CHAPTER 502: CHAPTER 480: "EMERALD RECORD" AND "STARS RECORD

Under Horn’s meaningful gaze, the crestfallen Aijia Lang and a few other self-pitying demon hunters were sent to the Holy Trinity Education Team.

With the attitude of these demon hunters, perhaps Horn’s team could gain a few more demon hunters in the future.

Currently, Horn’s team does have Jilo, but he hasn’t consumed any magic potion, after all.

The four skills of tracking, assassination, disguise, and protection for demon hunters—he stands for loyalty.

Jilo is an old player walking the Path of Blood and Sweat with Horn, and he even participated in the Long Bridge Blood Battle.

So Jilo’s capabilities might not be that great, but he’s indeed reliable, Horn thinks his probability of feigning compliance is very low.

If the Cheka Team had demon hunters joining, it would probably be more efficient than it is now.

Seal off the entrance and exit of this underground palace, and establish a giant spider experimental breeding ground outside as a cover.

After ordering everyone to seal it, Horn boarded a small boat, braving the drizzle, sailed across the rippling surface of Nanze Lake, taking Jeanne back to the Mechanical Palace on Autumn Dusk Island.

When he changed clothes and went to the study, he didn’t see Hilov.

Instead, Catherine was sitting in front of the round table, frowning as she flipped through the books brought from the underground palace.

Unlike Carl and Mitney, who need to undergo training first and then be taught by the monks of the Saint Father Association.

Due to Catherine’s special status, when attending classes on Autumn Dusk Island, she learned directly from Hilov and Horn one-on-one.

In terms of current achievements, her natural theology and "Holy Path Salvation Sermon" level are almost surpassing Jeanne.

"Where’s Hilov?" Horn tapped the round table in front of Catherine.

"Hilov is sleeping; I asked Jils to notify her, we have to wait a bit." With a frown, Catherine put down the book in her hand, seemingly displeased that Horn interrupted her train of thought.

"Can you understand this text?" Horn asked with anticipation.

After all, Catherine is a wizard studies expert who has undergone complete witch and wizard training, so perhaps she could read it?

"This is the snake script, very cryptic. I don’t know much, can only guess." Catherine closed the book, revealing a paper with a few words written underneath.

"Snake script, is it the writing of the small tribes? Could it be the indigenous script of Black Snake Bay?" Horn sat beside Catherine, looking at the words on the paper.

"How could that be? Snake script evolved from the primitive Aeolian language and was created by the Scales Hermitage."

As if remembering something, Catherine covered her mouth with a fan and laughed, "They insisted this was the ’orthodox’ Aeolian script, but were soon embarrassed by an ancient text bought by the Secret Faction from the Blood and Flesh Royal Court.

They still stubbornly claimed it was a forgery by the Blood and Flesh Royal Court and asserted theirs is the orthodox version, using it ever since."

Horn looked at the dozen words. "Is this the book title you translated?"

"Yes." Catherine picked up a pen, restrained her smile, and drew a line on two names, "Maybe your search wasn’t in vain. This really might be a relic left by Hilov’s mother, although there’s also a possibility that I translated it wrong."

The two circled names on the paper were "Emerald Record (Edited by Serafe Hilov)" and "Star Record (Edited by Serafe Hilov)."

Serafe, is that name Hilov’s mother?

So Hilov is actually a surname, and her so-called mother didn’t even give her a proper name.

Horn was momentarily unsure whether to show these books to Hilov.

If she found out her mother’s attitude, would she be sad? He wasn’t sure.

Horn didn’t want Hilov to be hurt, but after all, this related to the star-forged gears and previous secrets, he couldn’t hide it from her forever.

Having such a troubled mother, it’s better to realize reality sooner than later.

"What about the other books?"

"Aren’t they being translated?" Catherine teased, "If you hadn’t come in to interrupt me, I’d have finished translating."

"Alright, alright, continue translating, I won’t disturb you."

Sitting across from Catherine, Horn picked up the book titled "Emerald Record," looked at the rugged text inside, and fell silent.

This snake script that no one recognizes is probably the reason demon hunters treat it as junk books.

Books signed by Hilov’s mother, the strange Mechanical Palace on Autumn Dusk Island, advanced Aether research, Blood Slave Ah Fu, Long-haired Zombie...

Connecting all the clues, Horn faintly had an answer in his heart.

Then Serafe is either a Witch of the Scales Hermitage or a vampire collaborating with the Scales Hermitage.

Should we look for clues from the Scales Hermitage? The situation is getting more and more complicated.

"Horn, what are you looking at?"

While deep in thought, Horn was startled by Hilov’s voice beside him, causing the book in his hand to drop to the ground.

He turned his head to see Jeanne pushing Hilov’s wheelchair, staring expressionlessly at Horn’s face, with her wolf tail curled up like a dog’s.

Apparently, she’s in a good mood today.

"It’s nothing, nothing." Horn bent down to pick up the book, but Hilov’s upper body was quite agile and swift, snatching the book from the ground before Horn.

"What’s this? The Jade Record? Serafe... Hilov!"

The curled tail suddenly straightened, and the wolf ears on her head stood up. Horn clearly saw the previously smooth fur on her tail fluff up.

Previously engaged in translation, Catherine raised her head, blinking in surprise, "You, you understand the text on this?"

"Huh?" Hilov, as if awakening from a dream, raised her head, "How do I understand it? What’s this language, and why can I read it?"

Horn stood up and gently caressed Hilov’s head.

"No need to comfort me." Raising her head, Hilov’s tail gradually lowered, "I was just too shocked, sorry, I lost my composure. I’ll translate it for you now."

Horn exchanged a glance with Catherine and gently rubbed Hilov’s ear, "No need to push yourself, you can rest first, we’ll discuss it in a few days."

Seemingly to prove she wasn’t bothered by it, Hilov opened the book in her hand, ignoring Horn’s suggestion, and began to read silently.

Horn had no choice but to squat beside Hilov and wait.

Almost a dozen minutes passed, yet Hilov showed no sign of stopping. Her emerald eyes were fixed on the text without a ripple.

However, her reading speed was slowing down, sometimes even flipping back.

This was unlike the usual speed-reading Hilov; with her brain, needing to read backward?

It wasn’t until Jeanne, who was nodding off, accidentally hit her head on the desk with a crisp sound that brought Hilov back.

"Sorry, I got too absorbed by accident." Hilov sighed deeply, closing the book in her hand.

"What’s it about?" Catherine couldn’t help but ask.

"Do you know what the Jade Record is?"

Seeing Catherine in contemplation, Horn bewildered, and Jeanne groggy, Hilov wheeled over to the round table and put down the book.

"The Jade Record is an alchemy text from the Seven Hills Kingdom period, mainly introducing the principles of alchemy." Hands placed in front of her knees, pressing down her tail, Hilov softly introduced.

"Unlike our current alchemy, there were no witches back then, so it was just regular skill, and alchemists were considered the ancestors of today’s pharmacists.

To keep it secret, the Jade Record used a lot of cryptic language and metaphors, and this ’Annotated Jade Record’ is the annotation, explaining what each image represents.

And Ama... she translated and corrected the book, adding a lot of her own content.

It aims to uncover the essence of the Jade Record, depicting the entire world as an alchemical process, describing various transformations and differences.

Honestly, if this material were to spread, it would certainly create new schools of interpretation for the Jade Record."

"So, in a way, it’s a philosophical book? Unrelated to the Star-Cast Gear or your lineage?" Horn stared at Hilov’s eyes.

Hilov stroked the book’s cover, "There are a lot of handwritten notes inside, I suspect Ama used to read it frequently and make notes, perhaps related to the secret of the Star-Cast Gear.

This book contains many obscure things; I’ll try to translate everything within two months."

Seeing Hilov deliberately avoiding the topic of lineage, Horn quickly changed the subject, smiling at Catherine, "Alright, our ancient library is becoming more and more like a real..."

"No, this book can’t be placed in the library." Hilov interrupted Horn.

"Why?"

"Ama only collated the ’Annotator’, and the identity of the ’Annotator’ is a bit problematic." Hilov opened the book’s first page.

"The author of the ’Annotated Jade Record’ is the Sorrido Clan." Hilov paused, "The Sorrido Clan of the thirteen vampire clans."