Chapter 4034: The Tomb Alchemy Laboratory

"You..."

Vigo watched helplessly as Xia De the cat was snatched away, but she did not know what to say to stop it, while Flora herself smiled with satisfaction:

"Really nice, this cat looks so well-behaved; no wonder it can be liked by so many people. But now, I have caught you."

As she spoke, she used her hand to stroke the back of Xia De the cat, who was clearly unhappy:

"Vigo, this cat isn't an ordinary cat, right? I feel it has very powerful vitality, which is why you rely on this kind of spirit cat to detect 'Wither,' right? My teacher also once studied the power of 'Wither,' attempting to combine it with death, so I have a certain understanding of this."

Vigo's mouth twitched:

"Yes, *cough, cough*, yes, that's right."

"Then can you lend me this cat to take with me? I'll return it to you after I go back tonight. I really like this cat; it and I are very compatible."

Miss MacDonald looked helplessly at her teacher, but Vigo was powerless at this moment and could only purse her lips while looking at the cat:

"You must be careful... you absolutely cannot hurt it."

"Yes, yes, this little female cat is so cute; it reminds me of an orange and white kitten I saw before."

Vigo and Flora appeared here with people because after Flora tested the "corpse" samples taken from the Astley family cemetery last Friday, she used a unique Witch's secret technique to track the location of the bodies corresponding to those tissue samples.

It was just that compared to Xia De and Miss MacDonald heading straight to Gray Rock Pass, Vigo and Flora had taken a long detour through the desolate area between the Outer City and Gray Rock Pass before arriving here.

But Flora was very certain that the bodies corresponding to those tissue samples were highly likely to be here, which meant that Vigo's mother was highly likely to be here.

The cemetery at dusk was not empty. Besides the young ladies who had gathered together, there was a gravedigger in the distance preparing a grave for a new deceased, and a priest of the 【Nature Sect】 stood in front of the church comforting two ladies wearing black veils and sobbing.

A little girl stood alone far away from the group, looking at a tombstone, and a flower vendor stood bored at the exit connecting the cemetery to the Gray Rock Pass fortress, likely not expecting any more business today.

The sound of a carpenter planing wood came from behind the church, and the large bell above the church had already struck the hour. Crows flew over the group's heads with a "caw, caw, caw," the sound seeming to deliberately guide Vigo's mood to become worse.

"Flora, then I'll trouble you."

"Follow me."

With Xia De the cat on her shoulder, the artist lady's mood was still quite good, but she considerately took care of Vigo's mood, so she did not show it.

The priest, the gravedigger, the carpenter, the flower vendor, the little girl, the crows—none of these living things were Vigo's mother. Finally, Flora led the group around the small church in the cemetery and arrived at the most remote corner of this cemetery.

There was an entrance to the underground tomb area here, but this underground tomb area was not a separate tomb area for a noble family, but a local area used to bury nameless people whose identities were unknown. Most of the drowning victims who drifted down the Sernier River would also be buried here if they were fished out of the river near Gray Rock Pass.

"This is it."

At this time, the sunset's light had also become dim. Flora pointed to the locked iron gate, and Vigo nodded:

"Let's go, no matter what I see, I will accept it."

The lock was opened by them. After entering, the smell of damp earth and rot rushed toward them. Flora continued to lead the way in front, deepening along the corridor of the underground tomb area, and finally turned into an inconspicuous tomb chamber.

There were three coffins in the center of the tomb chamber, and there were eight coffins in the niches on the walls. The coffins were embedded with stone tablets, stating the date, location, and specific cause of death of these nameless people.

But Flora's target was not them:

"There is still space behind the wall. If I hadn't deliberately sensed it, I would have thought that the space behind the wall here was solid, but I am very certain that the source of the body materials is behind the wall. Someone set up a ritual here to hinder perception. I am already at the twelfth tier now, and to be able to slightly affect my perception here, the person who set up the ritual is likely not of a low rank."

Xia De's "Enhanced Spatial Perception" allowed him to clearly perceive that behind the wall was a passage that was not particularly long, and the passage connected to another area of considerable size.

Because they were worried that forcibly destroying the wall would destroy the area behind it, Flora and the others did not use violent means to find the passage to the hidden space.

Vigo demonstrated the alchemy skills she inherited from her mother. Although her alchemy level could not compare to Megan, Grandma Cassandra, and the Great Witch of "Creation," it was stronger than Flora and Xia De.

Each of the 11 coffins in the tomb chamber had different funerary objects. Vigo matched the imagery and direction corresponding to those funerary objects, and then drew a simple alchemy ritual array.

Then, according to the different numbers on the coffin tombstones, she performed deformation and transformation on the ritual array, and finally obtained a brand-new alchemy ritual:

"I now need liquid mercury, symbolizing the flowing soul; burning sulfur, symbolizing the burning flame; pure white salt crystals, symbolizing the 'foundation of immortality.'

I also need materials of life—crow feathers, scarab shells, cockroach antennae, umbilical cords of stray dogs, spider silk. Finally, the grace of the earth—mandragora leaves, mistletoe, and wolfsbane."

These materials were very common, but no one would carry so many things when going out. The young ladies rummaged through their pockets to gather them, but they were still short of half the materials. Thus, Flora, who had changed from having Xia De the cat on her shoulder to holding Xia De the cat, pinched the cat's right front paw, and Xia De the cat also nodded in response.

"I have these materials, wait a moment."

Flora turned her back to everyone, and then Xia De the cat, held by her, shook his body. A large pile of cards flew out from the cat fur and were restored to materials.

"Here."

Flora handed those materials to Vigo, who asked with a cough:

"Cough, cough, where did you get these materials from?"

"Vigo, just like you are unwilling to let me check the red alcohol potion in your perfume bottle, I also have my secrets. We must learn to respect each other."

Vigo then stopped asking. With the help of Miss MacDonald, she found the right position and set up the ritual array on the ground. As the ritual radiated light, a string of ancient runes appeared on each of the four walls of the tomb chamber.

Vigo blinked blankly:

"My ancient language is not particularly good... Flora, do you recognize these?"

The artist lady certainly didn't recognize them either, but she pinched Xia De the cat's paw again, and after receiving an affirmative reply, she said:

"Wait for me again."

She turned her back to everyone again, and then the fine letters composed of moonlight translated those ancient runes.

Flora turned back and said confidently:

"I've figured it out. The meanings of these four sentences are—

【Deep abyss gestates secret substance, mother of all spirits returning to silence】 【Empty mountain transmits ghostly language, formless carrier of spirit's breath】 【Flowing shadows reflect cold light, path of recurring life and destruction】 【Burning turbidity refines essence gold, forging eternal quality】."

These sentences were very awkward even after being translated, but Vigo immediately understood their meaning:

"Mother's notebook recorded similar sentences. The four sentences are four riddles, corresponding to 【Earth】, 【Wind】, 【Water】, and 【Fire】 respectively."

"Then, knowing the answers to the riddles, what should we do next?"

Flora asked, and Vigo coughed softly again:

"Being able to find this place relied on the harvest in the cemetery. The coffins in the cemetery eventually turned into that black stone tablet. The tablet recorded some very important sentences, and some can be mutually verified with the information provided by the 'Master of Constructs.'

And on that tablet, 'Fire' and 'Earth' were mentioned, symbolizing the active spirit and the body as the foundation, respectively. Eve, go touch the string of runes on the east wall, Annie, you go touch the one on the south."

Miss MacDonald and the other young lady touched the runes together. Then, the west wall lit up with light, and a rusted iron gate appeared on the mud wall. After they struggled to open that gate, behind it was a naturally formed underground passage.

The rugged passage extended for another twenty meters before reaching the end. The end was an alchemy laboratory about the size of Xia De's living room and bedroom combined. The walls of the laboratory were also the most primitive rock walls. This place was clearly a natural cave that existed underground, but it had been slightly modified by someone.

The warm light source summoned by the young ladies illuminated the closed underground space. It could be seen that the owner of the laboratory had not returned for a long time. Tables, chairs, cabinets, various containers, and alchemy equipment were all covered in dust. The vertical Asano furnace built with clay in the corner of the laboratory, which should have been burning fiercely, had long since gone out.

However, Xia De was curious about how such a furnace would release the gas produced by combustion in such a closed room.

"Be careful, there may be anti-theft traps here."

Vigo imagined the figure of her mother who had once moved here, feeling slightly sad, but she still reminded everyone to pay attention to safety. Flora continued to look for the location of the corpse indicated by the human tissue, and then she came to that furnace.

Looking at Vigo with some worry, Flora opened the working chamber of the furnace. The light ball floated in. Fortunately, there was no curled-up charred corpse inside. In the dirty furnace, there was only a doll wrapped in hair and a letter.

When Flora saw the doll, the hair on the doll had dried and changed color because the furnace was opened. Flora didn't even have time to stop it before the hair turned into ashes.

"A substitute corpse doll made with the body's own hair? This kind of alchemy gadget is not common. Alright, Vigo, I admit your mother really has many tricks." ===== CHAPTER 4035 =====