“Did you really find the lake in the end?”
Xia De asked, Professor Drake looked at the red photo album and nodded gently:
“Yes, in fact that lake is called the ‘Lake of the Wise Men’, or the ‘Lake of the Cherubim’. The famous fairy tale “The Water of Wisdom” is actually based on our legend And adapted, or at least related to our legend here. But young man, I can’t give you any more details. Look at my legs. I just remember that I found a way to the lake and then concealed it. I asked everyone to search for me, and when I was discovered again, I would be like this.”
Xia De frowned slightly:
“You don’t remember anything?”
“Yes, I don’t remember anything. I have no idea what happened. I’m not even sure if I really found the goddess, but something strange must have happened that year.”
The professor sighed:
“You can ask someone to make a copy of my research materials and take them away with you. I just hope, Mr. Watson, if you can really find the ‘Lady of the Lake’ again, can you help me ask, what did I do back then? What exactly did you wish for?”
“Is this important? I thought you had let it go.”
“I felt like I had let go before, but”
Professor Drake looked at the sunshine outside:
“I’m so old, I might die in a few years. Before I die, I really want to know what wishes I exchanged for my legs, I really want to know.”
Xia De could feel his sadness and nodded:
“If I can find it and don’t have to pay any price, I’m willing to help you ask. Also, can I take a look at your legs? I just have some doubts about what’s going on with your legs.”
The professor was silent for a moment:
“Hope it doesn’t scare you.”
The maid pushed the professor out from behind the desk, and the professor took away the red blanket. Under the blanket was a pair of half-length legs. The trouser legs were **** at the knees, and the part below the knees was completely non-existent.
Xia De was a little surprised and wanted to apologize for his reckless behavior. Unexpectedly, the professor took the initiative to let the servant untie his trouser legs, rolled them up, and exposed the broken knee.
It is very flat there, as flat as the human body itself.
“Do you feel any pain?”
Xia De kneeled on one knee on the carpet and looked at the cross-section in surprise and asked.
“No, when I was found unconscious in the countryside east of the city, my legs were already like this, without any pain.”
“How long have you been missing?”
“I set out on a Wednesday in the fall and was discovered on a Thursday afternoon.”
It is impossible for the wound to heal so quickly in one day, not to mention that the neat cross-section does not look like it will recover naturally.
Xia De suddenly reached out his hand, touched the professor’s leg, and then quickly stood up.
【You have come into contact with a miracle. A very weak miracle. 】
“It seems like a miracle that we really found the right target this time.”
Thinking in his mind, he said to the professor:
“I understand, if I can find the Lady of the Lake, I will try to figure out what you experienced back then.”
He took his wallet out of his pocket and took out five one-pound notes:
“I’ll take this photo.”
As he spoke, he picked up the lake view photo on the desktop:
“Tomorrow, Viscount Bernhard will send someone to copy the materials. These five pounds are considered the materials fee and the cost of copying.”
The professor silently asked the servant to tie up his trousers again. When Shade was about to leave, he suddenly asked:
“Young man, you said you were mainly looking for materials, but I think you just want to find something. What exactly are you looking for?”
Xia De held the cursed photo with his right hand and said softly:
“That is what I am willing to pursue throughout my life.”
This photo that Professor Drake obtained many years ago is not a relic, otherwise it would not have been kept by the professor for so many years without problems. But this photo did record the appearance of a terrifying humanoid cursed relic, and many years later, because Shade “saw” it in its entirety, he passed on the curse to Shade.
Different curses have different forms of expression, and in the current form of this curse, the pollution of the spirit and the decay of the body are temporarily suppressed by the blazing first fire, but the edge of Shade’s vision , the woman with only half her body exposed will still appear constantly.
After Shade left Professor Drake’s house, as long as there was a suitable cover at the edge of his field of vision, the woman who was more terrifying than the evil spirit would appear at the corner of the alley, behind the carriage, in the open window, etc. Behind the store door, his upper body and head were exposed, looking at Shade with a malicious face.
Even when the flying newspaper accidentally passed in front of Sha De, the woman actually appeared from behind the newspaper and almost pressed her face against Sha De’s face. Even though Shade had seen a wide variety of evil spirits in Middleburg, he was still frightened and took two steps back at that moment.
According to “her” judgment, this is of course an illusion caused by the curse and will not cause actual harm to Shade.
The environment that can cause actual impact is a relatively closed space such as a narrow alley. When Shade walked into the alley, the scary haired woman would try to lean out and get closer to Shade.
Xia De doesn’t know what will happen once he comes into contact with the other party. Although it is just an illusion for the time being, if this experience like being in a horror novel continues, something more difficult to control will definitely happen.
He needs to find a way to solve the problem as soon as possible. For this kind of curse, the Zhengshen Church has a professional solution, but now it is inconvenient for Shade to go to the church, so he can only return to the center of Huntington City to find the big witch s help. And because he couldn’t enter a confined space like a closed carriage carriage, Shade finally found a roofless taxi.
This type of horse-drawn carriage was popular decades ago, but is now rare.
At this time, Miss Sylvia has returned to the Rothschild Manor where the princess is staying. Shade has no good reason to go to her, so he can only pay someone to send a letter to the manor. In the letter Claiming that the brand new books ordered by Miss Sylvia have arrived at the Owl Library.
As expected, the witch immediately guessed the meaning of the letter, and soon came to the Owl Library club to meet Shade. After entering the room, she noticed something was wrong with Shade almost immediately:
“Have you come into contact with the relic with the whisper element in you?”
“It’s the curse of the relic.”
Xia De placed the back of the photo on the table and rolled up the sleeve of his right arm while briefly introducing the origin of the photo. He just touched the photo with his right hand, so his right hand was the most severely affected.
On a visible level, Shade’s right arm has a dull black mark like a birthmark. If you look closely, it looks like a terrifying human face.
“Your skin is really nice.”
The big witch said casually, stretched out her fingers and rubbed Shade’s arm:
“The problem isn’t big, it’s just the remnants of the cursed power of the relic, which can be removed with a simple ritual.”
“That’s great, now in my eyes, that scary woman with disheveled hair is still looking at me.”
Xia De said with some trouble:
“Right behind you.”
“It’s just an illusion, don’t worry.”
The witch said easily, quite sure that there was nothing behind her.
Xia De put down his sleeves again and tapped the photo:
“So do you know what relic this is?”
“Yes, my teacher and I have conducted in-depth research on the relics in the Pantanal region. Although it is not certain, there is a high probability that it is a sage-level relic [Swamp Witch].”
“Is it really a humanoid relic?”
“Yes, and the origin of this relic is very clear. It was originally an ordinary woman living in the Fourth Age, but you also know how dark and terrifying the Fourth Age is. The body of the relic suffered extremely After a horrific incident that I don’t even want to describe, the corpse was abandoned in the swamp. The chaotic environment and the resentment of life resurrected the corpse as an undead. This undead wandered back into the swamp. When the era changed, it didn’t know where it was. It became a relic.”
“What characteristics does it have?”
“It will give good-hearted women who are lost in the swamp a way out, and maybe even protect them. But for impure-hearted women and for any man, a curse like the one you suffered will be inflicted.
Of course, you have not seen it, but you are still cursed because anyone who records its existence in any way will be cursed. This does not distinguish between men and women. Only special rolls of kraft paper can securely record such relics. According to the records of the Council, the curse released by the [Swamp Witch] will corrupt the soul and corrupt the corpse. It only takes a few minutes to turn a healthy living person into a manipulated relic token, and the effect is greatly reduced by being cursed by viewing the record. Although the Ringmancer has some resistance to this type of curse, he cannot be affected by it for long. ”
At Miss Sylvia’s suggestion, Shade burned the photo that recorded the appearance of the relic. Later, the witch borrowed the basement of the library and arranged a ritual for Shade, successfully freeing him from the illusion of a terrifying woman at the edge of his vision.
But Miss Sylvia also warned Shade that even if the curse was expelled, there would still be traces of the curse on him. Therefore, Shade will be more likely to encounter the true form of [Swamp Witch] than normal people. When Shade actually encounters the true form of the relic, the other party will immediately discover that Shade has got rid of the curse, so they will be more aggressive towards him.
“The remaining traces of this curse will disappear within a few weeks. Shade, you should not go near the west of Huntington City recently.”
The Witch gave advice, but the bad news is that Shade must get closer to that area to determine the true location of the “Lady of the Lake.”
The ashes from the burned photos were considered a special curse material. With Shade’s consent, all the ashes were given to Miss Sylvia. Shade also wanted to pay for this “treatment”, but the young witch refused:
“Miss Carina, have you mentioned my financial situation?”
She asked suspiciously.
“Of course not.”
Shad immediately shook his head. Although he always hated lying, sometimes some lies were still necessary.
“I’m not very short of money, I’m just making plans for the future. Now that we are friends, how can I accept your money?”
She turned to leave, and Shade noticed that the woman’s ears were a little red.