From the Ship of Fools to Earl of Wugang

Chapter 109 The Curse of the Soul-Seeking Conch

Neud shook his robes and calmly joked, "You almost lost a reasonably priced guard... I thought this was just a treasure hunt mission. This is a bit too 'hardcore'."

The two then walked to the window and their gaze fell on the three people chanting in the street.

"Moro, wait for the highest note in the next section."

The raven silently leaped up after loosening the curtain cord, its black wings sweeping over the chandelier before finally gripping the top of the window frame with its sharp claws.

The chanting in the street had reached its climax, and a string of wet, glittering syllables was squeezed out of the deacon's throat as the water in the fish tank overflowed its rim.

Just as the highest note was about to be reached, Moro suddenly opened his mouth.

The key syllables that should have appeared in the butler's wriggling mouth disappeared.

A short note came from the raven's beak, its timbre exactly the same as that of the Tide-Praying Deacon, but its direction was reversed.

The spirit that steals words cuts a small section from the middle of a high note and plays it in reverse.

The chanting on the street suddenly stopped abruptly, the remaining sound stuck between the teeth of the two people behind the deacon, and the surface of the fish tank water trembled and stopped.

Neud turned to Edmund: "Now."

Edmund, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately broke the wax seal on the top of an explosive alchemical bomb and threw the bomb out the window at the same time.

A cylindrical metal can landed between the three people, followed by a blinding white light and a loud crash into the office.

Edmund saw the shockwave rip open the cloaks of the three people on the street and shatter the windows of several shops across the street. Broken glass fell into the black water on the street, making a series of teeth-grinding sounds.

Shrapnel pierced through their bodies beneath their robes, but the three of them bent backward, almost merging into the surface of the black water, before straightening up again, supported by the black water.

Thick, black liquid oozed from the holes left by shrapnel in their bodies, and the black water at their feet then climbed up their robes, filling back the lost parts.

The white fish struggled violently, its pectoral fins growing human-shaped fingers that frantically scratched at the tank walls, the fingernails making a teeth-grinding, fine sound.

With the deerstalker hat atop Edmund's head, the three elements are quickly connected by a thin thread: the ankles that are always submerged in water, the black liquid flowing backward through the holes, and the water ripples that spread outward as the body returns to its original position.

"Their defense comes from the black water beneath their feet!" he shouted immediately. "We need to cut off contact or render the water ineffective."

The gold thread that held the entire building together made Julian's face turn pale, and wisps of smoke rose from the medal in his hand.

He was still shouting, his voice drowning out the echoes in the street.

"Stop! You must not go any further! Let the vessel that holds calamity be shattered!"

The medal suddenly lit up, and the fish tank exploded outwards the next second. The white fish landed on the stone slab, bounced twice, and then disappeared into the black water.

The gold threads inside the building dimmed simultaneously, and Julian braced his left hand against the window frame, his knuckles losing their color.

The three people on the street slowly raised their hands and took off their hoods.

Edmund saw that the deacon at the front still had a pale face, but water was dripping from his nostrils and ear canals.

The heads of the two people behind him sent a chill down his spine—each head bulged with a fleshy tentacle, several enormous tentacles spreading outwards. The inner sides of these tentacles were lined with serrated teeth, forming a constantly shrinking crown.

Nathaniel Lockwood, the leader, remained unmoved, while more tentacles emerged from the sleeves and trouser legs of the two cultists behind him.

The original humanoid torso quickly collapsed, and the limbs and head extended around the chest cavity into a radial structure resembling a starfish.

They take turns using their tentacles to support themselves on the ground, tumbling and rolling forward in the black water. Each roll covers several meters, heading straight for the main entrance of the old relief center.

Just as Edmund was about to throw another bomb, Neud stopped him.

The latter took out a perforated bone fragment from his sleeve, placed it to his lips, and gently blew on it.

Moro on the window frame suddenly spread its wings, and the warning calls of dozens of birds burst out of its throat at the same time.

The shrill cries of seagulls, the hoarse calls of ravens, the cooing of pigeons before their wings flutter, and several small bird calls that Edmund couldn't distinguish overlapped, like a net suddenly cast into the sky.

In just a moment, the sky outside the old relief center darkened.

Seagulls, ravens, pigeons, and flocks of small birds pressed down from different directions like dark clouds overhead. It seemed that the nearby birds had gathered at the call, folded their wings, and fearlessly swooped down towards the two rolling tentacles.

The beaks and claws might not be able to tear their skin, but they kept hitting the eye-like holes and tooth rings, and the two monsters were exhausted from waving their tentacles to drive away the flock of birds.

But Edmund saw that the deacon of the tides stood calmly in the black water outside the courtyard wall.

He took out a palm-sized gray-white conch shell from inside his robe, its surface covered with concave holes resembling ear canals.

The moment Edmund saw it clearly, old memories immediately surfaced from the depths of his mind.

The Soul-Seeking Conch is a ritual implement used by the Abyss Order to track down traitors, lost sacrifices, and escaped souls.

【Hydhira's Soul-Seeking Conch】

[Hydhira is the daughter of the ruler of the underwater city; she is the silent leader of the songs, the goddess of pearls and tears.]

Women who drown, commit suicide, are abandoned, die out of wedlock, or infants who die in childbirth can become members of His retinue. South of the western continent, they are called "Lusaka Water Spirits," and north of it, "Shenko's Sea Maidens."

They often comb their hair with golden combs, join the goddess's grand chorus when the "Song of Pearl" is played, and may transform into the shape of a conch shell after their death.

[Offer the object related to your goal, then recite your true name. The final song from the conch shell will follow the path of the soul indicated by that name.]

Edmund remembered hearing in the cult that using this thing to kill someone almost never failed.

The cult has really gone all out this time.

The hairs on the back of his head stood on end as he pushed the glass screen to its limit.

A crystal-clear protective layer then spread from his chest to his head and arms, making him feel as if he were surrounded by dozens of invisible pieces of glass.

At the same time, he gripped the "Eagle in the Wind" with trembling hands from excitement and fear, and fired several shots at the damned cultist.

The first shot pierced the deacon's right shoulder, the second shot entered through his sternum, and the third shot tore open his left cheek.

The gust of wind attached to the bullet exploded in the wound, tearing off several pieces of grayish-white skin, and black liquid flowed down the robe to the feet.

The deacon leaned back repeatedly, but never put down the conch shell.

The headwind from the third shot slammed back against Edmund's wrist along the gun handle, shattering two layers of the glass veil around his arm.

The simulated bone fracture pain was exempted, but the real tremor and numbness still made my fingers stiff for a moment.

The deacon had already bitten open the seal of a glass tube and slowly poured the heavy, black liquid inside onto the Soul-Seeking Conch.

One by one, the holes on the shell surface opened up, and the deacon raised his face, which had been torn apart by bullets.

Those eyes looked past Lane Hall and met Edmund's gaze, peering into the soul hidden within.

He pronounced in a clear voice: "Edmund Lockman."

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