Chapter 2867

The demon scholar shook his head slowly:

"That is a story of self-destruction, cliché and old-fashioned. Devil worshippers tried to entrust me to help investigate some secret and dangerous information. They were unusually wealthy, and this card was just a deposit among them; they regarded this card as a sign of trusting me.

It's just that when I left Moon Bay this summer and wanted to return there to hand in the investigation report, I found that their family had already disappeared locally."

"That family disappeared? Like the Kant family, were they arrested by the church?"

Although this was not a follow-up to previous devil stories, Xia De was also interested in this.

Sean Asmon shook his head again:

"No, not the church. It is said that their youngest son went from the countryside to the city, gambled at an underground Tarot casino, owed a large debt, and signed a contract, so the debt collector took away all their property. Without property, devil research could no longer be done, and after a few years, everyone left."

"This..."

Xia De had nothing to say. This seemed to be a story that "gambling is even more terrifying than researching devils":

"So, what do you want to do with this card now?"

"Of course, to gamble with you again. I found that I have never won against you."

Although his black eyes were looking at Xia De and the person behind him, Xia De felt that everyone other than the two of them was just irrelevant background.

"I do not pursue material enjoyment. If I lose, you take this Tarot card of unknown authenticity, give me 200 pounds, and continue to support my travels and research; if I win, you buy this card for 500 pounds. Since the devil worshippers have already disappeared, I don't intend to keep this."

This was a quite cost-effective bet, and even losing directly was worthwhile, because Xia De was almost certain that the card was genuine:

"And we can tell stories while playing cards."

As he said this, he took out his spare deck, but Mr. Asmon shook his head, signaling Xia De not to take out the cards:

"This time we will play something special. Using my deck, we will draw cards in turn. Whoever draws this 【Angel · Gakiel, Herald of the End】 first wins."

As he said this, he stuffed the special card into his deck, and Xia De cleared the plates on the table to the side. After shuffling, Mr. Asmon placed the deck in the center of the table.

Although this rule was simple, it was indeed very fun. Because once it started, it relied entirely on luck, not skill at all—unless it was cheating technique.

Mr. Asmon poured himself more wine, and the two clinked their glasses:

"Mr. Watson, before we start, do you still remember where our story left off?"

"Of course."

Xia De nodded. He remembered this story very clearly:

"A miraculous existence that possessed the power of a devil in rumors because of people's cognition. It brought disaster to the world until it met a person who had no wishes, and only because the other party's 'wish' to seal the devil did it accompany that person through his life.

After the man died, the devil 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 first man: like my grandfather, I will use my life to seal you.

He then walked a long road and met the girl he loved. Because he was worried that the devil would harvest her soul, he killed her in advance; he met the distressed noble lady and her cat and dog, but only years later did he discover that the noble lady he sent home had long been sacrificed, so he left the city destroyed by plague and disaster in a great fire with the cat and dog he had endowed with wisdom."

This was the story the two had told before Moon Bay, and the story told in the library of Moon Bay was even more bizarre and interesting:

"Years later, the boy who had become an old man was determined to find a successor and pass on the responsibility of sealing the devil by devouring his soul. The cat and dog helped him find a boy. The old man promised the boy that if he followed him, he could become a remarkable person, but he would forget everything in the past; the devil promised the boy not to keep the promise, and it would let his soul have everything after the boy died.

Thus, the boy committed suicide after agreeing to the old man's contract. He returned in a powerful posture and turned the old man back into a child so he could continue walking on his own. But the boy's soul collapsed and disappeared completely because he used this power."

Xia De finished summarizing and nodded lightly:

"So, children are sometimes really determined. They may not know the good and evil of the world yet, but sometimes they see the world more thoroughly than adults."

"Yes, this is a story related to wishes, but ultimately it overcame wishes."

Mr. Asmon said, flipping over the first card in the deck, and then casually placed that Star 13 to the side:

"So at the end of the last story, the child who used himself to seal the devil like his grandfather returned to the appearance he had when he set off after he had almost finished walking the path of his life. Of course, the devil was still sealed. This time the story continues from here. Mr. Watson, do you remember? That child is not traveling alone now."

Xia De flipped over the second card in the deck and placed that Sun 4 together with the Star 13 that Mr. Asmon had thrown out next to the plate containing the beans.

"Of course I remember, he has a cat and a dog, and they can both speak and have some supernatural abilities."

"Yes, a cat and a dog. Although they experienced the story of the child who volunteered to sacrifice himself, after accepting reality, they continued to walk toward the distance just like in the past."

The demon scholar's somewhat withered and yellow hands continued to flip over the third card, throwing the Star 8 to the same position:

"Many, many years passed after that, and they also walked a very, very long road. Although his body turned back into a child again, the boy's mind and soul had long since matured. He had discussed many times with the cat and dog about how to find a suitable successor when his second life also reached its end.

Countless nights and days of discussion did not yield a result. Finally, the cat and dog suggested to him that if he really couldn't find a suitable candidate to seal the devil in the end, the two of them could divide and eat the boy's soul after he died and continue to pass on this duty."

Xia De couldn't help but click his tongue, but thinking about it carefully, this idea was also quite good. He flipped over the fourth card, and after seeing it was a King card face, he smiled and shook his head, continuing to throw out the card:

"If we were playing Tarot with proper rules, I would have already won... Did the boy agree to the cat and dog's proposal?"

"He didn't agree, because he believed that the cat and dog only possessed their current wisdom and ability to speak because he used the power of that sealed evil spirit. If that terrifying evil spirit were handed over to them, there would be a possibility that the evil spirit would escape as a result."

"But did he notice? He was actually the person most influenced by that devil."

"Yes, but he believed in himself, yet he did not believe in others."

Mr. Asmon said as he continued to draw cards, and then showed Xia De the "Queen" in his hand:

"If we were playing with general rules, this game would be very interesting."

He discarded the card, folded his hands together, and continued to narrate in the noisy and lively background sound:

"Fortunately, this time he still had plenty of time to think about and prepare for this matter. The time spent with that evil spirit was so long that he himself had become a long-lived species. Coupled with the power used by that respectable boy to make him return to his youth being too powerful, this journey still had no end in sight for the time being.

In the subsequent journey, they experienced many, many more stories. On a certain nameless night with brilliant stars, the young man suddenly realized one thing:

Is it possible for me to completely destroy that evil spirit? This was not the first time he had such a thought, but the many previous attempts only resulted in even more serious consequences. It was not that the young man felt tired of the responsibility, but that he really could not imagine who else could shoulder such a heavy burden after he left."

Xia De drew the sixth card. Unfortunately, it was not Sun 2 but Moon 2:

"I understand his thoughts, but this kind of thought seems a bit wrong. Since he still has time, he should be able to find someone. Before he met that child back then, his thoughts were very positive... Did that child's self-sacrifice make him change his mind?"

The demon scholar did not answer this question but placed the seventh card, Sun 1, to the side:

"Not long after, when passing by a small town, the young man heard that many, many years ago, a hero with extraordinary power had passed through this place and helped the townspeople defeat a demon. So, holding curiosity, the young man went to visit the statue of the unknown hero on the hill outside the town.

And what he saw was the statue of his grandfather who had said 'I have no wishes' and was devoured by the devil at the end of his life."

Xia De felt he had discovered a loophole in the story:

"Does he recognize the appearance of his grandfather? From the timeline, when the first man went on a long journey, the current young man had not yet been born."

"The young man knows the appearance of everyone the devil devoured."

The demon scholar said something quite cruel:

"The appearance of his grandfather gave the young man a brand-new idea. Since it is impossible to find a suitable successor and there is no way to completely destroy that evil spirit, is it possible to find back the person who once sealed the devil?"

"His grandfather? He wants his grandfather to take over his responsibility?"

Xia De asked in surprise, flipping over the eighth card. Unfortunately, it was Moon 8.

"So under the statue, the young man told his thoughts to the cat and dog, but they both opposed this approach: 'You will not resurrect the dead. When you took us away from the city destroyed by plague and natural disasters after avenging the mistress back then, you said these words'."

But the young man believed that doing this was the safest and most secure way, even if his grandfather's soul had already been devoured by the devil, but now that he had mastered more of the devil's power, it was not that he had no way to find his grandfather, or rather, a part of his grandfather, back."