Chapter 2379: Demon Scholar, Cat, and Dog

To create the atmosphere of a library, the lights in the club were sufficient for reading, but still appeared a bit dim and yellow. The "Demon Scholar" on the other side of the bookshelf raised his eyes slightly, saw Xia De across the "gap," and also showed a slightly surprised expression, but immediately changed into a cautious but slightly cold smile:

"What a coincidence, bumping into you again, Mr. John Watson."

Separated from the rainy night flower shop in Green Lake, more than two months have passed. The "Demon Scholar" appeared again in this accidental but very reasonable way, which Xia De really didn't expect.

He glanced at the rose on the cover of the book in his hand, and then whispered an invitation to Mr. Asmont to talk to the side.

There was no one at the long table on the side of the second floor now, so they didn't have to run to the compartments on the third floor specifically.

Xia De sat at one end of the long table, and the demon scholar wearing a robe sat on one side of the long table beside him.

He was not holding a book in his hand; it was still the black notebook he carried every time he appeared, with the corners slightly curled up.

Because Xia De's "membership status" was the highest level of this club, the waiter also sent black tea and sugar for the two. Only after the curling smoke drifted upward from the porcelain teacup did the conversation officially begin.

"Such a night, such a reunion, it's really interesting."

Xia De said with a smile, of course, in a lowered voice. Mr. Asmont also nodded, although the expression on his face and his black eyes were very strange, Xia De was already used to it.

"Since leaving Green Lake, Mr. Asmont, how did you cross half the continent to get here? Oh, I am still traveling and writing; the story of Moon Bay is really wonderful."

Mr. Asmont responded in a lowered voice. In the case of lowering his voice, the sound was like the hissing of a snake:

"I adopted a cat and a dog in Green Lake and traveled randomly with them. Not long ago, I received a letter from an old customer who wanted to entrust me again to help him answer some demonology problems and help him identify some books, so I arrived here."

Xia De then asked curiously:

"Then did that gentleman really find the 'real thing'?"

Mr. Asmont's eyes stared at Xia De and shook his head slowly:

"Of course not. If demons could be found so easily, Mr. Watson, I would have died in a dark corner long ago during my travels and serving as a consultant around the world. But thanks to him, my travel expenses are quite sufficient."

"This is really a good business."

Xia De sighed lightly, and at the same time, he naturally placed his right hand, which had quietly put on the 【Demon Hunting Seal】 in the bookshelf aisle just now, on the table on the side close to this "Demon Scholar."

And then nothing happened. The man wearing a robe like a desert area just glanced at the "ugly" black iron ring and looked away.

"Then in the Moon Bay area, are there any clues about demons?"

Xia De asked again, and the strange smile on Mr. Asmont's face appeared again:

"Of course there are, but I am still investigating. The City of Wealth, the place where desires accumulate, is really suitable for my work."

But immediately after, he mentioned another thing:

"On such a night, let's not talk about boring topics like demons. Since we met again in a strange city, Mr. Watson, are you interested in playing a game?"

"Do you want to play a game of Luo De cards with me?"

Xia De raised his eyebrows, but Mr. Sean Asmont shook his head again:

"It's not Luo De cards, but it is indeed related to this. You take a look at this first; this was given to me by my old customer as one of the rewards. I think you will be interested."

He opened his notebook and handed a playing card sandwiched in it to Xia De.

As expected, this was another special rule card. On the card face, a cat and a dog were guarding the entrance of a dilapidated and gloomy mansion, and two floating leaves were also drawn on the ground to express the atmosphere.

【Song of Cat and Dog · Eternal Guard】, Suit: Star 10.

When drawing this card, if this card is the "even-numbered" card drawn, and there are only two different suits of playing cards in hand during point settlement, the points of this card can be adjusted between 9 and 10.

【Song of Cat and Dog】 is a brand-new series of card decks released in recent years. Although this series has not been reprinted, the series has been released three times, meaning a total of three different special rule cards have been released.

The meaning of "Song of Cat and Dog" is stories and legends related to "cats" and "dogs," among which "Eternal Guard" tells of a loyal cat and dog who guarded the master's former residence for twenty years after the master passed away, until they died on the same day.

This is a fairy tale that promotes "loyalty." The prototype of the story has long been untraceable. But according to Princess Lei Qianya:

"This kind of story is most likely fabricated by the writer himself, Xia De; not all stories have prototypes. Just like the currently popular knight adventure stories and vulgar court erotic novels... well, sometimes the latter really has prototypes."

"This card is pretty good."

Xia De appreciated it and returned the playing card to Mr. Asmont:

"What kind of game do you want to play?"

"Mr. Watson, I am not short of crowns and pounds recently. Since we met by chance as friends, let's not bet money; how about betting on special cards?"

The demon scholar lowered his head and looked at Xia De and asked. Xia De thought for a while and agreed:

"Of course."

Saying this, he took out his deck and pulled out the 【Ancient Alchemy · Dragon Transformation Stone】 he obtained when participating in the card game at the Parsifal Club last week.

Mr. Asmont obviously also had common sense about Luo De cards. He continued to remind in a lowered voice:

"The value of this card is far higher than mine."

"It doesn't matter; I have already won quite a few special cards from you. The stakes at that time were not bigger than the value of the cards. Since you don't care, I don't care either. Oh, this card caused quite a stir in Moon Bay; if you win, don't take this card out in Moon Bay."

Xia De said, and pressed the playing card onto the table:

"But didn't you say just now, not playing Luo De cards?"

"Yes, I have something to do in a while, I'm afraid I don't have time for a long card game. Let's play some interesting card games. While playing the game, we can continue the story we didn't finish last time."

"Yes, I really like listening to your demon stories."

Xia De had no opinion on this at all.

Mr. Asmont then took out his deck, pulled out the "King" from it, and said:

"I will arrange 25 cards, five by five, face down on the table. You have seven chances to flip any playing card. If you find the 'King,' you win, and 【Song of Cat and Dog · Eternal Guard】 is yours. If you don't find it, then you need to pay 50 pounds to redeem your 【Ancient Alchemy · Dragon Transformation Stone】."

That is to say, he didn't want Xia De's very expensive playing card, and still chose to use his own cards to bet against Xia De's pounds. This bet was of course unfavorable to Xia De, but the price of 50 pounds was not enough for "Song of Cat and Dog."

Xia De nodded again:

"Then you arrange the cards, and I will recall where our story went."

He made a gesture of invitation, squinting his eyes and looking up at the gas wall lamp above the wall. The arc of the demon scholar's mouth on the side became even stranger:

"Yes, where did the story go?"

"I think... a wonderful existence, because of people's cognition, has the power of a demon in rumors. It brought disaster to the world, until it met a person without wishes, and because that person's 'wish' to seal the demon, it accompanied that person through his life."

"After the man died, the demon took his soul and returned to his hometown, devouring all his relatives. But those respectable people tried their best to protect the last boy. The boy did not preserve himself by keeping silent, but made a wish like the man at the beginning: like my grandfather, I will use my life to seal you."

"He then walked a long, long way, until one day, the grown-up boy met a girl he liked and fell in love with her. When she wanted to persuade the young man to stay, the young man killed her, just to ensure that after he died, the demon would not become his appearance and come to collect the girl's soul."

"Many years passed after that, and the traveling middle-aged man met a noble miss in distress and her cat and dog. The two developed feelings for each other on the way to accompany her home, but neither of them spoke. Many years later, the middle-aged man returned to that city again, and by giving the cat and dog wisdom and power, he learned that the girl had long been sacrificed. So he communicated with a great existence to exchange back the girl's soul to let her reach the end, and finally left the city destroyed by plague and disaster in a fire with the cat and dog."

Since meeting this demon scholar in Cold Water Port for the first time, Xia De had heard five "demon stories," but every story made him think deeply. This time he was also looking forward to an interesting story.

And after Xia De briefly summarized the previous story, Asmont had already arranged the playing cards.

Xia De stood up and turned back again, giving Asmont a chance to swap the positions of the playing cards again. At the same time, he also told "her" in his heart that there was no need to tell him the answer.

【Yes, dear outsider.】

After everything was ready, facing the neatly arranged playing cards, Xia De prepared to reach out, and the demon scholar at the long table also started the story:

"After that incident, the middle-aged man took the cat and dog and walked a long, long way. When thirsty, he drank from the stream; when hungry, he picked tree fruits. He made up his mind not to have any deep connection with anyone again. The things in his youth and the stories in his middle age had already made him understand the fate he could not abandon after making that wish, and he decided to stay away from everything."

"This is a very wise decision."

Xia De said, flipped over the card in the upper left corner, and threw the Star 13 to the side. ===== CHAPTER 2380 =====