This antique shop is not big, and the stained glass windows outside filter most of the light, making the interior a bit dark.
At the door, a stuffed owl with glass eyes stood on a black log with its wings spread out, as if welcoming Dean and Sean in a special way.
Dean turned and looked around.
Behind the owl specimens are various glass display cases, filled with rings, earrings and other jewelry made of bone, jade, and various gemstones, as well as candlesticks, vases, oriental-style porcelain and other retro utensils.
On the wall behind the display cabinet are some colorful woven blankets full of witchcraft style.
These reminded Dean of what he had seen in a voodoo shop in New Orleans.
The most eye-catching thing in the entire antique store is the ubiquitous animal taxidermy.
Three stuffed raccoons stand in a circle, surrounding a gray mirror; a stuffed wolf that looks very old is lowering its head as if drinking water; stuffed brown bear and elk heads are hanging on the wall on the left and right. The guards glared at the customers inside the antique shop, as if to warn them to keep their hands and feet clean.
And just behind the glass display case in the center of these specimens stood a fat woman about sixty years old. The dim light illuminated her bright orange trousers, and her arms were covered with jingling copper rings and tortoise shells from her fingers to her shoulders, making it a mess. There are three colorful combs stuck in the gray hair, and the deep and interlaced wrinkles on the face are as dry as the cracked earth.
She looked like an old witch from folklore.
Dean and Sean faintly heard a strange "Jie Jie" laugh coming from their ears.
"Mrs. Carmody?"
"Welcome." Carmody glanced at the unfamiliar faces of the two people, rolled his slightly bloodshot eyes, and grinned, revealing jagged nicotine-colored yellow teeth, "Our store has a world-renowned antique collection. , witchcraft instruments, with both ornamental value and magical power, and they are honest and honest. They have been operating in Qiaodun Town for more than 30 years and have a good reputation. Please feel free to buy."
She spoke with a strong voice, and her voice was sharp and resonant, like the high notes of a clarinet.
"What magic power?" Dean asked with great interest. From the perspective of life, this old lady was very healthy, but she was at the level of an ordinary person.
Seeing the two people asking questions, Carmody immediately said more enthusiastically, "Whether you want to find a beautiful and virtuous wife, make a fortune in the next year, or cure a strange disease in the bed, I can help you. "
"Sounds like she can do anything," Sean joked after hearing the old lady's loud tone, "Then guess what is the purpose of our coming to the store?"
"Your purpose." Carmody's frighteningly bright eyes shone on the two of them, and Dean suddenly had the illusion that there was a pair of ancient and wise eyes above his head observing him.
Passing through the skin and into the depths of the heart and soul.
before he could react.
Carmody quickly looked away, the enthusiasm on his face disappeared, and his expression became serious and serious, "I smell the smell of snakes, wolves, and spiders from you... You are not ordinary guests. You are not here to buy antiques, but to interact with others." May I make a special deal?”
Dean and Sean were shocked at the same time.
This old lady could tell with her naked eyes that they were definitely not ordinary people.
"You guessed it right. We are Kenny and Sean, who were introduced by Professor William White of Ohio State University. We heard that you specialize in research on baphomid, so we wanted to come and ask for your advice."
"Shut up!" the old lady suddenly shouted, turned around nervously and ran to a wooden counter, took out a holy water bottle with feathers on it, pulled out the feathers, and poured cold water on the two of them continuously, with a solemn expression, as if A priest who performs exorcisms and cleanses believers from their filth.
After repeating this three times, her face softened and she spoke angrily, "Your teacher never warned you not to read out the names of those ancient beings so recklessly? Do you want to be recorded on the list by Him and stared at for the rest of your life?"
"There is still such a theory." Dean suddenly realized, but he and Sean had already been marked by Buffer. Are they still worried about calling each other by their first names? "Sorry, I am ignorant. I abide by your rules. This name will never be mentioned in the next conversation."
"Now you provide the knowledge and we pay." Dean further gave the old lady a telepathic suggestion, "You just set a price."
"Real knowledge cannot be bought with money." The old lady rushed to the door of the store, turned around the open sign hanging outside the door, and then locked the door.
Despite her chubby body, her movements are extremely agile.
After doing all this, she looked at Dean, her eyes clear and completely unaffected by telekinesis, "You said you were introduced by that guy William White. What evidence do you have?"
Dean thought for a moment, then handed over William's handwritten information, and recounted his experience in Columbus in detail, mainly describing William's research on séances and the Pentacle and his success in saving his wife from the Leviathan Hell. Aurora process.
Xiao En, who was next to him, felt his heart surge with turmoil.
Tormented hell, monks, cursers, self-healing from terminal illness...
It sounds like a ridiculous horror fairy tale.
Another mysterious world opened to him.
…
After listening, Carmody put down the handwritten information, his eyes softened slightly, "Although you omitted many important points, you finally helped my old friend William's family reunite, and you can be considered one of your own. I am willing to sell it to you at a preferential price." Some secret knowledge about Midian.”
Dean nodded, looking a bit like a broker, "How much?"
The old lady held out five fingers that looked like dead branches and said, "Fifty thousand dollars."
Sean next to him opened his mouth slightly.
Dean hesitated for a second, nodded, left the antique store and returned to Citroën. In less than a minute, he brought back a suitcase and handed it to Carmody.
The old lady took out a bunch of green knives and put them in front of her nose and smelled them, with an intoxicated look on her face.
"A person like you who understands the supernatural world also loves money so much?" Dean couldn't help but ask,
"I need money for retirement, information exchange, and self-protection." Carmody glanced at the two strong arms and put the money on the counter behind him, "Not everyone has extraordinary abilities like you. With strength, you can make a lot of money easily. A frail, sickly and ugly old woman like me can only make money by fooling people. The people of Qiaodun Town are so stingy that I can’t help but say it. , I only make a hundred dollars a day. It’s rare to meet a big customer, so I naturally want to earn more for retirement.”
This was the first time for Dean to see such a money-grubbing alien.
"Okay, I'm going to say that the information about Midian is very important. I haven't even told William the curser. It must not be leaked, otherwise you will be responsible for the consequences."
"No written information?"
"This is the safest book," Carmody tapped his brain under his messy gray hair, staring at Dean and Sean with burning eyes. He didn't speak slowly until the two assured them again and again,
"The specific location of Midian can only be found by those who have been summoned. I don't know. But my ancestors once communicated with several nocturnal species who were exiled from Midian and got this part of the information——"
"There are a total of 666 nocturnal species in Midian, including most civilians, a small number of elders, a high priest, and an unknown number of berserkers responsible for guarding Midian..."
Carmody's voice fell
Dean found that the progress of "Bloodline" jumped to 86%.
There was thought in his eyes.
The structure was somewhat similar to the coyotes he had known about, but the more than 600 nocturnal species were lower than he expected.
"What is a Berserker?"
"They are as huge as tall buildings and powerful. One of them can defeat hundreds of ordinary nocturnal species, and some can even easily destroy a town."
Dean's eyes were filled with fear. It sounded like the berserker was at least a fifth-level creature, or even a sixth-level creature.
Carmody continued, "But in order to pursue the ultimate power, the berserker abandoned reason. In his heart, he only had the desire to kill, destroy, and eat, which was completely uncontrollable."
"The high priest locked them deep in Midian and only released them when Midian was destroyed, but they have not been released yet."
Dean asked again, "How is the combat effectiveness of the high priest compared to the berserker?"
Carmody shook his head and said he was unclear, "The status of the high priest is only under the gods and is responsible for managing Midian."
"Then why are there 666 nocturnal species?" Sean asked puzzledly. "Does this number have any special meaning?"
"Good question. My ancestors were the first to infer this secret of numbers." Carmody touched the stuffed owl at the door like a pet. "It is recorded in the New Testament of the Bible, Revelation, 'Here is wisdom, and whoever has wisdom' You can count the number of the beast, for the number of the beast is the number of men, 666..."
"The Bible determines the number of beasts, so the number of beasts can only remain at 666 and cannot exceed one."
Dean patted the furry bear's head, "We're asking about nocturnal species."
"Didn't you understand? Nocturnal species are beasts in the Bible." Carmody said in an unquestionable tone. "On the one hand, nocturnal species have the physical characteristics of beasts, and they also have deep animal nature in their hearts. The most basic The desire to eat, reproduce, and fight for survival overwhelms everything else.”
"On the other hand, the nocturnal ones are also enemies of Christ, anti-Christ."
"So, they fit the definition of 'beast' in Revelation, and they are subject to the numerical limits set by Jesus Christ."
"There can only be 666 in Midian, no more, no less."
Dean nodded, describing the nocturnal species as a beast is indeed quite appropriate.
The snake-haired men, hedgehog-headed men, and chameleons he had come into contact with all had similar behaviors.
And he had already understood that Baphomet was inextricably related to the Bible.
It is not surprising that His descendants, the nocturnal species, are restricted by the Bible and God.
Another association occurred in Dean's mind.
The hell monks in Leviathan Hell also seem to meet the definition of beasts, and are they also subject to the number limit of 666?
"Why are nocturnal species anti-Christ?" Sean asked. Although he was not a devout Christian in the past, he had attended mass on weekends many times and had respect for Christ.
Carmody said in a deep voice, "The god of the nocturnal species (Baphomet) is the 'Antichrist'. He is called a jealous demon by Christianity and has a deep hatred for God. The nocturnal species naturally inherited this anti-Christ. duty of."
Dean asked, "What's the hatred between Him and God?"
Carmody shook his head, "It's too old, I can't verify it."
Sean asked, "So are nocturnal species hostile to humans?"
"That's not true. Some nocturnal species regard humans as food because of the animal nature in their hearts, but most of them are on the same page with humans under the rule of that one (Baphomet)."
"Because He believes that humans are born with animal nature, and humans can also be transformed into beasts."
"Human beings are the predecessors of nocturnal species!"
Dean couldn't help but look at Sean next to him. This guy was the best proof of this statement.
Kamodi cleared his throat and began to summarize his argument, "So the nocturnal species in Midian are the beasts in the Bible. They are restricted by God, so their number remains at 666. The nocturnal species that exceed the number will Expelled from Midian by the high priest, they were exiled to the human world, along with those with whom my ancestors had interacted.”
"The Exiles have accumulated over the years, and now there are nocturnal species all over the world."
Dean nodded. The werewolf in the Elk Forest not long ago was most likely the work of an exiled nocturnal species.
…
"Looking at it now, Midian is both the home of the nocturnal species and a paradise for monsters." Carmody took a deep breath and almost yelled out the next words. There was a unique tension in his gestures as he spoke, "It is also the place where nocturnal species are imprisoned. , a prison that limits their numbers and prohibits them from eating and harming people.”
The event progress jumped to eighty-nine percent.
Dean was lost in thought.
Midian is a prison?
So why did Baphomet call him, Sean, and Lu Guangming to go to Midian?
Replenish the number of prisoners?
Or——
Dean had a bold guess in his mind.
…
"That's it, you two, the knowledge worth half a million dollars is over." Carmody brought a cup of hot tea from the counter and took a sip, showing a farewell look, "If you don't want to buy antiques, then please leave. Qiaodun Town, the sooner the better, so as not to provoke Hui Ju Law and implicate my old man."
"Wait a minute, half a million dollars is worth such a few words?" Sean put his hands on his hips and stared at Carmody and said painfully, "How can you be a witch? The most greedy profiteer is not as evil as you!"
"Shut up!" Carmody glared at him and stabbed his chest with a chicken-like hand, "You idiot who doesn't know how to respect knowledge!"
Sean's face darkened, anger surged out of his heart uncontrollably, and he roared in his throat.
"What, are you going to bite me, wild dog and rotten snake!" Carmody furiously took off an antique flintlock gun from the wall, and aimed the black muzzle at Sean's chest.
"Calm down," Dean patted Sean on the shoulder to comfort him, and then pressed Carmody's gun. "The transaction has been completed, and I will never regret it later. But I still want to continue to buy knowledge, such as nocturnal species. Weaknesses, especially the weaknesses of the berserker.”
Carmody nodded at him, "For the sake of your good attitude, I can give you a message for free. The Serent Rune is the most powerful weapon to destroy the 'Beast (Nocturnal Species)', go, go Find them."
"I already knew this. The question is, do you have the Serent Rune?" Dean asked, staring into the old lady's eyes, hinting again, "I am willing to spend a lot of money to buy it from you."
Carmody looked at his star-like deep and shining eyes, patted his messy gray hair vigorously, and scolded sharply,
"That's enough, don't keep using telekinesis to hypnotize the old woman. This trick doesn't work for me! Besides, Serent Rune is an important inheritance and cannot be bought with money, not even 100 million."
Dean was not embarrassed after being exposed, and looked at the old lady stubbornly, "What does inheritance mean?"
The old lady was silent for a long time, and finally her face changed several times under Dean's sharp gaze, and she sighed,
"Okay, let me talk to you a little more. Do you know about the witch hunting movement?"
Dean nodded, "I understand that this movement not only persecutes witches, but also other supernatural creatures. Do you know the true origin of the witch-hunting movement?"
"Unfortunately, it's not clear, but during the witch-hunting movement, some of the nearly extinct monsters were called by Baphoth and entered Midian and became beasts. And the strange people who have been wandering among the people for the past ten centuries have been dedicated to helping people eradicate evil. The demon hunters of the monsters were also purged." Carmody said, "In order to survive, the remaining demon hunters defected to the government and formed the predecessor of today's special operations department."
Dean's eyes showed surprise that the special operations department actually had such an origin.
But in the past, the free demon hunters have now become the lackeys of the government. How ironic.
"What about the witchers who didn't join the government?"
"Either dead, or living among the people, continuing the ancient work of hunting." A trace of admiration flashed in Carmody's eyes, "And my ancestor was such a demon hunter who still persisted in his career. He mastered a special weapon. To deal with the Serent rune of the 'beast', he relied on this rune to defeat several nocturnal species that were exiled outside Midian and harmed the human world, and pried open their mouths to understand the basic composition of Midian."
"Are you actually a descendant of a witcher?" Dean looked up and down at Carmody's weird outfit. Without the heroic denim jacket or shotgun, he looked more like a witch or a goddess. "How can I get the Serent Talisman from you?" arts?"
"This is the inheritance of the demon hunter," Carmody looked at him, a strange light flashed in his eyes, and spoke with a touch of expectation, "As long as you prove that you can hunt those monsters that harm the world, I will do it for free. This rune is for you."
Dean smiled, and quickly went out and returned, bringing back a pair of sharp bone claws as thick as a normal human thigh, "I have killed so many monsters that have harmed the world that I can't even count them. This happened recently in a forest outside a train station. Is the body material of the eliminated mutant werewolves enough proof?”
"I was a survivor of that disaster, and I can testify that what he said is true!" Sean raised his hand.
Carmody looked at the gleaming bone claws in Dean's hand, his eyelids twitched, and he shook his head.
"That doesn't count. You have to hunt a monster again now. And there is an opportunity right in front of you. A month ago, a nine-year-old girl, Martha Medina, drowned in the Long Lake."
"But I smell something evil from the lake. She definitely didn't drown accidentally."
"Some evil thing that dwells in the lake poisoned the child."
Carmody paused, his nicotine-colored teeth gleaming,
"Kenny and Mr. Sean, if you can catch this monster that killed the child and bring it or its body to me, I will give you the Serent Rune."
As Carmody finished speaking.
A reminder flashed before Dean's eyes - you triggered the event "Blood on the Long Lake".
Investigate the real cause of death of Martha Medina who died in the Long Lake, catch her murderer, and bring her to Carmody.
Event Difficulty: Unknown
Progress: (0/100)
Deadline: one week
Reward: Unknown
(End of chapter)
