Annan raised his head and looked around with slightly squinted eyes.
This is Noah's St. Bernard District, and it is also the location with the densest underground transactions in the Royal City, commonly known as the "Black City".
"Daddy's Grocery Store" and "Alberta Used Bookstore" are here. Annan and Zhiji were shopping nearby just now, not far from Nicholas's residence. After hearing Zhiji's words, they walked half a street
Just came right here.
This is a two-story, low-slung stone-walled villa. The surrounding area is very deserted, and the grass in the yard has not been kept well. Across the street, there is a high-rise residential area that is being bulldozed and renovated. You can even smell it outside the door.
The smell of stone.
The environment here is definitely not good.
The damp dark stone walls, the layers of ivy on the outside, the tiny cracks on the old stone bricks... this house can be said to be very old.
Generally speaking, it is difficult to imagine a researcher living in such a house.
Although Annan does not know much about alchemy and transformation spells... but if it is too humid, it will affect the experimental data, right? There may be some problems in storing the medicine. The so-called "store in a cool, dry and ventilated place".
However, such thoughts disappeared immediately after Annan entered the house.
When he entered the room, he clearly felt that he had entered a certain membrane. His steps towards the inside encountered slight resistance... It was like moving against the wind, but only for a short moment.
In just an instant, the air spontaneously forms a filter, directly filtering out impurities and excess moisture from his body.
The air inside the room is exceptionally fresh and dry. Even the odor is removed when it enters the room.
——The most important thing is that neither Annan nor Zhiji noticed this barrier before entering. Because it is cleverly designed to be "triggered instantly when someone enters". If this is a trap,
They may have stepped in.
"As expected of Nicholas."
Annan was not angry, but praised: "Such a detailed barrier can still operate on its own after he leaves..."
"Indeed. And this self-purifying filtering barrier alone is not something that ordinary people can create."
Zhiji glanced around.
She was surprised to realize that... this barrier was actually a compound barrier set up casually with the test tube rack as the fulcrum. It was complex enough but not messy at the same time. His handling of several details could even give
Paper Princess for inspiration.
Zhiji also spoke highly of Nicholas: "I didn't have an intuitive understanding of his alchemy ability before. Now it seems...
"I'm afraid he has already completed the [Highest Crown]."
"He's definitely done it."
A heavy and rich voice sounded in the room.
Annan and Zhiji looked away.
I found a plaster statue of human height sitting cross-legged on the ground.
Its eyes are slightly closed and its sockets are deep, as if it is silently thinking about something. The depressed expression on its face is reminiscent of a philosopher, and it also looks like a monk who strictly observes the precepts and has no desires or desires.
"Father Stone."
Zhi Ji nodded to him.
But Father Shi just replied calmly: "You know, you shouldn't come. Especially you shouldn't bring Annan with you."
"But you told me the address. You also knew that I was with Annan, but you didn't stop me."
Zhi Ji retorted: "This is an attitude in itself."
"Maybe."
Father Shi didn't say much.
He didn't seem to talk much, he just raised his head.
Those eyes, which were clearly carved from marble, but looked like living creatures met Annan's eyes.
"What do you want to know?"
Father Shi replied calmly: "I'll tell you based on the situation."
What he meant was that there were some things he would never say.
"Did you let Nicholas go?"
Annan was straightforward and got to the point.
Because if you can't even say this, then this conversation is of little value.
Father Shi grunted: "I did it on purpose. But Nicholas probably didn't know about this. His escape plan was very thorough.
"He took advantage of the opportunity for his soul to leave his body and create a ritual venue in the sewer two kilometers away from here. He gradually severed the relationship between his soul and his body, and used very few materials to cultivate a body that could temporarily
He used a prosthetic body and projected his soul there in batches... and then used the soul-reinforcing potion mixed into the soul-purifying potion to make up for the lack of his soul.
"In the end, he successfully escaped from prison."
"Warden" Father Shi replied so calmly.
"……but?"
Annan knew that Father Shi still had something to say.
as expected.
Father Shi nodded and said calmly: "But he doesn't know... all 'palaces' are my body, all 'sculptures' are my eyes and ears. And the entire royal city is a huge palace... His
The operation was exposed to my surveillance from the very beginning; if I wanted to, I could make the sewer he was in collapse instantly. I am in the same barrier as him, so this kind of thing is very simple."
This is why Father Stone became Nicholas's watcher.
This is actually why he brought Nicholas to Noah's capital.
As the god of palaces and sculptures, his power can only be maximized in the capital of a country - he can monitor and control palaces at will, and uses sculptures as his "surveillance guards". Only in the capital can he get enough palaces and sculptures.
sculpture.
Even the body he is using now is not Father Shi's body.
Because Father Stone exists in all sculptures - this is just a medium through which he appears in the world.
Shifu is different from Zhiji in that he is not Yaweng's creation "turned into a spirit". He is Yaweng's student...and one of the very few students who can get Yaweng's approval. As a mortal, he mastered the art of magic in just fifty years.
Yaweng accumulated the sculpture and architectural skills for thousands of years and made almost trivial innovations to achieve godhood.
In fact, he is the only god who became a god of art in a mortal form.
"But... why did you send him away?"
Annan stared at Father Shi closely.
Father Shi calmly replied: "His talents cannot be used in Noah. Because of the lack of materials here, he will be constrained."
This is a lie.
At least it's not comprehensive.
But Annan was in no rush to expose this point.
He just asked slowly: "So, Nicholas...
"Do you know that you are a 'mirror'?"
Hearing this, Father Shi was silent for a long time.
After about half a minute, he spoke again: "You can't have guessed this.
"The Faceless Poet told you."
"That's right."
Annan responded in a deep voice: "But because of this, I guessed a lot more.
"For example... this is simply a false Nicholas. He does not have Nicholas's soul, and is not even Nicholas's artificial person. He just gained a body, Nicholas' missing body."
Zhi Ji on the side immediately became excited and blurted out: "I didn't say that!"
"I know. This is what the Faceless Poet told you. It seems that even Nicholas's escape was fate itself."
Father Shi responded calmly: "In the area where [Secret Keeping] is located, I cannot peep... You don't have much time away from my sight. Only the Faceless Poet has the opportunity to tell you this.
"His behavior is dangerous. You should not know that you are chasing the mirror because it is your destiny.
"As we all know, [destiny is a wheel of heaven] that leaves traces only after it has passed. Chasing your own destiny is a paradox in itself. This will lead to when you pursue the mirror with your own will, you will find the mirror instead.
You can’t find your own mirror. Only when you don’t crave a mirror will it appear in front of you.”
…So, Henry VIII, Nicholas and Bernardino would appear in front of me when I didn’t know them?
And when I chased Bernardino, it was to seek justice for Salvatore, not to find my own mirror... That's why I caught him!
Annan suddenly understood.
So when Annan was recently thinking about when to find Nicholas, the "fourth mirror," Nicholas suddenly disappeared.
Then a new question appeared in Annan's mind:
Why would the Faceless Poet tell himself such a thing?
Why did Father Stone let Nicholas go?
……unless.
These two things originally pointed to the same purpose.
The two gods adapted to the situation without communication, but formed a tacit understanding of cooperation...
"...Do you hope that this false 'Nicholas' really thinks that he is Nicholas who has lost his memory, and will live in the world as Nicholas?"