Chapter 37 Stone
'Fruit...'
Listening to Aldridge's words, Dorothy breathed a sigh of relief and thought to herself that she was not too surprised that the old man in front of her was Huiqiu.
Because, when she was still in the carriage, she had already seen four statue-like stone-armored knights standing around Aldrich. These four knights were very similar to the ones Dorothy saw at the Gray Hill Party. From that time on, Dorothy had actually been speculating whether Aldrich was Gray Hill.
Now that the other party has admitted it, Dorothy felt relieved but also had other questions in her mind.
"So... you are Mr. Huiqiu in the story. So it was me that you were trying to test. I wonder what it was about me that caught your attention?"
Dorothy once again answered Huiqiu's question. It was obvious that Huiqiu probably realized that Dorothy was the girl who had made a deal with him at the secret meeting. Dorothy was not sure where she had given herself away and was discovered by Aldridge.
Listening to Dorothy's words, Aldridge kept smiling, waved his hand and said.
"I don't think you've ever practiced how to fake your voice, Miss Meshhos. At that meeting, the voice you made was actually very unnatural. I could tell right away that you were deliberately raising your voice and changing your voice on purpose."
'sound……'
Listening to Aldridge's words, Dorothy suddenly realized the problem. She was not a professional voice faker. When she spoke in the party, she just deliberately raised the pitch. If someone who knew about this listened carefully, they would definitely be able to hear the problem.
"You may be able to fool ordinary people like this, but in my opinion, your voice-changing method is extremely crude and far from being skillful and professional. Not only did I detect the problem, I also used extraordinary items to secretly record your voice, and then tried to restore it by lowering the pitch, simulating several possible original voices. But I didn't expect that I would hear one of them in the corridor of this school not long after..."
Aldridge continued to speak, and Dorothy couldn't help feeling a little dazed as she listened to his words.
"Huh... I see. That's why you wanted to test me."
"That's right, but in the end you didn't succeed in probing her. Instead, some of your brother's behavior surprised me. After that, I was still not sure whether you were the same little girl until you came to me on your own initiative one day...
"Heh... my brother and sister both have some secrets. You are not from a secret family, are you? Whether it's Meshhos or Dorothea... your name and surname are not common in this country. They have some flavor of oriental countries..."
Aldridge finished speaking and then took another sip of tea, while Dorothy answered.
"My brother has only been agile since he was young. We are not a secret family. I came into contact with Feifan because of some accidental factors."
"Whatever you say, anyway, as long as it doesn't violate my rules, I don't really like to pry into other people's secrets. Well, Miss Meshhouse, do you have any other questions?"
Slowly putting the teacup back on the table, Aldridge whispered to Dorothy, and while listening to Aldridge's words, Dorothy looked around at the pile of stone statues.
"Well, then may I ask, is the road you are on a 'stone'?"
Dorothy asked Aldridge about her doubts. Although she had no guesses about the spiritual realm he had set foot in, she still wanted to ask, and Aldridge answered directly.
"Yes, 'stone' is spirituality, the field I pursue, engraving stone, shaping stone..." Aldridge slowly stood up from his seat and looked around at his works and said, while Dorothy continued to ask.
"You have carved so many stone sculptures. Is carving... the practice of Beyonders?"
"Yes, it's just one..." In response to Dorothy's words, Aldridge slowly touched the bust he was carving, stroked it and said.
"Stone, or spirituality, is the most solid foundation of this world. It exists in all rocks, minerals, metals... all the most superficial, vast, and direct things. It is the most stable spirituality."
"Rocks... minerals... metals... they are really everywhere. It should be very convenient to absorb spirituality from them..." Dorothy sighed as she listened to Aldridge's words, and Aldridge shook his head in response.
“It’s not convenient at all. Although ‘stone’ is not the most widespread, except for a few gemstones that are dug out from the depths of the earth and are rich in spirituality, the spirituality contained in general rock ores is very low and severely diluted, making it difficult to absorb.
"You have been in contact with the Eucharist before, so I will use the 'Cup' as a comparison. In the current secret world, due to the corruption of the Afterbirth Cult, the mainstream 'Cup' accumulation relies on swallowing flesh and blood. But people cannot eat stones. They cannot digest them even if they swallow them. Even if you fill your stomach with stones, it is difficult to absorb much 'Stone'.
"'Stone' is a spirituality that has the strongest stability and inertia among all spiritualities. This is an advantage in some aspects, but it is an obstacle in terms of absorption. Therefore, the Beyonders who are related to 'Stone' have other ways to absorb spirituality...
“The key word here is ‘shaping’. The craftsmen devote their efforts and skills to shaping metals and rocks. In this process, the craftsmen’s spirit can resonate with the spirituality in the rock materials, making them active and cohesive. The process of material processing is a process of mutual dialogue and resonance between the craftsmen and their works.”
As Aldrich spoke, he picked up the tools and began to carve some final details of the statue.
"Use a carving knife to shape the shape of the stone, and use your spirit to shape the spirituality of the stone. When a work is completed, the spirituality of the 'stone' in it will change, becoming condensed, active, intellectual, and... easy to absorb..."
As he spoke, Aldrich made the last cut, then he placed the tool on the table and touched the shoulder of the bust. Then, there was an inadvertent flash of gray light on Aldrich's hand, and then the bust began to crack rapidly, with fine cracks all over the surface, and then it turned to gray in an instant.
Seeing this scene, Dorothy knew that the spirituality of the stone in the statue was absorbed by Aldridge.
The spirituality in the rocks of heaven is extremely difficult to absorb, but the craftsman's dedicated processing can make the spirituality of the stone active and condensed, and it can be easily absorbed after the work is completed.
This is the spiritual absorption method of the mainstream Beyonders from “Stone”…
"So that's how it is... This really opens my eyes, Mr. Aldridge. But since the spiritual works that have been absorbed from the works will be destroyed, why do you still have so many excellent works in the school?"
Looking at the scene in front of him, Dorothy asked in surprise and confusion. Listening to Dorothy's words, Aldridge sighed and then spoke.
"As you said, they are all excellent works. If they are so excellent, how can I bear to destroy them? To carve spiritual works, one needs to devote oneself to the meticulous carving. Every work made by my hand is my hard work. It's okay if it's slightly defective, but once I encounter a work that satisfies me, I feel a little bit reluctant... Haha, perhaps in a sense, I prefer the identity of a craftsman to that of a Beyonder."
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