My esoteric uncle Jules

Chapter 90 [Influence: Thirsty Gaze]

Jules was expecting him to reveal more secrets about the past, but suddenly, Santiago's expression became extremely terrifying, a little crazy:
"No, it's not me, it's not me... The blood of the shell species has long existed in the people of Innsmouth. It has nothing to do with me!"

A shell species? Not long ago, the old priest was muttering this word before he blew himself up.

At this moment, hearing this term again, Jules couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

What the other party said reminded him of the description of the fragment "The Haze over Innsmouth", which seemed to fit perfectly.

Some say they are extinct like the dodo and the dragon, but scholars know that species that existed before humans never died out, but simply persisted within.

In other words, the so-called "deep divers", in this world of mysticism, are called "shell species" and are the existence before humans.

And the people of Innsmouth are their descendants, so why do they experience the phenomenon of "atavism"?
"But even if it's a regression to its original form, it shouldn't become as distorted as it is now... There must be something wrong." Yule's eyes flashed slightly.

Suddenly, Santiago screamed without warning, his eyes filled with horror, as if he had seen the most terrifying thing.

"Is there a situation?"

Hearing the shout, Jules quickly stood up and looked around vigilantly.

However, no danger suddenly appeared.

Apart from the two of them, the only companions in the warehouse were the strong smell of mold and the sound of rotten wooden boards shaking.

Santiago seemed to have gone crazy, his eyes were wide open and bloodshot, and his hands were waving wildly, as if he was trying to drive away something invisible.

"They're coming, they're here to take my life!" Santiago roared, his voice echoing in the warehouse, sounding particularly shrill.

Seeing this, Yule couldn't help but frown.

It seemed that due to excessive fear and long-term alcoholism, Santiago might have been on the verge of collapse, and his previous question just happened to trigger his painful memories.

But perhaps it is precisely because of his madness that he has survived until now.

He shook Santiago's shoulders and shouted:
"Wake up, there's no one else here! Tell me, what happened next?"

Santiago's body was shaking violently, his eyes focused on Yule, but seemed to be looking through him to somewhere else.

"That skeleton...it...it's not Dagon! Absolutely not!"

Santiago's voice was filled with tears:

"It usurped Dagon's faith... We really just wanted to survive in the beginning. The shell species aren't monsters, and they shouldn't be like this..."

As he spoke, the moonlight filtering into the room suddenly grew a little brighter, and an inexplicable change began to take place.

Yule raised his head slightly and looked at the moonlight casting down on the horizon.

The clouds opened slightly, and from within that gap, he felt a strange gaze.

That gaze was extremely blind, yet it held the purest malice towards everything in the world.

After looking into the moonlight for a moment, his pupils shrank slightly.

Some things that were originally shrouded in fog and mist suddenly became clear.

Thirsty Gaze

【Quality: Level 7 Impact】

[Effect: This effect is the product of the "Thirst Feast" ritual of the Immortal of the Cup. The recipient will be twisted by thirst, and the peak will be reached when the tide surges at night.]

[Introduction: The Red Cup's desire is endless, and even the waves cannot satisfy her - until the first drop of red seeps out from the cracks in the black corpse.]

The introduction was still vague, but combined with what Santiago had said before, it was enough for Jules to analyze most of the ins and outs.

He let out a long breath, his eyes complicated.

A drop of blood was ejected by him and quickly turned into a thin film, blocking the moonlight.

Santiago's madness gradually subsided, and he just lay on the ground, muttering in a daze.

Before leaving, Jules looked at the old man deeply.

The other party is a microcosm of countless Innsmouth residents.

……

On the way back, Yule quickly sorted out the information he knew so far.

In the beginning, the Dagon that people worshipped might really be the remnant of the waves, or the black skeleton that had not been eroded.

Although Si Chen will die, his traces will never truly disappear - as the "corpse" of the wave, Hei Hai naturally inherits the power of the wave.

However, the part belonging to the Cup has been usurped by the Red Cup, and other areas have been more or less divided up by other Sichen. I am afraid that only the ocean part is left.

As a Si Chen that existed before humans, the "shell species" that existed before humans are obviously closer to this Si Chen of old.

Thus, under some unknown influence, the residents of Innsmouth, who already had a trace of the Cascadia bloodline, gradually began to revert to their ancestral roots.

It's hard to say whether this is a good thing.

But there is no doubt that the initial residents just wanted to survive the famine and make their lives better.

However, everything changed after Chibei intervened.

Eventually, the desire called "Thirst" took over this place, completely distorting people's originally beautiful vision and turning Innsmouth into the horrible place it is today.

Yule did not know the reason why Chibei did this.

But based on his understanding of this person, he didn't even need to guess to know that the other party was 99% likely coveting the remaining power of Langchao!
After figuring this out, he suddenly understood why Chibei arranged for the Blood Cup leader to hunt him down.

Perhaps the Blood Cup Cult leader is actually the "black glove" of the Red Cup, responsible for handling matters related to the wave in the waking world.

Naturally, he also dealt with matters related to the waves.

The heart of the wave suddenly began to beat violently, and along with it, the endless thirst also became stronger.

Yule licked his lips, his eyes briefly filled with hunger, but he quickly regained his composure. "No wonder the nights here are so strange..."

The entire town of Innsmouth may be the site of an ascension ceremony.

He raised his head slightly.

The moonlight was still pale, but at this moment, it no longer had the terrifying unknown it had before.

In Yule's eyes, it was just the product of the power of the red cup eroding the black skeleton, and it was even questionable whether it was a real moon.

After all, it is impossible for a real moon to turn from day to dark in an instant like before.

"I don't know how long it has been..." Thinking of the alternation of day and night, he suddenly felt a little worried.

Lolita was still in the church. Although there was enough food and he had told her not to run around, he was still worried that something might happen.

There was not even any fish or shrimp to be seen on the moonlit coast, only the lonely figure of Jules moving slowly.

In the woods nearby, various creatures were constantly attracted by the smell of blood on his body, and their eyes flashed with strange light in the darkness.

But he just glanced casually, and those creatures retreated as if they saw their natural enemies.

After seeing the distorted appearance of those creatures, Yule couldn't help but clench his fists.

In Innsmouth, even these non-human creatures have undergone mutations.

Red Cup... Everything he was going through was more or less related to Him.

But he knew that anger would not help, and the only way to solve the problem was to solve the source of the problem.

Now that he knew most of the context of the incident, he could start to solve the strange fragment of the Sixth History, "The Shadow over Innsmouth".

Moreover, he now knew that the reason why he died suddenly and inexplicably when he prayed to the "Black Corpse" was probably because of the Red Cup behind the scenes.

"When the time comes, we'll go explore the fragments first. As for the actual ascension ceremony, we'll report it to the Defense and Suppression Bureau and let them handle it." Yu Le said secretly.

He was thinking as he walked on the deserted streets.

No creature dared to block his way, even though there were many gazes in the dark that did not belong to humans.

……

The door of the Steam Church was still closed, and the flickering candlelight inside made Jules feel a little more at ease.

"Is anyone awake?"

As he knocked lightly on the door, Lolita's dazed voice came from inside:

"...who?"

Hearing the other party's confused voice, Yule was a little amused.

It's obvious that he hasn't woken up yet!
"It's me, Jules, I'm back."

"Uncle Jules?!"

Lolita suddenly woke up, turned the lever with a grunt, opened the door, threw herself into Jules' arms, and muttered:
"Why did you come back two days ago... I thought you had an accident."

Two days? Yule was stunned for a moment, but he immediately realized that it was obviously the Ascension Ceremony that was causing the problem, causing a problem with the flow of time.

"It's okay, it's okay, I was just a little busy..."

Jules comforted Lolita and asked casually:

"Has anything happened in the past two days?"

He thought Lolita would shake her head, but unexpectedly, Lolita said:

"Have."

This made his heart skip a beat:
"Tell me more about it?"

The two walked towards the church while talking.

Lolita said very seriously:
“I keep dreaming about an underwater palace with a strange stomach on the altar that looks really delicious.

But every time I want to eat, I wake up for no apparent reason. It’s so annoying!”

After confirming that Lolita had nothing more to say, Yule couldn't help scratching his head.

"Is this what you are talking about?"

"Of course it doesn't count," Lolita snorted, "I'm starving!"

Jules touched Lolita's head:
"It's nothing, I just got scared and thought something happened."

He knew that as the authentic "Son of the Wave God", the other party's dreams were often symbolic.

The things in this dream are most likely related to the so-called "deep divers", that is, the things that the atavistic "shell species" worship at the bottom of the sea.

But the other party's statement really made him laugh and cry - perhaps because he was a son of the wave transformed from the "Red Cup Bloodline", his appetite for the cup was particularly obvious.

Lolita nodded slightly and suddenly said:
"I also saw Uncle Jules in there."

Jules paused in his movements:
"Tell me more about it?"

"I saw those weirdos who said they worshipped Dagon kneeling before my uncle."

"I also saw..." Lolita looked up, her eyes full of worry, "Uncle was eaten by the stomach."

Yule was stunned for a moment, but then he smiled and comforted:
"I understand. Don't worry, it will only be Uncle who eats the stomach, not Uncle who will be eaten by the stomach."

"Uncle must not be eaten by the stomach! If that happens, I will eat the stomach and save uncle!" Lolita hugged Jules' arm and snorted.

Hearing this, for some reason, an idea came to his mind:
This true son of the Wave might actually be able to do it...

(End of this chapter)