"fairy tales?"
"Yes, the ancient fairy tale 'The Water of Wisdom'. My writer friend mentioned this to me."
Xia De nodded, turned around and raised the portable kerosene lamp in his hand to illuminate the stone tablet, coughed and translated:
"Kings, warriors, and scholars seek out the wise man of the lake, hoping to learn how to solve their problems. The wise man, who lives alone, draws water from the lake with a pitcher and claims that this is the water of wisdom that can bring them answers. But each person must ask his own questions, and only the most difficult ones are worthy of using this treasure."
Xia De paused for a moment, and slowly moved the kerosene lamp in his hand downwards:
"The king proposed the problem of governing the kingdom, the brave man proposed the problem of defeating the evil dragon, and the scholar proposed the problem of cracking the ancient magic box. In order to obtain the water of wisdom, the king sent out his army to defeat the evil dragon, the brave man swung his sword to smash the magic box, and the scholar proposed a way to govern the kingdom. Everyone gained wisdom, so the wise man poured the water back into the lake."
Reaching forward and touching the stone tablet to confirm that it was not a relic, Xia De read out the last words:
Knowledge is power, and extraordinary wisdom is the most valuable wealth.
The last line of text was in cursive ancient letters, a common way of ending fairy tales to summarize the ideas expressed in the story or to elevate the theme - Dorothy thought this was to make the story seem more profound than the writers thought.
"That's all it says, Sister. Of course, some of the letters are vague, so I'm guessing at the meaning. The details may be wrong, but this is the general story."
He took a step back and stood with Sister Defulin, looking at the stone tablet:
"In the past few months, I have often encountered situations where the story itself is a metaphor for things that happened in the past. The nun, perhaps the king, the warrior and the scholar, themselves represent a kind of divided but united force. Once these ancient fairy tales are connected with legends, they are really more interesting the more you think about them."
Xia De smiled. Folk customs, fairy tales and literature are the contemporary keys to the past, and outsiders are very interested in them.
The fairy tale "Water of Wisdom" is very famous in this world. It is an interesting and educational fairy tale. It is not only a piece of literature itself, but also has been adapted into many versions of dramas and operas. In different versions, the three professions of king, warrior and scholar are replaced by gamblers, knights, merchants, and even dragons, but the flow of the story is roughly the same.
In the opera, the three visitors are usually presented in one act each as a trip to the lake, one as a conversation with the scholar, and the last act as a mutual resolution of the problem.
This is a local fairy tale more famous than "The Kiss of the Tree". Its exploration of honor, wisdom and unity still influences contemporary literature in the steam age. The concept of "Water of Wisdom" represents the non-existent but tempting wisdom, which also deeply affects the thinking about wisdom and sin - all the above are mentioned by the blonde writer and Shad.
Xia De was quite confident that this fairy tale was not brought to this world by himself, a foreigner, but a local fairy tale.
Sister Defulin hesitated for a moment and nodded slightly:
"Although the content is somewhat unexpected, at least it is not completely fruitless. It seems that the cult will need to seek help from some ring sorcerers who are proficient in ancient literature."
Dorothy and Lecia are both very proficient in fairy tales, but Sister Defulin may need to find someone who is more proficient in these fairy tales than them:
"Sister, do you know the Priory of the Guiding Light?"
Shade thought for a moment and asked, then took one last look at the stone tablet and turned and left with Sister Defulin.
The nun wearing the silver eyepatch nodded slightly:
"Yes, they believe in doomsday theory and are actively preparing for it. But the monastic order does not have any public organizations, so it is difficult to find them."
"I know several of them. One of them guards the lighthouse in Coldwater Harbor and runs the black market for ring sorcerers. I'll tell you his location, and you can send someone to ask him for advice."
This is Mr. Edmund, the folklorist, whom Shad is talking about.
"Okay, there is also a Snake Heart Hospital in the area surrounding Coldwater Harbor."
Sister Defulin hesitated:
"Shad, you are willing to help the cult, and we will not treat our friends unfairly. Last Wednesday on the cliff of Mount Xikar, you said you didn't want anything in return, but just wanted to know the truth. But I can't tell you whether the end of the world is real, so, what else do you need?"
In fact, the first fire itself is power, and Xia De does not need the nun to provide any more rewards. But seeing that this nun, who usually speaks in a cold and cold manner, looks very determined at this time, he thought about it:
"Does the spiritual cult know the true legends about gods? For example, gods once left their power in a certain place, or some evil cults hold some special items, or saints once stayed in a certain place."
This was a preparation for the next drop of divinity. If Shade could find the divinity sealed in the material world again, such as the gift box of God and the golden pearl of the fishman, then of course he would not need to use the blasphemous cross to extract it. But if he was unlucky, he might have to face God again.
The nun thought for a moment:
"There are many such legends all over the Old World, but the more authentic ones I can think of for now are the 'Hunting Ceremony of the God of Ice and Snow' in the far north of the Old World, the legend of the 'Lady of the Lake' near the city of Huntington in Carsonrick in the middle of the Old World, and the story about the forest spirit in the primeval forest at the southern end of the Old World."
Shade wrote down this information and planned to consult Mr. Edmund again. The nun added:
"Although I don't know what you want to do, it must be very dangerous to explore these legends related to the great ones. The library of the cult has a lot of books. If you need, you can come here at any time through the entrance of the Snake Heart Hospital in Middleburg. Shad, you are a friend of the cult."
She retracted the flames burning in the center of the sacrificial field, drew out the Ashes Sword, and left with Shade.
Ask her something.
A murmur sounded in his ears, and Xia De suddenly asked again:
"Sister, when you arrived at Lake Bena on Wednesday night and saw my cat, I mean, when you saw Mia, did it already have the blood-red ring on its tail?"
"Yes."
Xia De widened his eyes slightly and asked again:
"After the Battle of Midhill Castle, did the church find other relics related to vampires in Mount Sikar?"
The nun nodded:
"Yes, after the god left, he did not take the relics used for summoning. Now, these relics have been moved to different parishes to prevent them from being gathered by vampires again."
Shad was finally relieved. The vampire ring appeared on Mia's tail. Perhaps after he defeated the God of Vampires, the ring happened to fall on the shore of Lake Bena and was picked up by the cat who was waiting for Shad.
That afternoon, Shad stayed at the spiritual order's residence, listening to Sister Defulin's introduction to the order and learning from her how to better utilize the primordial fire.
In the evening, Sister Defulin sent Shade back to Midhill Castle. The autumn rain had just stopped, and although there was a lot of water on the road, it was no longer raining. Shade took a carriage from the Snake Heart Hospital to the Loranta Manor where Miss Aurora lived.
The matter of the third chosen one was over, and the great witch was about to leave Midhill Castle. She still remembered that Shade had promised to attend the banquet she hosted, so during dinner that evening, she formally invited Shade to attend her farewell banquet on Wednesday.
Xia De naturally agreed. Although he was eager to find a new divinity, he had decided to put aside other things for the time being and take a break to relieve the fatigue since the beginning of autumn.
It was already eight o'clock in the evening when Shad returned home from Midhill Castle. He went to the apartment rented by Luvia and at ten o'clock, he threw the flame from the kerosene lamp into the brazier that Luvia had found.
Sister Defulin's clone walked out of the brazier, but because it was a long-distance clone, it was almost a projection and did not even have the ability to fight. But this was enough, after all, this was just for a conversation.
What Luvia talked about with Sister Defulin, Shade didn't know, because he didn't stay, but went home exhausted, leaving Luvia to talk alone. The purple-eyed girl seemed to have something she didn't want Shade to know, and Shade respected her secret.
But when he used the key to open the door, the lights in the hallway and on the stairs were on. Xia De hesitated for a moment, as he clearly remembered turning off the lights when he left:
"A thief in the house? Who would be so bold as to commit a robbery in the St. Teresa's Square?"
He went upstairs with the cat that had come downstairs to greet him, and only then did he see that it was Dorothy sitting on the sofa.
Hearing the footsteps, the writer stood up from the sofa:
"Good evening, Shad. I'm here to return my keys."
She shook the key in her hand, which was given to her by Shad on Saturday night, but because a lot of things happened that night, Shad forgot to take the key back.
"Return the key? No thanks, this key belongs to you."
Xia De said as he hung his coat on the hanger at the door:
"Don't you often come to my place to look through the detective records in the study? With this key, you can come in anytime even if I'm not at home."
He tried to keep his tone normal.
"It belongs to me?"
The blonde girl smiled brightly and didn't refuse. She carefully put it into her skirt pocket:
"This Wednesday, the first volume of Hamilton's Detective Stories will be released. I brought you a box of books, and you can give them to your friends. I put those books in your study... But, when I passed by your bedroom door just now, why is your bed gone?"
"It collapsed after Saturday night. Later, Resia's maid came to pick up the carpet and the flowers, and also took away the remains of the bed. Resia said she would pick out new furniture for me this week and redecorate the bedroom."
Shade said hesitantly, trying not to let his weird expression show.
But the writer almost immediately understood what he wanted to say. She blushed slightly, wanting to laugh but feeling shy:
"Really? Lecia was so excited that night. I'll talk to Lecia tomorrow and ask her to get you a new bed as soon as possible. Otherwise, are you going to sleep on the sofa? ... It will definitely be solid this time."