"Hehe... straightforward, Miss Meisihuos, your demeanor is becoming increasingly extraordinary."
Inside the library, Aldrich gleefully accepted all the money Dorothy handed over, while Dorothy, with a cold face, grumbled in her heart.
'Anyway, there's no point bargaining with you, how could I not be straightforward?'
"Please wait a moment, I will write down all the divination knowledge worth this price." As Aldrich spoke, he put down the feather duster in his hand, then slowly walked to the desk and sat down. Next, he pulled out a sheet of paper, placed it in front of him, picked up a pen, and began to write.
Aldrich's writing speed was very fast; he finished in less than ten minutes. After the ink dried, he folded it neatly and put it into an envelope he took from his pocket. Dorothy sat silently watching the entire time.
"Divination... what's important isn't the technique but the materials. These simple divination techniques don't involve any profound mysterious knowledge, so the Spirit Sight within them can be ignored. You can read it without worry."
Saying this, Aldrich handed the envelope to Dorothy. After receiving it, Dorothy felt a slight disappointment in her heart.
'No Spirit Sight... does that mean it's not mysterious enough, so I can't get Spirituality from it?'
After many attempts, Dorothy roughly understood that she might be immune to that Spirit Sight. Therefore, for her, the stronger the Spirit Sight in the knowledge, the better, because stronger Spirit Sight meant deeper mystery, which meant more Spirituality.
This time the knowledge actually had no Spirit Sight; this was truly terrible. As expected, it was cheap stuff under 100 pound.
While complaining in her heart, Dorothy put away the envelope Aldrich handed her. After thinking for a moment, she then asked the other party.
"Oh, Mr., I also want to ask you a question. In the mysterious world, how can one 'corrupt' a person?"
Dorothy asked. From the information she had previously obtained from the Holy Communion Society, Dorothy knew they intended to corrupt her and then use her to corrupt Grego. Therefore, she felt it was necessary to understand the meaning of "corruption."
"Corruption..." Listening to Dorothy's words, Aldrich pondered for a moment, then spoke.
"10 pound consultation fee..."
Without much thought, Dorothy continued to take out money and placed it in front of Aldrich. After receiving the money, the other party continued to explain.
"So-called corruption... has a very broad meaning in occultism. It generally refers to the process where one thing is influenced by another or a different environment, causing psychological and physiological changes. Depending on the one exerting the influence, this term can also change. For example, some guys dislike the word 'corruption,' so they call it'sanctification' or 'purification'... But no matter what it's called, the core concept is the same. For instance, I prefer to call it pollution. In the hidden world, various societies like to use different methods to corrupt people they want to control into becoming part of their own."
After Aldrich finished speaking, Dorothy thought for a while, then continued to ask.
"Then, for societies of the 'Cup', what kinds of corruption methods are there?"
Dorothy continued to ask, and as expected, Aldrich spoke again.
"10 pound..."
Dorothy silently took out the money. After receiving it, Aldrich continued to speak.
"For large societies of the 'Cup', such as the Fetal Garment Cult, they have many methods of corruption, usually involving very profound mysteries. I'm not too clear on the specifics, but ordinary societies don't have that many tricks. There are usually two methods: one is drug control, and the other is Spirit Sight temptation."
"Drug control... Spirit Sight temptation..." Listening to Aldrich's words, Dorothy murmured, while Aldrich also nodded and continued.
"Yes... first is drug control. Spirituality of all attributes has multiple meanings, both on the material level and on the mental and conceptual levels. The 'Cup' symbolizes vibrant flesh on the material level, and on the mental level, it also symbolizes the endless desires originating from biological instincts. Appetite is an important one among them.
"Therefore, utilizing this characteristic of the 'Cup''s Spirituality, some 'Cup' societies can create addictive drugs using trace amounts of Spirituality. Ordinary people, after taking it, will be stimulated with intense hunger and thirst, developing a dependence on that drug. They will try every possible means to take the drug again. The more they take, the stronger the dependence. If taken long-term, even an Extraordinary will not be able to withstand it. Some 'Cup' societies will mix such drugs into ordinary food for unsuspecting people to consume, and then gradually control them by providing the drug. If the controlled person wants the drug, they must obey the provider implicitly."
Aldrich said slowly. Listening to his words, Dorothy couldn't help but be startled.
'This, this is basically drugs... So these 'Cup' societies aren't just cannibals, they also deal in drugs? No wonder they are at the top of the An Yin Bureau's blacklist.'
"Then... what about Spirit Sight temptation?"
After only a moment of thought, Dorothy continued to ask Aldrich, and the other party also continued to answer.
"Regarding Spirit Sight temptation, this method of corruption isn't only used by 'Cup' societies. As you know, Spirit Sight is the toxicity present in all mysterious knowledge and secret transmission. It causes varying degrees of damage to the reader's mind. Often, some lighter damage manifests as a thirst for knowledge about that kind of Spirituality and mysterious knowledge. You must have felt it too; even after taking sufficient precautions to read a secret transmission, after finishing it, there's a morbid craving, a desire to acquire more knowledge about that kind of Spirituality.
"This is actually a manifestation of being eroded by Spirit Sight. A mind damaged by Spirit Sight makes one crave reading more and deeper mysterious knowledge corresponding to the Spirituality, and then gradually becomes mentally unstable from the torment of Spirit Sight, yet unable to stop. Ultimately, they are driven mad, killed, or lose control by the gradually accumulating Spirit Sight."
With a hint of a strange expression, Aldrich said slowly. Listening to his words, Dorothy also murmured.
"Spirit Sight... is it also tempting?"
"Yes, and it's often more terrifying than the temptation of drugs. Many high-level Extraordinary can resist drugs but cannot resist Spirit Sight. Spirit Sight can stimulate infinite curiosity about mysterious knowledge, but after leading people onto the path of exploration, it gradually torments them into madness. The temptation of Spirit Sight often causes experienced high-level Extraordinary to accidentally fall into the abyss.
"For example, a profound secret transmission, according to the correct anti-Spirit Sight reading procedure, should be read slowly page by page over three years under careful measures, with moderate intake, slowly clearing the Spirit Sight while absorbing the knowledge that comes with it. But if one fails to suppress the temptation of Spirit Sight during this process and reads the secret transmission quickly in violation of the procedure, the reader will go mad due to the rapid accumulation of Spirit Sight...
"Heh... I don't know how many talented Extraordinary have met their end because of this."
As he spoke, Aldrich looked out the window at the sky with a touch of melancholy, his eyes lost in thought.
Seeing Aldrich's expression, a feeling suddenly emerged in Dorothy's heart.
'This old man... seems even more complex than he made himself out to be...'