Chapter 349

"Do you... have any feeling that something is wrong here?"

Before Xia De could say what he heard in a reasonable way, Professor Kajia took the initiative to say.

Princess Lei Qianya looked at Xia De, Xia De blinked, signaling her not to speak first:

"Indeed something is wrong, this is too abnormal. Actually, this house itself gives me a very bad feeling."

While talking, he walked to the window, and then lowered his head to check the broken-armed statue.

It's just that, with Xia De's strength, he couldn't pick up the statue. And when he tried to turn the statue, blood actually dripped out from the statue's mouth.

The statue itself was just an ordinary item, just using a very clever mechanical device, allowing it to spray liquid. This kind of bad-taste decoration once again proved that Mr. Jude definitely had a problem.

Seeing the strangeness of the statue, the alert old professor also became alert and came to the window, looked outside, and then greeted Xia De to look at the door.

Xia De walked to the door quietly, listened to the sound outside against the door, and raised his hand to signal everyone not to speak. After confirming that there was no one, he carefully held the doorknob and shook it, and then found that the door was locked from the outside.

"Sure enough, there is something strange!"

The folklorist professor's vigilance was very high. He let his student try to push the window, and then explained to the reporter and the assistant:

"We who study folklore often encounter all kinds of strange things, so we must be cautious. This Mr. Jude probably has something strange..."

"Teacher, the window won't open."

Mr. Scott said anxiously.

"Don't be anxious, don't be anxious about anything you encounter!"

The old professor scolded, and then picked up the cane leaning against the chair. He held the cane body with his left hand and the cane handle with his right hand, and pulled it out fiercely. A very thin thorn sword was actually pulled out. Even if the light was dim at this moment, the thorn sword seemed to be shining.

Seeing Xia De and the reporter lady looking over curiously, the old professor explained:

"It is very normal for us as folklorists to carry personal weapons when going out for investigation."

Saying this, he also said to his student:

"Although you have excellent courses in school, there is still a lot to learn if you want to become an excellent folklorist."

Judging from Mr. Scott's expression, he also didn't know that there was such a thing in his teacher's cane.

"Alright then."

Xia De was stunned for a moment, reached into his coat, took out a black revolver, and explained:

"As a reporter's assistant and bodyguard, going to such a dangerous street area, it is very normal to carry such a weapon... Don't worry, I have a legal gun license."

The second half of the explanation made the scholars feel much more at ease.

After everyone felt that something was wrong, Professor Kajia tried to break the window glass to escape. But breaking the glass would definitely make a loud noise. Once a group of people rushed in from the door, it was impossible for the four people to leave from the broken window in an instant.

The professor took his dangerous weapon and looked for the gap in the window, wanting to pry the window open, and muttered that there was no crowbar in the room. Xia De and Princess Lei Qianya looked at each other, confirmed the plan, and Xia De suggested:

"Now he locked us here instead of rushing in a group of people to tie us up, which means he won't take action against us in a short time. It's better to search the study first, confirm where this Mr. Jude is wrong, and then make plans."

Staying in a dangerous place is one of the most dangerous bridges in horror novels, but for Xia De and Princess Lei Qianya, the current situation is still under control. Even Xia De didn't have the opportunity to get close to confirm Mr. Jude's identity, and Mr. Jude couldn't know they were Ringed Shushi.

The professor accepted Xia De's opinion, and it might also be because he saw the pistol and felt that his side was still very safe.

The four people searched the study together. There were not many things on the desk, but the bookshelves on three walls had to be flipped for a long time:

"Leave the bookshelf to me."

The professor said quite confidently:

"I have been in contact with books all year round, and I have an understanding of these books on the bookshelf, the speed of finding them is definitely faster than you."

So Xia De searched the desk, Princess Lei Qianya went to flip through the coffee table over there, and the two scholars flipped through the bookshelf.

The desktop was very tidy. What was placed at Mr. Jude's hand was a New Continent adventure novel, with a leaf clipped inside as a bookmark, which had no value. On the left side of the desk were four drawers, and on the right side was a drawer and a cabinet that could be opened.

As expected, all drawers and cabinets were locked, but they were automatically opened by Xia De with a light touch.

"There is another gun here."

Pulling open the drawers on the left in turn, the top drawer contained a paper box, inside which was a pistol of a model Xia De couldn't recognize and a few bullets. The old professor knew how to use a pistol, so Xia De gave the gun to him. And in the second drawer, there were some scattered bottles and jars, and Xia De immediately understood that these were spell-casting materials.

In the third and fourth drawers on the left were documents and letters packed in file bags. Xia De flipped through them slightly and found that they were all related to Mr. Jude's antique business.

So he reached out and pulled open the top drawer on the right. He didn't feel anything strange when touching the drawer, but just after pulling it open a gap, a withered broken hand actually stretched out from the gap, flew up and stabbed at Xia De's throat.

"Hmm?"

Because he was searching the study of a Ringed Shushi, Xia De had been guarding against it. The broken hand had just appeared, and the woman's voice in his heart was reminding him. Xia De raised his right hand, and the moonlight flew out from his hand, accurately cutting the broken hand into two halves.

Because everyone else was checking other places, no one noticed this scene. Until the broken hand fell on the floor and made a thud sound, Princess Lei Qianya and the scholars noticed this side.

"Oh~"

Mr. Scott, who saw this scene directly, covered his mouth to prevent himself from screaming. Professor Kajia also had an ugly face, not expecting such a thing to appear. Princess Lei Qianya walked over worriedly:

"This Mr. Jude really collected a lot of strange collections. Mr. Watson, are you okay?"

She was explaining the origin of this hand.

"I'm fine, I just took it out when I touched something strange just now, I didn't expect it to be this thing. I was frightened."

This broken hand is an alchemical item, probably as long as the drawer is pulled open, it will fly out and pinch people's necks. This kind of thing is very dangerous for ordinary people who have no knowledge, but for Ringed Shushi, it is just a small matter.

"Continue looking, Mr. Jude probably really has a big secret."

Xia De said, Professor Kajia nodded, and whispered something to his student, probably comforting him not to be frightened by the broken hand. Princess Lei Qianya whispered:

"For safety before coming, I arranged manpower nearby. I have a steam bomb on me. As soon as the bomb explodes, the Lengshuigang garrison will surround this area within twenty minutes."

"Understand, but don't do it unless it's a last resort, otherwise you can't explain the reason for your appearance here."

The cooperation between the royal family and the Zarathustra Academy is not an official cooperation, which means the Zhengshen Sect does not know that Princess Princess Lei Qianya is a Ringed Shushi.

"No problem, aren't you curious that I carry a steam bomb with me?"

"Isn't Duo Luo Qian also like this?"

Xia De said.

There was nothing else in the drawer containing the broken hand, the top drawer on the right was just a simple anti-theft measure. Finally, only the cabinet at the bottom right remained. After opening it, inside was an iron-gray safe.

This kind of safe needs to rotate the password and key at the same time to be opened. Xia De touched it with his hand, and even felt a slight element, representing that there were other unknown Ringed Shushi means protecting this safe.

"Key of the Door."

Carefully touching the surface of the safe with his fingers, he clearly felt a force resisting the effect of the spell.

Xia De narrowed his eyes, very carefully maintaining the operation of the spell with his spirit. The feeling at this moment was as if he and the invisible force were pushing a stone relatively. But fortunately, the power of the safe was limited after all, and the power of the spell came from Xia De, so a few minutes later, with the sound of gears turning and chains clicking inside the safe, the keyhole and the somewhat rusty password dial turned at the same time.

After a click sound, the sound of the piston popping open was clearly heard, and then the door of the safe opened automatically.

"Is opening a safe also a skill of a reporter's assistant?"

Mr. Scott, who heard the sound of the safe opening nearby, asked with extreme surprise. Those drawers might not have been locked, but opening the safe like this was really not normal:

"There was a note in the drawer with the password, and I touched the key under the cabinet. This gave us a lesson, don't write down the password casually."

Xia De explained vaguely, and then looked inside the cabinet:

"Oh!"

His surprised cry successfully diverted the young scholar's attention.

The first thing he took out was an oil painting. The painting itself was fine, the problem was the content on it. This was not an abstract painting method, but a quite realistic and even close to white-drawing method. On the turbulent red ocean, a reef stood abruptly, and on the reef was a terrible thing with a human body and a fish tail.

Clearly having a human woman's face, but that face showed an ugly posture Xia De had never seen before. The entire upper body looked like it was wrapped in a layer of mucous membrane, but it also looked like a layer of transparent scales.

The expression of the fish-man looking outside the picture was like a cruel smile, but also like staring at the person looking at this picture. The red ocean, black reef, dim yellow sky, and pale fish-man, although the painting itself was an ordinary item, this sense of reality made Xia De feel creepy.

And the upper body of the fish-man on the screen was at least 80% similar to the fish-man appearance after the captain of the Fishbone Pirate Ship transformed. This is the dependent of the evil god.

"Oh! The mermaid in the picture is blinking!"

The young scholar who saw this picture at the same time as Xia De wanted to scream. Princess Lei Qianya immediately looked at the door, while Professor Kajia walked over and covered his student's mouth.

At least for half a minute, Princess Lei Qianya, who was against the door, shook her head slightly, meaning it was temporarily safe. The professor let go of Mr. Scott's mouth, who was pale with terror, his eyes bulging outward because of nervousness, and the blood color in his eyeballs was like he hadn't slept for three days.

And just a few minutes ago, this was still a very healthy and energetic young man.