Xia De and the young scholar were whispering about today's weather, Professor Katya looked at the oil painting with interest, and Rezia was arranging her hair.
Without waiting for too long, the gloomy male servant came back with another tall female servant and invited the four of them to the study to meet Mr. Jude.
The maid I met for the first time looked about the same age as the male servant, with a somewhat plump body, but the same gloomy complexion.
Xia De understands them very well. No matter who lives in this old and depressing house, it is inevitable that there will be emotional problems. Therefore, Xia De is very concerned about the ventilation and sunlight in the home, so as to prevent the cats who are often at home from getting mental illness.
But at least there is no inexplicable blood in Mr. Jude's house, and [Echo of Blood] can't see the obvious halo of blood.
Led by two servants, a group of four left the hall, passed through the living room, and then walked up the stairs.
Not only the foyer area, but the entire house had no lights on. This may be a special habit of ring warlocks. After all, it is common for ring warlocks to be mentally abnormal.
The living room was empty, with a few newspapers on the coffee table, and some oil paintings with unusually depressing colors hung on the wall of the stairs. Different from the oil paintings in the foyer, the oil paintings of the stairs mostly use cool-toned paints to fill the picture with distorted patterns. But Professor Katya, who was in the group, was able to analyze the origin of those paintings clearly and logically. According to him, this is the unique painting style of Lengshuigang. An abstract painting master born in Coldwater Harbor.
Finally came to the second floor, the humidity is still so heavy. The four people who were about to put them arranged their clothes. The male servant knocked on the door carefully and got permission before opening the door to let the four people in.
The door was opened, and the light of the gas lamp finally appeared in the study. The four of them were uncomfortable because of the oppressive atmosphere in the house. After looking at each other, "John Watson", the theoretically strongest reporter assistant, walked in first.
In an ordinary study room, there are two closed glass windows on the wall directly opposite the door, through which one can see the gloomy sky when it rains outside. In front of the wall between the two windows was a low cabinet, but instead of a vase there was a stone statue on it.
It's not a mermaid statue, but a statue of a curly-haired man with a naked body and a broken left arm. His right arm is bent upwards. At the foot of the statue is a stone fish biting the broken arm. Xia De glanced away and looked away. This weird artwork once again proved that Mr. Jude had an unusual personality.
On the right side of the room is an antique-style sofa set, and on the left side are brown solid wood bookshelves on three walls. The bookshelves surround the desk, and Mr. Jude is sitting in front of the desk.
The gas light in the room comes from the desk lamp on his desk. The light is actually not too bright, and it can only cover the desk and a small area around it.
Mr. Jude is a middle-aged man who is about the same age as Professor Katya, a little fat and bald. His facial features are not prominent, like a melted wax figure, wearing a white shirt and a black coat, sitting behind the desk waiting for four people. The desk was neatly organized. Judging from the position of the items, the gentleman should have been reading a book.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, please take a seat."
Unlike the servants who spoke with tiredness, Mr. Jude spoke with confidence and his eyes were bright. He enthusiastically invited the four people to sit down and talk, and the servants also brought chairs, allowing the four people to sit in front of the desk in an arc.
Rezia was closest to the door, next to Shad, and inside were two folklorists. The servants pushed the dining car, prepared tea for them, and then closed the door and left,
There is an appointment for Leiziya to come to visit, and Her Royal Highness will do a full set of plays, so that no one will doubt her identity. The two scholars came to visit rashly, but after hearing about their intentions, Mr. Jude also expressed his understanding, and thought that two things can actually be done together:
"You all want to hear me talk about the legends, nursery rhymes and local folklore of the old town of Coldwater Harbor, so why not talk about it together."
Rezia signaled Xia De not to take any action. The purpose of the two of them coming here was to determine whether the other party had really expelled the curse. But in the current state, it is inconvenient to test in the presence of ordinary people.
"Mr. Jude."
Rezia spoke first, holding a notebook in one hand and a pen in the other, with a very professional look:
"We are here to ask you about the ancient illegal beliefs in Lengshuigang. This is related to the development of the old city in the south. Lengshuigang was only developed in the last 500 years. It was not until the discovery of the New World that it became prosperous today. But before that, there seemed to be some illegal beliefs that were not recorded in professional literature and historical materials among local fishermen and coastal villages, and we are doing a special column on this topic."
"That's a good question."
Mr. Jude nodded, and Professor Katya on the side also said:
"Actually, this issue is also being studied in our project."
He also took out his notebook and prepared to record.
"Lengshuigang City was actually established on the basis of three large fishing villages that originally existed in the local area. This can be proved from the unearthed cultural relics, which happened about 1300 years ago. As for ancient beliefs, the three nearby In order to compete for fishing rights in the offshore, the villages believe in three different gods."
Mr. Jude paused:
"These three gods are, of course, evil gods. They are hostile to each other, driving the contradictions among human believers to deepen. We don't know what happened in ancient times, but those **** and cruel wars must be terrible."
Mr. Jude picked up the paper on the table to write and draw, and then pushed the paper to the people on the other side of the table.
Xia De got up and picked it up, and let the four people pass it around.
Mr. Jude continued to speak, pressing the copper ring on the left index finger with his right thumb and index finger, and turning it unconsciously:
"After Miss Prince wrote to me, explaining that she was coming for an interview, I also read the ancient books in my collection in advance. I have reason to believe that the gods believed in by the three fishing villages are related to the three patterns I drew for you. "
"Is this the holy emblem of God?"
The young scholar asked curiously, while Mr. Jude smiled and shook his head:
"Of course not. Even if I knew the holy emblems of the evil gods recognized by the Orthodox Church, I wouldn't dare to draw them for you. What you see are the patterns I rubbed from the cultural relics in my collection. They are people from the old era. A hieroglyphic way of addressing those gods."
The three patterns are a leaning human body, a mermaid, and a storm. Shade thinks that they refer to the old Mr. Edmond who guards the lighthouse, the evil gods mentioned before [God of the Drowned in the Deep Sea], [Lord of the Scarlet Spiral] and 【Furious Storm】.
From that pirate ship, Xia De already knew that the curse of the mermaid was related to the [Lord of the Scarlet Spiral] among the three evil gods. He deliberately wanted to test Mr. Jude's views on this god, but he didn't expect Mr. Jude to mention it himself:
"I am in the local antique business, and I have come into contact with some information related to these three gods. Among them, I know the gods named after mermaids the most. Professor Katya, I think your tradition of worshiping mermaids in the local area, as well as the big and small Small legends are no strangers."
The professor of folklore pushed down his glasses:
"The definite evidence proves that the tradition of mermaid worship existed before the establishment of Lengshuigang City. We have cooperated with the archeology department of the school to carry out excavations in the offshore location of Lengshuigang, and there were humans before 1300 that you mentioned. In settlements, similar patterns appeared on the goldware at that time. But there is no evidence to prove that this is related to evil gods, and the church is unwilling to provide any help."
Of course, the church will not provide any help for ordinary people to study evil gods.
"Yes, that's right. We have reason to believe that even in modern times, the belief in this mermaid-related **** still exists in this city."
Mr. Jude put his hands together and said to reporters and scholars. He seemed to consciously say this at this moment, and was satisfied to see the surprised expressions of the visiting guests.
The antique collector smiled:
"Although it sounds appalling, I have always believed that the ancient fishing village family participated in the establishment of Lengshuigang and has always existed locally. They established the original Lengshuigang City and lurked in the shadow of Lengshuigang. Of course, this is just My personal opinion, I cannot provide you with evidence."
"It's okay, when I write the manuscript, I will be vague about the source of this statement."
Rezia was still playing the role of reporter, and both she and Xia De were very interested in what Mr. Jude had to say. Although the two scholars were unable to use claims without evidence, this novel point of view can also play a role in the research report.
"A few days ago, I got some interesting things, I can show you, please wait a moment."
He nodded apologetically to the four of them, and then walked out of the room.
Scholars gathered together to discuss the topic in a low voice, and Xia De also tilted his head to talk to Leizia:
"At least from the current state, there is no curse on this person. I have to touch his forehead or the position of his heart to confirm this conclusion."
"I'll create an opportunity for you in a while. We will leave immediately after we investigate. This old house is really weird."
Rezia was also uncomfortable with the place.
But since it is the place where ring warlocks live, some weirdness is normal. For example, the place where Shade lives is a haunted house that is even famous in the church.
Two folklorists were whispering about mermaids. Their ongoing topic is the local ocean worship in Lengshuigang. The so-called ocean worship is a kind of nature worship. Starting from the perspective of mermaids and old gods, we can Add at least one chapter to this topic.
Xia De and Leiziya also naturally integrated into the discussion. The two scholars are knowledgeable and have deep insights into the customs of Cold Water Harbor and the tradition of nature worship inherited from thousands of years ago.
So, after getting a hint from Rezia, Xia De led the topic to the direction of nursery rhymes, and then asked about the four nursery rhymes of "Send back from the sea".
According to the analysis of Mr. Edmond, who guards the lighthouse, these four nursery rhymes correspond to a complete ceremony. The mermaid song in the first sentence has already appeared, and although the pirates related to the evil **** in the second sentence have appeared, there is nothing to gain because of the accidental encounter with Xia De.
Shad hoped to learn more from folklorists, but because they were not ring magicians, the scholars failed to connect nursery rhymes to the occult.
Professor Katya understands it from the perspective of ordinary people:
"The first sentence of the mermaid's song refers to the sound of the horn before the pirates appeared; the second sentence is the original meaning, the pirate ship docked and plundered in the cold water port; the red ocean in the third game refers to their killings dyed the sea red; the last sentence of the girl Going into the ocean means the pirates leave with their harvest."
This kind of analysis of nursery rhymes is also reasonable, but after all, it is still limited from the perspective of ordinary people. Xia De also wanted to chat with Professor Katya a few more words about the beliefs of the local people outside the Church of the Five Gods, but unexpectedly The male servant who walked in interrupted their conversation:
"Sir, Mr. Jude asked you to go upstairs and help him get some things. He doesn't want us to touch those precious antiques, so I take the liberty of asking you to help him get them down."
He said to Xia De very respectfully.
"I?"
Xia De pointed at himself suspiciously, turned his head to look at Rezia, saw the latter shook his head slightly, and directly refused:
"Sorry, I can't leave this lady."
He put it bluntly:
"Before going out this time, the editor-in-chief asked me to stay with Miss Prince, can we go upstairs together?"
"Why don't I go too."
The young scholar Lim Scott suggested that he probably wanted to show off in front of young girls with outstanding temperament. So Professor Katya also nodded:
"Then let's go upstairs together. It's the same when we go upstairs to see Mr. Jude's collection~www.mtlnovel.com~This..."
The servant lowered his head and hid his face in the shadows:
"Sorry, I want to ask my husband for instructions. Strangers in the upstairs area are not allowed to approach casually."
The servant left the room quickly, and the four guests in the room frowned. Outside, there was a strong wind and torrential rain, which seemed to make the light of the only gas lamp in the room much weaker.
Mr. Jude, the ring warlock, was in front of him just now, so Xia De did not use thaumaturgy in this room. Now that the owner here left, he blinked his eyes, and then saw that the statue with the broken arm was actually covered with a red halo.
Then I listened again, and the echo of the past made the voice from the other end of time appear in my ears:
"...So, don't abduct ordinary people any more recently. The Sea Return Ceremony has already started, and we have transformed enough of the same kind over the years to deal with various situations. Except for the environment attracted by the news I released Except for warlocks, don't..."
It appears that the visit did not go very well.