In a certain hidden corner of Tivian, there was an ordinary room. It was a single bedroom, not large in size, with plain decoration. The walls of the bedroom were covered with wallpaper, and the floor was laid with elegant wooden floorboards. The heavy curtains were completely drawn, blocking out the sunlight from outside, only allowing a faint translucence through the curtain fabric. A gentle glow spilled out from the edges of the curtains, bringing faint light to the entire dim bedroom.
On one side of the center of the room, against the wall, was a simple single bed. On that bed, an old man in his fifties with graying temples was currently lying. He was in a deep sleep, his breathing normal, seemingly very healthy.
After an unknown number of minutes had passed, the old man lying on the bed's eyes twitched slightly, then slowly opened. As the old man slowly woke up, he frowned, then sat up slowly on the bed, holding his forehead. He first stretched out his hand and looked at it, then gazed around in confusion.
"I... I'm still alive? Where... where is this?"
Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings with blurry vision, John couldn't help but murmur softly. Just then, a voice answered his question.
"In a safe place. Here, you don't need to worry about anyone coming to harm you, Professor Machison."
Hearing the unfamiliar voice, John immediately turned his head to look at the source of the sound. Then he saw a blurry figure sitting in the corner of the room. Just as John was squinting, trying to see the figure more clearly, the figure spoke again.
"Your glasses are to the right of your pillow."
Listening to the figure's prompt, John was slightly startled. He then reached out to grope around and quickly found his familiar glasses. After putting on the thick-lensed glasses again, the world in front of John became clear once more. He looked again in the direction where the voice came from, and what he saw there was a man wearing a trench coat, a short top hat, with a hooked nose and deep-set eyes, sitting on a chair and smiling at him, who was sitting on the bed.
"Who are you? Did you save me? I remember being trapped in the carriage and falling into the river... I should have drowned..."
"It should be said... 'We' saved you, and not just once. If not for us, Professor Machison, you would have probably lost your life at the port, let alone falling into the river."
Facing John's confusion, the man named Ed continued to speak with a smile, his expression unchanged. After listening to Ed's words, John was stunned, then seemed to think of something and spoke.
"At the port... those... those strange moving words were written by you? Were you the ones constantly reminding me?"
"Of course, to welcome you properly, Professor, we prepared there for quite some time..." Ed continued to speak to John with a relaxed expression. After listening, John pondered for a moment, then continued to speak.
"Thank you... but I want to ask, why did you go to such lengths to help me? We've never met before, have we?"
"The reason we saved you is similar to the reason those who want to kill you have – it's because of certain things you know. Speaking of which, Professor Machison, you should be clear about why people are targeting you, right?" In a calm tone, Ed looked at John sitting on the bed and asked back. John was silent for a while after hearing Ed's words. After thinking for a bit, he spoke again softly.
"Those who want to kill me... should be the same group as those who killed my friend Richard... no, I should say Barret's people. The secret research we were conducting... might be the reason for this fatal disaster..."
Lowering his head slightly, John said this. When he mentioned Barret, a hint of melancholy appeared in his tone. Looking at John like this, Ed slightly restrained the smile on his lips, then continued to speak.
"It seems, Professor Machison, you are not completely unaware of your situation. If that's the case, our subsequent communication will be simpler. Perhaps you can introduce yourself, explain how you became involved with the Secret and Barret, so that we can properly get to know you again."
"Mutual introductions... should be a matter between both parties, Mr. Detective. I also know nothing about you... or rather, you all." Facing Ed's question, John did not immediately respond, but instead cautiously turned and spoke again, wanting to further understand the other party's situation before discussing his own affairs. However, it was clear that the other party did not accept his suggestion.
"As for me... I am just an ordinary 'Detective'. To seek some truth, I am exploring unknown Secret with like-minded people. These Secret involve the content of your research with Duke Barret, and those who want your life. This is also why we saved you. The secrets you know are the reward we seek from you..."
Ed introduced himself very simply and roughly. Listening to Ed's words, John also understood that the other party was unwilling to reveal more information to him. Being in a passive position, he didn't talk about any more conditions and could only respond somewhat helplessly.
"Detective, huh... Alright, since Mr. Detective has already said so, then I'll talk about myself first." After sighing softly, John was silent for a while, then picked up a cup of water prepared on the bedside table and drank it. After putting down the cup, he organized his thoughts and continued to speak.
"I am John. Machison. As you can see, I am currently a Professor at Royal Saint Crown University. When I was young, I was also a student who graduated from Crown University. During my student days, I briefly and shallowly came into contact with a Secret Society established by Crown University students themselves, the Secret Knowledge Society. There, I first glimpsed the Secret..."
"After graduation, I became an archaeologist, traveling throughout Prit and even around the world, while verifying'Surface History', I also constantly tried to contact the 'Deep History' that is generally taboo among history practitioners. Finally, by some coincidence, I came into contact with a Secret Society called the 'Hand of Fusha' in Tivian. After joining it, I officially began to contact the Secret..."
"Hand of Fusha? From the name, it sounds like it's from North Wu?"
"Yes, it is a Secret Society that has a stronghold in Tivian, but its origin is in North Wu. Its founder was originally a treasure hunter from a North Wu treasure hunting society called 'Dust Wiper' Sobek. He had been mingling with larger treasure hunting societies in ruins and tombs in North Wu and even around the world for many years, robbing tombs and stealing treasures. But unlike other treasure hunters, during the process of robbing tombs, he not only focused on the treasures in the tombs, but also on some Secret knowledge recorded in them, even going against the taboos of the treasure hunting society to interpret them.
"Perhaps due to the long-term excessive intake of Spirit Sight, Sobek gradually became more interested in Secret historical knowledge than in treasures, which eventually led him to leave the treasure hunting society and establish an organization like Hand of Fusha, aiming to recruit like-minded people and decipher the Secret history in ruins. And it was only after I came into contact with the branch of Hand of Fusha set up in Tivian that I officially entered the Secret. There, I learned how to safely research the Secret history."
While recalling, John told Ed his own story. Listening to John's narration, Ed pondered for a while, then spoke again.
"So... in Tivian, you actually had your own Secret background? That Hand of Fusha branch?"
"No, it's gone long ago. A few years ago, the Wolf Blood Society conducted their so-called 'Crimson Offering Hunt' in many places, destroying a large number of small and medium-sized societies that mainly focused on 'Cup', and even some societies that assisted in 'Cup' were affected. Tivian was a more severely affected area. Hand of Fusha was also affected because its inheritance was the path of Self-Reliance which assisted in 'Cup'. The Tivian branch I was in was completely wiped out. I narrowly escaped. As just an Apprentice, I didn't have a rich 'Cup' for that group of beasts to enjoy, so they weren't interested in me..."
John responded to Ed like this. After listening to John's words, Ed also nodded thoughtfully and spoke with a slightly solemn expression.
"Wolf Blood Society... I didn't expect their appetite to be so large, not even sparing those who assist in 'Cup'..." Ed murmured like this. After thinking for a while, he looked at John again and continued to ask.
"So... did you try to contact other Hand of Fusha strongholds afterwards?"
"No, I didn't. My position in the Tivian branch at that time was not too high, and I wasn't aware of the information about other strongholds. Plus, after witnessing the brutality of that group of beasts, I became scared, afraid of encountering them again, so I no longer had the idea of joining any other society, to avoid being affected again. After that, I taught at Crown University while conducting my own research alone, until I met Richard." Sitting on the bed, John continued to tell Ed his experiences, while Ed sat quietly on the chair, silently listening to his narration.
"Richard and I... that is, Barret, met in the Crown University library. At that time, I didn't know he was a Duke. He often extensively consulted historical books in the library, and I also habitually liked to stay in the library to read. Several times, the books we were looking for had the same content, so we got to know each other and became familiar. Later, we even found out that both of us were interested in Secret history and were not ordinary historians.
"Since losing contact with the society, I had been conducting research alone. After meeting Richard, I finally found a like-minded companion again. Therefore, we also began to closely exchange our experiences and even conduct research together. Richard and I quickly became research partners in Secret history. Later, he informed me of an important research project he had been working on and invited me to participate."
"Your project... is the Secret history of the Wind King Rebellion period?" Listening to John's words, Ed said this. Hearing Ed's words, John was slightly startled. After glancing at Ed, he continued to speak.
"Yes, it is the history of Prit from five hundred years ago, which was concealed by the Church and the current Royal Family. This was originally Richard's ongoing research, and finally, he shared it with me. I was very grateful for his selflessness, so I helped him with all my strength. Throughout last year, our efforts were almost entirely focused on this project, and we achieved many results.
"Until the beginning of this year, Richard did not meet with me as scheduled to exchange results. I wrote to him and left him messages using the communication method we used during our exchanges in the library, but I didn't receive any response. It wasn't until later that I saw the news of Duke Barret's assassination in the newspaper, and saw that the Duke's photo published in the newspaper was exactly the same as Richard..."
With a hint of sadness, John said this to Ed. Ed also sighed slightly after listening to his words, then continued to speak.
"After seeing your research partner killed, did you also realize the danger?"
"Yes... Richard's death reminded me of my former companions who died at the hands of the Wolf Blood Society. Although I am not sure what the specific reason for Richard's death was? Who exactly wanted to harm him? But I still felt a sense of crisis and decided to go out and avoid the limelight for a while. So I voluntarily applied to participate in the study tour organized by the department today, and under the guise of a study tour, I took the students out to hide for a while. I thought that if I hid outside for half a year, there would be nothing wrong when I came back... but I didn't expect..."
Shaking his head, John said in a low voice. In his tone, he seemed to be lamenting the unpredictability of fate. Ed, who was beside him, was silent for a while after listening to John's words, then continued to speak.
"We found the message you left for Barret in the Crown University library."
"Ah? You actually found that note? Really... I was in such a hurry when I left that I actually forgot about that thing. After confirming Richard's death, I should have retrieved it..." Listening to Ed's words, John reacted and said with a frown. Being much more of a scholar than a member of a Secret Society, his anti-reconnaissance awareness was indeed not high.
"Heh... You should be glad you left that note there, otherwise, no one knows what you would be like today, Professor Machison." With a slight smile returning, Ed said to John, then changed the subject and continued to speak.
"From your message, we learned that you found some 'temple'. Can you tell me about this in detail?"
"Temple... that..." Listening to Ed's words, John wanted to say something, but just as he was about to speak, a hint of difficulty appeared on his face. Seeing his expression, Ed seemed to understand something and continued to speak.
"Don't worry, I have made very strong Spirit Sight protection beforehand. Just speak. If I can't hold on, I will tell you to stop."
"Spirit Sight protection? Alright then..." Listening to Ed's words, John nodded silently. Then, after seemingly organizing his words, he continued to speak.
"The temple I mentioned was one of the God's Favored Places that the leader of the Conservative Faction, 'Black Worship King' Jeffrey, ordered to be searched for during the Wind King Rebellion. During the Wind King Rebellion, King Jeffrey, following the advice of the 'Divine Messenger Witch' by his side, while waging war against the Holy System Faction, also mobilized a large amount of manpower to search for the ruins of the Night Sky Empress, who once ruled Prit, throughout Prit.
"King Jeffrey believed that in the distant past, the Night Sky Empress was disappointed with the people of Prit, so she abandoned the people here and went to a distant place. As long as he could find all the lost temples and sanctuaries of the Night Sky Empress on Prit again and hold repentance ceremonies on them, he would be able to make the Night Sky Empress change her mind and return, bless the warriors loyal to Her, win the war against the Holy System Faction, and expel the foreign god beliefs from across the sea from the three islands of Prit, achieving an unprecedented great feat."