novelonline Chapter 4064 The Appearance of "Withered 0"
Chapter 4064 The Appearance of "Withered 0"
Chapter 4064 The Appearance of "Withering"
"Mr. Munoz, do you know anything else about this man?"
After thinking for a moment, Xia De asked again, and the old man thought for a moment:
"My only direct contact with him was during that incident involving the containment of the relics. After it was done, he gave me a bearer draft from 'Candleburg Bank' when he made the payment. Candleburg Bank was a local regional bank and one of the first regional banks in the country."
These bank drafts are not common. If the draft was his own, and not given to him by someone else, then he must have a large account at Candleburg Bank.
Mr. Finch nodded:
“Candleburg Bank only does local business, and more than 20 years ago, bills of exchange weren’t as common as they are now. People who could produce bills of exchange back then were indeed very unusual. Since you know the Astley family, you can ask them to investigate. Maybe you can find some clues from that.”
The two old gentlemen's suggestions were quite good, so Shade chatted with them about the topic of traitors and "construct masters" before returning to Fragrant Mansion at three o'clock in the afternoon.
Viggo had just returned from outside when Xia De brought up the topic of bank accounts, and she immediately nodded:
"When the great witch of fate helped me with my divination, she also helped me find some things in the basement of the family mansion that I hadn't noticed before. There were some Candleburg Bank notes there, but they shouldn't belong to my father. The family has a dedicated bank account, and those notes are transaction vouchers for private small accounts."
Xia then offered his opinion:
"Is it possible that your mother still has a bank account at Candleburg Bank, and that she rented a long-term safe deposit box there to store things?"
Candlecastle Bank is the bank where the witch and her party encountered the ring sorcerers fighting in Scholar's Square on Friday night when they returned from the cemetery. The "safe aggregate" that Shad disposed of after lunch escaped from there.
Of course, none of the items in those safes were left by Vigo's mother, otherwise Shad would suspect that Vigo's mother was also secretly manipulating everything like Laplace Howard.
When Viggo investigated her mother before Shad appeared, she naturally didn't forget to investigate her mother's bank accounts, but she couldn't find any account her mother had at the local Candleburg Bank.
“I’ll have Laura check right away. My family also has shares in Candleburg Bank.”
Xia De added:
"While you're at it, check the information on the large bill of exchange cashed on the 9th day of the Flower Month in 1827. Although it's a bearer bill, it might leave some clues."
So Miss Rowling immediately took people to investigate. Candleburg Bank was very close, and she returned around 4 p.m.
"So fast?"
Wei Ge asked in surprise, while the housekeeper hesitated and said:
"The account issue is still under investigation, which will take time, but what about that bank draft?"
Xia De could tell from her expression that she must have found some bad information:
"It's okay, just tell me."
As he spoke, he took Vige's hand, and Miss Rowling then spoke:
"The information about that bank draft was investigated by the local police more than 20 years ago. According to bank records, the police discovered that the bank draft was issued by those people when they were investigating the secret accounts of the Delin Or Zionists."
However, since the bill of exchange was bearer, it was impossible to find the specific holder and casher. The investigation into that bill of exchange at the time yielded little result; the police simply shut down the suspicious accounts.
"Oh!"
Wei Ge raised her left hand to cover her forehead, but this time she accepted the fact quickly:
"You said that the people of the Truth Society mentioned that your mother's past code name was 'Duchess,' and that she had distant relatives in the Delineor royal family, right?"
This question was directed at Shad, and Shad nodded:
"That's true. But your mother most likely doesn't belong to that group. As a ring mage, she doesn't need to deal with such a troublesome group. I think she's probably just using that group to solve her own financial problems. She came from out of town and needs some financial support locally. It's reasonable for her to give that group some help in exchange for a large return."
"But she later married her father, who was said to be a direct descendant of the royal family."
Wei Ge pursed her lips, coughed lightly twice, and then sighed:
"Mother, what kind of person are you really?"
An investigation into a bank account cannot be completed in a day or two. In this era, information can only be accessed manually. Moreover, even if the Astley family owns bank shares, they still need to go through certain procedures to conduct a large-scale investigation into their customers' account information.
Shade had assumed Sunday would pass peacefully; it was already 4:30 PM, and nothing else should happen. But half an hour later, at 5 PM, new information arrived at Fragrance Mansion—
“Master, Mr. Watson. The investigation into the ‘Withering’ power has yielded results; the black crystal is reacting.”
"So fast?"
This time it was Xia De's turn to say those words.
After obtaining the crystal from Shad, Vigo's followers immediately went to the city's cemeteries that afternoon to investigate. The city's public cemeteries, the private family cemeteries of nobles, and even some unnamed areas where the bodies of the poor were buried were all targets of their investigation.
The visit to the cemetery yielded no response; Crystal's reaction came from the morgue in the outer city. It was similar to the morgue where Mr. Albert was located in Moon Bay, mostly used to store the bodies of unidentified individuals whose families could not be found.
Because of the recent influx of refugees from outside the city, most of the corpses in the outer city's morgues have come from these outsiders. Vigo's followers went to investigate with this in mind, and unexpectedly, they immediately discovered clues.
"I'll go right away."
Although it was getting late, Shad dared not wait until the next day to check on the situation because it involved demons.
Wei Ge also stood up with him:
"I'll go with you; I can at least be of some help."
The carriage carried the two from the upper city all the way to the outer city at the foot of the mountain. As they stepped off the carriage, a brilliant sunset was already appearing on the horizon. Although the Thernnir River does not flow through the outer city, a small branch of that turbulent river meanders along the edge of the outer city.
The outer city morgue was located on the shallows of the river, which was impassable to large ships, with a bridge spanning the river to the east. The setting sun cast long, thin silhouettes of the buildings of varying heights in the outer city against the street edge of the riverbank, and Shad saw many people fishing on the riverbank.
Vige didn't want to appear in this place with her true identity, so she and Xia De got off the carriage early and met up with the waiting followers. They first used illusion magic to conceal their appearance before walking down the riverbank with everyone to the stone building.
The morgue has a small courtyard facing the river. Although the building is only one story, it is not small in area. In the past, before the outer city expanded to such an area, it was mainly used to store bodies pulled from the river, and only later did it take on other urban functions.
There were three girls who came to investigate, two with nine rings and one with ten rings. They had already bribed the morgue manager in advance, so they led Xia De and Wei Ge directly into the building.
The morgue room wasn't large, and rows of cabinets along the walls held unclaimed corpses. The target body had already been moved to a makeshift iron-framed bed in the corner of the room. As Vige frowned slightly at the smell of preservatives and the stench of death, Xia De immediately sensed "decay."
The residual power within the corpses was far less potent and pure than the Withering Shadow of the [Bloodstained Factory], but its nature was the same:
"Yes, although it is already a corpse, it has not completely turned into a skeleton, and there is still a very small amount of life force inside. This decaying life force is called 'decay'. It is not decay caused by death, but by the influence of external forces."
The black crystal the doctor had given him was now emitting a dim yellow light, which proved Shad's point.
The body had gray hair, wrinkled and dehydrated skin, and looked like an elderly person in their sixties or seventies.
She was found collapsed at the entrance of a nearby alley early yesterday morning, already deceased. Judging from her clothing, the perpetrator was an ordinary resident from the outer district. Due to the recent surge in unidentified corpses, her body was only temporarily stored there and had not yet been thoroughly examined.
“Master, we have used magic to check, and her real age is around thirty-five years old.”
The girl standing behind Wei Ge spoke softly, and Xia De nodded:
"Victims whose life force has been drained usually die in their original form. Only victims affected by the 'Withering' power will exhibit this aged appearance. Now let's take a look—the Mystic Art: Life Spark."
The magical technique successfully extracted the remaining life force from the corpse. The ember was still red, but this red contained a hint of dim yellow.
"Is this what decay is?"
Wei Ge asked curiously:
"Seeing a normal spark evokes the urge to possess it, but seeing this spark only evokes a feeling of sadness in my heart."
"Because this is a process that every life goes through: birth, brilliance, and decay. Decay is not a calamity for the world, but a process that every life must go through."
Shad spoke softly, taking out the [Demon Hunter's Seal] and bringing it close to the flame, only to find that neither of them reacted:
"Is it not the power of a demon? Or is it just residual power, insufficient to trigger a reaction?"
Vige looked at the ring curiously; she recognized what it was:
"You've encountered many demons before, haven't you?"
"It seems like a lot of people have asked that question. Yes, but I'm not a witcher, I just don't get along with demons."
As he spoke, Xia De temporarily stored the dim yellow flame in the brand on his palm, intending to take it home so that the girls in his family could also see it.
He then put on gloves and, together with Vigo's followers, conducted a more detailed examination of the body. They found no fatal wounds on the surface of the body, only traces of scratching the ground during a struggle and strange burn marks on the fingers.
PS: Bonus chapter for Chinese New Year, 5/10.
That concludes today's bonus chapter. Five more chapters will be added tomorrow morning.
Happy Chinese New Year to everyone! No matter where you are right now, the new year is about to begin. Wishing you a joyful and happy Lunar New Year!