"A thief for hire? If Oxenfurt is so persistent, then are those photos important to him?"
Shade asked, and the old captain snorted, but brought up another topic:
"I know his past, just as he knows me. When he was a sailor on the ship, he was just as rude and violent as he is now, but this is the kind of person I need."
The old man squinted his eyes and looked at the fields around him, pointing to Xia De:
"All the fields here belong to me, from here to that location. In addition to what we are seeing now, I also own properties in the Randall River Valley and in many cities in the southwest of the kingdom."
“Very impressive.”
Shade exclaimed dryly, and then Captain Allen asked the question that was on his mind at the moment:
"Do you think you can make so much money just by doing inland shipping business?"
the captain asked, and then gave his own answer:
"Of course not, young man. We are engaged in smuggling. We transport goods from Delarion to Carsenrick, and from Carsenrick to Delarion. Even though we don't have a shipping license or a New World shipping license, we always go to the New World several times a year to transport sensitive materials. Otherwise, do you think I salvaged so much property from the river?"
"Would you like to be a river pirate or a pirate?"
Xia De then asked, and the old captain, who was walking faster than him, turned around and looked at him with a smile:
"Of course I do. Once you are involved in illegal business on the water, no one can keep their hands clean of blood, otherwise they will bleed on their necks. The rules of survival on the water and on land are different. Can you guess how much more I can earn by making an illegal trip to the New World?"
Smoke wafted from his nostrils:
"Oxenfurt was a good sailor, brutal and irritable, but he didn't like drinking and was exceptionally cunning. Before he left me, he was already my most trusted boatswain. I even thought about giving him the captain's position after I retired, after discussing with the ship owners."
Xia De frowned slightly:
"Why did he leave the ship? Because he wanted to get married and live a stable life?"
"Young man, don't be anxious. I haven't finished my story yet. Aren't you curious? How did I survive until now and make so much money doing this kind of business? Is it just because I have better luck than everyone else?"
The captain walked sideways in the field, watching the young man in a black coat walking on the snow. Shade just frowned and gave the answer:
"What did you pray to for strength?"
"As expected, you really do know everything about Stone Oxenfurt."
Captain Woody, holding his cane, smiled, turned around and looked ahead, then continued walking forward:
"To be honest, I don't know what I prayed for strength from. When I was 21 years old, I went out to sea as an ordinary sailor. Then we encountered a storm. Everyone on the ship died except me, and I drifted to an isolated island."
This feels like the beginning of some kind of adventure survival story.
"I found a cave on that strange island with fog that never dissipates. I found a strange manuscript in the cave. The manuscript described a magical ritual that could summon an unknown powerful being and sign a contract with it. Later I learned that it was a ritual for summoning demons. Moreover, it did not point to a specific demon, but summoned the one closest to it."
He laughed at himself:
"If I could travel back in time to when I was 21, I would rather die there. But unfortunately, I wanted to live, so I spent two years on that island trying out the obscure contents on the parchment, experimenting and failing again and again. Before I was trapped and died on that deserted island, I actually succeeded once."
His steps were steady and powerful:
"Something I can't explain responded to me, so I have a body that ages more slowly than normal people, I have the luck to travel the sea and rivers, and I even have the power to never drown in the water."
"And what is the price?"
Xia De asked, and then saw a rabbit standing on the snow not far away. After seeing Xia De, the rabbit ran away in panic, leaving only a series of inconspicuous footprints on the snow.
"It's a pity I didn't bring my shotgun... The price is my soul, and the souls of all my descendants."
The old captain, who had also seen the rabbit, said this with the same tone:
"I know that everything has a price, and I have received a gift far beyond my destiny. I accepted it all, but I didn't want to hurt more people. So, when I was 25 years old, the second year after escaping from that terrible island, I bought drugs from the sea witch doctor to destroy my fertility and that of my son, who was only six years old at the time..."
At this point he sighed softly:
"Then the story comes to Stone Oxenfurt. Young man, can you guess what I am going to say?"
"Did he get his demon summoning ritual from you?"
Shade said, and the old captain nodded:
"That happened about six years ago... I don't want to talk about the specific details, but he really gained enough trust from me at that time. After I got drunk, I told him my story and the source of my luck. I didn't mean to show off. After all, selling your soul to the devil is not worth showing off. My original intention was to warn him not to try things he didn't understand. I didn't expect that he would steal those materials instead."
He sniffed his red nose from the cold:
"It took me at least a year to find out that the parchments had been stolen. After all, I didn't want to get close to them, so I carefully hid them in the cracks of the basement bricks of the house I rented in Coldwater Harbor. After discovering the theft, I spent another year to confirm that it was Oxenfurt who took them. And Oxenfurt also took advantage of these two years to decipher the obscure contents on the parchments and collect all the sacrifices. Then, it's now."
The demon that the old captain had come into contact with could not be solved by Shade and Dr. Schneider. The other party only wanted the soul and did not even know where he was. Moreover, the old captain himself did not think of resisting, which meant that Shade could not help him.
But Shade is still curious about other stories:
"You seized his old photos and letters because you hated him for stealing from you?"
"Yes, and he betrayed my trust. For those of us who live on a ship, betrayal is the most unforgivable thing."
The old captain nodded, and then turned with Shade, walking through the snow-covered farmland towards the windmill on the river bank in the distance:
"I don't know what he called for, but that demon was obviously older, more powerful, and more bizarre. Oxenfurt himself was unwilling to come to see me. Even though he is stronger than me, I know him best, and he doesn't know how much I got from the demon. Therefore, those letters and photos that he didn't have time to take away when he left the ship have remained with me."
"And what about the story of Oxenfurt and Miss Hella Watson, now Mrs. Hella Oxenfurt?"
Xia De asked curiously again, and the old captain smiled:
"It's a classic story of a poor boy and a rich girl. The first time they met was when the rich girl's father took her to the dock to discuss business. Fortunately, I don't have a daughter, otherwise I would have taught her from a young age to stay away from those guys who only know how to talk smooth talk. Of course, I would never agree to let her get close to the dock just to let her see the world."
The mill was getting closer and closer, and the windmill was turning slowly in the wind at the end of winter. Although it was winter, not the autumn harvest season, the mill was still working. Shade saw a donkey cart carrying grain parked in front of the mill, and the long-eared donkey was eating the dry grass growing at the base of the wall.
"She loved him very much, and he loved her too. You can assume that during the time they were in love, they were both able to give their hearts to each other completely. I don't know much about what happened after Ossenfurt got off the ship, but I heard about their marriage a few years later. Later, I heard that all of Hela's family members died... ... Was it related to the demon?"
The two stopped at the entrance of the mill. The farmer who was loading the truck saw Captain Woody and immediately greeted him respectfully. It seemed that the captain rented the mill to the villagers across the river at a very low price so that they could use it at any time. The villagers were very grateful for this.
They did not enter the mill. Instead, after Xia De observed the donkey with interest, they bypassed the mill and continued walking towards the Yin'ao River.
Xia De continued to ask his own questions:
"Did you meet Hela Oxenfurt after they were married?"
"No, not even since I left my ship at Oxenfurt."
"So, in your impression, is Madam Hela a person with indifferent emotions?"
The old captain thought for a moment:
"No, although she is a relatively quiet rich girl, her emotions are definitely not indifferent."
Xia De nodded in understanding, and stood by the river with the old captain, watching seven or eight children wearing patched clothes playing on the ice:
"I think I understand... I don't want to summon a demon, I'm just curious and want to know, is the demon summoning ritual you use free of charge?"
If it is free of cost, after solving the problem of Ossenfurt, Shad must find out the information, and then find a safe place with Dr. Schneider to kill the demons.
"Of course not. You have to give what you get."
The old captain shook his head, and finally talked about the purpose of Shade's coming here:
"I am willing to tell you so much because you are different from the people who have come here before. I have met many people on the ship, and I am very good at judging people."
"So, you think I'm an honest person?"
Shade asked with a smile, looking out over the river at the children singing nursery rhymes and playing games similar to "Eagle Catches Chicken."