"If you know the clues of the Shadow of the Maiden, if I can do it."
In Puxius’s unease and Katerina’s wariness, Lu Li calmly responded.
"Beneath the ruins of the Belfast Library, a batch of books is hidden, guarded by a spirit with power close to an evil spirit. Only by completing her trials can you enter the basent to retrieve those books and her essence. Passing the trial allows us to retrieve those books."
"A guardian close to an evil spirit," Lu Li quietly repeated, as if questioning.
Saint Elena leaned back into her seat: "I know what you’re thinking. Don’t worry, she will only ask so questions, and regardless of success or failure, she won’t harm you unless you offend her. I don’t think you would do that."
"Has no one else succeeded?"
"Then you wouldn’t need to do it."
Saint Elena’s low laughter echoed in the church.
"They are not suited to store knowledge in their heads, especially since so don’t even have heads."
Faced with the derogation from the Superior, the nearby cultist shafully curled up the edge of his robe’s tentacle.
"I need to know more information and the content of the trial."
"Take him... what’s your na?" commanded the saint to the cultist, recalling she didn’t know the man’s na.
"Lu Li."
"Take Lu Li and his companions to the ruins, let those who failed tell him what to do."
The cultist bent low, and with writhing tentacles, led Lu Li and his companions out of the church.
The church hall returned to silence, leaving only the figure in the throne-like chair. Fluorescent eyes spread over the church, resembling a divinity watching the world.
...
The basent of the Belfast Library.
Lu Li had been there before.
As a newcor, he needed books to understand this world and went to investigate, fleeing because of an encounter with the basent spirit.
Lu Li wasn’t sure if the current guardian spirit was the one he previously encountered, but a single ruin wasn’t likely to coincidentally host two spirits.
He took a notebook from the inside pocket of his coat. It seed to have fallen into water, and after drying, the pages were as wrinkled as dehydrated leaves.
Lu Li’s forr notebook had always been kept in the drawer of the desk at the refuge point.
The dampness of Seaview Cliff corroded everything, and it was no exception. Fortunately, the swollen drawer sealed the gaps, preventing the notebook from turning into a lump of rotten paper due to corrosion.
After drying, aside from the deford appearance and so pages sticking together, it didn’t affect reading.
Lu Li turned to a page that recorded the results of previous investigations.
ID: ofTum-1
Form: a humanoid ghost with a charred black appearance
Level: Spirit (Unconfird)
In life: Na was Ophelia Green; 29 years old; height 1.75 ters; employee of the Belfast Library; orphan, adopted by Miller Green (Miller Green passed away three years ago);
Personality: Frequently fed stray animals nearby; would buy so food during payday to send to the orphanage; occasionally went to Catherine Tavern at night (one of the sailor taverns at Rhodest Port, won-friendly tavern, with male dance performances every night); neighbors saw her purchasing books like "My Love Story with Baron Joseph," "Empress Catherine and Her n"; after Mrs. Miller’s death, preferred living in the library rather than returning ho; asked neighbors to introduce young n; often had blind dates with young n but with no success, once fought a date because she found him repulsive.
Location: Ruins of the Tulip Street Library
"Have you seen the true form of that spirit?"
"Scorched..." murky words like tidal waves seeped from beneath the writhing black robe.
It’s likely still the sa spirit.
"Why do you need the books?" Lu Li continued to ask.
"To irrigate the fields..."
Lu Li looked toward the farmland opened in the northwest corner, where there was only a patch of black fertile soil, with no crops growing.
"The True Library has plenty of books."
"The more books the better..." the cultist replied tersely.
Nearing the edge of the settlent, the cultists residing there cast glances, directed at Lu Li, or rather the cultist next to him, bowing slightly.
At the settlent’s gate, the tentacle cultist uttered words that made them sll like rotting mud.
"shum o fur."
Cultists clad in black robes of varying heights silently approached, and the settlent gate slowly opened.
A broad, empty street stretched straight into the distance.
"shum o fur..."
Puxius, who was following closely behind Lu Li, couldn’t help but mimic, whispering. An odd ripple surged in his hyena-like body, carrying a strong fishy sea odor.
Puxius suddenly felt an itch at his rear, turning his head in horror to see a tentacle wriggling from the base of his tail, resembling a bald, underdeveloped second tail.
"kio fu nur..."
A bulky cultist murmured, the overpowering sea odor like being surrounded by rotted fish.
"It says he can beco a new believer," the cultist translated for him.
"I... I don’t want to..."
Puxius, hugging his "two" tails, said fearfully.
The bulky cultist lost interest in Puxius.
"How do I make it disappear..." Puxius asked tearfully. The ugly extra tail sprouting from his soft yellow-brown fur made him anxious and it looked hideous.
"This is a gift from Him who bestowed His gaze," said the tentacle cultist.
aning it cannot disappear.
"This teaches us not to be curious about things, and not to speak recklessly," Katerina remarked gleefully, without malice.
"Does it have any side effects?" Lu Li asked.
"Scent."
Amidst the ambiguous words, they exited the settlent.
The cultists escorted them on both sides, the street empty and desolate, producing an unsettling and odd sensation. No anomalies dared to erge, or perhaps the surroundings of the settlent had long been cleared.
The library ruins were only a block away from the settlent. They soon arrived at the ruins, where a faint burnt sll occasionally wafted by.
The ruins had been burned to ashes twenty-four years ago, but what they slled was the aura emitted by the spirit.
As they approached the collapsed corridor, the burnt sll intensified.
At the corridor’s end, the iron door leading to the basent was shut tight.
Under the watchful eyes of the cultists and Katerina Puxius, Lu Li held up the oil lamp, stepping into the darkness beyond the door.
A while later, Lu Li calmly walked out, followed by a charred humanoid figure.
He had passed the trial.
Everything had gone so smoothly it was unbelievable, as if, as the Eternal Drear said, they would have a happy ending.
On the return journey, with an additional figure in their group, they headed back to the settlent, the charred figure following Lu Li, as they re-entered the church.
Clap clap clap—
The church echoed with Saint Elena’s applause, her gaze admiringly looking down at Lu Li in the hall below: "I knew this matter was ant for you. You’ve done excellently. Now for the second task—"
"You should tell the clues of the Shadow of the Maiden now," Lu Li interjected with a frown.
"Of course, it’s part of the agreent..."
Saint Elena softly spoke.
"But I didn’t say it was just one task."
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