Whispering Verse

Now that the police have found the murderer and think they have discovered the truth, the case is over. According to the general rules, the hotel owner still needs to go to the police station to make a record, but when Shade said that he needed to talk to the boss, the police chief immediately said that the record could be made tomorrow.

"That's right, I want to know something related to the local fire worship tradition."

After the police and the murderer were sent away, the body was also put on a stretcher and carried away. The anxious hotel owner Mr. Thales called Shade to the backyard of the hotel. It was the only place where no one was now. The two had a conversation by the chicken coop. .

"Well~ I thought it was a tax inspection. Ahem, I mean it's no problem."

Mr. Thales was obviously relieved:

"What I believe in is my Lord [Lord of All Things]. This is the belief of my fathers. As for worshiping fire, I think this can also be regarded as part of the belief in the Lord of All Things. After all, fire is also a part of nature."

"But I want to know, are there any strange local legends about fire worship? I am actually a writer."

The bearded shop owner obviously didn't believe it. He thought for a while before hesitatingly said:

"Indeed, I heard my parents mention this when I was a child. It is said that there is a huge creature that can spit fire under the Sikal Mountain. A long time ago, it protected the ancestors living on this land. "

"How many messy things are there under Xikal Mountain? Isn't this the ancient one who sealed the passage to the top of the mountain? The dragon that breathes fire?"

Xia De thought in his mind, and then asked hesitantly:

"What is that giant creature?"

"I don't know about that."

Mr. Thales shook his head, but then said:

"Father mentioned that before the Church of Nature came to Fort Midhill, our ancestors believed in and worshiped flames. Later, our ancestors accepted the faith of the Church of Nature and recognized that flames are part of our Lord. But even so, then This primitive flame worship period also left some symbols and records, which were accepted by the Natural Church as part of itself. Now in the Fort Midhill area, some Aboriginal people whose ancestors lived in the local area will write on the walls of the kitchen Specific symbols to pray against fires are also part of the local architectural style and folk customs.”

What Mr. Thales is talking about is the process of faith integration in the Sikar Mountain area. If you study it carefully, it is even enough to write a good paper such as "An Examination of the Primitive Flame Worship and Faith Fusion at Fort Midhill".

Unfortunately, Schade is not a folklorist:

"Can I see the hotel kitchen?"

"Of course, please come this way."

He took Shade into the kitchen, and Shade found some ancient or modern writings related to "flame" on the walls, but these were of little significance.

He also wanted to ask Mr. Thales something, but the hotel owner suddenly slapped his head:

"I remembered that my father also left a red stone for me to bury under the kitchen floor. He thought it would ward off fire."

"No, no, there's no need to dig it out."

"No need to dig. I don't believe in such superstition, so I didn't bury it at all."

Mr. Thales said with a smile, and then rummaged through the warehouse alone and found an irregular, almost round red stone. It doesn’t look like a ruby, but rather like some kind of crystal:

"I gave this to you. Thank you for helping to solve the police's troubles."

Mr. Tyers said, but Shade still insisted on paying.

"Looking at the sunlight, you can sometimes see beautiful patterns inside. This is probably some kind of optical phenomenon."

Mr. Thales reminded again, so Shade picked up the stone and pointed it at the sun. I kept trying to adjust the position of the stone, and finally I saw a scene in the red stone——

It was a huge bird flying with its wings spread.

He put down the stone slightly surprised:

"This doesn't look like a pure-blooded dragon, could it be - a phoenix?!"

It was already half past three in the afternoon when he left the hotel, and Shade was going to wait for the August priest at the corner of Oak Street and Punjab Street. Putting his hands in his pockets, he looked left and right at the empty carriages parked on the street, then turned to look at the Sikal Mountains in the distance:

"Is there a phoenix in this mountain? In the local traditional fire worship belief, the worshiped flame is actually it?"

That shouldn't be a god, just an extremely powerful ancient being.

"It's really interesting. How many secrets can this mountain and this city hold?"

At 4:20 in the afternoon, Shade successfully waited for Priest August at the street corner. He was also worried that the church would send people to follow the priest, so after seeing the priest from a distance, Shade nodded to him cautiously, then turned around and walked towards the first alley on the left side of Oak Street.

Unexpectedly, the old priest immediately caught up with him:

"Oh, why are you walking so fast? Do you really think I am a young man of the same age as you?"

The priest asked. After Shade expressed his worries, he immediately shook his head:

"Don't worry, I didn't arouse any suspicion. After all, am I any different from other missing persons?"

Now that the priest said this, Shade felt relieved.

The two of them first went to the tavern facing the street and sat for a while. The priest told Shade what happened after he led the missing people to escape from the [Chamber of Life and Death] yesterday. Then it was dinner time, and Shade unceremoniously asked Priest August to treat him to a meal at a restaurant in the city.

Shade took great risks and went deep into the "Challenge of Life and Death" to rescue the priest. Priest August was very moved. Of course, it was no problem to treat him to a meal.

The old priest, who was relatively familiar with the city, finally chose the Mendungus restaurant located at the foot of the mountain south of the city. This restaurant is located in the southern suburbs of the city, in a somewhat remote location, built against a cliff. The restaurant uses a pure wooden structure to create stairs and dining space on the rock wall. Except for the relatively spacious first floor, each floor is a small room. The protrusion of the rock wall affects the size of the room. At the other end of the room are several large windows made of glass. From the room on the top third floor, you can barely overlook half of the city.

The terrain here is very high, and it is not in the urban area. In addition, the price is a bit high, so the people who eat at Mendungus Restaurant are rich people. In the restaurant, people in formal suits and gowns shuttled under the light of gas lamps. In comparison, Priest August, who had changed into casual clothes, and Shade, who had no clothes to change into, looked very inconspicuous.

The cuisine style of Fort Midhill City incorporates the characteristics of the North, South and mountains at the same time, forming a style that is different from the typical Northland cuisine of Tobesk and the seafood dishes of Coldwater Port. In the current autumn, the price of wild game is extremely low. The game that costs a lot of money in Tobesk is still not cheap here, but at least both Shade and Priest August can afford it.

This may also be because the royal capital area itself has a premium.

During the meal, Shade told the priest what he had seen in the afternoon, and lamented that there were so many people in Kasenlik at Fort Midhill.

"Actually, there are a lot of foreigners in Tobesk, but most of them are outside your scope of activities. As for Fort Midhill, most of the foreigners who come here are businessmen, so we usually see a lot of them."

The old priest said cheerfully:

"I heard the bishop of the local church mentioned that at least 20% of the permanent residents of Fort Midhill are not natives."

"Oh, this number is really exaggerated."

"After all, it is one of the largest cities on the eastern border."

The old man stirred the thick soup in front of him with a spoon.

"If these people knew what was beneath our feet, Fort Midhill probably wouldn't be as busy as it is now."

Shade stamped his foot. Priest August shook his head and lowered his voice:

"Regarding the [Chasm of Life and Death] and the possible death impact, it currently seems impossible to evacuate the citizens of this city in advance."

"Why? For the possible political impact and economic impact?"

"Of course not. Because having a prosperous big city above the [Challenge of Life and Death] is itself part of the seal. The Chasm of Life and Death is connected to the real death, so there must be enough living people on the other side for it to be formed."

"balance."

Shade said, finally understanding what the priest said.

"So, is that really the unknown level?"

He asked again, after all, the non-Orthodox Church’s [Spiritual Cultivation Group] was just a guess.

The priest nodded cautiously:

"The narrow room itself contains three passages, which is considered a complete agnostic level."

The [Desire] that Shade once encountered underground at the Aurora Mansion in Coldwater Port was also of the Unknowable Level. At that time, [Desire] did not show any combat effectiveness. Thinking about it now, even if it has been sealed by divine power for hundreds of years, There is absolutely no way that the other party's abilities are as simple as what Shade saw.

“What is the church going to do now?”

Shade also lowered his voice and used a knife to handle the steak on the plate:

"Behind that door, in the open space before the water, a red-gold bonfire is burning. Until the bonfire goes out, there will be no problem with the door at the bottom of the mountain. And when the bonfire goes out, I will feel something."

The bonfire is the external manifestation of the "Kiss of the Tree" sealing the Door of Death. Because it is Shade's secret lock, even if the two are in different worlds, Shade can vaguely understand the general situation. Moreover, his thaumaturgy [Death Door] can open a gap at any time, allowing Shade to take a look "over there" to confirm the burning status of the bonfire, so he can know the situation of the passage at the foot of Hazama Mountain at any time information.