Xia De tried to pick up the black metal scale to check, and the boy who had not dared to speak before now supported Mrs. Miles and said carefully:
"Perhaps you can determine the direction by looking at the height of the left and right sides... just like a compass."
The boy was right. The balance scale was not in a balanced state. When the balance was rotated in place, the left end of the balance was always in a downward pressure state, and the degree of downward pressure varied depending on the direction the left end pointed.
So Shade turned around and found the direction where the scale had the lowest pressure. It pointed to the left front, so everyone held torches and walked forward a few dozen steps along the path between the stalls, allowing the group to completely enter the Black Mist Camp. During this time, the witch let the scale float from Shade's hand and let it spin slowly and evenly to help everyone adjust the direction better.
Therefore, after walking only a few dozen steps, they confirmed that the location the scale was pointing to was deeper in the camp, rather than on the left side of the road ahead.
"Mrs. Miles, can you hold on?"
Once you go deep into the camp, it will take a long time to get out, and the oppression and coldness deep in the camp will make people feel at a loss. So Miss Higgins asked her employer in advance. Although the latter was tired, he still nodded:
"no problem."
The boy, Andor Ade, was a little bolder. He continued to support the old woman consciously. Although no one asked him, he nodded tremblingly.
But at a glance, the path to the camp entrance narrowed as far as the eye could see. The stalls would become more dense as they went deeper into the camp, and based on the experience just now, once someone was determined to want to buy something, they probably wouldn't be able to leave without paying a price.
So Shade and the witches discussed it and finally decided that the four of them would march in a vertical line, with each person placing the hand that was not holding a torch on the shoulder of the person in front of them. The witch, Leah Higgins, and the balance walked in front, followed by the elderly Sarah Miles, then Shade, and finally the boy, Andor Ade.
"I didn't put you at the end because as long as we don't break the rules, the chances of us getting attacked are low, so there's no need to put you at the end to guard the end of the team. On the contrary, if you walk in the middle, you can take care of things in front and behind at the same time."
The witch explained this to Shade, but everyone could see that she was deliberately trying to protect the safety of Miles' mother-in-law.
Shade had no objection to this arrangement, and he would protect everyone if possible. And perhaps because she was not sure about Shade, the young witch also made a promise to Shade:
"If we have any coins left after Granny Miles's deal is complete, those coins will all belong to you."
Shad still had no objection, but he didn't think he would have a chance to use the coins. From past experience, if he couldn't find the god, neither the boy nor Mrs. Miles would be able to complete their transaction.
The best thing to do now is to find a way to get all the coins, and then use the coins to look for possible gods. After finding the gods, help everyone fulfill their wishes through transactions with the gods.
But it was obvious that the witch would not easily hand over all the coins, and Shade had never thought that his first conflict with the witch of the Fifth Era would happen here. Anyway, this was only the first time to use this key, and he was willing to wait and try his best to familiarize himself with the rules of this camp, and then it would not be too late to make plans later.
So the four of them put their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them one by one, and then silently moved forward in the camp shrouded in black fog. Xia De could feel that the old woman in front of him and the boy behind him were trembling, but no one wanted to give up. It was hard to say whether the actions of the four of them were more bizarre or the completely motionless black shadows in the camp were more terrifying.
As we went deeper into the camp, the paths between the stalls became narrower and more rugged, until only one person could move forward without touching anything. Most of the stalls here had three items on display, one visible and the other two covered by the black fog. But there were also some stalls with a number of items that far exceeded the average.
Also, the name here is "Black Mist Camp" instead of "Black Mist Market", so in addition to the vendors selling goods, there are also some dark shadows doing other things.
When the torch in the hand of the leading Miss Higgins illuminated the dark shadow standing on the rotten wooden bench and maintaining the action of "raising its head and swallowing the sword into its mouth", the originally motionless dark shadow actually pulled the sword out of its mouth, then swallowed it into its mouth again, and then took it out again, repeating the process continuously.
Miss Higgins paused for a moment, then pretended not to notice the strange scene and continued to move forward. Shade thought something would happen, but she actually passed by it smoothly. Then Granny Miles did not touch the strange black shadow. But when it was Shade's turn, the black shadow's action of swallowing the sword suddenly stopped.
Everyone wisely chose not to speed up and leave, but stopped. Shade and the witch stood in front of Mrs. Miles and the boy Andor Ade.
The shadow lowered the hand holding the black mist sword, and then jumped off the shaky bench. It pointed at Shade with its other hand, and then at the boy behind Shade.
As everyone was confused and nervous, it pulled out a tattered blood-stained brown cloth bag from behind the bench. It shook it a few times, and the sound of the things in the bag colliding with each other rang out in the silent camp in the black fog.
The black shadow pointed at Shade and the boy again, then tore open the drawstring of his pocket, opened a small opening and pointed it at Shade.
It certainly didn't try to suck Shad into its pocket, but just stayed there motionless.
Although the four of them had some guesses about the intention of its actions, they still couldn't believe it:
"It's going to give you a gift?"
The witch's body trembled slightly, and the torchlight illuminated her pale face. She suppressed her fear and whispered to the strange man beside her:
"But that's not right. Even if the magician who performs magic in the camp wants to give gifts to others, why only to men? If it was only given to children, I could understand it."
When she said that, Xia De understood. He was probably judged as a "child" again.
The boy hid behind Xia De and didn't dare to reach out his hand. Xia De stared at the pocket and suddenly took a step to the side away from the crowd.
Immediately, everyone heard the sound of chains rattling in the black fog. As expected, the blood-stained black chains appeared again from the fog, but this time the chains were no longer greedy, but the links that made up the chains were language runes of suicide from different eras.
Xia De hurriedly returned to his original position, and after confirming that the chain had retreated into the black mist, he reached his hand into the pocket. This was completely different from touching the gift box of God. The extreme coldness ran through Xia De's body along his right hand, causing him to shiver violently. If it weren't for the First Fire still burning in his body, he doubted that he could even last five seconds.
There was more than one thing in his pocket. The tentacles were the amazing whispering elements and chaotic spirits. Shade originally wanted to ask "her" to help him see what was the most valuable, but before he asked, an instinctive attraction had already made him touch what he wanted. It was not Shade who was choosing the gift, but the gift that was choosing him:
"What's this?"
Without hesitation, he took out the cold block of metal he touched.
It was a small black metal cube, with a dark color similar to that of the black scale. The six faces of the cube were all engraved with the rune of "greed", and as Shad watched, the metal actually melted in his hands, and he couldn't even shake it off.
Stranger, your sin of "greed" has increased.
Your Thaumaturgy-Sin Chains are affected, please wait... ... Thaumaturgy is enhanced, you can manifest two chains at the same time.
With a clattering sound, the chains of sin came out from the left and right sleeves at the same time. The metal that originally seemed to absorb light now looked even darker and colder under the light of the torch. Just now, when Shade was fighting with the numerous "greed" chains, he realized that he might be able to increase the number of chains of sin. Unexpectedly, before he took the initiative to do anything, this key magic was actually improved.
For the non-aggressive "Chains of Sin", the most important thing to achieve the confinement effect is actually how to catch the opponent, and the improvement brought by the increase in number is immeasurable.
"But, the god of wealth... greed... isn't there something wrong?"
No one else said anything to Shade, not even the witch.
"You're next. Don't keep your hand in the bag for too long. One second at most."
Xia De then spoke to the boy behind him, saying that the boy was just an ordinary person and he was worried that he would be affected too much.
The boy trembled and reached his hand into the pocket. He pulled out his frost-covered hand almost the next second, and a small dagger with a scabbard appeared in his hand. The scabbard and the handle were decorated with black gems. Because of the cold, the metal even stuck to his skin. It took Shade a spell to recover him.
This item was also a relic, or a derivative of a relic. It was of course dangerous to put it on the boy, but when Shade suggested that the dagger be kept temporarily by himself or the witch, the sound of rustling was heard again.
"I don't want it anymore. Put your chains away."
After giving gifts to the two "children", the black shadow climbed onto the bench again to continue his magic show. The group learned more about the rules of this camp. In addition to the vendors, there are other black shadows here, but whether encountering them is a blessing or a curse depends on them.