Xia De did not make an appointment for this visit in advance, but when the professor heard that it was a writer from De La Rion who came to visit for the purpose of collecting materials for the new book, he was very happy to invite him in and received Xia De in the study.

Professor Kansas Drake was a thin old gentleman wearing a pair of brown-framed reading glasses and a red checkered blanket over his legs so Shad couldn't see him below the waist. Unlike the Delarion people that Shade often sees, Professor Drake has the standard appearance of the southerners of the Old World, that is, the face is very long, the skin is slightly dark, and the eyelashes are a little raised.

Xia De entered the study first, and then the maid pushed Professor Drake in. He ordered the fat maid who seemed to be very reliable to prepare tea, and then chatted with Xia De.

It wasn't the first time Shad pretended to be a writer in Delarion, so he was able to talk about a career he didn't have. He quickly transitioned from the topic of local folklore to the legend of the "Goddess of the Lake".

"Yes, I have indeed studied this legend. Mr. Watson, you should also understand the general content. In a certain lake in the west of Huntington City, there lives a goddess who can grant people's wishes."

The old professor solemnly drew the holy emblem of the Church of Nature on his chest. This is a loyal believer of the God of Nature:

"Mortals are always yearning for such legends, but most studies suggest that perhaps in ancient times, there lived a solitary woman in the lake area to the west of the city. Local villagers occasionally saw her bathing in the lake, or I saw her walking in the forest on a foggy morning, so the rumors of the goddess of the lake spread. You also know that country people always like to exaggerate their own experiences, and those stories passed down by word of mouth, after several ages, become became the legend we know now."

"But is that really the case?"

Xia De asked suspiciously, of course this is not the case, otherwise Sister Divelin and Mr. Edmond would not have recommended Xia De to come here.

"It's just the most widely circulated view at present, and it is also the general view of scholars who study the local history and folklore of Huntington."

The professor shrugged and answered Shad in Delarion. Although Professor Drake is a southerner, he lived in the Northland for a long time when he was young, and his language in De La Rion is very good.

"So what do you think? Viscount Bernhardt who introduced me said that you are a scholar with your own ideas."

Xia De gave a small compliment, and Professor Drake also smiled:

"Young people these days are so nice to talk to. I know what you want from me, and you're not the first to ask me that. Yes, I do know things that normal people don't, but I I can't tell you directly."

"You need crowns? No problem, I'd like to sponsor your research."

Xia De put down his teacup and was about to take out his wallet as he spoke, but the professor shook his head slightly:

"Young man, let me ask you three questions. The answers you give will determine whether you can get an answer from me."

Xia De didn't expect to encounter such a request, but still nodded:

"No problem. Although I won't show off my wisdom to others too much, but there are only three questions, and I can probably handle them. Professor, please."

A sparrow flew out of the window and stopped on the window sill of the study. The professor turned his head to look at the sparrow, and sighed softly:

"In my opinion, wisdom is equivalent to wealth. I don't want your wealth or your wisdom. Please listen, Mr. Watson, if you met the Lady of the Lake and she gave you the chance to make a wish, you would make it What wish do you make?"

Shad thought for a moment:

"In addition to wanting to collect materials, I am actually still looking for lost things recently. If I really meet that goddess, I will ask her to tell me how to find the lost things. Or, maybe she can give me the things directly .”

Xia De said that he also saw the sparrow on the window sill, so he thought of Mia who was still sleeping when he left home. The cat may have woken up now and was "inspecting the territory" at home.

"The second question, if the goddess of the lake can help you realize your wish, but you have to pay a price to realize your wish, are you willing to pay?"

The physically disabled professor asked again, looking sharply at Xia De, Xia De thought for a while:

"Is it an equal exchange? Or should I pay more?"

"You don't need to give, but when you get what you want, some kind of subtle change has happened."

The old professor Drake whispered, Shade raised his eyebrows:

"Then I won't make a wish. Although I want to find something, there are other ways to try. There is no need to take risks. After all, I have too many treasures in my life that I don't want to give up...Professor, the first What are the three questions?"

"If killing the goddess of the lake could grant your wish for nothing, would you do it?"

The professor finally asked, Xia De shook his head:

"Although I don't think the goddess of the lake in the local rumors is a truly great person like the righteous gods, but I don't think it should be so easy to kill this legendary creature, right?

"Assuming the other party doesn't resist at all."

The professor stared at Xia De, who still shook his head without thinking:

"Professor Drake, this question is really strange. But a long time ago, when I was very naive to the world and my own life, I once said to my friends: To murder other people for your own purposes will only Get the guilt that you have to carry your whole life."

This is the content of Shade's conversation with Priest Augustus and Dr. Schneider, which was still in the summer.

Professor Drake smiled:

"Very good. You are more sensible and kind than most young people I know. I am curious about your growth environment."

He raised his finger and pointed behind him:

"Now, can you pass me the red photo album on the third shelf of the bookshelf? Please forgive the request of an old man with disabilities."

Xia De got up and found the photo album from the bookshelf and handed it to the professor. The professor opened it with a nostalgic expression, and took out one of them and handed it to Xia De:

"Mr. Watson, please look at this one."

The black-and-white photo touched the finger, and a voice immediately rang in the ear:

【You have come into contact with "Whisper."】

This is an extremely weak whisper element, and without the prompt from "her", Xia De wouldn't even be able to detect it immediately. He was slightly taken aback, but he didn't show too much surprise, but looked at the photo itself.

It is difficult to distinguish very fine details in a black-and-white photo, and the photo in his hand has already turned yellow due to oxidation. Even though the professor pointed out a clear location with his finger, Xia De still couldn't see any special scene. It was a landscape photo of the lake, and the photo was taken at least ten years ago.

He looked at the yellowed old photos very carefully. It was obviously a very normal lakeside landscape photo, but the more he looked at it, the more he felt panicked, as if he was staring at something scary, but the photo was really just an ordinary lakeside landscape.

"Feel it? If you stare at it for a long time, you will feel restless."

The professor said softly, then pointed to the photo again:

"Look behind that tree, there's a human face here."

Xia De looked down at the tree suspiciously, trying to imagine the shadow behind the tree as a human face. Unexpectedly, as the black shadow squirmed slowly, the whispering elements became richer in the photo at an extremely fast speed.

At the same time, a woman with black hair actually appeared in the blurry black shadow where Professor Drake was pointing at—because the photo was only black and white, with a pale face.

Most of her body was hidden behind the tree, and the upper body with exposed shoulders looked like she was not wearing any clothes. As the woman became more and more clear, the rotten mud on her body also appeared, becoming more real and vivid.

She looked at Shad in the photo, her eyes still blinking, and the malicious expression on her face was completely undisguised.

"Relic?"

Although the afterglow of the divinity still exists, without the divinity close by, the cold feeling immediately spread from the fingertips to Xia De's body along with the curse, and then was suppressed by the first fire flowing in the body.

Xia De released the photo at once, and then looked at Professor Drake in surprise, but found that the other party didn't seem to see the woman who became clearer, but looked at Xia De hesitantly:

"Mr. Watson, what's the matter with you?"

"Can't the professor see?"

Xia De was a little puzzled, but then realized that Professor Drake's inspiration was probably very weak, not enough to capture the malice of the blurred faces in the photos. And Xia De, who was highly inspired, caught the malice, so he was targeted by the curse.

This photo is definitely not the relic itself, but the power of the relic was recorded by the photo to spread the curse. Xia De has heard of this kind of item, and it can also be regarded as a relic derivative, but the effect is not strong.

"I saw the woman, yes, very blurry, just a silhouette."

Xia De said vaguely:

"Is this the goddess of the lake?"

"Of course not. This is a photo sold to me by local people many years ago. This photo proved to me when I was young that there are indeed some things in West Huntington that are difficult for normal people to understand. This world is actually not simple. .”

said the professor, casually throwing the photo on the desktop. The sunlight outside the window shone on the photo, and as the two stopped staring at the photo, the whispering element in the photo also returned to an extremely low level.

Shad nodded immediately, and now he knew that there was at least one cursed humanoid relic in the west of Huntington City with the image of a woman. The level of the relic is at least the sage level (level 2), and the curse is still suppressed in his body. After leaving the professor for a while, he must find a way to solve the curse.

"Since then, you have transformed from an ordinary scholar to a part-time folklorist studying mysticism?"

"Yes, I used to think that legends were just legends, but then I began to try to study folklore from the perspective of mysticism. Of course, my field is very shallow~lightnovelpub.net~ because it is quite dangerous. As for the existence of the goddess of the lake , In fact, there is still a lot of evidence. Young people, you probably don’t know that the scope of the Pantanal has been shrinking in the past five hundred years.”

"oh?"

Xia De raised his eyebrows, and turned to look at the tourist map of the city hanging on the wall of the study:

"You mean, the place where the Goddess of the Lake appeared was once the area of ​​the Pantanal Swamp?"

"Yes, I have delved into the folklore and legends of the Pantanal region. Oh ~ that is very weird, evil and twisted stuff, and I even regret it at times, messing with those things when I was young."

The professor shook his head, and said to Xia De again:

"But contacting those terrifying materials is not completely fruitless. I am sure that the 'Goddess of the Lake' in local legends really exists, and it is in a lake in the east of Huntington City. The location of that lake is not fixed. According to certain rules, only special people can touch it."