Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 871: Chapter 115: Forget Worry, Yellow Springs (3)

The estate has basically maintained its original appearance, with a high tower on each of the east and west sides.

Uncle Jin was walking on the spiral stone staircase leading to the upper levels of the West Tower. The upper level of the tower was where Lady Eve resided.

Uncle Jin was very tall, completely embodying the image of a big man from Shandong province.

He soon arrived at the door of Lady Eve’s room—he did not enter immediately, nor did he knock right away, instead, Uncle Jin just waited in front of the door for a while.

In fact, his hearing was very good—as a gambler, who was once called the Gambling Demon, he naturally had specialized hearing training. Uncle Jin believed that in terms of hearing he was absolutely top-notch, and his gambling skills had also reached the pinnacle.

But many years ago, he ultimately still lost to Tu Shenyi, and in the end, he chopped off one of his fingers, becoming a butler in the Tu Shenyi Estate.

He knew he could never win against Tu Shenyi… because an ordinary person could never beat him, no matter how much that ordinary person had reached their limit.

There was still no movement inside the room, so Uncle Jin took out a key and opened the door. He did not linger in the room but directly entered the bathroom.

Some water mist was still lingering on the mirror, making it blurry, and the lingering humidity and heat in the bathroom would make one feel a bit uncomfortable in such a hot day, and having climbed the staircase of this high tower, Uncle Jin was already sweating a lot.

He frowned slightly, looking at the bathtub covered with rose petals… inside the bathtub lay a woman at that time.

Her name was Bella, and Uncle Jin could remember the name because Bella was originally a maid in the manor, later chosen by Lady Eve, and had been by Lady Eve’s side ever since.

In fact, over the years, Lady Eve had often visited the manor, and each time she would choose a young girl to be her attendant.

Uncle Jin walked into the bathtub, rose petals nearly covered the water’s surface like a red carpet for Bella. She just exposed her head, eyes closed, with a dreamlike smile on her mouth.

There were two tiny holes on her neck. Bella was motionless, and Uncle Jin pressed his fingers on Bella’s neck, then shook his head.

Uncle Jin directly reached into the water, holding Bella and lifting her out. At the moment of standing up, the body still carried the leftover warmth of the water, not at all like someone already dead.

The skin was still so warm and soft, perhaps she was just asleep.

“Another one.”

Uncle Jin covered Bella’s body with a white sheet and carried her out. Over the years, he would deal with such occurrences two or three times a year, and he’d long become accustomed to it from the initial shock.

In fact, he was waiting for an opportunity… waiting for a chance to turn himself into ‘one of them’.

…

…

“…Generally speaking, we all categorize them as exorcists.”

Without a doubt, Xitacil appeared to be a talkative gentleman, at least judging from his current demeanor.

Luo Qiu did not notice anything peculiar about Xitacil in terms of appearance and behavior—of course, this conclusion was based solely on the preliminary interaction thus far.

Since the discussion involved matters pertaining to the Non-Human Domain, after Gan Hong fetched some water, Luo Qiu sent her away again—this time to bring some snacks.

Having been looked after by the maid at the club, Luo Qiu had long developed the habit of having afternoon tea daily… so Gan Hong was quite busy.

“Exorcists.” Luo Qiu took a sip of water.

To Luo Qiu, Xitacil gave a personal impression that his physical abilities might be stronger than an ordinary person’s, and he also likely had some special racial abilities.

It wasn’t Luo Qiu’s first encounter with creatures that fed on fresh blood—such as that Princess of the Xuanyuan Family.

Of course, purely from the perspective of powers in the Non-Human Domain, there’s really no comparability between Xitacil and Su Zijun. The gap between the two is akin to the difference between ancient kings and commoners—because Xitacil is likely a tenth-generation vampire.

The strength of a tenth-generation vampire isn’t considered strong, although they too can maintain eternal youth, but they’re actually quite fragile. Nonetheless, tracing back to the source, the first-generation and original generation of vampires also possessed quite formidable power.

However, when Luo Qiu chooses to associate with someone, or shows interest in certain groups, he does not solely use power as the only criterion for assessment because once the shell of strong power is peeled away, what glimmers within is assessed by another standard in Luo Qiu’s mind.

Xitacil nodded at this moment, “Yes, exorcists, or to use another term, demon hunters. They were initially active during the medieval era. Back then, numerous legends concerning evil spirits circulated in various parts of the world. The most common are legends of vampires, werewolves, and the so-called wicked witches. These stories are likely familiar. However, these three races are quite rare to be exposed, so exorcists more regularly are dispelling evil spirits. Those who have lost consciousness or formed cohesive consciousness due to grievances are uncontrollable and challenging to manage cohesively.”

Luo Qiu nodded: “Do exorcists have their own group?”

“Yes.” Xitacil nodded and said, “Generally, there’s a somewhat loose Exorcists’ Association. Its existence is not for governance; it merely provides intelligence for exorcists, and of course, serves as a platform for exorcist interactions. Besides that, within the exorcists’ circle, there are a few particularly large groups that we, the Non-Humans, need to be cautious in dealing with, such as the Holy Cross Legion.”

“Holy Cross, sounds like the Holy See?”

“Exactly.” Xitacil smiled and said, “During the Middle Ages, the church had a period of witch hunts. The ‘witches’ here usually referred to are witches; during that time, many newly born witches could not resist the iron cavalry of the Holy Cross, and were either captured or burned to death.”

“Next is the Round Table Knights.” At this point, Xitacil dipped his finger in some water and drew a circle on the table, “A circle symbolizes unity. At its zenith, the Round Table Knights numbered over one hundred fifty, with the most famous, of course, being the legend of King Arthur’s Twelve Paladins. But in fact, the Round Table Knights not only had mighty warriors but also had the protection of the great Mage Merlin and his descendants.”

“For instance, there’s the Magician’s Association,” Xitacil solemnly remarked. “However, magic and sorcery are often hard to distinguish, providing a perfect camouflage for witches and wizards. How many of them are hidden within the association remains unknown. While magicians undertake exorcism tasks, they also consist of rare races internally, making it difficult to define the nature of the association.”

“Hmm…” Luo Qiu nodded.

Though he possessed the ability to obtain intelligence easily… many things freely given were indeed a delight.

“Actually, for matters concerning the non-human circles, there’s a dedicated channel to acquire such information,” Xitacil glanced around before suddenly extending his hand beneath the table.

As his palm opened, a furry basketball slowly emerged—a fluffy creature with a pair of wings and a small tail, with nearly half its body being a large eye.

Xitacil said, “We call it the ‘Messenger,’ originally a rare spirit. However, it has been bred with new technology to reach a stage of mass reproduction. The advantage of the ‘Messenger’ is its ability to instantly update the dynamics of the non-human world… Well, you can think of it as a newspaper.”

The blue ‘Messenger’ now opened its eye, fully revealing a large sphere, yet its appearance wasn’t frightening, even somewhat adorable.

The eyeball projected a faint light, revealing a panel resembling a newspaper magazine interface, complete with texts and images, and even text options in multiple languages… calling it a newspaper is simplistic, it’s more akin to a ‘website.’

Interestingly, the images on it were even dynamic.

“Remarkable technology,” Luo Qiu tried touching the interface projected by the Messenger. He found it indeed controllable.

Xitacil now smiled, “These Messengers are merely subunits; above them is a mother Messenger. Each mother can manage hundreds of subunits, and numerous mothers combine into a large processing terminal. So long as someone inputs events into the mother, we holding subunits can always monitor non-human world activities—incidentally, this Messenger is a product of the Magician’s Association.”

Luo Qiu, like a child with a new toy, couldn’t seem to stop interacting with it.

Xitacil slightly parted his lips, his gaze landing on Luo Qiu’s neck, and suddenly said, “My friend, consider this Messenger a gift from me for our acquaintance.”

“Gift for me?” Luo Qiu was a bit surprised.

Xitacil generously replied, “While Messengers aren’t rare, without special purchasing channels, they are hard to find. However, I possess plenty.”

“Then I’ll buy it,” Luo Qiu considered, “What should I pay? I mean, do you have special currency in circulation?”

“Wealth doesn’t mean much to us, barring some who adore it; it’s generally useless,” Xitacil shook his head, “Usually, bartering is common. Of course, Messengers can be bought with money since the Magician’s Association needs substantial funds… But I said it’s a gift, and that’s final. Do you know why I have plenty of them?”

“Surely, you’re not its developer?” Luo Qiu jokingly remarked.

Xitacil chuckled, “I don’t possess the knowledge to develop them, but I’m an agent for Messengers.”

An agent… that’s a businessman?

“Hmm…” Luo Qiu thought for a moment, then retrieved a black card from his pocket, imprinted with three golden designs, “I don’t usually take things without giving back, so let’s trade this card; it can…”

Before Luo Qiu finished, Xitacil, with an astonished expression, took the black card, “This is… the markings… no mistake, it’s ‘Black Soul’s Discount Card’… My friend, Luo Qiu, how did you acquire such a precious item? You know, a card with only one marking fetches the price of five kilograms of Mithril or equivalent on the black market? Let alone one with three markings!”

Luo Qiu blinked… indeed, it’s a discount card, but what on earth is this black market value of five kilograms of Mithril??

“You don’t know the rarity of ‘Black Soul’s Discount Card’?” Xitacil asked curiously, slowly returning the card to Luo Qiu… albeit reluctantly.

Luo Qiu shook his head, “Rare or not, it’s not particularly useful to me.”

“Perhaps you’re unaware of its value,” Xitacil said, “Legend speaks of a mysterious place where anyone entering can buy anything, or fulfill any wish, but it requires a price. This ‘Black Soul’s Discount Card’ is a pass for it. The markings represent discounts of ten, twenty, thirty percent off. Can you imagine how precious it is for wish-fulfillment seekers to pay less than the original price?”

Then, Xitacil suddenly shook his head, “Though this magical site vanished in the West a century ago, after non-humans attacked it due to some event, leading to the West’s decline from brilliance to darkness, reviving only after a century. However, some say it remains, waiting for its return; hence, its black market value skyrockets, and being consumable, it’s even more valuable. How you ended up with one is surprising.”

Should I mention I’m the owner of that place…

Better don a mask next meeting, avoid awkwardness… Luo Qiu disliked awkwardness.

“I have no wishes to fulfill,” Luo Qiu smiled, “I got this card by chance, kept it for its unique material. Xitacil, thanks for the Messenger, here’s my token of thanks.”

“Oh, Luo Qiu, my dear friend!” Xitacil grew more enthusiastic, “Your generosity amazes me; meeting you made today wonderful.”

He clasped Luo Qiu’s hands, expressing sincerity.

This guy is… quite passionate.

Luo Qiu gently withdrew his hands, not accustomed to close contact with men… Xitacil didn’t mind.

While swiftly accepting the black card, he retrieved several rings.

“Such a ‘Black Soul’s Discount Card’ is too valuable, a mere Messenger won’t suffice,” Xitacil slowly stated, “These rings, consider them gifts for you and your companions.”

Luo Qiu observed the rings, four in total; three were red, one green, hinting significance.

“Your companions should wear these three red ones,” Xitacil advised.