Chapter 179

Chapter 179: Have Some Self-Awareness

Duncan recalled what he had read in books.

The God of Wisdom Rahm, one of the Four Gods who sheltered the world in the Deep Sea era. Like the Storm Goddess and the Lord of Death, this deity also wielded two mutually conflicting Divine Authorities—He was the Giver of Wisdom, and also bore the holy title “God of Folly” or “Gospel of Foolishness”.

There were not many believers who followed this deity. They usually needed to pass very harsh examinations to gain the right to convert. But once they successfully devoted themselves to this deity, the believers would receive two kinds of blessings at the same time.

The first was wisdom. It could let mortals perceive the truth, grasp knowledge, more easily understand the workings of all things, and sense truths that might interfere with their own fate.

The second was dullness. It could raise a barrier called “ignorance”, keeping one away from truths that came too early, and away from the corruption and temptation of Subspace—in this world ringed with danger, the dull were truly blessed.

It was obvious what meaning these two blessings from Rahm had in the Deep Sea era, a time full of Anomalies and Visions, when madness reigned beneath the Deep Sea and clouds shrouded the surface. The believers of the God of Wisdom might be few, but each one was the elite of civilization.

From upstairs came the sounds of Nina busy in the kitchen. Outside the door, the noise of carriages and horses in the street was growing sparse. Amid these everyday sounds, the first floor of the antique shop felt especially quiet and comfortable.

Duncan sat behind the counter, his fingers interlaced on the countertop, and looked thoughtfully at old Mr. Morris.

The God of Wisdom’s blessing was a very good thing. But clearly, because of their professional habits and instinctive pursuit of knowledge, His believers faced even greater dangers in their daily lives.

Not even a god could withstand the output of such a total-party-kill engine—if this old gentleman of history were placed in some other story, the tentacles growing from his body by now would probably already be a foot long.

By now, Duncan already understood what was going on. He had some sense of his own uniqueness, but he was more curious at the moment: “Can all believers of the God of Wisdom see through me the way you do?”

“I’m afraid only the most outstanding ones, those most favored by the God of Wisdom, can…” Morris rubbed his head. To him, Duncan’s voice was still mixed with some sharp noise, but at least most of it now was sound a human could understand. “You might find this a bit ironic… but most of Rahm’s believers actually don’t even have the… qualification to have their minds taken by you.”

“Oh, so you are especially blessed,” Duncan muttered with a somewhat odd expression, especially when he said the words “divine blessing”. No matter how he thought about it, it sounded awkward. “The ‘divine blessings’ in this place of yours are really fatal… Wait, then why were you fine the last time you came?”

Morris was a bit surprised. He did not know whether Duncan truly did not know, or was maliciously playing the part of an ignorant mortal. But in the current situation, he did not dare let his thoughts wander. He could only force himself to rein them in while he answered: “Even Rahm believers who bear a divine blessing do not keep the Eye of Truth open at all times. The last time I came, I did not use any divine gift, but this time…”

The old gent gave a bitter smile and raised his hand to point at his own eye. The blessed monocle he had used earlier to enhance the ritual’s effect had already been removed, yet one of his eyeballs still glowed faintly with a whitish light. Between the sclera and the pupil, a ring of floating radiance could still be seen, easy to distinguish if one came closer.

Duncan was very curious: “…So you can’t end this effect now?”

“…I tried. It didn’t work,” Morris shook his head. “And even if I did manage to end it, it wouldn’t mean much. I have already seen… your appearance.”

“…I’m very sorry. I didn’t actually mean to,” Duncan felt rather guilty. “Will you be able to recover after you go back? Or will you need some special form of treatment?”

“I…” Morris opened his mouth, feeling extremely strange inside. In his earlier years he had imagined whether constantly studying history would lead him to form a connection with some eerie and dangerous existence. He had imagined what terrifying scene it would be to one day stand face to face with some being from the Abyssal Deep, from the Deep Sea, or from Subspace. But he had never thought the situation would look like this—

He really had met a maddening Subspace Shadow. This “Shadow” was very polite, even asking after his health and showing concern for a human who had been frightened half to death by “Him”.

But a being from Subspace… was His “concern” really the kind of “concern” a human could understand?

“I’m fine,” the old Mr. finally shook his head. “I’m already much better now. After you drew back your… presence, I think I should be all right.”

“That’s good then. It seems I will have to be more careful when I move around in the city-state in the future—there are still humans with eyes as sharp as yours among you. That’s a troublesome matter,” Duncan nodded, then asked curiously, “In that case, you didn’t just come to ‘take a look’ today, did you? Why did you open your Eye of Truth outside the antique shop? What were you looking for?”

Morris’s heart gave a heavy thump.

He met Duncan’s gaze and saw only an ordinary middle-aged face with a bit of curiosity and concern on it. Yet around that face, between the shelves behind him, those quivering, twisted things began to surface bit by bit again.

Only when the other’s voice suddenly rang out again did the distortions in Morris’s sight return to normal once more.

“You are hesitating. You have concerns. You don’t want to answer this question,” Duncan read the old Mister’s emotions from his eyes, and at the same time a vague answer surfaced in his heart. “Does it have to do with Miss Heidi?”

“How did you know…”

“Miss Heidi is a psychiatrist, and she also seems to be a believer of Rahm—though she doesn’t look as ‘senior’ as you,” Duncan answered calmly. “Now that I think about it, she seemed a bit strange when she left with Miss Vanna last time… If I then consider how you reacted to my question just now, it’s not hard to connect the dots.”

“…It is indeed as you say,” Morris sighed, knowing he could no longer hide it. “After Heidi went back, I discovered that a layer of the mind ward on her had been pierced. But at the time I only thought there was some dangerous object in this antique shop. I never imagined…”

He sighed again and looked at Duncan opposite him.

Duncan had already furrowed his brow.

[Heidi… That young psychiatrist had only given Nina a hypnosis session in the antique shop, and a layer of her mind ward had already been pierced?]

He had known nothing about this—Heidi herself seemed not to have noticed at the time either!

Morris looked uneasily at the middle-aged man across the counter. He saw that the other seemed lost in thought and did not dare to ask anything rashly. Taking advantage of this short silence, he worked hard to control his thoughts and repair his damaged mind, while at the same time sneaking a glance at the rune bead bracelet on his wrist.

There were still four colored beads left.

Rahm’s blessing was calm.

He finally let out a slight breath of relief. At that moment, Duncan also finally lifted his head from his thoughts.

“She probably doesn’t know anything about this, does she?”

“Yes, Heidi doesn’t know anything,” Morris answered at once. Only when it came to matters related to his daughter was his mind as clear as usual. “She didn’t even notice that her blessing had been damaged, and she certainly doesn’t know that I came here today…”

“Then I won’t disturb her. I’ll only offer my apologies to you,” Duncan said with great courtesy. “Let this cancel out the assistance I gave at the City Museum back then.”

He paused there, then thought of another question that made him very curious: “Then could you describe it to me in detail? Describe the scene you just saw—if it’s not too much trouble.”

For a moment, Morris did not react. Seeing this, Duncan explained: “I’m very curious what I look like in the eyes of different ‘observers’—a mirror can’t solve that problem.”

Duncan truly was curious about this. Understanding his “true form” in different people’s eyes might help him grasp his special powers and uncover the secrets of this body as soon as possible.

Morris hesitated. In his mind he again saw that inhuman horror he’d seen at the door of the antique shop just now, and even felt his hard-won calmness starting to shake. But under Duncan’s unblinking gaze, he finally swallowed and slowly spoke in a low voice:

“I… saw you as a giant filled with chaotic streams of light, your body draped in starlight, standing on a twisted, grotesque street. You were holding Nina—she was an arc-shaped stream of flame, erupting violently…”

At first, as he listened to the first half, Duncan only nodded slowly, thinking that this image did live up to his reputation on the Boundless Sea. But when he heard the second half, his eyes instantly widened and he almost choked on his own saliva: “Cough… cough, cough… What did you say? What is Nina in your eyes?!”

Morris jumped in fright but had no time to think it through: “A… an arc-shaped stream of flame, erupting violently… Is there some problem with that?”

Duncan: “…”