Mystery: I Married the Queen of Mystery.

Chapter 166 The Curse of the Side Door

After entering the vineyard, Odysseus got off the carriage, squatted down on the ground, grabbed a handful of soil and looked at it.

The soil in the vineyard is very dry, even like sand, and you can't hold it with your hands, and it will leak through your fingers.

Odysseus, who was squatting on the ground, said, "Get a bucket of water."

Without Earl Brandon's orders, his valet immediately went to order the steward of the vineyard to send someone to fetch water.

Soon, two farmers brought a large bucket of water.

Odysseus scooped a bucket of water and poured it onto the ground. The water quickly seeped in and soon disappeared without a trace.

When Odysseus squatted down to grab the soil again, the soil had become very dry and slipped through his fingers like sand.

According to Earl Brandon's description, it wasn't just this spoonful of water. The Mandated Punisher had rained here for a whole day before, but the land here didn't retain even a drop of water.

Odysseus clapped his hands, stood up, took the staff from Lord Rick, and said to Earl Brandon, "The curse here started more than half a month ago, right?"

Lord Brandon nodded: "Yes."

Odysseus hummed and continued, “Then more than half a month ago, a magical and strange thing must have grown in this vineyard.

"Mr. Count, please send someone to look for it. If you can find that thing, I will be able to solve the soil problem here."

"What exactly does that thing look like?" asked Lord Brandon.

"I don't know either," Odysseus said. "It has no fixed form, but it definitely emits a soft, pure white light."

Lord Brandon nodded and immediately ordered the butler to look for it.

But more than half an hour later, the housekeeper replied that the thing the wizard was looking for was not found in the vineyard. He had asked the farmers here, and they had never found such a thing either.

Brandon was a nobleman who understood human nature very well. He thought for a moment and then said, "Whoever finds that item will be rewarded with 200 pounds!"

200 pounds was a huge sum of money for a farmer working in a vineyard, so someone soon brought what Odysseus was looking for.

It was a green grape leaf, but now it was winter and all the grape leaves had already fallen. In this era without greenhouses, the color of this grape leaf was very abnormal.

At the same time, this grape leaf also emits a pure white light, making it look very sacred.

Earl Brandon breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he found something like this, it would prove that the wizard's judgment was correct.

Odysseus took the leaf and asked, "Who found this?"

The vineyard manager nudged a man in his forties dressed like a fruit farmer.

The fruit farmer nervously smoothed the corner of his clothes and said, "It's me, sir."

Odysseus continued, "Tell me about how you discovered it."

"That night, I went out to pee and saw it," the farmer said. "It was very conspicuous in the vineyard. I didn't know what it was, but I thought it was a good thing, so I picked it from the vine and took it home.

"Well, before it gets dark there's not a leaf on the vine."

Odysseus smiled and said, "He is indeed a good thing. He earned you a bonus of 200 pounds."

The Earl of Brandon said, "I will give you 300 pounds, but at the same time I fire you because you did not bring out the leaf immediately when I first ordered it to be found."

The fruit farmer suddenly didn't know whether to be happy or depressed.

Although 300 pounds is a huge sum of money, in recent years, this money is far less secure than a stable job.

Odysseus thought to himself: This earl is quite capable.

Then Brandon waved his hand, signaling everyone to step back a bit: "Mr. Wizard, have you found the problem?"

"Found it." Odysseus said, "Please ask someone to find a basket of wood ash and a few dozen pieces of perilla.

"There's probably no fresh perilla left now. You can go to the nearest herbal medicine store and buy some dried perilla."

Lord Brandon immediately asked his valet and the vineyard's steward to prepare these things, and then the earl looked at the wizard Gandalf.

Lord Brad Rick also looked at Mr. Wizard with curiosity.

Odysseus smiled and explained, "There are many kinds of curses, among which the devil's curse is the most vicious and insidious. Of course, the devil's curse is also relatively rare.

"As far as I know, those curses include, but are not limited to, turning food and grain in the cursed area or in front of the individual into stone, or turning clean water into sand, so that the cursed person will never be able to eat a bite of food or drink a sip of water.

"Also, it makes the land dry."

He paused and said, "These curses are rare. I've only read about them in books, and even fewer people know how to resolve them."

Earl Brandon frowned and asked, "Why is the demon targeting me?"

"I'm not targeting you." Odysseus raised the grape leaves in his hand: "It's about its relationship."

Lord Rick on the side asked: "Mr. Wizard, what is this?"

"This is what demons hate the most." Odysseus explained: "Where there is evil in this world, there is purity; where there are demons, there are things that can restrain them.

"This leaf is just such a thing. I don't know the mechanism of its growth. I only know that there is a very small probability that such a pure thing will grow naturally.

“Every demon hates it, but is unwilling to get close to it.

"So demons usually curse the land where these things grow, causing the land to dry up within a few years and no grass to grow."

The devil represents the most evil part of this world, and the "abyss" is an entity of evil and corruption.

The leaves in Odysseus's hand are another extreme thing. When the world is dark and dirty, such things are likely to grow.

Earl Brandon sighed: "The extraordinary world is always so magical."

Lord Rick smiled and said, "Fortunately, we found the knowledgeable wizard Gandalf, otherwise we would still be looking for a solution to the problem."

But Earl Brandon said, "I would like to thank you for your recommendation."

Lord Rick quickly said, "It's my honor to help you."

Odysseus ignored the courtesy of the two nobles and looked carefully at the surrounding grapevines. Just as Earl Brandon said, they were still alive in such dry land!

It seems that the people of the Church of Mother Earth did put in a lot of effort, but they failed to solve the problem fundamentally.

While no one was paying attention, he put a handful of dry soil into his pocket and picked up a small branch and put it into his pocket. At this time, wood ash and basil arrived earlier. Odysseus poured one-third of the wood ash into the large bucket of water and crushed a dozen dry basil leaves and sprinkled them into the water.

He stirred it evenly with a ladle and waited for a minute or two. Then Odysseus filled the ladle with water and sprinkled it evenly on the ground in front.

A magical scene happened. The water in the bucket did not leak out like before, but remained on the soil and slowly seeped into it.

That small piece of land became moist and turned into normal land.

Odysseus sprinkled it out ladle by ladle, and soon a large area of land returned to normal.

Earl Brandon was very happy to see this scene. The problem was finally solved!
After Odysseus poured out the bucket of water, he said to Earl Brandon, "This method is effective. It allows fruit farmers to evenly spread the water mixed with wood ash and perilla leaves on the ground.

"I just demonstrated the approximate proportions. You can use a little more wood ash and perilla leaves, but not less. You can sprinkle more or sprinkle repeatedly, but don't leave any."

"Very good, very good." Earl Brandon smiled and said, "Mr. Wizard, how can I thank you?"

"Give me this leaf. It's useless for you to keep it. I might be able to use it to fight demons in the future." Odysseus raised the grape leaf in his hand again and said, "Also, I need Earl Brandon's help."

"What favor?" Earl Brandon really didn't need the leaf, and in order to avoid being targeted by the devil again, he was happy to hand the leaf over to the wizard Gandalf.

Odysseus then smiled and said, “I will write to the Count around the New Year.

"If I haven't written to you, it means I don't need your help anymore, and you don't have to pay any other compensation."

"No problem." Earl Brandon agreed readily, "As long as it's within my capabilities."

Odysseus smiled, put away the grape leaves that were emitting soft light, and said goodbye.

Earl Brandon immediately sent a carriage to take Odysseus back.

Returning to No. 66 Rose Street, Odysseus first placed the leaf into the "Wilderness of Knowledge," then wrote a letter explaining the demonic curse. He found a rented carriage, delivered the letter to the Backlund Mechanical Research Institute, and reported to the "Mechanical Heart."

It would be best if they could get a clue and find the demon.

After finishing all this, Odysseus made himself a cup of coffee, but when he drank it, he felt something hard and solid on his lips.

He was a little surprised, so he held the cup in front of his eyes and shook it. It was liquid and it could be shaken.

Odysseus tried to drink again, but still couldn't drink a drop.

He seemed to understand something, unscrewed the water tap, and took a look at the gurgling water.

Odysseus reached out to touch the tap water, but the water that had just been flowing suddenly froze, and not a drop of water got on his hand.

This did not surprise Odysseus too much, because he broke the demon's curse and got the leaves that the demons hated, so the curse was transferred to him and he could never touch the water again.

Even if you jump into the river or even the sea, you can hardly escape the fate of dying of thirst.

Odysseus was not panicked. When he agreed to help Earl Brandon, he knew that he might be cursed by the devil.

It was not difficult for him to lift the curse. Odysseus had studied the devil's curse before, and on Tuesday, the "Hidden Sage" also "instilled" some knowledge about the devil's curse into him.

Of course, this is not difficult only for Odysseus. For others, the devil's curse is very difficult to deal with, and there is even only one way to lift the curse, which is to kill the devil.

But Odysseus knew more than one way to lift the devil's curse. He went to the shelf where the herbs were kept and mixed several kinds of herbal powder together in a certain proportion.

Then Odysseus locked the door from the inside, took off all his clothes, went to the center of the living room, and scattered the powder.

Call ~
The powder ignited black flames, which surrounded Odysseus as if they were alive.

Odysseus was roasted so hard that his teeth grimaced. At the same time, he saw a black mist coming out of his skin as if it was being roasted.

The flames burned for four or five seconds, and the black mist baked out from Odysseus's body formed a symbol with goat horns in the air, representing the devil.

Then the symbol quickly dissipated, and the black flames around Odysseus also disappeared.

Without having time to put on his clothes, Odysseus went to the kitchen first, picked up the coffee cup and gulped down half a cup of coffee.

He put down his cup and smiled, "Knowledge is power."

Then he went to the bathroom to wipe his blackened body and put on his clothes.

Back in the living room, Odysseus drank coffee and thought: As long as the "devil" who cursed the vineyard is still alive, similar curses may find me again. I can't just sit there and wait for death.

Odysseus's original idea was to report the matter to the "Mechanical Heart" to attract its attention and let them solve the problem.

But the "Mechanical Heart" may not be able to find the trace of the demon in a short time, so Odysseus decided to help the "Mechanical Heart" again and help them find the person.

Because Odysseus is now familiar with detective Sherlock, who is "good at finding people", he can ask him for help.

The key is to use "Source Castle" for divination without alerting the demon.

As for how the "Mechanical Heart" can avoid the demon's "malicious perception" and kill the opponent, that is the "Mechanical Heart's" business.

So Odysseus wrote another letter to the Backlund Mechanical Research Society, explaining that he was cursed by a "devil" and that he must find and eliminate the demon as soon as possible.

At the same time, he told the "Mechanical Heart" that he knew a very powerful "fortune teller" and would ask that "fortune teller" to find the demon.

The implication is that please be prepared and attack immediately as soon as you can get any trace of that "devil".

After sending the letter, Odysseus used the "teleportation array" in the basement to return to No. 77 Hailin Avenue and turned back into the owner of the herbal medicine shop. Then he went to Gar's herbal medicine shop, changed into Mr. Gar's clothes, and went to the "Nanmu Ballroom" through the "teleportation array".

Odysseus asked Mandy to prepare the carriage, and by the time he rode the carriage to Minsk Street, it was already dark.

……

"The Place Abandoned by God", Silver City.

The exploration team returned to the City of Silver. Today's exploration yielded a Demigod-level Sealed Artifact, many Beyonder characteristics, and several Sequence 8 to Sequence 6 Sealed Artifacts. This brought a smile to every member's face.

Back at the round tower, Chief Colin announced the rewards for this exploration and then disbanded the exploration team.

"Derrick." Colin suddenly called out to Derrick, "Come here for a moment."

After saying that, he took Derrick to the upper floors of the round tower, as if he had something to discuss with Derrick alone.

Arriving at the top floor of the round tower, Colin took out a Sequence 6 Sealed Artifact he had seized today and said solemnly, "This is another reward for you. Keep it safe!"

Derrick was stunned. Wasn't he being rewarded for his achievements? And the Chief's tone seemed a little strange.

(End of this chapter)