Chapter 348

Xia De exchanged a few words with the young scholar about the weather today, Professor Kajia looked at the oil painting with great interest, and Princess Lei Qianya was tidying her hair.

Without waiting too long, the gloomy-faced manservant returned with another tall maid, inviting the four people to go to the study to meet Mr. Jude together.

The maid who met for the first time looked about the same age as the manservant, her body was a bit plump, but she had the same gloomy face.

Xia De understood them very well. No matter who lives in this kind of old and oppressive house, it is inevitable that there will be emotional problems. Therefore, Xia De was very concerned about the ventilation and sun exposure problems at home, to prevent the cat that was often at home from getting mental illness.

But at least there were no inexplicable bloodstains in Mr. Jude's mansion, and 【Blood Echo】 could not see a very obvious halo of blood.

Led by the two servants, the group of four left the foyer, passed through the living room, and then walked up along the stairs.

Not only the foyer area, but the whole house did not have the lights turned on. This might be a special habit of Ringed Shushi, after all, it is a common situation for Ringed Shushi to be mentally abnormal.

The living room was empty, with a few newspapers on the coffee table, while on the wall of the stairs, some oil paintings with extremely oppressive colors were hung. Unlike the oil painting in the foyer, the oil paintings on the stairs mostly used cold-toned pigments to fill the screen with distorted patterns. But Professor Kajia, one of the group, could analyze the origin of those paintings in an orderly way. According to him, this is a unique painting style in Lengshuigang. After merging with the abstract school decades ago, several abstract painting masters from Lengshuigang were born.

Finally arrived at the second floor, the humidity was still so heavy. The four people preparing to visit tidied their clothes, and after the manservant knocked on the door carefully and got permission, he pushed open the door to invite the four people in.

The door was opened, and the light of the gas lamp finally appeared in the study. All four people were uncomfortable because of the oppressive atmosphere in the house. After looking at each other for a few times, the reporter's assistant "John Watson", who was theoretically the strongest, walked in first.

An ordinary study, on the wall facing the door, there were two closed glass windows, through which one could see the dim daylight outside when it was raining. In front of the wall between the two windows was a low cabinet, but there was no vase on the cabinet, but a stone statue was placed instead.

It was not a mermaid statue, but just a statue of a curly-haired man with a naked body, a broken left arm, and a bent right arm raised high, with a stone fish biting the broken arm under the statue's feet. Xia De took a look and moved his gaze away. This kind of strange artwork once again proved that Mr. Jude's personality was unusual.

Antique-style sofa sets were placed on the right side of the room, and brown solid wood bookshelves on three walls were on the left side, surrounding the desk, and sitting in front of the desk was Mr. Jude.

The light source of the gas lamp in the room came from the desk lamp on his desktop, and that light was actually not bright, only covering the desk and a very small area around it.

Mr. Jude was a middle-aged man about the same age as Professor Kajia, a bit fat, and balding. His features were not prominent, like a melted wax figure. He was wearing a white shirt and draped in a black coat, sitting behind the desk waiting for the four people. The desk was organized very cleanly. Judging from the position of the items, this gentleman should have been reading a book originally.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, please sit."

Unlike the servants who spoke with fatigue, Mr. Jude had a very full voice when speaking, and his eyes were also very bright. He enthusiastically invited the four people to sit down and talk, and the servants also moved chairs, letting the four people sit in an arc in front of the desk.

Princess Lei Qianya was in the position closest to the door, next to her was Xia De, and further inside were the two folklorists. The servants pushed the dining car, prepared tea for them, and then closed the door and left.

Princess Lei Qianya came to visit with an appointment, Princess Highness did the play for the whole set, and would not make people doubt her identity. While the two scholars visited rashly, but after hearing their purpose, Mr. Jude also expressed understanding and believed that the two things could actually be handled together:

"You all want to hear me talk about the legends, nursery rhymes, and local folklore of the old city area of Lengshuigang, so why not talk about it together."

Princess Lei Qianya signaled Xia De not to have any actions. The purpose of the two coming here was to determine whether the other party really expelled the curse. And in the current state, it was not convenient to test in the presence of ordinary people.

"Mr. Jude."

Princess Lei Qianya spoke first, she held a notebook in one hand and a fountain pen in the other, looking very professional:

"We are here to ask you about the ancient illegal beliefs in Lengshuigang, which is related to the development of the old city area in the south. Lengshuigang has only developed in the last five hundred years, and it was only after the discovery of the New Continent that it had its current prosperity. But before this, in local fishing villages and coastal villages, there seemed to be some illegal beliefs not recorded in professional literature materials. We are doing a special column with this as a topic."

"This is a good question."

Mr. Jude nodded, and Professor Kajia on the side also said:

"Actually, this question is also being studied in our topic."

He also took out a notebook and prepared to record.

"Lengshuigang City is actually built on three large fishing villages that originally existed locally. This can be proven from the unearthed cultural relics, which was about 1300 years ago. As for ancient beliefs, the three nearby villages fought for the fishing rights in the near sea, and each believed in three different gods."

Mr. Jude paused:

"These three gods are of course all evil gods. They are hostile to each other, driving the contradictions of human believers to be deeper. We don't know what happened in ancient times, but those bloody and cruel wars must have been very terrible."

Mr. Jude picked up the paper on the table to write and draw, and then pushed the paper to the people on the other side of the table.

Xia De got up and took it, letting the four people pass it around.

Mr. Jude continued to speak, his right thumb and index finger pressing on the copper ring on his left index finger, turning it unconsciously:

"After Miss Pulin wrote to me explaining that she wanted to come for an interview, I also flipped through the ancient books I collected in advance. There is reason to believe that the gods believed in by the three fishing villages are related to the three patterns I drew for you."

"Is this the holy emblem of the gods?"

The young scholar asked curiously, and Mr. Jude shook his head with a smile:

"Of course not, even if I knew the holy emblems of those evil gods recognized by the Zhengshen Sect, I wouldn't dare to draw them for you. What you see are the patterns I rubbed from the collected cultural relics, which are the pictographic ways of writing the names of those gods by people in the old era."

The three patterns are tilted human body, mermaid, and storm respectively. Xia De believes that these respectively refer to the evil gods 【God of Deep Sea Drowning】, 【Lord of Scarlet Spiral】, and 【Fury Storm】 mentioned by old Mr. Edmund who watched the lighthouse.

From that pirate ship, Xia De already knew that the mermaid curse was related to 【Lord of Scarlet Spiral】. He intentionally wanted to test Mr. Jude's view on this god, but didn't expect it was Mr. Jude himself who mentioned it:

"I do antique business locally, and have come into contact with some information related to these three gods. Among them, the one I know best is the god referred to by the mermaid. Professor Kajia, I think you are not unfamiliar with the mermaid worship tradition in the local area, as well as the legends and stories of all sizes."

"Of course."

The folklorist professor pushed his glasses:

"Definite evidence proves that the mermaid worship tradition existed before the establishment of Lengshuigang City. We once cooperated with the school's archaeology department to launch excavations in the near sea of Lengshuigang, and once appeared human settlements 1300 years ago that you mentioned. Similar patterns appeared on the goldware at that time. But there is no evidence to prove that this is related to evil gods, and the church side refuses to provide any help."

Of course the church would not provide any help for ordinary people to study evil gods.

"Yes, that's right. We have reason to believe that even in modern times, the belief in this god related to mermaids still exists in this city."

Mr. Jude put his hands together and said to the reporters and scholars. He seemed to have said this sentence consciously at this timing, and then very satisfied to see the surprised expressions of the visiting guests.

The antique collector showed a smile:

"Although it sounds a bit shocking, I have always believed that the ancient fishing village families participated in the establishment of Lengshuigang and have always existed locally. They established the initial Lengshuigang City and lurked in the shadows of Lengshuigang. Of course, this is just my personal view, and I cannot provide evidence for you."

"It doesn't matter, when I write the draft, I will vaguely mention the source of this statement."

Princess Lei Qianya was still playing the role of a reporter, and she and Xia De were both very interested in what Mr. Jude said. Although the two scholars could not use the statement without evidence, this novel point of view could also play a role in the research report.

"A few days ago, I got some interesting things, I can take them for you to see, please wait a moment."

He nodded apologetically to the four people, and then walked out of the room.

The scholars gathered together to talk about the topic just now in a low voice, and Xia De also tilted his head to talk to Princess Lei Qianya:

"At least from the current state, this person has no curse. I must touch his forehead or the position of his heart to confirm this conclusion."

"I will create an opportunity for you in a while, we will leave immediately after the investigation, this old mansion is really strange."

Princess Lei Qianya also felt uncomfortable about this place.

But since it is a place where Ringed Shushi live, it is normal to have some strangeness, just like the place where Xia De lives is a haunted house that even the church has registered.

The two folklorists were talking about mermaids in a low voice on the side. The topic they were conducting was the ocean worship in the local area of Lengshuigang. The so-called ocean worship is a kind of natural worship, and starting from the perspective of mermaids and old gods can at least add a chapter of content to this topic.

Xia De and Princess Lei Qianya also naturally integrated into the discussion. The two scholars were knowledgeable and had profound insights into the local customs of Lengshuigang and the natural worship tradition inherited from a thousand years ago.

So, after getting Princess Lei Qianya's hint, Xia De guided the topic to the direction of nursery rhymes, and then asked about the four-sentence nursery rhyme about "sea return".

According to the analysis of old Mr. Edmund who watched the lighthouse, these four sentences of nursery rhymes correspond to a complete ritual. Among them, the first sentence of the mermaid's song has appeared, and the second sentence of the pirate related to the evil god has appeared, but because of accidentally encountering Xia De, there was no harvest.

Xia De hoped to learn more things from the folklorists, but because they were not Ringed Shushi, the scholars could not connect the nursery rhymes with the mystical.

Professor Kajia understood it from the perspective of ordinary people like this:

"The first sentence of the mermaid's singing refers to the sound of the horn before the pirates appeared; the second sentence is the original meaning, the pirate ship docked and looted in Lengshuigang; the third sentence of the red ocean refers to their slaughter dyeing the seawater red; the last sentence of the girl walking into the ocean refers to the pirates leaving with the harvest."

This kind of analysis of nursery rhymes is also reasonable, but using the perspective of ordinary people after all has limitations. Xia De also wanted to chat with Professor Kajia for a few more words, talking about the belief problems of local people outside the Five Gods Church, but the male servant who walked in unexpectedly interrupted their conversation:

"Sir, Mr. Jude asked you to go upstairs to help him get some things. He doesn't want us to touch those precious antiques, so he rashly asked you to help him get them down."

He said to Xia De very respectfully.

"Me?"

Xia De pointed to himself in confusion, turned his head to look at Princess Lei Qianya, and seeing the latter shake her head slightly, he directly refused:

"Sorry, I cannot leave this lady."

He said very straightforwardly:

"Before going out this time, the editor-in-chief asked me to stay with Miss Pulin all the time. Can we go upstairs together?"

"Why don't I go together too."

The young scholar Lim Scott suggested, probably wanting to perform in front of the young girl with outstanding temperament. So Professor Kajia also nodded:

"Then let's go upstairs together, it's the same for us to go upstairs to see Mr. Jude's collection."

"This..."

The manservant lowered his head, hiding his face in the shadows:

"Sorry, I have to ask the gentleman for instructions, strangers cannot approach the area upstairs casually."

The servant left the room quickly, and the four guests in the room all frowned. The wind was blowing outside, the rain was pouring, and the light of the only gas desk lamp in the room seemed to be much weaker because of this.

Just now the Ringed Shushi Mr. Jude was in front of him, so Xia De did not use the strange technique in this room. Now that the owner of this place left, he blinked, and then saw that the broken-armed statue was actually full of red halos.

Then he tilted his head to listen, and the echoes of the past made the voices from the other end of time appear in his ears:

"... So, don't abduct ordinary people again recently. The sea return ritual has been opened, and we have also transformed enough of our own kind over the years, which can deal with various situations. Except for the Ringed Shushi I lured out by releasing news, don't..."

It seems that this visit was not very smooth.