Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 178 The Woman Looking for the Painting

"Is it difficult to sell the pharmacist's potions?"

After receiving the reply from the pharmacist that he wanted to contact Greylint privately, Xio felt relieved that his goal had been achieved, and asked Tessa curiously.

Tessa said calmly, "Hmm... just a reverse birth control product. But package it and sell it to the nobles, and the profits are as high as mining."

Xio still couldn't understand the words Tessa had never heard before.

But before she could ask in detail, Tessa said, "Don't ask questions, kid."

child?
Xio wanted to retort, but from the word "children", Xio probably guessed that it was a medicine for adults.

With a slight blush on his face, Quinn stopped talking about the subject.

Hugh and Tessa returned to the Oak Leaf Bar. It was still daylight, but the atmosphere in the bar was already more lively than usual.

Xio immediately threw himself into his job as store manager. During his work, Xio gradually learned about the hot topic among the guests today, the list of members of the Air Pollution Investigation Committee.

Amidst the noisy discussions, one of the guests slammed his wooden wine glass on the table and said angrily:
"In fact, it's not just Hibbert Hall. Who on the list isn't aristocrat, factory owner, or businessman? Who among them would truly consider the lives of the likes of us? Smog control and energy reform are just excuses for them to fight for power and profit."

The guest's words silenced the discussions. Just now they were all talking about the environment and the shady dealings in Hibbert Hall's rise to power, but in fact, as the guest said, who on the list was worthy of their trust?
"At least...at least if this committee can really play a role, it can give us back a clear blue sky. This is something that will benefit all of us." Someone muttered in the silence.

The guest, drunkenly, retorted:
"A clear blue sky? Foolish! If the factory you're working in were to shut down tomorrow, I'd like to see if you can live to see the day the sky becomes clear blue."

"You guys over there! Are you still laughing? Doesn't it have anything to do with you? Winter is coming soon. Don't let it happen when you can't even light the fireplace and you're freezing to death. How can you still laugh?"

Someone's face turned red after being sprayed by this person, but he couldn't speak for a long time.

Some people wanted to say that the committee, the kingdom's ministers, the nobles and the king would consider such matters, but when they thought about the fact that everyone on the committee list would not worry about tomorrow's panel, nor would they worry about the severe cold of winter, they all fell silent.

For a moment, the only sound in the Oak Leaf Bar was the sound of people drinking, and no one was talking or discussing anymore.

Tessa asked Hugh to monitor the guests' emotions and behavior so that they would not cause any damage or vandalism in the heat of the moment.

Xiu, who had experienced both a life of luxury as an aristocrat and a life of poverty, understood the resentment and confusion in the hearts of these guests, but her simple mind could not think of any way to change the status quo.

You can't use the triangular spike to pierce everyone on the list of the Physics Education Committee...

All Xio could do at this moment was to use the manager's authority to refill a glass of cheap beer for all the guests present. This way, the guests who were reluctant to spill the beer would restrain their emotions and not do anything extreme in the bar.

"If... if all the committee members were as fair as our 'arbitrator'." Someone among the guests who received free refills spoke well of Xio.

And more guests who received refills gradually emerged from the depressed atmosphere. After all, troubles are common, but free refills of beer are not common.

Worrying about things that have not yet happened and that the big guys are considering is a waste of the few happy moments you have.

The original guest, upon seeing this, had a gloomy expression and stopped talking loudly. However, when Xio was about to refill his glass, Xio stopped him and asked, "Ms. Arbitrator, do you think the establishment of the Air Pollution Investigation Committee is reasonable?"

Xio was stunned. She rarely considered complicated matters. Even when it came to arbitration, she made decisions based on a simple sense of fairness.

But looking at the guest, Xio pondered for a moment before replying, "Environmental improvement is always something worth affirming. Of course, while improving the living environment, we should also consider the workers' employment conditions and find a balance. At the very least, we shouldn't blindly implement new policies just because of public opinion."

These words obviously did not move the guest, and he sat back in his seat with his beer glass in disappointment.

Sensing this man's dejected mental state, Xio inexplicably thought of how she once had nothing to do but had food and clothing provided for her, and how she had tried her best but still couldn't find a job that could feed her mother and brother.

Hugh couldn't help but add, "But no matter what, those who strive to live shouldn't have no choice but to die...whether it's death from circumstances or death from poverty."

After saying that, Xio didn't even bother to look at the man's expression and continued to refill the other guests' glasses. After finishing these things, she returned to the bar.

Meanwhile, Tessa behind the bar was gazing at her with great interest, which made Xio feel uneasy. Tessa turned and left, leaving behind only one sentence: "You're not a simple-minded person either."

……

"Don't get too close to the deepest room here!"

Virginie Wright, a middle-aged senior maid, has been reminding herself of this every day since the lady she served was sent to the deepest room by her master.

However, after another maid disappeared, the task of delivering meals to the deepest room finally fell on her.

She thought about resigning from her master's house. The laws of Loen did not recognize the existence of slaves, so she naturally had the right to resign. However, if she lost this job that paid 5 soli a week, she would lose the right to live.

"Virginie, bring the plates and send them inside!" a stern butler shouted impatiently.

The butler's attitude was so tyrannical, but he stood at the very edge of the corridor, not daring to even step on the edge, as if this corridor was stained with something unclean, as if a demon that frightened him was trapped deep within it...

The scolded Virginie had witnessed the butler's appearance more than once, and sometimes she couldn't help thinking that the butler's pretended viciousness was funny, like a clown.

But it wasn't her who was scolded for delivering the food at that time.

And now, it was her turn to be scolded for delivering food.

At this moment, she truly understood the feelings of the maids who were being scolded and whose legs were trembling with fear - they were not afraid of the butler who was also filled with fear, but they were afraid of the former mistress who was being watched in the room deep in the corridor!

Carrying the dinner tray, Virginie walked into the corridor, walked to the door of the room, knocked on the door tremblingly, and said, "Madam, it's time to eat."

Over the years, she had pushed the dining cart many times for the lady who had maintained her beautiful and youthful appearance, but this was her first time since the lady, who had aged overnight, was sent to this dark room by the host.

But the maids who kept disappearing made Virginie think about more terrifying things...

Enduring the tingling scalp, Virginie knocked on the door again, but there was still no movement from inside.

At such times, in order to prevent accidents from happening to the hostess in the room, she, as a maid, has the obligation to open the door and check.

Virginie didn't want to push the door open, but decades of training in standardized behavior forced her to push open the door in front of her, and a fishy smell hit her in the face!

A long-haired monster with its limbs chained together suddenly rushed towards Virginie!
"Ah! Ah-"

Virginie couldn't help screaming, and she smashed the plate in her hand at the long-haired monster. In the mess, she wanted to escape from here, but she was so frightened that she couldn't even control her legs.

Only the arms could be waved around randomly.

Kneeling on the wet ground, Virginie screamed wildly for a while before she realized that she was still alive. The long-haired monster that was hit by the dinner plate was curled up in front of her, trembling.

Is this thing afraid of me?

Virginie regained her senses at this time. She glanced at the body features of the long-haired monster outside the naked clothes, and suddenly found that this long-haired monster was the beautiful mistress she once served.

That old appearance was even older and uglier than when the mutation happened some time ago!

To the point of not looking like an adult!
"This monster is afraid of me." Virginie suddenly felt confident, and her paralyzed legs regained some feeling.

"Why is this monster afraid of me?"

Virginie was confused, but no matter what, she planned to leave this strange place first.

But just as Virginie was about to stand up, she was suddenly pulled by some force, and her legs and feet were off the ground.

Virginie turned her head suddenly and saw a tall woman behind her!

Countless illusory ghosts linger around the woman!
One of the slender arms stretched out from a ghost and pulled her body up!
The tall woman smiled over her at the shivering long-haired monster in the room.

The long-haired monster curled up even tighter!

The long-haired monster isn't afraid of me, but of this tall woman!

As soon as this thought arose in Virginie's mind, she was thrown straight into the door by a ghostly, slender arm.

Thrown next to the long-haired monster.

"All the women who have used the portrait have died of old age... It's rare to find someone like you who is still alive." The tall woman's voice was filled with relief as she spoke to the old, ugly, long-haired monster.

Virginie felt that the tall woman's tone was very wrong. After recovering some strength from the shock, she got up from the ground and tried to escape.

But the tall woman simply said to the long-haired monster, "Are you hungry? Eat. You're welcome."

The curled up long-haired monster suddenly moved like a rabbit at this moment!

Virginie's legs were pulled back as she tried to run out of the room.

A fishy smell filled the room.

Amidst the stench, the tall woman watched the long-haired monster eat without a care in the world. She simply said, "Beth is dead, but after she died, I couldn't find the 'Oil Painting of Life'. That was my treasure..."

The tall woman leaned over, reached out and stroked the old monster's hair, her voice soft, "Since you've used the 'Life Oil Painting' before, can you help me find who took her away?"

"Find her, and you'll have more and more blood food."

……

The velvety crimson moonlight is as gentle as water.

A beautiful woman, wearing only a revealing and ragged dress, was wandering on the street corner late at night, as if looking for something.

But she seemed extremely tired and had some mental problems.

She lay on the cold, dirty ground, gazing at the starry sky. The vast starry sky, brilliant and soft, seemed so... as if it were within reach.

"I'm so hungry." She murmured.

"Miss, do you need help?"

At this moment, someone suddenly blocked her gaze of gazing at the starry sky and started chatting with her.

It was a man covered in a cloak.

The woman felt very uncomfortable.

She tucked her exposed arms into her ragged clothes.

"Do you like the starry sky, too?" The man under the cloak seemed to notice the woman's fear. He stood up straight like a gentleman, moving away from the woman's view of the starry sky, and said gently, "I like it too. Every shining star in the sky seems to be attracting us to become one with them."

In the crimson moonlight, the man's pale face beneath his hood revealed an intoxicated expression.

The woman said nothing, just stared blankly at the night sky.

"Have you heard that as long as you pray to the starry sky, you can gain extraordinary power." The man suddenly changed the subject.

"I've heard... I've heard it can give you eternal youthful looks..."

The woman responded rarely, but her vocal cords seemed rusty, as if she hadn't spoken in a long time.

But the woman's response made the man quite excited.

It's like the excitement of unexpectedly finding someone of the same kind.

A blush appeared on the man's pale face under his hood.

Seeing this, the woman seemed to shrink her neck involuntarily, but she remained silent and had no intention of calling out to others.

The man's face flushed more and more. "Miss, I guess something bad must have happened to you just now... That's why you're lying in this dark corner like this, lifeless and boring."

"But, based on what you just said, you are indeed the same as me, someone who pursues mystical sensations and is chosen by the stars."

"When did you realize that you were unusual?"

The man seemed to be talking non-stop out of excitement.

He continued nervously, "I received the inspiration during the Backlund serial murders. That senior ate the women's entrails, and I sensed it. This is the inspiration of the mysterious ritual."

“I’ve always wanted to do the same thing.”

"But I am a coward and dare not do it."

"I'm desperate to respond to this call, but I'm too scared to take action against anyone... Do you understand? This feeling."

The man pulled out a sharp dagger from under his cloak, and the dagger reflected the woman's young and beautiful face.

"Now, let me eat you." The man raised the dagger, intending to plunge it into the woman's abdomen. "I will use your flesh and blood to open the door to my mysterious power. Anyway, you've just been violated, so you don't want to live anymore, right?"

The man became more and more excited as he spoke, his cloak blowing away in the night wind: "Then let us become one!"

But before the dagger pierced the woman's abdomen, his bent body was pierced by the woman's arm, and his blood flowed and dripped into the woman's mouth.

She murmured, "Let us become one."

(End of this chapter)