Chapter 1066

The man in the old robe had lived in this shabby hotel for many days and had intended to have lunch like usual, but when walking down the stairs, he unexpectedly saw a very familiar figure in the position against the wall.

"Long time no see, Mr. Watson."

Xia De, who was looking down at the news, heard someone greeting him in Carsonrick with a strange accent. As soon as he looked up, he saw the man pull over the wooden chair opposite the table and sit down under the light of the kerosene lamp on the wall.

Eyelashes extremely short, black eyes exceptionally spirited, brown old robe from the desert region, the green stubble on his chin was probably longer than his hair.

"Mr. Xiao En Asimeng?"

Xia De was startled, not expecting to meet him again.

"Yes, Mr. Watson, I am very happy to meet you again in a strange city."

The demon scholar put down his notebook and showed Xia De his iconic, weird smile.

Although this expression was very weird, it wasn't the first time Xia De had seen it, and besides, being able to meet an old friend in Carsonrick, he was still very happy:

"Mr. Asimeng, why are you here? First Lengshuigang, then heading southeast to Middlehill Castle, and then unexpectedly turning back southwest to come here."

"Of course, it is to continue searching for the legends of demons."

He still maintained that "smiling without warmth" look, his scalp almost glowing under the dim kerosene lamp:

"Besides, Mr. Watson, didn't you also appear here?"

"Yes, yes, to celebrate this unusual reunion, let me treat you to a drink."

Saying this, he called the fat waiter who seemed a bit absent-minded; the latter's figure was twice Xia De's size. Mr. Xiao En Asimeng did not engage in much polite conversation with Xia De either; after ordering a glass of ale for himself, he supported his knees with his left hand, leaned his body, stretched his head, and started chatting with Xia De again.

"There are demons in Huntington City, right? Oh, Mr. Asimeng, I have often heard urban legends about vampires locally."

Xia De said with a smile, and the demon scholar's voice, just like in summer and autumn, had the slippery feeling of a snake crawling:

"Yes, demons. But not Huntington, but the Great Swamp. I have heard many legends here, such as interconnected caves, snake-like man-eating vines."

While Xia De subconsciously looked toward the west, Mr. Asimeng's black eyes still stared at him:

"There are some very interesting legends, and there are quite a few demon ruins inside the Great Swamp. I believe I can find some valuable things, which will make this journey interesting."

Actually, if he had gone to Tobesk some time ago, the probability of finding demons would have been much higher.

"But in my opinion, going deep into the Great Swamp in this season is not a good idea."

The two raised their glasses to drink, and the candlelight on the side of the table made the shadows of the two sway slightly. This hotel was too shabby to have gas pipes, and of course, there were no steam pipes, so even the heating was done by burning wood. The style of the only fireplace was quite old, and it was the brightest light source in the room.

But this instead gave this shabby little hotel an unexpectedly ancient and vicissitudinous feeling.

Xia De knew that something big would happen inside the Pantanal Great Swamp, so he advised him, and the demon scholar made a weird laughing sound in his throat, but there was no smile in his eyes:

"I just want to look around the periphery and won't go deep into the swamp. Those interconnected lakes are my investigation targets."

But in this way, the probability of him finding an angel was far greater than finding a demon. After all, there really was an angel living in the lakes locally.

"However, it is truly interesting to say."

Xia De put his wine glass down with a thud on the wooden tabletop that had slight chopping marks and was soaked with decades of wine stains:

"Mr. Asimeng, it seems that every time I see you, we are in places with the name 'Rose.' The Pink Rose Tavern in Lengshuigang, the Blue Rose Hotel on the Wind-Rising Path of Mount Sikar, and now the Blood Rose Hotel in Huntington City."

"No, no, no, Mr. Watson, I didn't deliberately choose this kind of place to live. It's just that my pockets are not well-off."

He stretched his head forward slightly, but his expression had no embarrassment at all.

Xia De smiled and nodded:

"Do you need me to sponsor your research? Perhaps when we meet again in a corner of a strange city in the next city, you can tell me the stories you encountered locally."

Saying this, he was about to take out his wallet; although he had only met this demon scholar twice, Xia De's impression of him was not bad.

【Probably because the first time he met you, he gave you an ancient 【Demon·Soul Thief Bishop】.】

"She" whispered in Xia De's ear, but Mr. Asimeng pursed his lips, making a "tsk-tsk" sound while shaking his head:

"That won't do. I study demonology, and my learning tells me that accepting others' kindness at will, or making wishes at will, is not a good habit. However, I do have a good thing here."

He opened his notebook, whose corners were all curled up, and then displayed half a playing card inside.

The problem with the playing card was not only that it was only half a card, but the remaining half was also severely faded and damaged, but it could still be seen that this was the upper part of a Luo De card.

Xia De took the card to check, but could not identify what kind of card it was from the remaining card face, so the demon scholar explained to Xia De:

"Some time ago, I explored a wild ownerless tomb group with a group of people."

Which meant a group of people conspired to rob a tomb; the demon scholar in front of him looked like someone who could do such a thing.

"That place was very dangerous, but there were not many valuable funerary items. This is something I brought out from the tomb; it was lying in the mud of the tomb passage, and I don't know if it was a funerary item or left by the previous group of visitors. It's a pity that the power of time has destroyed too many things.

I once investigated this card; if I didn't recognize it wrong, it should be the Star 8 【Natural Disaster·Blizzard】 (Note). The rules recorded by the Prophet Association are: when drawing this card, if the opponent has not stopped drawing and the number of cards in hand is even, you can remove the card with the smallest number from the opponent's revealed cards, and the special effect of the removed card still plays a role."

Mr. Asimeng explained with a weird smile, and Xia De was a bit surprised:

"The Natural Disaster series is very famous, and it is a card that has been reprinted many times. Looking at the appearance and printing technology of this card, it is probably the first edition. It's a pity that it has been damaged to this extent, otherwise it would definitely be quite valuable."

"Yes, but as far as I know, the Prophet Association provides a service for Luo De card owners to exchange old cards for new ones."

The demon scholar continued, and Xia De nodded.

After all, except for the thirteen founding cards, other cards were just ordinary items and would eventually be damaged (Note). The Prophet Association thoughtfully provided an exchange service for Luo De card holders, which was to carry old cards with a completeness exceeding a certain degree and relevant documents, and pay coins to exchange old cards for new ones.

Among these, there were complete regulations for the completeness of old cards and the required relevant documents. But if one had enough face in the Prophet Association, or could provide suitable reasons to convince the association, even if necessary conditions were missing, one could pay extra to exchange for new ones.

"Very interesting."

Xia De commented, took out his notebook, and tucked the old card inside:

"Mr. Asimeng, since you are unwilling to accept my kindness for nothing, why not sell this old card to me."

He rummaged through his wallet and handed out a 3-crown banknote:

"This is the payment I am making."

This money was actually too much, after all, 11 to 12 gold pounds were needed to exchange for one crown. Xia De purely wanted to sponsor the man in front of him, at least so he wouldn't have to live in such a shabby place.

"Since that is the case."

Mr. Asimeng accepted the three green banknotes:

"Why don't we continue telling the story we didn't finish last time."

"A demon story? Of course."

The demon scholar narrowed his eyes slightly, and Xia De felt the light of the kerosene lamp and the candle dripping wax on the table become a bit dim at this moment.

"Mr. Watson, do you still remember the content of the story we told the previous two times."

"Yes, yes."

Xia De answered while holding the handle of the wine glass:

"A wonderful existence, because of people's cognition, really possessed the power of a demon in the rumors. He walked through many places and brought countless disasters, but it wasn't until he met a person without wishes that he failed once.

The demon hid in the soul of the person without desires, traveled with him, brought disasters, and caused the person without desires to be driven away by friends, partners, and even everyone. But on his deathbed, that human smiled and said that he had used his whole life to seal the demon, while the demon smiled and said that men always have wishes after all. It devoured the man's soul and headed toward the place they came from."

Xia De shook his head:

"Which is the man's hometown."

"Yes, and this story is obviously still continuing."

The long-faced man picked up his wine glass; discussing such topics under the dim light in a dilapidated small tavern with an acquaintance he met occasionally was quite atmospheric.

"I have a premonition that this won't be a story with a good ending."

Xia De said softly, and then laughed at himself:

"How could a story related to demons have a good ending?"

And the demon scholar's slippery voice had already sounded at this time:

"The man without wishes used his whole life to travel far with the demon in his soul, just hoping it could stay away from his family and friends. But the demon only used one night to return to the man's hometown, back to the starting point of the journey. This time, the story happens there."

"Tsk tsk."

Xia De sighed softly, but the sound of wine glasses being rudely placed on the table around them covered his clicking sound.

-------------------- Side Note --------------------

PS1: Thanks to reader @In the South Wind for providing the inspiration for this Luo De card.

PS2: The thirteen founding cards are not damaged for years, but have never attracted attention because they have the characteristic of not being perceived as abnormal, just like the Great Witch of the Fifth Era had 【All Things Impermanent·Darkness】 but did not research anything. This point was mentioned once before.