Chapter 4153

"No problem. Helping you find that sea is also helping us continue to advance our research."

Old John nodded but did not mention any reward, which was very rare:

"Today is Sunday. Come to my place on Tuesday evening next week to get the materials."

Afterward, he said with a smile:

"Speaking of which, I must congratulate you on successfully containing the 【Skin House】."

"This is everyone's credit."

Xia De was very humble. Old John asked Xia De to wait a moment, then he rummaged out a set of wine glasses and dragged a dusty wooden box from under the counter. Inside was a bottle of sherry with a faded label, the bottle neck covered in a thin layer of wax seal.

"It's been kept for nearly thirty years. It's worth celebrating that something as harmful to civilization as the 【Skin House】 could be contained."

The amber liquid was poured into two small glass cups, and the aroma slowly spread, like the smell of old books and oak. Little Mia twitched her nose to sniff it, then moved her position slightly; the cat did not like alcohol.

Xia De picked up the wine glass and clinked it with the old man behind the counter. The sunset light outside the glass window was brilliant, and the crisp sound of the glasses clinking was quite fitting for the dim, dusky light at this moment.

Xia De took a sip of the wine:

"Speaking of which, Old John, I also want to entrust you with acquiring a supernatural item."

"What do you want?"

Old John tasted the fine wine in his hand.

"Seed of Life."

"Cough, cough~ cough, cough~"

The old man choked. He hurriedly put down his wine glass and patted his chest:

"If I remember correctly, this is something that only appears in myths and legends. I know that such an item definitely exists, but in the entire Sixth Era, apart from the Success Higher Medical Academy obtaining one around the year 850, no one has ever seen such a peculiar item."

Xia De's eyes lit up:

"Then, was that seed from the Success Higher Medical Academy used?"

"I don't know about that."

"Thank you very much."

Xia De tilted his head and drank the glass of sherry. When he went to find Daniste tomorrow morning, he could just ask her to help contact the Success Higher Medical Academy:

"Then, Old John, see you Tuesday evening~ Don't charge me an intelligence fee for the information on the Seed of Life, and also, this bottle of wine tastes good."

He grabbed Little Mia and left the place, leaving only the old man shaking his wine glass behind the counter, saying that the detective didn't understand wine tasting at all.

Xia De's next stop was the doctor's clinic. Although he did not attend the group meeting on Saturday afternoon, Dorothy and Luweiya, who had attended, had already informed the doctor and the priest about what happened in Arcadia City, so the doctor actually already knew about the appearance of the Demon-Man.

And Dr. Schneider seemed to have guessed that Xia De would come to visit before evening that day, so he was specifically waiting for Xia De in the clinic.

He said very directly:

"Since the Demon-Man has appeared, we can assume that the 'Withered Demon, Valerius' is in the Arcadia region."

The doctor paced in the reception room, full of ambition:

"Valerius likes to wither normal life, which is why I thought it would appear in the Scholar's City, where life energy bursts forth. This time, it sent such a powerful Demon-Man into the 【Skin House】; it definitely had its purpose.

Detective, if we can know what the Demon-Man wanted to do, perhaps we can infer the identity of that demon from it."

Xia De had also thought about this question:

"The Demon-Man's target was clearly the owner of the house. Its plan was ingenious; if it hadn't encountered me, it would have very likely succeeded. At that time, it had even subdued the owner of the house and was drawing the other party's life energy and sins through some kind of black chain."

Xia De recalled with a frown:

"The elemental environment under the water was very complex at the time, and I didn't see it very clearly, but that chain seemed to have similarities to my own chains."

"Life energy and sins..."

The doctor pondered for a moment:

"I cannot go to Arcadia City for the time being. The other party holds the 【Path of No Light】 compass, which can track demons and can also track my trail. However, since Valerius took such a big risk to let its subordinate Demon-Man obtain life energy and sins, it will definitely have similar actions after this failure.

Obtaining life energy is probably related to its desire to strengthen itself; the more life it withers, the more powerful it becomes. Obtaining sins is a bit surprising to me. Although demons are also sins, generally speaking, they will not easily touch sins that do not belong to them. After all, bearing sins is a terrifying thing. Except for you, I haven't heard of anyone who can bear so many sins so easily."

"So, the demon wanting to obtain sins might be related to that 'Great Demon'?"

Xia De guessed, and the doctor nodded:

"Yes, so next you need to pay attention to events similar to the 【Skin House】; the other party might strike again. In addition, demons cultivating Demon-Men is not a simple matter. According to your description, the Demon-Man that appeared this time was quite powerful. I think Valerius shouldn't have many similar helpers around it; it might appear in person."

Xia De revealed a smile:

"I'm just waiting for it to appear. Adding this 【Vanity】, my chains now have ten Great Sin Runes. I want to see if it can break free from the chains."

He told the doctor the ancient story of the "owner of the house", and the doctor also sighed that wherever there is intelligent life, there will always be stories of various sins. After the "owner of the house" was punished by the ancient gods and sealed, it should have withered away completely over time, but after being accidentally released, it continued to expand its sins. It is not worthy of any redemption.

The doctor was very confident in Xia De's 【Great Sin Chains】, but he still provided Xia De with other help.

"Valerius's 'Wither' power is not dangerous to you. Your life force is as strong as the sun; if you were just hit by its attack, it certainly wouldn't cause much impact. But also be careful; you must never be overly exposed to Valerius's power."

The doctor handed him a black umbrella he had prepared:

"Opening the umbrella can completely immunize you against the influence of Valerius's power for a certain period of time. This is an alchemical item I made using the powers of the 'Stone Mirror Demon' and the 'Weapon Demon'. Even if the other party is in its prime state, this umbrella can hold out for a while."

"What if the other party is like Black Hand-Tivron, who absorbed that person's blood? The blood that appeared in the snowy mountains was all obtained from this Withered Demon."

Xia De raised this possibility, and the doctor shook his head:

"Unless it is truly at its wit's end, even an evil spirit demon would not dare to easily fuse with that blood. Otherwise, Black Hand-Tivron would not have kept giving out the blood and only used it on himself at the very end.

Of course, if you are unlucky and Valerius really goes crazy to that extent, then wave your 【Night Watcher】 to call upon the holy moonlight. In my opinion, since you could even seal the 【Skin House】, an ancient demon is no longer an invincible opponent for you."

The doctor sighed:

"If we can successfully make me devour Valerius and get the 【Path of No Light】 this time, Detective, we have walked so far on the path of demon hunting together; I'm afraid we will really see the end."

Because it was already evening, the doctor originally intended to keep Xia De for dinner, but Xia De had a date, so he politely declined the doctor's invitation and reminded the doctor to be ready to go to the Arcadia region to join the battle at any time.

It was already 6:30 PM this Sunday when he came out of the doctor's clinic. Usually, at this time, the cat would be waiting at home or at the witch's house for dinner, but today it only accompanied Xia De onto the carriage, which made the cat meow softly to complain a few times.

But then Xia De fed it a delicious biscuit, and Little Mia then obediently invited Xia De to scratch its chin.

And when Xia De saw Galina's manor from afar through the carriage window, the last ray of sunset had also disappeared below the horizon.

He felt a bit sorry for arriving so late, but the manor's maids were already waiting for Xia De's arrival. After getting off the carriage, Tifa checked Xia De's attire and led Xia De around the manor's main house, along a side path to the garden behind the house, which was the venue for tonight's dinner.

The gas lamps on both sides of the garden path had already been lit, and the warm yellow light spilled over the emerald branches and leaves. Xia De followed behind Tifa, and the maid walking in front seemed to be able to feel Xia De's gaze, turning her head to smile at Xia De while walking.

The venue for the candlelight dinner was set up in the center of the open lawn, with a square rose bed on one side and a small stone fountain not far away. On summer nights, Galina would occasionally watch the stars here, or invite local noblewomen to hold a tea party on some uneventful afternoon.

The square dining table had already been set, and the warm yellow candlelight illuminated the maids busy preparing for dinner, as well as the two witches who had already taken their seats.

They had both changed into very formal evening gowns. Galina, with her red hair, wore a blue long dress today, while Megan, with her brown hair, wore a black dress, with tiny diamonds embedded on the surface of the dress, making that long dress look like the night sky overhead.

"Xia De, you're here."

They stood up together, smiling and lifting their skirts to greet Xia De. Xia De then also smiled and used a hand-kissing gesture to express his gratitude for the dinner invitation, after which he sat in his own chair, and the high stool beside him was clearly prepared for the cat.

The candlelight dinner under the starry sky officially began. Tonight, no one talked about things that made people feel pressured. The Civil War, the situation in Arcadia City, these were all left behind by everyone. Galina and Xia De talked about the popular attire for noble ladies this spring, and Megan shared the potions with interesting functions she had recently made.

Xia De summoned starlight to flicker around the lawn. He tried his best not to think that this venue was very similar to the venue of Margaret's special dinner a few months ago, but instead smiled and responded to the witches' topics, even talking about what he saw and heard when accompanying Angelina to visit the Candlekeep Library this afternoon.