"Sir... I actually know a very good psychiatrist. Do you want me to introduce him to you?"
Even though he was horrified, Shade still asked politely. The man in the wine-red suit opposite him was most likely the ringmaster of the mercury blood mentioned by Miss Anat just now. He had just heard the news and was caught. It seemed that his luck had really run out.
But there was no panic, Shade knew what he had to do.
"No, I'm looking for you. This book told me."
The man shook the small book in his hand towards Xia De. The book was only the size of a palm, and small books of this size were usually used for entertainment by people traveling.
The cover of the book looked like crumpled leather, with nothing on it except the title and a sentence. The language used in the title and sentence was of course something Shade had never seen before, but he still deciphered it:
The Puppet Master's Script
Maybe people think they can control their fate, but they don’t know that everything is already determined by fate.
"Do you need me to introduce you?"
The middle-aged man was shaking the book in his hand. He was still sitting at the stone table, at least ten steps away from Xia De on the edge of the grape trellis, but Xia De didn't dare to escape:
"Our partner, the Blood Spirit School, has not sent anyone over yet. They only sent the script of the angel-level relic puppeteer they found in the 'delivery room'. Of course, this is not a complete script, but only a part of the script that can be used ten times after being divided. I think it is considered to be at the secret-keeper level. It is said that this was written by a crazy puppeteer in the chaotic era of the Fourth Epoch, but the part people get is blank. Under very strict conditions, you can use your own blood to write on the page and pay a price to influence reality."
He explained like a chatterbox, looking at Shad, who in turn looked at his charred left arm.
The detective wanted to step back, but the tingling feeling on his scalp prevented him from moving.
"You don't believe it? Although the people from the Blood Spirit School haven't arrived yet, this is enough. It is fate that favors Mercury Blood. Our goal will definitely be achieved. Maybe you think that the synthesis of Mercury Blood is crazy, but with this, it is not an illusion. It is very convenient to use it to find things."
This was consistent with Old John's information, and the stingy shopkeeper's information was actually completely correct.
The man motioned for Shade to sit across from him, but Shade didn't move:
"So, what does this have to do with me?"
He felt his mind working frantically, thinking about how to escape.
The man continued to chatter, as if he had been preparing these words for a long time:
"Not long ago, the statue of the old god "Vampire Duke Laoel", which is one of the essential ingredients for the synthesis of Mercury Blood, was stolen. We tried to find the statue through the pages of the script, but we didn't expect that the owner of the statue was too strong and was not affected by the incomplete script at all. The dwarf mouse Peter also died while searching.
So, I wanted to take a step back and find and punish the guy who discovered the statue, but in a rare case, when I wrote the ending of death for you, I actually failed. "
Xia De heard the woman in his heart laughing.
The man in the burgundy suit waved his charred left arm at Shade:
"When I was about to finish writing that sentence, a drop of blood accidentally dripped from the wound on my finger during the writing process, changing the written words. The relic does not accept alterations, so it automatically corrects the erased part, which becomes the price I pay, so that you will be blessed by the old god of fate before midnight tonight."
Among the five gods, none of them has "fate" as their main duty. Therefore, the "God of Fate" that the ring sorcerers usually refer to is an old god who has fallen.
The smile on his face became distorted, it was a kind of hatred after a long-term hostility towards the enemy. Although Xia De didn't even know the existence of this person a few minutes ago, the fight between the two had lasted for several rounds:
"You are so lucky, young man. Can you tell me how you made that drop of blood fall? The Silver Eyed One asked me to find the lost statue. Do you know how much I have paid for you?"
The man's voice gradually became low and suppressed, but Xia De still didn't speak. He really didn't expect that someone would hate him so deeply.
"I've been looking for you tonight, through the eighth chance in this book, to increase the possibility of our meeting. But you are so lucky tonight, and I'm curious, why are you running around when you come to the party?"
The man in the burgundy suit had a distorted expression, but his questioning tone was not a disguise:
"I set up several locations for you and went to look for you, but you kept moving. You even ran to the stables, and I almost got into a fight with someone. Are you really here for the banquet, not the race?"
Xia De opened his mouth, not knowing how to answer. He couldn't explain this matter.
"While I'm playing Rhodes here, this should be your chance, right?"
He was panicking in his heart, but his tone remained calm. It seemed impossible to escape, but perhaps he could use the magic of pretending to be immortal to get away with it.
"But there are too many people here. For the Blood Feast Lord's Advent Ceremony, I cannot disturb the Orthodox Church before the ceremony begins... Your luck is so good that when I almost caught you, I frequently encountered the Orthodox Church's ring warlock team. Young sir, do you know how much I paid for your good luck tonight?"
His tone suddenly became cold. He shook his sleeve to cover his charred left arm, and looked at Shade with his snake-like yellow eyes:
"Look, you finally came to see me. Luck is just luck after all, and I have power! Damn it, I must see what your heart looks like later! Do you know how much I have paid for you?"
This statement made Xia De feel a little numb.
The man placed the small book on the stone table and motioned for Shad to sit across from him.
Of course, Xia De didn't want to do this, but as the man's more and more terrifying aura emerged, the blood-red chain seemed to dance behind him. The chain was like a snake, and the stabbing pain in his heart forced Xia De to walk to another stone bench next to the stone table.
The man in the burgundy suit didn't look like a human. Instead, he gave him a feeling of wildness and danger, like a wild animal. The current situation was almost hopeless.
"Still too weak..."
The depressing atmosphere made him breathless, but there was no despair in his heart. Until the last moment, he would never lose faith in survival.
"Okay, sir, take out all the relics on you. Take your time and don't act rashly."
After Xia De sat down, the man said, and then took out the pen from his chest:
"There are still two chances left to use the script. For you, I am willing to waste one chance. But I won't pay the price and let you die directly. I want to make you feel even greater pain!"
He uncapped his pen and wrote on the puppeteer's script, reading out the contents as he wrote, as if he were reciting a poem:
"Oh, the person on the other side,
Please give up your arms.
Disarm,
Throw away the power,
you,
There will be nothing left.”