"Did you finally find the lake?"
Shade asked, and Professor Drake flipped through the red album and nodded slightly:
"Yes, in fact, that lake is called the 'Lake of the Wise', or the 'Lake of the Cherubim'. The famous fairy tale 'The Water of Wisdom' is actually adapted from our legend, or at least is related to our legend. But young man, I can't give you more details. Look at my legs. I only remember that I found the way to the lake and then hid it from everyone. When I was found again, I looked like this now."
Xia De frowned slightly:
"You don't remember anything?"
"Yes, I don't remember anything. I have no idea what happened. I'm not even sure if I really found the goddess, but something strange must have happened that year."
The professor sighed:
"You can ask someone to copy my research materials and take them away. I just hope, Mr. Watson, if you can really find the 'Lady of the Lake' again, can you help me ask what wish I made that year?"
"Is this important? I thought you had let it go."
“I felt like I had let it go before, but…”
Professor Drake looked at the sunlight outside:
"I'm so old, I might die in a few years. Before I die, I really want to know what wish I have exchanged for with my legs. I really want to know."
Xia De could sense his disappointment and nodded:
"If I can find it, and it doesn't cost me anything, I'd like to ask for you. Also, can I take a look at your legs? I just have some doubts about the condition of your legs."
The professor was silent for a moment:
"I hope I don't scare you."
The maid pushed the professor out from behind the desk, and the professor took away the red blanket. Under the blanket was a pair of half legs, with the trouser legs tied up at the knees, and the part below the knees was completely non-existent.
Xia De was a little surprised and wanted to apologize for his rash behavior. Unexpectedly, the professor took the initiative to ask the servant to untie his tied trouser legs and roll them up, revealing the broken knees.
It is very flat there, as flat as the human body itself.
"Are you feeling any pain?"
Xia De knelt on one knee on the carpet, looking at the cross section in surprise and asked.
"No, my legs were already like this when I was found unconscious in the countryside east of the city. I don't feel any pain at all."
"How long were you missing?"
“I set out on a Wednesday in the fall and was spotted on Thursday afternoon.”
It is impossible for a wound to heal so quickly in one day, not to mention that the neat cross-section does not look like it has healed naturally.
Xia De suddenly reached out his hand, touched the professor's leg, and then quickly stood up.
You were exposed to a miracle. A very faint miracle.
"Miracle... It seems that we have found the right target this time."
Thinking in his heart, he said to the professor:
"I see. If I can find the Lady of the Lake, I will try to find out what happened to you back then."
He took his wallet from his pocket and pulled out five one-pound notes:
“I’ll take this photo.”
As he spoke, he picked up the lake view photo on the desktop:
"Tomorrow, Viscount Bernhardt will send someone to transcribe the information. These five pounds are for the information and transcription fees."
The professor silently let the servant tie up his trouser legs again. When Xia De was about to leave, he suddenly asked:
"Young man, you said you were here mainly to collect materials, but I thought you just wanted to find something. What exactly do you want to find?"
Holding the cursed photo tightly in his right hand, Xia De said softly:
"That is... what I am willing to pursue throughout my life."
This photo that Professor Drake obtained many years ago was not a relic, otherwise it would not have been kept by the professor for so many years without any problems. But this photo did record the appearance of a terrifying humanoid cursed relic, and today, many years later, because Shade "saw" it in its entirety, the curse was passed on to Shade.
Different curses have different manifestations, and in the current form of this curse, the pollution of the spirit and the decay of the body are temporarily suppressed by the blazing first fire, but the woman with only half of her body exposed will continue to appear at the edge of Shade's vision.
After Shad left Professor Drake's house, as long as there was a suitable cover at the edge of his vision, the woman who was more terrifying than a ghost would appear at various places, including but not limited to alley corners, behind carriages, and behind open shop doors, with her upper body and head exposed, looking at Shad with a malicious face.
Even when the flying newspaper happened to pass in front of Shad, the woman appeared from behind the newspaper and almost put her face against Shad's. Even though Shad had seen a wide variety of evil spirits in Middlesbrough, he was still frightened and took two steps back at that moment.
According to "her" judgment, this was of course an illusion caused by the curse and would not cause any actual harm to Shad.
The environment that can actually have an impact is a relatively closed space such as a narrow alley. When Xia De walked into the alley, the terrifying woman with long hair would try to stick her body out and approach Xia De.
Xia De didn't know what would happen once he came into contact with the other party. Although it was just an illusion for the time being, if this experience, which was like being in a horror novel, continued, something even more uncontrollable would definitely happen.
He had to find a way to solve the problem as soon as possible. The Orthodox Church had a professional solution for this curse, but it was inconvenient for Shade to go to the church now, so he could only return to the center of Huntington to seek help from the Great Witch. And because he could not enter a closed carriage, Shade finally found a roofless rental carriage.
This type of carriage was popular decades ago, but is rarely seen now.
At this time, Miss Sylvia had returned to Rothschild Manor where the princess was staying. Shad had no good reason to look for her, so he could only pay someone to send a letter to the manor, claiming that the new books and magazines ordered by Miss Sylvia had arrived at the Owl Library.
As expected, the witch guessed the meaning of the letter immediately, and soon came to the club of the Owl Library to meet Shade. After entering the room, she almost immediately noticed that something was wrong with Shade:
"The whispering element in you... have you touched the relic?"
"It's the curse of the relic."
Xia De placed the photo with its back facing up on the table, briefly explaining the origin of the photo while rolling up the sleeve of his right arm. He had just touched the photo with his right hand, so his right hand was most seriously affected.
Visible to the naked eye, there was a dark mark on Xia De's right arm that looked like a birthmark, and upon closer inspection it looked like a terrifying human face.
“You have really nice skin.”
The Great Witch said casually, and rubbed Shade's arm with her fingers:
"It's not a big problem. It's just the remnant of the curse power of the relic. A simple ritual can remove it."
"That's great. Now in my eyes, that scary woman with loose hair is still looking at me."
Xia De said with some trouble:
"Right behind you."
"It's an illusion, don't worry."
The witch said easily, quite sure that there was nothing behind her.
Xia De put his sleeves down again and tapped the photo:
"Then do you know what this relic is?"
"Yes, my teacher and I have done in-depth research on the relics in the Pantanal region. Although I can't be sure, it is likely to be a sage-level relic of the Swamp Witch."
“Is it really a humanoid relic?”
"Yes, and the origin of this relic is very clear. It was originally an ordinary woman who lived in the Fourth Epoch, but you also know how dark and terrible the Fourth Epoch was. The relic suffered extremely horrible things in her life, things I don't even want to describe, and her body was abandoned in the swamp. The chaotic environment and the resentment in her life caused the body to revive as a ghost. This ghost wandered in the swamp. When the era changed, it became a relic without knowing when."
"What are its properties?"
"It will give good-hearted women who are lost in the swamp directions to leave, and may even protect them. But for women with impure hearts and any men, it will impose a curse similar to the one you suffered.
Of course, you haven't seen it, but you are still cursed because anyone who records its existence in any way will be cursed, regardless of gender. Only special brown paper rolls can safely record such relics. According to the records of the Council, the curse released by the swamp witch will corrupt the soul and rot the body. It only takes a few minutes to turn a healthy living person into a manipulated derivative of the relic, and the effect will be greatly weakened by watching the record. Although the ring warlock has a certain resistance to this kind of curse, it cannot be affected by it for a long time. "
At Miss Sylvia's suggestion, Shade burned the photo that recorded the relic's appearance. Afterwards, the witch borrowed the basement of the library and arranged a ritual for Shade, successfully getting rid of the illusion of the terrifying woman at the edge of his vision.
But Miss Sylvia also warned Shad that even if the curse was expelled, he would still have traces of the curse. Therefore, Shad would be more likely to encounter the Swamp Witch's true form than a normal person, and when Shad really encountered the relic's true form, the other party would immediately discover that Shad had gotten rid of the curse, and would therefore be more aggressive towards him.
"The remaining traces of this curse will disappear within a few weeks, Shad, so please don't go near the western part of Huntington City recently."
The witch gave advice, but the bad news was that Shad had to get closer to the area to determine the true location of the "Lady of the Lake."
The ashes from the burned photos were considered a special cursed material, and with Shade's consent, all the ashes were given to Miss Sylvia. Shade also wanted to pay for this "treatment", but was rejected by the young witch:
"Ms. Carina, did you mention my financial situation?"
She asked suspiciously.
"Of course not."
Xia De immediately shook his head. Although he always hated lying, sometimes some lies were still necessary.
"I'm not really short of money, I'm just planning for the future. We're friends now, how could I possibly take your money?"
As she turned to leave, Shad noticed that the woman's ears were somewhat red.