After Luigi disappears.
Everyone was still thinking about what this poet who suddenly came and then left suddenly did.
Doakes moved faster than anyone else, picking up the mask from the ground with lightning speed.
In his opinion, if the poet talked to him and asked him to solve the problem, then the things left behind should be his... Of course, Kael also has part of the credit. Well, he will give him some help when he returns to the Sandworm Market. It can be considered as making up for it.
Doakes happily took the mask and looked through it, but soon his expression darkened.
"What kind of crap is this?!"
Doakes came back cursing, hesitated, and handed the broken mask to Angel.
He really couldn't figure out what this mask was. It didn't have any traces of being extraordinary. The only thing worth mentioning was that he didn't recognize the material of the mask.
Among everyone present, the one with the strongest ability to identify materials is undoubtedly Angel.
Angel didn't understand what Doakes meant at first, but after taking the mask and observing it carefully, Angel somewhat understood.
Angel: "This mask is carved from old stone."
Old stone? When Angel said this name, everyone present, including the Black Earl, looked puzzled because they had never heard of this kind of material.
Doakes: "You mean, Old Stone?"
Old stone is a kind of stone. The largest production area is in the seventh root state of the Shisang Dynasty, which is where the punk theme park is located. Old stone is generally used to increase the feel of alchemical weapons. After grinding it into powder, wipe the alchemical weapons with water-free leather paper to make your alchemical weapons more handy in battle. In addition, you can also Use the same method to maintain extraordinary props.
For ordinary wizards, the role of old stones is dispensable. But for bloodline wizards who pursue fighting with weapons and breaking through their limits, old stones are still more useful.
The reason why Doakes asked whether Old Stone was Old Stone is a matter of cultural tendency and expression.
In Fan Continent, in addition to the discoverer and inventor, the person who dominates naming rights also has the condition of cultural superiority. For example, the naming of all steel gears and steam machines is dominated by Yirongguo, which has such cultural advantages. Another example is the Wunong Principality. Because it has more than 50% of the cultivated flowers and plants in the Fan Continent, the Wunong Principality also has an advantage in naming flowers and plants.
Countries with cultural disadvantages have another option besides accepting such names: creating new nouns.
To put it bluntly, it is a spiritual victory method of self-comfort.
This results in some items having different names in different regions.
This situation is actually relatively rare in the wizarding world, because most extraordinary items are rare and their naming has its own rules. However, there are exceptions, and that is things that are not too rare, but can barely be regarded as extraordinary items. Such things will be subject to geographical and cultural dissent and have different expressions.
Old stone, in Doakes' view, is a very popular product. If we follow the translation, it seems that it can also be translated as Lao Shi. That's why Doakes asked this question.
But Doakes forgot to consider that Angel was born outside Fan Continent and was not 'polluted' by Fan Continent's set of cultural dissent. What he said were standard terms.
If the standard terminology is also unclear, it can only be explained by ignorance, not cultural dissent.
Angel shook his head at Doakes: "It's different."
After a pause, Angel sighed slightly: "Actually, this is also the first time I saw Lao Shi. I thought Lao Shi was a legend before, but I didn't expect it really existed."
Angel saw the old stone records in the books in Margaret's secret room in Naraku City in the Nightmare Realm.
In reality, Angel had never seen any description of Lao Shi in any book. Therefore, he even suspected for a time that Lao Shi was actually a legend.
But when Lao Shi was held in his hand, the "server" in the thinking space was quickly activated. Through detailed analysis, Angel's dusty memory was opened, and information about Lao Shi resurfaced.
"What is an old stone? Is it valuable?" Doakes' eyes suddenly lit up. Since this is the first time Angel has seen it, doesn't it mean that the old stone is of high value?
Everyone also looked at Angel. Could this "ordinary thing" that seemed ordinary to them really have something big?
Angel pondered for a moment: "It's worth saying that it has value... but it depends on how to use it."
"What do you mean by 'it counts'? Are there any prerequisites?" Doakes asked anxiously.
Angel: "It's not a prerequisite, but..."
Angel suddenly paused in the middle of his words.
Doakes did not ask further questions, because everyone present was no longer paying attention to Lao Shi at this time, but looked to the left side of the corridor.
A rickety figure slowly emerged from the air.
"You arrogant person who wants to ascend to a high position, the whispers of the stars tell me that you are ready to fall into the devil's abyss?" An old voice, like one from ancient times, reached everyone's ears.
As the words fell, an old woman holding a cane, wearing a star-moon three-pointed hat, a star-moon robe, and skin hanging like chicken skin appeared in front of everyone.
This old woman has the same characteristic as the previous poet, that is, she wears a mask, but her mask covers her left eye, which is complementary to the poet's mask.
After the old woman stood still, she raised her head and looked at...the Black Earl with slightly cloudy eyes.
The old woman was not surprised that the Black Earl had only one nose, and just stared at him quietly.
Just like the poet, other people were not noticed by the old woman at all, as if they did not exist.
According to the previous conversation with the poet Luigi, this old woman should be... testing the Black Count?
"Fell into the devil's abyss? What do you mean?" Black Earl said calmly.
The old woman gently used her staff, and a special sun and moon pattern appeared on the ground, and above the sun and moon pattern, there were dots of starlight.
When everyone was wondering about the old woman's behavior, the stars quickly combined and presented a circular astrolabe in front of the Black Earl.
The astrolabe formed a network horizontally and vertically, and the light spots at the intersections disappeared and appeared.
When they saw this astrolabe, everyone was stunned. They are not unfamiliar with this astrolabe at all.
Rather than saying this is an astrolabe, it's better to say this is...a chessboard.
This is a form of "entertainment" that prophetic wizards like very much, called star chess.
Every criss-crossing point is a star. Every time a stone is placed, both parties in the game will silently think about one thing, a problem, or an item in their hearts. The specific type is determined by negotiation between the two parties.
After placing the piece, they "guess" what the other person is thinking through various methods.
Of course, this may seem like "guessing" to outsiders, but for the prophetic wizard, this is actually an "interpretation."
The one who succeeds in interpretation can let the other side place one more chess piece.
When more chess pieces fall, it is possible to connect them into a "star", allowing the opponent to interpret the final answer. The winner is the one who interprets the opponent's "horoscope".
Therefore, avoiding moves and misleading the opponent's interpretation is the game in the process of playing chess.
The rules are roughly the same. It can be said that this is a game exclusive to prophecy wizards. For non-prophetic wizards, once they encounter this kind of star chess, they are basically out of luck.
"Playing chess?" Earl Black's voice even rose.
You must know that no one present is a prophetic wizard, and playing star chess is basically catching someone blind. Doakes had Kael to help him before, but if he played star chess, he would have to throw in the pieces and admit defeat.
The old woman did not reply, but touched the ground with her stick again, and a star fell on the disk.
The criss-crossing places lit up one after another, and finally formed a row of stars like a rainbow bridge.
"You arrogant person who wants to ascend to a high position, listen to the low voice of the stars." After the old woman finished speaking, she closed her eyes and said nothing.
This situation is the same as that of the previous poets. Once the topic is mentioned, they remain silent. You won't speak again until you solve the problem.
"I feel like a dummy. No matter what questions I ask, I don't answer any questions." Doakes complained in a low voice.
This isn’t just Doakes’s idea, it’s the same for everyone else. The poet at least said a few words before, but the old woman was talking entirely to herself, and she did not answer the Black Earl's questions.
Now that this horoscope is laid out, the meaning is obvious.
She did not want to compete with the Black Earl, but directly showed her horoscope for the Black Earl to interpret.
Although it is still different from real star chess, it is much simpler... But can a non-prophetic wizard really decipher this thing?
Everyone looked at the Black Earl with bright eyes, while the Black Earl was silently looking at the stars on the chessboard.
A few seconds later, the Black Earl called Vai over, then put his nose back in place, motioned Vai to stretch out his hand, and clicked on the first star that lit up before.
Soon, a piece of information appeared above the chessboard: the other side.
Then, the Black Earl clicked all the chess pieces played by the old woman one by one.
Each one is a place name, but it is different from the traditional place name.
For example: the other shore, the sky, the starry sky, the setting sun, the sea reflected by the bright moon...
These place names, according to the normal way of playing star chess, should be "interpreted" by the Black Earl one by one, but now the old woman gave the answer directly.
Now all the Black Count has to do is one thing: interpret the meaning of the stars through the meanings represented by these chess pieces.
The Black Earl was very calm from beginning to end, which also gave everyone a little confidence. Maybe the Black Earl can really decipher it?
However, not long after, everyone heard Vai asking in the psychic belt: "Doakes, have you been inspired? Come over and have a look. What do you think?"
Although it was Vai who said the words, there is no doubt that it was the Black Earl who ordered Vai to do this.
Doakes wanted to say that he couldn't understand either. But he knew that this time it was not Vai's request, but the Black Earl's order, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet.
As time passed, Angel looked at Doakes scratching his head and ears, and Vai sighing repeatedly, and knew that this horoscope was probably difficult to interpret.
In fact, Angel has a way to interpret it. He can go to the Wilderness of Dreams to ask for help from foreign aid.
Asking for help from foreign aid to interpret the answer will definitely not be wrong. However, it was difficult for him to explain how he interpreted it.
It can't be said that he has practiced prophecy across departments, right?
Therefore, Angel could only watch quietly.
In fact, he also wanted to know, what would be the result if it was not solved? Angel glanced at the old woman who had her eyes closed and said nothing, and secretly guessed in his mind that maybe she never opened her eyes?
No matter what happened to the old woman in the end, what we can know is that if we can't solve it, the "surprise" mentioned by the wise ruler will definitely be missed.
This actually made Angel a little confused. Didn't the wise master know that there was no prophetic wizard among them? How could he arrange a star chess test?
While Angel was silently waiting for the Black Earl to give up, a turning point came.
The Black Earl sighed softly: "Forget it."
Angel thought that the Black Earl was ready to give up, but the Black Earl's next words made Angel stunned.
"The star sign means...the evil god Demon Abyss."
As soon as the Black Count finished speaking, the old woman opened her eyes: "The interpretation is correct. Since you have interpreted the Evil God Demonic Abyss, you should understand what I mean. This is the message I gave you."
After the words fell, the old woman stepped back slightly, and her figure began to slowly disappear.
At the same time, the old woman's last words came to everyone's ears: "You arrogant person who wants to ascend to a high position, please remember my name, astrologer, Gleipnir."
The old woman disappeared, leaving only the broken mask she was wearing.
Vai walked over, picked up the mask, stepped back to the crowd, and handed the mask to Angel.
From beginning to end, Vai said nothing.
Everyone was puzzled at this time, but the puzzle was not why the Black Earl suddenly knew the answer to the stars - the Black Earl had used prophecy before, although he said he borrowed other people's abilities and had used them up, but who could Do you know whether it is true or false?
What they were confused about was what did Graipnir's so-called message to the Black Earl mean?
Why is the Evil God Demon Abyss a message to the Black Earl?
Judging from the Black Earl's silent attitude, this message seems to have really touched the Black Earl?
Although everyone was curious, looking at the silent aura exuded by the Black Earl and the way Vai was so bitter that he did not dare to speak, in the end everyone did not ask questions, but turned their attention to Angel again. On the body.
Angel is holding half of the mask in his left hand and half of the mask in his right hand. The masks represent the left eye and the right eye respectively.
He tried to fit the two masks together.
It fits very well, it can be said to be a perfect fit.
In other words, these two broken masks should come from the same source.
However, even if the two masks are now together, there is still a part missing.
What is missing is the nose and the lower half of the face.
According to the previous rules, if there are no accidents, it is estimated that a third "person" will appear soon, and this person should be wearing the remaining part of the mask.
Angel raised his head and looked at everyone: "Should we continue talking about Lao Shi, or should we wait?"
(End of chapter)
