Father Nobel's information shows that the seven-ring warlock of the Pantanal Voodoo Society who used the "Arrow of Knowledge of Ikenola" more than ten years ago was originally named Halder Ondiba. He was born
Villagers in the "Lower Wood Village" in the Pantanal area were discovered by a pharmacist from the Pantanal Voodoo Society who settled near the village when they were about 16 years old. They discovered their awakening talent and joined the Voodoo Society.
This seven-ring warlock was finally surrounded and suppressed by the Church in Rust Alley in the west of Huntington City, and was killed after a fierce battle. After his death, Rust Alley and the village where he was born were searched by the Church, but they still could not
Find [Iken'ora's Arrow of Knowledge].
The last time that arrow was used was three days before Ondiba was rounded up by the church, and that arrow was not used in the final battle when Ondiba was rounded up by the church.
Although Shade knew very well that the church would not miss details, considering that the church also believed that No. 6 St. Teresa Square was now safe, he still went to Rust Alley that afternoon to try to find clues left many years ago.
Rusty Lane is a street in the slums in the west of Huntington. The overall direction is inclined to the northwest. Both ends of the alley are inside the slums. The surrounding lanes extend in all directions. The old buildings of the old era stand out under the low sky shrouded in thick fog.
They look more like old people than the poor people living here. This place is like the black and imperceptible rotten spots on the crystal clear purple grape of Huntington.
When Shade came to Rusty Alley that afternoon and stepped into the narrow and long alley, he vaguely felt that he heard the city groaning. This was of course his psychological effect, but it also meant that he wanted to find ten people in a place like this.
The clues from a few years ago are far more difficult than imagined.
On both sides of Rusty Lane are undulating old-era houses, which are described as "rolling" by Schade because most of the houses are built on the original basis using seemingly magical construction methods.
One or two stories higher.
These illegal buildings with different styles but all very dangerous are nestled together, providing a resting place for the city's large number of poor people at night. It is Monday afternoon, but there are still many people in the alleys.
Winter is coming, but the residents of Rusty Lane still dress as if they are in autumn. Women take advantage of the sunny weather to dry their clothes in the alley with their sleeves rolled up, and carefully look at their neighbors, fearing that their clothes will be stolen if they turn around.
The barefooted children gathered together in twos and threes, playing with each other or chasing wild cats and dogs running around.
Relatively speaking, Shade's appearance in this alley was very unexpected, but fortunately, the life wisdom of the people living in the slums told them that it is best not to provoke strangers.
Of course, this is also related to the gun bag that Shade inadvertently exposed.
The church's action more than ten years ago caused extensive damage to two or three houses in the middle of Rusty Lane, which collapsed, but now there are no traces of that battle at all.
The collapsed Nos. 13, 14 and 15 Rusty Lane have long been renovated, and now the three houses are crowded old-style rental apartments and slum shops selling low-quality tobacco, spices and daily necessities.
No. 13 and No. 14 are rental apartments facing each other. Each building is four stories high. The walls of the house are yellow and dirty, and the sewage flows along the drainage pipes to the wall, and then falls into the ditch in the alley. The walls are covered with
Chalk draws some uncivilized patterns. These rental apartments are tall and narrow. They are less than half the size of No. 6 Saint Teresa Square, but they are home to three figures of residents.
The landlord separated the internal space with thin wooden boards and rented out small cubicles to poor people who had no place to stay. Hundreds of people shared a bathroom and kitchen, making the sanitary conditions here extremely poor. This situation is very common in the material world.
It can be seen in every city, but people who are tired of earning money for tomorrow's food have no time to care about whether the epidemic will spread.
The chaotic apartments of Nos. 13 and 14 have had countless tenant changes in the past ten years, so Shade gave up looking for clues there and went directly to the "Pig Shop" at No. 15 Rusty Lane.
"Pig" is a rather contemptuous word in Huntingtonian language. Using this name as the name of a store can also show the informality and randomness of the store.
The first floor of No. 15 is a shop, which is almost messier and more crowded than Old John's pawn shop. The shop owner's counter is right at the door, which makes it easier for him to monitor whether customers have stolen goods. It is said to be a shop, but in fact it is here.
Collect everything and sell everything.
The middle-aged man, who looked to be in his forties or fifties, and whose left ear looked as if someone had bitten it off, met Shade in a daze that afternoon when he opened the door and walked in.
Hearing the sound of the door being pushed, he dazedly took out his glasses with broken lenses glued on from the counter and put them on. He randomly swept the illegally printed colored books and periodicals on the table under the table, and then yawned and asked:
"New face? No, you definitely didn't move here. Are you a policeman? A detective? Or a new gang member from the city? Oh, I paid protection money for old Midillac."
"I'm not here to cause trouble."
Shade looked at the store. There was a pile of yellowed sheets and cotton piled in the southeast corner, and bottles and cans were placed in baskets hanging from the ceiling. In addition to the owner's arms, there were piles of
A matchbox, a metal thimble ring for needlework, and poor-quality straw paper for hand-rolling cigarettes. There was an iron cage pressed on the straw paper. The white mouse in the iron cage was looking at Shade with its red eyes.
That mouse is probably not for sale, but the shop owner's pet.
"So what do you want to buy?"
The man who woke up said with great interest, and then added:
"You're from Delrayon by the accent? What do you Yankees do in a place like Rust Alley?"
After more than half a month of hard work, Shad's Kasenlic language has made some progress. But for a real Kasenlic person, it is still easy to discover Shad's identity.
"I'm not buying anything, I just want to get some news from you."
Shade said, so the man behind the counter twirled his fingers. Shade threw the 1 pfennig coin on the counter. While the coin was spinning, he asked:
"I heard that this place was rebuilt more than ten years ago? I was entrusted by someone to find information about the previous owner of this place. Before it was rebuilt more than ten years ago, was the owner of this place also you?"
"Of course not. I just moved here eight years ago. This house originally belonged to a fat man who sold pork and sewers in the market. Later he went bankrupt and ran away."
βCan you go bankrupt selling meat?β
"You lose too much playing Rhodes."
The shop owner shrugged:
"I don't know where that guy is now, but he has lived here for 20 years. I think he is the person you are looking for."
"Run away? So he took everything with him?"
"Yes, only some old furniture was left, and it was moved away by the creditor to pay off the debt. When I moved in, there was not even a complete gas lamp. If his creditor is looking for him, I'm sorry, everything here
I purchased them all myself.β
"Then have you met him and heard him talk about the accident here more than ten years ago?"
"I haven't seen him, but I've heard neighbors talk about the gas explosion."
After questioning to this point, Shade could confirm that there were indeed no clues left for him here. He even tried to use [Echo of Blood] to observe the blood stains in the alley before entering, but those old blood stains were different from those in the past ten years.
The various traces were mixed together, not enough for Shade to find clues.
Fortunately, he had no hope at first. Now that he knew there was no value here, he wanted to talk to Professor Drake about it again. But before he turned around and left, the shopkeeper behind the counter said again:
"Speaking of which, someone asked me about him a few days ago. What trouble did he get into? Could it be that he lost all his property playing Rhodes in another city, so he ran away again?"
"almost."
Shade answered vaguely, putting his arm on the counter:
"You just mentioned that someone asked similar questions some time ago? Who was it? When did they come? What were they asked about?"
Then he threw another coin.
The man behind the counter slowly put away the coins, his tone was quite hesitant, and his gray eyes looked a little confused:
"It was probably last week, I can't remember the day of the week."
"Did the other party come alone?"
The shopkeeper recalled it and shook his head hesitantly:
"I didn't wake up that afternoon, and my memory is very vague. It was probably two people."
"What about your appearance?"
"I really don't remember this clearly. I just remember that they bought a box of Candle matches after asking questions."
Seeing that the other party looked confused, Shade asked again:
"You don't remember anything you asked?"
"I vaguely remember that it's similar to your question, but I can't tell you the specific content."
"If you want me to add money, you can give me a number."
"No, no, if I can make money from you, I will definitely be happy to tell you what you want to know. But I don't want to increase the price this time. I really don't remember."
The bald man wearing glasses muttered:
"It's really strange. There are not many strangers in Rust Alley every week. How could I forget the appearance of the guests?"
"Is there a problem?"
Shade asked in his mind.
[The time interval is too long, even if his memory has been washed away, he cannot be investigated. Maybe you can try it in a dream, maybe there are residues of deep memories. γ
"I'm not Dr. Schneider, how can I fall asleep?"
While Shade was thinking, he silently put his hand into his pocket and took out a metal charm:
"Do you recognize this?"
The shopkeeper behind the counter subconsciously stretched his head to take a look. The next moment, his eyes closed due to strong sleepiness, and then he lay down on the counter and fell asleep again.
Shade put away the talisman in his hand. He had just relied on his own mental guidance to hypnotize the shop owner with the hypnotic talisman in his hand. In fact, normally this talisman would not work so quickly. Shade was in the "Pink Book"
I learned some tips on how to cast spells in the book, and there was a whole chapter on hypnosis in that book.
"Abnormal forgetfulness means that there is a high probability that the memory has been modified. And the modified memory means that the stranger who came a few days ago is also a magician. The team of the Zhengshen Church will only detect the mystery when ordinary people witness it.
The memory will be modified in accordance with the regulations, so this is not done by the church. Although I will not go into a dream to dig deep memories, but "
Shade lowered his eyes and looked at the iron cage on the counter. He quickly opened the lock of the iron cage and grabbed the white mouse. His palm held most of the mouse's body, leaving only the white mouse exposed.
The two pink paws and tail of the lower limbs can still move freely.
Holding the mouse in his right hand, he placed the [Night Watcher] wrapped in cloth on the table with his left hand, and then dug out the [Fish Training Ring] he carried with him.
"Cats can't use it, but luckily mice can."
In "Mia's Three Rings", [Metamorphosis Ring] Shade can't use it so he usually doesn't carry it. [Vampire Ring] must not be taken out casually in a city like Huntington where a large vampire population lives. Shade
When I sent the cat to the Witch Manor in the morning, I just took away the [Fish Training Ring].