Chapter 696: The Person of Reverse Growth

Walking out of the fence gate of the Sin Mansion with trepidation, Xia De looked back at the mansion's courtyard, which was piled with golden fallen leaves. Ordinary people probably couldn't imagine how dangerous this place really was.

Sister Delyth and Mr. Bernhard had not left yet; they were waiting for Xia De in the woods beside the gravel path extending from the fence gate. The nun was carrying a very familiar kerosene lamp. When Xia De walked over, he noticed that there were dozens of blind nuns wearing silver eye masks standing in the woods. Sister Delyth had indeed not come alone.

And Xia De hadn't noticed them when he arrived, probably because Xia De had arrived relatively early, and the figure he saw before entering the door should have been Armand Bernhard.

"My business is finished too."

Xia De waved at them, so the nun and Mr. Bernhard, who was dressed in formal attire, stopped talking and looked at Xia De, who was walking over.

"Mr. Hamilton, thank you very much this time."

He placed his right hand on his left shoulder and bowed slightly to express his gratitude, looking as if he had completely confirmed who Xia De was. Xia De was a bit worried about this, but before he could express such emotions, Sister Delyth said softly:

"Mr. Armand Bernhard can be trusted."

Xia De nodded:

"No need for thanks; I just hope we can keep each other's secrets."

"Of course, compared to you, I am actually the one worried about my identity being leaked to the Zhengshen Sect. After all, you are a human, but I am not."

As he spoke, this elegant, upper-class middle-aged man took out two business cards and handed them to Xia De and the nun respectively:

"If you have any matters, you can come to this address to find me. Then, two, see you again."

"See you again."

"See you again."

Mr. Bernhard turned and left. Xia De glanced at the business card and found that it was the same as the one he had received in the trash alley behind the Sikar Hotel last time.

"What did you talk about just now?"

Xia De asked the nun curiously. Their relationship was quite good, so this question was not considered rude.

"He heard from somewhere that the cult has a connection with the 【Witch Council】, so he wants to establish a relationship with the 【Witch Council】 to acquire a relic."

The nun said, then signaled for Xia De to go down the mountain with them. Xia De wanted to entrust the 【Spirit Cultivation Society】 to solve the problem on his third floor, so he happened not to want to part ways with the cult.

"Mr. Hamilton, did you see the Ancient One at the summit?"

The hem of Sister Delyth's gray-black nun's robe was extremely long, almost sweeping the fallen leaves on the ground as she walked. But judging from the sound of her feet stepping on the withered leaves, she should be wearing a pair of boots.

"Yes, its state is very bad. I used an incantation inherited from the 【Yellow Moon】 to temporarily restore its sanity. The Ancient One admitted that its state was bad, but it still gave me power, allowing me to help everyone escape just now... Oh, there is one more thing; it mentioned four 'nails'."

The cult's nuns walked in two rows, and Xia De and Sister Delyth walked side by side in the middle.

Regarding the so-called "four nails," Sister Delyth was not surprised:

"If you enter the city today, Grandma Cassandra will also tell you about this. With the help of the Diviner Society, the church has made major progress in the study of the state of the Interstice."

To be precise, when the Five Gods Church was making final preparations for the ritual that would play a huge role in sealing the Interstice, they accidentally unearthed information left by ancient Ringed Shushi in the Sikar Mountain area.

Relying on the deciphering of ancient texts, the assistance of the Diviner Society, and the special power of the core figure codenamed "Miss Balance," combined with the remaining fragments of the "Death" section in the "Whispering Poem," they finally learned the entire process of the impending disaster.

After three earthquakes, the seals located at the foot, waist, and summit of the mountain would gradually fail. At the same time, the power of death, which had been accumulated in the Interstice and could not be released for the time being, would prompt four lives that had already passed away to return to the world.

No one would remember that they had once left, and even they themselves would not remember. But they would serve as nails that firmly fixed the Interstice and reality together, prompting the outbreak of death to approach faster.

The final scene before the outbreak of death turned the Sikar Mountain area into a ghost realm would be the complete failure of the seals of the three passages. And finding and removing those four souls who had returned to the human world would effectively delay this process.

"Those four souls carry the most fundamental power of death. Once the Interstice collapses, the power of any one of them will not be weaker than a Grade 1 relic. Therefore, even for the sake of post-disaster cleanup, finding and resolving them is a must-do."

The nun introduced to Xia De.

The group was still walking in the woods. The 【Spirit Cultivation Society】 was very familiar with this Sikar Mountain.

"In other words, has it reached the final stage before the disaster now?"

"Yes, according to current signs and the report from the Diviner Society, if those four nails are not found, the disaster will definitely happen before the end of the Withered Leaf Moon."

"So fast? Oh, actually, it's not fast anymore."

Xia De shook his head.

In addition to the matter of the Interstice, Sister Delyth also had preliminary investigation results regarding the "boy" Joey Barton in the Crow Club who could cover his eyes with Tarot cards and see the deaths of others.

At the Disciple Club in the city center, which was where Xia De first met Sister Delyth, the nun told Xia De the investigation results:

"In short, this is a rare person of reverse growth."

"Sorry, is this a technical term? I don't quite understand."

Thanking the servant for the teacup, Xia De began to listen to the nun tell the investigation report.

Just as Xia De thought, the "boy" was not a boy at all.

Joey Barton was born in 1810 of the Sixth Era General Calendar and was already forty-three years old in 1853. He was a local of Midhillburg, born into an ordinary family in the south of the city.

His father was a workshop foreman at a steam factory, and his mother was a worker at a wool textile mill; both of them had passed away from illness more than twenty years ago.

More than forty years ago, when Joey Barton was born, giving birth at home was still a very common way to have children. And because of a breech position, Mrs. Barton gave birth to her child in a hospital. And very coincidentally, that hospital belonged to the 【Spirit Cultivation Society】.

Sister Delyth easily found the birth record and confirmed Joey Barton's identity.

"He suffers from a strange disease."

The nun's voice was still as steady as ever:

"After birth, his body grew rapidly and then aged rapidly. At the age of three, his height, weight, and various physiological indicators were almost identical to those of a seventy-year-old."

A very flat voice told a very horrifying story.

Xia De listened carefully, feeling extremely curious about this suspected Chosen One.

"But subsequently, he did not continue to age; instead, he became younger and younger as he grew older. This period of experience did not happen in Midhillburg. After Joey Barton was three years old, he was sent away by his family for treatment."

The nun handed the prepared photo to Xia De. Xia De put down the teacup and took the photo, seeing a middle-aged man lying on the bed:

"This is what Joey Barton looked like at fifteen. At this time, he had already gone from old age to middle age. This is also the most complete photo the cult could find before he returned to Midhillburg at the age of thirty-two in his youth."

"Born an old man, middle-aged in puberty, young in his prime, and now a child... oh, so this is the person of reverse growth you mentioned... His life must have experienced many stories, right?"

Xia De said with great emotion.

"Yes, but in just three days, the cult could not find these stories."

Sister Delyth paused:

"It is worth noting that the investigation did not find the origin of him becoming a Ringed Shushi. When he returned to Midhillburg at thirty-two, he was already a Ringed Shushi and subsequently joined the Crow Club."

"Did he become a Ringed Shushi elsewhere?"

"Yes, and such a rare disease of his should not have gone unreported in the newspapers. And after Mr. and Mrs. Barton passed away, the source of his treatment expenses was also unclear. There is reason to believe that an unknown Ringed Shushi organization discovered him and became interested in him, thus providing him with treatment expenses and leading him into the door of the extraordinary after his talent awakened. But clearly, his talent... is not outstanding."

After all, he was only a First-Ring now.

"Joey Barton very likely holds secrets about the Interstice. His special disease may also be related to the Interstice. The cult will continue the investigation into him. After Grandma Cassandra and Miss Aurora return from Sikar Mountain, I will request the assistance of the Witch Council."

The two witches went into the mountain today to investigate the large cavern in the mountain belly that Xia De mentioned.

"I am also very interested in him. I plan to make another appointment in a while and take my other very capable friend to see him again."

Only Luweiya could identify a Chosen One at a glance, while Iluna, as a Chosen One, only had a very vague perception of other Chosen Ones. Xia De wanted to take Iluna to see all three current suspects.

"No need to make an appointment. After we visited last Sunday, we used the relationship of Cassandra Auction House to make an appointment in advance. You can go tomorrow afternoon."

The nun handed Xia De a badge with a crow pattern:

"If there are new clues, please share them with the cult."

"No problem."

Xia De nodded and believed that among Priest Augustus, Sister Delyth, and Joey Barton, Mr. Barton's suspicion as the number one candidate for the "Death Chosen One" had been infinitely magnified.

After finishing the matter of Mr. Barton, Xia De finally had the opportunity to talk about his own affairs. Since Sister Delyth already knew Xia De's identity, Xia De did not need to hide that he lived at No. 6 St. Theresa Square in Tobesk.

He hoped that the nun could briefly go to Tobesk through 【Traveler's Travel Door】 to "observe" the situation on the third floor and confirm whether a passage of this scale in the Interstice could be sealed.

Because of the help Xia De provided in the 【Sin Mansion】, Sister Delyth naturally would not refuse Xia De's request. However, 【Traveler's Travel Door】 needed to be transported to Midhillburg for the nun to go to St. Theresa Square through that door.

And no matter who hired a carriage to transport such a heavy thing from the ruined tower in the mountain to the foot of the mountain, it would leave untraceable traces.

Considering the secret of the ruined tower and the 【Space Labyrinth】, Xia De finally decided to invite the nun to meet him in the basement of the ruined tower in the mountain this evening.

Although in this way, the nun would inevitably guess Xia De's secret of traveling between the two places, this was a matter of no choice. Using the 【Space Labyrinth】 to shuttle between the two places was not Xia De's core secret. For the safety of his home, it was an acceptable result to be known by this nun who seemed to be able to see through everything.

Although he had not known this nun for a long time, Xia De believed that her character was very noble and she was a trustworthy person.

Without eating lunch in Midhillburg, Xia De returned home excitedly, then hugged Little Mia and went to the Diviner Society to wait for Luweiya to get off work. He had too many things to share with Luweiya: the revived undead, the secret of the person of reverse growth, and the two new blood coins.

The trip to the Sin Mansion finally allowed the matters in Midhillburg to have new progress.