Chapter 387: Demon Scholar

"Special rule cards?"

Xia De looked at the man opposite the table in surprise:

"Of course I'm interested."

But he didn't think that someone encountered in a pier slum hotel could casually take out a special card.

The man lowered his voice. He had a very stylish tone when speaking, and he liked to press the last sound downward. He touched his scalp:

"I heard your conversation with the boss here just now, and saw that you could patiently read the notebook here for half an hour. I bet you are definitely a Luo De card player, and a senior player at that. This temperament cannot be faked. Are you interested in gambling a round with me? Gambling with special cards?"

"Sorry, I don't have special cards."

Xia De shook his head, not wanting to cause extra trouble while investigating.

"It doesn't matter, then let's gamble on other things. If you win, you can buy my card at a cheap price of 20 pounds. If I win, you have to give me 20 pounds directly."

This was not a small number. Xia De wanted to refuse, but the man had already placed the card on the desktop. The corners of his mouth lifted toward both sides, and his eyes were very bright:

"Look at this."

Xia De looked down and his face changed.

【Demon · Soul Stealer Bishop】, Moon 9.

When drawing this card, if the opponent does not stop drawing, they must draw two more cards in the next round. If the two cards are of different suits, the opponent can choose to give up one of the cards. If the two cards are of the same suit, they must accept the numbers of both cards simultaneously.

"This is... Demon series?"

Xia De lowered his voice and supported the desktop. Even the outsider was surprised at this moment.

The prosperity of Luo De cards had a history of several centuries. Apart from the founding series, the other five special cards in Xia De's hand were actually series from the last one or two hundred years.

And in fact, at the beginning of the issuance of Luo De cards, the Prophet Association was more inclined to use things in folk stories and legends to select themes for series of cards. It was only in modern times that they would be more inclined toward natural and civilized series.

And the Demon series was one of the famous early Luo De card series. This set of cards was reprinted many times later, but each special card was only issued once, and the next version was a new Demon card. And this one in front of him, the sign at the very top of the front showed that this was the first edition of the Demon series Luo De card.

Xia De couldn't accurately say the date of the first issuance of the Demon series, but he could be sure that if this card was real, the value would definitely not be lower than 1000 pounds.

Apart from the 【Founding】 series, Demons, Angels, saints of various churches, and legendary heroes of ancient legends were all quite valuable Luo De cards.

"Are you sure this is genuine?"

Xia De asked hesitantly. The long-faced man asked back with a smile:

"If I could confirm it, do you think I would use a 20-pound bet to gamble with you? Sir, this is something I obtained by coincidence. Although I am a Luo De card player, I have always avoided demons, so I will not keep this card. It just so happens that I met you, so I might as well gamble a round with you."

This looked very much like the situation that appeared in those classic scams.

"Oh, forgot to introduce myself. I am a Demon Scholar. Xiao En Asmon, recently investigating ancient rumors about this place in Lengshuigang."

Saying that, he reached out to Xia De.

Xia De shook hands with him and got the answer that the other party was an ordinary person:

"Demon Scholar?"

The kerosene lamp between the two had dim yellow light, and a black flying insect flew into the lampshade at some unknown time. It crashed into the flame, causing the firelight to shake, and light and shadow crossed on the outsider's face.

"Yes, I don't teach in universities, but specifically accept commissions from nobles to investigate ancient rumors they are interested in. Actually, I mainly study demonology—oh, of course there is no such subject; it's a term I coined myself. Although I study demons, I personally avoid things related to demons very much and will absolutely not carry items related to this on my body."

Mr. Asmon said, his eyes still looking at Xia De. He touched his bald head again; this was his habit.

Xia De nodded to show understanding. He had heard Dr. Schneider mention this kind of professional; they were mystery scholars among ordinary people. They mostly served nobles, and a small part were private researchers, a group that ring warlocks also found annoying.

Only God knew what kind of damned things this group of people who didn't know awe had come into contact with.

"Then have you found demons in Lengshuigang?"

Xia De asked with great interest.

"Of course not, and I'm not looking for demons either; I am pursuing knowledge and stories about demons. But this port city only has the smelly fish-men in rumors, and the mermaids that are said to have been witnessed by fishermen."

The long-faced man shook his head regretfully.

"Alright then, I am John Watson, a detective."

Xia De continued to lower his voice and introduced himself:

"I am doing a commission task here, please don't make it public."

"Of course, I knew it; you are definitely not from the slums."

Mr. Asmon said very politely, and then asked:

"Do you want to play a round of Luo De cards? I know this has risks, but for a true Luo De card player, for a suspected genuine Luo De card, this should be very worth it."

Xia De didn't want to play. If it was confirmed to be real, he might still be very interested, but the other party looked like a swindler no matter how he looked at it, and the reputation of professions like Demon Scholar was not good.

Seeing Xia De's hesitation, the long-faced man said again:

"Since you are doing an investigation, then how about this: whether you win or not, I can tell you the situation of this hotel. Since you are doing a commission here, you must be interested in this place. Although I don't live here, I meet guests upstairs and have stayed here all morning, so I am very familiar with the situation upstairs."

He continued to bewitch Xia De.

But his words meant that he was not Mr. Dacnisi's companion.

"Apart from the hotel information, I also want to ask you for some knowledge about demons."

Xia De thought it was quite appropriate. The intelligence of Dacnisi was worth this price. But even if he won, he had to pay twenty pounds, so he put forward a request.

He didn't believe that the card was genuine in his heart.

"No problem, we can chat while playing cards; I like to share those strange knowledge. Let's play some interesting rules: draw four cards each time, don't compare the size of the points, but compare who doesn't bust three times first. If you draw a King or Wang Hou, regardless of what the other points are, it is considered not busting."

The long-faced man proposed.

"Can do."

Xia De hadn't played this kind of gameplay.

Mr. Asmon took out his deck, and Xia De also took out his deck.

While shuffling the cards, he cautiously opened his mouth:

"Mr. Asmon, what do you think a demon is? An alien species in rumors like elves and fish-men, or a product of people grouping strange and evil things together?"

"Mr. Watson, this is a truly interesting question. My research shows that both of your answers are correct. There are indeed alien species of demons, but demons also contain some evil existences whose true existence people cannot determine, those monsters in the mouths of rural folks, or strange things in the mouths of nobles."

Xia De nodded. Miss Feilian's notebook had mentioned these things. It seemed that this Mr. Xiao En Asmon still had some skills.

He continued to shuffle the cards:

"Will demons parasitize people? Just like in rumors, parasitizing beautiful women, needing male demon hunters to use special means to pull them out."

"Those people are all swindlers, swindlers who are both greedy for money and lustful."

Mr. Asmon laughed. Under the firelight of the kerosene lamp, his smile looked normal, but there was a feeling that made people uncomfortable:

"Why don't I tell a story about a demon?"

"Okay."

Xia De and Mr. Asmon slapped their respective decks on the desktop at the same time. Both of them pulled gently, and the paper cards spread out on the desktop in an arc.

Xia De used 【Treasured Item】 to control the Luo De cards to ensure that this deck wouldn't scatter. Looking at it this way, this ability derived from 【Greed】 was truly useful.

【You still say choosing this ability wasn't for playing cards.】

She chuckled.

Xia De didn't pay attention to the voice in his ear, because Mr. Asmon's story had already begun. That hoarse voice sounded very stylish in the dim yellow kerosene lamp and intoxicating wine breath:

"I have already forgotten in which ancient book I saw this story. That was a very distant past, distant to the point where the sun was brighter than it is today, distant to the point where the three moons had not yet appeared in the sky at the same time."

Xia De was not surprised. In the literature that ordinary people could come into contact with, there were indeed records of the number of moons.

"A strange existence was born amidst lies, deception, betrayal, hatred, and death. People didn't know what it was, so they called it a demon. Because of people's thoughts, it truly possessed the power of a demon as a creature."

Both of them drew four cards. After flipping them over, Mr. Asmon had Moon 9, Star 2, Star 7, Flower 13; no need to calculate, he busted.

Xia De had Sun 1, Moon 13, Flower 2, and Flower 5, exactly 21 points.

"Your luck is truly not bad... That strange demon had no name, because it wasn't even a demon originally. It walked through many places, and whenever it stopped, conspiracies of deception and betrayal would definitely occur there."

For the second set of four cards, the long-faced middle-aged man had Sun 3, Sun 7, Star 3, Flower 7, exactly 20 points.

Xia De had Sun 7, Moon 1, Star 4, Wang Hou.

"Tsk tsk, Wang Hou, it seems I really met a very powerful opponent."

Mr. Asmon shook his head, skillfully selecting the third round of paper cards:

"It was inherently evil and enjoyed the disasters it brought. It preferred to use helping people realize their wishes as an excuse, sign contracts with people, and then use the loopholes in the contracts to take away everything people had."

This was quite in line with ordinary people's view of "demons."

"However, in rumors, this demon failed once."

Mr. Asmon stopped his speech and opened the third set of cards with Xia De.

The first card of the former was actually 【Demon · Soul Stealer Bishop】, which made him reveal a smile. Xia De had Sun 4, Sun 5, Sun 6, Moon 5, twenty points.

Xia De didn't bust for three rounds; he won.

"How did it fail? Someone saw through its contract trap?"

Xia De threw the paper cards onto the desktop casually. He was very interested in this story.

"No, that person said—I have no wishes."

Mr. Asmon looked at the cards on the desktop and laughed, shaking his head. Xia De also laughed and took out 20 pounds from his pocket:

"This is yours."

"Aren't you afraid that I am specifically using fake Luo De cards to scam you?"

He leaned forward slightly, with an inexplicable smile on his face, and his bald head seemed to reflect light under the kerosene lamp.

"If you can tell me the situation on the third floor, then this 20-pound information fee is very worth it."

Xia De narrowed his eyes and said.

"I like people like you."

Mr. Asmon took the paper money, clipped it into his notebook, and then passed the paper cards to Xia De across the kerosene lamp. ===== CHAPTER 388 =====