He scurried over in two steps, taking the bottle with both hands. He held it up to his eyes, turning it to check the liquid level, then brought it to his nose for a sniff.
“Good stuff, good stuff.”
He repeated the words twice.
Having said his piece, he wasn't in a hurry to leave anymore. He found a stool nearby, climbed up, and settled in. His short legs dangled as he carefully uncorked the bottle and took a tiny sip.
Then, his entire body gave a shudder.
“Phew—”
He let out a long breath, his face filled with bliss.
“Bolen, you really are generous.”
He recorked the bottle and tucked the crystal juice into a small pouch at his waist with the care one would give a treasure.
Then his expression straightened, and his short legs stopped swinging.
“Alright, what did you want to ask?”
Bolen also dropped his previous dismissive attitude.
His fingers tapped against the head of his cane. When he spoke, his tone was level, but the question carried significant weight.
“In the events occurring within the Bronze City, is the dwarf race involved?”
Grimm smacked his lips.
He looked at Bolen, then glanced at Lu Yuan.
He didn't try to hide anything.
“We are.”
It was a direct answer.
“The Empire funded us to have our dwarf craftsmen construct many of the inscriptions used for sealing within your Polymath Tower. There were other similar measures as well.”
When he mentioned the Polymath Tower, there was a hint of disapproval in his tone.
“As for what's sealed inside, to be honest, I don't know. But it's probably not hard to guess.”
He threw up his hands.
“By the way, speaking of your city...” Grimm's tone returned to its usual chatty mode.
“What on earth is going on in the Bronze City? I nearly got lost on my way here. The transcendent aura of the entire city is so turbulent it rivals Evernight City in the south.”
He pointed out the window.
“All those copper walls, all those inscriptions—are they all just for show?”
No one answered.
Grimm didn't mind. He patted the spot where the crystal juice was stored to make sure it hadn't fallen out.
“Oh, I'll give you one more piece of news.”
He looked at Bolen.
“It's not just the Polymath Tower. I heard the people from the Ascension Society also managed to hire a few dwarves.”
He held up a finger.
“But as for what they're doing specifically, I have no idea.”
The room fell silent for a moment.
“Anything else? If not, I'm leaving.”
Grimm hopped down from the stool and brushed the dust off his clothes.
Lu Yuan spoke up then.
“Wait a moment.”
He walked to the table and took something out of the toolbox.
It was a ghoul brain core.
Eerie inscription symbols were carved onto its dark red surface, and a faint aura drifted between his fingers.
“Duo Hawke told me before that once I've learned a portion of the inscriptions, I could take some commissions.”
He handed the brain core over.
“I made this. See if it's usable.”
When Grimm saw the small object in Lu Yuan's hand emitting an eerie aura, the foot he had already stepped out with retracted.
He took the brain core and held it up to his eyes.
The dwarf's fingers were thick and short but remarkably nimble. He flipped it a few times, his fingertips tracing the engravings.
He brought his nose close to sniff it.
“Eerie Inscription?”
He glanced at Lu Yuan.
“A rare choice indeed.”
His finger paused at a corner of the engraving.
“The work is a bit crude, and the technique is garbage.”
He spoke without a hint of politeness.
“But the idea is good.”
Grimm tilted the brain core, inspecting it against the light from the window.
“Able to lock in the aura? Interesting.”
He suddenly looked up, staring at Lu Yuan.
“Can multiple units of this thing be connected?”
He had hit the nail on the head.
Lu Yuan's heart stirred at the words. He knew the talkative little old man in front of him truly knew his craft.
Without hesitation, he took three linked brain cores from the toolbox.
Dark red connecting lines were faintly visible between the three cores.
Grimm took them, inspecting them even more closely this time.
His fingers followed the three connection lines, and his nail lightly tapped the junction points.
Then he nodded.
But he immediately let out a sigh.
“Your idea is good. And if I'm not mistaken, the number of these things you can link should be around fifty. That's the limit of the material.”
“Furthermore, the eerie aura contained in this thing is far too much. Even with the sealing, some of it will inevitably leak out during use.”
He glanced at Lu Yuan.
“For low-rank humans, this thing is practically a tool for suicide.”
Lu Yuan remained silent.
Grimm turned it over a few more times.
“However... for hiding one's aura, I think it's a decent choice.”
As he said this, he pulled something from his robe.
It was a copper coin.
It was about the size of a thumb, with a hammer engraved on the front and a ring of extremely fine inscriptions on the back.
The copper was dull, carrying an ancient sense of weight.
“I'll buy these three brain cores with one dwarf copper coin. How about it?”
Grimm looked at Lu Yuan.
Bolen suddenly sat up straight nearby and glanced at Lu Yuan. The meaning in his eyes was clear.
Take it.
Seeing Bolen's reaction, Lu Yuan immediately nodded.
“No problem.”
Grimm chuckled and handed over the copper coin, simultaneously stuffing the three linked brain cores into his robe. His movements were so quick it was as if he feared Lu Yuan would change his mind.
“A nice little toy.”
He patted the bulge in his robe.
“By the way, let me give you a suggestion.”
Grimm looked at Lu Yuan, his tone becoming unusually serious.
“You might want to think about a larger scale. If you apply this concept to large-scale eerie inscriptions, you might be able to construct some unexpected effects.”
He didn't elaborate.
Then he turned to Kail, flashing a somewhat lecherous grin.
“Kail, remember to blow the flute once you've made your choice.”
With that, he pulled the door open and vanished in a flash.
The corridor was empty.
The duty Nightwatcher was leaning against the wall at the corner, holding a cup of cold tea, his expression normal.
He had seen nothing.
Lu Yuan closed the door.
Bolen looked in the direction the dwarf had left and sighed.
Silence lasted for several seconds.
“Lu Yuan.”
His voice was lowered.
“After the pipe network mission is finished, I might have to take Kail and leave this place.”
Lu Yuan was currently fiddling with the copper coin in his hand.
The copper was dull, and he could feel the raised hammer pattern with his thumb. When he flipped it over, the inscriptions on the back were so fine they were almost invisible to the naked eye.
At the edge of his vision, a line of greyish-white text quietly appeared.
【Target Detected: Dwarf Copper Coin (Ancient Relic)】
【An extremely precious and special currency of the dwarf race, said to have been passed down from ancient times, containing mysterious fluctuations.】
“You're leaving?”
Lu Yuan looked up upon hearing this.
“Yes.”
Bolen looked at him, his cane thumping once against the floor.
“I advise you to leave the Bronze City as soon as possible as well.”
“Because of what that dwarf just said?”
Lu Yuan's brow furrowed slightly.
“Yes.”
Bolen instinctively lowered his voice.
“Lu Yuan, there's something you don't know. The reason the dwarf race can cooperate with the Empire is that they possess the ability to seal eerie entities and pollution.”
“And their price is extremely high. The Empire rarely calls upon them.”
He paused.
“But whenever they appear, it's assumed there's a risk of eerie entities and pollution spreading on a large scale.”
As Bolen spoke, his expression became complex.
“If I weren't rank 3, that dwarf probably wouldn't have told me any of this.”
Lu Yuan felt a sense of clarity after hearing this.
The dwarf named Grimm indeed had the residual aura of the Sea of Knowledge on him. It was faint, but a Knowledge Seeker's perception wouldn't be mistaken.
That aura proved he was telling the truth. He had indeed entered the Polymath Tower and participated in the sealing work.
If the Polymath Tower hired dwarves for sealing inscriptions, and the Ascension Society had also hired dwarves...
That meant there might be more than one place beneath the entire Bronze City where things were going wrong.
“Alright.”
Lu Yuan nodded.
“I'll push the pipe network mission as much as possible. It's best to find out exactly what's down there. Once Kail has chosen his direction, you two should leave as soon as you can.”
Bolen looked at him.
He knew Lu Yuan wasn't planning on leaving with them.
But he also understood that this was just how the Nightwatchers were.
The old man didn't try to persuade him further.
“By the way.”
Bolen's tone suddenly relaxed, as if he were deliberately changing the subject.
“You don't know yet, do you? Why I told you to take that copper coin so quickly.”
Lu Yuan turned the copper coin over, waiting for him to continue.
“That copper coin represents the fact that your work has been recognized by the dwarf race.”
Bolen leaned back in his chair.
“That thing is a good item. If you encounter any danger, throwing it out can greatly distract the attention of eerie entities.”
“Of course, its true use is that it can be used to ask the dwarves to do one thing for you.”
“For example, learning a certain inscription, helping to craft something, or even seeking a certain level of protection.”
As Bolen spoke, his tone became a bit envious.
“I've only ever had one myself. But I already used it. You just started learning and you've already gotten one.”
Kail spoke up softly from the side.
“I'll get one too.”
Bolen smiled and didn't argue.
“Good. By the way, what are your directions?”
Bolen and Lu Yuan both leaned in.
Kail spread out the stone tablet he was holding.
A faint light drifted across the surface of the stone tablet.
There were only two symbols on it.
【Dark Inscription】
【Eerie Inscription】
When Bolen saw the first symbol, the expression on his face froze.
“Your directions are all like this?”
“Huh? Is there a problem?”
Kail looked completely innocent.
“But what is Dark Inscription?”
Bolen leaned back in his chair with a look of deep melancholy.
“In the entire Empire so far, there are only two rank 3 practitioners of Dark Inscription.”
He paused.
“And one of them is likely about to die.”
“It's that obscure?”
Lu Yuan also looked surprised.
The Empire was so vast, yet rank 3 practitioners of Dark Inscription could be counted on one hand?
“Yes.”
Bolen sighed.
“That thing isn't meant for humans to learn at all. It's far more dangerous than Eerie Inscription.”
His expression looked more like he was about to cry than smile.
“Then, Teacher, is this direction not powerful at all?”
Kail seemed a bit unwilling.
“It's powerful.”
Bolen glanced at him.
“Extremely powerful. Once you reach rank 3, no one will dare mess with you.”
He paused.
“We'll talk about it after you reach rank 3.”
His tone implied: live until then.
Rate on N.U.
