novelonline Chapter 2425 Demonologists, Cats and Dogs
Chapter 2425 Demonologists, Cats and Dogs
Chapter 2425 Demonologists, Cats and Dogs
In order to create a library atmosphere, the club had enough lights for reading, but they were still a little dim. The "demon scholar" on the other side of the bookshelf raised his eyes slightly, and after seeing Shade on the other side of the "gap", he also showed a slightly surprised expression, but then changed into a cautious but slightly cold smile:
"What a coincidence it is to meet you again, Mr. John Watson."
It has been more than two months since they parted in front of the flower shop on a rainy night in Green Lake. Shade really didn't expect that the "demon scholar" would appear again in such an accidental but reasonable way.
He glanced at the rose on the cover of the book in his hand, and whispered to Mr. Asmon to come over and talk.
There was no one at the long table on the side of the second floor, so they didn't have to run to the compartment on the third floor.
Shade sat at one end of the long table, and the robed demonologist sat on the side of the table next to him.
He was not holding a book in his hand, but was still holding the black notebook with curled corners that he always carried with him whenever he appeared.
Because Xia De's "membership" was the highest level in the club, the waiter also brought black tea and sugar to the two of them. When the smoke rose from the porcelain teacup, the conversation officially began.
"A night like this, a reunion like this, is really fun."
Shade said with a smile, of course, in a low voice. Mr. Asmon also nodded. Although the expression on his face and his black eyes were very strange, Shade was used to it.
"Since leaving Green Lake, Mr. Asmon, how did you come here across half the continent? Oh, I am still traveling and writing. The story of Moon Bay is really wonderful."
Mr. Asmon also responded in a low voice. When he lowered his voice, it sounded like a hissing snake:
"I adopted a pair of cats and dogs in Green Lake and traveled with them. Not long ago, I received a letter from an old customer. He wanted to entrust me again to help him solve some demonology problems and identify some books, so I came here."
Xia De then asked curiously:
"So did that gentleman really find the 'real thing'?"
Mr. Asmon stared at Shade and shook his head slowly:
"Of course not. If the devil could be found so easily, Mr. Watson, I would have died in a dark corner while traveling around the world and acting as a consultant. But thanks to him, I have more money to travel with."
“It’s really good business.”
Xia De sighed softly, and at the same time, he naturally placed his right hand, which had just been secretly wearing the [Demon Hunting Seal] in the bookshelf aisle, on the side of the table close to the "Demon Scholar".
Then nothing happened. The man, wearing a desert-style robe, just glanced at the "ugly" black iron ring and then looked away.
"So, is there any clue about the devil in the Moon Bay area?"
Shade asked again, and Mr. Asmon's strange smile appeared on his face again:
"Of course, but I'm still investigating. This city of wealth, a place of accumulated desires, is really suitable for my job."
But then he mentioned another thing:
"On a night like this, let's not talk about the devil or other depressing topics. Since we meet again in a strange city, Mr. Watson, are you interested in playing a game?"
"Want to play a game of Rhodes with me?"
Shade raised his eyebrows, but Sean Asmon shook his head again:
"It's not Rhodes, but it's certainly related to this. Take a look at this first. It was given to me by my old customer as a reward. I think you'll be interested."
He opened his notebook and handed a card inside to Shad.
As expected, this is another special rule card. On the card, a cat and a dog are guarding the door of a dilapidated and gloomy mansion, and two floating leaves are drawn on the ground to express the atmosphere.
[Song of Cats and Dogs·Eternal Guardian], Color: Star 10.
When this card is drawn, if this card is the "even" card, and there are only two different suits of cards in hand when the points are calculated, the points of this card can be adjusted between 9 and 10.
[Songs of Cats and Dogs] is a brand new series of decks released in recent years. Although the series has not been reprinted yet, it has been released three times, which means that there have been three different sets of special rule cards.
"Songs of Cats and Dogs" refers to stories and legends related to "cats" and "dogs". Among them, "Eternal Guard" tells the story of a loyal cat and dog who, after their owner passed away, remained guarding in front of their owner's former residence for twenty years until they died on the same day.
This is a fairy tale that promotes "loyalty". It is impossible to verify where the prototype of the story came from. But according to Leisia:
"This kind of story is most likely made up by the writer himself, Shade. Not all stories have prototypes. For example, the popular knight adventure stories and vulgar court erotic novels. Well, sometimes the latter do have prototypes."
“This card is pretty good.”
After Shade looked at it for a while, he returned the cards to Mr. Asmon:
"What kind of game do you want to play?"
"Mr. Watson, I'm not short of crowns and gold pounds lately. Since we meet a good friend, how about we bet on special cards instead of money?"
The demonologist lowered his head and looked at Shade and asked. Shade thought about it and agreed:
"of course can."
As he spoke, he took out his deck of cards and pulled out the [Ancient Alchemy: Dragon Stone] that he had won during the card game at the Parsifal Club last week.
Mr. Asmon obviously also had some common sense about Rhodes. He continued to remind in a low voice:
"The value of this card is much higher than mine."
"It doesn't matter. I've won many special cards from you. The stakes at that time were not greater than the value of the cards. Since you don't care, I don't care either. Oh, this card caused quite a stir in Yuewan. If you win, don't take this card out in Yuewan."
Xia De said, and put the cards on the table:
"But didn't you just say you didn't want to play Rhodes?"
"Yes, I have something else to do later, so I'm afraid I don't have time for a long card game. Let's play some interesting card games. While playing games, we can continue the story we didn't finish last time."
"Yes, I enjoy hearing your demon stories."
Shad had no problem with that at all.
Mr. Asmon then took out his deck of cards, drew out the "King" and said:
"I will lay out 25 cards, five by five, on the table with their backs facing up. You have seven chances to uncover any card. If you find the 'King', you win, and [Song of Cats and Dogs: Eternal Guardian] is yours. If you don't find it, you need to pay 50 gold pounds to redeem your [Ancient Alchemy: Dragon Stone]."
In other words, he did not want Shad's expensive playing card, and still chose to use his own cards to bet against Shad's gold pounds. This bet was certainly not good for Shad, but the price of 50 pounds was not enough for "The Ballad of Cats and Dogs".
Xia De nodded again:
"Then you lay out the cards, and I'll recall where our story is going."
He made a gesture of invitation, squinted his eyes and looked up at the gas wall lamp above the wall. The demonologist next to him raised his mouth in an even weirder arc:
"Yes, where is the story going?"
"I want to imagine a strange existence that has the power of the devil because of people's cognition. It brings disaster to the world until it meets a person who has no wishes. It then accompanies that person through his life because of the other person's 'wish' to seal the devil.
After the man died, the devil took his soul and returned to his hometown, devouring all his relatives. But those respectable people tried their best to protect the last boy. The boy did not save himself by keeping silent, but made the same wish as the first man: like my grandfather, I will seal you with my life.
He then walked a long way, until one day, the grown-up boy met the girl he loved and fell in love with her. When she tried to ask the young man to stay, the young man killed her, just to ensure that after his death, the devil would not turn into his appearance and come to take the girl's soul.
Many years later, the middle-aged man who was traveling met a noble lady who was in trouble and her cat and dog. On the way home with her, they fell in love with each other but did not speak. Many years later, the middle-aged man returned to the city again. By giving wisdom and power to the cat and dog, he learned that the girl had been sacrificed. So he communicated with the great being and exchanged the girl's soul for her to reach the end. Finally, he took the cat and dog and left the city that was destroyed by plague and disaster in a fire.
Since the first time he met this demonologist in Coldwater Harbor, Shad has listened to five "demon stories", but each story made him think deeply, and this time he was also looking forward to an interesting story.
By the time Shad had briefly outlined the previous story, Mr. Asmon had finished laying out the cards.
Shade stood up again and turned back, giving Mr. Asmon a chance to switch the cards again. At the same time, he told "her" in his heart that there was no need to tell him the answer.
[Yes, dear stranger.]
After everything was ready, facing the neatly arranged cards, Shad was ready to reach out, and the demonologist at the long table also began his story:
"After that incident, the middle-aged man took the cat and the dog on a long, long walk. When he was thirsty, he drank from the stream; when he was hungry, he picked fruit from the trees. He was determined not to have a deep connection with anyone again. The events of his youth and the stories of his middle age had made him realize that he could not give up his fate after making that wish, so he decided to stay away from everything."
“It’s a very wise decision.”
Shade said, flipping over the card in the upper left corner and throwing Star 13 aside.
PS: Every time I have to summarize the content of the "devil's story" in the previous article. Although it seems like there are too many words, it is really not too little.
This is very necessary. Now we are in the sixth paragraph of the demon story. If we don’t summarize it, the reader will have to go back to the previous part five times before he can recall what happened.
(End of this chapter)