"What rules?"
The big face made of coins asked. The firelight shone through the gaps in the coins that made up its face, making Shade, who was staring at it, feel even more strange about the other party, because instead of feeling the heat wave, he felt cold:
"Since you are here and have never taken the initiative to harm visitors, you are naturally acting as a camp guide. You can tell them the rules here, so why can't you tell me?"
As he spoke, he threw the only power of existence in his hand:
"Or, is there a charge for this kind of basic and simple information?"
The face stared at Xia De and said slowly:
"Everything in the Black Mist Camp requires a price to be paid. A small amount requires souls, sins, etc., while most of it needs to be paid with one's own existence. Dear visiting guest, you can exchange all or part of your existence for coins here. And I will only charge a small handling fee."
When Xia De heard the word "handling fee", he knew it was true. If the other party exchanged it for free, he would have suspected whether this was a deeper trap.
"Can I exchange part of my own existence?"
"Yes, the witch behind you only exchanged part of her existence, while the old man and the boy exchanged everything they had."
At the beginning, Miss Higgins said that she had 23 coins, Mrs. Myers had 6, and the boy had 7. It is obvious that the witch's power is far stronger than these ordinary people.
Shade did not completely trust the information of the demon, and he checked with his companions who had gradually recovered their memories, and then he confirmed that the demon was not lying. However, the appearance of the demon still added more doubts and haze to this time adventure.
The giant face continued to ask Shade:
"So, you want to exchange your existence for coins? I can see that you can exchange a lot of coins. You only need to use a small part of it, and you can get anything you want."
The last half of its words were barely a whisper, louder than even the sound of a burning campfire:
"I can see that you have the power of the deadly sin. This is a good opportunity. It is difficult for you to find ways to enhance your power of the deadly sin elsewhere. Didn't you experience it last time? The chains of sin have increased, and this is just a small improvement. Have you heard of the Sword of the Abyss Deadly Sin? A man should have a sword of his own... Oh, how rude!"
The elegant silver moonlight sword stabbed at the face, but it dodged it easily.
"I have my own sword."
Shade said, and "she" beside him chuckled.
"Even if you have your own power, do you really have everything you need? This camp has infinite possibilities, and the knowledge and information you get through trading can be exchanged with yourself, so there is no need to consider restrictions."
That face continued to seduce:
"Perhaps you can try to exchange a small part of your existence for some coins and try to consume it first."
“What problems will arise if my own existence decreases?”
Shad asked the question, and Miss Higgins behind him turned pale. She had used a lot of coins last time.
"A small amount of consumption is not a big problem, but if a lot of consumption... This is knowledge, I can't just tell you for free."
The big face smiled and said, so Shade ignored it and stretched out his hand to the witch:
"Give me the conch, and I'll tell you how to use it."
As he spoke, he took out a water bottle from his pocket, which contained seawater from the Coldwater Harbor. He let the face continue to bewitch him, and carefully poured the seawater onto the conch, making sure that every part was wet. During this process, a layer of transparent light similar to the color of the soul gradually emerged on the surface of the gray petrified conch, proving that the information Shade had obtained from Mr. Edmund was correct, and the characteristics of the undying thoughts in the fifth era were no different from those in the sixth era.
After dealing with the conch, Shad briefly explained its origin from the sea and its function of calling souls to appear, and then handed it to Mrs. Miles.
Even though she was afraid of the coin-shaped face that still did not disappear, the old woman could not suppress the excitement and nervousness on her face. She held the conch with trembling hands, and after the witch Miss Higgins nodded to her, she called out the name to the conch:
"Richard Knight Jackman."
Her voice was affected by the conch and formed a huge echo, which spread in the black fog that originally suppressed the sound. Shade, the witch and the boy all looked around, but no soul appeared.
After a while, a strange sound appeared in the sky, and then a rusty knight's sword fell from the sky and stuck at Mrs. Miles's feet. She stared at the sword that was almost broken, knelt down and cried while holding the sword:
"It was his sword. I remember it. I always remembered it. But why didn't you come to see me?"
"The relic didn't work?"
The witch asked Shade, who shook his head hesitantly:
"If the soul has already turned into a powerful vengeful spirit, been captured, imprisoned, or even destroyed, it naturally cannot be summoned."
Miss Higgins frowned deeply:
"This was not in my plan. I thought that gentleman had simply died on the battlefield and turned into an unknown corpse... Things have become more troublesome."
"Don't do things halfway. Maybe I can tell you something. But there's a price to pay."
The face that watched this scene said the right words at the right time. Old Lady Miles wiped her eyes, stood up, and pulled out the sword with difficulty:
"I want to find him, no matter what. How many coins do you need?"
She rejected Miss Higgins's attempt to stop her, and of course shook her head to indicate that Shad didn't need to speak.
"Look at your pitiful appearance. Even I am moved by you. I know you only have six coins left. Give me half of them and I will tell you how to find him."
Mrs. Miles threw three coins at the face without any hesitation, then opened her mouth wide - that is, the gap between the coins, and swallowed the coins.
It then made a chewing motion, and then suddenly spat out a faint light. The light fell on the black scale in the small camp, and then the scale, which was in a balanced state, tilted again:
"Follow the scales and find the next merchant. Remember, she has many goods, but only one of them can bring back the person you want."
It said to old lady Miles, who wiped her red eyes and wrote down this sentence. But at the same time, both Shade and Miss Higgins noticed her abnormality. After losing half of the coin that she exchanged for her entire "existence", her body turned translucent in their eyes, but she and the boy seemed not to notice it.
Miss Higgins gave Shad a look, asking him not to point it out, but she was also anxious. If Grandma Myers died here, she would not be able to explain to the old woman's "cousin".
At this moment, the boy also spoke tremblingly:
"Excuse me, can I also exchange my position with you for the merchant's position?"
Both Shad and Miss Higgins looked at him, and the boy instinctively shuddered, and the huge face immediately turned to him and said in a "kind" tone:
"Sure, kid, what's your deal?"
"I want to reverse the destruction of the kingdom."
He said last time that his country was destroyed by a meteorite impact, but Miss Higgins clearly had no idea that such a major event had occurred in the world recently.
The devil's face did not question the boy, but still maintained his "smile" and said:
"You little piece of trash, even if you sell your existence and your soul, you can't reverse what has happened. Child, it's time for you to accept the fact that you have grown up. Please listen carefully: this is a place of fair trade, not a place for you to make wishes casually... However, if you want to make a wish to me, I am very interested."
The boy subconsciously took a step back, and Shade said:
"Don't threaten him. You can just tell him that he doesn't have enough money."
"But that would be pointless."
The face above the bonfire was smiling. The boy looked pale, but he still mustered up the courage to continue:
"It's okay sir, I accept the situation, I understand..."
The voice became lower and lower, and suddenly he raised his head and asked:
"I want revenge, I want the power to take revenge!"
"How do you take revenge on a meteorite?"
Shade asked in surprise. In fact, he knew that the boy must be lying, so he wanted the boy to tell the truth himself. But the boy dodged Shade's gaze and continued to look at the giant face of the devil. The latter laughed again, and because of the facial movement, the thousands of coins also clattered:
"That's easy. Don't you already have a dagger?"
This refers to the gift given to the boy by the shadow who performed the "sword swallowing" magic trick when he entered the Black Mist Camp last time:
"Give me three coins, and I'll guide you to find a merchant who can help you better unleash the power of the dagger. By the way, the merchant is on the same road as the merchant the old lady is looking for, so you can go together."
So the boy also threw out his three coins, and the devil's face spit out a breath of black light that attached to the scale.
"let's go."
Shade said to Miss Higgins, who nodded, and everyone picked up torches from the fire. The devil did not stop them, but said to Shade before the group left:
"As an invited guest, even though you have rejected me now, I believe you will come to me sooner or later. I look forward to that moment. Although this camp cannot give you everything you want, it can at least answer most of your questions. I am looking forward to seeing what expression you will see when you discover the true value of this place."
Xia De ignored it and walked into the fog with his companions holding a torch.