booktalesy Chapter 4160 Officiant
Chapter 4160 Officiant
Chapter 4160 Officiant
The word "Waiting" hovered on the crystal ball for a moment before disappearing into the dark purple mist along with the cat's face, eventually turning into a wisp of smoke and dissipating in the candlelight.
The human trafficker remained kneeling on the spot, frozen in the kowtow position for a long time.
The flickering light of the burning copper candle on his face reflected the hesitation in his eyes.
The fear brought by the word "misfortune" had not yet faded, and now the vague feeling of "waiting" was making me uneasy.
He slowly straightened up, his gaze sweeping over the motionless wine glass on the bed. As if he had seen something too hot to handle, he subconsciously moved his knees back until he was three steps away from the bed before stopping.
They dared not get any closer, yet were reluctant to leave.
He stood there in the shadows, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing his cuffs, his gaze fixed on the white rim of the wine glass, as if waiting for an answer that might come at any time.
The only sound in the dark room was the crackling of the flickering candlelight, which stretched his shadow long and thin, like a string that might snap at any moment.
……
In the heart space, the people in front of the light screen also fell silent.
“Misfortune…” Luigi stroked his chin, his eyes filled with thought: “What did he ask that the answer would be ‘misfortune’?”
The water clone narrowed its eyes: "The most relevant misfortune to the wine glass right now is definitely related to the world's will rejecting it. I suspect this unscrupulous dealer is asking—"
Is there anything unusual or dangerous about the wine glass?
Then, the crystal ball gave the answer: misfortune.
The water clone theory wasn't just a random guess, because this unscrupulous dealer actually acted with great restraint and caution throughout.
Since the homeless man brought the wine glass, he hadn't touched it even once, and when it came to identifying the tribe, he used a magnifying glass to examine it from beginning to end.
This cautious attitude makes it perfectly reasonable and self-consistent for him to inquire about the risks associated with the wine glass when asking the "unknown cat face" for advice.
After a moment's thought, Luigi nodded in deep agreement.
The fact that even the unscrupulous dealers dare not approach the wine glasses these days shows their "fear" of them.
The only clue that could cause him to be "afraid" is the answer the cat-face gave in the crystal ball: misfortune.
"That's good too," said the water clone. "At least the wine glasses shouldn't suffer any more unnecessary damage."
“That’s true, but even though this unscrupulous merchant is afraid of bad luck, he has no intention of letting go of the wine glass…” Luigi said.
The unscrupulous dealer looked at the wine glass with a hint of fear in his eyes, but he stubbornly refused to leave, his expression still overflowing with greed.
This shows that he may care more about benefits than misfortune, and where do these benefits come from? Most likely, it comes down to the answer to the third question: waiting.
“Waiting must correspond to ‘opportune moment’,” Angel said in a deep voice. “For someone like him, being able to suppress his fear of misfortune and stay here must mean he is waiting for the most suitable time to sell.”
Therefore, Ingres guessed that the third question was about the timing of the sale of the wine glasses.
Shui Avatar pondered for a moment and felt that this guess made sense: "If it really is the right time, then his staying here to wait means... someone will come and buy the wine glass soon?"
Angell shrugged.
No one can answer this question right now.
Because the time frame for just one word, "wait," is too broad.
“Actually, whatever we’re waiting for,” Luigi said, “it’s at least a chance for the wine glass to catch its breath.”
At least for now, she is safe.
"I'm more interested in the cat's face in the crystal ball than guessing when we'll be waiting." Luigi stroked his chin. "It can even utter the word 'misfortune,' it seems extraordinary. Could it be some kind of god like the Blood God or the God of Chaos?"
After all, the being closest to the will of the world is "God".
Neither Angell nor his water clone responded, because Luigi's question, too, had no answer for the time being.
About half an hour later, the live stream feed changed again.
The men who had been sent to intercept the homeless man have returned.
When the unscrupulous merchant caught a glimpse of the other party changing into clean clothes, he immediately knew what was going on.
Sure enough, the subordinate stepped forward, first making a slash across his neck with a knife, then pointing to the sky and waving his hand, and finally making a "finished" gesture.
Although he couldn't hear him, Angell could roughly guess what he meant by his expression and lip movements—the homeless man had been "dealt with," his background had been investigated, and he wouldn't cause any trouble.
The human traffickers finally breathed a deep sigh of relief.
For people like them, the biggest taboo is touching people they shouldn't touch, so cleaning up the mess and avoiding trouble is a must.
He turned to look at the wine glass on the bed. Only after resolving these trivial matters could this "rare ethnic group" truly fall into his hands.
"Push her into the cage," the trafficker ordered his men. "Remember, don't touch her the whole time; she carries bad luck."
Angell confirmed his guess again from lip reading: the second question he asked the cat-face was indeed about the risk associated with the wine glass.
But what does he mean by "cage room"?
A moment later, Angell received the answer.
The so-called "cage room" is actually a huge room that resembles a factory.
Upon entering the room, the first thing that catches the eye is the huge, semi-transparent birdcage phantom in the center: pale white light intertwines and overlaps in mid-air, eventually condensing into a glowing birdcage phantom.
Looking further down, you'll see the ground covered by the birdcage's phantom, with numerous strange patterns and ritual props that are clearly offerings.
Clearly, this "birdcage phantom" originates from some kind of ritual.
Angell had never seen this ritual before, but just by seeing the birdcage phantom, he could guess that it must be some kind of "restriction" ritual.
As for what the restrictions are?
A glance at the scene within the ritual area reveals the presence of slaves from dozens of different ethnic groups scattered throughout the ceremony. Some huddled at the edges of the patterns, while others attempted to walk out of the light cage. However, once their feet stepped outside the pattern's range, the pattern beneath their feet would glow red, and the birdcage's phantom would tremble, invisibly pushing them back into the ritual area.
The answer is obvious: this ritual was designed to prevent slaves from escaping the area.
The slaves were already used to this confinement, and most of them sat numbly in place, their eyes vacant as if covered with a layer of dust. Only a few obviously newcomers were still stubbornly inching towards the edge of the light cage, trying to find a crack.
But... it was all in vain.
Moreover, even if they could break through this cage of light, the dozens of guards at the four corners of the room were not just for show.
By this point, everyone had realized that the "cage" was clearly a prison cell specifically used to confine slaves!
The wine glass was pushed to the center of this "prison cell" by the trafficker's henchmen.
Her arrival aroused the curiosity of some slaves, after all... she was the only one who was brought in lying on a flat bed, her porcelain white cup standing out in the dim light, like a fragile piece of porcelain.
Some of the slaves' eyes flashed with hidden malice, their gazes lingering on the simple flat bed, as if they were plotting something.
Before they could act, they saw the guards shouting at them. Due to the angle, they couldn't read the guards' lips, but Angor guessed it was probably a threat.
After the threat was made, the surrounding slaves did indeed restrain themselves, withdrawing their gazes and only daring to secretly observe from a distance.
Time passes little by little.
At first, Angell thought this was just a temporary place to store slaves, until a figure resembling a mountain of flesh floated into the scene.
A very fat, middle-aged woman waving a gilded fan entered, accompanied by the eager merchants. Her eyes swept critically over the male slaves in the cage, and finally she pointed at a red-haired boy, tapped him with the handle of her fan, and said something.
The trafficker immediately bowed and scraped, signaling his men to take the boy away.
A moment later, the boy was brought out from the side room. He had obviously been given a quick wash; the mud on his face was gone, revealing a pale but handsome face. However, there was a heavy chain around his neck and wrists, the chain links dragging on the ground with a dull thud.
A middle-aged woman walked forward, waving a gilded fan, and grabbed the end of the chain like she was leading a pet, dragging him away from the cage.
Seeing this, everyone understood that the cages were not only for imprisoning slaves, but also for customers to choose from...
……
for the next two hours.
More than a dozen guests came and went from the cage room, and almost everyone's eyes were drawn to the wine glass on the flat bed as they swept over the birdcage. After all, the appearance of the "human body on the glass" was too peculiar, and many of them stopped to ask the vendors about the price.
In the end, no one chose a wine glass.
The reason is that the traffickers subtly mentioned that the wine glass might carry "risks." Although they didn't say "misfortune," this unknown risk still made people keep their distance.
"Why does it feel like he's become more conscientious? He's even reminding customers of the risks!" Luigi murmured to himself.
"Isn't the reason obvious?" the water clone said quietly, "The guests who come to the cage room are all dressed in clothes that indicate they are either rich or noble..."
In the distorted ecology of the Yi world, those who can rise to the "wealthy" class must have come into contact with extraordinary powers.
If they buy the wine glass and encounter risks because of its "misfortune," given these people's methods, it's only a matter of time before they trace the clues back to the human traffickers.
Therefore, when human traffickers inform others of the risks in advance, it's not out of conscience, but out of self-preservation.
While they were discussing in hushed tones, another customer appeared in the black market.
When they saw who it was, Angel and the others froze, Luigi even jumping up from the sofa, pointing at the visitor in the picture, his face full of shock:
"It's...it's him?!"
They had seen this person before, and they knew him very well!
It was the same old man in red that Coleman and his group had met on the Narwal Bus, and the same priest from the Deity sect who ultimately sacrificed them to the "Chocolate Factory"!
It should be noted that when the group of people, including Jiubei, first entered Yungang City, they planned to visit the original sacrificial site, try to find him, and hang around in front of the high priest to see if they could attract his attention.
However, after encountering Kaeya, the plan was interrupted by a series of unexpected events and ultimately came to nothing.
Who would have thought that after all this time, the wine glass, still unconscious, would encounter its "original target"!
At this moment, the chief priest of the Deity Sect was not wearing his signature red robe, but instead wore a tailored swallowtail suit. He held a wide-brimmed hat to his chest, looking more like a respectable noble butler. His silver hair was neatly combed, and even his sideburns exuded a sense of seriousness.
As soon as he stepped into the cage, the slave trader immediately greeted him with a smile, bowing and scraping as he began to introduce the slaves inside...
And the moment the priest's gaze swept across the center of the birdcage and landed on the wine glass—
Angell and the others held their breath in unison, silently praying: Choose her! Choose the wine glass!
The core objective for the group, including Wine Glass, entering the window instance is always to enter the secret area: the Chocolate Factory.
The only way to enter the chocolate factory is to be chosen by members of the Shintoist faction and sacrificed as a offering.
They chose to go to the vampire town because they suspected there might be members of the Divine Order there... Now, the real high-ranking members of the Divine Order are standing in the cage, just a few steps away from the unconscious Wine Glass.
Everyone was naturally hoping that the wine glass would be chosen!
At this moment, Angel and the others were watching with almost their breath held. Laplace's own body, knowing the current scene was crucial, even began to add voiceovers. —Of course, the parts that involved lip reading were dubbed, while the parts that didn't involve lip reading remained silent.
The live stream continues.
When the priestess of the Fellowship of God glanced at the wine glass, she only lingered for a moment before casually looking away, as if that brief pause was merely a subconscious glance she cast at her as she was placed in the center of the birdcage.
The trafficker seemed to be very familiar with the priest of the Fellowship of God, and when he saw that the priest did not linger on the wine glass, a hint of disappointment appeared in his eyes.
However, he quickly composed himself, put on a fawning smile again, and began to introduce the slaves in the birdcage with a bow and scrape.
He introduced only those rare ethnic groups with unusual features, completely ignoring the handsome men and beautiful women.
This familiar demeanor undoubtedly confirmed the guesses of Angell and others: he was acquainted with the priest of the Deity faction and knew better what the other party wanted.
“This is a ‘Stardust Winged Person.’ Look at the gold dust on its wings; it’s natural altar paint…”
"This is a Grey who has awakened the power of shadow, able to move freely in the shadows, making him perfect for guarding the altar..."
The human traffickers introduced themselves one by one.
The high priest did not make many comments, but simply looked down at these rare groups.
A moment later, the human trafficker brought the priest to the wine cup.
Although the priest had not shown any interest in the wine cups before, it did not affect his introduction.
"This is a rare breed, but what's really special is that we couldn't find it in the 'Rare Breed Encyclopedia'... We finally had to ask its great owner to confirm its rarity..."
The human trafficker went on and on, all boasting about how rare the item was.
However, in the end he still put it into practice.
"...Although the cat owner judges her to be very rare, I need to warn that there are some unseen risks associated with her."
(End of this chapter)