Chapter 166 Three Questions The flame of the orange-yellow candle, which symbolized the object of prayer, began to waver, as if blown by an invisible wind. Apart from that, it did not turn blue, nor did it take on any other color. It remained normal, no different from before. Lumian vaguely felt a strange throbbing in his soul, as if he heard a cry from afar, directed directly at his spiritual body. He was unable to respond for the time being and continued to recite the following spell: “I pray to you; "Please grant me the 'Potion of Prophecy'..." In this ritual magic, you cannot use words like "help to create", it must be "gift" or "grant". As each Hermetic word was uttered, Lumian's soul seemed to be vibrated, creating waves of ripples, bringing a feeling of both elevation and dizziness. He took two steps forward, his eyes sweeping over materials such as the monster meat, lizard eyes, and gray scopolamine herbs, then picked up the parchment covered with mysterious symbols and held it close to the orange candle flame representing the object of his prayers. Once the imitation parchment was lit and placed in the natural depression of the stone that served as the altar, Lumian took up tulip powder and other materials one by one and sprinkled them into the flames. The mixed strange fragrance soon filled the "Spiritual Wall", and Lumian seemed to have some hallucinations before his eyes.
He saw various mysterious symbols originally drawn on the parchment. They appeared in the void, constantly moving, constantly reorganizing, and constantly changing their overall state. Lumian stepped back again, looking at the various materials placed on the altar, and said in a deep voice in Hermetic: “Tulip, the herb of destiny, please pass on your power to my spell! "..." As Lumian uttered the last word, the ripples in his soul overlapped, giving him the illusion that he could touch the candlelight if he just stretched out his hand. At the same time, he felt a slight burning sensation in his chest, a faint buzzing sound in his ears, and his head felt dizzy as if someone had lifted him up and swung him around for seventeen or eighteen times. Following the guidance of his spirit, Lumian stretched out his right hand and pressed towards the candle flame through the air. His eyes then grew dim, and his spirituality poured out, merging with the flames. The candle flame suddenly expanded, illuminating the entire altar with a bright and illusory look. The various "prophecy potion" materials placed together "came alive", squirming and gathering together, with blood rolling and shadows flowing, which was extremely evil. Lumian tried to maintain a steady supply of spiritual energy, and saw that the physical materials gradually became ethereal and transformed into phantoms, completing the reorganization in this way. The dark red phantom stained with a little silver and black emerged into reality and condensed into a ball of dark liquid. Bubbles kept coming out from inside the liquid. Every time a bubble burst, a silver-black light shot out and moved around like a snake. Lumian took two steps forward, picked up a small metal bottle on the altar, unscrewed the lid, and placed it at the bottom of the liquid. The dark liquid quickly gathered inward and flowed into the bottle, almost filling it up. After putting away the bottle of "prophecy potion", Lumian adjusted his mental state. While calming the ripples in his soul, he recalled the entire process of the ceremony. "If the thorn symbol hadn't been activated to a certain extent and elevated my status, I would have failed just now. I wouldn't have been able to respond at all... I can only complete two similar ritual magics in a row at most..." Lumian's surging thoughts gradually settled. The five ritual magics required the object of prayer to be at least Sequence 7, or even a "contracted person". Lumian, a Sequence 8 "mendicant monk", could only complete it by relying on the polluted status in his body.
Accordingly, his spirituality could not support much. After finishing the ceremony and cleaning up the altar, Lumian removed the "spiritual wall", walked to the gray cloth bag, and dragged the body out. He kindly turned the man's head back to its original position and opened his mouth. In the blue light of the calcium carbide lamp, Lumian took out the "prophecy potion", unscrewed the lid, and poured all the dark liquid into the mouth of the corpse. They did not seep into the throat immediately, but remained there like real stagnant water. Suddenly, Lumian felt that the wind blowing through the hollow of the quarry became much colder, and the light of the calcium carbide lamp became increasingly blue. Almost at the same time, he heard a gurgling sound and saw the corpse's throat moving, swallowing all the "prophecy potion". The next second, the naked corpse sat up, and the surroundings were stained with abnormal darkness that was difficult to illuminate by light. On his pale and haggard face, his eyes suddenly opened, and his originally brown pupils had lost their color and were as transparent as crystal. Deep within the transparent eyes, there seemed to be layers of rich colors, pure and high-hanging light, countless nearly invisible figures, and shimmering mercury-colored waves... Enduring the chill that pierced his bones, Lumian calmed down and asked: "Where will the former parish priest Guillaume Bennet from Cordu Village in the Darriege region of the Reston Province of the Republic of Intis appear in a month?" During this time, Lumian specifically pondered three questions to ask. There are four main rules for the question: First, it must be about the future. You cannot ask where someone is now or what they did in the past. Secondly, the description must be precise enough, otherwise the answer will be irrelevant. For example, the name Guillaume Bennet is also found in many other places in Intis, with a large number of duplicates. If you do not limit the origin to the village level, the corpse may very well tell you the future fate of another Guillaume Bennet. Third, no matter what nationality the corpse was from or whether it knew the corresponding language, he would answer the question in the language used to describe it. Fourth, a question can only contain one element that needs to be answered, and cannot be asked in the form of “when and where will it take place?” The corpse's pale face was stained with a hint of green. He opened his mouth and spoke in Intis: "The Red Princess Quarter of Trier." The voice was so ethereal and vague that it seemed to come from another world, and was completely different from the deceased's voice when he was alive. The scope can only be narrowed down to the Red Princess area? Lumian frowned slightly. He could actually understand it, because this was not a "prophecy potion" obtained by praying to those hidden beings, and the "maker" was essentially just a "mendicant monk", so the effect would naturally not be very good. Lumian asked a second question: "Where will I meet Louis Lund, who used to be the administrative steward of Cordu Village in the Daliege region of Leiston Province in the Republic of Intis?" He did not mention Lady Pualis because he was not sure what the relationship between her and "Lady Night" was, and he was worried that her high status would cause the prophecy to fail. The corpse looked ahead with its transparent and lifeless eyes, and answered again in that illusory and erratic voice: "Market Avenue in the Candidemarkt district of Trier." Market Avenue? It seems that Louis Lund did not pass by there by chance... Lumian thought with great joy. As he pondered, he noticed that the strange scenes reflected in the corpse's transparent eyes were gradually fading, and he quickly asked the third question: "Where will Mr. Efe, the owner of the 'Golden Cockerel Inn' in Trier's Honourable Market, be next Friday night between 11 and 12 o'clock?" Previously, Lumian saw Mr. Efe entering the underground during this period of time, so he wanted to ask about the specific details of his destination in this way. Considering that Mr. Efe had just been "robbed" and had been to the police headquarters, he might not dare to go underground again in a short period of time. Lumian set the time for the same day and time next week.
The corpse quickly replied: "The Old Pigeon House Theatre in the Candidemarkt district of Trier." After saying that, the corpse fell to the ground with a thud, and closed its eyes again. The body gave off a rotten smell that was like someone who had been dead for many days. Going to the Old Pigeon Cage Theater again... Lumian stuffed the body back into the bag, intending to bury it deeper underground. ………… In front of a beige three-story building. A bearded tramp was blocked by two servants against a pilaster. "I, I'll leave now." He said tremblingly. At this time, the man dressed as a butler came over with a look of surprise on his face: "Master, is that you? Master!" "What?" The homeless man was very confused. The butler was very excited: "Have you forgotten? You are the master here, and we are all your servants. You had a head injury before, and you forgot a lot of things. One day you suddenly ran away from home. "It's been several months, and I finally found you! You still remember this place, and you're back!" "I'm not, I'm not..." The tramp remembered his past clearly. But the butler and two servants didn't listen to his explanation at all. They "surrounded" him and took him into the building. "Madam, madam, the master is back!" the butler shouted excitedly. Not long after, the tramp saw an elegant and beautiful lady. The lady was wearing a light green long skirt, and her eyes and eyebrows exuded an indelible mature charm. She cried with joy and threw herself into the tramp's arms: "You're finally back, you're finally back!" Smelling the sweet scent of perfume with a hint of milk and feeling the soft and curvy body, the homeless man tried to explain that he was not the other woman's husband, but the words came to his lips but were swallowed back. He was taken to take a bath in a daze and then to the restaurant, where he saw a sumptuous dinner under the crystal chandelier: A dozen oysters, a pot of tender chicken, a dish of beef stewed with prunes, a portion of suet pudding, a salad, a bottle of Danxia Blanc… At the same time, the homeless man also saw the oil paintings hanging in the restaurant. One of them was a portrait, and it bore a certain resemblance to him. Could it really be me? But I remember everything I've ever experienced... Another person who looks like me? The homeless man became more and more confused. After eating and drinking, he was taken to the bedroom. After a while, the beautiful and elegant lady came in wearing a silk nightgown. She said with eyes as bright as water: "Do you remember my passion?" The tramp's breathing suddenly became heavy, and he moved forward uncontrollably.
The two fell on the bed, hugging each other, full of passion. At this moment, the tramp began to "believe" that he was really the owner of this house, with a beautiful wife, a professional housekeeper, and many servants. Even if the original owner comes back, he will make the other party become fake! ………… Lumian returned to the ground, carrying the extinguished calcium carbide lamp, and walked into the "Golden Rooster Hotel". Mrs. Firth at the front desk stood up immediately when she saw him: "Charles, Mr. Charles, Baron Brinell wants you to meet him at the Breeze Ballroom after dinner." Baron Brinell is looking for me? What's going on? Lumian nodded. (End of this chapter)