Whispering Verse

"Did you really find the lake in the end?"

Shade asked. Professor Drake looked at the red photo album and nodded slightly:

"Yes, that lake is actually called the 'Lake of the Wise Men', or the 'Lake of the Cherubim'. The famous fairy tale "Water of Wisdom" is actually adapted from our legend. , or at least related to the legends we have here. But young man, I can't give you any more details. Look at my legs. I just remember that I found a way to the lake, and then hid it from everyone. Go look for it. When I was discovered again, I would be like this."

Shade 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 make a copy of my research data and take it away with you. I just hope, Mr. Watson, if you can really find the 'Lady of the Lake' again, can you help me find out what I promised you back then?" What wish?"

"Is this important? I thought you had let it go."

"I felt like I had let go before, but"

Professor Drake looked at the sunshine outside:

"I'm so old, I might die in a few years. Before I die, I really want to know what wishes I exchanged for my legs. I really want to know."

Shade could feel his sadness and nodded:

"If I can find it and don't have to pay any price, I'm willing to help you inquire. 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 it doesn't scare you."

The maid pushed the professor out from behind the desk, and the professor took the red blanket away. Under the blanket was a pair of half-length legs. The trouser legs were tied up at the knees, and the part below the knees was completely non-existent.

Shade was a little surprised and wanted to apologize for his rude behavior. Unexpectedly, the professor took the initiative to let the servant untie his trouser legs, rolled them up, and exposed the broken knee.

It's very flat there, as flat as the human body itself.

"Is there any pain?"

Shade knelt on one knee on the carpet and looked 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 didn't feel any pain."

"How long have you been missing?"

"I set out on a Wednesday in the fall and was discovered on a Thursday afternoon."

It is impossible for the wound to heal so quickly in one day, not to mention that the neat cross-section does not look like it will recover naturally.

Shade suddenly reached out his hand, touched the professor's leg, and then quickly stood up.

[You have come into contact with a miracle. A very weak miracle. 】

"It seems like a miracle that we really found the right target this time."

Thinking in his mind, he said to the professor:

"I understand. If I can find the Lady of the Lake, I will try to figure out what you experienced back then."

He took his wallet out of his pocket and took 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 Bernhard will send someone to copy the materials. These five pounds are considered as the materials fee and the cost of copying."

The professor silently asked the servant to tie his trousers again. When Shade was about to leave, he suddenly asked:

"Young man, you said you were mainly looking for materials, but I think you just wanted to find something. What exactly are you looking for?"

Shade held the cursed photo tightly in his right hand and said softly:

"That is what I am willing to pursue throughout my life."

This photo that Professor Drake obtained many years ago is 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 many years later, because Shade "saw" it in its entirety, he passed on the curse to Shade.

Different curses have different forms of expression, 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 edge of Shade's vision will still remain. The woman with only half her body exposed kept appearing.

After Shade left Professor Drake's house, as long as there was a suitable cover at the edge of his field of vision, the woman who was more terrifying than the evil spirit would appear at the corner of the alley, behind the carriage, and behind the open shop door. , revealing his upper body and head, looking at Shade with a malicious face.

Even when the flying newspapers accidentally passed in front of Sha De, the woman actually appeared from behind the newspaper and almost pressed her face against Sha De's face. Even though Shade had seen a wide variety of evil spirits in Middleburg, he was still frightened and took two steps back at that moment.

According to "her" judgment, this is of course an illusion caused by the curse and will not cause actual harm to Shade.

The environments that can cause actual impact are relatively confined spaces such as narrow alleys. When Shade walked into the alley, the scary haired woman would try to lean out and get closer to Shade.

Shade 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 like being in a horror novel continued, something more difficult to control would definitely happen.

He had to find a way to solve the trouble as soon as possible, and the Zhengshen Church had a professional solution to this kind of curse, but now it was inconvenient for Shade to go to the church, so he could only return to the center of Huntington City to seek help from the Great Witch. And because he couldn't enter a confined space like a closed carriage carriage, Shade finally found a roofless taxi.

This type of carriage was popular a few decades ago, but is now rare.

At this time, Miss Sylvia had returned to the Rothschild Manor where the princess was staying. Shade had no good reason to go to her, so he could only pay someone to send a letter to the manor, claiming in the letter that Sylvia The brand new books and periodicals ordered by Miss Via have arrived at the Owl Library.

As expected, the witch immediately guessed the meaning of the letter, and soon came to the Owl Library club to meet Shade. After entering the room, she noticed something was wrong with Shade almost immediately:

"Did you come into contact with the relic with the Whispering element in you?"

"It's the curse of the relic."

Shade placed the back of the photo on the table and rolled up the sleeve of his right arm while briefly introducing the origin of the photo. He had just touched the photo with his right hand, so his right hand was the most severely affected.

Visible to the naked eye, there is a dark black mark on Shade's right arm that looks like a birthmark. If you look closely, it looks like a terrifying human face.

"You have really nice skin."

The big witch said casually, stretched out her fingers and rubbed Shade's arm:

"It's not a big problem. It's just the remnants of the cursed power of the relic. A simple ritual can remove it."

"That's great. Now in my eyes, that scary woman with her hair down is still looking at me."

Shade said with some trouble:

"Right behind you."

"It's just an illusion, don't worry."

The witch said easily, quite sure that there was nothing behind her.

Shade put down his sleeves again and tapped the photo:

"So do you know what relic this is?"

"Yes, the teacher and I have conducted in-depth research on the relics in the Pantanal region. Although we are not sure, there is a high probability that they are sage-level relics [Swamp Witch]."

"Is it really a humanoid relic?"

"Yes, and the origin of this relic is very clear. It was originally an ordinary woman living in the Fourth Age, but you also know how dark and terrifying the Fourth Age is. The body of the relic suffered extremely horrific things during its lifetime. I After an incident that I don’t even want to describe, the body was abandoned in the swamp. The chaotic environment and the resentment during life resurrected the body into an undead. This undead wandered in the swamp. When the era changed, it did not know when it became a relic. .”

"What properties does it have?"

"It will give good-hearted women who are lost in the swamp a way out, and maybe even protect them. But for impure-hearted women and for any man, a curse like the one you suffered will be imposed.

Of course, you have not seen it, but you are still cursed because anyone who records its existence in any way will be cursed, regardless of gender. Only special rolls of kraft paper can securely record such relics. According to the records of the Council, the curse released by the [Swamp Witch] will corrupt the soul and corrupt the corpse. It only takes a few minutes to turn a healthy living person into a manipulated relic token, and the effect is greatly reduced by being cursed by viewing the record. Although the Ringmancer has some resistance to this type of curse, he cannot be affected by it for long. "

At Miss Sylvia's suggestion, Shade burned the photo that recorded the appearance of the relic. Later, the witch borrowed the basement of the library and arranged a ritual for Shade, successfully freeing him from the illusion of a terrifying woman at the edge of his vision.

But Miss Sylvia also warned Shad that even if the curse was expelled, there would still be traces of the curse on him. Therefore, Shade will be more likely to encounter the true form of [Swamp Witch] than normal people. When Shade actually encounters the true form of the relic, the other party will immediately discover that Shade has got rid of the curse, so they will be more aggressive towards him.

"The remaining traces of this curse will disappear within a few weeks. Shade, you should not go near the west of Huntingdon City recently."

The Witch gives advice, but the bad news is that Shade must get closer to the area to determine the true location of the "Lady of the Lake."

The ashes from the burned photos were regarded as a special curse material. With Shade's consent, all the ashes were given to Miss Sylvia. Shade also wanted to pay for this "treatment", but the young witch refused:

"Miss Carina, have you mentioned my financial situation?"

she asked suspiciously.

"of course not."

Shade immediately shook his head. Although he always hated lying, sometimes some lies were still necessary.

"I'm not short of money, I'm just planning for the future. We are friends now, how can I accept your money?"

She turned to leave, and Shade noticed that the woman's ears were a little red.