Although there were few members, the Crow Club really kept a lot of crows, and even the paintings on the corridor walls were images of crows. When Shade and Sister Defulin, led by the man, met the boy in the study deep in the house, the first thing Shade noticed was the crow in the birdcage hanging at the door.
The bird had black feathers and red eyes, and after Xia De and the other two came in, it kept flapping its wings in the birdcage, seeming very uneasy.
The man who led the way did not stay in the room for long. He introduced the guests to the owner of the room and then left.
The door closed behind Shade, and the study was a little dim. It was clearly daytime, but the curtains were closed, and the light was only from the gas lamps on the walls on both sides. The lampshades of the gas lamps seemed to have not been cleaned for a long time, which made the light seem unusually dim.
Combined with the occasional sound of crows flapping their wings and the strange smell of burning spices in the study, this place really looks like the room of a professional fortune teller.
The study was very large, divided into two parts: the bookshelf and desk in the east, and the sofa set in the west. Only the two gas lamps in the west were on, and the so-called "boy" was sitting on the sofa waiting for the two of them.
Shad pushed the wheelchair, letting the metal wheels roll over the red carpet. He sat down on the couch opposite the boy, not in the middle of the couch but on one side, because the wheelchair was parked on the outside of the couch.
There were already two cups of steaming tea on the coffee table between him and the boy. It seemed that he had calculated that the guests who had made an appointment would arrive at this time, and knew that there would be two people coming.
But the "boy" didn't look like a boy. Although he was sitting, he could be estimated to be about 5 feet tall (about 1.52 meters). His limbs were abnormally thick, but his body looked very thin. Not only that, his head was also very large and disproportionate to his body. Although he wore a turban, Shade could still see that he had no hair.
He wore a pair of glasses and held his two big hands together on his legs. When Xia De was looking at him, he was also looking at Xia De. This made Xia De suspect that the other party was not a boy at all, but an incompletely developed adult.
One ring or two rings.
"Hello, I'm John Watson and this is my sister Mary Watson."
As Shade spoke, Sister Defulin, who was wearing a veil, nodded slightly. Because the room was too dim, the nun sitting there really looked like an exquisite proportional doll. After all, her hands exposed outside looked too perfect under the dim gas lamp.
"I'm sorry, Mary has had some problems with her legs since she was a child, so she is a bit introverted and not willing to talk to strangers. I will communicate with you this time."
Xia De made good use of his excellent acting ability and thought he was really talented.
“That’s understandable.”
"The boy" said, his voice was very immature, which made him sound like a real boy.
"What's your name?"
Shade asked politely.
"Joey Patton, they usually call me Little Joey, or Mr. Patton."
The boy spoke again. Because this sentence was long, it was identifiable that his accent was a very authentic Middlesbrough accent. In contrast, Shad's accent was more like Tobesk's, and Sister Defulin's accent was always the standard Delarion accent.
"It's a pleasure to meet you on this gloomy Sunday morning, Mr. Button."
Xia De glanced at Sister Defulin who was sitting in the wheelchair beside him:
"I came to visit you mainly for my sister. I have heard about you and your extraordinary abilities, so I want to know about Mary's future... I am really worried about her. She reads books at home every day, occasionally takes care of flowers or teases the orange cat I raise. Other than that, she is rarely willing to let the servants push her to the manor... Ahem, I came to you to take a walk on the street, so I want to know what her future will be like."
Using the identity of "a noble who does not want to reveal his identity" to explain his slightly strange behavior so far will increase suspicion and help conceal his identity.
"Mr. Watson, do you want to change the future?"
Joey Barton asked, staring at Shad with his black eyes. There was a tiredness in those eyes. He didn't know why the other party was tired so early.
Xia De immediately shook his head:
"No, no, I just want to know the future, at least to be mentally prepared before that day comes."
As he spoke, he took out the envelope containing money that he had prepared in advance from his pocket and placed it next to the teacup on the coffee table.
Joey Barton glanced at the envelope:
"Well, I can predict your future death."
"That's great. Is there anything I need to prepare in advance? I heard that the fortune tellers in the Prophecy Association even need to provide the exact time of birth before they can tell fortunes."
"No, don't bother. My eyes can tell me the answer directly."
"That's great, what's the answer?"
Xia De asked curiously. Mr. Barton paused and pursed his lips. His lips were very thick.
"It's not possible to get the answer with just one look. It requires the cooperation of some simple rituals. However, before that, I can use other divination methods to predict your fate. Knowing you better can increase the success rate of divination of death."
He bent down and took out a deck of divination cards from under the coffee table. He then placed the divination cards in a row of nine on the coffee table.
His right hand gestured to Xia De to pick up a card at random. Xia De thought about it and picked up the one in the upper right corner. When he opened it, it was death.
"Um?"
This really surprised him. After all, a month ago, after Father Augustus turned over this card, he really died once:
"What do you mean? I'm going to die?"
"I'll pick the one next to it."
Sister Defulin's slightly cold voice brought Shad back to his senses. He turned over the card next to him, and under the dim yellow light, the card was a flame.
Shade placed the two cards face up next to the envelope containing the money:
"Mr. Barton, what does this mean? I just wanted to tell fortunes for Mary, but... am I... am I going to meet with misfortune?"
"No, divination is just divination. Please don't think too much about it. You can treat it as preparation. Next, I will predict your death."
Mr. Barton did not put away the fortune-telling cards on the table, but took out a new card from his pocket to cover his right eye. Shade narrowed his eyes slightly, because from the back of the card, the card in Joey Barton's hand was not a fortune-telling card, but a Rhodes card.
The boy first looked at Sister Defulin in the wheelchair, and it took him a while to put down the card. He did not reveal the face of the card at all, so that Shade could not see what the card was.
"This Miss Mary Watson will live twelve years from now."
"Twelve years, but she was only in her 30s in those twelve years... May I ask, what was the cause of death that you saw?"
"It is difficult to describe. Miss Mary Watson seemed to have turned into a pile of ashes."
Xia De frowned:
"That's not the result I would have expected. Do you mean she was in a fire?"
The boy shook his head and said nothing.
Xia De then looked at Sister Defulin, who was sitting in a wheelchair, still keeping her hands folded on her legs. She also shook her head slightly, meaning that there was no need to delve into this issue.
"Then please continue to divine my death."
Shade sat there, and the boy continued to pick up the card and put it in front of his eyes.
But this time, he did not give an answer quickly. Instead, he suddenly put down the cards and looked at Shade with his eyes. Then he put the Rhodes card in front of his eyes again, frowned, and obviously saw something incredible.
After putting down the cards, he slightly raised his head and looked at Xia De:
"How is that possible?"
"Excuse me, what's wrong?"
Although I don’t know how good the other party’s divination skills are, at least this look is really intimidating.
"How strange, I see, that you died in the collapsing tower."
This way of dying is at least more normal than Sister Defulin turning into ashes.
"And the time of death?"
He asked curiously again.
The boy, Joey Barton, had a sullen face and tapped his thick fingers on the sofa twice to express his uneasiness. He did not speak immediately, and even the crows at the door remained quiet.
A moment of silence seemed to make the dim room even more hazy. Whether it was the "boy" sitting opposite the coffee table or the nun wearing a veil beside him, both made Shad feel more and more weird.
This was a sign of inspiration, and he had captured some information about the future. Shade understood that he would hear an incredible answer.
"Ten months ago, at the beginning of the Common Calendar Year 1853."