"Want to die? How can it be that easy?"
The cards in front of him fell, and the yellow-haired middle-aged man with a pierced heart looked at Xia De in front of him in astonishment. The life ring behind the man dissipated, but before he died, Xia De's hand touched him:
"False immortality!"
Then he pushed the man hard, causing him to fall to the ground. Shade gritted his teeth and held the sword with both hands, chopping off the opponent's two palms with two swords. Without two hands, the seriously injured ring warlock had no chance of turning the tables.
Looking at those two hands, the stranger who was doing this for the first time felt very disgusted. He turned around and picked up the cup of water on the table and tapped it gently. A silver light appeared on the water. Xia De poured the cup of hot tea on the man's wound to prevent him from losing his false immortal state due to excessive bleeding:
"I ask the questions, and you answer them."
"You... You can't get any answers from me! Everything is for the Lord of the Scarlet Spiral! Kill me."
With only a little life force remaining in his body, his voice was extremely weak.
"Kill you? Even if I kill you I can still communicate with your soul. No matter if you are alive or dead, don't try to keep the secret."
"Then kill me. My soul is blessed by the Lord. You will never get any information from me!"
Although he was weak, he still stared at Xia De with hatred in his eyes.
"die?"
The corner of Xia De's mouth twitched. If he wasn't afraid that something might happen to Leicia, he would never do such a cruel thing:
"Do you know what it feels like to die from drinking water?"
Xia De shook the cup in his hand, and more and more clean water appeared under the power of the spell.
"You devil!"
A weak voice cursed.
"I'm not trying to torture you, there's no point. I want you to realize something."
Xia De had already squatted down, his back to the gas lamp on the wall, which made the face in the shadow particularly scary:
"You are a follower of the Lord of the Scarlet Spiral, the guardian of the murlocs. If you, as a follower of this great man, end up choking to death or even bloating, do you think that god will acknowledge your identity after your death?"
For the first time, a look of horror appeared on the man's face:
"You, you..."
"Will He still protect your soul forever?"
"You devil!"
"No, at least based on my mortal thinking, it shouldn't be possible."
There was no smile on Xia De's face:
"But the God of the Drowned in the Abyss will be happy to take your soul, sir. Since you are a follower of the evil god of Coldwater Harbor, you should also know that the great one is very interested in drowned murlocs... especially the drowned mermaids of Coldwater Harbor."
"No, no!"
Because of the spell thrown at the door, no one knew what happened in the room next. When Shade opened the door and walked out, he was holding a dead body doll with a broken hand in his hand. In the room behind him, the carpet was rolled up and put aside to prevent the blood from scaring the maids who came to clean the room.
Shade walked quickly along the corridor:
"The Scarlet Cult wants to offer sacrifices to the sea when the red ocean appears tomorrow. In addition to the voluntary human believers of the cult and the citizens they have captured, a woman of noble birth is also required as the final prelude to the 'return of the sea' ceremony."
This was the information that Shade had just received. Despite the fear of his soul being seized by the alien god, the other party still revealed some information. But before he could finish speaking, he died. It was not because of the injury, but because he was scared to death.
The attitude of people in this world towards faith is completely different from that of outsiders.
In the violent night rain outside the window, Shade walked through the corridor with windows on one side:
"This kind of sacrifice is not a necessary step for the 'Return from the Sea', but a ceremony similar to a blessing... The Return from the Sea ceremony will begin when the first ray of sunlight shines on Coldwater Harbor tomorrow, and the sacrifice will also begin at that moment. In addition to Leicia, the Scarlet Cult has five or six other targets, one of which is..."
Xia De looked towards the city:
"Shivi Aurora."
He called the servants to tidy up the messy study, and then stood in the corridor, looking at the heavy rain outside the window:
“Things are getting more and more interesting.”
Although the heavy rain lasted all night, the small-scale fighting around Sofia's mansion only lasted half an hour.
The continuous influx of support forced the attackers to abandon their target. In particular, the attackers who entered Sofia's mansion had not sent any news, which made the house with lights on in the night rain and sea breeze seem particularly strange.
With the Twelve-Ring Witch and Lecia together, Shade's worries were alleviated a lot, so he did not go out in the rain.
He wanted to wait until Leicia came back to rest, but after midnight, when it was Wednesday, the princess's carriage had not appeared at the gate of the manor. The servants who were sent to inquire about the news brought news from the rain that the city was under martial law and carriages could leave the city but not enter.
Sophia's mansion was attacked by the fishmen, and the same incident probably happened in the city. However, Shade, who originally thought nothing would happen, could not get any news from Resia, and he felt uneasy again:
"Even if the fishman's attack before dawn didn't hurt Leicia, if she doesn't come back overnight, I won't be able to be with her when the ceremony begins."
After midnight, Shade rested in his room for two hours. After waking up, he said hello to the maid left by Leicia and left the house in a carriage.
But he did not go into the city, but let the carriage take him to the Sea Cliff Lighthouse, which is also located in the north of the city. When Leicia was aliasing Miss Princess, she brought Shad here once. The caretaker here was Mr. Edmund, a folklorist.
Holding an umbrella, he laboriously watched the light of the lighthouse in the rain, and climbed all the way to the top of the cliff. After putting on the mask and knocking on the door for a long time, Mr. Edmund's vigilant voice appeared behind the door:
"Who is it?"
"Old John from Tobesk introduced me!"
Shad said.
The last time I came here with Leicia, Leicia mentioned half of Father John's name. At that time, Shade didn't know the secret of the writer and the princess, so he didn't think much about it, but later he understood.
"Don't lie to me! Humph, on a rainy day like this, even if he introduced it, no one would come knocking on the door so late in the rain!"
The old man behind the door said dissatisfiedly.
"He really introduced it to me. I came here last time. Do you remember? That day you came back from fishing, but there was only one small fish in the bucket. My companion bought a Yves Saint Laurent ring, and I sold you a book."
Xia De shouted loudly that the rain here was really too heavy.
"Oh? There is such a thing..."
The old man inside the door was hesitating.
"Old John! Father John, the stingy fellow. Oh, I have never seen such a stingy man in my life."
The door was pushed open suddenly, and before Xia De could react, the old man's strong hands pulled Xia De in.
Although the lighthouse was dilapidated, the interior, just separated by a wooden door, was extremely dry and warm.
Old man Edmund was wearing pajamas, a coat on his shoulders, and holding a kerosene lamp in his hand. He frowned slightly and looked at Shade under the lamp:
"Yes, he is indeed the meanest fellow in the world. It seems that you are indeed his friend, young man. What on earth are you doing at this late hour? Do you think I am the same age as you?"
The old man complained, but still asked Xia De to find a place to sit down and found a dry towel for him.
The lower level of the lighthouse is the living area for the tower keeper. Although the area is not large, it can still meet the necessities of life.
Xia De took the towel and wiped his hair:
"I'm sorry to bother you so late. The sea will be returned, the red sea, at dawn today."
"Oh? So?"
The old man asked while sitting in the chair in front of the desk. The lighthouse was actually connected to the gas pipeline, and he turned on the gas lamp on the desk.
Xia De took a deep breath and put the towel on the back of the chair:
"You must know more about the Sea Return Ceremony. You didn't tell me the whole story the last time I came here with that lady."
Edmund looked at him quietly. His eyes were not as cloudy as those of an ordinary old man.
"so what?"
"I have money."
"But you need to convince me to agree to this deal."
"The Priory of the Guiding Light."
Amid the terrifying sound of waves hitting the cliffs outside the lighthouse, Shade gave the answer. Mr. Edmund narrowed his eyes subconsciously, then relaxed:
"John wouldn't tell you that."
Through the transaction of "Tree Kiss", Shade learned that Father John belonged to the "Guiding Light Hermitage", and the latter even wanted to know Shade's expression when he knew this. Edmund of Coldwater Port, like Old John of Tobesk, both operated a secret black market store for ring sorcerers. They were all knowledgeable but unwilling to do other things.
Therefore, it is not difficult at all to infer that Mr. Edmund, John's friend, who can introduce business to each other, is also a member of the "Guiding Light Hermitage".
"What does it matter? I don't care about your secrets. I just know that as long as I pay, you can always provide help. I have no objection to your doomsday survival preparations."
From behind his mask, Shade stared into the old man's eyes.
"What do you want to know?"
Perhaps seeing his determination, the old man thought for a while before asking in a low voice.
"It's simple, my friend. The lady has a mermaid curse. Now I know that I can use the fishing line to reduce her urge to enter the red ocean. Is there any other way besides this?"
Shade said quickly.
"No."
The old man shook his head, and Xia De didn't care, because he didn't come to ask this question. This question was just a roundabout way to get the other party ready:
"I also want to know..."
He subconsciously lowered his voice:
"The original intention of the Sea Return Ceremony is to awaken the power left by the evil god in the deep sea, so as to call for a flood to submerge the city. So, what did the god leave behind?"
Lightning flashed outside the window, illuminating the faces of the two people. The waves rumbled, but were suppressed by the thunder.
The storm is coming.