human face. Unexpectedly, as the black shadow slowly squirmed, the whispering elements became intense in the photo at an extremely fast speed.
At the same time, in the black shadow of the lake where Professor Drake was originally pointing, a woman with black hair and a pale face actually appeared because the photo was only black and white.
Most of her body was hidden behind the tree, and the upper body with exposed shoulders looked like she was not wearing any clothes. As the woman becomes clearer and clearer, the rotten mud on her body also appears, becoming more real and vivid.
She looked at Shade in the photo, her eyes blinking, and the malicious expression on her face was completely undisguised.
“Relic?”
Although the afterglow of divinity still exists, there is no divinity around him. The cold feeling immediately spreads from the fingertips to Shade’s body along with the curse, and is then suppressed by the first fire flowing in the body.
Shad let go of the photo, and then looked at Professor Drake in surprise, only to find that the other person didn’t seem to see the woman who was getting clearer, and instead looked at Shad hesitantly:
“Mr. Watson, what’s wrong with you?”
“Can’t the professor see it?”
Shad was a little confused, but then he realized that Professor Drake’s inspiration was probably too weak to capture the malice of the model’s face in the photo. Shade, who was extremely inspired, caught the malice and was targeted by the curse.
This photo is definitely not the relic itself, but the power of the relic was recorded in the photo to spread the curse. Shade had heard of this type of item, and it could be regarded as a relic derivative, but the effect was not strong.
“I saw that woman, yes, very model, only an outline.”
Xia Dehanhu said:
“Is this the Lady of the Lake?”
“Of course not. This is a photo that a local sold me many years ago. This photo proved to me when I was young that there are indeed things in the west of Huntington that are difficult for normal people to understand. This world, in fact, It’s not simple.”
The professor said, throwing the photo on the table. The sunlight outside the window shines on the photo, and as the two people no longer look at the photo, the whispering element in the photo returns to an extremely low level.
Shad nodded immediately. Now he knew that there was at least one cursed humanoid relic in the shape of a woman with hair in the west of Huntington City. The level of the relic is at least sage level (level 2). Now the curse is still suppressed in his body. When he leaves the professor, he must find a way to solve the curse.
“When did you transform from an ordinary scholar to a folklorist who studies mysticism part-time?”
“Yes, I used to think that legends were just legends, but then I began to try to study folklore from a mystical perspective. Of course, the field I covered was very superficial because it was quite dangerous. As for the existence of the Lady of the Lake, there is actually There is a lot of evidence. Young people, you probably don’t know that the scope of the Pantanal has been shrinking over the past five hundred years.”
“Oh?”
Xia De raised his eyebrows and turned to look at the city’s tourist map hanging on the wall of the study:
“You are saying that the location where the Lady of the Lake appears was once an area of the Pantanal?”
“Yes, I did a deep dive into the folklore and legends of the Pantanal. Oh~ it was weird, evil and twisted stuff, and I even often regretted messing with that stuff when I was young.”
The professor shook his head and said to Shade:
“But contacting those terrifying information is not completely fruitless. I am very sure that the ‘Lady of the Lake’ in local legend really exists, and it is in a certain lake east of Huntington. The location of that lake is not It is not fixed. According to certain rules, only special people can access it. ”