Whispering Verse

The coin fell, and the skinny man wiped the water from his face, and immediately reached out to pick it up with a smile on his face, but Shade, who was about to turn around and leave, stopped again:

"What's that on your chest?"

The man's front was soaked with water, so Shade could see a strange-looking metal pendant hanging around his neck. The man knew how powerful Shade was and quickly took out the pendant. The black round metal was in the shape of a swirl:

"This is the mark of the 'Uniformed One'."

"What?"

Xia De asked in surprise. During his preliminary investigation, he had never heard of any local beliefs and legends such as the "Reunifier".

The man was worried that Shade would force him to sober up again, so he hurriedly explained:

"I'm not lying. This is the legend of our village. There are also people who believe it in the nearby villages: everything originates from the same point and will return to its original origin. As long as those who believe in the return come, when the day of return comes, He can lead us to become the last survivor, and then everyone will have everything."

"He? The One is human?"

Shade was even more confused.

"I don't know, I just heard other people say this. And I don't really believe it, how could such a good thing happen... But as long as you put this mark on, you are a unified person, and usually you can There is no need to offer money or do other things, and the other party does not claim to be a god in any blasphemous way... Anyway, it does not require money, and it is not a crime, so it should be okay to believe it? Maybe, it is really true. Woolen cloth?"

The man said, and Shade asked for the badge and checked it to make sure it was just an ordinary item:

"When did the legend of the Unified One appear? Where did you get this badge? Where did the others get their badges?"

Shade asked again, took out his wallet and threw him another coin. The man answered with a smile:

"Thank you, thank you! I mean, this legend must have been around for a long time, right? At least my grandfather knew it. But outsiders must not know it. After all, it sounds ridiculous, and only a few villagers in several villages around Green Lake have heard of it. However, after all, no one took the initiative to promote it.

I picked up this badge, oh, don't do it! Don't do it, I really picked it up from the lake! I don't know about the other people's badges. They were either passed down from their parents' generation or they were picked up. But few people wear them, so it doesn't sound real, but children are happy to play pretend games with such badges. "

Shade asked some more questions, and then determined that the "Reunifier" mentioned by the man was a regional rumor. Such rumors will appear more or less in different areas because of the different education levels of the residents. Even if the church is informed, the church will only conduct a brief investigation.

After all, this matter does not involve supernatural and occult science, or even fraud. Apart from the odd black badge, one can't even find any evidence of the true existence of the "Reunifier" rumors other than verbally.

Shade wrote down this incident, and then followed the man's instructions to the dock of Pukhov Village. Leaving the village from the pier to the west along the lakeside, after meeting two fishermen fishing leisurely, they saw the courtyard standing on the shore of Green Lake.

It is said to be a "villa", but in fact it is just a three-story building surrounded by a courtyard. There was no one guarding the outside of the yard, so Shade walked in directly, but there were three people in the yard teasing the black dog guarding the door.

A three-story building stands in it, and the curtains on all the windows are drawn. Just when Shade and the three people walking towards him were about to speak after seeing him, the door of the three-story building opened, and an unexpected person walked out.

"Professor Boulanger?"

Walking out with the two young men wearing glasses was the professor of geology and folklore whom Shade met on the carriage when he first went to Michaela Blast Furnace City.

The professor was wearing a black formal suit, black boots on his feet, and holding a document bag in his hand. He was also surprised to see Shad here:

"Isn't this Mr. Watson?"

"Hello, professor."

Shade looked behind the professor and the two young students again. The man with an eyepatch on his right eye was the last to come out. He glanced at his three men and looked at Shade warily. Shade explained:

"Captain Rades introduced me here. I have a note here."

"Bad Eyes Barry" then nodded:

"Please come in, the person introduced by the captain is trustworthy."

Seeing that Shade still had something to do, Professor Boulanger stopped talking to him:

"Mr. Watson, my two students and I will go to the village tavern to sit down. If you have time later, you can meet us in the tavern."

"Okay, Professor."

Shade said with a smile, bid farewell to Professor Boulanger, and followed "Bad Eyes Barry" into the door.

"Um?"

The moment he stepped into the door, his nose suddenly twitched, and then he looked suspiciously at the middle-aged man leading the way. The latter is shorter than Shade, has a well-proportioned figure, and has very fair skin.

"Does it smell bad?"

he asked in his mind.

【Yes. 】

"The smell of water ghost?"

【Very similar. 】

Shade glanced at the interior of this normally decorated house with his peripheral vision, and then took two steps forward.

[Ring Warlock, three rings. 】

"She" reminded gently, while Shade had already frowned.

The one-eyed man took Shade to the second floor, which was similar to a reception room, except that the reception room was far from comparable to the reception rooms of nobles or even Dr. Schneider's clinic.

Shade didn't get the hot tea, but he didn't care. After sitting down, he spoke to the one-eyed man with his legs crossed across the table:

"I'm looking for a group of grave robbers. Although Captain Rades introduced me, I will pay for the intelligence fee."

"Who are you looking for? Although there are not many ancient ruins in the Green Lake area, there are also many ordinary tomb robbers. Are you looking for the guy who stole the corpse, or the guy who stole the funerary objects? What are the characteristics of the other party?"

The man wearing an eyepatch sat on the single sofa opposite Shade. This set of sofas was quite dirty, as if it had not been washed for many years. The Common Tongue he used was quite standard, better than most people Shad had met.

"Someone landed on the central island of Green Lake two years ago and took some things. I'm looking for those people."

"Bad-eyed Barry" frowned and thought for a moment;

"Two years ago? Central Island in Green Lake? Wait a moment, let me think about it..."

Because he knew that the other party was a ring warlock, Shade was worried that the one-eyed man himself was related to the theft, so he kept observing the other party's expression. But fortunately, the other party didn't show any signs of surprise.

"Yes, it seems that there is such a thing. An outsider hired a gang of local 'black rats' and claimed that he knew a secret tomb of the Edwards family."

"Where are these people now?"

Shade was overjoyed. He didn't expect it to go so smoothly. He didn't even use the clue about the pen. Being able to find local snakes is indeed very important.

The one-eyed man completely remembered this matter, and he also frowned:

"No more. The Black Rats are a well-known local group of tomb robbers. When they came back from the island with the foreigner two and a half years ago, they lost half of their people, but the remaining ones were all seriously injured. Wealth. But then I heard that everyone who landed on the island was seriously ill or crazy, and these people died one after another."

"Isn't this strange? Everyone who landed on the island died?"

Shade asked deliberately, and the one-eyed man glanced at him suspiciously:

"Sir, are you not a local? The central island of Green Lake is called the 'Devil's Island' by us locals. Since they dare to go there to rob tombs, they will definitely not end well."

"Are you sure they are all dead?"

he asked again.

"I don't know about the stranger, but all the members of the Black Rat are probably dead. At least I haven't heard from them for a long time... If you want exact information, I can help you. Check it out. It’s just that the price will be a little higher. Of course, for Captain Rades’ sake, you can get a slight discount.”

He twirled his fingers and Shade nodded:

“As long as we can find people, money is not an issue.”

"That's so generous. Do you want to find out more about that island? I may have information you are interested in."

The one-eyed man asked again with a smile. Shade shook his head:

"I just want to find those tomb robbers, forget about the island."

He knew that the other party was a ring warlock, so he didn't reveal much information:

"When should I come to you?"

"One day is enough. Tomorrow, Friday afternoon. But you don't have to come here. I also have my own place in the city. Find me there."

He put the business card on the table and pushed it in front of Sha De. Sha De nodded:

"Hopefully there will be good news by then."

A 1-kronor gold coin was bounced by him and landed on the edge of the coffee table in front of the man:

"This is the deposit."

"no problem."

With that said, Bad-Eyed Barry got up and sent Shade to the door downstairs, and then watched Shade walk along the lakeshore towards the village.

【Just left like this? Don’t you want to see what’s going on with the water ghost smell on his body? 】

"She" in his ear asked softly, and Shade shook his head:

"Since I'm investigating the tomb robbers related to that island, I will definitely arouse his vigilance. Investigating now will only disrupt my own plan. It's better to wait for him to give me the information tomorrow, and then there will be plenty of time to figure it out... ...Water ghosts are not fish people. There is no concept of population and reproduction for this kind of undead, so the other party must not be some kind of semi-water ghost... Are you raising water ghosts by the lake? What a coincidence, Appearing at this time..."

It was already noon. After returning to the village, Shade went to the tavern. On the one hand, I wanted to talk to Professor Boulanger, and on the other hand, I also wanted to fill my stomach.

Professor Boulanger and his party sat against the wall of the tavern. When Shade approached the tavern, they waved to him.