After Middendorffi drew the "ghost" on Chowmage's shoulder again, a number of the "collectors" got together to study it.
"It's a child, I think, but the face and figure are distorted." A colleague who specialised in voodoo and compulsion said, "I think it could be a baby spirit or a small ghost."
"A baby spirit?" Laura was puzzled, "Then is this Zhou mage somewhat competent, or is he just fooling around with the buff of a small ghost?"
"Let's wait for the Cloud Hidden Sect's side to answer. If he's a fake, then nine times out of ten, he's just cheating and making black money by the brat ..."
Middendorffi asked, "What's 'raising little ghosts'?"
"Southeast Asian baby voodoo, made from dead children. It's said to grant people's wishes if they're picked up and raised properly. But the bigger the wish, the bigger the price to pay." Laura explained briefly, "And many little ghosts come from the wrong place, practically the same as spiteful evil spirits, and will only bring the person who receives them to a miserable end."
Middendorffi nodded.
"If you put it that way, this family does seem to be a bit guilty of bad luck." Henry rubbed his chin, "First, the daughter dies, then the mistress goes mad, and then the ungrateful son brings a crook into the house for a spell. What does Bear's client care about this family? I'd cut it off at the speed of light!"
Middendorffi asked again, "'Cutting'?"
"It means cutting ties and not interacting, not to mention not lending money or helping out or anything." Henry said, "How about you just send her a message reminding her of that? There's no monster to catch on this job and no big money to make. If you remind her, one, it's kindness, and two, she might even give you some hard-earned money in appreciation for the nudge. It's also your bonus for reporting hypnotic perverts and cultists, so it's not too shabby."
Lupin does not have as much money as Henry, but Henry is also teaching Bear to take what he deserves; Lupin then does not care about this but looks to Laura: "You remember to send this brat to Cloud Hidden Sect as well, this is also considered to be a feature of the weekly mage."
"I already sent it, Lupin; I sent it right after Bear drew it. Bear's eyes are amazing when I look at the kid; I can only see a dark shadow at most, but Bear can see it as clearly as if he were real." Laura replied while also glancing at her mobile phone, then said in surprise, "My God, the Cloud Hidden Sect replied; it's the first time I've ever seen them reply so quickly!"
The crowd asked, "What did it say? Is the surname Zhou a liar?"
"They said it's just a cleaner from the Cloud Hidden Sect from a long time ago. He used to have unclean hands and was kicked out a long time ago." Laura looked at the message that had just been sent and blinked, "They also said that the Cloud Hidden Sect people would never raise ghosts and that they have a powerful disciple who happens to be down for training, and he'll go and take care of the one surnamed Zhou. They also asked us to help lure him to meet the surname, Zhou."
"Ah, this ..." The crowd could only look to Middendorffi and Eli; after all, they were the ones who brought back the news, and they could only help.
Middendorffi thought for a moment and popped out a sensible and unexpected remark.
"So, an introduction fee?"
Theoretically speaking, if Cloud Hidden Sect wanted Middendorffi to find Zhou mage, it would have to go through Sari, which was about the same as Middendorffi introducing a client to Cloud Hidden Sect, and charging a little bit of an intermediary fee wasn't wrong.
But the problem was that the Cloud Hidden Sect wasn't trying to sell anything, nor was it a social organisation worldwide. The fact that they received an intermediary fee from them was unbelievable.
Anyway, the "collector" made this strange request, and the counterpart of Cloud Hidden Sect probably also felt dumbfounded but still asked how much it would cost.
Laura asked Middendorffi, and Middendorffi replied "whatever". Thinking about it, Laura replied, [Whatever, it's just that this collaborator has such a customary process].
This expression is not like begging for money but just following the rules and procedures. The Cloud Hidden Sect side probably accepted this statement and said it was fine and they would bring it to the meeting with the disciples then.
So the next day, Middendorffi and Eli, plus Henry, who acted as a middleman for the "collector", met with the disciples of the Cloud Hidden Sect.
The meeting took place in a café.
Middendorffi and the others arrived on time, walked to the designated booth, and saw a man in his twenties already sitting there. Dark hair, dark eyes, black jacket, a pair of sunglasses with a yellowish tint, looking pretty cool. Henry's eyes flicked from side to side, and he realised that Eli, who was helping out with his long black ponytail, had more of a high-man vibe in comparison.
But Eli should have been originally more powerful than this disciple; it was customary to have more factions.
And this Cloud Hidden Sect disciple, after seeing Middendorffi and the others coming, stood up. Henry initially thought he would greet him, but in the end, he rushed at Middendorffi with a single mouthful, "What are you?"
At these words, Eli narrowed his eyes slightly and stuck directly in front of Middendorffi. On the other hand, Henry directly spoke, "This ... gentleman, we are all meeting for the first time. Even if you come from the Cloud Hidden Sect, you shouldn't be so rude."
The man said, "I am nothing but ..."
"And what are you?" Middendorffi, stopped at the end, raised his finger to the man's face, "What is this?"
"What?" The man subconsciously pushed at his frames, "You mean these sunglasses?"
"No." Middendorffi lowered his hand, "What's behind the sunglasses?"
What's behind the sunglasses? What else could it be, eyes! Henry was confused by the question. He didn't understand why this man from the Cloud Hidden Sect was so shady, much less what Middendorffi asked.
However, the man seemed to have understood Middendorffi's incoherent question and his brows furrowed slightly, ''You know? How do you know, no one outside of the Cloud Hidden Sect should have any way of knowing."
"It is here; I can see it." Middendorffi said, "What do you identify me as through this thing?"
The man looked severe and took his sunglasses off, his naked eyes taking a serious look around Middendorffi, "In the 'Eye of Truth', you look like a black hole in a human form."
Eli finally spoke up, "That's a shitload of 'real eyes'."
Henry was shocked; he hadn't expected a figure like Eli to speak foul language. Of the four people present, he was the only one who didn't know what the dialogue meant and was utterly hysterical.
But he was determined not to let Bear and the others get into a fight with the Cloud Hidden Sect, so he stiffly came out to be a peacemaker, "Everyone, we're not here to fight; we're here to settle the liars. Shall we sit down first?"
The three looked at him, and the sabre-rattling atmosphere finally subsided as they sat down.
Middendorffi naturally sat on one side with Eli, opposite the Cloud Hidden Sect disciple. Henry added a chair on the side, looked to his left and right, and finally could only break the deadlock once again, "So, this gentleman, may I ask your name?"
"Free of your surname, Zhang Dao." The man finally introduced himself and pulled out a wooden token along with it, "This is my Cloud Hidden Sect disciple token."
Henry glanced at the token, which was of a style that had been disclosed to the Collector. He nodded and introduced the process, "I am Henry of the 'Collector'. This is Middendorffi, Eli, who met that crook named Zhou."
Zhang Dao asked, "Who drew Zhou Tianlin and the Kid?"
Henry said, "Middendorffi."
Zhang Dao asked Middendorffi, "You can see ghosts and monsters so clearly?"
"I can sense all visions." Middendorffi looked at him, his gaze unavoidable, "Including your eyes. It is indeed not the 'Eye of Truth'."
"You are just an ability you suddenly obtained after losing your memory; how dare you make such a wild assertion?" Zhang Dao was once again displeased in a moment, "My eyes are the Cloud Hidden Sect's hand-picked 'Eye of Truth', so if you say it's not, it's not?"
"Then you say yes or no?" Eli rarely participated in the debate, coldly sharp sword straight into said, "Your eyes are just able to visualise and see abnormal energy just when you visit a point beyond the upper limit of what your eyes can distinguish, you will only see a cloud of ink colour.
"For example, right now."
Just as Eli's words fell, energy suddenly began to surge from his body, and the pressure rose suddenly!
Even Henry felt a sudden suffocation. He looked towards Eli, his heart thumping, and his breathing couldn't help but become cautious. He even felt the urge to get down on his knees, oh no, to fall on his back and hug himself for safety.
Middendorffi, on the other hand, was much calmer than Henry's "furious and wary" behaviour. He merely glanced at Eli and turned back to the front.
Of course, the one who was least calm was Zhang Dao. He instantly widened his eyes, tensed his body, and frowned as he stared intently at Eli, "How ... did you do that? What exactly are you?!"
"There is no need to care what I am; my source is unknown to you," Eli responded coldly. He saw Middendorffi's hand under the table, gently open and close in his afterglow. After repeating this twice, Eli suddenly reached out and took Middendorffi's hand under the table.
"...?" Middendorffi once again looked at Eli. Eli, however, did not explain, nor did he look back at him, and only looked at Zhang Dao as he continued to say in a cold voice, "There are mountains beyond the mountains, and to talk presumptuously about things you don't know is to seek death."
His mighty pressure was staring exclusively at Zhang Dao. Zhang Dao knew how powerful he was, and in his heart, he understood that he must be a high-ranking person, and he could not contradict it no matter what. Zhang Dao could only bow his head, "... Yes, I'll follow the senior's teachings."
"There is no need to call me 'senior.' I am not together with you; there is no relationship between seniors and juniors." Eli slowly withdrew his pressure and was no longer an "ink group" in Zhang Dao's eyes. Zhang Dao became increasingly puzzled about his and Middendorffi's origins, and he looked at Middendorffi again, wondering why this person did not "put away" this ink-like energy.
But he didn't ask again. He would have to go back to the Sect and report these two magical people to the Sect and let them decide on them, but for now, it was better to talk about the goal of this meeting.
"In that case, I'll address you two as 'sir' for now." Zhang Dao returned his light-coloured sunglasses, "Sorry, my eyes usually see a lot of messy shadows if I don't wear special glasses, and I may be able to see virtual and real objects poorly."
Eli doesn't continue to discuss eyes and glasses with him and straightens up, "Get down to business."
"... line." Zhang Dao wanted to take a long sigh of relief but held back and looked at Middendorffi, "Please trouble Mr Brown to say something about Zhou Tianlin's specific situation or directly inform me how to contact him."
"Oh," Middendorffi answered, taking this moment to withdraw his hand from Eli's palm.
Eli hadn't used force to grab it in the first place, but after Middendorffi withdrew his hand, Eli still gently glanced at him for a moment before starting his hand.