Chapter 4148: Call of the Sea

Time approached noon. Mr. Bernhardt wanted to keep Xia De here for lunch, but Xia De thought Vigo was probably still waiting for him, so he declined his invitation. Then Xia De threw the crystal shoe and returned home, and then appeared directly in the Lower City, and it was much closer to go to the Fragrant Residence from the Lower City.

The witches had returned to their respective cities, and the Fragrant Residence had returned to its usual cold and quiet appearance. Miss Macdonald greeted Xia De in the foyer. Lunch was still ten minutes away, so she took Xia De to the study to see Vigo first.

And in the process of going upstairs, this girl with rose-gold long hair lowered her voice and asked Xia De:

"Can you persuade the teacher in a while?"

"What's wrong?"

Miss Macdonald leaned close to Xia De and replied:

"The teacher slept hugging those two neck-curved bottles last night. How does this look normal? Luolin and I both persuaded her, but the teacher insisted on sleeping with her sister."

Xia De was not surprised at all. This symptom had appeared on Dannister once:

"This... I can understand Vigo's idea, but this sounds indeed strange. Did she really put the bottles into the quilt, or just put the two bottles on the pillow?"

"Placed on the pillow."

"That's fine. Don't worry, I will persuade her."

Vigo didn't look idle today either. When Xia De and Miss Macdonald entered the study, she was explaining something to Ajielina. Seeing Xia De come, she signaled Ajielina that she could go change clothes first to prepare for lunch.

"I thought you wouldn't come today."

The black-haired witch said with some resentment, and gave Xia De a hug. Xia De then asked with a smile:

"Does Miss Feilian's ointment potion have any effect? How do you feel today?"

"Feels okay. I can stop coughing without drinking your blood brew so frequently. Cough cough, cough cough."

She said and coughed lightly twice, then kissed Xia De on the side of his face:

"I also have to change clothes. Wait for me, I'll be back soon."

This actually meant going to the washroom, but Xia De didn't let her leave immediately:

"What about your sister? I have to purify her once every day. Taking advantage of the time before lunch, I can perform today's purification now."

"Look, isn't she on the desk? Go purify her; she will like you."

Saying that, Vigo left the study. Xia De gave Miss Macdonald a reassuring look, and then went to purify the solution affected by the 【Skin-Object Hall】 first.

When Vigo and Ajielina returned, today's purification was already completed. The two neck-curved bottles were placed on Vigo's imposing desk, and Vigo went to check immediately.

Xia De stood on the side and said as if unintentionally:

"A container like a glass bottle is ultimately a bit too fragile. Haven't thought about changing the container for her?"

Vigo shook her head:

"This special life solution must be contained in a special bottle. I haven't mastered my mother's technology yet. For safety's sake, it's better not to change the container easily."

"Then keep it carefully in the future."

"Of course, as long as I am at home, I will ensure she is within my line of sight as much as possible. Even if I sleep, I will put her on the pillow beside me."

Miss Macdonald glanced at Xia De, and Xia De then entered the main topic:

"Putting the neck-curved bottle used in the laboratory on the pillow, this seems a bit..."

Vigo blinked:

"What's wrong? I finally found my poor sister, I must watch her well."

Ajielina also understood that Xia De wanted to persuade the witch not to do this, but the little princess never expected Xia De to say such words next:

"This is very strange... I feel, as if my position has been occupied by someone else."

Vigo couldn't understand what Xia De said at the first time, but after two seconds, her face turned red, and then she said immediately:

"This sentence of yours is the really strange one. I will put the bottle in other safe places later. Really, that is just my sister, men are really petty... that position only belongs to you."

She also promised, seeing that Xia De's expression was normal and he wasn't really angry, she felt a little relieved:

"I heard that your cat sometimes sleeps on your pillow too."

Xia De nodded:

"Yes, but Little Mia never sleeps on the other pillow beside me. It's either curled up beside my pillow, or lying above my head."

Vigo thought about that picture, and complained in a low voice again:

"I have been leaving the position for you, but when do you want to use it?"

Xia De did not avoid this question:

"Wait until your illness is completely cured, we are all looking forward to that day."

"Ah! Really, is this something that can be said to a lady? Go to the restaurant, I think lunch is already prepared."

Vigo turned and walked toward the door, and everyone saw her face turn red.

Vigo's mood seemed very good today. During lunch, she talked to Xia De about the follow-up handling of the 【Skin-Object Hall】 incident. And Xia De also informed Vigo about the more complex relationship between the Delin-Or royal family and the vampire species investigated by Mr. Bernhardt. Vigo frowned and thought for a while:

"When I was a child listening to the elders in the family tell stories about the Delin-Or era, I seemed to have heard similar things. Actually, there are also some folk legends circulating locally, believing that the Delin-Or royal family back then was related to evil creatures. However, these rumors were all propaganda means of Karsenrick after the kingdom was defeated, right?"

As for her own bloodline, Vigo indicated that Xia De didn't need to investigate:

"In order to treat myself, the Council and I have conducted a lot of research on my body, and I am very sure that I am 100% human... at least more like a human than you."

Miss Macdonald and Ajielina were both giggling on the side.

"If you want to know whether the royal family back then really had the power of vampire species, you should go investigate that girl you rescued from the 【Skin-Object Hall】. If the intelligence shared by your vampire friend is true, that is really a big news. In the afternoon, I will let the girls under me contact the Church, saying that the God-Caller wants to investigate."

The Church's bloodline test still needed time, so after lunch, he finally opened the suitcase he obtained from the library this morning.

This was the reward "Desire" gave to Xia De. The reward agreed upon by the two before the incident started was "hall information," "method to treat Vigo," and "divine artifact."

Strictly speaking, Xia De had actually already obtained these three rewards. Xia De thought what was in the suitcase would be "after-sales service," which was a further explanation of the divine artifact's power, or a further analysis of Vigo's condition, but when Xia De picked up the thing wrapped in a red silk cloth in the suitcase, what he saw was a book.

"Just put a book in such a big box? What is this?"

Vigo asked curiously, and she identified the ancient characters on the book:

"【Call of the Sea】? Occult book?"

"Looks like it. The characters in the book are all common language from the early Fifth Era, and what is written inside is..."

Xia De read it through with "speed reading." This method only allowed him to roughly know the general content of the book, and it was impossible to obtain sorcery or even spirit runes through this method:

"This book records ancient legends about the 'ocean.' It is rumored that there is a strange ocean outside the material world. This ocean will appear in the material world without any rules. And after it appears, people with qualifications will be attracted by the ocean, walk into the ocean together, and finally merge into one, realizing the evolution of life and becoming a higher-level life form."

Xia De closed the book:

"By reading this book, there is a probability of obtaining 【Ocean】, 【Fusion】, 【Evolution】 spirit runes and related sorcery."

"This sounds like just a very ordinary occult book. Why did it give you this?"

"It definitely wasn't given randomly. This legend reminds me of the 'Origin Sea'."

Vigo nodded:

"Is the mysterious ocean that appears irregularly in the material world described in this book that red sea?"

"Not sure, but the possibility is very high. I was going to investigate things related to the 'Origin Sea' anyway. The mermaid sent this book at such a time; it is probably trying to give me some hints."

Xia De was not in a hurry to read this book carefully immediately, but planned to read it with the materials given by Miss Feilian when he had time next week.

However, after reading this book, he thought of another thing that seemed unrelated to this:

"Vigo, have you heard of the Sea Return Ritual?"

Vigo nodded:

"Of course I've heard of it. This was a major event that happened in the summer of 1853. Didn't you and Xiwei both participate?"

"'Sea Return' is not only a ritual of cultists, but also a local folk song in Coldwater Port. The content is roughly that people attracted by the mermaid's song voluntarily enter the sea and never look back from then on."

Vigo understood Xia De's meaning:

"This is very similar to the ancient story described in the book the mermaid gave you."

"Yes, but when I was investigating in Coldwater Port back then, I learned that the origin of this folk song was the sacrificial ritual of the local small fishing village in Coldwater Port to the evil god 【Lord of the Scarlet Spiral】 at the beginning of this era (318). Although it might just be a coincidence, the Sea Return Ritual and the legend recorded in this book are a bit too similar."

Xia De looked out the window, paused, and asked Vigo:

"Do you think there is such a possibility—the Sea Return Ritual wasn't actually invented by those cultists themselves. A long, long time ago, members of the 【Scarlet Order】 had personally witnessed the 'Origin Sea' appear in the material world, and only then created the 'Sea Return'."

Vigo thought for a while:

"That's a really bold conjecture, but it's not unreasonable. To verify this conjecture, you need to go and ask the cultists. But the problem now is, can you find them?" ===== CHAPTER 4149 =====