Chapter 1282: Demonic Curse

"Oh, you actually won against him?"

The old curator didn't feel curious about the strange profession of "demonologist," but was greatly surprised by what Xia De said:

"That's impossible, Stone Osenfurt can also lose?"

"But I really won, so I got into a whole bunch of trouble afterward, until I came here to seek help. Mrs. Hela Osenfurt was unwilling to tell me much, but it seems you seem to know some things?"

Mr. Fernandez swallowed his saliva and looked at the holy emblem of the Orthodox God 【Lantern Old Man】 again, as if this could give him strength.

Of course, this could truly give him strength, after all, this Orthodox God truly existed and was constantly affecting the material world. Even talking about demons under the holy emblem, there was no need to worry about being noticed by the other party.

"Young man, are you willing to listen to me tell my story?"

He suddenly asked.

"Of course."

Xia De nodded immediately. He came today just to listen to the story.

"That wasn't a long time ago, probably two years ago, in the winter of 1851. At that time, Stone Osenfurt and Hela Osenfurt had just been married for not long, and I was the curator of this exhibition gallery at that time."

The two were married two years ago, but this was the first time Xia De knew the specific marriage time.

"I can't forget what I did at that time, and I always hope that time could flow backward, letting the current me go and stop the me at that time... I inquired through acquaintances and learned that Stone Osenfurt collected a very precious ancient stone sculpture. That was a full-body statue, the work was unsealed from the stone about 200 years ago by a well-known sculptor from Randall Valley."

The old curator showed a sorrowful expression. Xia De understood what he had done:

"You went to visit Osenfurt Manor?"

"Yes, I wrote to Osenfurt, hoping to acquire that statue, but he didn't pay attention to my letter. I thought it was because my sincerity was not enough. Osenfurt's business at that time, although not as good as it is now, was also considered a merchant with quite a reputation in Randall Valley. So I brought gifts, made an appointment to visit in advance, and went to the old Osenfurt house in a snowy weather similar to today... That place is truly remote."

Xia De imagined the scene two years ago, with a carriage pulling the old man in front of him, passing through snowflakes to the entrance of Osenfurt Manor:

"What happened next?"

Fear diffused on the old man's face again. He closed his eyes and prayed again, and only then did he have the courage to tell the story:

"I saw Osenfurt in the manor, and I also saw those so-called friends of his. Oh, God, at that time I thought I had come to a robber's den. They giggled and surrounded me, letting me go to the meeting room on the second floor. At that time, Osenfurt was sitting in the meeting room, with a bottle of wine by his hand. Although he wasn't drunk to the point of being unconscious, he certainly wasn't particularly sober either. I knew I probably picked the wrong day; his mood that day was very bad."

The old man recounted the day he would never forget:

"Although I myself felt that something was wrong, since I had already arrived, I still stated the request to acquire that statue. But Stone Osenfurt didn't pay attention to me, but leaned on the sofa, holding the wine bottle, legs spread, cursing in a low voice, as if he didn't care about me at all."

"What did he curse?"

"I only hope that I at that time could be deaf, unfortunately my hearing has always been very good. He muttered a few ancient words, and then began to curse... demons. He used very vulgar local Randall Valley slang, and some sailor's vocabulary."

Xia De knew that Osenfurt had also been a sailor before.

"Civilized people wouldn't use that kind of language. He didn't look like a merchant, but rather like a robber who robbed on the road. Although I still thought about the statue at that time, I also knew that if I continued to stay there, my own safety would also have problems, so I wanted to leave."

The old curator Mr. Fernandez shuddered violently.

"He wouldn't let you go?"

"He clutched the wine bottle, pulled my hand, and took me to his sculpture workshop on the second floor, and I also saw the statue I wanted in it."

That workshop Xia De had also been to.

"In the center of the room was his own work. He asked me to evaluate his work, and then smashed the statue of a slender woman that was only missing eyes in front of me. I couldn't describe what happened next in words. After that statue was smashed, the whole house seemed to vibrate. I initially thought it was an earthquake, but then a huge dizziness occurred, and terrifying phantoms that were difficult to describe with human senses appeared before my eyes. Oh, those phantoms still appear in my nightmares to this day. At that time, I saw many dead people wailing, heard the shrill screams that seemed to come from the world of the dead..."

The old man covered his forehead, as if he was a bit dizzy. Xia De then gave him a small glass bottle containing transparent colorless liquid. After Mr. Fernandez drank it, he felt much better.

That was, after all, No. 4 Holy Water.

"Look, as a demonologist, I still have some skills, otherwise I wouldn't have found this place."

Xia De said with a smile, and the old man was able to continue his story:

"The discomfort at that time, and the pain of the soul being shattered, almost made me beg Osenfurt to smash my brain with the hammer that smashed the statue. But he just laughed loudly, and the strange scenes I saw became more and more, black stone roses, color blocks without any logic, and twisted dancing transparent human figures..."

He clutched the empty small bottle, his knuckles turning white:

"If you hadn't appeared today, I would never tell anyone about this in my life. I gradually collapsed, yes, I remember very clearly, I walked toward complete collapse. If it weren't for the fact that I had seen some terrible things as a folklorist when I was young, and vaguely understood that this world is not as most people think, you probably wouldn't see me today."

Xia De showed an admiring expression. Under such circumstances, the Mr. Fernandez of two years ago could still maintain his sanity, which was enough to show how resilient his will was.

"I tried hard to escape that house, but Osenfurt stopped me and stuffed the carving knife into my hand, laughing and asking me to kill him with that knife. Although I still maintained my sanity at that time, I could no longer understand everything happening before my eyes."

"You really stabbed him?"

Xia De asked curiously, the old man shook his head tremblingly:

"No, I was a scholar before, and now I am the curator of the statue gallery. Neither of these two identities allows my hands to be stained with blood. I threw away that carving knife, hugged my head and wailed in the corner, and Osenfurt got angry."

The old man took a deep breath, his face turning pale:

"But fortunately his wife appeared at this time, she stopped Stone Osenfurt and let me leave quickly... I can no longer remember how I escaped from that manor in a sorry state. After returning to the city, I had a serious illness, stayed in bed for a long time, until the spring of 1852 was about to end, could I barely get out of bed and walk normally."

"During this period, Osenfurt didn't come to find you?"

"No."

"Then you didn't go to the local church to seek help? You should also know how unusual the things you encountered were, right?"

Mr. Fernandez shook his head again:

"I was very ill at that time, and for the first few weeks I couldn't even open my mouth to speak. Later, after I recovered my ability to act, sorry, I don't mean to express my fragility, but I... I didn't dare to go to the church. I have seen the most terrible things, seen the most difficult-to-understand scenes. I just wanted to forget that thing, completely forget it, and no longer have any relationship with him."

"But it seems you didn't succeed."

"Yes, in the summer of 1852, driven by curiosity, I wanted to investigate the few ancient words Osenfurt cursed demons with at the beginning. I was truly muddled at that time. If I hadn't done anything, treating that as a nightmare, it wouldn't have become what it is now... I really investigated some things, yes, even I couldn't believe it, I actually only relied on a few pronunciations to investigate such a terrifying truth. It was also at that time that someone visited me..."

"Osenfurt?"

"Yes, but also no."

Xia De suspiciously raised his eyebrows, Little Mia stood on Xia De's shoulder looking around. Because of this cat's existence, the "horror story" told by old Mr. Fernandez didn't seem horrible at all. This cat had a magical ability; every time he saw it, Xia De felt very comfortable.

"On that rainy summer evening, the thing that visited me holding a black umbrella was indeed Stone Osenfurt's appearance, but I knew it definitely wasn't. It was exactly the same as Stone Osenfurt's appearance... the skin was probably slightly darker, and the eyes were all black. Yes, there was no white of the eye."

The old curator bowed his head and prayed again. Xia De waited patiently.

"He took away all my research materials and praised me for being a talented person, but I knew too much; I shouldn't have dabbled in the research on him. He didn't kill me, but imposed a curse on me."

"What curse?"

"I must be watched by four different stone statues at the same time, at all times. If this condition is not met, my life span will accelerate by four times."

The old man said softly:

"This is not a joke. Look at my old appearance; on one hand, it is because of that serious illness, on the other hand, it is because of being tortured by nightmares, but more because of this curse. It didn't kill me directly, but it ground away the value of the rest of my life. I cannot leave this statue exhibition gallery; I am imprisoned here by the sculptures. I think I probably won't live to the next winter."

He coughed a few times. Xia De blinked in surprise. When he shook hands with the old curator just now, he felt a strong curse on the other party, but he didn't expect it to be in this form. ===== CHAPTER 1283 =====