Chapter 377: High Price

After the waiter left, Mr. Rundall lowered his voice and asked Xia De, his brown eyes looking at the young detective across the table.

"It's just me looking for you, I'm the same as you."

This was Xia De hinting at his identity as a Ringed Shushi. Both hands were clasped together and placed on the table. On the table between the two, the candle on the golden candlestick was burning. This was of course not for lighting. The gas lamp disguised as a crystal chandelier overhead was the light source, and the candle was just a decoration.

That yellowish light illuminated the faces of the two, and also allowed them to see each other's eyes.

"I'm looking for a ritual recently."

Xia De also lowered his voice, preventing others from hearing:

"Very ancient ritual, so I need the help of an ancient organization like yours. I have no malice toward you, otherwise I wouldn't have exposed my identity."

Mr. Rundall nodded hesitantly:

"In this era, not many people know about us anymore. You look very friendly and didn't mean to hide your identity... then what exactly do you need?"

"This."

Xia De took out the notebook from his coat pocket, tore off the page that had been folded, and handed it to the other party. The latter took a look and frowned slightly:

"You actually think we would have this kind of thing? This is..."

He looked nervously around, which gave Xia De the illusion that the two were secret contact agents:

"Except for you, I can't think of anyone else who could have it. Is it possible to find this? If so, please name your price."

He pressed his left arm on the table and made a gesture of invitation with his right hand.

"I can't answer you directly, I need to seek help from my companions. After all, there is no library in my head. As for the price... Mr. Hamilton, if you can tell us how you know of our existence, then I can promise you that the knowledge you want can be sold to you at the lowest price."

Mr. Rundall spoke very seriously. Although he was not a professor, his long-term contact with schools made him look like the kind of qualified upper-class gentleman described in books.

"Time Key."

Xia De said the answer he had thought of long ago without changing his expression:

"During my time travel in the Fifth Era, I saw your organization at the front end of the river of time and heard about your things, and even heard one of you say that you would exist until the final doomsday arrives and always insist on your claims. So, I thought of looking for you in this era. Being lucky enough to hear about the Light-Guiding Club and then contacting you is also good luck I didn't expect. Perhaps the arc of fate is pulling us."

Although there were components of lies, most of it was true. As for this kind of strange way of speaking with a large number of descriptive adjectives, it was learned by Xia De from Lu Wei Ya, which could make others think he was very powerful.

Xia De said his excuse, and Mr. Rundall didn't speak immediately. After a long time, he nodded slightly, but his eyes were always fixed on Xia De:

"Good, I can accept this reason, I think others in the Cult can also accept it. I didn't expect us to be exposed for such a reason... However, please don't tell a second person about the Light-Guiding Cult."

"No problem, please also keep my identity secret."

Then Mr. Rundall used the excuse of going to the washroom to pass Xia De's paper to his companion waiting outside. The two sat at the table chatting, eating their own food, and half an hour later, Mr. Rundall suddenly stood up. After returning again, he didn't have anything in his hand.

"Why, no news?"

Xia De asked.

"There is the news you want, but it cannot be recorded on paper, it's here."

The middle-aged man pointed to his head. His body sat very straight, and one could tell at a glance that he often attended such occasions:

"Although since the Sixth Era, we have never liked to expose ourselves, the principle of fair trade has never changed. You should also know the value of this kind of ritual. Our asking price is..."

"Wait, I want to know the completeness of the ritual."

Xia De interrupted him, and Mr. Rundall considered it:

"If we only rely on the part we know, you certainly won't be able to complete the ritual. But if you have some information in your hand, perhaps you can verify and supplement the missing parts."

"What I care about is the last part, what the ritual finally wants to accomplish."

This was the key, and what Miss Feilian lost was exactly the last part of the ritual.

"We have this part of the data. The information is hidden in a fairy tale. If you want all the information, 1300 pounds. If you only need the fairy tale name and interpretation method about the final ritual, 430 pounds."

Strictly speaking, this was indeed the lowest price. Even if the ritual was incomplete, it was a God-Calling ritual after all, and any knowledge related to "God" was very expensive. This was a premium phenomenon accepted by Ringed Shushi.

"To be safe, I want it all, um... can it be on credit?"

Xia De asked embarrassedly again. Mr. Rundall obviously didn't expect him to say this. He shook his head regretfully:

"Sorry, detective of Saint Deran Square, we only accept cash. Of course, we also accept relics, but the specific valuation still needs to be discussed."

It was a pity that Xia De didn't have any relics that could be sold in his hand. Actually, Duo Luo Qian had a scale of a drowned fish-man, but Xia De still had use for that thing.

"Is tomorrow's transaction okay? I need to raise some money. You also know that 1300 pounds is not a small amount. Tomorrow at 6:00 in the evening, go to 6 Saint Deran Square."

He wanted to sell that bottle of fish-man's youth potion to Miss Jia Lin Na. But the Duchess was not so easy to see, he needed to write a letter to inform some situation first.

"No, no, I won't enter the house of a stranger... stranger."

Mr. Rundall hurriedly waved his hand. He thought for a while:

"Sunset tomorrow, by the fountain in Saint Deran Square, I will hold the file bag containing the data, and you will hold the box containing the money. We will hand over the money and the goods."

"Okay."

After eating their respective food, Xia De and Mr. Rundall also settled their bills separately, but the tip was paid by Mr. Rundall voluntarily.

Duo Luo Qian didn't appear immediately after Xia De left the restaurant, but waited until he turned into Saint Deran Square before catching up from the night mist behind him.

"Thank you for your hard work, fortunately, nothing happened this time."

Xia De didn't forget to thank her. Duo Luo Qian shook her head to indicate that it was nothing, and instead asked if the transaction was successful.

In the following night, Xia De continued to follow the female writer to learn the story *Kiss of the Tree*. There were too many versions of this ancient fairy tale, and there was even a version where the princess and the ancient tree ended together in the firelight.

Duo Luo Qian liked this ending very much.

At the same time, Duo Luo Qian was also trying her best to master the power of *The Little Match Girl* through Xia De's spirit rune before the promotion ritual at the end of this year.

Because Duo Luo Qian helped without reservation, the learning progress of *Kiss of the Tree* was much faster than the progress of *The Mad Light-Chaser* that Xia De read alone. He had a premonition that perhaps the spirit rune of *Kiss of the Tree* would be obtained faster than 【Light】. ===== CHAPTER 378 =====