Compared to their mortal state, Grace and Helen's current state is obviously very wrong. This wrongness refers to their mental state. It seems that they are entangled in the whispering elements and have finally become chaotic.
Meeting an old friend from long ago did not make Shade happy, but made him a little worried about the future of the twins. At the last moment when the disaster of Midhill Castle was about to end, they, as the guardians of the seal, actually appeared, which was obviously not a good sign.
However, there is nothing Xia De can do about it at the moment and he can only wait for further developments.
After taking her cat back from Miss Swift outside the door, she went upstairs to say goodbye to Grandma Cassandra, and then took a carriage to the Loranta Manor in the north of the city. That was Miss Aurora's temporary residence in Midhill Castle, and the manor itself was the property of Grandma Cassandra.
Shade will visit the "Reverse Life" Joey Barton again in the afternoon, but he will not invite the twelfth-level witch Miss Xivi Aurora to go with him, because this time he wants to talk to Mr. Barton alone about the sensitive topic of the Chosen One.
As for going to the manor to visit Miss Aurora, Shad had only seen her once at the Fire Worship Festival dinner after the witch came to Middleburg, so he thought that since there was nothing else to do, he could see her more often. He also borrowed the witch jewelry that belonged to Miss Aurora, which was a sage-level relic, the ancient witch's golden ring (right one), which could provide all-round buffs to the ring warlock.
Joey Barton is related to the Truth Society, so Shade will definitely not rush over without any preparation.
It was already noon when they arrived at the manor. Miss Aurora, who had just received the guests from the Chamber of Commerce, invited Shade to have lunch with the cat.
During lunch, she asked about the "ritual" of yesterday and confirmed that Shad had met with Cassandra's mother-in-law's teacher.
"Yes, I know her from the past. I met her in Tobesk, but I didn't know she was also a ring mage at that time."
Xia De used this excuse to evade the question. It was obvious that Miss Aurora was very suspicious of this, but she didn't ask any more questions.
"Just be careful. The prettier the woman, the more likely she is to cheat."
The witch said while holding a spoon, and signaled the servant to refill her glass with red wine.
After lunch, Shad got the ring from Miss Aurora without asking any questions, and then set off again with Mia.
After parting with Iluna last week, Iluna had reported the Truth Society to the church, and it was said that there had been some progress. But so far, the church had not been able to find out about the Crow Club from the Truth Society, because Pigtail Alley was no different from when Shade came there the previous two times.
Even when Shad knocked on the door, the person who opened the door was the same person. He also knew Shad, and naturally remembered the "John Watson" who came with two different girls, so he led Shad directly to the deepest room on the first floor of the club and met Mr. Joey Barton.
The room was still the same, except that the crow in the birdcage at the door seemed to have been replaced by a new one.
When they sat down, Shade curiously asked why the original crow disappeared. Mr. Barton, wearing a turban, said rather sadly:
"After you left last time, it died for no reason. It looked like it was frightened to death. The crows in the club have been specially bred and have high spirituality and humanity. I don't know what happened to it. It died all of a sudden."
Xia De, who was holding the cat, comforted him:
"You also said last time that normal birth and death are natural laws and there is nothing to worry about. Mr. Barton, you should wish it the best of luck in its life... However, it is rare that a crow raised artificially was frightened to death..."
Xia De looked around pretentiously:
"In recent weeks, I've often heard rumors of ghosts in the city. Even the talkative coachman mentioned this when I took the carriage here just now. Maybe you should be more careful. There might be something dirty nearby... How about preparing some fine salt and sprinkling it at the door?"
Mr. Barton shook his head.
"Using salt to drive away evil spirits is just a country folk superstition. You can't use it to deal with ghosts. However, there have been many reports of ghosts in the city recently. Middleburg is really not peaceful this autumn. If you are worried about the intrusion of evil spirits, I can give you an amulet. Oh, of course, it's free. I don't make money by selling this."
As he said this, he actually wanted to stand up and get the amulet that could drive away ghosts for Xia De, but was stopped by Xia De.
Mr. Barton then asked:
"Mr. Watson, you came here alone this time. Are you going to continue to read the fortune for your pet cat Sherlock? I noticed that you did not bring any other female companions this time."
"Yes, I am still fortune-telling for it."
Xia De scratched Mia's chin, then looked around to confirm that there were indeed only two people, a cat, and a crow in the dim room:
"However, before I do the divination, I would like to talk to you."
"Of course, I only receive one guest every half day, and chatting with guests is also part of my job scope."
"I want to talk about something... private. You can understand that I want to get material for my new book."
“Oh, I see.”
Joey Barton nodded, stood up with difficulty, then limped to the door, picked up the pole standing behind the door, stood on tiptoe with great difficulty, and used the wooden pole with a hook on one end to lift the blue curtain beside the cage so that the curtain covered the cage.
In fact, he didn't need to do that at all, because the crow looked as well-behaved as the previous one. After Shad brought Mia the cat in, it shrank into the cage and dared not move.
"Sometimes crows have very sensitive eyes and ears. They are very spiritual."
Mr. Barton explained with a smile, then limped back and motioned for Shad to speak.
"Excuse me, what do you think about death?"
Placing Mia on his knees, Shad officially got down to business.
Mr. Barton was visibly stunned by Shade's question:
"This is a really profound question, but no matter what, I have to remind you not to give up your life easily."
"Please rest assured, there are still too many things in my life that I cannot give up."
"That's good."
This middle-aged man who looked like a deformed child sighed:
"Death, I have had many feelings about it in recent decades. Although I don't think I'm an excellent writer or writer, if I write down my inner thoughts, it would probably be enough to publish a book. I think death is the end of a journey."
"Please tell me more about this."
Shade showed an expression of great interest. Mr. Barton clasped his large hands together and twisted his thumbs around each other.
“Perhaps everyone is born with a different background and identity, and their future growth trajectories are also different, but for us mortals, the most fair thing about life is that everyone will be born and die.”
"Yes, everyone does."
The figures of Helen and Grace behind the curtain jumped into Shad's mind.
"After a long journey, I fell into an eternal sleep with satisfaction and regret. Maybe some people's lives are full of flowers and splendor, some are withered bones, some are walking uphill, some are walking back and forth between the top of the mountain and the valley, and some even walk backwards..."
He paused, apparently thinking of himself:
"But no matter what, everything will eventually die. All things are equal, and all beings die - this is why I worship death."
"All living things die... You are right, it is indeed so."
Shade nodded, then showed an embarrassed expression, while Mia looked up at the birdcage:
"Mr. Barton, I'm a little embarrassed to say that I asked someone to inquire about you."
Joey Barton was not surprised:
"Yes, a rich man like you would never trust a strange guy like me. But I'm more curious about what you know."
"I know some strange things about the past. After you were born, you suffered from a strange disease. Your body aged rapidly when you were very young, so that although you were still a child, you looked like an old man who was about to die. But as you grew older, your aging body seemed to grow younger and younger in reverse. As for now, Mr. Barton, although you look like a child now, your actual age should be over 40 years old."
"Yes, I didn't expect you to know so much."
"No, no, no, that's all I know."
Xia De shook his head hurriedly:
"I know some very powerful friends in the local area, so I can investigate past records. But I really don't know what happened to you after you left Middlesbrough. These are the stories I want to know today. Of course, if there are any past events that you don't want to recall, we can also talk about other things."
"Hmm~ I see... It wasn't a pleasant experience. If you want to know, we can talk about it. I am not ashamed of my illness."
Mr. Barton sighed and stared at the teacup in his hand:
"My childhood memories are mostly of the hospital bed and the scenery outside the window. After confirming that Middlesbrough could not cure my reverse growth disease, my parents sent me to another city to stay with relatives for treatment. My family is not as wealthy as yours, so although it is for treatment, it is actually to let me travel around while I am still alive."
"Have you found a cure?"
"It's a twist of fate that the pounds were spent without any effect. If the medical school hadn't been willing to use my body as research material and given me a certain subsidy, and if my health hadn't improved with age, I would have had a hard time living to adulthood."
－－－－－－－Off-topic－－－－－－－