Outside the west gate of King's Campus, Green Shade Town.
Around noon, in a private room on the second floor of a tea house in Green Shade Town, Dorothy and Naifnis sat facing each other across a table. At this time, Dorothy was leisurely sipping black tea, while Naifnis looked a bit nervous.
"Excuse me, Miss Dorothea, is the society you and Mr. Brandon belong to called Rose Cross?"
"That's right, Rose Cross. This is the name we go by. We are even more secretive than typical hidden societies, and very few people know about us. Senior Naifnis, you are now one of them."
While drinking black tea, Dorothy pointed at Naifnis in front of her. After a slight pause, Naifnis spoke with a serious expression.
"Even more secretive than typical hidden societies... very few people know about it... Miss Dorothea, you are telling this very secret name to an unrelated outsider like me, is it because..."
"No, no, no, you are not an unrelated outsider. Since you were saved by Brandon, you can no longer stay out of it. You are already associated with Rose Cross."
"Don't you want to use our strength to fight against Eight Point Nest? If you want to fight them more smoothly, we need your closer cooperation. This is why I came to see you."
Dorothy interrupted Naifnis. Listening to Dorothy's words, Naifnis was slightly stunned, then murmured.
"Closer cooperation... you mean..."
"Based on our initial investigation yesterday, dealing with Eight Point Nest's power within the school is a bit troublesome. We have encountered some obstacles. To break through these obstacles, the best way right now is you, Senior Naifnis," Dorothy continued, and Naifnis was taken aback.
"Me? What can I do?"
"Didn't you tell Brandon? That so-called Ci Rong controls your original society members with his collection of books. The more you read his eight books, the more you can gain his trust. If you read many of his books, you can even enter the inner area that ordinary society members cannot enter."
"Now let me ask you, is there a long corridor full of cobwebs between the inner and outer areas?"
Dorothy said to Naifnis, and the other party nodded.
"Yes, that's right. There seems to be a very dirty corridor with lots of spider webs between the inner and outer areas, and it looks like it's never cleaned."
"That so-called inner area was originally our Secret Knowledge Society's president's office, warehouse, and underground library. But since Ci Rong took control of the entire society, those places have become inaccessible to other ordinary members. Only he and his outside subordinates, as well as members who have read more than four of his books and are thoroughly influenced, can go in."
Naifnis recalled and said. After listening to her words, Dorothy slowly nodded and said.
"Very good. Then now we need you to read all four of those books to gain access to the inner area. I remember Brandon said you've already read two, so you only need to read two more, right?"
"Ah, read all four?"
Listening to Dorothy's words, Naifnis was slightly startled and immediately replied.
"No, Miss Dorothea, didn't Mr. Brandon tell you? Reading that guy's books makes you abnormal and you gradually get controlled by him. I was fine originally because of the necklace Grandpa left me, but now the necklace is broken, I can't read those books anymore."
Looking at Naifnis's somewhat anxious reaction, Dorothy smiled slightly and continued.
"I know Ci Rong's books have problems. Of course, I wouldn't let you read them without any protection. In fact, Rose Cross has means to help others resist similar infringements. We can help you resist the Spirit Sight pollution from Ci Rong's books..."
"Spirit Sight..."
"Meaning the poison of knowledge, something contained in all secret knowledge. It's something that must be guarded against in extraordinary cultivation. Of course, some people also use the characteristics of Spirit Sight to achieve some ulterior motives. Ci Rong's books contain such things."
"Ordinary secret books... or rather, secret transmission, you can feel something is wrong not long after you start reading. If you continue reading, there will be a violent reaction. But that Ci Rong probably split a secret transmission into eight parts for you to read, diluting the Spirit Sight and reducing the reaction, thereby influencing you without you even realizing it."
Dorothy briefly explained to Naifnis, and Naifnis nodded thoughtfully after listening. She recalled that in the past, seniors in the Secret Knowledge Society would warn her which books she could read and which she couldn't, and if she read a book that felt strange, she must stop immediately. Now it seemed that was the influence of the so-called Spirit Sight.
"Then, according to what Miss Dorothea just said, Rose Cross has means to counter Spirit Sight, which means you can protect me from the influence of Ci Rong's books, right? Just like Grandpa's necklace."
Naifnis said, and Dorothy nodded. Then, from her small bag, she took out a book. Looking at the cover, it was a Prit history book.
"Take this. On the flyleaf of this book, there is an honorific name. After you read a bit of Ci Rong's books, meditate and pray to that honorific name, and the accumulated Spirit Sight will be eliminated under that one's grace. Then you can continue reading safely."
Dorothy explained to Naifnis. Naifnis accepted the history book handed over by Dorothy, then opened the book with a hint of doubt and curiosity. As expected, she saw a passage written on the flyleaf. Naifnis couldn't help but read it aloud.
"The great one who records all things..."
"You just need to meditate in your heart, no need to read it aloud."
Dorothy interrupted Naifnis, and the other party looked up in surprise and said.
"Miss Dorothea, you said this is an honorific name... the one referred to by this name, it couldn't be..."
"Shhh... Regarding the existence referred to by this honorific name, you don't need to know too much for now. Just pray for protection when the time comes." With a finger to her lips, Dorothy said mysteriously. Startled by Dorothy's action, Naifnis also closed her mouth, nodded slightly, and stopped speaking.
Although silent, Naifnis's heart was already in turmoil.
'That honorific name just now... those adjectives... they point to a god, right? Only a true god could be worthy of such words, right? Could it be that the society's past research wasn't wrong? Besides the Three Saints and Save the World, there are many other gods existing in the dark in this world. Are they evil gods and demons expelled by Save the World back then? Or do they have other origins?'
'This Rose Cross actually worships a hidden god, and I can actually pray to this god for protection... Oh my goodness, this is too incredible...'
Naifnis thought in disbelief. At this moment, Dorothy spoke with a warning.
"We hope you can finish reading the remaining two books within six days to gain access to the inner area. Can you do that?"
"Uh... two books within six days? That should be okay. Ci Rong's books aren't too thick, about two hundred pages each. If I hurry, I should be able to finish them within six days."
Naifnis replied. Dorothy, who received Naifnis's answer, also breathed a sigh of relief.
'Phew... looks like there's still time.'
"Alright, Senior Naifnis, that's the main content of this conversation. I hope you can work hard when you go back. Whether Ci Rong can be overthrown depends on you," Dorothy said solemnly to Naifnis, and the other party also nodded seriously.
"Okay, I will try my best."
"Alright, it's time to part now, but before that, I'd like to see the broken necklace your Grandpa left you."
Looking at Naifnis, Dorothy continued. She wanted to see if there was any Spirituality residue left in Naifnis's necklace and if it could still play a small role. Last time she saw the necklace was through the vision of the Corpse Puppet Brandon, but a Corpse Puppet doesn't have Spirituality vision and couldn't detect it.
"The necklace? Just a moment..."
Saying that, Naifnis rummaged through her bag. After a while, she found a handkerchief, placed it on the table and opened it. What appeared before Dorothy was a pile of shattered gold fragments.
Dorothy activated her Spirituality vision and looked at the fragments in front of her, but she didn't see any traces of Spirituality. It was confirmed that the Spirituality stored inside had been completely used up.
'No way... there really isn't any Spirituality left. Naifnis only read two severely diluted secret transmissions, and the Spirituality inside was used up? This extraordinary item is too weak.'
Looking at the gold ornament fragments in front of her, Dorothy thought this. In her opinion, this should be an extraordinary item that could resist Spirit Sight, and it was damaged because its Spirituality was exhausted. But the Spirit Sight from those two books by Ci Rong shouldn't be much, could it really exhaust the Spirituality of this necklace?
After thinking for a moment, Dorothy asked Naifnis beside her.
"Did your Grandpa give you this necklace himself? When did he give it to you? How is your Grandpa now?"
"My Grandpa and Grandma passed away a long time ago. This necklace was given to me by Grandpa when I was little."
While saying that, Naifnis began to recall. After thinking for a while, she continued.
"I remember when I was little, I was very naughty and loved sneaking into Grandpa's collection room to play and look at the North Africa relics inside. I remember one time when I was looking at those relics, I don't know why, but I suddenly felt dizzy and fainted. I fainted for a long time before waking up."
"After I woke up, Grandpa was extremely anxious and blamed himself, and he warned me not to enter the collection room again. But I loved looking at those relics, so I kept crying. Then Grandpa reluctantly gave me this necklace and told me that if I wanted to enter the collection room again in the future, I had to wear this necklace to go in. After I wore it and went into the collection room, I indeed never fainted again."
"And after Grandpa passed away, I kept wearing it as a memento. It suddenly shattered when I was reading Ci Rong's books a few months ago."
Naifnis finished speaking and sat quietly. Listening to Naifnis's words, Dorothy, who was staring at the necklace, frowned slightly, not knowing what she was thinking.