Chapter 2756 Professor Uke Wood
Shad has participated in charity auctions before, such as the one before Iluna’s selection ceremony.
The auction process of this charity auction is the same as the ones he has participated in in the Northland. Different auctions will be held in different rooms, and guests can enter and exit any auction at will with wine glasses in hand. Bid on something you like.
For this reason, time is left before the auction officially begins so that guests attending the auction can walk around the rooms in the manor to determine the location and auction time of the items they are interested in.
The voices of people talking to each other standing in front of the glass in the corridor will even be obscured by the sound of rain. This is really the best social occasion.
Prince William Anjou indeed appeared in the manor as rumored, but Shade only glanced at him from a distance and had no intention of contacting him. But before the auction started, when he was inspecting the second floor with Miss Denister holding his arm, he saw Mr. and Mrs. Bennet also appearing here.
The Kant family and the Bennet family are distantly related, so the appearance of their family is not too surprising. It’s just that this time the Bennets didn’t have their children around them, which was different from before.
“Their third daughter has just experienced something like this, and acquaintances will definitely gossip in private, so it is the right choice not to take the children out at this time.”
Miss Danister said.
Shad also did not pay too much attention to the Bennets. They will not be the protagonists tonight. He and the red-haired girl continued to wander around the first and second floors of the manor that were open this time, while their eyes kept observing the structure of the house.
The fire that year burned this place almost to a white ground, so there is not much black smoke on the second floor of the rebuilt house, but the first floor is different:
“Compared to the day, the power of the devil is more obvious now. But if it is only to this extent, I still can’t be sure whether this is the remnant of the fire three hundred years ago, or whether the devil has reappeared here.”
“So do you think there will be a second fire here?”
The red-haired girl asked lightly, and Shade couldn’t answer.
Part of the items auctioned in this charity auction were obtained from previous donations, and part of them are Director Kant’s own collection. Among them are not only antiques, but also some modern artworks and musical score manuscripts of famous people.
Of course, the origin of each piece is legal and clear.
When Xia De and the two were strolling around before the auction started, they also paid attention to the conditions of the auction items. Shade originally thought that there would be nothing of interest to him here, and the auctioned Rhodes cards did not arouse his curiosity because they could not be used as “Shade Hamilton”, but he was eventually attracted by a book. The book attracted attention:
“”Ximu Town and World Tree”?”
The yellowed book was placed in a glass cabinet in the same room together with other ancient books. Hearing Shade read the title of the book, the red-haired girl who was turning to look at the set of knight armor displayed on the shelf also looked over and read out the label under the book:
“Donated by Professor Uke Wood of the Folklore Department of the University of Vista, this book was published in 1621 and was written by an unknown folklorist. It is in good condition.”
Although the surname “Wood” is one of the seven major families in Moon Bay, it is a very common common surname in Vista Woodland, such as Baron Cumming’s mother, little Cumming’s lover Ai Rika Wood’s last name was “Wood” before she got married. The word “Wood” also means wood, which in lumberjack towns generally represents the family from which lumberjacks came.
“A total of 100 copies of this book were printed that year.”
A voice suddenly came from behind, a gray-haired old man wearing reading glasses and outdated formal clothes smiled at Shade and nodded:
“I am Professor Uke Wood who donated this book. Are you interested in it?”
“Of course.”
Shad shook hands with him and was reminded that the other person was a first-level warlock. There is only one level at such an old age. Either he, like Priest Augustus, only awakens his talent in old age, or the old professor’s talent is quite different.
“I am travel writer John Watson, and this is my assistant. We came to this forest city because of the Moon Dance Festival, which is very interesting.”
Xia De smiled and said:
“Can you tell us the general content of this book? Or is there any story behind this book?”
Professor Wood seems to be very talkative and willing to share his knowledge:
“The prosperity that Ximu Town has become today is a modern thing. In the era of Ximu Town, there were very few outsiders here, and even people passing by by train rarely came here. Accommodation.
Back then, an unknown traveler came here alone and wrote this book and published it at his own expense. However, although there was a bookstore in the town back then, you also know the sales volume of this kind of book. The backlog of more than 60 books was donated to the local library by the bookstore about fifty years ago. After the fire in 1821, only the last three books were left in the library.
I bought this book from a used bookstore, and it is one of the few copies left. ”
People who sell antiquities usually package their products with stories, and Shade didn’t know whether the old professor’s story was true. However, the starting price of this book is only 1 crown, which is one of the lowest starting prices in this auction:
“So what is the relationship between Ximu Town and the legend of World Tree? Or, I have to buy this book to find out?”
“There is nothing that cannot be said. The unknown folklorist who wrote the book believes that the ancient local belief in the forest does not originate from the fact that the loggers rely on the forest for their livelihood, but that there is already a local belief in the legend. The Worship of the World Tree”
Mr. Wood touched the white beard on his chin. This long white beard can easily make people look knowledgeable:
“According to him, the Church of Nature belongs to outsiders. Although they have integrated the local people’s worship of trees and absorbed this part of their beliefs into the nature worship system of the Church of Nature, they are actually destroying the World Tree. The belief extends to the forest and nature itself.
He said in the book that he conducted a survey of the woodland and found a lot of interesting evidence here. He even claimed to have discovered a complete temple related to the worship of the World Tree, and described the architectural details in detail.
It’s a pity that this book was written too early, and human activities have greatly changed the terrain around Ximu Town, so it is now impossible to find the temple he saw based on the author’s description. ”
“Is there a detailed description of the temple in the book?”
The key thing Shade heard was this. After Professor Wood nodded again, he looked at the book again in surprise. Miss Denister could see that Shade was determined to buy it.
The price of “Ximu Town and World Tree” is very low, so it is also among the first batch of warm-up lots in the auction. It will be sold in the first round after the auction starts in half an hour.
So Shade wrote down the time and location, and then chatted a few words with Professor Wood.
The so-called “Vista City University” was actually also known as “Carson Ridge Forestry College” more than 20 years ago. It has only been upgraded to a university in recent years.
It’s just that compared to the “Ximu Town Conservatory of Music” which is also in this city but is famous throughout the Old Continent, Vista City University is not well-known, or because there are many schools in the Royal Capital next door, so Probably not many people know about Vista City University outside of this city.
Vista City University inherited the structure of the Forestry College. Today, it still focuses on forestry research, with majors such as literature, history, and folklore in a rather marginalized position.
For this reason, Professor Wood’s research is limited to the local area of Vista City, that is, the local anecdotes and legends that began to circulate in the Ximu Town era.
Now that this topic was brought up, Xia De took the initiative to ask:
“So Professor, do you know about the fire in this manor?”
This does not seem to belong to the category of “folklore”, but Professor Uke Wood still nodded:
“Of course, the fire in Hoy Manor three hundred years ago was an important node in the history of this city. In the era of Ximu Town, the four positions of mayor, bishop, president of the Lumberjacks Association and sheriff , forming the core of power in the town.
At that time, the Hoy family had almost a monopoly on all upper-level positions in the Lumberjacks Association. They can influence the economic lifeline of the town, so they can almost control most of the town. If it hadn’t been for the fire, the Hoy family might have directly controlled Ximu Town at that time, and the history of Ximu Town would probably have been rewritten as a result. ”
Shad has never heard of this statement, and the neighbors around Hoy Manor obviously don’t understand this kind of thing:
“So, you think they were set on fire because they blocked too many people’s way in the town?”
The professor immediately shook his head:
“I didn’t say this, but if a tree can be ignited, then the tree must be at least dry enough, or flammable. That fire was obviously not simple, and I don’t believe it was just an accidental fire. . If it was just an accident, almost the entire Hoy family should not have been burned to death.
From the perspective of whoever benefits is the murderer, other families in the town at that time, such as the Bennet, Bronte, Wood, etc., are all suspects. Oh, the Wood family I’m talking about has become extinct because there are no male sons. It has nothing to do with my last name.
But there is also a theory that a group of robbers ransacked this place, and because of this theory, the theory that the Hoy family’s treasure is still buried under our feet has been extended. ”
Miss Danister had been acting as Shade’s “assistant” just now, so she didn’t say anything, but now she asked again:
“Professor Wood, Mr. Watson and I heard from the old residents of the old city that when the fire broke out, it rushed directly into the sky like a fire tornado. Is this correct? ?”