Chapter 205: Foul Language and a Terrified Xio
Luo En, dragging his exhausted body, returned to 69 Rose Street.
"Meow~"
As soon as he returned, Lachi, who had been curled up sleeping on the bed, immediately sprang up energetically, quickly ran to Luo En's side, and rubbed her furry head against his pant leg.
Luo En smiled, reached out, and stroked her head, saying softly, "I've already gotten the formula for you."
"Meow!"
Holding Lachi in his arms, Luo En's gaze fell back on the slip of paper in his hand with the formula written on it.
[Sequence 7: Witch]
[Main Ingredients: All the blood of a Black Abyss Demon Fish, one Agate Peacock egg.]
[Auxiliary Ingredients: 80 ml pure water, 5 drops golden mandrake juice, three scales of a Shadow Lizard, 10 drops narcissus juice.]
The formula looked fine, but—Witch—
Honestly, from the first moment he saw the name of this potion, his heart was filled with confusion.
"Why—is it 'Witch' and not 'Warlock'?" Luo En couldn't help but murmur to himself.
All the potion names he had seen so far were basically various professional titles. However, this was the first time he had seen one with such a clear gender indication.
Because the person who sold me the formula just now was a female. So the potion name she gave was "Witch." If it were a male, then would it—become "Warlock"?
Luo En put forward a bold conjecture in his mind.
But this doesn't seem quite right either. Other Beyonder Pathways don't seem to have had this situation. Could it be that the Assassin Pathway itself has some special, difficult-to-understand phenomenon?
Wait—could it be—a very startling, even somewhat terrifying, thought suddenly emerged in Luo En's mind.
Witch. —Female. —
This—
No, that's not right! That's just my guess! From a biological perspective, this is simply impossible!
Luo En tried to use the scientific knowledge he had learned before his transmigration to forcibly deny this terrifying possibility filled with mysticism, because if this conjecture were true, then some things would be—very… awkward.
The most important point was that the transmigration guide clearly stated that the Assassin Pathway was a very good Pathway, very suitable for self-preservation. But Luo En also recalled his experience of howling at the sky on that primitive island.
Thinking differently, even if there was such a side effect, it couldn't negate that the Assassin Pathway was indeed suitable for self-preservation. "Hmph—"
Luo En sighed heavily, deciding to temporarily put this problem aside.
Lachi is a female cat anyway, so the Witch formula should work for her. However, to be safe, I still need to get this formula appraised first, Luo En thought to himself, looking at the formula in his hand.
Next time I go to that gathering, I'll ask the Eye of Wisdom for help.
After temporarily setting aside the formula, Luo En planned to start researching the "mystery box" he had bought at a high price.
He first put Lachi, who was in his arms, on the ground, letting her guard the door for him. Then he mobilized his spirituality and set up a "Spiritual Wall" in the room.
After doing all this, he took out the small wooden box that Black Snake had sold him from his "portable space."
The moment his finger touched the surface of the wooden box, a slight auditory hallucination immediately appeared in his ears, and at the same time, he felt a strong sense of dizziness, like sitting in a violently bumpy carriage.
Thankfully, it was still within an acceptable range.
Luo En endured the discomfort, slowly recovered, and gradually adapted to the dizziness.
After opening the wooden box, Luo En saw an extremely disgusting ear with darkened skin and several festering, oozing areas.
Such a sinister item might not be divinable. After much thought, Luo En took out an item he hadn't used in a long time.
He took out the card, a three of squares, and a moment later, a monocle appeared before his eyes.
This time, he didn't feel that sense of dread from the monocle.
Perhaps, it was just an illusion before—
After hesitating for two seconds, Luo En put it on his right eye and looked at the black ear.
[Mutated Listener Characteristic]
Material: Contaminated Listener Characteristic. Year: Unknown I I
Danger: Extremely dangerous.
Extremely dangerous. It seems the seller's claim that it could unleash power exceeding Sequence 6 was true! My spiritual intuition was indeed triggered. Luo En looked at the ominous-looking ear before him, deep in thought.
However, this power, filled with foul aura, should be suppressible by a Sun domain charm. Luo En then pulled out a faintly golden charm, personally made by Edwina, from his "portable space" and carefully placed it aside.
Perhaps it was truly effective, or perhaps it was just a psychological factor. Luo En felt that the somewhat restless spirituality around him seemed to have indeed stabilized a bit.
Direct contact counts as use.
He remembered what the seller, "Black Snake," had said, so he took out the Lucky Charm he had obtained from Blood Admiral and put it around his neck.
Lucky One plus this pendant, multiple layers of luck, there shouldn't be any problem, right— Luo En thought with some uncertainty.
After a moment of hesitation, he still reached out and lightly touched the surface of the ear with his fingertip.
In an instant, a language filled with madness and chaos, utterly incomprehensible to human speech, rushed into his mind like a bursting dam!
"Ah!"
Luo En instinctively pulled back his hand and covered his ears tightly with both hands!
This action seemed to indeed block the subsequent effects. But in his mind, that terrifying sound, enough to drive any ordinary person mad, still echoed!
A barely perceptible, pure silver-white light suddenly flashed in the depths of his eyes for an instant.
He clutched the corner of the desk tightly, barely managing to keep himself from collapsing directly to the ground.
"Hoo—hoo—"
After several minutes, Luo En finally gasped for air, gradually calming down from the immense mental shock.
He raised his hand and wiped the fine cold sweat from his forehead, which had seeped out due to lingering fear, hoping that the commotion just now hadn't alarmed Mrs. Griffin downstairs.
Luo En looked nervously towards the door. After waiting for a few seconds and confirming there was no reaction, he breathed a sigh of relief.
It seems that in the future, for these dangerous attempts, I still need to go outside and find a secluded place. If I do such dangerous things in my own house, and something goes wrong, it will all be my own responsibility. Luo En recalled the rental agreement he had signed with Mrs. Griffin.
However—this thing is indeed an extraordinary treasure. But, it can't be used directly. Luo En re-examined the black ear before him.
Perhaps I can make it into a one-time charm, following the method the Captain taught me. He rested his finger on his chin, falling into thought. A moment later, he couldn't help but lick his somewhat dry lips.
But I always feel like I've heard that voice somewhere before. And—why do I suddenly have a strong urge to drink alcohol?
Xio and Fors, dragging their exhausted bodies, returned to the house they rented.
"I'm exhausted."
As soon as she returned home, Fors could no longer hold on and simply collapsed heavily onto the soft sofa.
"I didn't expect—fooling people would be so tiring. I originally thought that with my strong conceptualization ability, I could easily accomplish it," Fors complained in a lazy, 'salted fish' tone, lying on the sofa.
She and Xio had just returned from Earl Hall's mansion, having reported the "investigation status" of that commission to Miss Audrey.
Originally, Fors thought that fooling a noble lady like Audrey, who seemed unfamiliar with worldly affairs, shouldn't be too difficult. Who would have thought that Miss Audrey's keenness far exceeded her imagination?
She and Xio had to put in a lot of effort, even having to half-truthfully reveal some real information about Luo En that they had previously inquired about from Mrs. Griffin, before they could barely manage to Fool her.
"This is simply—more tiring than staying up all night to meet a deadline!" Fors couldn't help but wail again.
"Miss Audrey is indeed no ordinary person," Xio commented objectively from the side. "However, Fors, your performance just now was really too obvious. I know you wanted to get some information out of Miss Audrey. But your eager expression made it clear at a glance that there must be some inside story between you and the target of the commission."
Thinking back to how Fors had tried to extract information from Miss Audrey just now, only to almost have the tables turned on her, Xio couldn't help but rub her forehead.
"This—I can't help it!" Fors immediately retorted. "Who would have thought that Miss Audrey would be so good at conversation! A few words almost completely trapped me!"
"Honestly," Xio said, "instead of being afraid of Miss Audrey discovering the truth and causing unnecessary misunderstandings, we might as well not have accepted this commission from the start."
"No!"
Hearing this, Fors immediately sat up from the sofa.
"Our goal is to figure out why Miss Audrey is looking for Luo En! And even if we don't take this mission, Miss Audrey will definitely entrust it to others. By then, it will be even harder for us to know the inside story!"
Hearing this, Xio could only shrug helplessly. She looked at her friend's anxious expression and suddenly thought of making a joke: "Speaking of which, Fors, you're so anxious, aren't you afraid that Miss Audrey and your pen pal have something going on?"
"This—Xio! How could you think that of me!" Fors immediately retorted righteously.
"Yes, yes, yes," Xio replied in a perfunctory tone.
"But Miss Audrey also gave us subsequent investigation funds. I feel a bit bad about it."
"And those books borrowed from her—"
In the evening, Xio was curled up alone on the living room sofa, facing the warm fireplace, and by the gas lamp, she was flipping through "A History of Loen Kingdom Nobility," borrowed from Miss Audrey.
As for Fors, she had already gone back to her room to catch up on sleep.
After reading for quite a while, Xio suddenly felt that the thick, cardboard cover of the book felt somewhat strange.
She carefully examined it and finally found an old-looking small piece of paper in the interlayer of the cover.
Looking at the words written in ancient Hermes, she subconsciously began to recite them.
[The Fool that does not belong to this era; the mysterious ruler above the Grey Mist; the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck]
By the time Xio realized what a foolish thing she had done, she had already recited the complete honorific name, word for word.
Don't be afraid—. Don't be afraid. I just recited the honorific name, and didn't follow it with any subsequent prayer incantations. It should be fine— Xio desperately tried to comfort herself in her mind.
But she was still overly nervous and instinctively began to pace back and forth in the room.
"Xio—you're so noisy."
Fors, rubbing her sleepy eyes, walked out of the room. Clearly, the commotion outside had woken her up.
"Fors—" Xio looked at her, a face more unsightly than crying, "I seem to have—made a fatal Error."
"I seem to have inadvertently recited the honorific name of an evil god."
Two more days passed.
Empress Borough, within an inconspicuous house.
After Xio recited the honorific name of the suspected "evil god," she felt as if she had been watched by the entity in her dreams.
After a fierce ideological struggle, she finally decided to come to this Beyonder gathering hosted by Mr. A, intending to purify herself while also purchasing the Sheriff potion formula.
She wrote her needs on the small blackboard in the center of the room.
[Suspected evil spirit possession, requesting help from friends skilled in exorcism. Reward: 30 pounds.]
Purify an evil spirit?
Luo En, disguised and staying in the corner of the room, saw the new request on the blackboard and suddenly had an idea to earn some extra money.
The Sun domain charms, personally made by the Captain, that I have in hand, should be able to do it, right?