Chapter 134: Visiting Old Wil
Previously, Lin Jie had told Joseph that he didn’t have Wilde's address.
This was actually a lie.
However, protecting the privacy of customers was a virtue of any business. Although he simply studied folklore, opening a bookstore meant that there was a set of principles to follow.
After Claude had left, Lin Jie took out the registry and began to look for Wilde’s address and contact information.
Although the registry wasn’t too thick, Wilde usually held onto books for a long time before returning them. Lin Jie only remembered jotting down some related information in the registry when Wilde first borrowed a book, but that was only a vague memory and he couldn't remember what the contents were. Thus, he had to flip through the pages again.
Lin Jie finally found the phone number and address Wilde had written down from two years ago when he flipped all the way till the first page.
“387th Avenue ...That’s close to the Lower District. Old Wil lives so far away, getting here must be hard for him." Lin Jie sighed.
Such a distance would take three to four hours even by car. Even so, Old Wil still came all the way here just to check out books. This only made Lin Jie more worried about this old empty nester.
When a mind doesn’t have much to hope for, one might be more susceptible to being tricked by others.
Lin Jie decided in the end that he wasn’t going to call Wilde, as he still didn’t know Wilde’s association with this “Blood Feast.” He could be alerting Wilde for no reason if he called out of the blue.
He would pay a visit and examine Old Wil's state before deciding what to do.
There wouldn’t be much of an issue if Old Wil was still sensible. But if Old Wil wasn't home by chance, Lin Jie decided that he would wait a few days and see if there’s any clues that he had aided this criminal organization.
With Mu’en now watching over the store, Lin Jie had the luxury of traveling further away for a longer time now.
If Old Wil had really gotten brainwashed into becoming a member of a criminal organization, then Lin Jie would do whatever it took to brainwash him back.
Of course, Lin Jie had also considered the possibility that going over like this could be dangerous, but he was certain that Old Wil would look for him first if he was feeling lost or had doubts.
Now, this had happened so abruptly and Lin Jie hadn't even gotten any news from him. Therefore, either Old Wil had a plan of his own and was in a stable situation, or he had no time to ask anyone for help and had already fallen into their clutches.
In any case, there were two potential scenarios. Either things would turn out alright without Lin Jie's help, or Lin Jie had to go no matter what.
While it might be a little dangerous, I ought to be capable of self-defense when facing ordinary folk now, according to Silver.
Lin Jie put down his pen and rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
That fruit from before...hmm...No idea how it changed my body. It does feel like I have gotten stronger than before, but nothing else feels different.
Swordsmanship is effective in actual combat. I'll get Mu'en to make me a violin case and I'll bring Candela's sacred sword along... Once I've mastered this swordsmanship, Silver will be able to tell me about the history of the Second Era. I'm really looking forward to it.
It's really all these unallocated aether that is an issue. I really need to craft a dream of my own, but the progress is just slow.
Dreaming is easy, but creating a crystal clear dream exactly the same as the way it is visualized... Now that’s a difficult task. I wonder if Silver gave me the hardest method on purpose.
Unknowingly, Lin Jie had begun to sort the issues at hand. After being in deep thought for a long while, he realized that it was already pretty late. With a sigh, he shook his head and went upstairs to sleep.
On this night, he met Silver in the dream again.
The darkness came as usual, followed by fluttering snowflakes.
Over the next few nights, Lin Jie continued to learn swordsmanship and dream crafting from Silver.
After telling Silver of his troubles and doubts, she simply responded that she didn't know how humans sensed and used aether. Instead, she taught Lin Jie her own method, firmly believing that Lin Jie would be able to do so.
Lin Jie would often think that Silver was the most irresponsible teacher he had ever seen.
He also found out that Silver wasn't human, but Silver didn't say what she was.
Of course, Lin Jie maintained his respect towards Silver throughout all of this. After all, he was already in Silver’s dreams and fighting with monsters. Monsters that were all controlled by her.
If Silver got upset, Lin Jie would wake up the next day with a sore body.
Silver used the fact that whatever happens in a dream would partially mirror reality as a means of motivating Lin Jie, and couldn't understand why Lin Jie felt that this was odd.
However, Lin Jie was finally able to construct his first prototype dream using this method.
Some nights were extremely tiresome, and other nights even more so. Thus, Lin Jie decided to rest quite a bit during the day, which made him appear as if he were a lazy bum that slept all the time.
This went on till Mu’en finished making a suitably-sized violin case to hold the sacred sword.
Lin Jie instructed Mu’en to watch the shop and taught her the process of helping customers check out books before finally embarking on the journey to save Old Wil.
It was moments after Lin Jie stepped out. Turning to the side, he noticed some vines growing up on the wall and forming words in a dark alley nearby.
"This way."
Indeed, the green vines formed an arrow that pointed towards the alley.
“Blackie?”
Lin Jie immediately understood that Blackie had come to help once again.
“It does seem like Blackie has been appearing a lot more lately and has become very willing to help.”
He figured that he must’ve done something to please Blackie recently.
Lin Jie hadn’t promoted his own books recently, but had properly guided Hood’s youthful chunnibyou gang off a stray path into a proper one.
In addition, Father Vincent, who had been drowning in addiction, had found renewed hope and now sought out the truth thanks to his motivation.
Seems like Blackie approves of my ways and wants me to continue,Lin Jie thought to himself as he walked into the alley.
His surroundings turned pitch black instantly. But in the next two steps, the darkness melted away and the door of what seemed like a small mansion appeared just in front of him.
Lin Jie raised an eyebrow. It seemed that Blackie’s power had a similar sensation to the time when he had first transmigrated to this world.
Regardless, he decided he would check up on Old Wil’s situation first.
Reaching out his hand, he knocked on the door.
Wilde had just begun to perform a new round of sacrificial rituals with fresh blood and the dismembered limbs of dream beasts. And at the center of all of it was the grossly mutated body of Heris.
Knock knock.
Wilde’s face paled at once. He hadn’t noticed any shift in the aether. How could someone have mysteriously appeared at his front door out of nowhere?!
He waved his hand, and the scene outside his door appeared in midair before him.
A young man with a gentle smile, holding a case materialized out of thin air, then knocked on the front door.
"Boss Lin?! Why has he come? Could it be because of my secret plans?"
Wilde momentarily dumbfounded. He then remembered his hands were still covered with blood and the house seemed a little too cramped... and ill-fitting for this visit.
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