I loaded the Mysticism panel.

Hecate raised her right hand, and a piece of black pottery landed in the center of the round table.

It's about the size of a palm and very thin, with uneven edges, so it must have been bent by hand.

The front features an image of an ouroboros, with the snake biting its own tail, the head and tail joined perfectly.

"This arrived last night; I handed it to the whole table."

She turned the piece of black pottery over.

There is a line of text on the back, written in Albion with very neat strokes.

Hecate read it aloud.

"My allies want to know: who is keeping those three syllables safe?"

The temple fell silent, and the six people sat in their chairs, even holding their breath.

"Three syllables?" Hercules spoke first.

"What three syllables?" He looked utterly bewildered.

No one offered an explanation, so Dionysus followed suit, asking, "Isn't the honorific name supposed to be in three parts?"

That's a good question, and Hecate turned her gaze towards it.

"Your name is indeed in three parts."

"Those three syllables are most likely part of the real name."

Hercules' nod froze halfway through.

"...Real name?"

Dionysus touched the rim of the cup: "Whose is it?"

Hecate shook her head: "He didn't write it, he only wrote 'my ally'."

She twirled the piece of black pottery halfway between her fingers.

"Apophis is the head of the table at the Black Earth River, a great scholar of the Abyss tradition."

"Seven people were sitting at his table, six of whom hated him, and none of his allies were at that table."

"Even a top expert wouldn't dare to write down the names of their allies when writing a post."

"Think about it yourselves, where does that person stand?"

The lights in the temple dimmed, and Demeter's hand finally moved on her knee.

:

"Is he an expert?"

"Very likely," Hecate replied to her old sister.

Hercules' massive club slid off his shoulder and slammed onto the stone ground with a dull thud.

I stood there stunned for a while before remembering to pick it up.

Dionysus wanted to ask more questions, but he realized the taste was off and shut his mouth.

Nemesis's scales tipped slightly, and she noticed it herself, raising her hand to press down on the balance.

Richard sat on his stone chair.

The [Perception & Reflection] were applied to him and had not been removed from the moment he entered the venue.

Every gaze that reaches here reflects back onto that file.

But he knew very well that while the files might block the detection, they couldn't block the eyes of an entire table.

...At this moment, the attitude I should least show is to remain silent.

It's reasonable for anyone at this table to remain silent, except for him.

Because his role at this table is that of an appraiser.

Whenever something of dubious origin is placed in the center of the round table, he is always the first person to reach for it.

Hercules's cursed artifact, Demeter's tassel of inscription, Ares's ebony box, the bronze mirror from the ash band...

Tonight, there's a piece of black pottery of unknown origin sitting in the center of the round table. It would be unusual if he didn't even glance at it.

"chief."

After thinking for a moment, Richard cautiously spoke.

"Can I take a look at it?"

"See?" Hecate, of course, had no objections.

Richard stood up and walked around to the table. He always followed this procedure when making appraisals: first take a picture, then weigh it, and then write it down.

Tonight, the Saint-Bronze Paperweight and Bronze Balance Scales are missing, but everything else remains the same.

He looked at it for about twenty seconds, then looked up.

"He mixed the mud himself."

"How did you figure that out?" Prometheus asked quickly.

:

"Fingerprints," Richard pointed.

"The hands that were mixing the clay pressed in the same direction seventy or eighty times, pressing very evenly, so they must be experienced."

"Moreover, there are only traces of one pair of hands, from mixing the clay to pressing the sheet to pressing the print, without a second pair of hands touching it in between."

"A truly learned scholar will never lack students or subordinates to do things, yet he ends up squatting on the ground and working in the mud."

"This shows that he didn't want his subordinates to know about this."

Dionysus picked up the cup.

"As expected of Hermes, please continue."

"The mud comes from the lower reaches of the Black Soil River," Richard continued his analysis.

"The first layer scraped off after the flood recedes each year has the right color and impurities."

It would take several years to accumulate enough of this mud, which shows that it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision; it had been prepared long ago.

The only official website address for this novel is: ".". The website owner has only this one website, and other websites may be discontinued at any time.

"And this too." His finger hovered lightly above the line of text.

He spoke Albion.

"Is there any particular reason for this?" Hercules asked.

"That's too much to it."

"Write it in classical Chinese, and the recipient can pretend they don't understand it."

Write in a common language so everyone can understand it, and no one can pretend otherwise.

"He probably asked at several tables."

After Richard finished expressing his views, he gracefully returned to his chair.

Hecate tapped the table from her seat.

"He definitely published more than one."

All eyes at the table turned to that direction.

"I asked three people this afternoon."

Hecate began to showcase her connections:

"One is in Rus', one is in Iberia, and one is in charge of the German table's accounts."

:

"Two out of the three people received the same one last night."

"What did they say?" Prometheus asked.

"They didn't say anything, they just asked me if I had received it."

Dionysus laughed: "...So everyone's asking each other."

"right."

"That makes things easier."

Hercules breathed a sigh of relief and hoisted the giant club onto his shoulder.

"Everyone else received it, so it wasn't directed at us."

No one in the temple responded to his statement.

Hecate held the piece of black pottery in her palm.

"A round of investigation had already been conducted before Apophis was released."

"How did you know?"

"Because I also know something about the tables he checked."

"The Rose table stopped all mystical transactions in April."

"Actually, it's because their chief had a mishap during his fieldwork at the end of March and was bedridden for two months."

"The chairs at the Iberian table were changed two last winter, but that was due to internal strife."

"At the German table, both of the outward probe lines were broken after March of this year, and the timing matches up."

"But that was after the team fight in March, when the enemy casually swept it away."

She put her hand down.

"There are issues at all three tables, but each can be explained."

There was a moment of silence in the temple before Dionysus reacted first.

"...And what about our table?"

Hecate placed her hands on the table.

"...Everything has been going smoothly for our table lately."

She looked up.

:

"In the eyes of those investigating, it became the only table that couldn't be explained."

Hercules was displeased.

"We didn't do anything!"

"Whether it's dried or not has nothing to do with this," Hecate shook her head.

"The fact that we remain calm in the face of a major crisis shows that we are capable."

"Only those with the ability can hide things."

"Then we'll change it," Hercules said on the spot.

"The next gathering will be moved up by half a month, and my fieldwork will be suspended for two months..."

"No," Hecate said, "it's too heavy."

"Accept the orders that should be accepted, ship the goods that should be shipped, and pay the outstanding debts as owed."

"The gathering will proceed as scheduled, in mid-October."

"If you continue to pretend now, you'll only make yourself a laughingstock."

"From today onwards, no one is allowed to mention this to anyone."

"Even if your master or guide asks... you are not allowed to mention it."

"Most importantly, no one is allowed to inquire about the other tables."

"At this time, those who go around asking around are the most anxious."

"Did you hear me clearly?"

"Understood." The people at the table responded one by one.

"Chief," Dionysus suddenly spoke.

"explain."

"I have a presumptuous question to ask."

He placed the cup on his lap.

"Could the person who offered the high-grade item, and this piece of mud... be using the same hand?"

The entire temple fell silent for a moment.

Richard sat in his chair; he had actually thought about this before.

:

Perhaps Apophis thought he would buy it if he could, and ask if he couldn't.

If you really can't get any answers, just wait for something to happen on either side first.

"We came from different places," Hecate said.

"The person who poached him used guild channels, providing his surname and address, and even the middleman was a familiar face."

"But that doesn't mean it's not the same hand behind it."

She flipped her hand, and the black pottery fell into the torch above her head.

The flames leaped upwards a little, and the black pottery began to fade from the edges, eventually dissipating into the fire.

"Let's call it a day."

As Xinghai drew upwards, Richard also stood up.

Hermes.

A call came from the main seat.

"You said tonight that you still have a lot to go on."

"Yes."

The man in the golden mask tilted his head towards him: "Then hurry up."

When Richard woke up, he heard the sound of rain all around him.

He sat up and walked to the window in the dark.

Nothing could be seen through the windowpane; the streetlights outside, turned to their lowest setting due to lighting restrictions, appeared as blurry yellow lights through the rain.

The heavy rain started in the morning and hasn't stopped for a moment.

Richard pushed the window open a crack.

The wind, carrying water, immediately rushed in and hit his face, making him shiver.

There is no road on Wutong Road anymore; the stone-paved road that has been there for decades has now become a small river.

In the distance, a barge is sounding its horn... The water level has risen, and the boats on the river are exchanging information with each other.

Richard stood by the window, with the white stone he had taken from the pillar of the Fire God Temple right beside him on the windowsill.

He reached out and touched it; it was still cold, but it was gradually getting a little dirty.

Donald said to send it back when it turned black so he could get a new one.

:

Richard put the stone back; someone downstairs was shouting something.

He peered down and saw the lame messenger.

The old man, draped in an oilcloth, was carrying miscellaneous items piled up in the foyer onto the steps; water had already flooded into the first floor.

"Williams!" the old man shouted through the rain, looking up.

"How's it going on your end?"

"good!"

"Don't come down! The stairs are slippery!"

"Do you need help?"

"No need!" The old man lifted the wooden box up, took a breath, and then suddenly looked up again.

"This weather is lovely!"

"...What?"

"Those iron contraptions in the sky can't fly!"

The old man pulled the tarpaulin up a bit, then limped back into the foyer.

Richard stood at the window and suddenly laughed.

The old man agreed, saying that with such heavy rain, nothing could fly in the sky.

Rain is a good thing; the heavier the rain, the better.

Richard reached out to close the window, and rain streamed in through the window frame, already forming a small puddle on the windowsill.

………………

Meanwhile, in Cairo, Apophis stood in the water and collected all the echoes from the six pieces of pottery.

The mud from the Black Soil River has one advantage: it remembers all the traces left by people, and we'll bring them back with us.

The first thing he looked at was the table in Scandinavia.

Tao passed through several hands before finally ending up in the hands of the chief, Loki.

The man picked it up, flipped it over, read it aloud, smiled, and did nothing else. He just left it in the center of the round table all night.

"...Hmph!" Apophis was somewhat displeased.

The second film is about Ross.

:

The reply came quickly, along with a few snippets of other people's gossip, all of which were nonsense and none of them could be verified.

This is using empty words as an attitude: we are cooperating and know nothing.

The third piece, Iberia, shattered right at the doorway; it didn't even get inside the house.

The fourth piece, the German one, was sold to someone who wasn't on the list, and he marked it with a duplicate number.

The fifth piece, from that completely unrelated table, was returned unopened with a note that read: "Wrong person found."

The sixth piece, Greece, he spent a long time working on this one.

It was burned; from the moment it fell in to the moment it crumbled into ashes, it took less than two seconds.

Before the burning, the piece of paper on the table was read aloud, and the whole table heard it without missing a single word.

No one replied after the fire.

Apophis released the lingering warmth he had brought back from the mud, letting it dissipate into the black water.

"Clean as if it had been washed."

Read it aloud, burn it, don't reply... the whole set of rules was so perfect that he couldn't find any fault with it, but the problem was in itself.

After collecting the six pieces, the black water in the room calmed down.

Apophis looked into the darkness. This room was never lit, as the Abyss Scholars were most averse to illuminating themselves.

He closed his eyes and began to arrange instruments in his mind for intracranial divination.

The divination at the Black Soil River is different from that elsewhere.

Those people in the north were scattering pebbles, flipping cards, and looking at wax oil, reading "What will happen in the future?"

The entire process at Heituhe involves weighing, recording, and then sentencing.

He first erected pillars, forty-two in a circle, with a juror standing behind each pillar, all facing the center.

This is a custom from his hometown: after a person dies, they enter the courtroom, and each of the forty-two jurors asks a question.

All the questions were "Have you ever done this?", and you answered "No" to each and every one of them.

Then he set up the scale in the center of the circle, placing feathers on the left pan and leaving the right pan empty.

Finally, take twelve Sabotia figurines, each about the size of a palm, made of clay, with their hands clasped in front of their chests.

These Sabotian figurines were used as funerary objects: when the deceased went down to the underworld, if someone called him to do something, the figurine would stand up for him and say, "I'm here."

The entire process is in my head; once I reach a level of mastery, I no longer need any intermediaries.

:

In addition, since his "ally," the Black Earth River expert, would occasionally glance at him, he definitely couldn't perform physical divination.

The only risk of intracranial divination is that you are deceiving yourself.

He placed the first figurine on the right plate; the figurine was carved with a coiled snake, which was himself.

First statement: How did this deal come about?

He placed his hand on the scale, his memory drifting back to the beginning of the year.

At that time, he didn't know what the Black Soil River expert was looking for.

A fellow Abyss errand boy from St. Petersburg approached him, wanting to exchange a recipe for something.

That guy was the worst performer among Elena's students, and the worst performers are the most loose-lipped.

He said: The teacher recently took on a deep-sea diving job.

Apophis casually asked: How much is it worth?

The man made a hand gesture, and then he started laughing.

"A faint sound of death, so pure that we in this line of work might not encounter one even once in decades."

"The teacher's hands were shaking when she accepted it."

Apophis immediately took it seriously upon hearing this.

Elena, this ancient monster who has lived for three hundred years, needs no introduction in the industry. The only items that can make her tremble are those brought out by experts.

Starting from the end of last year, several tables in the circle began to be investigated.

They are for Marseille, Cologne, and Kyiv.

Apophis connected these points on the diagram and found that the resulting shape was incorrect; he needed to count the entire circle from beginning to end.

"...Elena's deep-sea dive was about this."

Then, Apophis began to actively contact the main character.

Black Earth River expert has actually been making moves on multiple fronts recently, because Irina reminded him to pay close attention to the Divine Spectrum Salon.

So while investigations were being conducted outside, the tables at the Divine Salon were the focus of the investigation.

The Divine Salon is indeed one of the more noteworthy collective rituals in the mystical world recently.

In June, the team battle between Greece and Rome involved two experts and attracted the attention of many important figures.

Apophis felt a sense of crisis, which is why he volunteered.

:

He offered to help the other party search within the Divine Spectrum Salon circle as a condition for gaining their support.

As for the experts in Heituhe, it is quite difficult to search for information in the Shenpu Salon circle, because it involves many experts and highly skilled individuals with special status.

If Apophis helps it with its investigation, it will be much more convenient, allowing it to focus its attention on investigating other mystical individuals outside.

The two hit it off after that, because they both knew what they wanted.

Apophis stated three conditions.

"From now on, on every letter I send out, I will write: My allies want to know, in your name."

"Here you go." The expert from Heituhe said without hesitation, "This won't cost me anything."

Anyway, it's best at replacing things and least afraid of being tracked down.

"Also, I need those gathering points in the Deep Realm that you control."

The black water began to churn, and after thinking for a while, it answered.

"I can send you there, but I won't provide protection. If you die in there..."

"I don't want an escort." Apophis didn't trust the guy either.

"The last thing is, I might need outside help in the future..."

"I won't fight for you."

The expert from Heituhe answered the fastest, so fast that he interrupted Apophis.

"I won't fight for anyone."

"What I want is for you to come and take action directly," Apophis quickly explained.

"What I need is for you to show sufficient attitude."

"Let everyone in the industry know... messing with our group might mean facing you, that's enough."

Blackwater flipped over completely and nodded.

"Deal made, but the division of labor needs to be clearly defined."

"Please speak."

"The Theogony Salon circle belongs to you."

"The outside world is mine: the guilds, the auction houses, the schools where teachers teach, the people who keep track of the dead's names, and those shops that still buy up unsold items... I can reach all those places without even lifting a finger."

"...I've spent the last few months entirely in your industry."

:

Apophis bowed slightly: "Then you should have come to me sooner."

Before leaving, the expert from Heituhe gave him a final instruction.

"Make a note of the names of any tables where experts are standing behind them, but don't touch them."

It has already provoked quite a few enemies of the same level, and now that things are showing signs of turning around, it doesn't want to provoke any more.

After the recollection ended, Apophis continued weighing.

He hesitated for a moment before releasing the second terracotta warrior.

There was nothing engraved on the terracotta figure; this one simply meant: in case Apophis really found out.

"We've found out, should we report it?"

……yes.

"After reporting it, will that person be able to take action on their own?"

...Yes, he's an expert; he doesn't need anyone else's help.

"After I've done my work, will it still need me?"

The terracotta warrior on the right sank very quickly, leaving no room for maneuver.

Apophis gave a bitter laugh.

"...I knew it."

He didn't ask what would happen to him if the other party didn't need him anymore, but he knew it probably wouldn't be good.

"What would be the best-case scenario?"

The scale didn't move; he answered first.

"Always just one step away."

Submit a concrete progress report every two months, ensuring the progress is verifiable and that the other party feels the money was well spent;

But for every step of the reasoning, there must be a next step to follow.

That's easy to say, but it's like making him dance on a knife's edge.

Because we cannot be perfunctory.

He could fool others, but not that one. The other person was an old man who had survived to this day by "replacing" others.

Hand over a document that's been watered down, and the Black Soil River expert can smell it without even opening it.

:

So Apophis has been really investigating lately, and he's been investigating very seriously. Sometimes he even forgets that his original intention was to indefinitely extend the investigation to cheat people out of resources and support.

He simply kept the rhythm in his own hands.

Apophis removed the entire courtroom and placed seven chairs in the empty space.

After setting them up, seven more were placed next to them, and then another seven were placed next to them.

They set up table after table, until they couldn't even count them all before they stopped.

This was his true scheme. Whether it was using the name of a master, gathering resources, or intimidation, everything was to help Apophis devour these tables one by one.

Swallow a whole table of food, and the gods on the table, along with their masks, all belong to the winner.

The more you consume, the easier it will be to open the door to advancement above your head.

Once he's promoted to expert, he'll be in charge of Heitu River!

After the weighing was finished, a breeze picked up outside.

The dry, bitter wind from the desert rustled the loose dust on the roof.

Apophis rearranged the echoes of the six ceramic pieces in his mind, and then added a note next to the Nordic table.

"The person who first tries to distract me is closest to the answer."

After writing it, he shook his head and crossed out the line.

"Or maybe he just wants to muddy the waters."

"No matter which one it is, I don't intend to let any of these tables go."

………………

Richard finished writing the fourth draft of his thesis before the start of the semester.

After he finished writing it, he read it over and found it incredibly verbose.

After sending it over, McFaye only flipped through the first five pages.

He nodded after he finished reading.

"Alright."

"Professor... I feel I've written too much."

"Fine, enough with the rambling." The white-haired giant placed the manuscript on the corner of the table.

"What scholars fear most is not being verbose, but being presumptuous."

:

After the fourth draft was finalized, Richard went to the museum very frequently.

When the Black Earth River exhibition ended last year, Curator Weatherby granted him free access to the rare books section, but he could only look at them and not take them away.

He went there more than ten times in total, and each time he worked as a porter.

With [博闻], all the relevant information can be saved, and reading it in one day is equivalent to reading it in a month for others.

He went this time for a piece of supporting evidence in his paper.

He wanted to find out if the concept of "reflection and body as one" existed in other systems.

He himself possessed the Black Earth River branch—Shute, the shadow, an independent component of the soul; after a person dies, the shadow remains in the underworld to continue existing.

He found this in the Greenwood Library years ago, among three popular science books.

McFee once told him on the hillside: "The stronger you are, the longer and darker the shadow you cast behind the curtain."

He wanted to find more corroborating evidence.

The ancient books section is located on the basement level on the west side of the museum, and the lighting is never sufficient.

Richard found a stack of palm leaves at the very back of the seventh shelf.

The label reads: "Spice Islands, origin unknown, entered Tibet in 1893."

Below that, in even smaller print, is the word: "Undeciphered".

The palm leaves were strung together with hemp rope, and the edges were already brittle.

The symbols above have been treated with charcoal black by the person who collected them, but they are still legible.

Richard spread the palm leaves on the reading table and, as usual, laid out the still water.

There was no ether on the leaf surface.

This thing was taken from someone else's temple, soaked in moisture on a ship, and lay in a warehouse for twenty-two years. It was already spotless.

Then he started deciphering it, but he couldn't decipher anything on the first try.

This set of symbols did not match any of the reference tables he had.

The civilization of the Spice Islands had absolutely no connection to Greece, the Black Earth River, or Rome.

[Bowen] pulled up every document he had read, compared them one by one, and concluded that there was no data in the database.

Richard leaned against the reading table, looking at the stack of palm leaves.

This is the boundary of "extensive knowledge".

:

It was a huge library, and he could pick up any book he wanted.

But if a book has never been in the library, there's nothing you can do about it.

Richard picked up his pen and began using the clumsy method.

First, count the total number of symbols: nineteen.

Counting the frequency of occurrence: three of them appear very frequently, accounting for nearly half.

Looking at their positions: those three types never appear alone; they always follow behind the others.

Richard wrote down these three points, and then stopped.

Nineteen types, three of which are high-frequency, and they never appear alone.

This is not text.

High-frequency symbols in text are vowels and common words; they appear individually, and they have beginnings and endings.

This should be used for counting, right?

He wrote this down and then continued writing.

What number is being recorded?

He flipped through the entire stack of leaves and counted a total of twenty-nine leaves.

Richard's hand holding the pen stopped, and his [contemplation] was triggered: a complete lunar cycle, twenty-nine and a half days.

He put away the still water and leaned back in his chair.

[Knowledge] At this moment, the final step was taken.

The ever-expanding library in his mind suddenly seemed to grow forward a little on its own.

Oganwen took over first, explaining that the script was engraved on the edges and meant to be read by hand.

Because it gets dark early for eight months of the year in the highlands, people traveling at night can simply reach the boundary stone and touch it to know whose land they are standing on.

The text that is read by the hand is different from the text that is read by the eye.

This stack of palm leaves is also for reading by hand.

Richard picked up the leaf again, closed his eyes, and touched it from top to bottom with his fingertips.

The engravings vary in depth, with the three high-frequency symbols being the shallowest and the rest being the deepest.

The days are shallow, the events are profound.

:

He counted the deep ones that fell on the third day, the eleventh day, the eighteenth day, and the twenty-sixth day.

The four locations are spaced approximately seven to eight days apart.

New moon, half-moon, full moon, half-waning moon.

Richard opened his eyes; the scroll of palm leaves recorded the tide.

Fishermen in the Spice Islands need to observe the tides before going out to sea, and to observe the tides, they need to observe the moon.

They are illiterate, and they don't need to be.

All you need are symbols that you can feel by hand at night: what day it is, and whether you can go into the water.

He wrote this down, and then added half a line next to it:

"Similar to Ogwan, any medium that is read by hand must have edges, and its information must be countable."

He then extracted those three high-frequency symbols separately and rearranged them.

After arranging them, he discovered that the three symbols themselves represented the phases of the moon: one arc, two arcs, and a circle.

The engraver directly carved what he wanted to remember into its original form.

He pushed this floor out in less than ten minutes.

In the past, he would probably have sat in front of this stack of leaves for a long time and still might not have been able to push it out.

The panel lit up at that moment.

: