Chapter 2716: Ancient Traditions and the Appearance of Demons

"Wait for the further development of things. Since that demon was disturbed by me and took the initiative to show its power, it is impossible for it not to take action later."

Xia De's decision was quite strange. After all, in Flora's view, he had never had a passive move like waiting for things to change. However, she didn't ask much, and it was only when they left the manor and she turned into an owl and flew into the sky that she asked:

"Are you really planning to wait for things to change?"

"Of course not."

The cat held by the owl said:

"The wraith that guided me to discover the secret room last night, now it seems clearly controlled by the demon. How could I tell the truth in that secret room? The so-called waiting for things to change is actually waiting for someone."

"Sister Daifulin?"

The owl asked while flying.

"No, it's my friend who knows demons very well. He is a professional hunter. He actually told me that as long as he comes, everything can be solved. All we need to do is to make sure that the demon doesn't cause more serious things in the city before he comes. Then, after he finds all the clones of the demon, arrange for manpower to defeat all those clones at the same time."

The wind whistling at high altitude sounded from the owl's side:

"I'm not doubting your statement, but are you sure your friend is really that powerful?"

Xia De still had confidence in the doctor, as long as he didn't let the doctor do things that bet on luck:

"Of course, you can rest assured about this. So arrange for manpower to monitor the Condor family later, but don't get too close to them. I'm worried that you and Miss Sylvia's followers will really provoke that demon. Then arrange for Miss Bell to exchange information with the church frequently, pretending that we are actually working hard to investigate."

"In this way, regardless of whether the demon believes that we are waiting for the situation to change, the advantage is actually on our side. As for the connection between Hoy Manor three hundred years ago and the Condor family today, we will have plenty of time to investigate after we defeat the demon."

The owl lady heard him say it lightly, but still felt uneasy:

"But this is an evil spirit demon after all... Forget it, forget it, if you think it's okay, it's okay. Danister also said to listen to you. Then what to do today? It's only eleven o'clock in the morning."

"Of course it's to watch your performance. Compared to any demon, isn't your performance more important?"

So after returning to the Accord Hotel at noon, Xia De didn't go out for the whole afternoon, but chatted with the two ladies in the room about various things until three o'clock in the afternoon.

Flora needs to perform on stage tonight, so of course, she couldn't go to the backstage to wait for the performance after putting on makeup. She had already been assigned a separate dressing room, so seeing that the time was almost up, Miss Danister stayed behind to guard the two tree hollows, and Xia De, Miss Bell, and the other three "music assistants" followed Flora to the Golden Music Hall.

It was raining in the morning, but the weather in the afternoon was exceptionally good. The azure sky in autumn made people feel refreshed. I don't know if it was because of what Xia De said at noon, but the witch seemed to be looking forward to tonight's performance even more than yesterday.

The Harvest Concert uses the main hall of the Golden Music Hall, so the dressing room assigned to Flora is also the best. She is not the closing musician of this performance, but she can be considered one of the most important musicians in this concert.

After all, she didn't participate in the Moon Dance Festival concert this year, so people are still looking forward to Flora Winster's performance.

The air inside the dressing room was quite fresh, so Flora chatted with Xia De while letting her followers help with makeup. Thanks to her own skin being quite good and young and beautiful—this is definitely not boasting—she didn't need heavy makeup, just simple eyebrow drawing and lipstick.

And when it was time to change into the performance dress, Xia De stood up from the chair very gentlemanly:

"I'm going to the bathroom."

The gray-black-haired witch originally wanted to say "You just turn around," because they did this in the dream, but she finally didn't have the nerve to say this. After all, there were four other girls here.

The backstage of the music hall is very large, with dressing rooms on both sides of the long corridor. Solo musicians like Flora can relax and put on makeup in their own dressing rooms, but those orchestras that need to appear together are busy.

Considering that standing in the corridor would block other people's way, Xia De had already seen a girl holding a dress almost tripped, and also saw a reckless young man carrying a tea tray almost let the teapot fly out, so he simply left the dressing room corridor and stood in the corridor at the door of the side hall where there were fewer people.

This performance hall was named "Banyan Hall." At this time, the door was ajar, and the sound of practicing the violin could be heard inside. According to the time Dorothea and Luvia changed their dresses every time, Xia De estimated that it would take him about half an hour to an hour to go back, so he looked up at the hanging painting on the wall and thought about going to the museum next door for another turn.

"Mr. Watson, have you read 《Creekwood Town and the World Tree》?"

A familiar voice came from behind. Turning his head, it was indeed Professor Yuke Wood whom he met at the charity auction last night.

The old professor waved at Xia De:

"I came to the museum here to handle some things. Just now I saw you standing here from the window, so I came over to say hello. How is it, is the content on that book interesting?"

"I only got that book this morning. I left it at the hotel and haven't had time to read it yet."

Xia De also nodded to the professor, and then continued to look up at the landscape oil painting of a big tree:

"However, will such folklore books also have interesting content? I always thought these academic books were very boring."

The white-bearded professor laughed:

"《Creekwood Town and the World Tree》 is not written in the way of academic books. This is more like a travelogue, recording the author's observations in Creekwood Town. Some of the content on it is actually very interesting. In addition to describing the Temple of Time that cannot be found now, the book also records the author's description of the local 'Tree Hollow Ritual' that has been lost."

Seeing Xia De show an interested expression, he continued to explain:

"This is a local tradition that was lost before the steam industrial era. People believe that after the autumn harvest, the most precious food is put into the tree hollow in the forest for storage, and when it is taken out in the winter of the next year, the food will have received the blessing of the tree and the forest."

"And crossing the time of one year itself symbolizes the contract signed between people and time, that is, people offer sacrifices to trees and time, and trees and time give people the power to cross difficult years."

Xia De asked curiously:

"But it sounds like the townspeople just store food in a special way. Although it is very strange to take it out after a year, this is probably just a strange habit, and it cannot be called a tradition in folklore."

"And I have also studied many customs in the area during my month-long stay in Vesta City, but I haven't heard of this."

"Because this was a long, long time ago, so long that many towering trees in the forest

Professor Yu Ke Wood said, looking quite wistful:

"In any case, find some time to read that book, 'Creekwood Town and the World Tree'. Although the book contains many fallacies, it is not without interesting content. Especially in the chapters discussing the traditional folklore of Creekwood Town, many traditions that have already been lost are still recorded there."

"Then what about the World Tree?"

Xia De asked again, and the old professor hesitated, stroking his beard:

"Those already involve myths and legends; they are matters from a much older era. You can go and discern the truth of the content yourself."

He raised his hand and pointed to the oil painting Xia De had been looking at just now:

"If you visit more of the local important places, you will actually discover that almost every place hangs this kind of oil painting with an image of a giant tree. This is not because the tradition of worshipping giant trees is still circulating locally, but because the local residents are unconsciously revering trees as tall as the World Tree."

"Is this an ancestral faith that is still influencing later generations? This kind of statement does not seem very scientific."

"It is the power of that tree that is still influencing this woodland; it has never left this place."

Professor Wood left quickly, and Xia De looked at his back, not knowing what to say:

"A very strange person, and he is also a First-Tier Ringed Shushi... Yu Ke Wood..."

However, interacting with Professor Wood did not take much time. Considering that Miss Feilian still needed some time to change her clothes, Xia De decided to go for a stroll in the museum.

Then, just as he walked around the corner of the corridor, he saw young George Kangde walking over with Mr. Bannat. Xia De's appearance at this moment was somewhat different from how he often appeared in the hotel; this was the effect of an illusion. Therefore, although Mr. Bannat had seen Xia De many times in the city, he clearly did not have a deep impression of him.

And the young man who had been rescued from the Lake of Love by everyone took the initiative to greet him with a smile:

"Mr. Watson, we meet again. I am truly sorry for the poor hospitality at the auction last night."

"It doesn't matter, at least I bought what I wanted."

Xia De shook his head, then shook hands with him, and subsequently watched the two walk away along the corridor. The Bannat family and the Kangde family were distant relatives, so young George Kangde and Mr. Bannat certainly had a decent relationship.

It was just unclear whether Mr. Bannat was still trying to find a marriage partner for his daughter this time. If so, then the Bannat family was truly unlucky:

"A demon..."

Xia De looked down at his hand; he had to admit that the other party's disguise was truly excellent. But just now, when the two shook hands, he still sensed what George Kangde really was:

"This is the first time I have come into contact with him since he floated up from the bottom of the Lake of Love. This idea is indeed very good—disguising himself as the victim of the previous incident, and the victim of such a severe incident at that... George Kangde is the fire demon, Disaster."