Chapter 250

"Xia De, oh, I was just wondering why you're here. I read the papers; congratulations, the title of Knight is truly impressive. I had originally thought it was just a medal."

The doctor stood with Xia De by the corridor window, looking outside, somewhat curious about Xia De's current attitude. He straightened the cuffs of his black suit, which had been wrinkled by Xia De's grip, and said in a clear voice:

"As for why I'm here, do you remember the family of Count Abrash? One of my most important patients recently."

Xia De frowned suspiciously:

"The one with bulimia?"

The doctor nodded triumphantly:

"Yes, the conditions of the Countess and her daughter have improved significantly after my psychological counseling and their private physician's medication. The Count's family is attending this banquet tonight, so they specifically invited me as a token of gratitude."

"This is the first time I've heard of someone using a banquet invitation as a token of gratitude. This is a charity banquet for raising money; that Count used this to thank you?"

Xia De asked skeptically, and the doctor gave an awkward smile. He wanted to explain, but seeing Xia De's suspicious expression, he thought for a moment and gave up on lying. He scratched his nose and lowered his voice:

"I knew I couldn't hide it from you, but I still hoped not to drag you into this; after all, this matter is too dangerous. Why else would I be here? It's not because I was invited; I took the initiative to ask the Count for an invitation while treating the Countess. The goal is a plaster statue."

"What plaster statue? Hmm? A plaster statue?"

Xia De suddenly remembered more things. He turned to look behind him and leaned closer to the doctor:

"You mean, those five..."

"Yes, it's one of them."

Last week, through repeated dreaming, the doctor finally pinpointed the final hiding place of the 【Counterfeit Philosopher's Stone】. That precious liquid 【Relic】 was poured into red glass using a special method, disguised as the eyes of a plaster statue, and hidden on one of the five statues.

"One of them is here?"

"Yes, Count Mo Posang isn't the only one raising funds for the university. Among today's auction items, only one-third were provided by the Mo Posang family; the remaining two-thirds were donated by others for auction. One of the statues was donated. The statue itself is just a craft piece, well-made and adorned with gemstones and precious metals, with a starting price of 60 pounds."

The doctor explained, lowering his voice to warn:

"This has nothing to do with you, which is why I didn't want to tell you just now."

"But this banquet..."

Xia De vigilantly avoided saying directly that the banquet was a ritual for the descent of an Evil God. Miss Galina had repeatedly warned that any kind of Ringed Shushi or Relic could appear at tonight's banquet, so after entering the mansion, one must absolutely never mention the descent of an Evil God under any circumstances.

"Although it's great, I have an urgent matter that requires your help."

Xia De cleared his thoughts, trying to keep his voice low and his speech fast:

"Do you remember the client you introduced to me last time? There's a problem with the commission, and I need his psychological diagnosis materials. That guy is mentally unstable and actually claimed to have seen a mermaid in the sewer. I originally planned to find you tomorrow, but I didn't expect to run into you here. If it's convenient, Doctor, could you go back now and bring his files to me? No rush."

He emphasized "no rush":

"Just take your time getting them."

As he spoke, he winked quickly at the doctor and then jerked his head. Doctor Schneider's luck was perhaps truly bad that he could stumble into something like this, but Xia De couldn't let him stay here.

The doctor was stunned by Xia De's words:

"Hmm? Oh, that file."

He widened his eyes and then made an expression of sudden realization:

"I knew that commission wouldn't be easy; you really did run into a problem. It's fine, I'll go get it right now... why don't we go to the clinic together to get it? I can introduce you to that gentleman's situation on the way."

The doctor and Xia De looked into each other's eyes as they spoke, the pupils in his blue eyes constantly shifting. He understood there was danger here and wanted to leave with Xia De.

But Xia De shook his head:

"I still have some things to do here; I'll find you at the clinic a bit later. The matter is already finished, and I'm still waiting for a carriage."

"Waiting for a carriage... are you sure you won't leave with me?"

The doctor asked hesitantly.

"Don't worry, I'll be leaving soon too."

Xia De said, and the doctor opened his mouth:

"Then... alright, I'll go back first to organize the files you need. Xia De..."

"What?"

"If you need my help, just say the word."

"Don't worry, the matter is already finished. I'm just here to help someone attend the auction."

The doctor pursed his lips, said nothing more, waved at Xia De, and walked alone along the corridor toward the direction of the first-floor foyer.

Although this doctor's luck might be truly bad, at least this time, he escaped the misfortune about to happen here.

The Church would not let Priest Ao Gu Si appear here, Miss Annette was waiting for Xia De in the distance, the doctor was leaving, Xia De would also leave immediately, and when he went to find Miss Lu Yi Sha this morning to get back that piece of 【Youth-Preserving Leaf】 (Note), it was also confirmed that she would stay home all night and not go out.

Therefore, the five people in the group who were unlucky in the first Blood Banquet really had nothing to do with the Evil God's second Blood Banquet.

Miss Maid's handling of the matter with Yi Wen Te was slower than Xia De had expected. His agreed meeting time with Miss Annette and Miss Beiya was 8:30, but by the time Xia De received the signal that he could leave the mansion, it was already 8:10.

He left here in a carriage with the maid and only breathed a sigh of relief when the mansion in the night could no longer be seen from the carriage window. At this time, the rain had completely stopped, but the damp smell in the air mixed with the rising fog, making the city's scent somewhat unpleasant.

Xia De handed the fountain pen, the old storybook, and the remaining Jin Bang to the maid Difa for safekeeping. Miss Maid returned Xia De's 【Relic】, coat, and ruby ring to him, and smiled as she showed him the white pebble ring:

"The plan went smoothly; although it took some time, all traces have been cleaned up."

The 【Ring of Transformation】 lay quietly in the maid's palm. This first Relic Xia De had seen in this world appeared before him once again just like this.

"Miss Galina's matter is over; next is my own matter."

He waved his hand, his expression very serious, but he had no intention of picking up the ring to examine it.

Listening to the sound of horse hooves, the black-haired maid asked curiously:

"Mr. Han Mi Er Dun, don't you want to borrow this ring? You should know its function; this is equivalent to having an extra life."

"Just give it directly to Miss Galina; I won't touch it."

Xia De shook his head. While the 【Ring of Transformation】 was powerful, it also had the effect of twisting the mind. He had divinity to rely on; if he had the time to use the ring, he might as well use his divinity directly. After all, he wouldn't run away tonight no matter what; he had to get the gift for himself inside the 【Divine Gift Box】.

"Then I wish you success in your operation in advance."

Miss Maid showed a regretful expression, then carefully stored the ring in a metal box and placed the metal box solemnly into the pocket of her elaborate long dress. She kept her legs together, folded her hands on her knees, and then reminded him in a low voice:

"Although Miss cannot directly help you deal with the Silver-Eyed One, if you need cleanup work, you can mention it to Miss at any time."

Xia De looked at her in surprise, not expecting the maid to take the initiative to tell him this. The black-haired maid showed a serene expression:

"You are worthy of Miss's help."

Xia De smiled:

"Everything is well prepared; I don't think there will be any problems. But if there really is something I need Miss Galina's help with, I will mention it. I just hope that next time, Miss Galina won't let me appear in such a dangerous situation."

His hand played with the time key in his pocket that hadn't been used yet:

"I've even made more than one emergency plan for the worst-case scenario. Tonight, this isn't what I'm worried about."

Xia De looked out the window:

"What I'm worried about is the descent ritual."

"We must trust the Zhengshen Sect Society."

Hearing this from a member of the Monuyi Society really sounded quite funny.

"I ran into that Thirteen-Ring Shushi, Mr. Huo Ge Lun De Er, on the first floor just now. The Church must also be worried about accidents, but I always have a strange feeling of unease. No, it's not unease about what I'm going to do."

He also had no reason to be uneasy about the ruins; with a drop of divinity in hand, the Silver-Eyed One was effectively already a dead man.

"I'm worried that other things will happen tonight."

"Intuition? I understand."

Miss Maid nodded at Xia De, her brown eyes meeting his:

"I will inform Miss of your intuition in a moment. If possible, I will persuade her to pay attention to what is happening in that mansion tonight."

"That's really troubling you."

Xia De said embarrassedly; after all, it was just a feeling, with no evidence.

"It's fine, this is what I should do."

She showed a slightly shy smile.

If he didn't know the other party's power, Xia De would find it very difficult to associate this elegant young maid with a Ringed Shushi.

The carriage did not take Xia De directly to the entrance of the ruins at the Noke Printing Factory; that would have been too stupid. The meeting point for Xia De and the two ladies was the Tianebao Hotel, one street away from the printing factory.

Miss Annette had rented a room here in advance and had been investigating and divining the Noke Printing Factory in this vicinity for the past few days.

When they exchanged information at Xia De's home yesterday, she had already explained the general way to enter the printing factory and the ruins. And when Xia De met them with the three-strong, two-weak knock, Miss Annette had new gains:

"Come quickly, Xia De."

Outside the window was the heavy night after the rain; almost all the gas lamps in the room were turned on, and there were even a few candles stuck on the floor.

The three of them stood together in front of the bed, the sheets and quilts were put aside, and the bed board was covered with dense notes, document papers, and notebook pages. Miss Annette picked up one of them and handed it to Xia De, on which a circular emblem was drawn in pencil.