Chapter 180: The Wall of the Faithless

"The Wall of the Faithless?"

The information the bishop had casually let slip left the Outsider surprised and puzzled, unsure whether this was religious talk or whether such a thing truly existed.

He reached out to return the commemorative coin in his hand to Bishop Owen, but the bishop waved his hand and did not take it:

"Keep this as a souvenir; it was originally made for promoting the Holy Prayer Festival anyway. Mr. Hamilton, you may come to the Church of Dawn often in the future. We hold very formal scripture lectures every week, or you may simply come to the confessional to unburden your troubles."

He had not given up on the idea of drawing Xia De into the faith.

Xia De agreed verbally, casually slipping the small coin into the breast pocket of his shirt to keep it from sliding around in his coat pocket.

Bishop Owen still had other matters to attend to. After he left, Father Augustus led Xia De away from Liming Square to collect the potion "The Price of Growth."

The priest had his own rented base for preparing potions outside the Church of Dawn; after all, preparing potions inside the church was far too risky.

"Father, does our world truly have a Wall of the Faithless?"

Xia De asked quietly on the way, and Father Augustus's answer was noncommittal:

"No one has ever come back after death, so I cannot give a definitive answer. But judging from ancient texts and documents, at least since the Third Epoch there has been a very clear notion of the 'Wall of the Faithless,' so it is quite likely that it truly exists...... Detective, I recall that since your awakening from the Blind Foolishness, you still have not chosen a faith of your own. That won't do......"

He slowed his pace, looked at Xia De, and with a smile said exactly what Bishop Owen had said:

"Would you be interested in learning about the faith of our Lord 【Mr. Liming】?"

If one were only a shallow believer, there would be no particular obligations to shoulder, and one need not even attend church weekly to pray. But correspondingly, if one encountered something like a haunting, one should not expect the Church to perform an exorcism for free, nor is the Church's other assistance provided without charge.

Xia De walked along beside the priest, pondering the matter of faith.

In truth, he was not certain he could complete the path of twelve divine sublimations before death. So, to avoid being taken off to plaster a wall after death, and so that in daily social interactions he would not feel awkward when asked about his faith, choosing a deity to be a shallow believer of did not seem a bad idea.

"I'll think about it."

That was his answer. There was no rush anyway. Whenever the need arose, Xia De would go to the church, buy some ornaments bearing holy emblems, place them at home, and verbally declare himself a believer of a righteous god.

Father Augustus had rented a basement in an apartment near the Church of Dawn; the landlord was an old friend of many years and absolutely trustworthy. Most of the priest's books, relics, various casting materials, and potion-brewing equipment were kept in the basement.

The street was called Great Street, right next to Liming Square; walking from the church entrance to the apartment's basement took only about ten minutes.

The basement here was much more spacious than Xia De's at home, and the ceiling was higher as well. Because the apartment's first floor was actually a bit higher than street level, a small window had been cut into the top of the basement wall, allowing the outside sunlight to barely shine in.

Of course, it had to be shut on rainy days.

The place could basically serve as a "workshop." The priest had not only set up bottles, jars, and instruments for potion preparation here, but even a bed and a wardrobe.

The potion "The Price of Growth" and its materials were placed in a paper bag and handed to Xia De by the priest. All the materials had been stuffed into bottles; the liquid inside the bottles was brown, with some flocculent, suspicious matter floating in it, and the bottles themselves were each wrapped in newspaper.

Not to keep out sunlight, but to keep the smell from leaking out.

"I'll never make this kind of potion again; the smell is simply unbearable. Even when I was young and went to villages in the countryside as a missionary, I never smelled anything like it."

When Xia De tallied up the material costs for the priest, the priest's face was one of helpless resignation.

Besides these matters, Xia De also drew in his notebook the pattern he had found on the bottom of the potion bottle in the basement's hidden space, hoping the priest could help identify it.

The main body of the pattern was an equilateral triangle, with a small circle attached to each of its three corners, and inside the triangle was a figure with wings.

"Interesting. It should be some kind of ancient symbol; I don't recognize it."

Father Augustus shook his head.

"You don't recognize it either?"

"But don't be disappointed. Although I don't recognize it, the church's library might have records of this symbol. I can look into it. However, would you mind revealing the origin of this symbol?"

The priest asked, and Xia De cautiously shook his head:

"It's not convenient right now, but I will tell you later. Be careful when you look into it. This symbol is very likely related to the Ring Sorcerer; I hope this won't bring you trouble."

"No problem, it's a small matter."

The priest waved his hand, and the two parted ways on the bustling street.

The time was just eight o'clock. Xia De, carrying the paper bag, first returned to Saint Delan Square and hid the potion and that pile of disgusting materials behind the hidden wall in the basement, waiting to try bringing them into the past after midnight tonight.

Afterwards, he greeted Xiao Xiao Miya, who was taking a stroll at home, before stepping out the door once more.

The lawyer entrusted by Mrs. Lemuel with the investigation was named Locke Laurel. When he visited Mrs. Lemuel, he left his business card, so Xia De could conveniently track him down based on the card's clues.

Mr. Laurel did not work at a law firm with a fixed office; he was a licensed lawyer who provided private legal consultation and assistance. The nature of his work was similar to Xia De's detective agency, but he certainly earned more than Xia De did.

This gentleman lived in the Beicheng district of Tobesk. Although Beicheng was generally considered the lower city area of Tobesk, the lawyer's residence was not a slum. It was a place called Queen Mary Street, where the lawyer rented a two-story apartment facing the street.

Xia De didn't know anyone in this area, so he didn't need to disguise his face when visiting. He simply identified the house number and knocked on the door downstairs for a long time, but no one came to answer.

So he thought about knocking on the neighboring apartment's door to ask the neighbors, but at that moment the door finally opened.

The one who opened the door was a short, fat man reeking of alcohol, wearing shorts and a striped short-sleeved shirt, looking square all over. The hair on his arms was thicker than the stubble on his broad chin, his eyes were squinted as if unaccustomed to the morning light in the thin fog, and when he spoke he mumbled so that it was hard to make out:

"Who are you looking for? Oh, for the gods' sake, could you not knock so early?"

It wasn't even nine o'clock yet, so it really wasn't that early, but there was no reasoning with a drunk.